National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1885-08-19
HALLWAY NOTES.

The seminnnunl meeting NJ the Nttiontl Az.
NtcntiOn Of General Passenger an Ticket
Agents viii he held NJ the Windsor Hotel, MY
York, Sept To-
Henry Fink, general manager Of the vir.
piuin, 1Cnnesfec and Gc1rgit Air. Lin1 (Nnr.
folk and Western, ShcundOah Valley, EtFt
Tennessee, Nriinia and Georgia railways), ms
appointed Mr. W. u. Wr1nn general passenger
agent to take effect on the lst proximo.
Robert Garrett says: "Nn settlement Of
trunk line difficulties Is possible without the
concurrence and cooperation of tho Baltimore
ana Onto which long since determined to
ugrCC to no settlement ur restoration of rat1I
without absolute protection Is secured TO II llti-
more aud Ohio interests"
The general passenger agents Of various lines
met nt Commissioner Fiuk's olics in New York
Yesterday hut adjourned without M lking any
progress III the general restoration of rates.
This was due to the iact that all thOs1 inter-
estcd III the matter ut distant points hld not
lcCn heard from. Another inco lag will Le
he'd tC.duy.
]; srumorci that new company c)mprii.
ing W. W. Peabody president Of the OAio AMI
Mississippi; Orlando Smith, president of tho
ilnuh Teters of ths Iii,e Mlami % and T several eS
other prominent men, has negotiated the pnr.
chase Of the Cincinnati, Gcorgltown, aad
Portsmouth Narrow Gauge railroud.
| Merchants Of Atlanta Ga, "whose interests
| have been trumplCd upon, whose energies and
| enterprises have been hampercd AMI umbar-
| gCCdh have determined to boycott tht rail.
/ ruGds ccnicring ut that city aud have pledged
| thtmSt Ives "ng business men and Cit,lCns VINO
| value the welfare and prosperity OF our city"
to puirOnilC only such line or lines (whol there
| Is u choice rs the committee of merchants
| 81 al direct.
| 1t hns been commmonly supposed that the
| Granite railroad built Mt Quincy Mass, in
| 1877, Ivy Gfidlcy Bryant, for transporting stone
| Tor the Bunker Hill monument was the first
railroad built in the United States. Oi tho
! contrary, Mr.. Bnrnett lie Van, in q paper onti-
! tied Transportation Facilities of the Past aud
| Present." read before the franklin Institute,
| presents interesting testimony TO- prove that
| the Granite railroad was really only tho fourth
| IN order of precedence in the United States.
| lie said: "Railrnads were first introduced In
| Pcnnsylyanin. In. 1909 the first experimental
| track IN the United States was laid out by John
! Thompson Ohe father of John Edgar ThOmp-
son, who was niterward the president of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, civil engl.
! under his direction by Somervillc, Scotch
| millwright, for Thomas Licper, of Philadel-
| phia. The experiment with loaded
| car was so successful that Iicpcr in the samc
year caused the first practical railroad in the
| United States TO be constructed for the trans
portntion of stone from his quarrcs on Crum
creek TO his landing on Ridley creek, In Dsla-
| ware county, Pa, distance of about one mile.
II continued In use for nineteen years.
Commenting upon the recent cas.igation of
| railroad companies for their high tariff charges
administered by Frank Wilkeson. the we'll
| Known Journalist, The Railway News siys:"No
| wonder, when so able writer arrays himself
agains, the greatest element of national pros
| perity in the country, chnracterizng 1t as the
| peoples foe, that the rnthinking masses are
never tired of mallgning railway direction,
| officials, and bondeOl dcrs, charging them with
receiving dividends upon eNtorted transporta-
tion charges, upon watered stock, and upen
vast paper estates created by tn, engraver's
art. II Is a truth, nevertheless, supported by n
startling array of facts and figures, that the un-
| precedented increase of our national wealth,
| development of our resources and marvellous
| growth of commerce, internal and foreign, are
due primarily and fundamentally to tie rail-
ways of America. The American rail-
way system has been tho most potent agency in
the enrichment and advancement OF the
artisan, the storekeepcr, the mauuhc-
tureT, the mechanic, and the farmer of
any that has been put into operation.
Railways are the pioneers of settlements.
Populations flock to the iron rail. A few ham.
lets herald the advent Of an invading railroad,
With terminal facilities established these soon
become towns and cities. Tho farmer. whoFc
products have tenfold valne above what they
possessed when he could not find market,
owes his wealth and prosperity to the agency
that facilitates transportation. The successful
merchant, whose increase ofcustom hasgrown
with the town, which was only q cluster of
houses when he first hung out his shingle, Is
indCl ted for his wealth to the railway com.
pany, which made the town and its increased
Importance. Rarely have railways been be.
hind settlements The whole march of pOpu.
lation westward has followed the iron horse -