The Washington herald., 1914-04-14
HISTORY BUILDERS.
The Feat Capt. Marryatt Pronounced
Impossible.
Written Expressly for The Herald.
BY DIR. Il. j. EDWARDS.

ImpOSSlDlc.
Written Expressly for The Herald.
BY DIR. Il. j. EDWARDS.
The late Serene II. Scranton. who built,
in the early ffties. the Shore Line Rail-
coad in Connecticut. which afterward be-
came vital link In the through route
between New York and Boston. was Of
family Of railroad builders. His brother
was for some years president Of the
New York and New Haven Railroad, and
those who were near OF kin established
the city OF Scranton. Pa, their achieve
| ment having been memorialized by the
name OF the city.
was riding from Boston to New Haven
in ISL and had the good fortune to share
my seat with Mr.. Scranton for an hour
or two. He told me many strange and
exciting romances OF railroad building
He was especially fond of relating stories
OF the incredullty OF men Of large af-
fairs and experience, especially about the
! engineering features Of railway construc-
ton in the early days
"One of the most interesting Of the
stories Of that kind which / ever heard, -
said Mr.. Scranton, was told me some
years ago by a man who had been with
the Boston and Albany Railroad for many
| years, / think from the first day Of its
operation. He said that the railroad was
completed from Boston to Springfield,
or II may have been Worcester And IL
was then called the Western Railroad
The promoters wanted to extend II to the
! Hudson River. but there we've the diff
! cult Berkshire Mountains to be con-
quered by the surveyors and railroad
builders In order to secure the best
engineering ability the promoters Of this
/ line employed Capt. Whistler as the engf-
neer In chief. He was the engineer who
afterward surveyed the railroad line
from st. Petersburg TO Moscow In Rus
sia. He has a son. who. believe is
quite a prominent painter now" When
Mr.. Scranton thus spoke, Whistler, the
painter. had not gained the great repu-
tation which he afterward acquired.
After the survey was made over the
Berkshire Mountains and the construc-
tlon Of the railroad began. the owners OF
the line occasionally invited prominent
men to make an excursion to Boston for
the purpose Of witnessing what was then
regarded as a wonderful piece OF en-
gineering.
You. Of course. have read the stories
written by Capt. Frederick NJ. Marryatt.
] suppose every bay has read them Well.
Capt Marryatt made A visit to the United
1
necring work was finished and the rail-
road construction over the Berkshires
was under way People at that time paid
almost as much attention TO Capt Mar
ryatt a. they gave to Dickens when he
visited the United States a few years
earlier He was invited to he one OF a
party TO visit the work on the Berkshire
hills. He was SO astOnIshed when he saw
that a railroad was to he built over those
mountains that for a time he could hardly
speak.
AT last he said: You people are
simply crazy. You are wasting your
money. No locomotive engine could be
built with power enough TO pull coaches
over these mountains When | 90 back
to England | shall tell my friends that
you are irving to do an impossible thing.
capt Marryatt did not live long
enough to know II the thing that he
called impossible had been accomplished
hv American engineers and that Ameri-
can locomotives had been constructed
which were powerful enough TO haul
trains of cars over these mountains"
.C,I7-sht. 1914 by J Elwaris All nights re
s-redl
Tomorrow DIR. Edwards will tell
When Public Recognition Came to a
Great Railroad Promoter"