Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-07-12
BUFFALO As A RAILROAD
CENTER.

All through the summer the harbor
is full of lifc-tugs dart hithcr and yon,
lake vessels, big and little, receive
their cargocs, huge steamers and pro-
pcllers take on passengers or freight
for the upper lakes, while numerous
pleasurc-yachts, named for orsea-nymphs
and dryads, steam toward the Inter-
national bridge, which opens in the
center with massive swing, and per-
mits them to pass through on their way
"down the river" Finally, and most
important, stretching in all directions.
are the iron rails over which the COM
mcrce of the great West reaches the
Eastern scaboard.
To win the heart of this queen city
to-day you must court her in the role
of railway king. You must come as
the protector of a new trunk line, pre-
pared to lay your millions at her feet
in return for site from which to throw
another girdc around the city, and
with thousands more to invest for
commanding lot on Delaware Avenue,
/ "Thc Circlc,n or fronting one of the
many park approaches, whereupon to
erect palace OF Medina sandstone, or
II
of Newport or the famous Jerusalem
Road.
Never was the imperial position of
Buffalo appreciated as now, when all
signs point to the realization of the
prophecy that she is destined to sit
like commercial Constantinople
stretching along the Bosporus of the
broad Niagara. and holding the keys
of the DardaucIlcs that shall open and
shut the gates of trade for the regions
| east and west" A study of the globe
will show why, from the founder of the
| city i'll 1897 down to the latest railway
manager of 1850, eager to obtain an
approach to the International Bridge,
| already inadequate to the demands of
| traffic and mUotng the revival of the
old scheme of tunneling under the Nj
| agara, every sagacious person has
| predicted great commercial future
Tor the Queen tlty of the empire State.
With the completion OF the Northern
| Pacific Railroad the whole world will
pay her tribute. Not only will the
products of the immense wheat fields
| OF the Red River, the coal. oil, and iron
| of Pennsylvania, the lumber of Michi-
gan and the Southern States, the ores
OF Lake Superior and the live stock of
| tue great western prairies pass through
| her gates, but the commerce of Asia
with the Atlantic States, with England,
| and the Continent.
In the year oil Buifalo's incorpora-
| ton, 1882, when there were but ono
hundred miles of rail in the United
| States, was granted the first permit to
put II railroad Through Erie county.
Now, without the repetition Of rod,
| over nine thousand miles of travel are
possible on the lines centering at Buff
| talo alone, rs the starting point or ter
| minus OF twenty different railway lines.
| No city, save one. owes so much to
| railroads rs does Buffalo. Her termin-
| n! facilities are unequaled, and her
| transfer yards at East Buffalo are the
! largest in the world, with the outlying
country eucOmpassed for miles about
by network of tracks, approach
| ing closer and closer as they
near the city, and extending around
| the harbOr-sde to pour their freight
| OF coal, salt, and petroleum in
| to the lake vessels IN return for car
90 Of grain, Hour, lumber, iron, and
copper ore. Commercial Buffalo As
| like portiy and scf-satisiied spider,
supreme in the center OF her web.
The business man has his choice
among six different routes to New
York city. The New York Central
and Hudson River; the New York,
Lake Eric, and Westerns; the New
York, West Shore, and Buffalo; the
Delaware, LacNwanna, and Western;
the Lchigh Valley; and the Buffalo di-
vision OF the Buffalo, New York, and
Phiadelphia-all lead east amid tho
beautiful scenery of the interior of the
State. Stretching away in an opposite
direction toward the western prairies
are the Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern, the Michigan Central, tho
Grand Trunk OF Canada, the Great
Western division, and the New York,
Chicago, and ST. Louis, or "Nickel
plate" The remaining nine roads are
local lines. Among the most impor-
tant Of these is the Buffalo Creek Rail-
way, n belt freight line four miles in
length, extending down on either side
of the ship canal. Every railroad en-
tcring the city has connection with
this, and by the terms of the city's
grant its rates are uniform to all, thus
placing the railroads on equal terms.
Within the city limits railroad cor
porations own 2,7iG acres, or more
than four square miles of territory.
There are i3G miles of standard guage
track-mOrc miles Of rail than are con-
tanned in any other city on the globe.
Within the corporate boundaries of his
own town the Butlalonian could enjoy
a railroad journey equal TO trip to
New York over the Lackawanna, with
tweniy-six miles to spare. June NJ
Hetch IN HarpcrS Nagazine for Juiy.