Daily Republican., 1878-12-30
n. REPUBLICAN hss the largest
sarculstion Of any paper In Dola.
~.re. Advertisers take 70 note OF
thtO.
Under the II amnAer.


times, the Eastern Shore Railroad has
yielded to the pressure and has passed
,ndsr the auctioneer's hammer. The
road is really but continuation OF the
Delaware Railroad, adding thirty 'eight
miles to it from Delmar to Crisfeld.-
It seems that want Of sufhcit mt busi-
ness to sustain the road is the only
cause for the necessity which is forcing
!, into other hands, as there are no
charges Of peculation, fraud or dis
honesty brought against any OF its ON
cars. No doubt there is enough trade
in the three lower counties Of the East-
rru Shore contiguous to the railroad to
make it self-sustaining, if it was not
diverted away by shipping vessels,
which, BY the aid of numerous inl-ts
and creeks, reach every town OF I'M
,ortance. even on the line of the rail-
road. The road has varied and in
tsrssting history, and it is one which
our neighboring State of Maryland IS
interested in to great degree. In 1883
or 1889, oyears ago, Maryland, in order
l. encourage internal improvements,
divided 81 100000 amongst the Eas-
tern shore companies, $4,000 Of this
amount falling to Somerset county. 1t
WAS intended about that time to build
=, Eastern shore railroad from Elkton
clear down to Crisfeld or some point
on the Atlantic ocean, but that pro-
iect falling through and the Delaware
railroad having been built to eeatcrd,
tho authorities of Somerset county con-
eeived the idea OF building road
through their county from Crisfeld to
the Delaware line and thereby induce
the Delaware Railroad Company to ex-
,snd their road twelve miles farther
and meet it. The Delaware railroad
company instead of making Seaford the
.outhern terminus from which they had
boped to establish steamboat route by
th. Nanticoke and Chesapeake Bay to
Norfolk, abandoned that idea aud ex-
landed their road to Delmar on the
line of the State where they linked
with the Eastern Shore railroad, 10y
which a continuous line of railroad was
built from Wilmington to Crlsheld.-
When the Eastern Shore road was fin
jshed. it vas operated by the Phila-
delphia, WILMINGTON and Baltimore
Railroad Company, the latter by neces-
slry improvement bringing the East
ern Shore Company into debt to It,
abou. $3.50, 900. In 1870 the road was
transferred back to the Original owners
by whom It has since been operated,
but the expense of purchasing rolling
stock besides paying the draw back due
the Philadelphia, Wilmington Il Balti-
more Railroad, has eaten up all the ear
nings of the road, 80 there was moth
ing left to pay into tho sinking fund
provided by the Legislature in 1860. In
1876 another act of the Maryland Leg
islature authorized the issuing of second
mortgage bonds to the amount of $500,
900, a provision in this law also crea
ting a sinking fund. Of the amount
authorized of the second mortgage
!oads, only about $l97 900 We're taken,
and the greater bulk of that was taken
by the Harlan & Hollingsworth Com
pany of this city on account of rolling
stock for the road. 1t is at the suit of
our Wilmington company that the road
las been forced to sale, though it is
not likely that its claim will be- salts
fed, as the road will in all probability
be bought in by the first nortgagebond
holders, to make themselves safe. The
bonded debt of the road is as fol-
lows:
First mortgage bonds, $4o), 900; ac-
crue1 interest on the same, $3.50, 900;
cond mortgage bonds, $751; $50; ac-
crued interest, sl2j, 900; making a
grand total of 1912, $50. The annual
interest on the bonded debt Of the road
il $34, ,235. lis net revenues annually
are only about $4,000. For period
of eight years, under the local manage
ment. the net earnings Of the road were
S2O5, ,O4l Az. This sum was all applied
to the purchase Of rolling stock and
paving the debt to the Philadelp phia,
Wilmington Il Baltimore Railroad Com
pany. The stock Of the road has no
marketable value at the present time,
and is not likely TO be worth anything
for the next half century. Rumor hes
it that the road will be- operated by the
Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore
Railroad Company. Such an arrange
ment, it is argued, will guarantee great
er economy in the administration of its
affairs.
THERB IS A PLACE on the Blue noun.
tains whore of all other places the crows