Washington Township (part 7 of 12)

Resolutions adopted at a meeting of the Excursionists from the Eastern States, who left Baltimore to celebrate the opening of the Marietta and Cincinnati, and the Ohio and Mississippi Railroads :

Resolved, That the completion of the several lines of railway between Baltimore and St. Louis, over which we have passed with such speed, safety and comfort, constitutes a result of truly national importance, forming as they do a short and direct route between the Atlantic Sea and the commercial centres of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys - Cincinnati and St. Louis

Resolved, That the good practical mantigement, the stupendous engineering triumphs, and the sublime natural scenery, which characterize the Baltimore and Ohio Road, render it one of the most attractive and valuable of all our internal improvements.

Resolved, That the Marietta and Cincinnati, and Ohio and Mississippi Koads, which continue the southern ann of this great avenue to tlie central west, are destined to become a grand tnnik h'ne, extending not only I'rom the Atlantic to the '' Father of Waters," l)nt even to the shores of the Pacific Sea.

Resolved, That the generous hospitality of the Baltimore and Ohio, Marietta and Cincinnati, and Ohio and Mississippi Roads, and also of the citizens of Chillicothe, Cinciiuiati and Vincennes, commands and receives our warmest acknowledgment.

Resolved, That the boundless liberality shown in our overwhelming reception and kind treatment by the people of St. Louis, marks them as a community of 1 are generosity, which will be ever held in our most grateful rememhrauce.

The Resolutions were passed without a dissenting voice. The following was offered by William P. Whyte, Esq., of Baltimore, as an additional Resolution, and was passed unanimously :

Resolved, That our thanks are due and hereby tendered to those Railway Companies who have in their generosity tendered to us a free passage over their roads to and from St. Louis.

Notwithstanding the guests who arrived on Saturday morning liad all been comfortably provided for by the Committee of Arrangement.*, the citizens felt it would be agreeable to them, and consonant with the sentiments of hospitality abounding in the city, to extend to them in some shape a public reception. It was presumed the visitors would pass the day in sight-seeing, in rambles through the city and into suburbs. The weatlier was inviting to sucli occui)ation, and was so employed. The committees accordingly devoted the evening of Saturday to tiie public reception, and gave notice of the fact to visitors and citizens generally, by placards throughout the city, and by publication in the afternoon papers, indicating tiiat there would be a gathering at the Varieties Theatre of all the excursionists who had honored St. Louis with their presence.

At eiglit in the evening the Theatre was found brilliantly illuminated, and the parquette rapidly filling witli visitors and citizens. By half-past eight the seats were all occupied, and by nine the house "was packed with thousands, mostly strangers, who had been summoned by the public notice. A finer and more intelligent-looking assemblage of men Ave never remember to liave seen. In the boxes were numerous ladies, who added to the graceful amenities of the occasion by their always welcome presence, and inspired many a well turned sentence that felHrom the lips of the eloquent speakers of the even-

Mayor Wiraer was called to the chair, and Henry D. Bacon, of St. Louis, and Professor O. M. Mitchell, of Cincinnati, were appointed Vice Presidents.

The Mayor then announced to the assembled throng that Cliarles D. Drake, of St. Louis, had been selected to make the opening speech of welcome. Mr. D. was received with loud applause, and spoke as follows :

I can truly say that this is my first appearance on any stage ; and I am afraid that you will as truly have occasion to say, after I have got through ^ that my fate, on this, my first appearance on the stage, is that of debutants generally. I am forcibly reminded at this moment of a juvenile failure, many years ago - how many I would not like fb tell before so many ladies - when I essayed, before a large audience, to recite that celebrated exercise, beginning -

And if I should be'- as unfortunate now as then, I call all here assembled to witness, that it is altogether due to my honorable friend, the Mayor of this city, who, less than five minutes ago, on my entering the house as a mere spectator, ruthlessly bade me " stand and deliver" - not that trash, my purse, but something more pleasant, if not more easy, to deliver - a word of welcome to the guests present here this evening. (Applause.)

Friends from abroad ! If it were my duty now to strew intellectual thunderbolts in your midst, no time has been allowed me to forge them, even if I possessed the power ; but it is fortunate - very fortunate - under circumstances like the present, that the heart can speak, though, perhaps, the mind falter, (applause) and that the language of the heart can reach the heart, when that proceeding from the cold fountain of the mind might fail to do so ; and under the impulse of a feeling that must needs find expression, I say to you, the guests of our city, come to this Western shore of the Father of Waters to see us and let us see you - you are welcome, thrice welcome, in our midst. .Some of you, I learn, have been a little late in arriving; but in this instance, as in matrimony with an old bachelor or old maid, " better late than never." (Loud applause.) We would have been pleased to see you yesterday, but we are none the less pleased to see you to-day. (Applattse.)

When you from the Atlantic coast come to this - not as you may have heard it called, and may be yourselves accustomed to call it, '' Far West," but as we call it, and as it is - great Centre of our Country, you see that which repays for so long a journey ; for, whether realized or not, you begin, in the good hour when you look your first upon the turbid waters of the Mississippi, to see the world for the first time. (Immense applause.) Do not suppose that I would disparage your Eastern homes. I love the whole country of which we are children. I love not the East less, but the Centre more. And here, in this great central valley, is the future and not distant seat of power in these United States. (Cheers.)

To this region, my friends, there is, if its occupants be true to themselves and their country, a future more wonderful than for any other portion of the earth. You have just traversed by the almost new-born power of steam the boundless prairies, whose virgin bosoms have but just begun to give evidence of capacity to produce food sufficient for a world. How the thought enlarges and expands, as we look upon those oceans of affluent earth, and tlunk what this valley will be, when it comes to be peopled in luimbers as Europe is peopled now, and when these nimibers shall be, not ignorant and unaspiring vassals, but intelligent, uidustrious, energetic, and patriotic freemen ! It is no exaggeration to say that the mind can, in this day, form no conception of what this country will be in that future ; we only know it will be something more, something beyond, something above what has ever before been known - something beyond and above what can, in the nature of things, be known elsewhere. AVe welcome you, then, to a region of which we have no right to be proud, save as we have improved it, but for which we and you alike should ever be thankful to the Great Giver, who has in His goodness bestowed on us and our children - let us hope and believe to the latest generation - this beautiful and glorious valley home. (Loud applause.)

Just in proportion as this great Central Valley is reduced to cultivation, and filled with a people virtuous, high-minded, and aspiring for good ; just in proportion as that people are devoted to their country, and loyal to its Constitution, and, above all, deathlessly bound in heart and life to the union of these States ; just in that proportion will they meet the demand which humanity has a right to make upon them for the privilege of living and dying on this central soil of the continent.

But, my friends, if a man begins to talk of this valley, he will find, if he has any thought, that his talk will be like the ceaseless flow of that mighty river that nms by our border ever and ever, from its source in the clime of ice and snow to its ocean outlet in the land of sunshine and of flowers. Leaving, then, a theme which I confess has to me exhaustless fascination, I return to the occasion of my appearing before you, and once more, in the name of the Mayor and the Council of this City - in the name of the men of St. Louis, and of its fairer and better portion - in the name of each and all, I bid you, each and all, a heartfelt and cordial welcome. (Mr. D. retired amid a perfect thunder of applause.)

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : - I confess myself touched by an embarrassment, not common to me, in being presented in this strange and un- usual manner before you. For the first time in my life I have paid a visit to the city of St. Louis, and after travelling days and nights, when tired nature should have sought the sweet restoration of balmy sleep, I find myself upon my feet, led away by sweet resistless curiosity and unbounded admiration to wander through the streets of your great and glorious city. (Applause.) If my speech is half as dry as I am, it will be dull enough, I assure you. (Laughter.) I understand that it is my duty to reply as best I can to the eloquent and touching words of kindness which have been uttered in behalf of you who reside here, to the strangers who came here during a portion of to-day, and who, before their footsteps touched the pavement, found themselves strangers no more, but all of them at home and in the bosom of their friends. (Cheers.) Why should we thank you for the welcome ? I am set up here to do it - to thank you who are kind because you can't help it, who are generous because it is your nature ; it springs out by involuntary contribution to those that touch the centre of your city. (Loud cheering.)

The time was when we, that were bom near the foot of the Alleghany mountains, felt ourselves distant from the shores of the INIissouri and Mississippi, and we looked with a wondering curiosity, as if our children or our children's children after us might possibly, some time or other, be on the prairie beholding the peaks of the distant mountains that are named by their rocks. But now what is it? Why we are all brought together - our proximity is as near as a neighborhood of men who, in the centre of Pennsylvania thirty years ago, went upon horseback to the same church or chapel. See the lessons of admonishing beauty that have beeen taught us all, by our mother nature. There are but two barriers worth considering between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They are the Alleghanies and Kocky Mountains, and yet look at the out-speaking developments of the origin of the streams that start from their summit, both within a stone's throw, the one of the other. The Juniata starts from the eastern slope of the Alleghany, and rushes on until it is lost in the Susquehanna, and they are both brought into the Chesapeake Bay. Within a stone's throw of its fountain head, the Conneaut starts westward, it wanders into the Castleman, rushes into the Monongahela, into the head-waters of the Ohio, and they, together, sink into the sweet embraces of the Mississippi, dying in delightful fellowship together in the Gulf of Mexico. (Applause.) And your own Missouri, with the first expectation of her opening eye-sight, lifts her mourning eyes to look at the rising sun in the east, and from the eastern side of the Kocky Mountains, wanders its way, until before your doors, running eagerly to shake hands with the Ohio and Mississippi together ; and, a less distance on the western side than the feeblest voice in this hall could be heard, the great Columbia, and that rolling, nmning and continuing and spreading, becomes in itself a young sea, and it is lost at last in the great oco'an of peace to which the eyes of the setting sun, and hopes of the rising world, are with one accord directed.

