Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-06-24
THE UNION DEPOT.
THE PLANS. FOR ITS ERECTION KNOCKED INTO
A Cooked HAT,
According 10 President Cochran and Col. BlSsell-
An Interview, in Which Reasons are Given
for the Abandonment Of the Idea.

President Il. II. Cochran, of the Wheel
ing Bridge and Terminal Railway Com
many. arrived Yesterday from Toledo, and
last evening a REGISTER reporter met MN
and asked whether or not the Company
would accept the award OF the Commission
ers appointed the condemn the property oil
the Norway Tack Company, desired by the
Railway Company as part Of the site for
their contemplated union freight and pas
senger depots, as was very fully outlined
in the REGISTER, some ten days ago; In
reply TO the question, President Cochran
said:
"The award made is so high as TO pre-
clude the idea of our building the dcpots III
contemplation by us, and for when plans
in detail have been in preparation. Inc
consequences will be very serious TO our
Company and TO the city of Wheeling alike
To us, il means the complete overturnlng
of our plans and leaves us entirely at sea
not knowing what way TO turn or what tC
do. To the city il means first, the loss OF
an enterprise the value of which TO the Dusl
ness men of the city can not be easily meas
ured and secondly, an opportunity Tor th6
permanent improvement of Wheeling creek
! from the Market street bridge east 10 the
bend i'm the stream. That locality is now
an cye-sore and is largely given over to oh
/ iectionable matters of various kinds. Al
! Improvement would have transformed thai
quarter Of the city"
HAS the Company absolutely deter
mined upon this abandonment
Eyes, although, of course IL has rot beer
formally sanctioned by the Board of Di
rectors. | have here letter from Col
Bissell, written by him, as he says, in haste
from which / quote: THE award OF SIS, 10,
is out of the question. The Arbenz people
attempted the same policy, and they hav,
their property yet We will let the Tack
Factory keep theirs, also. This is moi
bluff. | mean it as much in this case as | die
in the ArbenZ matter | will have S3OOOO
less TO raise. and that will be great relic
to me- Now" continued Judge Cochran
you see what that means. | have wired
Inv concurrence in the determination Of
Col Bissell, and have written him fully
today
"The REGISTER heard, Saturday, {
rumor of the abandonment OF the depo
idea, but was reluctant TO believe it, as the
| Company has heretofore not allowed ever
! thousands of dollars 10 stand in the way Of
its plans
THAT is true, in a measure, but in this
I case, .Iut aWdTu Ol lilc 1OulnllSSlOu III
degree. set the price for contiguous prop
erty-that is, it would largely effect value:
| in that ncighborhood, and we feel that we
would not be justified in proceeding upon
the basis fixed
IF it is fair question, what has your
! Company been willing to pay the Tack
Factory Company"
Our offer To them was $4,000 for the
real estate, allowing the Company 10 re
move what it chose from the premises.
The Company wanted $50, 900. My under
standing of the award of the Commission
ers is their price of SIS, 100 covered the
entire plant
Gould you're Company carry out the
depot plan without the Tack factory prop
ertyr'
II fear not Our first idea was to take
strip forty feet wide off the south side OF
of the Tack Factory property, throwing
Eighteenth street over there, and using the
present street for our depot, but it was
represented TO us that TO take the forty
feet would render the remainder of the Tack
Company's property practically worthless
| to them, and we concluded it would be
cheaper for US TO take the whole, hence oul
offer of $4,000. The present Eighteenth
street would give us depot, according &c
the map, as wide as the b. & o, but there
would he serious legal questions III the
way For instance, am not prepared &c
say Council could give US the street with
out our opening u new street in exchange
for IT,"
"Do | understand that in saying your
depot plans will be completely abandoned,
you mean you will not throw bridge over
the creek, or run line along the north
bankl'
Eyes, sir; all will be abandoned. II
would not pay us to build such an extensive
bridge as was in contemplation, simply and
solely for the trade of the establishments
at present existing on Nineteenth street,
and in that vicinity"
"A depot west of Market street is out OF
the question:
Eyes, sir. The problem of crossing
Market street would be one for which Il
solution could not be found. | regret this
unfortunate turn of affairs greatly.
think it is public calamity for Wheeling,
and that the city is losing an opportunity
which will never again be presented, to Sc
cure adequate depot and terminal IA
cilities."