Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1875-06-10

meeting at Lancaster on Saturday last
developed much talk. To express it
plainly more was said than done. Mr..
Cobb, President, and Judge Cothren,
Attorney for the Mineral Point Rail-
road Company, had previously met
the officers of the Grant County Rail-
road Company in the parlor of the
Phelps house. A proposition was
made by them to the G. G. r. r. Co.
that if the people in the towns along
the proposed line from Platteville to
Lancaster would raise the of $l07, 900
(by tax and subscription and secure
the right of way, they would furnish
the iron, equip and operate the road
to Lancaster-a distance of about 90
miles--th amount to be paid in month
ly installments as the work of building
progressed. At the public meeting
in the afternoon there was a good at
tendance of the people and considera-
Bile interest manifested in its proceed
ings. President Moore, of the G. G.
r.. r. Co, presided. Judge Cothren
arose and made a lengthy argument
in favor of the broad gauge and par
ticularly of the benefits that would
accrue to Lancaster through the
extension of the Mineral Point Rail.
road. He told us what it would cost
to build, equip and run railroad,
how money could be raised and the
vast benefits TO be derived from rail-
road connection with the world via
Mineral Point. The Judges speech
was listened to with close attention,
and was received as an able plea for
a suffering client. Hon. j. Allen
Barber followed and spoke substan-
TALLY as follows:
The best authority we have on railroads and
their business is Poor's Manual and from that
| we learn tIldL TdllIOduS hNcTdSt al lIlcOuc VI
only 10 per cent, so that we need not ex-
pect that a short line of railroad with small
business can be built and made a paying in-
vestment The business Of the Patteville
road does not paw for the money invested in
it; but Platteville needed an outlet and paid
for it-paid Sl20,0C0 by tax and $4,000 by
subscription. We are situated as they were
only more badly We cannot better our sit
uation without making sacrifices. If we
could get the Galena company to say that il
we would grade, bridge and tie the road they
would iron it, would rather have the mar
row gauge, for it would open to us the south
ern market for our corn oats and hay which
they must get from the North. If we could
| get the conn; elton would rather have it, for
it would give us our choice of markets. II
has been said that rivers cannot compete with
railroads in transportation. This is the case
in some circumstances. On the ports of our
great lakes may be seen fine large vessels,
some of them of 1000 tons burden, rotting at
the wharves. They cannot pay expenses III
| competing with the railroads in carrying
wheat. When railroads are near enough to-
gether to come in competition they beat rivers
There are hundred sections of land, about
this place that would have convenient mar
ket if there was a railroad here, and every
farmer who tills that land would be saved
much expense in marketing his produce, and
every acre Of that land would be increased in
value. To accomplish this we must submit tc
taxation. You have heard the proposition o.
the Mineral Point road Whatever we do or
the road is to be virtually donation to thai
company They have got the Platteyile road
though not nominally its owners. Can We
afford to have them gobble up our road ? Blu
to build "A road of our own we must raise
100000 Can we do it / think we car
without really feeling 1t much. What take!
we paid during the war | have paid as bigl
as seven or eight per cent, and slept as wei
after it, though squirmed little at the time
We can raise this money if we will If We
connect with the Galena company they cal
only furnish rolling stock and divide the
profits with u.s. If they could do anything
for US it would be best to go to them, but
they cannot And they could not give us the
benefit of railroad experience, for they are
not railroad men, but men in business. Blu
wherever it comes from, and however it comes
we need railroad, ard railroad zoe mus
hare
Hon. Hammer Robbins then spoke
giving his views upon the practibility
of the several proposed railroad routes
to Lancaster, the broad and the narrow
gauge. Col. Clark succeeded the
speaker and explained what was the
terms by which railroad could be
built to Lancaster He propounded
questions to a number of the citizens
and capitalists present, the response
to which indicated that the town
would aid for the road proposed to
the extent allowed by the law. This
amount, we believe, is about 10000.
The meeting adjourned with the
understanding that future general
meeting would be held, to be called
as the law prescribes, for the purpose
of deciding upon the question of aid
for the building of a railroad.