按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
gun：
〃There are moments in the progress of time； which are counters of whole ages。 There are events； the monuments of which； surviving every other memorial of human existence； eternize the nation to whose history they belong； after all other vestiges of its glory have disappeared from the globe。 At such a moment have we now arrived。〃
This oracular language lacks the simple but winning straightforwardness of the words which Director Morris uttered on the same day near Baltimore and which prove how distinctly Western the new railway project was held to be：
〃We are about opening a channel through which the commerce of the mighty country beyond the Allegheny must seek the oceanwe are about affording facilities of intercourse between the East and West； which will bind the one more closely to the other； beyond the power of an increased population or sectional differences to disunite。〃
The difficulties which faced the Baltimore enthusiasts in their task of keeping their city 〃on the map〃 would have daunted men of less heroic mold。 Every conceivable trial and test which nature and machinery could seemingly devise was a part of their day's work for twelve years struggles with grades； locomotives； rails； cars。 As Rumsey； Fitch； and Fulton in their experiments with boats had floundered despondently with endless chains； oars； paddles； duck's feet； so now Thomas and Brown in their efforts to make the railroad effective wandered in a maze of difficulties testing out such absurd and impossible ideas as cars propelled by sails and cars operated by horse treadmills。 By May； 1830； however； cars on rails； running by 〃brigades〃 and drawn by horses； were in operation in America。 It was only in this year that in England locomotives were used with any marked success on the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad； yet in August of this year Peter Cooper's engine； Tom Thumb； built in Baltimore in 1829； traversed the twelve miles between that city and Ellicott's Mills in seventy…two minutes。 Steel springs came in 1832； together with car wheels of cylindrical and conical section which made it easier to turn curves。
The railroad was just beginning to master its mechanical problems when a new obstacle confronted it in the Potomac Valley。 It could not cross Maryland to the Cumberland mountain gateway unless it could follow the Potomac。 But its rival； the canal； had inherited from the old Potomac Company the only earthly asset it possessed of any valuethe right of way up the Maryland shore。 Five years of quarreling now ensued； and the contest； though it may not have seriously delayed either enterprise； aroused much bitterness and involved the usual train of lawsuits and injunctions。
In 1833 the canal company yielded the railroad a right of way through the Point of Rocksthe Potomac chasm through the Blue Ridge wall； just below Harper's Ferry on condition that the railroad should not build beyond Harper's Ferry until the canal was completed to Cumberland。 But probably nothing but the financial helplessness of the canal company could have brought a solution satisfactory to all concerned。 A settlement of the long quarrel by compromise was the price paid for state aid； and； in 1835 Maryland subsidized to a large degree both canal and railroad by her famous eight million dollar bill。 The railroad received three millions from the State； and the city of Baltimore was permitted to subscribe an equal amount of stock。 With this support and a free right of way； the railroad pushed on up the Potomac。 Though delayed by the financial disasters of 1837； in 1842 it was at Hancock； in 1851； at Piedmont； in 1852； at Fairmont； and the next year it reached the Ohio River at Wheeling。
Spurred by the enterprise shown by these Southerners； Pennsylvania and New York now took immediate steps to parallel their own canals by railways。 The line of the Union Canal in Pennsylvania was paralleled by a railroad in 1834； the same year in which the Allegheny Portage Railway was constructed。 New York lines reached Buffalo in 1842。 The Pennsylvania Railroad； which was incorporated in 1846； was completed to Pittsburgh in 1854。
It is thus obvious that； with the completion of these lines and the building of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway through the 〃Sapphire Country〃 of the Southern Alleghanies； the new railway era pursued its paths of conquest through the very same mountain passageways that had been previously used by packhorseman and Conestoga and； in three instances out of four； by the canal boat。 If one motors today in the Juniata Valley in Pennsylvania； he can survey near Newport a scene full of meaning to one who has a taste for history。 Traveling along the heights on the highway that was once the red man's trail； he can enjoy a wide prospect from this vantage point。 Deep in the valley glitters the little Juniata； route of the ancient canoe and the blundering barge。 Beside it lies a long lagoon； an abandoned portion of the Pennsylvania Canal。 Beside this again； as though some monster had passed leaving a track clear of trees； stretches the right of way of the first 〃Pennsylvania；〃 and a little nearer swings the magnificent double…tracked bed of the railroad of today。 Between these lines of travel may be read the history of the past two centuries of American commerce； for the vital factors in the development of the nation have been the evolution of transportation and its manifold and far…reaching influence upon the expansion of population and commerce and upon the rise of new industries。
Thus all the rivals in the great contest for the trade of the West speedily reached their goal； New York with the Erie and the New York Central； and Pennsylvania and Maryland with the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio。 But what of this West for whose commerce the great struggle was being waged？ When the railheads of these eager Atlantic promoters were laid down at Buffalo on Lake Erie and at Pittsburgh on the Ohio they looked out on a new world。 The centaurs of the Western rivers were no less things of the far past than the tinkling bells borne by the ancient ponies of the pack…horse trade。 The sons of this new West had their eyes riveted on the commerce of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley。 With road； canal； steamboat； and railway； they were renewing the struggle of their fathers but for prizes greater than their fathers ever knew。
New York again proved the favored State。 Her Mohawk pathway gave her easiest access to the West and here； at her back door on the Niagara frontier； lay her path by way of the Great Lakes to the North and the Northwest。
CHAPTER X。 cv As one stands in imagination at the early railheads of the West on the Ohio River at the end of the Cumberland Road； or at Buffalo； the terminus of the Erie Canalthe vision which Washington caught breaks upon him and the dream of a nation made strong by trans…Alleghany routes of commerce。 Link by link the great interior is being connected with the sea。 Behind him all lines of transportation lead eastward to the cities of the coast。 Before him lies the giant valley where the Father of Waters throws out his two splendid arms； the Ohio and the Missouri； one reaching to the Alleghanies and the other to the Rock