The Washington herald., 1914-11-30
HISTORY BUILDERS.
The Pathos of a Shattered Dream.
Written Expressly FOR The HeraldD
BY DIR. f. J. EDWARDS.

About three years before the late C. C.
Clarke retired from the office Of vice
president Of the Vanderbilt system OF
railroads, he invited me to drive with
him one summer afternoon. promising to
show me points OF interest in Tarrytown.
n. Y. where his country home was es-
tablished. and particularly those places
which were OF historic interest. We
drove by the monument erected to COM
memorate the capture Of Maj. Andre IN
Revolutionary times, and also the Sleepy
Hollow Cemetery and the spots which
Washington Irving made traditional in
his romances. At last. Mr. Clarke SAID
that he would take me to place which
for him had a pathetic interest, although
there Is no record Of the incident which
caused that interest in any published
work We drove to a place near the
Philipse manor house. which is associ-
ated with the romance OF Washington
unsuccessful courtship OF the young lady
who dwelt in that house. From that
point there was a fine vista OF the Tap
pan Zee. which Is the name Of that broad
expansion Of the Hudson River. lakelike
in its appearance. whose eastern front is
bounded by the shores OF Tarrytown-
II will tell you the story Of the incident
which centers in this spot or near here"
Mr. Clarke said There was no more
enthusiastic promoter Of the Erie Rail-
road project that a man Of some capital
named Isaac Brown. / think II was in
great measure due to his agitation and
perseverance that the State OF New York
granted the charter for the construction
and operation of the railroad whose west
ern terminal was TO be at the harbor OF
Dunkirk on Lake Eric and whose eastern
In hN convenient
point on the Hudson River. One Of the
obligations was that the railroad should
no entirely constructed within th0 boun-
daries OF New York State.
1T was expected that the building Of
the railroad and the placing of its term
inal at Dunkirk would make that town
the great distributing point for trafnc
which passed through the lakes to and
from the West.
But had It not been for the obligations
OF the charter the eastern terminal Of
the Erie Railroad would have been from
the first at some point on the New Jer-
sey side directly opposite New York
CITY.
Mr.. Brown was among those who So
lcCtcd a place. at Piermont. n. Y. as the
eastern terminal Of the Erie. He SUPER
visod the construction Of piers and ar
ranged for barges and towboats by m' ans
OF which traGnc COuld be brOuEht 10 or
from New York City. He expected to see
a great city grow up at this place. and
he used to come to a spot nearby and
look across the river, picturinC forth in
his imagination the growth Of the big
town.
1t was early discovered. however. that
It Was vital for the success of the Erie
Railroad that ii should have a terminal
opposite New York City. and by some
rather skillful strategy that terminal was
secured az the point between Jersey City
and Hohoken. The first terminal Of the
Erie was practically abandoned. There
wcrc a few dwellings and shaCks and that
was all The great pier did not resOund
to the movement Of trucks more than two
or three times n week.
This almost broke Mr.. Browns heart
lie lost all interest in the Erie road, and
he used TO come to this point and sit here
by the hour looking sadly across the Tap
pan Zee, dreaming OF what the city he
had in mind might have been. and with
sad patience submitting to the fact that
II was not to be. In that way he passed
his time day after day. and there was
real pathos for those OF US who saw the
old mant thus dreaming OF what might
have been"
Copyright. 1914. by f. j. Edwards All rights re-
SerTedD
Tomorrow DR.. Edwards will tell OF AN
Early Ancestor OF the Automobile"