Connecticut western news., 1892-02-25

pected by its early advocates.
 MT. Butler could not be more pleased
 than we to see a paying Great Through
 Freight Route" over Spaulding's sum.
 init. He expects to see it we don't
 but that's merely difference of belief.
 But we see nothing to hinder railroad
 over Spaulding's summit becoming
 self supporting, in fact a good invest
 ment if through freight was discarded
 and policy instituted to develop local industries and local freight and passen- | ger traffic between Hartford and Miller
 ton. Mir. Butler may possibly say such policy was tried at the opening of the
 road. Very true, but how was it tried?
 It was tried under crushing debt in- cured in building the road when labor | and material were at extemely high l figures; when iron rails cost $87 50 per ton, whereas since then steel rails could
 be purchased at $52 50 per ton. Tried when common labor commanded $2. OO or more per day instead of $l,00 to $1. 25 since then. Tried under such enor- nous expense for construction, equip ment and operating expenses that the interest on the debt could not be earned.
 But now that the road has been reor- ganized several times and it's original cost nearly wiped out, the local busi- ness of the road, if properly managed and developed, would earn good in- terest on what the road cost the recent, or present, owners were sit not for the loss incurred in hauling through freight. We are told that coal is hauled from Highland to Hartford at one half the rate charged from Highland to Canaan notwithstanding the distance to Hart ford Is double the distance to Canaan. Coal is hauled to Hartford at that rate
 because Hartford is competing point; aye, there's the rub-all through freight
 has to be hauled at competing rates.
 We are told that, during the past sea- son, grain has been hauled from Rhine beck or Highland to Simsbury for $4. % per car, and that the loss of one car of grain in smash-up near Copake wiped out all the profits of hauling several hundred cars of grain during the sea- son. Tell me ia it the local business that pays, or is hanling through 6'eight over Spaulding's summit that pays9 MT Butler quotes the gross earnings of the Hartford & Conn Western during the year 1889, the time when Super intendent McNeill, the noted railroad economist, was in charge Will MT Butler please give us the figures to show where the profit came in; whether on through freight, local freight, or on making lit tie or no outlay for permanent improve ments or for maintenance of roadbed and equipment.
 MT Butler states that Spaulding's summit is not as difficult to scale as the summit east of Pittsfeld on the Boston & Albany road We take it for granted that Mir Butler knows the elevation of each summit, but it seems to us that he fails to comprehend, or at least neglects to state. that it makes great difference in what proportion the bitter and sweet are dealt out in hauling through freight; in other words, inasmuch as each road gets it's mileage, or pro rata, on through freight it follows that, every thing else being equal, the road that has the greatest mileage and least grade has the advantage. The Boston & AL bany road is 200 miles long, with heavy grades for only small per cent of the distance, whereas the Connecticut Wes- tern road was only 67 miles long, from Hartford to State Line, with heavy grades for large per cent of the dis tance; therefore, on through freight the Boston & Albany had more sweet than bitter, whereas the Connecticut Western road had more bitter than sweet. After the purchase of the Rhine beck Division the Hartford X Connec- ticut Western road had 11O miles, but it got as much bitter as sweet with the purchase. Then the 0. N. B. & W. Go. took possession and built branch from Silvernails through forsakep country to Campbell Hall, thus making road only 145 miles long from Hartford to Campbell Hall, but it did not thereby reduce the proportion of bitter and sweet. What we call through freight was haul ed only 13O miles from Campbell Hall to Simsbury; or no miles from Rhine beck to Hartford; or 103 miles from Highland to Simsbnrv, and it all had to be "boosted" from Canaan to Spanld- ing's summit.
 We are told that the Connecticut Western road and it's successors could not get any through freight unless they took it at price that competing lines re-. fused. Mir Butler seems to think that the Reading road will furnish plenty of business and that henceforth freight can be economically bauted over Spauld- ing's summit. We fail to see how through freight will pay better than in the past We can see, however, how the coal com bination will pay the mine owners who can control the price of coal aud can add to the price the ex- pense of hauling the coal over Spauld- ing's summit, and thus make the pub- lie pay the fiddler, but we fail to see how the minority stockholders of the Connecticut Western, the Hartford & Conn Western, the Central New Eng land & Western tor whatever you please to call the railroad) are benefited there I1u