The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-08-23

we doubt not, to make It welcome visitor
IN the homes OF those for whom Mr.. ALI.
.on 40 long and 80 acCeptably catered as
The proprietor OF the Herald. We wish our
old,denL great success in his new venture.
rue Railroad war Ended for the Present.
The railroad war between the Baltimore
4 Ohio and ?. ". & Ky. Companies is
over Tor the present. The agreement be-
lwrcn the high conflicting parties will be
ioand on our local page. This agreement
Vas wise procedure on the part OF both
If them. As things were going, an excite
ment was rising that might have culmin-
4ted in serious trouble. We congratulate
the companies and the public that such a
result has been avoided.
ACarl iromvice President Keyser, ,ofthe
Baltimore & Ohio Company, also appears
IN this issue, in which he gives resume
al The situation from the B. & 0. stand
point. 1t is conciliatory document, and
makes what appears to be pretty telling
point in regard to the defeat Of bill in
the Legislature for the interchange Of
freight between the two roads.
In this card Mr.. Keyser gives the public
understand that the Hempfeld road has
rost his Company too much money to be
abandoned. We take the liberty Of saying
that the people Of Wheeling do not under
value the protracted contest that the Com
pany have had to undergo in order to per-
iect their title to that property, nor do
they forget the other point made by Mr..
Heyser, in regard to the financial pressure
that compelled the Company to abandon
work on the extension OF the line to the
coke regions. Whatever prejudice exists
towards the B. & o. Company in the
present difficulty arises from the appre-
henson that it is holding the interests of
the city Of Wheeling in too complete
subordination to its own. In other words,
that our interests here are toolong sub
ieCtel TO the indecision OF the Company
as to whether twill ever resume the work
Of extension.
We say frankly that we believe that it
is the fixed intention OF the Baltimore
and Ohio Company to complete the Hemp
field to the coke fields. We greatly re-
gret that they have not seen their way
clear to resume work before this. We
can hardly blame them, however, for the
delay, seeing the depression through
which all the roads OF the country have
passed. In justice to their existing liabili-
ties We presume that they were compelled
1oclOsereefallt their enterprises, and Curtail
ullexpenditureS not absolutely necessary.
And yet it is very unfortunate ,circum-,
stance for the prosperity Of this city that
during the low prices OF the last two years
the extension has not been pushed
through, The TACT that coke is carried 10
Pittsburgh for SI4 per car and to this city
Tor So shows how urgent is our need Of
the road, This wide difference has made
manufacturers here very restive under the
delay Of the Hempfeld. And hence they
naturally sympathize deeply with a move
ment that promises to avoid the tolls of
the Baltimore and Ohio bridge at Bellaire,
and that offers them at least some reduc-
lion in present prices.
We think that the Baltimore and Ohio
people see clearly that there is a great
necessity for completing the Hempaeld as
soon as possible. It is their natural out
Iet-in fact their only one-irom the Coke
fields to the West, unless they build the
talked Of line from Pittsburgh to Chicago
Junction, which project we do not pre-
sume they seriously entertain. There is
4 great future for the Hempfeld line when
completed, even in local point OF view.
Il would be only 90 miles in length, and
would at once commence to divert the i'm.
,nense coal trade that now concentrates at
Pittsburgh to this city. Wheeling would
be the natural point for the towboats to
rOwe with their barges and receive the
coal that is now towed down slack
water and through the locks Of the
Monongahela, and over a hundred
miles Of dangerous navigation between
here and Pittsburgh. There is no
telling how large coal trade
could be built up here, And as for the
coke trade it would be capable Of an in.
definite expansion at thispoint, Not only
would the present manufacturing con-
Germs be assured Of cheap supply, but ere
long their numbers would be greatly in.
creased. OF this there can be no reasona.
bic doubt. Hence it is impossible to esti.
mate the magnitude Of the business that
could be built up by the extension Of the
iiempfeld, and hence it is the project to
which our people look with more longing
and more favor than any other en-
terprise since the completion Of the Balti
more and Ohio road to this city. So in
tense is their feeling upon the subject tina
they wonder that the company do no
enter into 1t with more apparent earnest
ness, They are impatient over the lonl
delay, and ready to fall in withIwhateve
offers as a partial substitute for It's ad
Taatages.
And now word as to the direct issu,
between the two roads. We think that
SOuld be wise on the part OF the B. & Q
Company to torego their opposition to th
extension Of the p. W. & Ky. road to Ber
wood. That road is certainly bound I