[Pom ero y,Chas. CarrollJ
Hinte no.3 to railroad econ¬
omists in the Mississippi
Valley.
HINTS
' NO. 3.
ECONOMISTS
IN THE
g@ggSSgi>S>g
LLEf.
CINCINNATI,
DEC. 1855.
HE*76 I
!SS"î_
-Pi1
■■■ C- "I X XX
TO THE PUBLIC.
NO 3.
The public have been harangued by stump oratórs, and flooded -with
newspaper articles upon the system of Railroad Economy, an entirely new
theory in *' Railroad Tactics." A glance at the present condition of the
Railways in the Mississippi Valley is presumed to be suggestive of the im¬
portance of a speedy application of this recent discovery. The principle
upon which Railroads have been prosecuted in this Valley has been the
lucrative soufce of havoc and pecuniary ruin. There are a class of persons
in the Valley known as enterprising men, who have footed the bill of ex¬
penses accrued in the construction of our roads—they are marked by the
common cognomen of Stockholders, while others have reaped the rich har¬
vest of pecuniary advantage arising from their spirit of enterprise.
But, there is a class of psuedo Stockholders, who lurk about the corners
and by-ways, in search of genuine subscribers,, who dispair of ever receiv¬
ing any dividends ; or perhaps, disgusted with the management of the
Road- in which they have an interest, sell out to those lurking paupers upon
public enterprise for fiye to ten cents on the dollar. These counterfeit sub¬
scribers are now " bloviating " about the vast amount of stock they have
" taken " in Railroads,' get themselves elected a Director or manager, and
are seen traveling all over the country on the credit of a little bit of paste
board, two by three inches. Entrusting the affairs of a Railroad with such
men is very bad economy,-—they are always right in their own eyes, and
first in their own cause, and of course their idea of good management and
economy leads directly to their own pockets, and if you compare the amount
i, of stock actually subscribed by them with the amount in their possession
the former will be found " to crow small by degrees and shamefully less."
Railroad economy, whèn propérly understood, will be found to consist in
reducing the number, and cutting down the salaries of the officers, and not
in multiplying their number, and putting up the prices of transportation of
freight and passengers. The dark picture in Railroad history begins in
their construction, which we find clearly exemplified in the Ohio and Missis-
3
sippi Railroad, which, like the Dying Gladiators, draws so strongly upon
the sympathy of the beholder that we rejoice when the last struggle is over.
How often has public expectation been inflated by the capricious efforts of
the original'managed of that Róad to draw aside the screen that shields
A*om tie public thé faffe of their confident capital. It is deemed a safe
ékfpé'diënt' to make an approximate estimate of the probable host of éon-
Strhctihg1 a Road-Bed complété from Cincinnati to Seymore,'ft? order to
^5Ve the unfortunate Stockholders a basis frbm which to estimate'the enor¬
mous lcss'ès they haVë to Stistain. It is estimated that $4,000 per inile
Would be a liberal price for graduation, masonry and bridgin'gV of that
Road frbm Cincinnati- to Séymore, it being eighty-six miles ; then- $344,000
is all th'át this Road-Bed should hate cost for this divisioh."- Enquiry is
naturally instituted, what has become1 of upwards of $1 ¡000,000 Subscribed
by this City ? ánd likewise that of private individuals. íheWorkmen, of
all grades, Wood-choppehs; mechanics, and farmers, are all unpaid, and
there are claims enough against it to cover the entire eighty-six miles With
paper. It is thought to be a fair presumption that the Official Financiers
have been amply compensated, whilst the Stockholders and employees have
been nicely New York'd and Frie'd. The Railroad managers of the present
day have evidently returned to the sports of their boyhood, and are play¬
ing " Hide and Go Seek," with money entrusted to their care. In the
Railroad Record of July 12, 1855, is published a report which plays this
performance with admirable dexterity.
This report, written to correct " gross misstatements of facts," puts the
Engineers estimate of the cost of the Road from Cincinnati lb Hamilton ah
$647,313, and remarks that, "if the estimate had been extended to Daj^
ton, it would have amounted, in the same ratio, to $2,000,000," it being.26'
miles from Cincinnati to Hamilton, and the total-cost, $647,313, will give1
$24,896 (and a fraction over)1 per mile,—the-."Same ratio" being ap¬
plied on the thirty-four miles ffbm Hamilton to Dayton, makes the cost
between these two places $846,486,:—and $846,486 and $647,313 makes
$1,493,799, the cost of'thé Road from Cincinnati to Dayton, as "per
ratio," and which the report calls " nearly" $2,000,000. But, "the
cost as now shown, May, 1850," says the report, "upon the whole sixty1
miles df Road from Cincinnati to Dayton, is only $2,064,776, showing'
conclusively that the estimate of Mr. Shoemaker was a fair and reasonable
one ; and'that the result of the work, when completed, exceeded the esti-.1
mate "mtfch'ieés'tháh'upoff any Road in Ohio or elsewher'è, of Which we'
have átiy' knowledge'.1' '■ This squints at ä full endorsement of all the ex-1
travagance änd-:iunjiist- practices imposed upon the laborer's during the con¬
struction of'ttíis-TÍoad.' 'iS'if " fair and reasonable'4 éo•ebhtrihe a pretext,
4
by which a sub-contractor is driven from his work on the eve of its comple¬
tion, in order that the main contractor may finger his back per centage ?