Now these, in}- friemls and fellow-citizens, are the thoughts of nature ; they have all come upon me, tor I am a child of nature - if I am not, I do not know wliat I am, for I am sure I am not the child of any thing else - and when I hear it said that the end of man in constructincj railroads is interfering with the order and ordination of nature, I am always inclined to answer " no, but he carries out the very great design that nature herself laid down in letters of running and living light writ upon everj' stream." That man thus follows on in the great tide of human glory and improvement. (Cheers.) Every railroad is a help to every river, every river and stream points out to the genius of man the track and path of some formed, or to be formed, improvement in the shape of a railroad.

Then, again, the moral and gentle Christian lesson that is taught to us all in the little stream, east of the Alleghany, and the lesser stream west of the Alleghany. They pursue their pathless way, along and find at last the same cradle and the same grave in the bosom of the common ocean, which is the mirror of our Father the Almighty, (cheers,) and railroads direct their attention in a straight line from a point in the east to a point in the west, and from a point in the north to a point in the south, and we all say that these are bonds of iron that hold us together. They are in a measure the bonds by which we are bound together, but we must all recollect that these roads are worthless, unless the cross-ties that bind them are sure. And let us of the West not forget - for in twenty-four hours I have got to be all West myself - let us not forget that while these are great iron bonds that hold the American Union together, that the bonds cannot remain without the cros-ties keep them close together and strong.

Why, my friends, the gentleman who introduced us all to your kind attention - my friend - spoke to you of thunderbolts of intellect and of power. It struck me at the moment that he alluded to thunder as an element of power, that we are, as we look from tlie mountains of the East to the great mountains of th3 West, as the poet sang to us, as the whirling cars rolled their perilous Avay along, that we could hear the voice of the poet say to us : " Here, communion is perfect ; here union of heart with each other is complete,'' in the voice of a general and overwhelming melody; and we have, as we sing the song that brought smiles and sweet looks of women, God's ordination for our safety upon the earth, (loud applause,) we have their sweet smiles to cheer us all along. ("Applause.) The voice to which I have alluded, you will remember, related to a thunder storm, but we can apply it to the song of improvement.

Professor Mitchell, of Cincinnati, who spoke so eftectively at the fair grounds, was now vociferously called fur, and on at length rising, was greeted with apjilause. Rut when the audience became expectant, he said that, being so well known in St. Louis, and to must

Hon. James Brooks, of Xew York, wlio, he understood, was present. All eyes then hunted for Mr. Brooks, and he at length appeared in the second tier t»f hoxes, and approached the front. He and the ladies appeared to be mutually conscious of their elevated position. When sufficient time had elapsed for the fact to become also impressed upon the audience, Mr. B. entered upon a graceful, pertinent, and nnion-loving preamble, the alternating wit and pathos of wh'ch charmed anew the hearts of the ladies. He very humorously dwelt upon the fact that he was at that moment in the outslcirts of civilization - alluding to the circumstance of his being surrounded by a company of ladies spreading with all the indefinable dimensions of crinoline and hoops, - and then passed on to a stirring railroad speech, which brought down the house with rousing cheers.

He dwelt upon the West - and comically set forth a search he had made for that " West '' in only IS-tO. What was " West " then is East now, down East - even here in St. Louis, where soon'all the people will be talking through their nose in genuine Yankee twang. New York and St. Louis, quite subm'bs now, are only a good omnibus ride apart. The railroad to-day linked them in ron together, but if that had failed there was the lightning bond of the telegraph, that made us tick in tune, and as these joined us together, so joined they all the parts and States of this mighty Union. When there were only thirteen States in 1776, they were much farther apart than now in 1857 - for distance - intellectual distance was not in miles or space, but in thought, feeling, sympathy ; and in this sympathy the railroad and telegraph are now making us one people, one State. Hence whatever disunionists or sectionalists may do or say - the more they try to tear us apart, the more the iron road and lightning wire must bind us together. We shall then trade and intertrade the closer, marry and intermarry the more, and soon interests, hearts or passions will heal up all the wounds we suffer or suppose we suffer in the strain upon the Constitution of the State.

The Hon. J. Morrison Harris, one of the Members of Congress for the city and County of Baltimore, Maryland, was next called fi)r and introduced. Mr. Harris was also very warmly received, and delivered a beautiful speecli, whicli was substantially as follows :

Mr. Chair.man, and Citizexs of St. Louis : - I had posted myself in a remote part of the hall, to see and hear the very interesting ceremonies of this evening, and did not suppose that I should be called upon to take any direct part in what was going on around me. I cannot, however, refuse to respond to your call, or deny myself the pleasure of saying how glad I am to be with you to-night. For the first time my feet press the soil of the Great West. I have never before croAsed the inciintaiii barrier that shuts out your fair valleys and rolling prairies from the seaboard, where my home is. It has lonjr been one of the purposes of my life to visit this great region, of the extent, fertihty, resources, and amazing development of which I had read and heard so much ; and now that I am here, seeing and realizing for myself, I am made to feel that even my large anticipation is dwarfed by the wonderful reality. Where but a iuw years ago was the home of the savage and the solemn grandeur of undisturbed nature, I find spreading fields of exuberant vegetation, which, " if but scratched with a ploughshare do laugh into a harvest ;' majestic rivers, whose floods bear for thousands of miles the commerce of a people - long lines of perfected railroads piercing everywhere new sections of country, and developing, with marvellous rapidity, yet more marvellous resources of mineral and agricultural wealth - stately cities, crowded with active and entei-prising populations - beautiful with adorned mansions, dignified by noble institutions of public charity, and evincing the presence of all those influences of science,' education and refinement, that make cities great. With these revelations of your developments, there comes to me a new appreciation of the large importance of your division of our common country in the future tliat hes before the Republic ; and while I note the fresh and vigorous life that animates all movement here, and reflect upon the exhaustless and multiform resources that court the development which your energy will give them, I can well understand that in political as well as commercial importance this Great W'est is destined to occupy a position the significance of which cannot easily be over estimated. With your future, we of the city of Baltimore, that has now linked herself to you with the iron bands of a consummated road, hope to have an assured and beneficial interest. For many long years of painful and at times almost hopeless efibrt, we have been striving to reach you. We have worked wonders in achieving cur purpose, and he who will cross, as I have just done, the mountains that lie between us, and witness the triumph of man's skill over the interposed obstacles of nature, must marvel that the enterprise has ever been accomplished. As a Baltimore man, you must allow me to be proud of the boldness of the idea, the patient courage that marked its slow development, and the happy issue that is commemorated here to-night. I taist, Sir, that both your city and mine will derive ever-increasing advantages from the union into which we are thus brought, and I believe that commercial benefits are not the only good that will result from it.

I regard each new road that is opened between widely-separated sections of the country as welding the people together yet more firmly in the bonds of a common nationality.

The increased facilties and growing necessities of intercommunication lead to juster views of character, create and cement personal relations, dissipate the clouds of erroneous association, and make us more thoi-oughly one people. Let us, then, cultivate a better acquaintance with each otlier, and growing fairly tolerant of each other's opinions upon points of difiference, let ns make this an occasion for renewing onr fealty to that " Union " of which all our divers States are parts, and in which alone any of them are truly great.

Hon. Mr. Phelps, Spe.aker of the House of Representatives in Massacliusetts, was then called for. He took the stand amid gratifjing expressions of welcome, and entertained tlie audience by an address of much vigor and pertinence and well sustained eloquence, which was responded to by tumultuous signs of satisfaction.

Judge A. T. Ellis, of Vincennes, Ind., was the next speaker called for. He took the stand, his pleasing face beaming all over with good nature and outburstiug humor, and commenced a speech which all expected would sparkle with anecdote and wit. Tiie Judge, however, entered into au interesting historic narration, and gave a succinct account of the progress of the Ohio and Mississippi Raih-oad. He claimed for Vincennes the lionor of projecting the road. He himself, we believe, was its first President. He alluded to its early difficulties and paralyzing discouragements. To Colonel John O'Fallon, of St. Louis, he awarded the praise of being its first efficient financial friend in St. Louis, and Judge Burnett, of Cincinnati, as a powerful auxiliary there. The mention of the name of Colonel OTallon called out a tempest of cheers. Judge Ellis traced the history of the road to the period when Mr. Henry D. Bacon took hold of it, and pushed the Western Division first, and then, Avith others, the Eastern to its completion. Here again too, the "sympathies of the crowd were touched, and a storm of applause followed the mention of the name of Mr. Bacon. Judge Ellis closed amid applauding cheers.

