The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1899-02-16
RAILROADS AS CIViLlZERS.
What Mr.. joins K. Cowen Says on the
Subject-An illustration Cited by
the Baltimore Sun.

Mr.. John X. Cowen. one Of the re-
ceivers of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad. in an address delivered at
the annual dinner of the Commercial
Exchange of Philadelphia Tuesday
night, paid glowing tribute to the
work performed by railroads in adj
vancing civilization. "Of all inven-
TONS" he said, 1.-The alphabet and
the printing press alone excepted,
these inventions which bridge dis
lance have done most for the civil
ization Of man. Every means OF
locomotion benefits morally and in
tellectually as we'll as materially, and
not only facilitates the exchange OF
| productions of nature and Of art, but
| tends to remove national and pro-
vincial antipathies, and to bind to-
| gether the branches Of the great
human family.
The world of to-day differs more
from the world Of Washington thar
the world of Washington differed
from the world of Julius Caesar, anC
the reason is that George Stephen
son gave you the locomotive ant
Morse gave you the telegraph"
| OF the numerous railroad corpora
tions that exist in our country Mr.
| Cowen singled out one-the Pennsyl
vania-tO show what it had done il
developing trade Mr. Thompson,
he said "presides over corporation
that has fifty times as large capita
and many times as many men in it
service as had the East India Com
pany when under Give it drov,
Dutch traders from the Orient ant
annihilated the French at the Gauges
causing the union jack of Grea
Britain to float over 25O,O0O,OO o
people. AS result Of these splendid
labor conditions we have happy
peaceful condition of workingmen
Staid old Philadelphia, Quaker like
rich, respectable and comfortable, i
largely the product OF her railroads
The alphabet and the printing pres
deserve all recognition as forces in
forward movement, but the railroa
is the great civiliZer next to these.
The Baltimore Sun, commentin,
on this subject, has the following:
Mr.. John X. Cowen, president O
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
could have found striking moder
illustration for his address upon rail
roads as civiliZcrs and wealth pre-
ducers here i'll Maryland. Before tn
Metropolitan branch of the Baltimor
and Ohio Railroad was built, abou
a railroad within the borders G
Montgomery county, although fror
large portion of its territory tn
dome of the Capitol is visible. Th
only agencies of transportation wer
the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. whic
flows along its Southwestern border
and farm wagons and .'butter nor
keys" on country roads impossible
; or nearly SO. during good part {
the year. The assessed valuation {
property in the county, according
the inflated values of depreciate
currency after the war, ranged fror
: six to eight million dollars. In a
interesting article upon this subieo
the Rockville Sentinel, referring to
period about thirty years ago, says: 9
large portion Of the county was RI
garded of no value, save for tn
timber it had grown, and when tina
was exhausted fit only to be abandon
! ed to dissolution and sterilitv, or lei
as common pasture
Then the Metropolitan Railroa
was built. 1t runs from Washington
ID. C., to Point of Rocks. Frederic
county, where it connects with til
main line of the Baltimore and OH
' Railroad. 1t runs through the hea1
OF Montgomery county along til
''backbone' and mostly through til
most sterile pinewood lands. |,
length in the county is about thirt,
five miles. 1t was soon discovere
, that the action of lime upon this so
, was almost like magic. The .railroa
brought lime from the limestor
regions Of Frederick county. Lin
IS excellent for grass. and so til
railroad made to blades of grass
=, grow where one grew before. Itno
became possible to engage in dair
farming to supply the Washingto
2 market, for after bringing lime
Lake the grass grow the railroa
:, carried the products of the dairy
market. 1t was also discovered tn:
the location of this part of Mon
7 gomery county is high and health
r and abundantly supplied with GOO
, ! water BEING within easy reach
+ the capital it became a favorite pla
e for residence. The civil-service la
q was enacted. assuring to faithful al
$ competent Government officials
= tenure beyond the next electio
They could, therefore, afford to 10,
ahead, build homes and send +
3 their families. Many of them bu
i these homes along the railroad
: Montgomery, having the faciliti
;; for reaching their offices each NOR
II ing and returning to their homes
!, the evening. Houses began to spril
up along the line and towns al
p villages to dot the hills.
= Everywhere in the county agricr
i ture advanced and improvement
went on. School houses improve
roads improved, dwellings i'm prove
trolley lines were built to come
the villages with Washington, t
telegraph and telephone are ever
o | where. More than four million dt