The Delta independent., 1899-12-08

George H. Daniels. general passenger
agent OF ~ New York Central and
Hudson River railroad and president
OF the ADartcan Association of Gen
eral PaassaGer Agents, delivered =
notable address on our railroads and
their relation TO commercial. indus
trial and agricultural interests. Among
other things he said:
''One Of our great writer's has said
Of this closing period of the nineteenth
century. that II is an age Of transpor-
tation. transportation underlies ma
terial prosperity in every department
Of commerce. Without transportation
commerce would be impossible. Those
states and nations are rich. powerful
and enlightened whose transportation
facilities are best and most extended
The dying nations are those with little
or NO transDortation facilities
In this coRnection 1t will be inter-
esting to mote in passing that the sec
ond Amertean locomotive was built at
the West Point foundry. near Cold
Spring. On the Hudson river. and was
called The BEST Friend" and from
that day 70 this the locomotive has
been one 0f the best friends of this
republic. But ii is not alone our loco
motives that have attracted the at
tention Of foreigners who have visited
our shores, our railway equipment gen.
orally has commanded admiration and
is now rscsiving the highest compli-
ment. naDsly. imitation by many OF
our sister nations.
Primes Michel HilkofY. imperial
minister oe railways Of Russia, has
since his visit to the United States a
few yearB ago, constructed a train on
much the oame lines as the Limited
Trains" a the New York Central and
the Peansylvania.
AT tiDss there have been periods
Of legislsf1on in the United States ad
verse to the great transportation in
terests q the country. almost invari-
ably ths result OF a Misunderstanding
Of the roAl situation, and the hasty
legislat3on of such times has usually
been roDooled upon the sober second
thought a the people. for in the Ian
guage a oar great Lincoln: You can
fool AL H. people some OF the time.
soAe q he people all the time, bur
you caAt fool all the people all the
time
-00o hundred years ago the gov
ernor e s1e great state Of New York
advissd - friends not to invest their
noaey 9.uaste their time in aiding
the bul11ong of railroads, expressing
the opin1oo. that While II was possible
that i0prUsea<0sthods Of constructioa
and Derfectea machinery might. in the
remote future. enable the people to
move . car mn a railroad at the rate
Of Ave or si2 niles per hour. he did not
believe that thy could ever be made
Of material Advantage. and that any
attempt to transport passengers and
freight by railroad, from one part of
tbs country - another. must result In
endless conf01toa and loss. The gov
ernor died ID tAe belief that the canal
was the only 0eans Of conveyance for
. great comuDaree.
''Notwithssanding his prediction. the
railroads have Rown to such vast pro-
portions. thas today the worlds entire
stock Of moaey. gold. silver and paper.
would not D0rchase one-third of its
railroads. Ths building Of the Erie
canal, extenAing from Buffalo to Al
bany. a distnAce Of 3ss miles. was
Commenced July =. 1917. 1t was COM
pleted in l69B at Q cost Of 81. .602. 900
In 1896 the state Of New York appro-
priated - s.0eo 80 for charging and
improving this canal. and few figures
from the state report on canals may be
Of interest In this connection: Re-
liable statistics OF Its trafhc are not
cbtainable for the earlier years OF its
operation. bat In accordance with the
last annual report Of the superintend
ent Of public works Of the state OF New
York. we nna that the tonnage of all
the property carried on all the canals
in both dirsctSoas. In 1887. was ILL.,
c9s tons. valued At $s5.s .2sS. The
tonnage and IT, value Increased until
1872. when Il anounted to s.e13.31o
tons. valued at Ss2o.sls.s21. From
1872. the toanage and the value Of the
property carried decreased. until in
1897 there was oaly s.Si1.so& tons car
ried. with . value Of Ss6.0Ss. .s3S This.
in face OF the fact that the receipts OF
grain and oour at Buffalo had In
creased fron 1.ls4.ess bushels in 1887
to s42.l4o.Soe bushels in 1897.
IN 1875 tAs states east Of the Mis-
souri, river were sending food and
clothing to the starving people Of Kan
.sas. Thanks to the facilities afforded
oy che railroads the corn crop of Kan
sas this year is three hundred and
forty millioa bashels. II seems but q
very few ysass since I made my first
trip to Cosorado. and stopped on my
way At the ho0e Of Buffalo Bill. at
North Platte. Neb.. on the Union Pa
cinc. At 01nhalla. afty-one miles
west Of NeFeA Platte. the Sioax In