Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1871-02-10
The Great Railroad.

whom they belong, the Daspdtch has one
star which is its guide, and which can never
mislead it. That bright and super-eminent
illuminator Of its path is the Chesa psske &.
Ohio railroad. It is refreshing in the hour
of confusion and conflict to see il dispensing
its clear light and steadily rejecting The
bright promises Of Virginia and of this her
greatest city, which is cminsntly entitled to
her concern and support .-'.'s'7ss r. =s
= The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad is rap
idly approaching completion. For the en-
ergy and spirit with which the western half
of it is pressed, and the speed with which it
will be completed, it throws all other enter
prises in this State and tho South entirely
in the shade. If enterprise, the mastery
control of means and force, and wonderful
rapidity Of railroad construction entitle. a
man to wear the crown Of rairord king, that
crown Belongs to somebody connected with
the Chesapeake Il Ohio railroad; but it be-
longs to man remarkable alike for his ret
iccnce and modesty That man is Mr..
Huntington, the president of the company !;
man who had won his fame before he en-
tered upon the Virginia theatre by his gi-
gantic achievements upon TIE Pacific Rail
way Ae-'"
The peculiar advantages of this grand
Chesapeake & Ohio railway is that it con-
meets the Virginia tide with the great wes-
tern fields, agricultural and mineral, which
are peculiarly adapted to the support of man
ufacturing industry and the growth of com
mercial communities. Both those fields
which will be pierced by this grand artery
| of communication, are almost unlimited in
their resources.
When we look at the Chesapeake Il Ohio
route we..at once see how it is adapted to the
business Of transporting the products of
these great fields. We find the James riv-
er valley reaching along the latitudinous
line from the foot Of the Alleghanies to the
Atlantic tide, and separated by narrow
ridge-only mile and half wide there
from the waters of the kanawha, rising
and running along the Kanawha valley,
pursuing the same line of latitude westw I'd
iy to the Ohio That narrow rdgeis cross.
ed by the railroad at the grade of t,Uenty
nine and half feet to the mile! A fact
without parallel in any of the railroads which
run from east to west across the mountain
ridges parallel with the ocean.
It is the purpose Of the company to chang
the route Of their main freight line SO that
it will follow the valley of the James river
to Richmond The President, Mr. Hun
tington, has declared his purpose to com
plete line to tide-watsr here that will have
no grade above thirty feet to the mile (and
indeed none above twenty after passing the
Alleshany) coming east-the direction of
heavy freights This will enable the COM
pany to lower the charges upon freights 50
much that no other railraad line can we'll
compete with them, since ths rates of freight
depend mainly upon the grades railways
have to traverse.
The company is now asking the Legisla-
ture for the power SO to alter the location
and grades of their road as tie give it advan-
tages which must be invaluable to Virginia,
and we cannet doubt that the Legislature
will readily grant their petition, Every in
terest of the State dictates that it should be
granted.
The commerce that hugs the James Riv-
ct Valley is the commerce of Virginia, and
must contribute to her wealth and power
When the wise scheme Of Mr.. Huntington
| is completed we shall see its benefeent re-
suits There will be prosperity and in
crease in this city exceeding the predictions
Of all the sanguine friends of the work who
have labored so many years under adversely
(may we not say pefversity y to secure its
ultimate completion. 1t will bring to us
the things that do make great cities the
| r.. 1IJ--
essaries of life, and it will take back the
fabrics Of our industry, and the importations
of our men Of business. Here we shall
grind mp the wheat and ship it to South
America, our ships returning with coffee,
hides, &C., of that continent, and these
again will be taken by the West in exchange
for their products.
The Chesapeake & Ohio railroad grows
yearly in magnitude. We venture to tress-
pass upon the circle of private intercourse
50 far as to repeat some Of Mr. Huntington's
views not intended for the press He stated
that when he took hold Of the Chesapeake
& Ohio railroad his purpose was to make a
two-years' job of it, and winding it up, to
devote himself to some new enterprise. But
he found that it so steadily grew in magni-
tude that he could hope for no such speedy
conclusion of his relations to it. He now
begins to think that it is to occupy his time
and intellect for the balance Of his days
With the steady increase Of his appreciation
of the work, every one who knows him sees
that he is becoming more and more enthused
about it, and that it is, in short, already a
pet upon which his affections are being con-
centrated. po' '7.a r
upon the just middle line Of temperature
that is most favorable of all for the energies
of man, mental and physical, as well as for
the development and fostering of the social
reGnments and virtues. He sees, moreover,
that the land upon this middle line abounds
in mineral and agricultural resources of the
most magnificent and inexhaustible charac-
ter. He pictures to himself the grand ac-
tons that are to take place on this theatre,
and the important part his railroad is to take
in them, aud his mind is snthused with his
anticipatiens That there shall be nothing
wanting to complete the circumstances and
dignity Of the great highway under his d.
rection, 1t traverses beautiful lands, and
winds its way through mountain passes CT
unsurpassed loneliness aud sublimity.
So, says Mr. Huntington, [ shall make
this road equal in strength and capacity to
the magnitude Of the work it will have to
perform. He has ordered it to be laid now
on its western end with the steel rail- and
he says he shall in time have 50 lay down
| four tracks to accommodate the business that
| will be concentrated upon his line It's
grades will be such as to make it the great
conduit between the West and the Atlantic
In short, he means to make the Chesa-