Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-01-20
THE z. & 0. R.
Will Be offered For Sale To-day
At ZanesyiIle,

At ZaneS 1ille,
At the door Of the court house in
GAINESVILLE at / o'clock today, the prop
erty of the GAINESVILLE & Ohio River
Railway Company will be offered for
sale by Master Commissioner T. ]. Nc
Dermott, according to an order from
the court
During the past few weeks the com
ing sale OF this road has drawn out
newspaper stories Of all kinds, as to
who the buyers would be and what
schemes the prospective buyers had in
view A few hours more will probab-
ly settle the question beyond doubt.
Marietta people are greatly interest
ed in the sale of the 2. G. o r., as its
purchase by the proper parties un-
doubtdely means a great deal to this
city. Every item of information con-
cerning the matter has been eagerly
grasped by the reading public of Ma
rietta and the more enthusiastic read
ers hav ealready figured out scheme
whereby Marietta will within year or
two, be an important station on a
trunk line instead of the terminus OF a
few branch roads as she is now.
A number of different branch sborles
have been brought out concerning the
future of the road, but so far the num-
ber has been limited to three, viz: a
Cleveland syndicate, GAINESVILLE syn
dictate and the B. G. o. people.
According to reports, the Cleveland
syndicate, some of whose members are
prominent business men of Parkers-
burg, have valuable coal and lumber
lands in the interior Of West Virginia,
which they wish to develop. and with
that end in view have secured a char
ter in West Virginia to build a rail-
road to the Ohio river at Williams
town, and in order to secure a route to
the lakes will probably be in Line as
bidders on the 2. & o. r.
The GAINESVILLE syndicate, composed
principally of men who are interested
in the q. & o. r.. have likewise Sc
cured charter in West Virginia to
build road from Braxton county to
the river mentioning GAINESVILLE as
the Ohio terminus. 1t is said that they
have been negotiating with the Little
Kanawha people to effect a combine
of the two roads in case the syndicate
purchases the q. & o r.
But the prospective buyers who are
the strongest in favor in Marietta are
the B. G o. people, and many theories
have been advanced to prove that they
will not let this opportunity of pur-
chasing the road slip from their grasp.
The B. & o. people are always ready
and willing to keep up with their rlv-
ais, the Pennsylvania, and the fact that
the latter have secured the c. & M. as
feeder from this part of the state
will make the b. & o. more Jealous to-
ward buying the z. & o. R. and there
by securing equal facilities in retain
ing the trade of southeastern Ohio.
Better still, it is intlmated that the
B. &c o. wishes a shorter route via
Grafton and Clarksburg to Chicago,
and that they will purchase the 2. &
o. r.. build bridge here and connect
with their line at Salem, w. Va, thus
allowing them to run through trains
from the east via Clarksburg, Marietta
and GAINESVILLE instead of the longer
route via Cincinnati and Parkersburg.
The assumption Is well grounded, ow-
ing to the fact that B. G. o. surveyors
have been at work the past year sur
veying the route from Williamstown
to the main line at Salem or Clarks-
burg.
With three prospective buyers in the
| field, all anxious to secure the road,
there is no doubt that it will pass into
the ownership of one of the three, and
the sale today and developments here
after will be watched with interest.