The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1871-11-28
VALUE OF A RAILROAD.

The Lake Shore and Tuscarawas
Valley railway has been formally
opened for travel as far as Medina a
distance Of thirty miles from Cleveland,
and the contractor expects to have the
road built to Dennison by the first OF
October, 1872. The work is being very
vigorously pushed and will probably
reach the point OF intersection with the
Wheeling and Lake Erie road long
before our end of that road is built,
unless indeed the good people OF
Wheeling wake up 10 greater activity IN
the matter than they have hitherto
displayed. A grand jubilee was had at
Medina on the 18th inst. in celebration
Of the arrival Of the first railroad train
At that town and a number OF congrat-
ulatory speeches were made. The
following extract from the speech
Of JAMES A. BRIGGS, Esq, Of New
York, affords a very fair illustration Of
the effect Of railroads in enhancing the
value Of property along their line. We
commend these facts to the considera-
ton OF the people of Wheeling in par
ticular and to the citizens Of West Vir-
GINA in general. Mr.. BRIGGs said:
10 1859 the nortbw west had l276 miles
Of railroad, Ohio had SIS miles. Now
the northwest has 1865 miles, and
Ohio 344S miles. Forty years ago there
were go miles OF railroad in the
United States, now over $4,000 miles,
and il is q remark able fact that the
largest increase of railroad mileage was
in i869-399S miles. This is evidence
OF the faith that capital, the most tlmld
OF all things, has in railroads in the
United States. While our poPula-
ton is increasing at the rate OF
100000 year, our railroads
are increasing about 5000 miles
wear. At $4,000 per mile the
cost of the railroads in Ohio, has been
$l43,Sl6,000. What has been the ef-
feet Of this investment in railroads in
Ohio? In 1850, with SIS miles Of rail-
road, the value OF real estate was $34l,-
5S8,S3S. the value OF personal property
$98,4Sl, POP; total value Of taxable
property 439,666,S40. In 1870, with
3448 miles OF railroad, the value Of real
estate ia 81, 0l3,000,000, and this does
not include the value Of real estate be-
longing 10 railroad companies, and TAX
ing the value OF personal property as
returned ia 1869, 1853, 1884 ,45l, and the
total value of taxable property
is 81 A., 960,340. The real es.
tate ia unio has been trebled in
taxable value in twenty years, and the
personal property has been increased
more thao four and half times. Mr..
Poor in his carefully prepared statistics
OF railroads and their influence upon
property, states in his Manual on Rail-
roads for lS70-7l," "that every railroad
constructed adds five times it's value to
the aggrega,, value Of the property Of
the country" If this is so, and be-
lieve the estimate OF Mr.. Poor not too
high, as the increase in Ohio is much
larger than the estimate Of Mr..
Poor, then the construction of the
Lake Shore and Tuscarawas Valley
railroad will add twenty millions.
Some OF you may think this too much,
but it is not. When the line of this
railroad is continued from the Chippe-
Il
Wheeling, passing, as it will, its entire
length through one Of the richest min
eral districts in the United States, who
can compute the wealth that will be
developed BY means Of this work ? l
do not think that twenty million dol
lars il too much to estimate the increase
ofvalue along it's immediate line, with
in ten years from the day the road is
through to Wheeling.