The proceedings were closed byWm. Pinckney Whyte, of Baltimore. There were passages in his speech of elevated and dignified eloquence - there were anecdote, wit, humorous allusion, fancy and imagination - all of which, by turns, were welcomed by clapping, stamping, roars of laughter and Indian war-whoops. It was a very liai)py closing up of the speeches of the evening, and sustained the spirit of the occasion to the very last moment. In the course of his remarks 'Sir. Whyte said :

On an occasion other than the present, he would at so late an hour decline to respond, but he was aware that he was here in truth as a guest, and when asked to express his sentiments as such, he felt that he should be recreant were he not to utter them. He and his friends hud come hither, strangers, to see their western connexions. Of these they had heard, and read, and been proud, and yet had no idea that thej' were such a delightful family ! - He and his brother guests had expected even warm hospitality, but really, scarcely hospitality like this. They had been made to feel that they were welcomed with a truly fraternal welcome. They had been taken by the hand and by the heart with a hospitality of which he recalled no precedent.

The people of St. Louis were an example in the history of nations ! They were about to murder their guests, to kill them with kindness ! He had heard it said that there was an interior party liere - he didn't wonder that it was so said, tor the citizens had been doing nothing since the guests were here but goiny into their (the guests') interior ! 1 he hospitality seemed endless. It was like the interminable rope of the Irish sailor, who, after long hauling it in, concluded that " some divil in the say had cut the ind offT The end of the generosity being lavished, had surely been " cut off." There were the profusion of \'iands, the native sparkling Catawba, the cordial grasp of hands warmed by glowing hearts, and - as a peerless lamp to light their pathway - the eyes and smiles of the fair ! But why should he thus attempt to express gratitude - he would be bold to say that no gratitude was due. The kindness shown was a spontaneous outburst of native generosity which came of itself, and which the givers could not help. He would not boast of Maryland - thank God, we were all the children of one commonwealth. He had a right to speak here in Missouri, and why .' Because in her hour of need his ancestor had stood in the United States Senate as her advocate. This vanity' of boasting of each other's States or cities was little better than that of going forth to boast of each other's houses. The history of the country and the heroes of the country were of the country - all ! We should not imitate him who boasted that his ancestor sailed in the ark, and was silenced by another with the boast that his ancestor " had a boat of his own .'"

As the simple aboriginals were wont to do, the citizens of St. Louis had sent for their friends abroad to come to their big viigwam and have a talk ; and he would tell them this, that it would be folly to rend the Union ! He was a knave or a fool who wished it. It could not be done. He differed from the speaker who thought that the iron rails chiefly made the Union indissoluble. A certain Irishman didn't take that view of it. On first seeing the wire of the telegraph he asked, in wonder, " An' sure, what's that for?" (Here the speaker related the colloquy between the Irishman and his friend, giving the brogue and humor of the former in a style which convulsed his auditor* with roars of merriment, and which we had rather not attempt to follow.) When informed of the nature of the telegraph wire, he called it " a providential interposition." For, " how could the Union now be taken apart when it was tied together by a string?" The speaker, too, believed that it was tied together by a string, but the string was neither the rails nor the wires, but the heart-strings of the people !

He and his friends wonld soon return to tlieir homes, und when they told the wonders of this western world, they would hear from their people the same denials of their story, as the Indians of olden time showed upon the recital of marvellous things seen hy the traveller Qagoo. " Kaw," they said, " what lies you tell us, do not think tliat we believe them."

He closed hy reminding his hosts that they owed their guests of Baltimore a visit, which the latter would insist must be paid, and by warmly expressing the wish that the prosperity of St. Louis might be unrivalled on the fiice of the American continent.

Thus ended the great American Central Line Hailroad excursion, wliicb, from its inception to its close, proved a grand triumph, without an accident to mar its pleasures or cast a dark shade on the i)leasant remembrances of those who participated in its incidents. On otlier occasions, the inauguration of these modern means of rapid comniunicaiion has been sealed with the sacrifice of illustrious victims, and the triumph has been accompanied with terrible reminders of the insecure tenure of human happiness, and the essential imperfection of all Iminan progress. To the kind Providence whicli preserved us from all such misfortunes, and crowned the eftorts of our hosts with complete success, is due a meed of gratitude and praise, cheerfully awarded by every reflecting inind.

No railroad celebration has ever been projected in the history of tlie country on a scale so magnificent and costly as this. The preparations were commensurate with the grandeur of the Great National Highway which it opens up, and the extensive and complex arrangements for the entire trip, from Baltimore to St. Louis, were planned and carried out with a lavishness of expenditure and princely liberality wliich have been the theme of general surprise and admiration.

The character of the work on the Ohio and Mississippi Road, (something which can be said of but few roads in the West), is of the most substantial description. After leaving N. Vernon, Ohio, going "West, the country is very level and there are but few curves or embankments, thus greatly lessening the liability to accidents and the expenses of repairs. Tin-ough Illinois the track is almost on a bee line, and over a dead level for the whole distance. Thus it will be seen that a high rate of speed can be obtained with comparative safety. The country is unsurpassed in agricultural resources, though as yet we should think developed to but a limited extent, particularly that part of it lying along the Indiana section, which is mostly covered with extensive bodies of timber, while in Illinois it is a succession of

In distance, in geographical position, and the advantages of climate, the Ohio and Mhsissipjn Railroad must for ever stand without a rival. No otiier road can ever compete with it in the immense throngh travel Avliicii must flow with rapidly increasing tide between the two great metropolitan cities of tlie West.

It is also another mighty link in the stupendous iron chain which must stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Slowly, but steadily and surely, link after link, it is creeping westwardly, and perhaps ere the lapse of another decade, to adopt a beautiful simile of Webster's, tlie steam-whistle which greets the early morn upon the shores of the Atlantic, will roll on in one continuous strain through mountains and across rivers and prairies, until its voice is lost in the roar of the Pacific; beginning with the rising of the sun, and following his pathway across the vast expanse of a hemisphere, until he disappears through the golden gates of California.

Most of the guests remained in the city until Sunday evening or Monday, when there was a general stampede. A large number of the Maryland guests went to Galena and Chicago, over the great Illinois Central Road by special invitation of and in company with its excellent Superintendent, Mr. James C. Clarke, and Mr. Samuel D. Hayes, Master of Machinery, both formerly of the Baltimore and Ohio Road, who were among the Ohio and Mississippi guests at St. Louis. Some of the guests returned at once to their homes by the direct routes from St. Louis (by the Terro Haute «fe St. Louis Road, or the Ohio &, Missisci|)pi); but the majority broke up into small parties and started off on excursions to the interior - some even to Kansas, others to the Falls of St. Anthony, a few to the southward, some to the Lakes, and many to Niagara and the St. Lawrence River ; all left behind them new-formed friends, to part from whom was the most disagreeable incident of the whole affair, and all carried away recollections of St. Louis which will ever be cherished with liveliest regard.

It may not be out of place to notice here, that on the Monday following the great celebration, - the 8th of Jiine, - the New Mechanics' Exchange at St. Louis was opened with appropriate ceremonies. During the proceedings, Henry Ames, president of the Chamber of Commerce, proposed the following sentiment :

" St. Louis lias long been murried to New York and Boston - the western people have now adopted the Utah principle, and have taken Baltimore into the alliance."

Judge Z. Collii'.s Lee, of Baltimore, one of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad guests, then took the stand in answer to a desire generally expressed, and compared the past of St. Louis with her present greatness.

He alluded in brief terms to the difference in the number of population between the present period and that of twenty years ago, and said that the people of the eastern States begin to feel that they have been lying in a stagnant pool while the star of empire was taking its inevitable course westward. The people of the West and of the North are as one people, and when he saw the warm hearts and welcome hands of the sons of the Mississippi extended in cordial greeting and generous welcome to those of the sea-girt shores of the East, he had a feeling of pity, not a little akin to contempt, for those cavillers who talk of even the distant probability of a dissolution of the Union. For years past there never had been a presidential convention but what pai'ty demagogues had considered it necessary to let the Union slide. But there had always been and always would be a Moses found to bear the ark of the Constitution safely through the contest.

He did not know whether those present were Americans or not ; but the thought reminded him of a pleasant hour which he had recently passed with some of the belles of Vincennes. On that occasion he happened to remark that he believed the ladies present wei-e all know-nothings. At which a darkeyed comely dame arose from her seat, and with a courtesy and an arch smile replied : " All but me, sir - I'm a widow."

He would remind his hearers of the prophecy of Henry Clay, that patriot and statesman whom men had honored and blessed, " That the great centre of the United States would be at St. Louis, on the Mississippi." A\'e are now realizing that prophecy every day. I find myself to-day, continued the speaker, almost literally in New York ; and were I not told that I was in St. Louis, I should believe myself among the arts, civilization and commerce of that metropolis ; even along your wharves the very mules seem almost to fall on tlieir knees upon the golden road of commerce. The speaker concluded his remarks with the following sentiment :

" The, (ilizens of theyVest and the jyatriots of Missouri ; may they ever maintain what their forefathers have established - the liberty of the country to the latest generation."