Is it "fair and reasonable" that one set of quantities is furnished for the
contractor, seated upon his silken sofas, purchased in Paris, with money
surreptitiously filtched from others ; and another set prepared for the subs,
who performed the labor, and are yet unpaid, toiling from "early morn
to dewy eve ? " It may be reports idea of fairness, but such fairness
should be scornfully spurned by every lover of honor and justice. From
such ruthless acts every honest man should recoil with indignant scorn.
But to the comparison, from " only " $2,064,776 cost, " as shown," take
$1,493,799 cost, as per ratio, and it leaves " only" $570,977 on the whole
distance from Cincinnati to Dayton, which is " only " $9,516 per mile,
and "nearly" as much as the G. & M. Railroad from the Junction to
Greenville, and the Dayton and Western Railroads cost per mile. But,
perhaps the report has no " knowledge " of these Roads, or any other
except its own, and a very limited " knowledge" of that, if the report is
to be taken as evidence in the case. Hear it on another point. " In estab¬
lishing the grades, our Engineer &c., <fcc., &c., but made the grade long
and easy,—as for instance, starting on the level land beyond Cumminsville
there is one continual ascent of eight miles, until the summit level is reached
between the waters of Mill Creek and the Great Miami river. " This, all
who are acquainted with Railroads, understand largely increases cost, but
makes a superior Road." This is a very tasteful extract for the Stock¬
holders, after shuffling, cutting and dealing with four or five pack of grades
—succeeding thereby in " stocking " the pack upon them to the nice little
sum of about $500,000. To show the fallacy of this gusto about grades,
which has been one of, if not, the main cause by which the Directors were
missled to an acquiescence in the unblushing follies that have been prac¬
ticed upon them, 'tis only necessary to repeat a few well known facts^
which are inseparably connected with the location of this Road. The
natural descent of the Miami river from Dayton to Hamilton is, as near as
may be, four feet to the mile. The C. H. & D. Railroad is located in this
valley, and in close proximity to the Western bank of the river, which bank
is well nigh an unbroken plane from Dayton to Hamilton ; the line of road
coming in contact with the river at only one place, and with the bluff at
but three points, and each for a short distance only. Even those " ac¬
quainted with Railroads" do not fully "understand" why "long and
easy grades" adapted to such a surface, should "largely increase the
cost " of construction. 'Tis a wonderful discovery, and students in Geo-
dosic Surveying will be curious to learn how this marvellous problem can
be solved, and practically applied, or avoided in other localities. From
! H ' 'A !
S-U Of RAILWAY -
WASHINGTON, O. t*
• • y 1* £• J&iU
,51 ! Ô
f-i-O
o
Hamilton to Cincinnati the.natural surface is somewhat more undulating ;
but there is 110 obstacle to encounter that could, by judicious appropriations,
" largely increase the cost " of construction. The lockage in the canal
from Hamilton to Lockland is thirty-one feet; at Lockland twenty-eight
feet, and from thence to Cincinnati eleven feet—making seventy feet de¬
scent from Hamilton to Cincinnati, a distance of twenty-nine miles by canal
and twenty-six by Railroad. The reported maximum grade upon the C.
H. & D. Railroad is twenty feet to the mile, and occurs in one instance, in
leaving Mill-Creek and passing through Glendale ; and if continued for
" eight miles," will elevate us one hundred and sixty feet above the " level
land beyond Cumminsville," and " only " ninety feet higher than the
entire lockage in the canal from Cincinnati to Hamilton, and by this aerial
flight practically stretches the Railroad one-and-a-half miles longer than
the canal. A question of superiority and economy here arises among those
" acquainted with Railroads," whether it really made a " superior road,"
by creating an elevation of ninety feet ; thereby augmenting the line one-
and-a-half miles over canal distance, and "largely" increasing " the cost"
of construction by adopting gradients eight miles in length, which might
have been reduced to one-and-a-half, as will be now shown,—twenty-nine
feet of canal lockage occurs on a distance of one mile, at and near Lock-
land, and with a grade of twenty feet to the mile, this ascent could be over¬
come in one-and-a-half mile-, " only" six-and-a-half miles less than that
from the "level land" to ¡Le summit, and that too, at the same grade.
