The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-01-05
c,a,a,,eaxe ana Ohio Railroad.

Tho receipts upon the Chesapeake and
ohio railroad Tor the past year are very en- en-
couraging, as our readers have seen-being
about 81 900, 0o0--in spite Of the gap which
cuts It off at Huntington from It's western
connections, and OF the unreliable navtga-
ton of the Ohio river, upon which It mas 70
rely for western commerce.
A remarkable fact about the receipts Is
that sSOO,O OF them were received at the
James-river wharves below Rockets. This
shows the value OF the tunnel. There
could have been no through transportation
OF coal, and possibly Of lard and OF petro-
leum, but for the tunnel. Certainly timber
could not have come via Richmond. There
fore the tunnel has been the means OF en-
larging the receipts Of the company, and OF
giving volume to the commerce OF James
river, which, Of course, tends greatly to the
advantage Of Richmond.
The receipts at the wharves above named
amount to two thirds as much rs the re-
ceipts OF the Richmond and Danville rail-
road for freights and passengers, and are
equal to the aggregate receipts OF the Rich
mond, Fredericksburg and Potomac, the
Richmond, York River and Chesapeake,
and the Richmond and Petersburg rail-
roads. The aggregate Of the receipts OF the
Chesapeake and Ohio railroad is equalto
the gross receipts of the four railroads above
| named.
We can well imagine that vast business
must be done by the Chesapeake and Ohio
railroad when it is connected with the west
ern system OF railroads. A gap OF some
forty miles for one connection and gap OF
sixty or seventy for another are all that are
to be bridged to open the western railways
out to California to the Chesapeake and
| Ohio road. In all probability these inter-
walls cannot long remain. And then what
We shall see.
We have often called public attention to
the advantage of the line Of improvement
along the James, Kanawha, and Ohio val
leys. 1t avoids the obstructive frosts OF
winter and the disabling heats and fevers
of summer, and also the damage to perish
able articles that are injuriously affected by
heat. The tendency Of trade from and to
the Northwest for six months in the year
must be towards this just middle line. This
will be seen as soon as the western connec-
tions are finished. A recent terrible acct
dent may be attributed in great degree,
we think, to frost, which is m enemy to
human energies. If we imagine the steady
increase of cold, it will soon reach point
at which all motion will be stopped, and
long before that is reached it becomes an
impeachment, rendering motion perilous and
transportation improbable. Therefore in
winter the people of cold ATTITUDES involun-
tarily, as it were, incline to the routes that
lie through gentle temperatures, where
transportation Is facilitated and security Of
life and property is greatest.
Right along the Ohio, the kanawha, and
the James to the Chesapeake is the line
pointed out by nature for the Northwest,
and in time that will be the great thorough
fare for Northwestern produce for exporta-
ton and for foreign imports for Northwest
ern consumption. The people Of the Ohio
Valley and of the Kanawha and James
should Strain every nerve to complete the
connections Of the Chesapeake and Ohio
railroad with the West.