The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-03-28

LIE AbLA -
ISLAND CITIZENS LAST NIGHT.-A meet.
ing Of the citizens Of the Seventh Ward
was held in the basement Of Thomson N:
E. Church last night for the purpose oil
taking some action Ia relation to the pro-
posed change Of tolls by the Wheeling q
Belmont Bridge Company. About one
hundred and fifty persons were present,
including number Of the most proml.
nent and wealthy citizens Of the Ward.
Upon motion Of c. II. Collier, Esq, Mr..
S. P. Hildreth was called to the chair.
Mr.. G. H. Watkins was elected Secretary,
after which the object OF the meeting was
stated by the President.
Mr.. A. G. Robinson stated that in COM
pany with Messrs. E. ]. Stone, Alex. Coen
and John A. Armstrong, he had attended
a meeting Of the Directors Of the Bridge
Company on Saturday night, and ascer-
tanned that the Board was then consider:
ing the propriety OF changing the rate Of
tolls charged and also the manner OF col.
Letting them. The proposed change would
be one cent each way across the bridge, TO
be paid by everybody at the time Of cross
ing. This, on an average, would make
the tolls paid by the Island people four
or five times more than at present,
besides being much more inconvenient
than paying yearly. The Directors as
sured Mr.. Robinson that they were
brought to consider the change by the
violent and unjustifable assaults made
upon them by the Standard and Leader
newspapers. Editorial articles had fire.
quently appeared in those papers declar.
ing that the bridge company had no right
10 collect toll, and these articles had in
jured the company greatly and put them
10 much Inconvenience in collecting tolls.
The directors also were led to believe,
from the persistency with which these
attacks were made, that they were
instigated by the Island people,
or at least that the Island people were
in sympathy with them. The statements
made by these papers, the Directors
claimed, were false in every particular,
and calculated to greatly damage the
company. They had, as n result, expert
enced great difficulty in collecting tolls
from certain Island people, and believed
they had no other redress than TO compel
every one who crossed the bridge to pay
at the time. Mr.. Robinson assured the
Board that fully nine.tenths Of the
people on the Island were not in SYM
patty with said newspaper articles, but
were satisfied with the present toll ar
rangements. For himself, he had never
seen copy Of the LEADER, and did not
know any one on the Island who read ii.
Mr.. Robinson also stated that he and his
companions we're treated with great
courtesy by the Board Of Directors Of the
Bridge company.
Mr.. Stone, who came in after Mr.. Rob.
inson had concluded speaking, also gave
an account Of the interview with the
Bridge directors already alluded to. His
statement was substantially the same US
Mr.. Robinson's, with the exception that
he spoke OF complaint made by the
Bridge directors in relation to Island peo-
pie who pay their toll by the year jumping
off street car when passing the toll
house, and thus cheating the Bridge CON-
pany out OF four cents. The directors
had stated that when any person paid by
the year for walking across the bridge, he
should pay extra for riding across. Much
feeling WIS expressed on this subject.
Mr.. Robert Campbell made motto
that committee Of three be appointed to
draw up resolutions expressing the sense
OF the meeting.
Remarks we're made upon this motion
by Messrs. 7. J. Blair, Charles NJ. Coen,
Capt. John McLure and others, after
which it was adopted, and Messrs. John
Mcclure, E. ]. Stone and A. G. Robinson
appointed upon the committee. Tho
committee retired, and in n few moments
returned and submitted the following re.
port:
To The President and Directors Of The IVhtei.
ing and Belmont Bridge Company:
Genaemen-The undersigned, repre-.
senting 10 very great extent the citi.
zens OF the Island, having learned that
your company contemplated raise in
the tolls OF your bridge MS well as a rad.
ical change in the manner OF collecting
the same, to-wit: "That the tolls are 10
be paid, individually, upon every pass.
age OF the bridge" and, understanding
that said proposed change was to large
extent brought about by the assaults Of
the Sunday Leader and Standard against
your company, beg leave to represent,
lat. That we have no sympathy with
said assaults in any way whatever, and
most emphatically express our disappro.
val Of them.
I'd. That we believe that the rate OF
tolls upon any large public improvement,
such as the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge
Company, should not be changed unless il
became absolutely necessary for its exist.
enco and improvement.
Sd. That we are impressed with the fact
that whenever changes arc made in said
tolls, wherever the increase In travel is
large, almost invariably said tolls are
lowered, not raised.
4th. That we believe that said change
would work very injuriously to the CHI.
zens OF the Island, and that it will be a
great injury to TO the growth Of the Sew.
enth Ward.
9th. That we think it would not be In
accordance with usage, nor would it be
magnanimous in company OF the char.
acter OF the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge
Company, 10 change the tolls that have
been in usage for near twenty years for
so trivial acause.
9th. The undersigned most earnestly
express our hope that your company will
not make any change in the tolls upon
your bridges TO the Island.
T.. STONE.
A. G. ROBINSON.
Capt. Mcclure did not sign the report
for the reason, he said, that he had not
read the newspaper articles referred to.
He stated, also, that he had no minority