From Lockland going towards Hamilton is a six mile level, and upon the
next preceding two miles occurs thirty-one feet lockage. This can be over¬
come with three miles distance, and the maximum grade not exceed fifteen
feet in a mile ; the ascent here attained, and we pass along a nine mile
level to Hamilton, having occupied four-and-a-half miles distance in over¬
coming the seventy feet ascent from Cincinnati to Hamilton. Nor is it
well " understood," even by those " who are acquainted with Railroads,"
that " long grades " tend to " make a superior Road," as is asserted in
the report. Elwood Morris, Chief Engineer of the C. H. & P. Railroad, in
his report to the Directors of that Road in 1853, says : " the importance of
short gradients in an undulating line, and their practical superiority over
long runs of grades, will be fully appreciated by practical men, conversant
with the operation of Railroads." It will be here seen, that these two
extracts are not in full unison upon the practical utility of long grades ; the
one written by a man who has witnessed the construction of a Railroad 60
miles long, over, perhaps, all things considered, a country better adapted
to cheap and easy Railroad construction, than any other equal distance
in America, and whose Railroad achievements are " but a fading flower,"
6
The other, by a man of high scientific attainments,-with a practical expe¬
rience of twenty years standing, and who has persued Iiis Stiidíéá äh'd his
toils from Baltimore across the rugged Alleghanies to the' bàfein of ""the"
Mississippi. Then the grade-ghost appears in this shape. " Hadf%e
constructed a Road with a maximum grade of forty feet to the mile, instead
(jf twenty, the construction account would have been much less." NoW the
descent from Dayton to Cincinnati, according to canal lockage is 199 feet—
from the canal basin in Cincinnati to low water plane in the Ohio river 110
feet—the ascent therefore is, from canal level at Cincinnati to Dayton 3
31-100 feet to the mile, and by going to low water in the Ohio river it will
be but 5 2-10 feet in the mile. Persons acquainted with the subject, and
the country upon, and through which this Road is located, would like to
be iñformed how often, and at, what points, with any show of fairness, forty
feet grades' could be laid upon such a surface, provided they were seeking
to adopt gradients of forty feet to the mile, and how, with such natural fea¬
tures, a twenty feet grade could so enormously enhance the cost of gradua¬
tion ? o Tile report continues : " the cost of the Road has, however, in some
particulars exceeded our expectations ; it was found, during the progress
of the. work, that the Great Miami river was subject to greater freshets than
formé rly, &c., * * —it was also found necessary to build our bridges with
mueh more water-way than was usnal," &c., &c., and a little fiiftMrialong
in the report, the reader is softly and sweetly told, that " $1*00,000
have been expended in extending and protecting bridges since December,
1852." Now, if the discovery was actually made " during the progrêss of
the#work," that the apertures of bridges was increased to ensure their
safety, and by the appropriations thereto, " the cost exceeded their expec¬
tations," why was not the full enlargement then made to " guard against
further interruption, or cost in this respect," and thus save to the'Stock-'
holders; the rider of $100,000. Even to a casual observer this repbrts
reads, as though in attempting to cover one piece of extravagance and'folly;
«¿other is; more and still more exposed—having no reference however, to
particular allusions ; it seems to be suggestive that Doolittle & Go. were to
eonktrüct ko many miles of Road for a specified sum of money, and one
htihdfèd'feèt of bridge superstructure at $35 per foot lineal, will amount to
$3,500 ; Whilst an embankment one hundred feet in length, twelve feet
high,' ahd fifteen feet wide on top, at 15 cents per cubic yard, cost only
$220. ' The fëport proceeds : "The double track work for three miles
Nbk/h Öf'! Hamilton to the junction of the Eaton Road, including a double
iradkbridge Over the Great Miami river of seven hundred and twenty feet,
&fidJá'sfc>¿£?ibfidge over Old river, is of a very heavy character, costing not
miïèh tèss than $300,000." 'Í-J" J "" [ ' ' '• • ' :i
7
Tq espese the folly of such an appropriation at the point named, let there
be calculated, from dimentions, thé amount of! masonry* necessary fqr, the,
bridge refered to in the extract—suppose the abutihents to average 40. ;feet
in length-, 20 feet high and 10 feet thick, .then each 'abutment i will con thin'
320 perch of masonry ; and further, suppose five piers, each 40, 2ft, . Sy-f(
1280 perch. Again, suppose two concluding piers (in place of wingiwalls)]
each 40, 15, 4—200 perch ; then 640, 1280, 200—-2120 perch, and the,
full quantity necessary for this bridge. Suppose, too, the embankment to
average 10 feet in height (which is hardly possible) for the three miles,]
and 24 feet wide on the top, this will gve 228,888 cubic yards of embank-i
ment, and more than was ever removed to construct this three miles of
Road. The stone bridges over the canal in Dayton were (at Second and;
Fifth streets) built by contract with Dickey & Dodds for $4,000 each ; the
span of the arches are 46 feet, the rise of arch above top-water line is 11
feet, the abutments are 10 feet thiek at base, 8 feet at springing line, and
carried three feet above upper surface of skewbacks ; their width for road¬
way is 40 feet, and costing less than $7 a perch including foundations, and
132 feet lineal of iron hand railing. The Dickey's, as is well known, are
good practical judges of work, have been extensive and successful opera*
tors, and therefore not very liable to contract for less than a fair and paying
compensation. But, allowing the masonry at "Old river" to be as expen-L
sive as two bridges at Dayton, the conclusion of this point then is :
228,888 cubic yards of embankment, at 15 cents, $34,333
2,120 perch of bridge masonry, at $10, 21,200, m¡¡*
720 feet lineal bridge superstruction, at $35, ■> i, 25,200 y - í
Masonry at Old river, 8,000 .
