The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-04-30

epseial corIospondsneo.
WEBSTER GROVES, No, April IL
Hy the date line of this letter YOU VIII
ree that am back once more TO the To-
callty whence l sent several letters TO
ne IntellIgencer during the winter OF
lSSt.sS / And It still here where len
Il IN Nay Of the latter year. ten miles
wet oc Tire city OF St Louis, on the
M ouEi Pacific railroad.
I.oavlng wheeling by the il:4O Balti-
more & Ohio express on the night OF the
lathtI fonnd myaelt set down here NJ $50
- Ire night OF the 18th, which means
that IN the twenty-five Intervening
hour I had Travelled six hundred miles
be1Ideg spending an hour and halt
y eSch AZ Cincinnati and St Louis an
hour a VinccnneS, Indiana and more or
ie16 time at several minor stopping
places: deductinE all OF which stops leIt
the actual time OF locomotlon al ebout
eighteen hours, which would repteseht
Z running schedule OF. say 1hIl5'Al'e
miles per hour.
like the rest OF the people OF THIS VI,
eInaee, to do all my travelling back ana
fnTrSTtl 10 81. Louis over the rails OF the
eSllSlouFi Pacific" which rails ter
inmate in the great Union depot on
EIGHTEENTH street in that city, from
whence electric lines radiate to AL paris
nf ltB extensive area at ave cents per
cEpltR. Not so, however. noN'-a'days,
a decided change has occurred during
i1,VS SrSnCe. Two electric suburban lines
onO On each side OF the village. have
ben built, and the old time fare mas
hen reduced one.hAN, and more than
that. the VILLAGERS and the vicinagerR
-. Al this reduced fare. carried into
~ very heArt OF tho business district
ciear down 10 the Plhnter'S hotel on
Fourth street-thus saving the old time
0ddendum fare OF five cents from the
Union depot 10 business localities. In
other words. for ten cents, the people
70 straight from their homes 10 their
objective points in the city. In a con-
finuous car. instead OF paying twenty
cents and suffering an interruption at
tie Union depot, which means good
deal 10 an employed population living
at this distance from their PLACES OF
mn electric trolley line competition
means not only good deal TO the local
travelling public hereabouts, but ike
wise, It means q good deal TO the Miss
OuFt paclhc steam line, the stock IN
Whidh y down 10 Is cents on the
doIiaF and no dividends from par
ana above a few years ago) not Of
course, on account Of what happened
here but nevertheless aggravated
and intensified on account OF u
and on account Of all OF a
6imilar character that IS liable and In
deed likely to happen elsewhere, where
ever there = Suficient population 70 IN
ducO this killing competition OF the
trolley lines. Between electricity ana
the recent decision Of the United States
Supreme Court declaring all agreements
20 sustain rates illegal the future Of the
railroads Of this country is gloomy
enough, and no mistake. as was most
6tFikingly pointed out in a clipping
from the Railway Age reproduced In
your Issue Of the ed. That article may
have escaped the attention OF most OF
your roaderB In substance, II was that
owing 10 the vast amount Of capital
locked up, not alone unproduetiVely. IN
railroads, but confronted now with
0b0OInte and irremedIable destruction.
there was not likely to be a return To
prosperity pending such an ordeal OF
vast suspense and eXcruciRtion. As
FoFmnne to what / am saying about the
electric lines heEeabout, might launch
out. taking your article AZ a text and
Eeneralize in regard 10 them, and 10
the decision referred 10. as TO all parts OF
the country. not excepting the Baltl-
more & Ohio and It's deadly parallel
between Wheeling and sloundNvtllf, or
the same road and its deadly parallel
building between Washington 9nd Raj
timore, or the Chicago -Oqds. the Phila-
delphia roads. the New England roadA
oId .roado everywhere. and all their
ssbanefui blight OF paralielism viii be
bereafter added the decision OF the SUI
preme Court.
Enormous Capital In jeopardy.
The capital and bonds Of therallroads
az the United States represent a sum so
vast that the national debt is a mere
baRatelle Of comparison. It Is put down
IN the books ct over I'VE billions, sum
fhNt defe1 alike our powers Of calcu-
iatIon and in0GinatIon. II Is this In
caIc,.lahle aggregation Of wealth anu
"a E,nRD. foreign and domestic, th0t is
now 20 obviously In jeopardy, and that
IoaAs the Railway Age 10 descAnt upon
fbe outlook. for deferred " not distant
progperity In such despOndeDt tones
There are some fifteen lines OF railway
that centre in the great st Louis dep0I
the greatest Union depot IN tine world
--ahd an told that tWo-thirdh Of tile t,i
In moi earn QIFIQEuuI V0 hltElA NNNN'-i
and one-thIrd Of them are on the verge
Of default on their bonds They are DO
ing business between competitive points
~ rates that DO not give them nail
cent per ton per mile. a. against three
and a half cents twenty odd years ago
Al this rate some OF them do not carr
axIo grease. and others OF them do mol
make ends meet
The prospect IN that with all agree,
LII
nv the court Of last resort they VIII cry
havoc and let slip the dogs OF war" and
10 for business in sight THAT IL insufd'
cIent to 20 around AZ stu lower rRies
than q half cent per ton per mile, nno
fbu6 At last bring on the country th'
cloud Of apprehension and fOrcbOdinE
n 10 the outcome OF such war OF eN'
Termination, az which the Railway Ag'
90 omInously points In your columns oil
the 22d.
II. Barnes, q prosperous citizen Of 81
Louis, was telling me the other day Of
the history Of transportation between
st. Louis and New Orleans and interme'
di6fe river points. The river lines have
ali gone to nothing. The Anchor lln'
IA the only one nomlnRliy afioat, and III
stock IA down from 200 10 zero. Thu
railroads pick up all the freight that Is
readable by belt lines In both cities
which means practically all of IT, anc
load II Into their cars from warehouses
and factories and stores direct, th'
same AZ Is done now, In small way a.
wheeling, and at the points Of Its des'
tlnatInn they unload in the came way
thus saving and doing away with al
truckAge to the boats. ana In this way
they have killed on the boats and nov
In the same way, they will proceed Il
XIII on eash other and thus illustrate
anew the Darwinian theory Of the sur