Introduction To Paet Ii

The Grand Railroad Excursion from the West, which took place in July, 1857, deserves to be put upon record as an evidence of rare and wholesome public spirit, and of sectional courtesy and fraternization which, except in the similar excursion of the East to the West that preceded it - and which we have now fully described - was vvithout parallel in the history of our country. As an event, it must long live in the memories of those who participated in it. clothed with many reminiscences of pleasures enjoyed, knowledge acquired, friendships formed, and hospitalities received. Our detail of the history of this great commemorative visit of the West to Baltimore and the neighboring cities, must be confined chiefly to the festive and social characteristics, and the incidents of welcome, entertainment, and rejoicing, that were connected with the event from the time that the guests were taken in charge by the Baltimore Railroad, at the Ohio River, up to their final sepaiation in Baltimore, on their return from Norfolk.

To the people of Baltimore, the visit of their guests was an occasion which they hailed with joy and embraced with avidity, as a fiivorable opportunity for testifying toward these representatives of the West the feeling entertained for that section of the country, toward which they had perseveringly, and at last successfully, labored to connect themselves by the durable bonds of the iron rail. Nor was tliis feeling altogether of selfish origin, growing out of the consideration merely of commercial advantage and business gain. Active as these considerations might justly be, the social instincts of Baltimore had been excited, its prevalent hospitality appealed to, and there was an eager anxiety to receive these guests as cherished friends, to whom they owed an amount of hospitable obligation that had become almost burdensome in its pleasant weight. This was the result of the visit of the Baltimore deputation to the West in the preceding month. The lavish and overwhelming hospitality with which - as we have shown-^ they had been received and entertained at every point along the extended route, impressed them too strongly to be quickly forgotten. They had returned home filled with admiration for the Great West, and delighted with its people. This feeling was too enthusiastically entertained and freely expressed, not to have touched, with its agreeable infection, the whole mass of their fellow-citizens, and it was with this unanimous and earnestly entertained intent, that the people and authorities of Baltimore awaited the coming of the day in which the "Western Excursionists " were to be declared the guests of the city.

It was with a knowledge of this feeling upon the part of the people of Baltimore, as well perhaps as with the proper desire that might influence so great a corporation, in desiring an opportunity to return to the people of the West the civilities that had been so profusely expended upon its own invited guests and representatives, that the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company originated the movement, which expanded, and resulted in the festival whose incidents we are attempting to describe.

Besides all this, there were practical and important public objects to be incidentally promoted by bringing the authonties of the great Western cities to a close observance, at Baltimore, of the feasibility and efficiency of street railroads in securing a ready and easy connection between the tracks upon leading routes, without the more expensive and annoying transfers of freight and passengers now experienced, especially at Cincinnati - in moving between the East and the West.

In these objects the Baltimore and Ohio Companj'- was promptly, and in the most cordial manner, seconded by the Little IMiami and Central Ohio Roads, (which unite it, through Columbus, with Cincinnati, as well as by Xenia, with Dayton, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, and St. Louis,) of " the Great National Route," and also by the then recently opened Marietta and Cincinnati Road, intended to connect the Parkersburg tenninus of the Baltimore and Ohio Road with Cincinnati and the farther West. Afterwards, the Ohio and Mississippi Company liberally joined in the invitation to the St. Louis guests, and thus the unprecedented severity for its latitude. The Ohio River was frozen,

Introduction

In view of the important parts performed by the Little Miami and the Central Ohio Roads in this July excursion, - as well as their general relations to the great Baltimore and Ohio Road on the east, and to the Ohio and Mississippi Road on the west - we propose to give the best account of their history which we have been able to secure, before detailing the incidents of the Excursion itself.

The Little Miami, And Columbus And Xenia Railroad

The second stage of the excursion was from Cincinnati, one of the great commercial capitals of the Mississippi Valley, to Columbus, the State capital of Ohio.

General Features. - We will speak of the Road connecting the two, as the Little Miami - so named from the beautiful river, up whose valleys it winds for the first sixty-five miles, to Xenia ; thence to Columbus, fifty-four miles, aeross the fertile table-lands of the grazing district of southern Ohio. The Little Miami Railroad proper extends from Cincinnati, through Xenia, to Springfield, eighty-three and a half miles. But by a contract of union between the Little Miami and the Columbus and Xenia companies, concluded in 1853, the two agreed to permanently unite their respective roads, in their business management and uses, as one ; since when the two lines have been worked and managed together under the direction of one Superintendent, appointed by the concurrent action of the two Boards of Directors, subject to the direction of a joint committee of four.

The first annual report of the Little Miami Company was made 1842, that of the Columbus and Xenia Company in 1849. Since 1856 the companies have issued joint annual reports.

Chauacter of the Management. - The Little Miami Railroad then, as the line fiom Cincinnati to Columbus is popularly known, has the conceded position of tlie '- model road " of the Western system. The administration of its finances has been above suspicion, and has materially contributed to arrest the tendency of the public mind to the universal distrust, if not contempt, of the indifference of tlie Direction of this class of public works. By a coincidence, as remarkable as the existence of rare excellence in either department, the administration of the operative department and police of the road has been more successful, perhaps, than any other among American lines.

The standard of excellence established on this road by William H. Clement - for many years its General Superintendent, until he left it to take charge of the Ohio and Mississippi line, in 1857 - was, in some important respects, superior to that in the military service ; for it conserved all the accurate and manly elements supposed to result from the latter, while it left ample room for self-respect, and moral as well as professional elevation, in the lower grades of employees. Mr. Clement seems to have been one of the first to perceive that the almost indefinite extension of the railway system would demand for its operation a larger number of men, and possessing a greater average of ability, than either the civil or the mihtary departments of Government, and would form, to a certain extent, a distinct class in the community, superior in numbers, and hardly inferior in talent, to all the liberal professions. A leading idea with him seems to have been the formation of character, as well as the selection of the best available material the community afforded for his employees. The influence of the Superintendent was such, that any man or boy appointed to any post on the Little Miami road, forthwith felt the pressure of personal responsibility; felt that he was trusted and depended upon, and that - as a rule - his own rejiort of himself would be taken. The self-respect of the employee, thus appealed to and cultivated, his character and skill in his calling grew apace. Many a " bad man" has taken an agency, an engine, a train, or a break on the Little Miami, and been gradually and effectually reformed by the silent but operative influences of the service.

The severest discipline was found compatible with the entire devotion of the employees. Mr. Clement was sagacious enough to know that employees and subordinates like nothing better than to be held to the sti-ictest performance of duty. Such performance earns self-respect^ and self-respect brings satisfaction with one's position and its surroundings. Discipline was never relaxed, and therefore the chief never lost complete control over all, and every unit of his force. Superadded to this was a felicitous ability to Inspire aflection ; nothing could shake the loyalty of his employees. Tlie winter of 185G-'7 was one to test the loyalty and devotion of the men of his road. The cold was of unprecedented severity for its latitude. The Oliio River was frozen and the price of coal went up from fourteen to sixty cents per bushel. The result was a fuel famine ! The Little ]Miarai was the only Cincinnati line having a connection with a coal region. The eflFect of the intense cold was to derange the running of trains, the snapping of axles and wheels, as though their material was of brittle glass. The consequence of the fuel famine, was a vast increase in the demand for service. A populace, but little informed as to the capacity and operation of iron roads, and urged on by demagogues, not only menaced the wealthier classes, but threatened to tear up the track of the Little Miami Railroad, because it did not work the miracle of an instant adaptation of equipment and depot facilities to a new freightage, and daily precipitate an abundant supply of fuel upon a manufacturing city of two hundred thousand people.

This emergency was the opportunity that proved the Little Miami " the model road " in all that related to discipline and effectiveness. Every man and every engine was worked under the severest pressure, to his and its fullest capacity. There was no rest for the engineers ; the conductors were required to " double " day and night, the brakemen on the roofs and on the alert through all the nights, when the thermometer marked 20° below zei'o, but not a man left his post - there was not a murmur. The worst effects of the famine were averted, the city was practically relieved.

Men familiar with these facts, and who admire administrative ability and moral heroism in whatever calling, will think of Clement and his associates in the winter of '56-7, as they think of Havelock and his comi-ades at Lucknow. Under John Durand, its present excellent superintendent, the high character of the management seems to have been admirably maintained. ]Mr. Durand is from the Cleveland and Wheeling Railroad, also an excellent line.

Financial Administration of the Road - its Present Position. - The Fifteenth Annual Report of the Little Miami Company, published early in 1858, makes the following exhibit: it is in such sharp and, withal, gratifying contrast with the lame and impotent conclusions of the majority of reports, that its statistics will interest and attract even the popular mind, and unprofessional readers.

S-2,010,270 80 On the occasion of the recent election of John Kilgour, who succeeds the venerable Jacob Strader, to the Presidency of the Little Miami Company (January 1, 1858), one of the editors of the Daily Commercial newspaper of Cincinnati, a gentleman, it is not improper the following observations in the Railway Department of that journal. The author of this work will add the remark that these sentences, analytic and keenlj^ discriminating as they are, might well be framed in gold by the President's children, and preserved in the archives of the family : in the future they will read better than patents of nobility.

There are in the personal traits of the new President some things that we, as journalists, jealous of the dignity of the estate, find, perhaps, not making due allowance for a merchant's misconception of its scope and relations, may criticise severely, but we can .afford to do justice to decided ability and exalted worth, wherever society may have so rich a depository.

