Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-29
LETTER ON TRAVEL
IN 1885 IS RELIC
Girls Sucking Lemons on Trip
Inspires DenunCiation
of Rail Methods. 4
BY ]. A. FOX.

sucking lemons and eating green apples,
and two poor fellows" exuding an
aroma compounded of salt fish, tar and
nnolasses, spelled the day for Samuel
Brock.
Samuel, who was no mean traveller,
and In addition, welded a trenchant
quill, had started out at o'clock in
he hoped would be pleasant rail trip
from Boston to Providence.
The makeup of his companions on
the Journey to say nothing of the ugly
boxes" In which they were transported,
sadly diSablsed him, however, so SAM
uel wrote piece about it which has
found Its way into the records of the
Interstate Commerce Commission.
There it forms part of an exhibit
from the National Automobile Chamber
Of Commerce, prepared by Thurman w.
Van Metre, professor Of transportation
at Columbia University, as illustrative
of the fight which the railroads stirred
in their early days, comparable to that
which they are now waging against
buses and trucks.
Irked by Familiarity.
The spirit of democratic familiarity
which the railroads bred was the thing
that irked Samuel, who longed for the
good old days of post horses and post
chaises, when gentlemen were gentle
men and ladies didn't suck lemons and
eat green apples In public, if their gas
tronomic tastes ran that way.
But where Samuel and his kind
found too much democracy, some sneer-
ing members Of Congress, when the rail
interests were seeking assistance in get
ting start, looked on the budding in
dustry as an agency only of the aris-
tocracy, so they condemned 1t.
And this was only very light phase
of a battle that was every bit as In
tense as that waging today, with the
difference that then, the railroads were
On the defensive, with canals and high
way carriers, the business interests
such as tavern keepers-developed on
the highways, and just plain scof1ers,
leading the attack, while today, they
are in the aSsaulting position.
The railroads found the going hard,
from their inception. Along in 1772,
one Oliver Evans, Philadelphia me-
chanic, was seized with the idea that
Wagons" could be operated by apply
ing the elastic power of the steam for
original motion" About all he got for
his pains was q chorus OF what Of tsp
and thinly-veiled references as to his
sanity.
Right I'm Maryland.
He could not interest the Pennsyl-
svania Legislature in his plan for steam
wagons" nor In the possibilities OF
operating -four mills by steam, so he
came on into Maryland, and there got
the exclusive right ito make and use
any improvements in -four mills and
steam Wagons" Evans could not get
the financial backing for his Wagon"
scheme, so it was not until IA years
later. in 1901, that he started to build
one at his own expense. He dropped
this, however, when his other labors
gave promise Of showing more proht.
Later en-, Evans experimental with
sort of combination land transport ano
nat boat, which proved the feasibility
Of his motive power scheme, but ne
principle further.
Then John Stevens of New Jersey,
who had built steamboats, successfully,
branched out into the railroad nelo,
enyisioninR 0 day when 10O-miles- pei
hour TRANSFORMATION would be possible.
Plenty of criticism and no financial
support was his lot also, and projects
in New Jersey and Pennsylvania ieH
through. At the age Of ID, Stevens
in 1926 built the first American 1oca-
motive, which he operated on small
circular track on his estate In Hoboken.
Stevens fought losing fight for ID
years, but lived long enough 70 see
steam transportation get its real start
in this country.
other progressive Americans tried to
induce Congress to appropriate funos
transportation, but without success.
Steam-line transportation in England,
however, was making Americans ran
conscious" and the new day was In
evitable.
Railroad proponents were centering
their efforts In the east and the press
and legislative assemblies Of q half
dozen States were forums OF acrimony.
Travel Problem Opened.
One speaker in the Massachusetts,
House called on his colleagues TO tell
him, If they could, how would turkies,
butter and eggs look after coming over
a railroad 80 miles an hour? How
would pigs and passengers travel over
it together IN the same carp" History
does not record the answer, but 1T does,
his peroration, that If the Bay State
must have q magnificent project, he
would 20 the whole length and try to
bring heaven to earth, or earth 70
heaven"
But the real fight over the relative
merits Of canals and railroads was
staged in this section with Washing
ton and Baltimore figuring prominently.
The Chesapeake g. Ohio Canal and
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, both
projected to connect Chesapeake Bay
with the Ohio River, got their start
on July 4, 1928, the B. 81 o. being the
pioneer in the railroad world. Wash
ingtonians strung along with the canal,
and Baltimoreans, with the railroad.
Naturally, the newspapers took up cud-
gels, with the Baltimore American and
the National Tntelligencer here, using
plenty Of ink. Vox PopuH joined In
great numbers, and a merry melee en-
sued.
The general tenor ~of the enmities
that were exchanged was indicated
when sections Of the Baltimore q Ohio
was inundated by a freshet, and the
railroad was becoming a canal--at
least in parts"
Both railroad and canal interests were
on the hunt for public funds, and this
flght, together with that over right OF
way through the Potomac Valley, from
Point of Rocks to Harpers Ferry.
brought on an investigation by the
Maryland Legislature over the respec-
tive merits Of the two forms OF trans
portation at which there was ample
airing Of conflicting claims.
Benjamin Wright. celebrated New
York engineer Of the time, was called
In and offered the view that the great
advantage canal will always have over
the railroad consists In the little mind,
or thought, that Is required to use 1t.
The Pennsylvania canal commission
ers opined that the sole advantage in
favor Of the railroads over canals lay
in the fact that the railroads wouldn't
freeze up in Winter.
New York was another celebrated
battle-ground, and there the fight on
railroads was carried to the point where
lines running parallel or nearly parallel
70 State canals were forced TO pay tolls
on all property carried.
Great Britain, where right now rail-
rnads are cnnfesfinR for SUPREMACY with