The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-11-28
THE L Ant THE new.
What tho Ohio River Road mas Done for d
Part Of the Ohio Valley.

" huh ~ III HstNST kkuNu NktAof DuuS kOE q
Part Of the Ohio Valley.
The Ohio River road has already done
much for the stretch oicountty interven.
Ing between this city and Pa~rkersburg.
One great thing It has accomplished for
II has been to give It a perennial outlet.
Formerly, in seasons ofprotracted drouth
-as the present-there was no way Of
getting ''out or in" Now It is q matter Of
Indifference to most Of this population
whether II rains or not. The business that
this locality furnishes Is something phe.
no,nenal, and 1t has been commended for.
for fifty years By entefprising steamboat.
men. No short line Of boats ever did II
better or more paying average business
than the Wheeling aud Parkersburg lines
havu done. The cattle from tho thousand
hills, the hogs that throye and fat.
tened In tho rich valleys, The calves
that have kept half Wheeling awake,
time ont OF mind, the poultry innnmcr.
able, tho butter, eggs, apples, farm tro.
duets, In short all TINT the richest bottoms
md hills under tho sun have well nigh
spontaneously produced, have not been
consumed at home hNt have found their
way IN aud down the river when they
could or gone to waste when they couldn't,
The generations that have raised MI this
stuff have hcen content to get II away In
the most primitive manner. They had
come to the conclusiQN lang ago that II
waS q physical impossibility to get their
'struGkn 10 Whcelin' under two Jays md
two night under the most tavorlngcircum.
STANCES, and anything Of IN innoyatory
character was always instinctiyely antago-
niacd,
TIE piRsr KEnupfs.
Therefore, when the advance engineers
OF tho Ohio River Company planted their
tripods in the ricl, loam Of this great val.
Icy, they met with n very cool reception.
Later on rights OF way were procured Will,
difficulty. Despite these drawbacks, tri.
vial lit their character, the road was
built. For the first few weeks one or two
freight cars a day served to do the entire
business OF the road. Soon, however, the
river fell and kept falling until II was
scarcely wider than the right OF way OF
the road. Then the farmer cautiously be.
gan to Use It, experimenting with q sack
or two OF potatoes, n barrel OF flour, d case
OF eggs or some other article OF home pro.
duction. He soon found that he got better
rates, cheaper fare and quicker and more
satisfactory passage than under the old
regime and as the river continued to
shrink he finally handed over all OF his
freight to the new road, Freight cars be.
gan to multiply and In a week or two
great trains were required each way
every day to keep up with the increasing
demands upon them.
A COMPARATIVE SHOWING,
"Oh, yes, the railroad is doing relativel,
q better business than the boats did, said
Mr.. Jacob Koontz, asent OF the road nj
New Martinsville, and for many years pro-
prietor OF the whariboat and steamLoa.
agent ut that place. "There is u greater
incentive nov to ship freight than under
the old plan. Afarmer, merchant or bust.
ness man Of any kind can get his goods or
send away his products uny day in TIL,
year. while under the old way Of doing
he had TO take his chances. Rates then
fluctuated greatly. Sometimes they were
quite low and at other very high.
TREY See THE ADVANTAGES.
Nov a farmer or any shipper has d
scale Of rates running from seyen'to four.
teen cents according to classification. The
average now is notovereight ornine cents,
while on the river it averages ten cents a
hundred for everything. Shipping hes
boon or the steady increase for months
Lumber, look at that pile" pointing to u
lumber yard In which were many tbous.
ands OF teet-'eo to all parts Of the Eastern
Safes at very low rates. 1t is nea,ly ali
Of the poplar species. Apples arc shipped
by the barrelin immense quantities, willie
butter and eggs are shipped in untold
quantities to the commission merchants.
Wheeling gets her full share OF our bust.
ness, especially in the line OF produce,
Cattle and stock 90 almost altogether by
rail now and better rates are obtained
Tor, them T! s by owners rs they can
be handled more rapidly and cheap
ly by rail. This road has done much
for this country and it will do still more.
The farmcr5 are beginning 10 vie with
each other In the matter OF raising stock
for market, more grain is sown, more
attention is given TO farm details, better
farming appliances are appearing on all
the farms that l know OF, and in short the
beneficial results OF the new road are too
numerous to mention"
I. Other agents speak in similar. strain
about the advantages OF the new system
and tho disadvantages Of the old. The
Ohio River has come 10 stay.
10.