CURRENT EVENTS SINCE 1865 - 225 column and be formally received by Governor Bishop at the West Front. Mrs. Grant, it was arranged, should be driven directly to the Neil House, where the rooms reserved for her were handsomely trimmed with flowers by the Ladies' Reception Committee, the members of which were Mrs. Doctor Carter, Mrs. J. A. Wilcox and Mrs. W. N. Dennison. In honor of its distinguished guest the city was handsomely decorated. Business houses and residences in all its streets were profusely draped with the national colors, and otherwise appropriately adorned. The portrait of General Grant was everywhere displayed. The Evening Dispatch thus described the decorations of the Capitol : In the rotunda the adornments were simple and tasteful, but not elaborate. Flags from the flagroom were crossed on a bar under each of the four arches leading to the rotunda. Most of these are regimental flags, tattered and torn in battle. Silk banners and small flags decorated the painting of Perry's Victory, and a handsome silk banner was stretched behind the white bust of Lincoln which surmounts the sculpture of the surrender of Vicksburg. . . The exterior decorations of the Capitol are more elaborate. Immense strings of evergreen were entwined about the great columns at the western portico from pillar to base, and festooned across the top from pillar to pillar in graceful style. Immediately over the entrance are the words, " All Hail to Ohio's Pride." An immense eagle, painted upon canvas, cut down to the lines and placed upon board, was arrayed between the central columns. The effect is very pleasing. Flags wave and flutter upon the roof, dome and windows. Over the north landing in the rotunda where the singing societies were to be stationed, an ornamental arch of gas lights was raised. For the reception exercises within the rotunda a decorated stand was placed at the northwest periphery. In the Portrait Room the tables for the banquet were laid in the form of the letter U, the bend of which, as the place of honor, was spanned overhead by a beautiful floral arch with the name U. S. Grant inwrought. The walls of the room were handsomely draped, and bore, for the occasion, several paintings additional to the portraits of the Governors. The caterer for the banquet was Robert Dent. The interior of the City Hall was decorated for the reception ball under the supervision of an artist, Homer Henderson. Its adornments were thus described in the Ohio State Journal : Upon the right of the hall is an Oriental pavilion with graceful roof of alternate red, white and blue. The luxurious interior is illuminated with the soft rays of an alabaster lamp. [On entering the hall General and Mrs. Grant were to be conducted to a position under this pavilion]. The stage is transformed into a miniature summer garden from which arise the mossy arches of a Gothic pagoda, upon whose apex rests the bird of our country, resplendent with golden wings. Military emblems are mingled with arbors and the heavy evergreen arches. All the columns are decked with festoons. The floor is to be covered with moss giving it the appearance of the vernal woods, and more agreeable to the eye than the most gorgeous tapestry. Bronze ornaments and floral vases stand in relief to the exquisite product of the conservatory. . . . Flags of all nations combine to give a bannery relief to the beautiful frescoed ceiling. . . . Opposite the pavilion is displayed a gigantic cartoon, by Mr. Henderson, representing Ohio bestowing the wreath upon and bidding welcome to her illustrious son. . . . The face of the gallery is gracefully festooned in beautiful bunting, the flags hanging from a dress centre, which has the spread eagle of the armory, who was once a real live bird, measuring eight feet from tip to tip of wings. But perhaps the most unique and 15* 226 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. dating innovation of the artist is the hanging of the caller for the dances in the centre of the hall in a most exquisite hanging casket, fresh with rosebuds and delightful green. . .. The caller will be suspended in the air under the centre chandelier like a bird in a cage. Early on the twelfth the different railways began to pour throngs of visitors into the city. Streets and hotels were soon crowded. General Grant was expected to arrive from Cincinnati about three o'clock r. M. ; the procession to the Union Station was therefore ordered to form at 1:30 P. M. on East Town Street. It was organized in three divisions, the first, comprising most of' the military, being led by the Chief Marshal, General C. C. Walcutt. General Theodore Jones had command of the second division, and George K. Nash, Esq., that of the third. The staff officers of the first