13,700 cubic yards ballast, at 25 cents, 3,;425 »
Ironing six miles of Road, '6ft,000
Total, . , ; ■uh$1(52,1518,,v .,
An amount amply sufficient to build these three, miles of Road, > ; This
taken from $300,000, the sum it cost according tc the repörtj and itdeaves
$147,842 misapplied in constructing six miles of. Road,, " showing conclu*
sively," in this instance, as in every other, which the* subject.,has been, on
can be presented, that the work cost twice as much ;as¡it would have done
with just and fair management. The report now announces that, ," a largö
expense was also incurred in the heavy work in crossing thq river into
Dayton on a long and heavy double track embankment, .and A substantial,
double track bridge." The report, in its marvelous anxiety; to correct
misstatements," omitted to inform the public, that, the D» & W, Railroad
Company, not only made a part of, but paid. Iljelieve, $50,000 towards
s
the construction of this '• long and heavy double track embankment, the
average height of which will not exceed twelve feet. Then the report pro¬
claims another perverted expenditure in this wise : "In passing through a
valley like the Great Miami, <fcc., the masonry account is necessarily very-
large, amounting to upwards of $300,000," and adds, "these large ex¬
penditures upon the road have been necessary, and were required for the
permanent interest of the Stockholders." Substituting induction for mere
assertion, will lead to a very different conclusion respecting the above
prodigal expenditure. It has been previously shown that 2120 perch of
masonry is amply sufficient for the bridge at Hamilton, and allow 3000
perch for the bridge at Dayton, ('tis certainly the fidl quàntity) 2120
perch for Twin Creek, and 3000 perch for the crossing of Mill-Creek at
Cincinnati—these together make 10,240 perch. Take the bridge over Mill
Creek, next above Carthage, as an average of all the bridge crossings from
Cincinnati to Dayton, (except those above named) and the following
dimentions will be found nearly correct : length of abutment 40 feet, 20 feet
high, and 7 feet thick, with appropriate wing walls for a bank 15 feet in
height, and it will give 750 perch of masonry, including one pier. There
are 8 crossings to be counted in this class, and 750, 8—6000 perch, which
added to 10,240 makes 16,240 perch of bridge masonry from Cincinnati to
Dayton ; the most of which was sublet at $4 50 per perch, and which has
not yet been paid ; but say it was worth $7, and it amounts to only $113,-
680. There is then left $186,320 to build culverts, road-ways and cattle
guards, a sum more than sufficient to build 4,654 cattle guards 22 feet
long, 6 feet wide, and 3 feet deep, with 18 inch walls, and at $4 a perch;
or, 248 arch culverts of 10 feet chord, 26 feet in length, 18 inch ring,
adapted to the slopes of a 15 feet bank, and at $6 "per perch. But, was it
" necessary " to pay for building 50,000 perch of masonry at $6 a perch,
when 26,000 perch would have answered the demands of the work quite
as well ? Did the " permanent interest of the Stockholders require " the
useless expenditure of more than $140,000 upon the item of masonry alone,
and the actual laborer go unrewarded ? I venture the opinion that a con¬
tract can be entered into at any time, with the most responsible stone
masons in the West, to build the same number of perch, of different kinds,
and do it as well as the best on the 0. H. & D. Railroad, for $150,000.
