The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1909-10-07
new BRIDGE ! AT.
HUNTINGTON. TO To "
:. Be [: A. BOOSTER !.

Huntington, w. Va, Oct, g.
Huntington Is to be connected with
four additional railroads by the
erection Of the proposed bridge
across the Ohio river, which ia to Be
built providing franchise is granted
to the Huntington Northern Railway
company, whose application ia now
pending before the board of COM
mlss1oners. q. Taylor Vinson, OF
VinsOn & Thompson, attorney for
the Huntington Northern, made
this statement when discussing the
bridge proposition. -. .'F@i',.
Going into details, Mr.. VinSon
stated that the roads with which
Huntington will be brought into con-
nection by the bridge are the Detroit,
Toledo &c Ironton, the Cincinnati,
hamilton & dayton, now one of the
properties of the Baltimore & Ohio
Railway company, the Baltimore &
Ohio Southwestern and the Hooking
Valley. Mr.. Vinson added further
that the bridge would furnish to the
Chesapeake & Ohio railroad an out
let 10 the great lakes. It will also
furnish an outlet to the lake region
TO the Chesapeake; Channonshurg &
Ohio railroad, which -is being built
down the Sandy valley. This road
will be connected with the; Chesa-
peake 4 Ohio and it's freight brought
over the latter line from the juno
tton. .. ..,,
Signifies Much
The immense significance Of, the
statement of Mr.. Vinaoh' is' hard to
realize in the first graap. That gen
Sleman's long connection with the
baltimore & Ohio ana other big
railroad and mining interests leaves
Oh room TO coubt the fNllQess Of hdS
information on epy SUB etT' pertain
inS to such l1;,t,tr&.& For years the
business men CT Huntington have
dreamed OF u railroad bridge across
the Ohio, with iargelyainereased raii-
road facilities fur The city, Bttt even
the most sanguine railroad! builder
hardly dared suggest thH coming of
the four roads mentioned by Mr..
Vinson.
The true greatness Of the; under
takings which depend for their out
come upon the bridging Of the river
here was explained in answer, Ito
some slight objections which have
been made to the construction OF
the bridge at the point named in
the application Of the Huntington
Northern company for a franchise,
that is, Seventh street from Tenth
avenue to the river. Mr.. Vlnsoh
declares that engineers have made
thorough inspection of the situation
here and that it has been found that
Seventeenth street affords the most
practical point for the bridge. With
the bridge built at Seventeenth
street 1T will afford the lowest grade
from the Ohio river to- the lakes
between Cincinnati and the Muskfn-
gum varley. The main objection put
forward by those who wish the
bridge placed at some point other
than Seventeenth street Ia that
Marshall College will be injured.
Mr.. Vinson points out that this is
not necessarily true, as the trains
On the bridge approach Will be no
nearer the college than those pass
ing over the tracks of the Ohio river
division Of the Baltimore & Ohio
are at present. =. 90 ...:.
The proposed Huntington North
ern road will go up Symmes'
Creek, in Lawrence county, Ohio,
and connect with the Hooking VAL
ley, the Detroit, Toledo &c Ironton
and the Baltimore f Southwestern
and the Cincinnati, Hamilton q
Dayton about Jackson or WeHston.
These four roads go from the"Ohio
riveG to the great lakes, each with
cut satisfactory means of receiving
freight from the south side Of the
Ohio. The lake coal trade Is one
Of the most Importance in existence
from the standpoint of the railroads
in this section Of the country, and
the construction Of a bridge which
will more greatly facilitate the
movement Of coal from the West
Virginia fields to the lakes will
greatly benefit both railroad men
and coal operators. The Ohio is
bridged at Parkcrsburg by the Balti-
more & Ohio main line and at Point
Pleasant by the Kanawha e. Michi-
gan, but there are no other bridges
across the river between Parkers-
burg and Cincinnati.
An outlet to the lakes for the
Chesapeake & Ohio has been under
discussion for some years and has
been under consideration, especially
since Edwin M. Hawley assumed