Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-10-28
The Maine Central Railroad.
CPortland Express

II the good people Or Maine 60 years
ago. had been offered the opportunity
to travel from Bangor to Portland in a
few hours. if some enc had told them
that the daily papers. containing all
the news of the day from all over the
world would be distributed at their
posto.ices on the day Of publication, if
they had been promised that their
produce could be taken to the market
in less than Il day and for q nominal
sum. or that they might order from the
city stores in the morning and 1t night
have the goods brought to their doors
for Il few cents per hundred weight. if
a horse of iron had been forctold that
could outpace their ideas of swigtest
speed they would have said that the
prophecy was false. that the prophet
was mad The crank who today ex-
periments in flying machines and
causes the looks OF the curious To- fol-
low him upon the street. is working
and is regarded as man of science by
the people of today. when compared
with the opinion that would have been
held Of the man who had foreseen the
present railroad arrangements of the
State of Maine
In 1890. only &c years ago,a little rail-
road was ii operation in the state of
Maryland, and one day. just for the
fun of the thing, the owner of a speedy
horse. n horse doubtless that would be
voted as exceedingly slow in our days
of Rigby park speed, offered to match
the animal against the steam locomo-
tive at work upon that road. on which
so many hcpes and fears rested. The
friends OF the locomotive accepted the
challenge. they would not have it said
that they dared not meet a horse Of
flesh and blood with their steed of iron
muscles The day for the trial was set
/ is not recorded that pools were sold
on this remarkable race, but it would
not he surprising IL some minor side
bets were laid by those who INDUCED
in that questionable sport as to the
outcome of the race. The race was
shall we say trotted and the horse
was the winnerl The friends Of the
locomotive had to acknowledge defeat.
That was only IS years ago. Ii is a
| commentary, in itself. of the develop
mont Of steam locomotion on land
which needs net to ne enlarged upon.
a man who is still less than four
score years Of age told the writer OF
his first railroad ride. the other day.
| He staged it, from his home town to
| Gardiner. took the boat to Boston, but
as it was very rough the captain put
! into Portland harbor and arrangements
we're made SO that those who desired
could go on from here Ivy train, then a
new thing, even In this vicinity. He
| H.. 10,
| portunity to travel by the novel
method. To-day. and for some years
past the whistle Of the Maine Central
trains are sounds almost hourly heard
as the splendid trains of that road rush
through his town, trains which in mag
uiticence and comfort surpass anything
which could possibly have been
dreamed of only few years ago.
The story of the development Of the
railroad in Maine has often been told
The manifold advantages accruine
from the reaching to every available
place 10y the iron rails have been dwell
upon in public print and by speakers
on the platform for the last quarter oil
Il century. The fact that the farms
and forests have been made doubl.
valuable by the access thus afforded
to the markets. that educational ad
vantages and the opportunities fol
travel have been accorded that coult
have been obtained in no other way
have all been repeated and acknowl
edged many times. and yet, in these
days of queer political notions there
are those who try to make 1t appear
that corporations are the deadly en-
emies of our State, that the Creates
danger to free government lies in thu
Strengthening Of corporations. and tina
sooner or later and very soon some o
them fear, the corporations will put {
king upon throne and through hin
they will rule in our United States. o
course their talk is preposterous. Cor
porations do what individuals coult
not do. When individuals We're man
aging the railroads the engine was gu
paced by a horse, the advance IF tn,
iron rails was exceedingly slow. Maine
knew no railroad and had they re
manned in the hands of individual
alone would perhaps have never seel
an engine to this day. The combina
ton of capital, the earnest work of en-
ergetic and level headed men has mad