The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1877-12-28
Abnnt NarroM GanHo.

WaynOsburg Narrow Gauge, during bis
recent holiday excursion TO WsyneSburS,
He says that about four bonrS are con.
sumed en- the trip, Overweight mi!es)
one Of them in waiting al the half way
passing point for the other train-and
that the road is "a YET too crude for fast
travel. I.leutyes are very sharp and liz
grades very steep, and, in addition, II Is
eminsntly a public highway, iuasmuCh a.
the cars stop wherever they are hailed
either for passengers or freight. The
people who travel are not, generally
speaking, In a hurry. They remember
the old slow going stage and arc satisfied.
They can move little faster and far
more comfortably by rail than by the old
fashion, and It accommodates their wants
and wishes 80 much better than they were
ever accommodated before that they are
just "pleased to death" with the change
with the idea Of having railroad Of their
own-with the sen'e Of being at last able
to 60 somewhere by the cars like other
people.
, The grades are perhaps too steep and
Ss curves too sharp on the W. 3 W.
harrow Gauge, but ii Is the peculiar
beauty Courve lines are always lines Of
beauty IS we'll as the browning merit Of
marrow guages that they, more than the
standard roads, admit Of sharp curves
and steep grades. They are therefore
the roads Of oil others for a billy aud
rough country, and by running at speed
bio TO 10 miles per hour, they answer
all the purposes Of safe and speedy local
travel. Their mission is not to compete
with great through lines, but to open up
regions otherwise inaccessible to active
trade and contact to the world, and thus
act as feeders to the great through lines,
Just as the common country roads arc
now feeders to the same lines and to the
rivers Of the land. Their sphere Is to at.
ford the people at this season Of the year,
when the roads are 80 nearly impossible,
facilities for getting their produce to
market. Just at this time we are reading
in the Western papers that business is
seriously blockadGd owing to the cOndi.
ton Of the country roads. The farmers
can't ship their produce, and consequent.
y can't pay their bills, and consequently
thecountry merchants can't pay the job.
--bers in chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis
and Indianapolis, and thus the wheels Of
trade are blocked.
The matter Of roads has most i'm.
rortant bearing on the value Of country
property. Within an hours ride OF the
city Of Baltimore, according to the Sun,
the question Of contiguity to a railroad
regulates the value Of the place, and
makes difference Of one.half in its
value. A place six miles from coun.
try depot, which can only be reached in
the winter over road into which horse
sinks to hia knees and tho wheels Of
wagon half way to their hubs, will cell,
perhaps, for $40 per acre, while II The
same place was Immediately along side Of
the railroad it would sell for 500 per
acre. The wear and tear, expense and
vexatlon, Of getting to and from a cOun.
try place through the mud depreCiates
itsvalus immensely in the estimation Of
the man who desires to raise produce for
frequent shipment to the city markets.
OF course narrow gauge roads can
never take the place Of common roads,
hut inasmuch as they can be built and
kept up cheaper than a we'll macadamized
road, they undoubtedly have mission
before them in the way OF penetrating
into localities where it would not
pay to build road requiring low grades
and wide curves and great deal Of bust.
ness to keep 1t in efficient working
condition. The little Pennsboro & Har-
risville narrow gauge road in Richie
county, in this State, pays expenses and
Nccumulates surplus, and SO does thesix
miles and hall Of road between ST.
Clairsyille and Quincy; aud SO, SO far as
we see, do most Of the narrow gauges Of
the country, especially those that have
been built in the cheap times since the
panic.
This reminds US not only that there is
talk oibuildiug narrow gauge along the
shore between here and Parkersburg, but
that our neighbors over at Mt. Pleasant
have all Of sudden walked up to the i'm
portance Of better connection with the
world than they now possess. Hence We
read in the last Martins Ferry Mems the
following paragraph:
"Welearn that citizens OF Mount Pie, :
SAINT are talking up narrow gauge road
from that place to Martins Ferry. If
they not only talk itup but ,SorEit up
We are much mistaken II they do not
find It the beat speculation they have ever
engaged In. We shall at the earliest con-
venient season lay before them facts and
figures TO prove this assertion. In the
meantime go on good friends, 60 on. The
narrow guage is the road Of the future.
A good friend who possesses more than
tho ordinary amount oil sagacity predicts
that the next ten years will witness the
construction and completion Of more
narrow gauge roads in Ohio than there
are railroads now In operation in the
State"
In addition to this Mt. Pleasant Mar.
row Gauge, the Naa warmly advocates
the extension Of the ST.. clairsville road
from Quincy to Bridgeport, We observe
also that the steubenville GaG:tts Of yes
tsrday evening has fervent exhortatiCn
to the people OF that city TO grasp the
Importance Of the Wills Creek Narrow
GAUGE The tone Of the article is rather
lespondent about the business outlook