Daniel Webster would have designated Mr. Kilgour as " one of the solid men of the country." For more than a quarter of a century he has been a representative of what is creditable in a merchant, a banker, and a managing railway capitalist. Ho is strongly individual. His characterizing traits are unwavering integrity and an inevitable persistence of purpose.

The admirable organization and the excellent police of the operative department that made the Little Miami the model railroad of all the West, is to the credit of Clemen*; ; the administration of the finances of the company that has made the Little Miami almost an isolated example of ability married to iiitcjjtrity, and the beneficent influences of which have diffused through all grades of the service, has been John Kilgour's administration. If he is not distinguished for a generous estimate of men; if he is not remarkable for the genial temperament and the human impulses that hold the loyalty and affection of employees, he has that attribute that wise men exalt above sympathy, and writers of proverbs place before generosity - he is a just man.

Description of the Line. - The beauty of the Little Miami River country has frequetitly been the theme of praise, and deservedly too. Our space will scarcely permit us to go into an extended narration of the different points of interest that present themselves to the eye of the traveller as he is whisked along the pleasant route from the Queen City to Columbus, but we may at least give a currento calamo account of most of thorn. But before we proceed, we cannot but offer a word in commendation of the noble passenger depot at Cincinnati. Tins fine structure is capable of containing ten thousand people ; nor have its designers been at all too spacious in their ideas, as the inci'easing and already large influx of travel, from the north and east, brings into requisition all the area which the building can supply. Near by are also several other buildings of large dimensions for freight, in which an immense business is now done by this line.

On leaving the city the attention is first attracted by the large building containing the Cincinnati Water Works. It being necessary for the purposes of supply to give the water an elevation of one hundred and fifty feet, and there not being the requisite water power near, that of steam has to be resorted to.

Jamestown, some two miles from the depot, on the Kentucky shore, is a handsome place, and its thrift, though only laid out eight jears, suggests a strange contrast with the ivied ruins of its ancient namesake in a sister State, and forms a beautiful picture from the railroad on the Ohio side.

Pendleton, is a continuation of the city that we have passed. It is here that the Company have located their buildings for locomotives, their repair and other shops, so indispensable to the preservation of the good working order of a railway.

Leaving Pendleton, by a curve in the road, you pass into the valley of the Miami, leaving to the left on a summit, a point rejoicing in the classic name of Tusculum. The extended panoramic view from the hill is represented as being fine indeed.

A sight of it suggests the memory of the days when the axe was the great pioneer, and the first settler's foothold was maintained only by the clearness of his eye, and the unfailing accuracy of his rifle. When the hardihood and courage of the men, whose bones fill the graves beneath, is borne in mind, one may think their tombs, as well as that of Trafalgar's victor, deserve the inscription, Siste viater heroa calcas. The hum of population that now surrounds their burial-place, is the very antithesis of the solitude of the country, when they first penetrated the then Western wilds.

The Little Miami River, which is the next object of interest, is visible on either side of the track for fifty miles. This pretty stream is equable in its flow, yet its descent is such as to give fine water power, which is attested by the numerous mills and factories along its banks, whose products find a market in Cincinnati. The river rises in Madison county, and flows through those of Warren, Clermont, and Hamilton, a distance of eighty miles to its mouth. Of the exceeding fertility of the valley through which flows this stream, we may best convej' an idea by saying, that there are over a million of bushels of wheat grown in it, and almost countless bushels of that great cereal, corn. Of course the flour into which the mills convert the wheat, the distillation furnished from the other grain, or the vast number of swine that are fed by it, become a tribute to Cincinnati through the invaluable medium of freight cars and locomotive. The road follows the valley to Xenia, where it is left, and the track is laid over an ascending plain in the direction of Columbus.

The Little Miami, though twenty miles distant from the greater stream of the same name, runs parallel to it. It is from these two rivers that the valley which is watered by them derives its name. With the exception of the immediate vicinity of Boston, nowhere in New England does the densit}- of population exceed that of this comparativel}' primitive country.

Plainville. nine and a half miles from Cincinnati, is quite a pleasant situation. The heights in its vicinity have been purchased for the erection of suburban residences, being but a short run by the railroad, and little more than an hour's drive from the city.

Milford's church spires and schools are now in sight. This place is situated on the opposite bank of the Miami. Its population increased with much rapidity. It is situated in the county named after the first boat propelled by steam in American waters, and distant 1^ miles from Cincinnati.

Description Of The Little Miami Road

Miami Bridge, elevated above the reach of floods, crossing the river 18 miles from the Queen City, is a fine structure for railroad purposes. It is substantially built, in contemplation of the use of a double track,

Loveland is a place deserving of note, it being here that the Little Miami Railway is united to the JMarietta and Cincinnati Railroad, 23 miles from Cincinnati.

Lebanon - four miles further on - is a pleasant retired country town. The "cedars" of its representation, are the number of prominent men of the country that it has produced, or who have made it their residence. Among them are John McLean and Thomas Corwin.

Morrow, distant from Cincinnati 36 miles, and from Xenia 28, is one of those places that has been brought into existence by the magic influence of railroad enterprise. Here the road crosses a considerable stream called Todd's Fork, by a handsome wooden bridge. This is the point at which the Little Miami Railroad intei'sects the Cincinnati, Wilmington, and Zanesville Railroad. The latter road forms a central link of straight line through a rich country, uniting with the Central Ohio road at Zanesville, 78 miles from Benwood Junction.

Fort Ancient is 41 miles from Cincinnati and 22 miles from Xenia. But little, indeed nothing, is known of the history of this site^ save that what remains of it indicates that its original purpose was defence.

Corwin - a station opposite the pretty town of Waynesville - is 50 miles from Cincinnati and 14 from Xenia. Its surroundings of foliage are very attractive.

Spring Valley, deriving its name from the numberless rills gushing from the hill-sides that enclose it, is a pleasant village. From Cincinnati it is distant 57 miles, from Xenia 7 miles. There are a number of factories and mills in the vicinity.

About 3 miles from Xenia, in the woods to the left, the traveller reaches the spot made memorable by the escape of the intrepid old pioneer, Daniel Boone, from his Indian captors. What is now called " Old Town " was then old Chillicothe, about six miles from this spot on the river. Here he found a body of Indians preparing to attack Booneburg, and, careless of the odds against him, the fearless old pioneer repaired hither to put his block-house in order, and to defend it from attack afterwards.

Xenia is nearly equi-distant between Cincinnati and Columbus. Xenia is the point of junction with the great railway system of Central Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, through Dayton, Indianapolis, and Terre Haute. It is regarded as one of the best towns in the interior of the West. Its reputation for furnishing a nice railroad supper seems to be well established.

Cedarville Station, deriving its name from the imusual growth of the cedar tree at this point, is seventy-two miles from Cincinnati and forty-six from Columbus.

Soutli Charleston Station, situated in a pleasant country of peculiar soil, is next reached, its distance from the Queen City being eightythree miles, and from Columbus thirty-five miles.

London, the county seat of Madison county, is a small town, situated 24 miles from the Capitol, and 94 from Cincinnati. At this point the railroad from Springfield connects with the Columbus and Xenia, Springfield being 19 miles distant.

The Railroad Bridge over Darly Creek is a fine structure, but the stream which it crosses is possessed of historical interest, because on its banks dwelt the great Chief of the Cayugas, and the friend of the white man, Logan, the substance of whose speech, as given in the polished language of Mr. Jefferson, is as familiar as household words.

Columbus, the Capital of the State of Ohio, is 119 miles from Cincinnati, and 137 from Bellaire, on the Ohio River, opposite Benwood, the junction with the Baltimore and Ohio Road. It is built on the eastern bank of the Scioto, in the midst of a beautiful plain, which forms Central and Western Ohio. The lands which surround it, were once the property of the Wyandotte Indians. The city is readied from Cincinnati by a substantial bridge over the Scioto. The building in sight to the left of the road is the State Prison. In coming to Columbus, the traveller crosses the plateau that divides the waters of the Scioto and the Little Miami. The head-waters of the latter stream at one point approach the Scioto, which is one of the principal rivers of the State. The area between the two rivers is called the " Virginia Military District."

One of the features of Columbus is the State House of Ohio, - fronting on Main street - built of a durable and handsome gray limestone, and regarded as one of the handsomest public edifices in the country, and also one of the largest. It is stated that its dimensions are only exceeded by those of the Capitol in Washington City. The area occupied by it is nearly double that of the State House at Nashville, and quadruple that of the largest in other States.

Officers and Directors of the Columbus and Xenia Railroad Company for 1857-'58. WM. DENNISON, Jr., President. JNO. DURAND, Superintendent. CYRUS FAY, Treasurer and Secretary.

History Of The Central Ohio Railroad

The Central Ohio Railroad Company was incorporated by the Legislature of Ohio, by a special act, approved February 8, 1849 ; and upon the 20th of March, 1850, several additional enactments in reference to this road were obtained, making up an aggregate of chartered powers of the most liberal character.