But, any one who lias a curiosity to know how the matter stands, can satisfy
himself by just stepping down to one of these bridges, and take the dimen¬
tions of an abutment or or pier, (a pier can be accurately measured) and
from the number of perches thus calculated, with the aid of comparison,
can arrive at a very fair conclusion.
The next rare paragraph in the report is in these words : " The general
9
estimate for Western Roads has been from sixteen to twenty thousand
dollars per mile. Experience, however, has shown that those built for that
sum have scarcely been half finished when put in operation. They are
generally located on upland where but few water courses are to be crossed,
and where the.face of the country is such that nearly all that is done in
the way of grading, is to dig ditches along side the track, laying down the
superstructure with as many undulations in its grade as the surface of the
grounds presents." This extract is rendered entirely illegitimate by the
point which it is intended to cover, for if we except the Eastern division of
the O. & M. Railroad, the Road from Greenvillq to Union, and that from
Dayton to Troy, there was not, in all the West, a more shabily built Road,
"when put in operation," than the Road from Hamilton to Cincinnati ; it
had neither surface nor alignment, and portions of the masonry even now,
would suffer much in comparison with some of the turnpike masonry about
Hamilton and Dayton. The writer of the report is rating public intelligence
at a nominal value, or is evidently presuming overmuch upon its own asser¬
tions, for the above quotation is erring in whole and in part. Instead of
" Western roads" being estimated to cost from " sixteen to twenty thous¬
and dollars per mile," the following named Roads forming important links
in great Railway connections, were thus estimated, viz :
J Indiana Central, $11,677 per mile ;
Cleveland and Columbus, $13,324 per mile ;
Columbus and Piqua, $10,515 per mile ;
Dayton and Western, $10,756 per mile ;
Columbus and Xenia, $13,720 per mile ;
Ohio and Pennsylvania, $14,297 per mile.
Included in the estimate of the Ohio and Pennsylvania Road is 35 miles
of double track grading on a distance of 185 miles—that is, 150 miles single
track, and 35 miles double track grading. Equally erroneous is the state¬
ment: respecting " water courses." The D. &. W. Railroad has eight high
and two low truss bridges on a distance of 37 miles. The Columbus and
Piqua has ten bridge crossings in 93 miles distance. The B. & I. Railroad
sixteen bridges on 120 miles of Road. The first named in this connection
has a high truss bridge for every 4f miles of Road. The second has a
bridge every 9 3-10 miles, and the B. & I. has one once in 7-J- miles, whilst
the C. H. &■ D. Railroad has one in every 5 miles. Now this strikes me
as being a very small amount of capital, with which to trade successfully
in covering up "footprints " that lead to so many $300,000 expenditures.
Quite as remote from the true state of the case is the assertion that Western
Roads, are, as a general practice, made by laying the "superstructure
with as many undulations in its grade as the surface of the ground pre-
10
sents," for in the six Roads cited above, there are a greater number of
cubic yards removed to the mile in the formation of their road-bed than
upon the C. H. &. D. Road; nor is the material of which they are com¬
posed so volatile as to shrink " 33 per cent," after their completion, as
was the case on the C. H. & D. Road, according to the report ; nor has the
" waste been twenty per cent " upon other roads, as stated in the same re¬
port. The report now descry s the necessity of using the " greatest industry,
and maintain the strictest economy, to make fair dividends for the Stock¬
holders." In looking so high for the " interests" of the Stockholders, the
report overskipt an item »f $4,000, which, by the " strictest economy,"
might be easily dropped into their treasury from the reduction of a single
salary to one-third it now demands,—this, however, would be practicing
instead of preaching economy. But, "economy" is the cubalistie word
now used by all classes, and in all cases to honey fuggle the confiding into
every new, or favored crotchet. The demagogue, to secure a snug office,
harangues about State and national economy. The " Free Banker,"
whose ward display their one hundred dollar shawls, bought with money
placed in his care for safety, because "Ma" thinks 'tis more economical,
as greater care is taken to preserve them, in urging persons to patronize
his " shave-shop," sings in sonorous strains of economy. The Railroad
President amid overgrown prodigality, refuses to pay a poor man for his
last, and only cow, just killed by the passing train, then gently slips $6,000
per annum into his own pocket for services that could be procured for a
much less sum, and all for the precious love of economy. But these prac¬
titioners of economy, are all disciples of Dionysius, who, anxious to help
himself yet cautious to do it with the appearance of helping another, striped
the statue of Jupiter of a robe of massive gold, and substituted a cloák of
wool, saying, gold is too cold in winter, and too heavy in summer,—it he-
hooves us to take care of Jupiter.
Then with the following overshadowing climax, the report concludes :
" Of one thing we can speak with confidence, that less money has been
wasted on this Road than upon any other with which we are acquainted."
