The Rock Island daily Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1872-1873, 1873-07-01
THE CONTINENTAL RAILWAY.
Meeting Of Representative Men Of the Four
Cities.

Strong, w oOds, and Zoe were there MltSch !
Lambert and Lorton were about-nearly !
all the old time faces were there, too, and
some new faces, fact which, after the
banquet, turned the meeting into one OF
business of Continental Railway nature.
Mr.. HOlyoke, former Iowan but now of
New York, and of reputed wealth and
great enterprise Treasurer of the
Continental was there; so was Jas. +.
Abbott, by whose ceaseless thinking the
Continental has assumed tangible exist
ence- something more than broad red
line straight across the map of the world.
| This line, by some unaccountable freak, di
verges mile and half in two thousand
to skip this point and crosses the Missis-
sippi at the village of great expectations,
known to some of the older inhabitants as
Muscatine For the purpose of correcting
this mistake and thereby greatly improv
in the Continental map, those present call
ed DIR. c. Truesdale to preside, with Mr..
RIP. Dart holder of the Secretary's honors.
On motion of Col J.J Richardson, Of the
Davenport Democrat, Mayor John Deere,
Of Moline, D. b, Sears, of Milan, l.. NJ,
Haverstick of the Union, and j. 5. Drake,
of THE ARGUS, were appointed a commit
tee on resolutions. Speeches were made
by the presiding officer, Judge Murphy
Mayor of Davenport, Hon. John Deere
| - ATol;on IIan I,hv IIar,lny~
Member of Congress from this district,
J. A Green member of the Iowa Legisla
ture and by Frank l. Jervis editor of the
Davenport Democrat-all of which were
calculated to give the projectors Of this
great trunk line some idea of the import
ance of this point to them as Il crossing of
the river The facts presented by these
speakers are all susceptible of actual dem
onstration, and, prospectively speaking, the
half was not told, and could not be were
we to devote columns to that purpose.
The simple increase in the freight bust
ness in one year of one of the lines
through this city is S5,000,00O as taken
from their report. This will give some
/ idea of the Importance of the carrying bus
mess of this section, and this too when
, prices of produce are too low to pay for
transportation. To put the facts spoken
OF by the various speakers properly be
fore the projectors OF this line the follow
= ing committee on correspondence was ap
u pointed, viz DR. C. Truesdale, Chairman
N Hon John Deere, Geo NJ Dickson, Judge j
i Fl. Murphy, ?. L. Mitchell and Hon j
e A. Greene.
Is Mr.. JAS f. Abbott was called out b,
the Mayor of Davenport, and in respons
/ explained very fully the engineering phen
commence at New York and make nearl
a continuous plain from the Hudson Rive
to the summit of the Alleghanys, and tn
highest summit the road would have t
pass was less than 1900 feet above sea lev
ell, that after reaching the summit of tn
Alleghauys, on its line the road woul
pass over the great table lands of Wester
b Pennsylvania. Northern Ohio and Indian
m and Illinois to the Mississippi river; tina
Sc the line was remarkably easy of grade an
y. curves, and that if built would bring Roc
Island within 92j miles of New York, @
about as near as the city of Chicago now
K by the shortest existing railway line, thu
lie saving to the people of this locality an az
lg tual distance about equal TO the width
to the entire State of Illinois.
2, The gentleman further explained tha
an the heaviest grade going east--or wit
ng the heaviest trafhc-would not excee
nd 30 feet per mile, and going west would II,
exceed Az feet per mile, hence the who
road may be said to be low grade raj
III way.
1t was further explained in detail tn;
the existing trunk lines of railway wei
built from time to time, and from place
Vi place, as local roads to connect local point
and all of which were important to Il
" points connected and for the developmel
u of the area of country through which the
2 passed, but name of which were calculate
~ nor could they ever be by any reasonab
=, expenditure Of capital, or skill of engil
eerlng, trunk line Of railway
the great highway between the east al
Or the west; between the Atlantic seaboal
ne and the bread and meat producing Stat
nd Of the great Mississippi Valley.
fit 1t was further explained that, for II
- purpose of operating railway, it W
held by the best railway minds of the cou
De try that every 90 feet of ascending gra,
are that had to be overcome by a railway CO
'en as much in operation as any mile of lev
na road, and that this road being built with
me view of light grades would be able to sa
by equation more miles in cost of oper
loo ton than the actual distance saved by Il
directness of the route.
Rock Island, to-day, is ! ,O4l miles fro
Us, New York by the shortest connection
''' has. The Continental would be 925 mile
hence it would save,in actual distance, n
miles. Now if the theory is true wi@ re
cen gard to the saving by an equation az grades
hin the Continental, for all proposes
| is cost of transportation woul@' be able
ice save one fourth of the frs cost OF tram
We portation to the sea- bosfd
hat The speaker said be believed it possib
BON to build road so penectly that corn an
ap- wheat could be ,arled from the prairie
all of Illinois to ne port of New York for :
ut cents per l.lshel. That the company WEI
on. doing e,erything that could be done
so urge onward the work with the presel
mex stringent condition Of the money marke
amt ayd with the local excitement raised in ii
,at West against railways He did not
ef- lieve that the money could be raised in IL
d. United States to build so great a line