The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-08-25

The Merchants Day" visitor In
Wheeling to-day Is impressed by the
air ot substantially that pervades the
community, by the modern mercantile
and industrial structures that tower In
the air, by the extensive Wholesale busl-
ness he can see being transacted in the
Main street dlstrict-where the out-of
town merchant can get anything from
paper OF taclSs to a steam engIne-lnd
by many other evidences chat Wheel
is town of large Importance,
In the march OF improvements
Wheeling has always occupied for
ward position. Favorably situated for
commerce and manufacture in the old
en- days OF slow transit, she held her
own, when the era of steam came Indy
virtue of her wealth of coal. The rich
ness OF the fuel deposits in her hills, the
ease and cheapness with which they
could be mined, the superiority OF the
quality of her coal, placed her beyond
fear Of injurious competition from lar
ger rivals. as highways, the National
road and the Ohio river placed her In an
onviable position as to communication
with the outside world In her early his
tory, and the completion of the Balti-
more & Ohio railroad the pioneer
trunk line, secured TO her equal Hdvant-
age In the new era of the railroad.
When natural gas became the fuel of
the factory and the home, she was
among the earliest TO profit by Its prox-
unity to her borders, and to-day she en-
Joys in this respect as great an advant'
age as any OF the towns which are
known only for their gas fuel, If, as
seems probable, natural gas must In
time cease To be the prevailing fuel she
stlll has her easily accessible and in
exhaustlble supply OF coal for the man
-'lcture of artificial gas, and her man
u!acturers were among the first to try
that source of fuel supply.
Means OF Accommodation.
As In the earlier days, so now, Wheel
ing enjoys uncommon advantages in re-
gard to her means OF communication
with other parts OF the world. To her
what the National road and the Ohio
river were ia the early half OF the CEN
fury the Baltimore & Ohio. the Penn
sylvania and other railroads are now.
She has as great facility OF inter-
change OF commodities and products as
any city anywhere. WheclinE's very ex-
ccllent situation from the railroad point
OF view was eXempllied only on Mon
day OF this week, when five OF the nine
railroads entering the city sent out ex-
Curslons to a common polnt-to Buffalo
and It's Grand Army gathering When
city of nomlnally $4,000 population
can give the traveller five competing
lines to single destination, the retail
merchant can readily take in the fact
that such city Is very well situated as
jobhlng center for In these days OF
close competition, railroad rates are an
item of no mean consideration.
The Ohio river must not be overlooked
as an element In Wheellng's prosperity.
The shipments by river have revived,
and to-day the palatlal steamers which
ply between Wheeling and Pittsburgh
and Wheeling and Cincinnati, as wen as
those running to and from less Import
ant points, take from and leave at her
wharyes thousands of tons OF freight at
cost far below that OF transportation
BY rail This gives her an ADVANTAGE
which Il would be hard to overestlmate
WheelinE's railroad facilities, hOwev-
or, are not less satisfactory than those
o. other cities less favorably placed as
10 water carriage. The Pennsylvania
system reaches her by two divisions the
river division OF the Cleveland & Pitts
hurgh road and the Pittsburgh. Wheel
ing & Kentucky division OF the Pan
Handle. She is the real terminus OF the
o.. Df,f.t. ,nt
selb0ard to the Ohio, OF the Pittsburgh
division OF the came road, and OF that
company's Central Ohio division. The
Ohio River road skirts the states river
border from Wheeling south to Keno
Va, and to Cincinnati via the Chesn-
peake & Ohio: the Cleveland, Lorain G.
Wheeling road gives her access TO the
lakes, and the Wheeling & Lake Erle
road ulyes her the same service, both as
well as the Bellnire, Zlnesvllle & Gin.
Cinnati road, bringing into her mar
kcts the products OF rich and fertile re-
gons,
Culture aud Progress.
From her infancy Wheeling has en-
joyed O prestige in the surrounding
country for her culture. Her churches,
her schools, public and private, her
literary and social circles, her press. all
have always compared with the best
anywhere. Her streets and her busi-
moss houses her homes and public
buildings are modern and tasteful. Her
physIclans aro skilled, her lawyers
sarcwd and learned, her people pro-
CFasslve and public spirited. The city
impfCHog the visitor not as town OF
5000 people, but as one Of the leading
mairopollses Of the country. Indeed,
her population, while n0mlnally $4,000,
should be, az large cities count, several
times that North and south OF her and
ua both sides OF the rlver.is n population
equal to her own. and tributary 90 her-
o homogeneous population Of 10000.
They nrc In NIL but nominal extent OF
the city limits n pnrt OF the population
W Wheeling and form the Greater
Wheeling" Easy access to the business
establishments, the theatres and tho
other fnclllucB OF the larger city have
made Bellalrc. Bridgeport. Martins
Forty Bcnwood ana other nearby
towns, all of considerable size. Rubstnn-
tally parts Of the Greater WhcclnE,and
Injured to tho material advantage Of
them and her alike