Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1905-05-10
GREAT GROWTH
OF RAILWAYS
TOLD BY HEAD OF THE ILLINOIS
CENTRAL.
IN IRRATIONAL CONGRESS
Leading Railroad Officials From all
over the World Gather at Wash
ington to Discuss Matters Relating
to the Business of Transportation
Keep Pace With Country.

Washington May 4.-Stuyvesant
Fish, president of the Illinois Central
railroad in his address of welcome at
opening of the seventh session of the
international railway congress yester-
day, presented some interesting facts
showing the stupendOus growth of the
railroad business in America He
cordially welcomed the delegates on
behalf Of the American Railway asso-
citation. ana spoke in part as follows
In 1850 the greater part of this
country, practically all that lying west
ward Of the Allegheny mountains, was
unsettled and our population was then
rural rather than urban There was
in the United States at that time but
one city containing 10000 inhabi-
tants, aud only - others containing
10000. while at present there are 80
cities Of 100000 inhabitants or over,
including among them three of up
wards If a million each, and 400 other
cities and towns OF from lU,U00 70 iO0,-
eco inhabitants. In the ten
Gears from 1890 to 1900 the area of
lZy of these towns and cities was ex-
tended by sos square miles The
tracks now lying in the paved streets
Of incorporated towns and cities were
generally laid on what was. at the
time of building, open farming land.
TO take a particular instance, at the
time the first section of the Illinois
Central railroad was opened for traffic
in 1852 the limits of the city of Chi
cage ended at Twenty-secon1 street
] oday they extend nearly fifteen
miles TO the southwark thereof
through what in 1852 was open prairie
land with scarcely house in sight.
The welcome which we tender at
this time to the delegates, and es-
pecially those who have come from
Europe, is, if possible. more earnest
because, vast as has been the growth
of the railroad system on this siIe of
the Atlantic, we in these newer coup-
tries must now look more and more to
the experience of Europe for light in
dealing with the problems which are
beginning to confront us on account of
our increasing population and civil
eaton. This viii involve n vast ex-
penditurc Of capital and it may be
that wheE We shall have met and
overcome al! these difficulties, the
CAPT alizaiion Of our railways, which
III The United States is now $G3 1856
per mile. may approach that Of the
railways Of Great Britain, which is
$277.4I5 per mile While hardly
g1iuk we shall 20 that far. ] an GER
ain there must he a vcIy great in
crease above the figures now prevail
Ing. This because we INST nov do
what they did at the outset-proyide
second third and fourth tracks AMI
separate. az least III the densely popu-
'aicd towns aua cities, The plane Of
ai.wag traffic from the plane OF street
travel Nor is this by any means
he only point on which we look to
Europe for enlightenment. The pre-
ponIerancc in the older countries Of
passenger traffic in its relation to
freight traffic presents condition
which is confronting US more and
more Already IN our Eastern
states the proportion Of the revenue
derived from the carriage Of freight
70 wi fftyfour per cent Of the
total receipts from operation-is as
low as in Great Britain, although in
the interior and in the west the re
cetpts from freight still form upward
of seventy per cent Of our total
revenue"