The original corporators were : Robert Neil, Samuel Medary, Joel Buttles, Joseph Ridgeway, and Bela Latham, of Franklin coimty ; David Smith, Daniel Duncan, Adam Seymoui", Israel Dille, Albert Sherwood, Nathaniel B. Hogg, Levi J. Humphrey, Jacob Glessner, George W. Penney, Jonathan Taylor, A. P. Richard, and Wickliff Condit, of Licking county ; James Raquet, Robert Mitchell, Daniel Brush, John Hunna, Solomon Sturges, Richard Stilwell, Daniel Convers, Levi Claypool, and Solomon Woods, of Muskingum county. Of these persons, Joel Buttles, Bela Latham, Daniel Duncan, Robert Mitchell, and Daniel Convers, have passed from the stage of action. The rest, in various positions of trust and honor, business engagements, or honorable retirement, hold the continued confidence of the several communities around them.

The charter authorized the construction of a railroad through the east and west central belt of the Ohio, limiting the Company only to a contact with the towns of Zanesville, Newark, and Columbus, and allowing otherwise a full discretion in the location of the route, and the eastern and western termini. The construction of the several lines of railway from Columbus to the Indiana boundary, by way of

History Of The Central Ohio Railroad

Dayton, and to Cincinnati, by way of Xenia, obviated the necessity of any exercise of the chartered powers of the Central Ohio Company west of Columbus ; and they, accordinj2:l3^, confined their operations to the filling up the gap between the western railway system, constructed and projected as radiating from Columbus and the great lines from the east, converging upon the Ohio River, at or near Wheeling.

In the month of August, 1847, the requisite $10,000 of stock having been subscribed, the Company was organized by the election of Solomon Sturges, John Ilanna, Wm. Dennison, Jr., George James, Albert Sherwood, Charles B. Goddard, Daniel Marble, Levi Claypool, Daniel Brush, and Stephen R. Hosmer, as Directors. The high reputation of Mr. Sturges in Ohio, as a capitalist and financier, naturally indicated his selection as President. He was accordingly elected ; Daniel Brush made Treasurer ; and D. H. Lyman, of Muskingum, chosen Secretary.

During the first year, the Directory confined itself to the reconnoissance, by Jonathan Knight - then one of the consulting engineers of the Baltimore and Ohio Company - of the country between Columbus and Wheeling, so as to determine upon the feasibility of the project. His report proved favorable. The year closing without any farther action by the Company, the impatience of the railroad spirit beginning to work on the community, indicated the propriety of a change in the management. Mr. J. H. Sullivan, of Zanesville, having (as a member of a committee selected for the purpose in the spring of 1848), in his pamphlet address to the citizens of Muskingum county on the subject of municipal subscriptions, manifested an earnestness satisfactory to the public mind, was elected to the Directory in August, 1848. His consent being had, he was elected to the Presidency in September of that year, which he filled, by successive annual elections, for seven years ; and until after the whole line of road from Columbus to the Ohio River at Bellaire was opened for trade and travel. The Directory for 1848-9 - the opening year of active operations for the Company - were: J. H, Sullivan (President), John Hanna. Solomon Sturges, Charles B. Goddard, James Raquet, S. R. Hosmer, Daniel Brush (Treasurer), George James, William Galigher, Levi Claypool, Israel Dille, Albeit Sherwood, and William Dennison, Jr. - D. H. Lyman was appointed iirst Secretary.

In a short time the Company were in a position to order the surveys, location, and contracting of the line, between Zanesville and Newark - a distance of 25^ miles. On the 26th of January, 1852, this portion of the road was opened for business. In the spring of 1852,

31 sections of the line east of Zanesville were placed under contract. On the 18th January, 1853, the track was extended westwardly to Columbus, after much difficulty and delay, on the completion of the 52d section, at the crossing of Big Walnut Creek. This section has about 250,000' yards of embankment, and some 1800 feet of bridging and trestling. On the report of the engineers as to their difficulties in progressing, the President took upon himself the personal supervision of the work. The results of this course were very satisfactory. It restored the morale of the force of mechanics and laborers engaged upon the different subdivisions, who had become discouraged by the many physical difficulties interposing themselves, and which precluded that sense of advance^ so essential to spirited action, even in the most indifferent laborers. Notwithstanding interruptions from freshets and dispersion of the force of mechanics twice after his taking charge of the work, the President was able to report the opening of the road, through to Columbus, on the period we have named (18th January, 1853) several months in advance of the time fixed for its completion by the Chief Engineer.

The practical experience obtained by his personal supervision of the work on this difficult section, was doubtless of very considerable service to the Company, in enabling the President to examine more critically the estimates and reports from the construction department of the road, in its after progress, east of Zanesville. It may also have been the secret of his success in opening the road through to the river, so much earlier than the public, in view of all the difficulties which had to be overcome, anticipated.

In the autumn of 1852, the unlet portions of the road between Zanesville and the Ohio River, were contracted to Bradley & Whittemore. Nearly a year's delay, in the completion of the surveys and letting, is said to have been caused by the course of the city of Wheeling, in first voting a subscription of .$250,000 to the stock of the road, before the Company were ready to ask it (which, it is thought, operated also to cause a failure of the first vote, in Belmont county, for a subscription of $100,000), and afterwards, when the Company were read}^ to use the amount voted, declined giving it, unless with conditions in regard to route, which were deemed inadmissible. The route that 6he stipulated for, proved, by comparison of surveys and estimates, to be more costly than the route adopted by the Company, in fully the whole amount of her subscription.

History Of The Central Outo Railroad

Up to this period - and, indeed, until the opening of the road through, in 1854 - the duties of the management were complex and delicate, and required a combination of all the tact, energy, and firmness which the Directory could muster. A portion of the road was opened, a portion under survey, a portion under contract ; contracts with connecting roads, which were to exercise, probably, a perpetual influence upon the working results of their charge, had to be made ; subscriptions of stock, which, when Mr, Sullivan came into office, did not exceed 10,000, had to be provided, to furnish a respectable basis for the loans being made and proposed. All these subdivisions of duty required continuous and concurrent attention, and made an aggregate of labor which none but railroad builders can appreciate.

The obtainment of stock subscriptions from a comnmnity chiefly agricultural - who, although the most to be benefited, are sometimes the slowest to acknowledge the value of such enterprises - proved to be a work of peculiar difficulty. The authorization of county and town subscriptions, under a special law, by diffusing the burden, made the matter less objectionable to most ; but even in such cases, all the appliances of newspaper and pamphlet publications, and stump-speeches throughout most of the territory interested, had to be made available to carry even public subscriptions, against the reluctance of the taxpayers. Franklin county - in which is located the capital city of Columbus, having previously voted stock to the Cleveland and Columbu.s, and the Columbus and Xenia roads, by vote twice refused to sub.scribe to the stock of the Central Ohio road. In Licking, .^.50.000 was voted by the county, and .'$10,000 by the town of Newark. In ^Muskingum, ^250,000 by the county, and ."^-dO^OOO by the city of Zanesvillc. In Guernsey, ^100,000 by the county ; and in Belmont, on the Ohio River - after voting against subscription - upon a second trial, the people voted $100,000. The Columbus and Xenia Railroad Company subscribed about $00,000; citizens of Baltimore, about $100,000; Bradley & Whittemore, the contractors, took about $200,000. The balance of the stock list, which shows an aggregate of .$1,626,856. was made up principally along the line of the road, in individual subscriptions.

In addition to the labors which legitimatel}^ attached to the building of the road, the directory found, as the work progressed step by step, that it was growing in magnitude, and reaching immensely beyond the estimates of the locating engineers.* There were but few of the unfinished roads of the country upon which the Companies engaged were not compelled to stop working, during the excessive moneyed stringency of the last half of 1853, and the whole of the year 1854. It was at the period of the greatest distnist of railroad securities, in those years, that the Directors found themselves called upon to provide, by loans, for the unexpected requisitions of the engineers, to an extent equal to the original estimates of the whole cost of the road. INIen of weak nerves were staggered ; but as over $3,000,000 had been expended upon the work, it was a question between the practical annihilation of that amount of capital, together with the still more serious loss of the road itself, on one side, and the incurring of a massive bonded and floating debt. The latter was the choice of the Directory, as the least of two great evils.

In his pamphlet address to the people of Muskingum, in 1848, upon the subject of municipal subscriptions, Mr. Sullivan had incidentally remarked that five or six years would elapse before the road from Columbus to the Ohio river could be built. It is supposed that he then little dreamed of being himself one of the principal agents in its construction ; and that in just six years and six months from that prediction - with one year's delay, from extraneous influence - he should be the first to announce the opening of the line through to Bellaire, and there establishing a connection between the Baltimore and Ohio road, and the indefinitely expanding railway system of the West ! This interesting event occurred on the 1st of November, 1854, and was participated in by a large excursion party, from Baltimore and other Atlantic cities.

The opening of the road was attended with such a rush of freights and travel towards the new channel of intercourse, that its managers and friends seemed to be on the eve of the fruition of all their most sanguine views in regard to the enterprise, when a series of misfortunes, commencing in December, 1854, and running through the whole of the ensuing year, prostrated, by blow after blow, all the credit which a careful nursing from the time of its organization had built up for the

* The comparative estimates of the locating engineers for the two routes from Ilanna's Mills, near Cambridge, to Bridgeport, viz. : the " Central Route," so-called - being the one upon which Wheeling was willing to make her subscription - and the McMahon's Creek route, upon which the road was finally located, were as follows: McMahon's Creek route, 1995,546 43 ; Central route, by t^t. Clairsville, Morristown, &c., $1,257,903 03. The' actuid cost, including discount upon bonds, &c., exceeded the estimate by two miUiana of dollars.

