Evening star., 1940-01-07
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star
Interesting movements affecting the
future of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal

"'' courts and in the Mary
Nes!oTo''o" land Legislature" says
rroDlems The Star of January 2,
1890. Bills have been filed at Hagers-
town and in this city on behalf of the
bondholders of 1884, asking for the ap-
pointment of receiver and the repair
and operation Of the canal as waterway
through the receivers agency. Gov.
Jackson In his message Of yesterday to
the Maryland Legislature calls upon the
State to prevent the sale of the canal by
foreclosure of the mortgages upon it, in
volving, he fears, transfer of the own
ership or control of the canal to the
Baltimore g. Ohio Railroad. which owns
majority Of the bonds to be foreclosed.
He contends that this railroad. with its
claim of repealable charter and right
to charge exorbitant rates for transport
tation, would be able to exact such trib-
ute from the people as it might deter
mine and that the interests of the whole
people Of the State demand that some
provision shall be made to save the canal
and to see that it is maintained as an
independent line of transportation. He
recommends that it be leased to certain
persons, interested in having it main
tained as an independent line of trans
portation, who have conferred with the
Board of Public Works with the purpose
of making such an arrangement.
80 far as the interests of the people
Of Washington and Georgetown are con-
cerned, they would perhaps be best pro-
NOTED by the repair of the canal and its
maintenance under business manage
ment as waterway, competing with the
railroads. It would be necessary to put
considerable money into it to run it Sue
cessfully and its management would
have to be entirely divorced from politics
If the abandonment of the canal as
waterway should in the end be unavoid-
able its acquisition as railroad bed
would evidently be more advantageous
than its absorption by the Baltimore &
Ohio The affairs of the canal are, how
ever, so badly tangled and the constitu-
ton of Maryland ties the hands of the
State so tightly against the qualification
Of its desire to relieve the bankrupt cor
poration that the consideration of what
will be best for the people living along
the line of the canal is not likely to play
much of part in the settlement of the
controversy. The, bondholders, among
whom the Baltimore & Ohio Is the most
prominent, seem to be in the best posi-
ton to make an effective decision and
to take energetic action in the matter.
Washington has secured the restoration
of the water power which the canal sup
piled and can watch the struggle over 1t
as transportation agency in courts and
Legislature with greater equanimity on
that account"
I'm the cabinet at the White House this
afternoon" reports The Star of January
2, 1890, President
Stondords Of Harrison ofncially re-
Measurement ceived and opened the
national prot o types
that were allotted to the United States
at the International Convention Of
Weights and Measures held in Paris.
There are q meter and q kilogram and
will now be regarded as the national
standards Of weight and length. The
formal opening Of the boxes was attend
ed with quite a little ceremony in the
presence Of large number Of invited
guests prominent in scientific and off,
cial circles. These new standards will be
of great value, as they are the exact
counterparts Of the official or interna-
tional prototypes which are preserved
with the utmost care in Paris. They are
preserved in an underground cave
where they are not subject to any
changes of temperature. The two
standards opened today belong to COM
plete set which has been made with the
utmost care in Paris and divided up
among the various governments which
adopted the standards at the last gen.
eral convention.
"They are made Of IN alloy Of nine