The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-07-07
BALTIMORE AND OHIO.

tisements not connected with II VIII be
charged for At our regular rates.
BALTIMORE AND OHIO.
From the Chicago Times.
Unique among the great railroad cor
porations of this country stands the Bal
timore and Ohio Railroad Company.
The policy Of its managers from the very
| comm encement OF its Inauguration as an
enterprise has been modelled after fash
Ion peculiarly its own. Unlike all its
great coup lnors, the company has used
The utmos. delib+ration and caution in
making its several extensions, and has
looked with intense suspicion upon every
| effort made TO increase the
amount of its capital stock OF
the volume Of its funded indebted
ness The result is, that it stands TO-
day before the world as the railroad with
less stock and debt per mile of its road
than any other. 1t presents compact
front to all aggressors, and as has been
we'll said IN regard to the war Of frelghts
during the present season is in absolutely
the best condition to pass through the
struggle, touch bottom figures on every
thing, and yet pay good dividend to
its stockholders.
The wcst has, within the past two
years, been brought into closer connec-
ton with the railroad system Of the Bal.
timore and Ohio Railroad than it pre-
viously enjoyed, by reason of the con-
struction of
THH CHICAGO DIVISION OF THE ROAD,
known under the corporate name OF the
Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Chicago Rail
road Co npany. This division, which Is
27I miles in length, connects with the
lake division OF the road q few miles south
of Sandusky, and thence, via Grafton,
with the main line leading to Baltimore
and Washington. The construction OF
this branch was long held under consid.
GRAFTON by the managers of the road, and
the results of its operation since its con
struction have proven that the sanguine
views entertained in regard to it were
not without warrant.
THE LINE OF ROAD
OF the Baltimore and Ohio, extending
northward from Baltimore some IA miles,
was the first passenger railroad opened
in the United States. 1t was first oper-
ated by horse power, bat steam was
brought into use, and the road greatly
extended during the years Immediately
following 1880. The company was char
tered rs early as February, 1927, and the
line opened successfully to Point of
Rocks, in 1882; Harper's Ferry, 1884;
Cumberland, 1912. and Wheeling in 1858.
The road now owned or operated by the
company extends from east to west
through the populous States of Illinois,
Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
and Maryland, and forms an unbroken
and continuous through line from the
great lakes to the Atlantic seaboard, and
with its double tracked rosd-bed, steel
rails on stone ballast, magnificent iron
bridges, first class equipment OF passen-
ger coaches, its line of Pullman sleeping
cars, with all the known appliances To
secure the safety and comfort of the pas.
senger, and the wonderfully gorgeous
mountain scenery through which it pas
sos, cannot be excelled or surpassed by
any railroad in the world.
The main line of the road extends
westward from Baltimore to Wheeling,
W. Va, 3795 miles and has the follow
ing branches: From Point of Rocks to
W ashington City, Az miles, and from the
Relay House over the Washington
branch, also ~ the national capital, 80
miles; from Junction to Hagerstown, Md,
"a miles, and from Grafton 10 Parkers-
burg, w. Va, l034 miles. The road Also
contains the following leased lines: The
Winchester and Potomac road, 32 miles;
S rash, * and Harrisburg, rs miles; VIII =
chester and Strasburg, l9 miles; Pits
burgh, Washington and Baltimore, 100;
miles; Wheeling, Pittsburgh, and Balti-
mere, 80 miles; Central Ohio, 1871 miles;
Lake Erie division, ll6 miles; Chicago
division 27l miles, and the Newark,
and Somerset, and Straitsville road, A
miles. The total length of branch lines
and leased roads IS l,O761 miles, and
added to the main line, makes the total
mileage of the Baltimore and Ohio road
,45G miles
THE FIsANcIAL CONDITION or TIKI ROAD
is not without interest The amount OF
capital stock (preierred and commonly
outstanding is less than $4,000 600; the
funded debt is less than $50, 00OOO0. But
the company holds a surplus exceeding
in amount the entire bonded debt, and nj
the same time the permanent property is
valued NJ $5OOOO,OOO. The earnings of
the road and its branches have averaged
about $4,000 900 year. The policy of
the President of the road, Mr. John W.
Garrett, has been justly termed "conser-
vstive," but il has been careful. not alone
of the interests of the stockholders, but
also of tho.s Of the general travelling
pablo. Mr.. Garrett has recognized the
philosophic truth that true conservatism
often consists IN extreme hberslity,
and has not failed /" apply this truth
Ia circumstances as they hsve srIsen. In
the dxys If Fisk and Gould, the country
owed much " the mental equipoise of the
great President OF the Baltimore and
Ohio rsilros.L and in all the troublous
times that have SINCE followed in the rail-
road world the Institution over which he
presides has stood out a. bright exam
ple of what It WAS possible to accomplish
with = great railroad, the managers Of
which wsse determined n run their busi-
ness In a business like way, The i'm.
mensc surplus iunJ that the Baltimore
and Ohio road now possesses, con hined
with its light stock and funded debt ac-
count has rendered it OF late years, and
especially since the construction OF the
Ch,csso divisioa-an able competitor
with the through roads lying TO the north
of it. In its
DEALINGS WITH rRHIGHT sHIrrERs
the road has been extremely liberal, and
Ia. conferred during the past two years
Almost - extended good effects upon
Chicago and the West Is it has during
The pest IS years, coaferred upon the
II.:f,,, r;tv If baltimore and the