These frequent references to " other Roads in the West," are inappropriate
and will be considered in rather bad taste, involving as they do, both the
capacity and integrity of other railroad men, for the figures quoted above
are from the printed reports of those Roads, and should be taken as
correct, unless known to be otherwise. This report is clearly obnoxious
to severe critticisms in many other respects, and deserves richly a more
extended review, which will be resumed at some future period ; but 'thefse
do not cross the point at which I aim, and thus forbid further notice at
the present.
11
Dayton and Michigan Railroad.
Much that has been written to justify unwarrantable peculations, wag,
likewise, no doubt, intended to cover the tricks practiced upon this Road,
and quiet the just apprehensions which many entertain, that "entangling
alliances" has been the primeval cause which exposed their treasury to the
rapacious grasp of these mercenary hounds, and their Road to discredit
and delay ; transformed their dividends to resolvends expressed in Arabic
language, thus, 000, and lashed the perpetrators to the recital of the fable of
the Frog and the Fox. A Frog leaped from a lake to an elevated piece of
ground, and proclaimed to the beasts of the forest, that he was an able
physician, and for curing all manner of distempers, could not be excelled.
This discourse, uttered in a parcel of hard cramped words which no one
understood, made the beasts admire his learning, and give credit to
all he said. At last, the Fox, with indignation asked him, how he
could have the impudence, with those thin, lantern jaws, that meagre
pale phiz, blotched and spotted body, to set up for one who was able
to cure the infirmities of others ? The application,—a mean dishonest
look, a haughty and affected manner, is as disadvantageous to a railroad
man, as that of a rake in a clergyman. All their gasconading about sell¬
ing bonds, buying railroad iron, taking more stock than every body else,
and finally, curing all sorts of diseases that could afflict railroads, cheaper,
better and quicker than all the world besides, ended like the proclamation
of Doctor Frog upon the Fox in the fable. The croakings of Doctor Doo-
little & Co., failed in making every one subscribe to the superlative notions
which they entertained of their own importance ; for the Hon. W. .1
Thomas, of Troy, advised that the contract with these tricksters be ignored,
and the work given to men of fair character and honest intentions ; and had
his good advice been followed, the Road would now be in wholesome con¬
dition, and possessing nearly $200,000 which has been filtched from them
and squandered in apeing fashionable life ; for if you precipitately transfer
a mere maker of uneommonly-common-cut-tobacco-cigars, from obscurity
in Streetsborough, Ohio, to the gay and ostentatious circles at Cape May,
in nine cases out of ten the long ears can be discovered peeping from be¬
neath the lions pelt. About fourteen miles of this Road from Piqua through
Sidney, was estimated by one party to cost $312,000 ; it was let however,
and could have been done for one-half the sum of $312,000, but some
subsequent finessing changed the line, and by holding up a 36 feet
grade as a scarecrow, frightened the Directors to seize upon "tin embank¬
ment 60 feet high for greater safety. An enquiry will be made, and in
form to elicit an answer, whether this fraudulent mode of estimating has
been extended from Sidney to the Lake ; why the payment to the contrac-
Í2
fi * Ï -i- ¿ • i- V '
tors was made between Dayton and Troy, when* the fact was notorious, that
not one-half of the work contracted to be done was ever perfermed ; and
whether this SO feet bank was not introduced to cover a portion of the
$312,000 estimate, The B. & O. Railroad, over which must pass for all
coming time, a fair proportion of the immense travel, and also of the ex-
haustless products of the mighty West, has a grade of 116 feet to the mile
for eleven consecutive miles ; how supremely ridiculous then, the bugbear
that a grade 36 feet in the mile for less than two miles, is in any way fatal
to the advantageous workings of a Railroad from Dayton to Toledo.
Dayton, Xenia and Belpre Railroad.
At the time of letting this Road, Mr. Beckel then a Director, objected to
entering into a contract at that time, and under the then existing circum¬
stances, on the grounds that the Directors would thereby be held individu¬
ally liable for all acts done in thir corporate capacity ; he was, however,
overruled by the Board, and thereupon tendered his resignation, which was
accepted. Before voting on the consignment of the work, one of the Direc¬
tors made this enquiry : " Do I understand that the Company are to have
the advantage of all reductions resulting from change of grade or other¬
wise ? " Being answered in the affirmative, the work was at once con¬
signed. The contract written for, and adopted by the D. W. & G. & M.
Railroad Companies, was copied by Joseph Clements, an Assistant Engi¬
neer, then in the employment of the Company, and left in the office for
their adoption. By reference to this contract, it will be seen that there is
no chance to shift or shuffle, but places all responsibilities and transactions
connected with the work in a tangible shape. Why this form of contract
was rejected, and that written by Doolittle, or his Attorney, adopted, is
best understood by the Directors, and can doubtless by them be explained.
