The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-01-26
0| |:
4. RAILROAD !. | !!
;REplT 10 ". HUNTINGTON I'M y.
1He It8lvas, Says MIR MI 4. loilta7Eille tame
-li5. WHO Made \: Final
~ 1sxtel,s sion.


Extension.
W HI L. :. h AZ li5l
3s,rhe building OF the CHESAPEAKE ali ~
h ohio Rairoad md the beEinnnss - ny
N, ornrlse which, led to the constr uctl 81
tbe present splendid through, Inc lroi ~
IL H. 3r4hesa peakc Bay and the national sap
=, q, Inc waters Of the Ohio at Cinc 'l
natl is d. subject Of peculiar interest III JUS w.
4, nov for at this very moment i1e ese''is'
TINS are III progress for the set tleltle ~
~ re debt partially incurred IN the fre coi'-
N III ructton 81 links IN this great railway "a WY
Zoe +o,o. Few who travel III luxurious
gcoaches over tho modern Chesapeakc u 'l'r |
8T(1hio Railway know the successive l !.i
N Il, .fho scol,struction Of the line, ana Rc
names yof tho men who laid the fotlnde '
lEtIons and made the beginnings
Much has been written on me ~, s.ip1ect,
y 4 Il, a considerable portion Of IT has been
Ii $40 an,,s ar only partially correct, For
IL a the Outlook, III It's issue OF SOD
u in, her 8. 1901, printed a6conlmunlcationl
n froniE lanes Poyntz Nelson, suggested {by
4 republication in tho Same paper PRIOR
3S+ hereto IN which he takes the ground tina
}stlio railway Is IA State RAILWAY nnd
that no private interests were involved q.
& no capitalists wore behind the 1lndcr rte
II ing. II ~ II ID, s8 MD VI
81 Outlook Communication.
n lew Of the interest IN the subject
ma the information conveyed by nj ~ Mel
n son. ana in order that the errors IN his
statement may be corrected, MS c ss'nll
fSnicatlonS i1lGthe outlook follows:
TN 4 recent letter Of your correspondent.
IL the Careless Traveller, is a pleas
j$inr reference to the Chesap pea Ike and Ohio
Railway that doubtless would have been
somewhat differently EXPRESSED IN ollgH
mono the less plcasingly had = ne writer
been informed Il as * to the story OF the
building OF this highway. The story. soes
back to the days when George We ! shingI
ton was a yolnE sl,rve Y the WIGS Z. O.
tho Kananrla region, dreaming With lar
visions Of the time when the waters OF
#the sea would fbc linked with. the beau
sStifulS Ohio. Tho story would tell Of Wal'
and Its fierce strivings after tho control
Of This line Of transportation. y Then would
Gone the narrative ofsthe historic labors
Ssof earnest and patriotic men who, after
the war was ended, determined to chr %
$Splcte what the Commonwealth OF y irglnin
beforeJits dismenlber,nent had begun, The
81 chesapeake and Ohio ailway5 Is the heir
ITO the work done$by the Board OF Public
Works of old Virginia. # vi
@5g3 "A Hating Purpose.
sasfB begun in 1886 with II hating pnrnose
{,ss.lhc Louisa Railroad crept slowly from
old Hanover Junction, where Lee s army
and .Jackson's mon fought off tho lrederals
S8$$in43lu ter years, to tho Jacksons s River.
Tho State of Virginia on her own ccount
IA built,a road through the Blue Ridge Noun
@gtains to their western base. The policy
All OF the State to carry. the road TO the Ohio
SSH River was interrupted by the hostllltics
sssof$1S6l. When thus interrupted, s3,0O0p
chad been expended. Tho road was q c'}ild
8of the State owned by tho State, built
taby the State No private interest was
Involved, no apltalists' were behind
misunderstanding. Or the western porta
Es!of the tunnel under the Blue Ridge at
8gRockflsh Gap. a tunnel that engineers
ilove to call "Crozet's Tunnel" are cut. II
fitting memorial the names of those wile
$ directed the work of construction at thu
time. To construct q tunnel when the
Nj great Crozet was with us was as though
we should undertake to penetrate tn
&G!Alps.4 Further west In tho Alleghane:
ELLIS and Tiske were laying down thu
VI hold line that made Hunting ton. tho build
$5,er Of the road throuSlrthe Rocky Noun
S$tains, wonder. ThPy worked i'll the da.
~ when engineers planned and capital obey
M cd. 1t would have been worth tho Will
$a8moment at Jcrry's Run, the largest I'll
8or embankment in the world, One mlllto
asand quarter yards of earth and roc
were dumped into a chasm ono hundre
@3and seventy-five feet deep
S.,fs But to fail to speak of Coils r. Hunt
&ington in this connection. would DO I
"a fail in simple justice. Through the q
FORTS of General Williams G. Wickha,
q and Judge John T.. Baldwin, of virgini;
~ In p1o 4hnra IN MI n II
that at last brought to frution the hol
&sof Washington and created the gre;
S highway that to-day is crowded with ira
u.s. fic between thes Atlantic and the love-
%4Oho waters. 1Ic was a bnilder Of cili
40 less than Of railways The work TIL
& he did in founding places where me
might find need of their toll is his create
q monument. Newport News is u tribute
lg his power. "a
Mr.. Fontaine's Statement.
Commenting upon Mr.. Nelson's artc
@ and showing his omissions In what p''
A ports to be a brief account OF the bull
ss ing OF the line, the following statement
Mr.. r. NJ Fontaine, Of Charlottesville,
ss4uf especial interest: rs
Mr.. James Poyntz Nelson. in n lett
published In The outlook for September
B 1901, and headed "A State Railway" to
sof5sthe building OF the chesapeake
lsEOhlo Railroad to connect tho Ohio Ril
g in the Atlantic. and Justly glvestto Col
N, Huntington the credit for It's final {
tension 10 its present western tcrmin
While referring, however. Ito tbs histo
@slabors. of the earnest and patriotic N
WHO, after the war, was ended, determlI
TO complete what the Commonwealth
l&yirginia before its ACKNOWLEDGMENT, {
begun, Mr. Nelson passes over the eqii
earnest and patriotic mon who before
war. pushed the road as far as Millbo
and he Is mistaken In his statement; +"
road was the child of the state, Owl
Dv tile State, built by the State.
THE road had It's beginning In 1896
nm act Of the General Assembly of y
6ginia In cooperating the stockholders
Dr. IN 4.oulsn Railroad for the l,llrposn