The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1903-05-22

May II, 1919, marked the Fitch Amir
ger~ary Of the incorporation 81 the New
York Central Railroad, fact interesting
IN the history 81 the State q New YORK,
for the Consolidation q the ten separate
small ro@ds into one line. That formed
continuous route from Albany on the east
90 Buffalo on the west, was the begsnring
that made possible the enormous an
custrisI and commercial development -
the country Contiguous 70 u.
Articles al agreement we're s.et May
L.. 1853, the first Board Of Directors Was
elected July 9th. and the whole line ce
livered 10 the new company August lss,
ISIS. insurlng better service, more com.
plete connections between all points, anu
. more general stimulus to development
than vas possible under separate and
rival corporations This also opened the
York Central Company with the HUDSON
River Railroad IN l.c9. which event
prerasel that era al wonderful progress
in the undeyeIopei west, for 10 created .
direct line from the ocean TO the inland
sess. known a. the great lakes, and
brought distant territories into close con-
lection with the seabo4rt.
IL - a picturesque tact that this l-1e
frayer~es the one break IN the whole APP
p2lacnlan chain between the Gulf u Mex
lco and the 80 Lawrence River, and e
would serm a. II Nature meant this 10
he a roadway for travel Certainly the
Indian found 4 %. for the Mohawk trail.
the pathway Of the confederated lroquois
tribes, Il almost identiczl with tie New
York Central Railroad Il to-day. THIS
trail was also the pathway of war during
the French and Indian and the Reyol1-
tlonary Wars. and lzie-. IA it, offering Of
easy travel. L lured the pioneers q: the
West 10 the Mohawk Valley, which j. 80
Ylcn to-day with the rrp1ucr Of aErlcEl-
furai industry. on 10 the bread and i4llov
fields Of the Genesee. 70 build w and
develop the traffic OF the west upon the
great lakes
IL J. a far cry indeed from that primi-
tive LITTLE line Of the New York Central
Of fifty years ago 10 n. great Railroad
al TO-DAY with its Twentieth Centurv lin
tied. speeding Ike the wind. earring Its
Passengers on luxurious palace cars, over
smooth rnadbeds. with = scarcely rercep-l-
( BILE ar. and nifty wears Of progress could
not find better illustration than = re-
lated N IN interesting letter Of reni-
nsscences written By Mr.. Joshua WIlb-r.
oi Lockport. New York. describing rail-
road travel IN New York IN ls39.
The writer says: We took the cars
on State Street IN Albany: these cars
were drawn TO the citv line bv horses,
I for locomotives were not then allowed IN
the city The cars were Of the. ancient
pattern. entered by doors On the SIDE
I with seats across the car the passengers
facing each other. as IN the olc-.4shsoned
stage coaches
The speed was tr-mendous-zbou,
twelve miles an hour Arrived On the
ridge opposite Schenectady. cur cars
were let down an incline plane. secured
10 large rope cable. the other end being
attached 20 fat cars weighted with stone
which were drawn Up on a parallel track
as we went down. At Schenectady We
changed cars and Travelled west 70 Utica
reaching there IN the 4fterncon. Tia.
was then the end 81 railroad travel
"A canal packet was boarded which
landed rs IN Syracuse next morning
There another packet was taken FOR
Rochester. which We reached early -hr
following day- A tnlrd packet brought
Us from Rochester to Lockpcrt IN SIX
teen hours.
The time consumed in coming from
New York tItv 20 Lockport Sas nearly
four DAYS. beng on the move all the
time. except the night spent az Albany
Not long after the roads built fror
Albany westward. and from Buffalo east
ward met. and a continuous line wa,
formed but with many changes Of car.
and other inconvenience.
Then the Hudson River road wa,
opened. and Buffalo and New Yer.
became nelghborx-"