The next point of interest, is the change of grades from 40 to 84 feet to the
mile, which, with other changes, reduced the quantities of earth work be¬
tween Dayton and Xenia from 1,276,000 cubic yards, as calculated by Mr.
Medbury, to 649,020 cubic yards, making a difference of 726,990 cubic
yards, which quantity is now quietly reposing in the hills, and which the
very generous Directors generously paid the most graceless scamps in all
creation $120,000 for permitting it there to remain. Yet, in the plenitude
of all their generosity to itenerant villians, they have not been moved to
pay their honest debts. In discussing the propriety of changing the grade
referred to above, the reasons urged were, that it would materially reduce
the cost of construction, and that the Company could likewise have the Road
in running condition many months earlier. These are believed to be the
sole reasons, to all appearances, that induced both parties to consent to the
13
change. It was well known too, that a map and profile of the working
grades was in pro'gress of completion in the hands of J. C. Clements, Assis¬
tant Engineer and. Draftsman, to shew, when completed, the gradients
Worked from, the different kinds, character, and quantities of every descrip¬
tion of work. And further, one of the sub-contractors called upon the
Chief Engineer in May or June, 1854, and enquired when an estimate was
to be made to Doolittle & Co., and received for answer, that no estimate
would be made until more work was done ; that they had full pay, and
that the Company were not indebted to them a single dollar. This fact
•Bras made known in the Railroad office immediately after it was communi¬
cated to the sub-contractor.
In addition to the above, the Directors had been repeatedly told that the
amount of work had been greatly diminished, and cautioned against over
payment. But swindling under cover of a contract, has of late become
very fashionable, and the only perceivable difference however, between
these wholesale thieves, whose exploits in plundering are known from Cleve¬
land to Cincinnati, and the petty rogues, who are sent to the chain-gang,
or sentenced to the penitentiary is, the former are stealing by the authority
of a fraudulent contract, whilst the latter are playing the same game upon
the strength of their own papers. But if, whatever is to be, will be, and
it is foreordained that honest "Bob" Doolittle & Co., with their lickspit¬
tles, Frost, Pendleton and others, can travers Ohio, and filteh from every
class with impunity, from the railroad corporation to women and children,
why, may be they cannot help it, and perhaps think it is all right, but they
must allow " the rest of mankind " to differ slightly with them, and espec¬
ially if they should feel so inclined, until Judge McLean has an opportunity
to decide, whether their law of foreordination does really supercede the
Constitution and the laws of these United States.
There is extant, a famous painting from the pencil of Apelles, the cele¬
brated Athenian artist, in which, with magic genius, is delineated most of
the bad passions of the human heart. In the far distance was percéived
Truth, represented as a modest and matronly woman of great dignity of
mein, advancing slowly in the footsteps of voluntary error, and holding a
large torch, the light of which flashing in the eyes of the vile and wicked,
seemed to have been very painful to their optics, as they shrank fearfully
from its approach. Truth was attended by another female, dressed in
black, appearing serene, sad and sorrowful, her name was Repentance.
These mercenary scamps, whose acts of villainy I have been called upon
for self protection to expose, will do well to include the picture of Apelles
in their next European order for paintings. The noble Lions from the Day¬
ton quarry will guard it from the intrusions of the honest laborer, with
14
whose money it will doubtless be purchased. But why allude to Repen¬
tance ? Is there one ray of hope, that men guilty of such outrages upon
common justice, as those of obtaining receipts, under the circumstances,
from the Ryans, Mooney, Murphy, and others, can ever be brought fp
repentance ? The commission of deeds like these were never anticipated
by Him who taught the necessity of repentance.
