The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-01-11

unemployed rolling stock and as compel
ton may compel US. Wheeling Is term
D. nal point. She ships 20 car loads per da
out Of our depot. Freight collects her
from other routes and q reserve Of cars
4 kept here. Wehave competition byrive
and rail at thispoint, II we were 10 Local
v iEe Wheeling manufactures, while q
the same time those OF Pittsburgh, Gin
cinnati and other places were put upon
4 different basis, the business would be driet
up here in q very short time. We ar
u obliged 10 establish such rates as will on
i able your manufacturers and merchants L
4 live under the pressure OF competition Il
, which they are subjected by rival points
y ltis,achoice between this and no busines
I a Wheeling. We therefore, like al rail
+ roads, make virtue Of necessity. y
l R-This does not mean Mr.. Keyser
/ that you give Wheeling pro rata rates will
Cincinnati and Chicago?
Mr. K.-No, but simply that we give hel
. such rates as will enable her TO protect hel
legimate territory from invasion by those
cities or by Baltimore. This is what We
must do for every principal center OF trade
on our lines.
rR. The merchants and manufacturer
here cannot Of course ask moro at your
hands than this2
Il Mr.. cK,TIkhogld say not. We do as
4 well for every point as We can afford. II
Is our interest to build up trade every.
where at anyJpoint touched by our line
onlts connectionsS To do this we must
have system, and that system must have
Its gradations, according TO the business
and the competition. For the same season
that we cannot carry goods, from Chicago
% BALTIMORE at Q pro rata on San Francisco
rate, We cannot carry, them from. Wheel.
ing 10 Baltimore on pro fata Of Chicago
rates. And the same principle makes Il
impossible that we shall carry them from
Martinsburg to Baltimore on mere pro
rata aa 9 81 y, Wheeling rates. ..l.a~iI
Y RTBnt Mr. Keyser, u Is selaimed that
under the charter of 1917, by the State OF
virginia, your road Is limited to Wheeling
rates to all points on your line to or from
Baltimore and Wheeling
Mr.. K.-When that charter was granted
the railroad system ofthe country was in
embryoThardlyr that. There was mot a
LINE running west from the Ohio river.
.Nothlng more Incredible has ever hap
pened than the present development OF
railroads. The entire country - the
Eentire world, in fact has been
Ee7olutioniZed by what has happened.
Look for single moment at the history
OF the Baltimore & Ohio road, When Il
was first built to Ellicott's Mills, and af-
terwards gto~Frederick, Nd. sails were
pfoSlded ktoThn it'by wind the same as a
fsmp!e Think of the cfudeness oil the ideas
about railroads that must have prevailed
at that time. It was run on strap iron
nailed on wood stringers,, and pulled by
fhorses. 70, reach the Ohio river was an
Extravaganza Of the Simagination. Cars
were TO be pulled up the mountains by all
sorts OF complicated mechanical contri-
vances. The most daring engineer did
not dream that, q, locomotive could he run
up th6 n6untain sides z And so iii 1si7
our ultima thule was the Ohio river. We
expected to tap the commerce OF that
rlver. The tariff OF charges was to be so
much mile. The charter granted US the
rtgnt te charge 9ccnts per ton lpeti mile,
neyer q dteaming that competitive, freights
would be carried some day at less than one
cent per ton per mile, and that We would
carry even local freights for moiety OF
that cepts,- The ideas Of railroad legisa.
ton at haEtime' were modelled on the his
tory OF stage lines and national road wag.
ons. They had no more conception OF The
railroad future of he-couhtfy than the
lathers, Of the Republic had when, they
made its colonial laws. Il is+only,within
3 comparatively recent period, that the
Baltimore 4 Ohio Railroad Company itself
has fully realized the necessities that II
must meet as great trunk line. For that
reason 1t has gone into ships, spending
many hundreds OF thousands Of dollars Ito
open up the portof Baltimore to the car.
rying trade OF the.world: We'have spent
between two and three emillions OF dolIarsat
Locust Point, where, We ahave fitted 1up
piers Where steamships Of 1900 tons bur
then can come iniand be loaded with -four,
wheat, corn,' pork aud petroleum right
along side Of our tracks at the lowest DOS.
sible expense. The first Ships we bought
were too small for economy in the. trade,
and we sunk $750, 900 to get rid otthem.
We then wentinswiths / the German Lloyds
into our present large ships, at an i'm.
mense expenses and in addition We have
built great bonded warehouses In which
tobacco, oil and all articles Of export and
import are stored. Our. warehouse re-
ceipts are taken in Baltimore as collateral
by all the banks. Everything is done on
a large scale and with the most perfect sys.
TEN. / only speak ofthese points to show
you the magnitude OF the expense
that has been entailed on tho Balti.
more Road, and how vast has been
the charge since lSI7, The company has
borrowed millionsiniE Europe TO meet these
necessities, and the end Is not vet, We
are now preparing to meet the demand In
Europe for fresh beef. We will soon have
an Immense stock yard from which we ex-
pect To ship 1900 cattle per week to for.
eign countries. We expect, to afford
great market for West Virginia cattle, And.
ing for her superior beef demand in
England and at the ports OF the Continent.
We are obliged 10 do this, Just US we have
been obliged to take step alter step to meet
tho competition thrust upon us by our
rival lines. =
R-This outline OF the past and present
hist1ryot. your road is certainly very in
teresting, Mr. keyser, but suppose, not
withstanding the changes that have oc.
CURED since lSl177which are true, no
doubt, as you present them, ,-the Legisla-
ture still insists on holding you to the lin
itations ot your charter as respects local
rates. What then? -''' ~r'e.1
4 Mr.. K.-We must do one OF two things
localize Wheeling or 90 into bankruptcy,
live localizc Wheeling We ruin her bust
hess, and II we make her rate the local
rate we ruin ourselves. So far rs l can
4 now see these are our alternatives. No
!, road can put It's wholesale and retail bust.
!, ness on an equality. No man can peddle
4 for for tho sans price that sars sSes ar: sold.
straight through and come straight back
for far less money than we can load, un.
load and haul broken! loads from point Ia
point along tho line, au operation that in
wolves delays, switching, loss OF cars and
other incidents that enter into the ex.
penses OF the road. ~ .l.s0a
R-It is not to DO presumed that the
} legislature would push your road 10 {
point where ruinous losses would set IN
1 hiIhnR unnn anu ~ gAha s,sn.k t.l..--I. :