The deficiency of side-tracks, machinery, and experienced men for the working of trains, would not have exhibited itself with much inconvenience, had the business of the road, as usual in such cases, grown gradually with the gradual diffusion of information in regard to the value of the route ; but the closing of the Ohio River by ice in December, threw suddenly upon the road the traffic usually accumulating at Cincinnati, for transportation by steamers to the Baltimore and Ohio Road. The want of ample sidings and machinery, at that time, induced the accumulation and delay of freights, at almost every point on the line, between Columbus and the river.

By the month of July succeeding, every thing was beginning to work smoothly again, and the confidence of the public was gradually becoming restored to the line, when a still greater temporary disaster occurred, in the fall of the roof of the tunnel at Cambridge - which obstruction was not removed until the January succeeding, and which, for the whole of that period, compelled a troublesome and expensive transfer of freights and passengers at that point. It became, for the time being, practically a local road ; and with diminished resources, increased expenses, and prostrated credit, it could only stagger forward towards the period when it should appeal to the holders of its floating debt for a conversion of their claims into a funded form. The policy of President Sullivan having been an entire abnegation of local interests, for the sake of the whole interests of the enterprise under his charge, he had naturally rendered himself unpopular with several of the communities along the line, and near its eastern terminus, who had over-estimated the special benefits to be conferred by the road. Many of those who had been dissatisfied with his policy during the construction of the road, were disposed to hold him responsible for its rt'orking operations, or management since opened for traffic, although that was, to some extent, out of his control. Believing, however, that the road would be benefited by the selection of a President with whom all its friends could be satisfied, Mr. Sullivan declined a re-election to the Directory at the annual meeting of the stockholders, in August, 1855 ; and recommended the selection of Elias Fassett, of New York, to supply his place. Mr. Fassett was elected to the Directory, and then made President.

with but few exceptions, he had uniformly received from his colleagues and a majority of the stockholders, during the whole seven years of his administration. Without disparagement to the rest a few may be named, who were conspicuous in the services they conferred upon the Company. "Wm. Gahgher, the second Treasurer, was always prompt to give his personal service, or the use of his name, when the credit of the Company was not sufficient to meet the exigency. Mr. Hosmer, the third Treasurer, and acting as such during the whole of the most difficult and trying financial troubles of the Company, gave unremitting attention - to the exclusion, frequently, of personal considerations and his private interests - to almost every department of the road, whether surveys, construction, or management, of the portion in operation.

Among those who aided, especially in drawing confidence to the work along the line between Zanesville and the Ohio River, should be named Nehemiah Wright, of Belmont, and the late John Hall, of Millwood, in Guern.sey county. These old gentlemen (both of the Quaker persuasion) belonged to the rapidly thinning ranks of the pioneers of Ohio, and had long passed the prime of life ; but their experience of the difficulties of the first settlers, particularly in the want of facilities for transport, enabled them to appreciate more sensibly than a younger generation, the great value of such improvements as the railroad. Their clear-headed views and firmness of purpose, always inspired confidence and respect in the counsels of the Board, with which they were associated for Several years. Mr. Hall died in the summer of 1854. about a week before the track of the road was laid past his house. He had expressed a hope to live long enough to hear the approaching locomotive, but was not so favored. Mr. Wright still resides at his old homestead, at Belmont, beloved and respected ; and although a large present suflerer in the depreciation of the stock and securities of the road, he takes much satisfaction in having aided to accomplish a work so beneficial to the countrj' at large.

Of the present Board of Directors, there are two only who have been with the Road through all its labors and trials : George James being one of the first Board elected, with an intermission of but one year from service. George B. Wright has been in the Board uniformly since 1849 ; Charles B. Goddard belonged to the Directory in the first two years and during the last two years ; having, however, been the legal adviser of the Companj' since the day of its organization.

Mr. Fassett was the earliest financial agent of the Company, in the East, and by his instrumentality it was introduced to the favorable attention of New York capitalists. Subsequently, when all railroad securities, on the general merits of such investments, were excluded from sale in that city, by the moneyed revulsion of 1853, Messrs. Robert Gan-ett and Sons (upon the grounds of the great importance to the city of Baltimore and the Baltunore and Ohio Railroad, of furnishing means for completing and equipping a practical extension of their onlj' western outlet) successfully claimed the attention of investors in Central Ohio securities, during the darkest period of 1853-'4, and those gentlemen, when sales were no longer possible, except at ruinous sacrifices, furnished from their own resources funds to meet the exigences of the Company in some of its worst straits, ximong the financial helps of the Company, also, should not be forgotten the " material aid " provided by Chauncy Brooks, now President of the Baltimore and Ohio Road, and by the firm of Josiah Lee & Co., and by others, who have at least the satisfaction of knowing that their means and influence have built up an adjunct to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which, next to that great work, is doing more than all other accessories besides to build up the commercial prosperity of their beautiful city.

The value of the Central Ohio Road to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, is already exhibited in an analysis of the business of the former for the year ending 1st August, 1857. During that period the Central Road delivered to the Baltimore Road 8G,060 tons of freight, and received in return 34,179, an aggregate of 121,239 tons. This is regarded by the friends of the road in Ohio and elsewhere, as a commensurate return in one year for the loan of $100,000 in six per cent, bonds, for which she holds the fourth mortgage seven per cent, bonds of the Central Ohio Company. It cannot, in their view, be objected, that an important portion of this traffic would, without the Central Road, have been drawn over the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bj' the instrumentality of the river. A comparison of the business of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad before the completion of the Central Ohio Road, with its business since, will show that an increase equal to the statement above may safely be assumed.

(having also for several months performed the additional duties of General Superintendent) m October, 1857. During his administration, the larger portion of the floating debt has been funded into fourth mortgage bonds. The receipts of the road for the year ending August, 1857, even with a continued deficiency of machinery, were now up to $712,213 19 - a gain of $217,508 57 over the preceding year. He left the administration of the Company with the confidence of the public in his sound judgment, integrity, and devotion to the interests he had in charge. Mr. Fassett was succeeded by H. J. Jewett, the late Vice-President.

Mr. Jewett assumes the Presidency at a period of unprecedented depression in the commerce of the country, and a consequent diminution of ordinary revenues from all commercial avenues. It is, however, a very gratifying fact to its friends, that the receipts of the Central Ohio Road have not fallen ofi" in as great a ratio as those of the railroads of the country generally, so that it shows relatkely a gain. This is. doubtless, owing largely to the vigilance, forecast, and judicious management of President Jewett, whose earnest efforts and unquestioned ability - aided by an excellent corps of general officers and agents - are re-establishing, very rapidly, the original confidence felt by its friends in this enterprise.

The Fifth Annual Report of the Company, by President Sullivan, uses the following language in relation to the business position of the road :

Every additional development in the rapidly changing character of the business relation.s of the country have only induced additional confidence in the strength of our position, and additional satisfaction with the location of the Central Ohio Road.

The intense activity and interest -which the minds of our people manifest at this time in public works have already developed all the projects of Railroads for Ohio wliich are likely to be indicated for many years to come, and more than can be built at this time. But amidst them all, between a fortunate combination of circumstances and the topography of the countiy north and south of our line there is no road yet projected, nor likely to be, that will abstract any important portion of our local trade ; whilst for through business our geographical position is such as to leave us without an even-handed competitor. ^^'e are aware that rival interests have endeavored to depreciate the value of our geographical position by a reference to the grades and curvature to which we shall be subjected for about thirty miles through the county of Belmont. The comparison of roads by their maximum grades is a A"ery fallacious way of judging of value. A frequent succession of grades of 50 feet to the mile over a stretch of line of 20, 50 or a 100 miles in extent, is certainly much more objectionable than the occurrence of a gi'ade of 76 feet to the mile at the passage of a siiir/le summit in a long line of road, especially if a large portion of the balance of the road is lecel, or practically so. The measure of objection upon the score of grades, if they be workable at all with a single engine, is not the inclination of any particular plane so much as their frequency of occurrence and their disposition - their relation to each other. In view of this the distinguished engineer, Mr. Latrobe, introduced into the location of the Baltimore and Ohio Road maximum grades of IIG feet to the mile, instead of 80 feet to the mile, with less favorable "disposition." In the matter of curves we have no portion of our line, between Zanesville and the Oliio river, with such striue'eut curvature as some that exists upon the road between Zanesville and Kewark, and yet the latter portion of the road we have run, under schedule, 35 miles per hour.