My next notice of this Road, will be to show Judge McLean those of tjie
Directors who were in complicity with these Railroad thieves, and point out
to him the Lethean fountain at which they so freely quaffeii, as to drive
from their memory the interest of the Stockholders, which th,ey were bound
by every consideration of honor and justice to guard and protect. And, in
concluding this, my third warning to the public, I repectfully recommpnd
the States of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Ten¬
nessee and Kentucky, to be watchful and vigilent, lest this horde of van¬
dalio Railroad plunderes desecrate your soil in the infancy of your improve¬
ments by a repetition thereon, of the lawless peculation, and leave in their
course a similar state of ruin and bankruptcy as now exists in Ohio. You
will be blinded by the heralding of proclamations for the assembling .of
Great Railroad Conventions in some cross-road city, for which you will
have to bear the expenses incurred by your officials, lured on to a deeper
ruin by a deceptive light, that it is for the " interest of the Stockholders,"
when the grand secret is, that your Directors steal from you the preroga¬
tive you yourselves create the moment you become Stockholders. These
.Railroad Conventions, like their outside management, is a,complete paradox
of inconsistencies. Here the frank and open-hearted gentleman meets the
.■calculating hypocrite, whpse plans are all prearranged, and in this unsuita¬
ble assemblage they rerresolve, remodle, and shape anew, then dispurse
with the announcement, " we have done something,"—one of which '' some¬
things" may be to import fa more hungry swarm " of managers, whose
.claim to public confidence is thus noticed in the Boston Railway Tjmes, one
■ of the most reliable Railroad Journals in the East:
" It is in the power of the Stockholders to compel their servants to adopt
¿a new sytem, and one that shall yield to them a proper share of the bene¬
fits that accrue to the community from their operations. Most of the lines
.have an abundance of business, their work having within a few years in¬
creased from ten to fifty or one hundred per cent. And yet their dividends
continue to fall, short, and their debts or capital to increase.
" It has been suggested to us by a gentleman who has paid much atten¬
tion to the subject, that the construction accounts cf the seven railroads
leading out of Boston could be closed, the powers of their managers limi¬
ted, and a sliding scale applied to -their salaries. He would givemo one a
15
voice in the management of a railroad except such as devoted tliei-r entire
tsme and energies to the business of the corporation. He -would have no
Directors, without salaries, who should make up the deficiency by using the
advantages of their position to speculate in the stocks. He would limit
the number of railroad managers and pay them for their services in such
a way as to give them a joint interest with the Stockholders, whether they
owned a share of stock or not.
" For instance, establish a reasonable rate of salaries, and when they
divide eight per cent, on their capital pay them in full ; when they pay
only seven per cent, deduct one-eighth of their salaries, and make a cor¬
responding increase when they pay a higher rate of dividends. This would
probably lead to very different results from the present ones. If this plan
is not the best one that can be devised, let somebody suggest a better one-
At all events it is evident that if the Stockholders of our railroads would
unite harmoniously they might compel their officers to pay good dividends,
and thus bring their stock up to its par value, and they can also as easily
compel them to create a sinking fund to provide for losses by accident, as the
State compels the Western road by law to do the same thing for the pay¬
ment of their debt to the Commonwealth. [j
" Let the Stockholders abolish entirely the dead-head system, stop the
ruinous competition between rival lines by which the roads increase their
work and diminish their profits, raise the .tariff to a ¡ proper standard, em¬
ploy no officers whose interests are not identified with the prosperity of the
corporations they serve, put their Presidents, Treasurers and Superintend¬
ents under bonds to discharge their duties faithfully, establish auditing com¬
mittees to examine their accounts when necessary—let them do something,
in short, to redeem our railroads from perdition, or let the sale of their
stocks in market be forbidden like tainted meats.
" Let. us have no more widows and orphans ruined by investments in
these concerns, if their management is to continue to be as rotten as it has
been and is now. We have in mind several gentlemen whose fortunes have
been seriously impaired by bad railroad management, and a widow who
has lost "more than they" whose little patrimony was entirely sunk in
this great financial slough. It should be remembered that taxes must be
paid on these railroad stocks whether they are productive or not, and thus,
too, often, the Stockholders pay the State for the privilege of being fleeced
by those in whose hands they have entrusted their money.
" Will not Railroad Stockholders come forward and suggest some plan
by which the present system of waste, or plunder, or both, in railroad man¬
agement may be stopped ? If it is allowed to go on not only will their
property be sold, but the business morals of the public will become de-
16
bauched by the example of men in respectable positions squandering or
wasting the money of other people on a gigantic scale, receiving fat sala¬
ries for their unfaithful labors, while they snap their fingers in the faces of
their employers."
Episode.
A Peep Behind the Curtain.—Report can be seen one of these knaves
cosily esconsed at Glendale, whose accommodating conscience is coming
approvals for villians acts of its own commission. Of another, it is reported
that he is either to open a second-hand clothing store in one corner of
Arnold's auction room in Dayton, or a " monster bank in the city of Broth¬
erly-love," with ten long horns, and a very short tale, which is to out-
Manchester Manchester's own Bank, of Queen City notoriety. But the
most squalled scion of this burglarion complot has recently squatted in
Columbus ; this will be a rich acquisition to that beautiful city, and espec¬
ially if he removes his fancy shop from Dayton, in which event, the song¬
sters there should cheer their egress by chanting his Kpithalanium. Se¬
lecting Columbus as his future abiding is most timely, 'twill save the jour¬
ney when overtaken by the certí tn round of undeviating justice.
Very respectfully, CHAS. CARROLL POMEROT.