Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1870-12-15
Rutland and Woodstock Railroad,
And Whitehall Canal.

!
Among the many enterprises of the day,
hearing on the prospective and present
we'll l-being and prosperity Of Rutland,
and Rutland county, | believe there are
none which deserve 40 much attention as
the construction Of an independent east
earn connection by rail from Rutland to
Woodstock, Tor Bethel,) and the compile
tion of canal to give us cheap water
transportation via the Northern and
Western canals. to Troy, Albany, New
York and the different marts of the great
west. / place the connection with the
eastern line of road first, not that deem
this of more importance than a line of
water communication with Fort Ann, but
because it seems TO me to stand first in
the "order of things" and has now be-
come, by the changes of the past twenty
years, almost a positive prerequisite to
the latter. Moreover, the exigency of ex
isting circumstances. the strenuous ,fforts
now being made to establish connecting
lines of road on either side Of us, extend
ing from InB NbEFlt hhlAitl' ~ ttt great
western lakes, aud leaving this section of
the country like the ass between two
bundles of hay, admopish ts that no time
should be lost if we ever h Pc 10 see our
county placed upon thia great eastern and
western thoroughfare. If the selfinterest
of some lending men. and the nerrow con-
traeted, short sighted ill'h'rtl views of
others, induce Rutland - continue to
give this great project the cold shoulder,
why, then, the active friends of the enter
prise must seek other means to carry it
out to a suGceseful Issue. | believe that
the recent action of the directors in leasing
their chartered rights move in the right
direction, and one whereby the desired
end may be reached despite the hostility
the lethargy of those who will not, cannot,
dare not or care not to see the great ad
vantages which the opening Of the east
and northeast, by new avenue, wonld |
give to the life and future prosperity If
Rutland.
With the impulse which the opeuiug of
such a road would give to the husine1~ of
faith in the feasibility of the
canal projects would take the place of the
iistrust which now seems to exist ia the
minds of too many, and indeed, with the
certainty of the completion of
he road, | should expect to see an ire
istable movement that would secure the
,arly success of water communication
With the northern canal at Whitehall, or
ome near point Southland with this
onsumation who, in the future, will
lain that in the past he stood in the way
f this advance movement ? As an evil
ence of the fact tkat there will be mot
ne" we see by the last Independent that
here are already tacO in the field for can
onical honors, and who claim saintship,
s the progenators and sproiectors Of this
nterprise.
With a very bright look to the futnre,
nd remarkably short look sin the rear"
hese gentlemen appear to think that the
L
le battle is fought or the victory won, 9
that brief allusion to the subject in a Q
ewspaper notice, with few platitudes
nd hackneyed arguments over their
lgust signatures-e them to high r
onors as the progenators of great enter r
rise, and that an especial niche in the \
nipple Of tame is to be left for their es- \
,cial benefit. Unlike the wonld-be poet 4
no "oould have written charming poetry z
ut for the fact that DIR. Watts, Pope, et
had covered the ground before him r
iese ardent seekers for fame are bold
nough to walk in the paths where
ngeis have trod before" and seek their O
lory there. Now there IRE many who P
'em disposed to ridicu'e the chief claim G.
Mt to the discovery! of the Whitehall b
NAL, and affect to think that the ques- .
on raised by him is on par of that as ei
the identity of the one who "killed 81
oek Robin" or as to the individual "who "
ruck Billy Patterson" But I cannot tt
mpathize with this class of irreverent p
offers 1t is true that neither Dewitt
linton nor Geo. Stephenson ever thought Il
take "snap judgement" from the peo- V
e, or force an award of merit from the Il
lblic as an acknowledgement of their n
services But these men n
ere Of that class Of "old fogies" who b
ever seemed to think Of themselves, SO d
ng as the great works in which they "
sre engaged went on successfully and P