, 1873-02-27
occasion Of the Recent Serious De-
lays Of Trains. ~
Something About the Canada South
ern Railway.
Early History of the Project-.-W. A
= Thompson and His Associates.
Progress of Construction---Prcs-
ent Stage of the Enterprise.

The immense amount of freight accumulated
on nearly al ct the 1ailroads running to and from
this city, and the inability Of the companies tt
handle it properly and promptly, are the chiet
causes Of the great delay at present experienced
b. passenger trains The managers Of the roads
attribute this annoying irregularity to every
CAUSE but the tue one. Singu1a7ly enough, all
of them agree in blaming tho elements. Delated
passengers, however, state that the obstacles en-
countered on the roads were not natural ones.
Long strings OF loaded freight cars, for which no
convenient side-track could be found, and which
took hours to move, were almost the only i'm
pedimerta met with. It was learned at various
hotels and railroad Offices, yesterday, that East
earn and Western trains which should have
been at the depot early on the preceding
evening, did not arrive for several hours,
thus setting down q number of Strangers
strange city ut the dead hour of
night. OF yesterdays trains the only one
that !; made anything like decent time
vas the afternoon express on the Milwaukee
Road Dissatisfaction, grumblins, and swear
ing some Of the direct results Of this serious
1nterraption Of the plans of the travelling and
commercial public, ind there is no lack OF either
At any Of the city hotels. -
TIE CANADA SOUTHERN.
When William 4. Thompson quit tho Cana
dian Parliament and asked his felIow-subjects'
help to build railway from Buffalo to Detroit,
they thought him little better than E fool, and
frankly told him 80. That was in 1866; and, so
Late Is TO- the projectors OF the enterprise we1e
1eckoned in the same category. By every effort,
wise and otherwise, especially the other, its
opponents sought to ridicule and decry the
scheme. And it was not until the suggestive
Thompson gave place to Milton Courtwright Is
Co, that the changeful public, ceasing to be-
1tt1e began to share in the enterprise.
Meantime, tho Irepressible Thompson had
Faged stubburn struggle for it's life. Strong
efforts were made to strangle it. Parliament
Eaa importuned not to give the charter. The
Great Western tried hard to crowd it out. They
claimed tho field was limited even for one, aud
that their road barely paid per cent dividend.
Seeing majority favored the weaker party, re-
bort Was had to national prejudice, and thus
Tar of gauges was inaugurated. The Canadian
eolons refused to charter narroH-gau5e road
because that would Anericanize it. They deter
mined to perpetuato the English gauge. The
Grand Trunk, Great Western, and other Provin-
cial railways had broad-gauge tracks, and every
new rai1way must have the game Fierce and.
long WAS the contest. Finally, compromise
WEB effected The road was chartered On the
broad-gaugo plan. with the privilege Of laying q
third rail, making the track both broad aud
na1ow-gauge. Equipped with this authority, in
the fall OF 1868, A1r. Thompson crossed tho bor-
der, and laid his schnue before the Detroit Board
Of Trade. He told the assembled merchants
bow easy it would DO to link Buffalo with De-
troit over Canadian ground Nature be said,
had made the Ioad-hed, and ell TINT was needed
was to shovel away for the ties aud lay the iron.
II they would indorse the plan, he promised
Them en- excursion over the line within two years.
This the merchants promptly gave, in resolu-
tons strongly framed. Armed with which, to
Chicago be came, and Jared the same. Doubly
supplied, to New York he hied, and tried to
place his bonds But the market was too. tight
for him. The Great Western. affirmed that
rival line could not pay theinterest on its bonds;
that their own local traffic did not meet oxpensos
and that through business Was their only
salvation. These statements had some effect.
Reference to the map showed there
.o only yenSopf Sa2 4oarh town bssss tie
necessity Of existence. Whom pressed, 1lr.
Ihompson clsimed that the roads running east
lto Detroit, and west into Buffalo, would be
glsd to supply the necessary connections. In
The absence Of specific contraot, however, the
experienced railroad men knew that another
line would only receive what the other could not
take., To insure auccess,- independent connec-
lions must be provided This Mr. Thompson
tiled to secure. To Chicago he returned and in
tuak-linea for the purpose .of gaining their
pledge to interchange traffic. He was only par
tally successful, and the enterprise would have |
saccumbed had not John F. Tracy, Milton t
persuasion, come to the rescue. Recognizing !
merit in the plan,--though it scarce went |
halfway, they resolved to perfect it. With |
this intent, three companies we're or
Sanixed, the Canada Southern, Toledo, Canada |
Southern l. Detroit, and Chicago 4 canada |
Southern. The line Of the first named extends /
ton Buffalo, across the international bridge |
pTer the Niagara River, along the Canadian |
ehore OF. Lake Erie to Trenton, on the Detroit |
Ri1er. From St. Thomas q line was also pro- |
At Trenton branches direrge southwark to |
Toledo, and northwerd to Detroit, forming the /
lne Of the second corporation. That Of the /
Chicago L.. Canada Southern Railroad extends
= consolidation Of the Michigan Air Line Rail
tosd Company Of Illinois, the Chicago + Canada
Southern Railway Company of Indiana the
northwestern Ohio Railroad Company Of Ohio,
snd the Southeastern Michigan Ralway Com
j. several i States Of F. Illinois, iGs S, 1ndisna,
Shlo, and Michigan Commencing in the
e9ty Of Chicago. it runs through Cook County
70 tue Indiana State line. on the western town
up Of Worth, in Lake County, Indiana, thence
sEsough The Counties Of Lake, Porter, Laporte,
81 o. Joseph, Elkhart, La Grange, and steuben,
70 =! the Ohio State line, and upon the township
u 1ae of Florence Township, Williams County,
=, theace through Lawrence, Monroe, and
ngne nnsgne Counties Mich, to Trenton, On the
oesro1t Rivera total distance OF $50 miles, and
- neatly . straight line as attainable between I
ti Ie objective points. From d station on the
@e @ main line 100 miles east of Chicago q branch
soeo runs direct to Toledo, making tho distance
s1s ns11seen: that city and Chicago 225 miles-18
~ n.sa leg than by the Michigan Southern Bail
~ ~ Ihe distance from the eastern terminus
nj ae main Inc to Detroit is 16 miles, giving
~ ~ e @connection with Chicago 266 mules long
,Sol u mes less than BY tho Michigan centrals
11e comparative through distances are:
Miles.
s@s chtesgo caua1a Southern and Canada ,
ofst ofae5n Railways, from Chicago to the west end
aate1nationai bridge ut Buffalo.
Iieach Ie aMich'san Central and Great Western Loop
5I.i sr s shortest nnc). $40
vt iin., aaoTe Michigan Southern (her short
"a f1n+a ea1 1af3-