The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1891-09-07
Figures Showing the ImmenseValue the
Great Traffic OF To-Day Represents.
Railroad Valuation in 1890 Exceeded the Whole
Estimsted Wealth of the Country in 1850
The Vast Number of Employees.

Before the days of railroads. when the In
land transportation of the country between
the navigable rivers and lakes was done
with horses and wagons. it cost 20 cents q
mile per tone to haul any product. This
means that it cost three-ffths of cent to
haul bushel of wheat mile. consequent
ly wheat. which was worth 20 cents o
bushel at the market place, would be of no
value 125 miles distant. es the cost of
transportation TO the market would be Just
the same as the price for which the grain
would sell. If wheat was worth at the
market S1.50 bushel. it was worth nothing
go miles distant over wagon roads.
In view of the foregoing fact. imagine
the condition of the Northwest. with its
Granares bursting with the great wheat
harvest, if some hostile power could. in a
single hour. practically destroy every one
Of the 167, 900 miles of railway IN this coun-
try. The golden harvest that tens of thou.
sands of farmers hold to be worth nearly O
gold dollar for each bushel of wheat would
have little moro value, bushel for bushel,
beyond the quantity they could eat. than
the same number of bushels Of the soil upon
which it grew. since it could have no value
il it had to be carried $50 miles in wagons,
drawn by animals. On the other hand,
the populous East, which has eaten West
ern wheat for forty years, and Europe,
which needs S00.000.0 900 bushels Of wheat
or its equiv alent to feed its millions. would
be confronted with famine from which
there could be no escape. Cities which are
now near neighbors would be strangers,
separated by days and weeks Of travel. In.
dlanapolis and New York. now separated
by but twenty-four hours. would be twice
as far apart in the time consumed
in journeying between them as ore
San Francisco and New York now.
Indeed, only q moments consideration is
required TO understand that the railway is
to this country what the channels which
circulate the life-blood are to the human
body-its arterial system-over which pull
safes the commerce which sustains q CONT
nent and sustains O new ana progressive
civilization.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF RAILROADS.
The first railroad with q steam loco.
motive in this country was opened from
Baltimore to Endicott's mills in 1880. There
were two or three shorter lines between
quarries and tide-water previous to that
date, but the beginning of what has since
become the Baltimore & Ohio system was
the first railway in this country. In 1880
there were % miles of track; in 1910. ISIS;
miles: in 1850. 9.021 miles; in 1850, 80 626; in
1870, 52,92 In 1880, IS, 296: in 1890 166Sl7
miles. Before the era of railroads the re-
gion west of the Allegheny mountains was
but an insignificant part of the country.
and it was not until the iron tracks reached
beyond that barrier that the star of empire"
took its course westward. In the East. to-
day, there are many excellent people who
cannot bring themselves to believe that the
railroad has carried the real national cen.
ter q Thousand miles from the Atlantic.
The center of population, which appears
with each decennial census report, tells the
story of what railway Development has
done for the country. Until 1850 the center
of population chung to the seaboard, but
when railroad lines began to pierce the in
terror the center of population followed
with gigantic strides.
The miracle of railway developement In
the United States. however, is best set
forth by the earnings and tonnage, as given
In the following table: