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an edition principally devoted to the growth of this marvelous system.

In 1868, what is now the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company existed as four companies.

The Buffalo & Erie, the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula, the Cleveland & Toledo and the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana.

By a singular coincidence these four companies were each a consolidation of four companies, making 16 original companies.

In 1833, the then territory of Michigan, with a population of only about 35,000, which has since increased to more than 3,000,000, incorporated a company for the purpose of building a railroad from Lake Erie at Port Lawrence (now Toledo) to the headwaters of the Kalamazoo river,

Adrian end. In 1848, the road was sold out to a couple of eastern capitalists under accumulated judgments, and during the next year the purchasers leased the road in perpetuity to its rival, the Michigan Southern, then in operation from Monroe to Hillsdale.

In 1837 the legislature of the state of Michigan projected and made provision for three railroads and one canal to run across the southern tier of counties, which were the most densely populated portion of the state. For the construction of these roads the legislature provided a loan of $5,000,000 and organized a board of internal improvements. Prior to this time a number of railroad companies had been incorporated in the state and three of them had made some progress in the construction of their lines. The Detroit

& St. Joseph was nearly finished to Ypsilanti, but the operation of the road had not begun. The franchises and property of this company were purchased by the state, and their line became a part of the Central railroad intended to run across the state through the second tier of counties.

The Southern road was one of the projects of the state, and was intended to run east and west, crossing the most southerly tier of counties, from Monroe to New Buffalo, on Lake Michigan. Chicago was then a mere Indian trading post, with Fort Dearborn in a quagmire.

It goes without saying that in the terrible crash which followed the real estate boom of 1836-7, when everybody "busted," Michigan suffered also. In a very short time she had a couple of unfinished scrap railroads for sale. The Southern road, with a total length of 78 miles, was sold to the Michigan Southern Railroad Company, with Edwin C Litchfield as its head, for $500,000. This was a good bargain for the company, as the purchasers had long time, and met the installments with depreciated state scrip, bought up at 50 or 60 cents on the dollar. But Michigan was no hog. She knew when she had enough of railroad construction, and about that time she was glad to find some one to help her let go.

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CLIFF HOUSE, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.-Photo. by Bro. B. Deo. under the title of the Erie & Kalamazoo. When the line was completed it was a sorry affair. The track consisted of a thin iron ribbon spiked on oak stringers, and would be rejected by a street railway now. The line was opened in 1837, the motive power being horses or mules for a considerable period. In that year, however, the first locomotive in the tier of states bordering on the great lakes, and the third locomotive west of the Alleghanies arrived at Toledo on a lake vessel for this road. It was named the Adrian, built by the Baldwin Locomotive works at Philadelphia, and was their No. 80.

For ten years this little line had a stormy existence, its affairs being managed sometimes by a commissioner acting for the board of directors, sometimes by trustees appointed by order of courts and at certain periods by a receiver at the

At the first meeting of the directors of the new company, the following quaint resolutions were adopted:

"Resolved that no credit be given for freight or passage. (A steamboat phrase.) "Resolved that there be appointed two

conductors, or captains of trains, who shall perform the duties of collectors of freight and passage money, at $40 per month."

In 1835 a bill was introduced in the Indiana legislature incorporating the Atlantic & Pacific railroad. The members laughed at so pretentious a name, and the sponsor of the project, after much argument, came down to Buffalo & Mississippi as the title for his twelve mile road, and said he "would not yield another mile." This company was organized in 1837, the year of our first great financial revulsion, and during the fourteen years following no progress was made in the construction of the road. In 1849 it was decided by the directors to abandon the high-sounding title of Buffalo & Mississippi and the Northern Indiana railroad was organized. The control of the road soon passed into the hands of the owners of the Michigan Southern, who were rapidly pushing their road west, and May 22, 1852, the first train passed over the two roads from Toledo to Chicago. Three years later the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana were consolidated.

This consolidated company was very prosperous for a time, since it was a favorite line for business from the day of its opening and its stocks and bonds were favorites for speculation and investments. It paid 10 per cent per annum to its stockholders in 1855 and 1856, and launched out extensions and improvements, building the Air Line, the Detroit, Monroe & Toledo Railroad, the Jackson branch, and two magnificent steamers, which cost $600,000, but which never paid expenses

neighboring offices to sit in, as the sheriff had carried off all the company's furniture. But the Civil War with its greenback inflation and feverish activity in business, came to the rescue of the company, bringing its property up out of the depths of bankruptcy. Its stock, which stood at 145 in 1856, sold down to 5 cents in 1860, but was again above par (109) in 1863. A most extraordinary and unparalleled fluctuation in only seven years. From 1863 to 1869 was a period of growth and prosperity, during which a great depot was built at Chicago and shops at Elkhart. In May of the latter year the

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and were finally sold for WINE PRESS, GOLDEN GATE PARK, SAN FRANCISCO.-Photo, by Bro.

$50,000. In fact, the road was too enterprising, and was caught with a heavy floating debt by the crash of 1857, its paper going to protest on August 19 of that year. For the six years, 1858 to 1863 inclusive, the road not only declared no dividends, but defaulted on all of its bonds, and was kept busy compromising its debts. Right in the midst of this period of adversity, on June 27, 1859, came the terribly fatal and costly Mishawaka accident.

It is related that at one meeting of the board at the company's office in New York, they had to borrow chairs from the

B. Deo.

history of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana came to a close by its consolidation with the Lake Shore railway, forming the present line of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern.

When it was suggested in the '40s that a line of railway should be constructed along the shores of Lake Erie from Buffalo west, the idea was universally felt, even as late as 1851, to be the silliest possible scheme of a few cranks. It was considered that no road could compete with the splendid steamers which were plying daily, almost hourly, between

Buffalo and Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo and Detroit, and thence on to Lake Michigan points and Chicago. But in spite of this opposition two lines were begun in 1850 to run as far west as Erie, Pa. One was known as the Buffalo & State Line, and the other, which started at Dunkirk, as the Dunkirk & State Line. At the same time, a company was constructing a road known as the Erie & Northeast, to extend 20 miles from Erie to the New York state line and it was expected that the eastward and westward lines would meet somewhere west of Dunkirk. As it was evidently foolish to build two roads west of Dunkirk, a compromise was had; the Buffalo & State Line swallowed the other road, and completed the line westward to the state line on

every six months never less than 5, sometimes 8 or 10 per cent. Panics, hard times, wars, pestilence or famine might come, but this road could say with the Great Apostle, "None of these things move me." It made every original stockholder who staid in the company rich. A small stock investment which was reluctantly made by the city of Cleveland was the basis and chief factor of its great sinking fund, one of the financial wonders of the last century.

When this last line was completed there was a railway from Cleveland to Buffalo, 183 miles, but right in the middle was the Erie & Northeast with its gauge of six feet, necessitating two transfers of both freight and passengers, one at Erie and one at state line, only 20 miles apart. And

yet business was actually done in that fashion for a year. As traffic increased this obstruction became intolerable, and finally a contract was made to have the 20 miles changed to the standard gauge. For various reasons the city of Erie was violently opposed to this. Hence followed a conflict between the city and the railroads, which lasted for two months, closing the road between Erie and Harbor Creek, seven miles, over which bleak stretch passengers had to ride in sleighs or walk, enduring all the rigors of a severe winter. A settlement was finally made and on February 1, 1854, the first train passed from Buffalo to Erie, and on to Cleveland over a uniform gauge. On May 15, 1867, the Buffalo & State Line and the Erie & Northeast railroads were conSolidated into the Buffalo & Erie railroad, and on June 22, 1869, this company was consolidated into the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, after 20 years of marvelous growth and prosperity.

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HIGH BRIDGE, SOUTHERN PACIFIC COAST LINE, CALIFORNIA. AP
PROACHING THE BIG LOOP.-Courtesy H. M. Rhodes, Div. 226.
February 22, 1852, running up against the
Erie & Northeast, which had been com-
pleted a month earlier. The Buffalo &
State line had been built with a standard
gauge, while the gauge of the Erie &
Northeast was six feet. This difference
was the cause of much trouble before
many months had passed.

In the meantime the city of Cleveland had been moved to construct a railway east to Erie, though it was the consensus of opinion that such a project could never be successful. Most of the stockholders never expected to get their money again. The road was opened November 20, 1852; July 1, 1853, the stockholders were invited to call at the treasurer's office and draw a dividend of 5 per cent; six months later the same. And so on for 20 years,

The remaining link of the present Lake Shore system, from Cleveland to Toledo, was formed by a union of the Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland Railroad, a Norwalk enterprise, and the Junction Railroad which was started by Sandusky and Cleveland capitalists. The new line was called the Cleveland & Toledo, and in March, 1869, when a consolidation was effected with the line from Cleveland to Erie, the name was changed to the Lake Shore Railway. Two months later this company was consolidated with the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad, so in May, 1869, the consolidated Lake

Shore & Michigan Southern Railway was born.

The new consolidated company immediately inaugurated an extensive system of improvements. The line between Elyria, O., and Buffalo was double-tracked and several extensions were built. Large purchases of locomotives and cars were made, and other improvements were contemplated, when came the financial cyclone of 1873, overtaking this road as the crash of 1857 did the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana, and brought its progress to a sudden halt. The next four years was a period of great depression--paying updebts, and paying small dividends, under the careful and conservative management of Commodore Vanderbilt. On Dec. 29, just a week before his death (January 4, 1877), occurred the terrible Ashtabula accident, killing 92 persons outright and injuring 64. Only 8 escaped unhurt, and when one considers all the destructive elements that entered into a conspiracy against that doomed train, it is a wonder any person escaped from it alive. The accident cost the company directly $750,000, saying nothing of the large indirect loss by interruption of business.

The same careful, vigorous, clean management manifested by Commodore Vanderbilt was continued by his son, William H. Vanderbilt, until his death, December 8, 1885, and has since been maintained by his successors.

There are several illustrations in existence of the first locomotive and car which were run on the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad in 1837. The locomotive has already been A SCENE ON referred to. The car would

be a revelation to the present generation. Hon. Richard Mott of Toledo, a director of the road when the car was in use, wrote concerning it: "The Gothic car (the board called it the 'Pleasure car' in their official proceedings) was the second passenger car of the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad, and was placed in service in 1837. It was rather shorter than the three-compartment vehicles first used by the Schenectady Railroad and afterwards by the Utica Railroad. The car when full held 24, eight in each compartment. The lower middle door opened from a place for storing baggage. The middle section projected a few inches wider than the end section. The car was about the size of a street railway car of the present day. It passed

out of existence about the year 1850."

The following announcement (origi nally appearing in the Toledo Blade) of a day's pleasure in (and out of) the "Pleasure car" in 1841 is both interesting and amusing.

"During most of the year 1841 I was employed as repairing agent of the Erie & Kalamazoo railroad, then in operation between Toledo and Adrian. According to schedule time, a passenger train with one coach would leave Toledo in the morning, make the run to Adrian and return to Toledo in the afternoon, arriving about 6 p. m.

"In December, 1841, ne Saturday the train left Toledo on time for Adrian. I was then at Palmyra intending to take the train for Adrian and return to Toledo

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THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC.-Photo. by Bro. H. M. Rhodes, Div. 226.

that evening. Owing to a severe storm of rain, freezing as it fell, the track became covered with ice. The train reached Palmyra about 4 p. m. I entered the middle compartment of the car, as the train started for Adrian and met in the car J. Baron Davis and wife of Toledo, sitting in the forward seat. Being acquainted with them, I thought I would take a seat with them, but seeing the cushion upon the seat was out of place. I took the rear seat, facing the one I had rejected. We had not gone more than half a mile from Palmyra, when a 'snakehead,' as they were called (the end of a loosened bar) came crashing through the floor of the car, passing diagonally through the seat I had left vacant, the end of the bar striking me in the neck

under the chin, and pushing me backward with such force as to break through the panel work partition which divided the compartments of the car. Just at this moment the other end of the bar was torn from the track and carried along with the car. Recovering my consciousness a little, I found myself with head and shoulders protruding through the broken partition, while I held the assaulting 'snakehead' firmly grasped in both hands. Being a stormy day I had an extra amount of clothing about my neck, which the bar did not penetrate, so that my injuries were not serious. The train was stopped. Frederick Bissell, the conductor, was much frightened. Before leaving the spot the guilty 'snakehead' was once more spiked down, and we moved on, reaching Adrian at 6 p. m., having made the run of 33 miles in 10 hours.

"The train left Adrian for Toledo at 7 p. m. and worked its way along over the ice-covered track until we got out of wood and water, when we picked up sticks in the woods and replenished the fire, and with pails dipped up water from the ditches and fed the boiler, and made another run toward Toledo. Passing Sylvania we got the train in a point four miles from Toledo, when, being again out of steam, wood and water, we came to the conclusion that it would be easier to foot it the rest of the way, than to try to get the train along any further. So we left the locomotive and car standing on the track and walked into the city, reaching here about 2:30 a. m. I was rather

lame and sore from contact with the 'snakehead,' but gratified that we were enjoying the 'modern improvement'railway travel. M. BRIGHAM, "Toledo, January 13, 1882."

New Year.

O fair New Year, in robe of white,
What are you bringing to me tonight?
What is there hidden beneath the fold
Of your furry coat-a bar of gold?

What are you hiding behind your dress?
A smile, a tear, or a sweet caress?
Have you a book with the tale writ down,
O stranger year with your sparkling crown?
It is a dimpled and fairy form,

Hands like a rose leaf soft and warm;

A pearl picked up from the heavenly shore.
Will this be mine when your reign is o'er?

What do you hold in your hand close hid,
Some flowers to lay on a coffin lid?

I dare not look, though you stood aside
And showed me the door held open wide.

What are you bringing for me to wear,
Threads of silver to weave in my hair?
Rings that are bordered with bands of black,
Is 't these you are hiding behind your back?

What are you bringing me-Peace and Rest?
A narrow bed with its head to west?
A dreamless slumber, a sweet repose?
A waking far from earthly woes?

O fair New Year, in robes of white,
What are you bringing to me tonight?
What will you take from me ere you go,
O fair New Year, in your robe of snow?

-Isabel Richey, Plattsmouth, Neb.

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The Inspector's Romance.

BY CLAUDE PAMARES. Copyright, 1906, M. M. Cunningham.

Once every two monthsnow a day or two earlier, and now a day or two later-Inspector Cranforth had entered the different postoffices on his route and checked up and straightened out affairs. There were postmasters who had seen him grow old and gray since his appointment. They had always found him a pleasant-spoken and a just man, but all stood in awe of him. In no department of the public service is Uncle Sam more particular than in the postal. The cash must balance to a cent with the postmasters, and any man or woman who attempts to play tricks with his letters is cer

A SCENE NEAR MARSHAIL HILL, U. P. RY-Photo. by Bro. H. M. tain to be pursued with re

Rhodes, Div. 226.

lentless energy.

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