We have no hesitancy in expressing the belief that in alignment and grades our road and its affiliate lines south-westwardly, westward, and north-westerly, may claim at least an equalify with the best lines radiating from Pittsburg and Wheeling, or branching from the Baltimore and Ohio Road; whilst in lineal distance, - with the exception of the Parkersburg route between Baltimore and Cincinnati, - it will be a part of the shortest line of communication between Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, in the East, and the capitals of Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri, and the cities of Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis, in the West. With reference even to the Parkersburg route from Baltimore, we believe that the superiority of the Central line west of Zanesville, through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, in point of grades and cun'ature, over the route through the more broken region in the vicinity of the Ohio river, together with an exemption J'rum the delay to which travel will be exposed in transfer through the citij of Cincinnati, from the eastern to the toestern lines and a like exemption from the expense of transferring freights, will make the great Central rouie the favorite line of travel between St. Louis and Baltimore and Washington. As preparatory' for this result, an unbroken chain of railroads for the whole route is partly built or in process of construction, and will be soon complete. Taking up the line of our connections at Columbus, the Columbus and Xenia Road, by the instrumentality of the Xenia and Dayton Road, will be practically extended to Dayton. The Dayton and Western Railroad is in operation to the Indiana State line. From there the Indiana Central - (with which the Dayton and Western is consolidated) - will be complete to Indianapolis hi the coming month of October. From Indianapolis to Terre Haute the road is in successful operation. From TeiTe Haute to Alton, on the Mississippi, within 25 miles of St. Louis, the whole line is under contract. For the construction of a road from Terre Haute to St. Louis direct, another Company is organized ; but with some legislative obstructions thrown in their way, by what is called " Illinois policy,'' they are yet delayed in their work. From Indianapolis another magniticent chain of roads stretching to St. Joseph's, on the IMisSMiri, and all of which, except about 37 miles, are eitlier built or under contract, lies under this same iUth parallel of north latitude, along which the Central Ohio and the Indiana Central Railways are laid.

These several interests we indicate as constituting the Grand Central Trunk Line, which, taking into consideration either perfectness of relation to the east and west business of the countiy, fertility of soil, density of population or its affluence of general trade, is not now equalled in the valley of the Mississippi, and will never be surpassed.

It is needless to tax your patience with a list of the roads destined to be tributary to this great Arterial Line; but a glance at the map of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, with the various roads converging upon the central route, will show the propriety of the order which we have made to adjust our tunnels and masonry with a view to a double track.

But without confining its relations to the line of connections through Central Indiana to St. Louis, the Central Ohio Road may legitimately claim to form a medium of transit between the Ohio and Mississippi Road at Cincinnati, and the Baltimore and Ohio Road as well as the southern route. The controlling question for both trade and travel, is not the comparative lineal distances upon respective competing routes ; but first, the character of the connections ; secondly, the character of the towns passed and the country traversed; the accommodations upon the line, and the punctuality of the trains. In all these elements of just consideration, the Central Ohio Road is not surpassed by any road in the Valley of the Mississippi. The road is substantially built, the machinery superior, and the accuracy with which the trains have been run upon it, has been the subject of special comment in the Postmaster-General's Report.

Baltimore

The idea of the excursion of the TVestem authorities to Baltimore and vicinitj' - as explained in the Introduction to this portion of our volume - having been once received, the arrangements that were necessary to perfect and carry it out, were initiated and undertaken by the President of the Baltimore and Ohio Road, and its Directors, Officers, and Agents.

On the 6th of July, 1857, the President addressed the following communication to the Mayor of St. Louis ; similar formal invitations being also forwarded to the authorities of Cincinnati and Chillicothe. The Company's General Western Agent, John M. Sharp, was in the meantime activelj" co-operating in extending its courtesies - with those of the uniting roads, the Little Miami and Central Ohio - among such of the Cincinnatians as were expected to participate in the alfair.

Besides the authorities proper, many of the most distinguished and public-spirited of the citizens of the western towns were invited, but it was found that the hurry and consequent want of formality incident to the short interval first fixed at Cincinnati for the visit, prevented many of them from accompanying the excursion.

upon the occasion of the kite celebration of the opening of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, respectfully tenders to you, and also, through you to the City Councils of St. Louis, a cordial invitation to pass over its roads to Baltimore and Washington, at such time as may be best suited to your convenience.

We have the assurance of the intermediate lines of railroad, that it ^vill be equally agreeable to them to extend the freedom of their respective portions of the through line which unites us with St. Louis.

If agreeable to you and your associates in authority, to join them at that time, we shall be glad to hear from you at the earliest moment, so that we can promptly make the necessary arrangements for the trip.

We have heard very general expressions of a desire upon the pai-t of our citizens, that they might have on opportunity to welcome you to Baltimore, and also are advised that our municipal authorities are liiiely to add their oiBcial civilities in some earnest form.

It having been definitely ascertained that the authorities of St. Louis. Cincinnati, and Chillicothe had accepted the invitation extended by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the city authorities of Baltimore prepared to take their appropriate part in the ceremonies of reception and entertainment. Hon. Thomas Swaun, Mayor of the city - who was himself the President of the Baltimore and Ohio Road for five of the most eventful years of its history - addressed the Council, then in session, on the subject, and appropriate action was promptly taken. A resolution was adopted inviting the authorities of the three western cities named, to become the guests of the city of Baltimore during their stay; appropriate executive and supervisory committees were appointed, and all the necessary arrangements made for giving the City's guests a whole-hearted Maryland welcome. Mayor Swann sent bj- telegraph the following invitation to the Mayors of St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Chillicothe.

Mayor's Office, City Hall, Baltimoke, Juhj 13, 1867. I am authorized by the authorities of the city of Baltimore to invite you most cordially to become the guests of our city on your amval here by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, on the 18th instant. We trust that your city authorities will be fully represented.

On the same day Maj'or Swann forwarded the annexed dispatch to Govs. Henry A. Wise, at Richmond, Virginia ; T. W. Ligon, at Annapolis, Maryland; Salmon P. Chase, at Columbus, Ohio; Ashbel P. Willard, at Indianapolis, Indiana ; Wm. H. Russell, at Springfield, Illinois ; and Hancock Jackson, at Jefferson City, Missouri.

Mayor's OflSce, City Hall, Baltimoee, July 13, 1857. I am instructed by the city authorities of Baltimore, to invite you to participate in the ceremonies attendant upon the reception of the corporate authorities of St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Chillicothe, by the city of Baltimore, on the 18th instant. The Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad and its associate lines will send you travelling tickets for the excursion in due season. Please reply early.

On the 15th, Mayor Swann received a number of letters and dispatches in reply to those he forwarded on the 13th. Gov. Ligon, of Maryland, in a brief note, expressed his thanks for the invitation, and concluded thus :

Having been much indisposed for a week or ten days past, and having at present a very sick child, I can hardly expect to be in Baltimore on either of the days during the sojourn of your guests in the city, but if not prevented by either of these causes, 1 will endeavor to be with you on ^londay for the banquet ceremonies to your city's guests.

jjfar Sir - I have the honor to acknowledge your dispatch of to-day, inviting mf% in the name of the eity authorities of Baltimore, to participate in the ceremonies of receiving the corporate authorities of St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Chillicothe by the city of Baltimore, on the 18th inst. I beg you to accept my acknowledgment of this compUment, and to assure the city authorities of Baltimore that I would take great pleasure in accepting their invitation, but the urgency of my duties and the state of my health will not allow me to partake of their hospitality, as they propose. - You have my most heartfelt interest in the great works which link you with the cities whose corporate authorities are to be your honored guests, and I tender to you all, sir, my sincere congratulations. I trust that this is but the beginning of lines to connect the East and West as far south as the Chesapeake bay, and that every year, for many to come, shall call us to celebrate the completion of new national union and thought.

With my thanks to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and its associate lines, for their tender of tickets for the excursion, I am, with the highest respect, Your obedient servant, HENRY A. WISE.

Cincinnati, July 15. Gov. Chase, of Ohio, and suite, have accepted, and will certainly be in Baltimore. Gov. Willard, of Indiana, has been compelled to decline. Nothing definite has yet been heard of the other Governors invited. The Chamber of Commerce of ( incinnati will send a committee. One hundred and twenty-five excursionists left St. Louis this evening. On their arrival here they will be the guests of the city of Cincinnati. Mr. Coleman, of the Burnet House, has invited the entire party to dine at that establishment to-morrow. The authorities of Chillicothe will meet the excursionists at Grafton.

Whilst the proposed excursion had been so happily suggested by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and the officers of that corporation, in conjunction with the city authorities, had made the preliminary arrangements for the conveyance and reception of the guests, the people of Baltimore were eagerly waiting the moment that permitted their active co-operation. The acceptance of the invitation, and the designation of the time at which the excursionists would start, permitted this, and the citizens were immediately called together to offer their assistance in giving to the occasion the impress of popular enthusiasm and approval.

Pursuant to a previous call numerously signed, a town meeting was held in the rotunda of the Baltimore Exchange, on the 13th July. On motion of Gen. Columbus O'Donnell. S. Owings Hoffman, State Senator, was called to the chair, and upon motion of Dr. II. Willis Baxley, W. Pinckney AVhyte was chosen Secretary.

The President stated the object of the meeting to be to make preparation for an extension, by the merchants and citizens generally, of the hospitalities of the city to the representatives of the cities of St. Louis. Cincinnati, and Chillicotlie.

Meeting Of The Citizens Op Baltimore

John "W. Garrett nominated Wm. McKim. Enoch Pratt, Robert R. Kirkland, Thomas C. Jenkins, Albert Schumacher, Wm Crichton, Wm. F. Brune, Wm. D. Miller, and Wm. J. Albert for Vice Presidents of the meeting, and the nominations were unanimously confirmed.