Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1893-11-09
RAILROAD NEWS.
Decrease in Norfolk & Western Earnings-other
Railroad Matters.

iOT lDe uTSl ull" lnOulIs vi lIIS year
were S6l.S92 less than for the same
period last year is a suggestive one,
and is emphasized by the further fact
that September alone shows de-
crease of over $4,000, or 16 per cent,
from September of last year Itlooks
as though the road is losing ground.
For years past all the energies Of
the Norfolk & Western management
and the old Shenandoah Valley
management pursued the same course
have been directed toward the oh |
tanning of through business. Local
interests have been neglected so that
through freight and passenger traffic
might be encouraged. The result
now shows the utter failure of this
policy. Through railroad business
is hard to get and still harder to hold.
Competition for it is always active.
Changes in the policy or management
of other roads can in "a week sweep
away what it has taken years to build
up.
1t is not so with local business.
Usually there is no competition for it.
Once developed, it is forever a source !
of revenue. Had the Shenandoah |
Valley or the Non folk & Western de-
voted their efforts to the encourage
meut of industries along their line,
and offered particular accommoda-
tons in freight and passenger traffic .
to the people through whose terrific |
ries their roads pass, we are quite F.
certain that the net earnings would .
show difference. On the contrary,
local people have long had many and /
varied grievances. What business is /.
done by the road is largely of the
class that is compelled simply by ne
ceSsity and is, consequently, limited |
in volume.
Take, for example, our own town.
The reports Of the road have shown .
that Shepherdstown ranks third or |
fourth among the local stations Of .
the Shenandoah Valley Division in
the volume of business done Yet, for |
u couple of years past, there has been .
no freight depot here. An old freight .
car on side track serves a. Il ware
house, and shippers may climb in and .
out of that and transact their bust |
ness as best they can Freight rates |
are just what the company chooses |
to make them. Protests are useless. |
Some time ago Il shipper here noticed .
what seemed a striking disproportion
on freight bill for goods shipped |
from Harrisburg by way of Hagers .
town 10 Shep herdstown. An inquiry |
into the matter brought reply from .
the general freight Office of the \. X .
w. that it was none of the shippers
business what the freight charge was .
Many grievances against the road
have brought about as satisfactory |
replies.
No railroad that pursues the policy |
of the y. & w. can succeed. No |
amount of through business can be .
obtained to justify the ignoring of .
local interests. Unless there shall |
be radical change in the way the
Norfolk s. Western conducts its bust
ness the company is simply bound to
meet with disaster.
The following from the LincolnCH
zen i pertinent TO this subject. 1t
comes from the other end of the line:
The Norfolk and Western may be
come a famous road as great trunk
line and prove profitable, but n re
cent trip over the OHIO extension con
vinces IL tEat outside the coking and
coal fields along the E!khOrn, ii will
never amount 10 much as u traffic
line. From EikhOrn to kcuova there
is very little that looks inviting to n
permanent settler, and the many
boom towns that started up during
the building of the road. are being
marked by that steady decay that
makes soon entire dissolution. The
few towns that are being kept up by
the lumber traffic will fall TO pieces
"a soon as the mills saw out the avail
able lumber and move away, or are
driven out by excessive freight rates.
Altogether the new Norfolk and West
ern is disappointing to those living
along its line as we'll as to its projec-
tors and builders. 1t helped a few
shrewd spectators to make fortunes,
bat it has helped more TO sink all III
worthless investments.
The Harpers Ferry Sentinel says: a
temporary track has been laid through
the new b. & Q. tunnel here and the
yard engine has made several trips
through the tunnel. At the Island
Park end of the improvement a switch
has been put in and temporary track
is being laid The first shipment Of
iron for the bridge went down in the
great storm on the lakes recently and
was total loss TO the founders.
Superintendent William Kenner's
gang OF men are at work on the Shep-
herdstown bridge of the Norfolk aud
& Western Railroad They are put
ting in new ties and guard rails.
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Company has recently borrowed
$4,000, 600 from foreign capitalists, to
be used by the road as its necessities
require.
Last year the expenses Of running
the Washington county branch of the
b. & O. Railroad amounted to s., 1873 %
III ore than the earnings.
List of Jurors.
The following is list of the petit
Jurors drawn for the November term
Il M InTnr.nn Circnit Court To an |