Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-01-16
EARLY DAYS OF THE ERIE.
What the Beginnings of Railroads in
the United States Were
Like.

The monument dedicated at Deposit.
N. Y, November 10. in commemmora-
tion OF the seventeen anniversary OF
the beginning of work on the Erie,
MARKS an important date in American
railroading. says the New York Post.
Few, if any, roads, have passed through
such vicissitudes as fell TO the lot OF
the Erie from its very inception; none
mas been more typical in its con-
struction. and certainly none have
been more often on more ruthlessly
%plundered by constituencies financial
manager The frs passenger train
with 4 locomotive mad been put in act
ual service in South Carolina on Jan
nary IS, 1881. Two and one-half years
later the New York & Erie company
was organized upon the assurance that
the desired road would cost only
SO, 900, 900. AS a hint of the lawless
ness to come, the organizers violated
the act incorporating their company
by beginning business with only five
per cent. of it's capital stock SUB
scribed, instead of ten.
That Mr.. James Gore King himself
was a visionary appears from the
spee31 he made as ne dug up the first
spadefuls in the beautiful meadow in
%sssa inausS%reeremony took
place. That vale. he declared, would
soon see q different spectacle-"a
track of rails with cars passing and
repassing loaded with merchandise and
the products Of the country" The
freight" he continued, will amount
to 5000, 600 per annum in a very few
years. Frightened at the i%ncredulity
expressed on the faces Of o VINO
heari this wild prophecy, he hastily
added-"at least eventually Nine
years later. in 1874, only A miles OF
road we're in operation, from which
was received in that year the muniti-
cent income of SAG. 1854 from passen-
gers. and $79, S41.60 IN freight. The
cost of operations and repairs was but
S66, 945. The only other great railways
then were the Baltimore & Ohio and
the rcad between Moscow and st.
Petersburg.
From that time on the road grew
slowly enough, like all the other new
roads. But, unlike them, it could not
combine with other local railroads.
Early construction in this country was
almost precisely like the development
of electric street railways during the
last decade. First we're a lot of little
railroads between cities. Then came
connecting links, and finally an ANAL
gamation of many roads into a trunk
line. OF this procedure, the New York
Central is the best example. 1t was
made out of a chain of ~ramshackle To-
cal roads of different gauges. The
Erie itself was forced to lease two
roads connecting it with Jersey City,
as its passengers disliked getting off
at Piermont, its terminal, and COM
ing down the Hudson on a steamer
to New York city.
The ceremonies at the Fries com
pletion in 1851 were attended by Presi-
dent Fillmore and four members OF
his cabinet, including his secretary Of
state. Daniel Webster Two palatial
special trains conducted the guests 10
Dunkirk-with some difficulty, ii IS
true, as one engine, although a mon
ster capable of pulling 40 tons, gave
out early in the trip. But Elmira was
reached in ten hours, and. on the sec
ond Gay. the remainder OF the 469 miles
were covered in seven hours. This
peaceful victory" SAID a banner on the
special train from Newburgh, lis more
glorious in its triumph than Austerlltz
or Waterloo Another declared that
this day wanting, the world had not
seen the extent of human greatness.