division were Moses H. Neil, Charles E. Palmer, Sidney McCloud, Edward Pagles, Charles Klie and Patrick Egan ; of the second, H. M. Neil, Harvey Cashatt, D. K. Watson, Alexis Cope, David Lanning, Edward Dowdall and J. M. Conrad. The participating military organizations were: The United States Barracks troops under Colonel Thomas M. Anderson ; College Cadets, Colonel Lomia ; Palmer Guards, Captain Brown ; Columbus Cadets, Major Hardy; Fourteenth Regiment 0. N. G., Colonel George I). Freeman ; Cleveland Grays, Captain Frazee. The Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Association of Franklin County followed the Grays, in the second division. The third division consisted chiefly of officials, committees and others in carriages, followed by the City Fire Department under Captain Heinmiller. At ten A. M., December 12, members of the subcommittee of reception, quitted the city by the Little Miami Express for Xenia, there to meet General Grant accompanied by Governor Bishop, and journey with him to Columbus. The train from Xenia was under charge of conductor A. H. Cole ; engineer, John Kline. Its approach to Columbus was announced by a signal whistle, which was immediately followed by a grand chorus of steam whistles, bellringing and the boom of cannon. When the train arrived at High Street many thousands of people had assembled in that vicinity. Immediately upon alighting, Mrs. Grant was received by the Ladies' Committee, and conducted in a carriage to her apartments, already mentioned. General Grant was met and briefly welcomed by Mayor Gilbert G. Collins, who referred in his remarks to the exceptional growth and prosperity of the city since the last visit of its present illustrious guest. Amid prolonged cheering the General responded : I thank the citizens of Columbus, and the State of Ohio, for the cordial greeting I am receiving at their hands. Ohio has been, from its first admission into the Union, an energetic, growing and prosperous State. I am very glad to hear of the additional prosperity which has come upon the State in the last few years, and to know that the prosperity is becoming general throughout the country. If we can have it extend over the whole of this broad land, it will go far towards diminishing the political asperity that has kept us at least, I think, uncertain as to our future. Nothing has a greater tendency to produce conservatism and good citizenship than general and diffused prosperity. I hope that what Columbus has been experiencing in the few years that you have spoken of may extend to every foot of our great country. Nothing else is wanted but unity of sentiment among our people to perpetuate what we are now, the greatest and best country for a man to live in. Mr. Mayor, I thank the citizens of Columbus for this pleasant greeting. CURRENT EVENTS SINCE 1865 - 227 At the conclusion of his remarks General Grant was conducted to a carriage and the procession escorting him began its movement up High Street, the sidewalks, windows and roofs of which were crowded with people. Said the Evening Dispatch : As the processsion passed the Statehouse Square, where the school children were congregated upon the sidewalk, a general demonstration occurred. There was a sea of waving handkerchiefs, while shouts and cheers rent the air. General Grant gracefully acknowledged the ovation as he rode along. The scene was one of the grandest in the history of Columbus. The enthusiasm was unbounded. When Broad Street was reached, says another account, " there were acres of people awaiting it. . . . The way was cleared with great difficulty, and the police had almost to resort to force to keep the children from being tramped on."4 The procession countermarched at the Opera House, on South High Street, giving the school children, numbering about twelve hundred, scarcely time, before its return, to take their positions in the rotunda. From the street General Grant was escorted to the West Front by the Governor's Guard, Cleveland Grays, and Ex-Soldiers and Sailors. After entering the rotunda by the western portal, he was addressed and welcomed to Ohio, and its capital, by Governor Bishop. Speaking deliberately and in a low tone of voice, he replied : Governor—It is very pleasant for me to see and meet the kind expressions of the people of the capital city and the State. I cannot fail to appreciate the kind greetings which I am I receiving, when think of the inclemency of the day, which has not prevented an army of people from filling the streets. I shall not, on this occasion, make any extended remarks, as speaking is not only laborious but a great embarrassment to me, though it would not do for me to be silent and thus indicate that 1 do not appreciate this hearty reception. It has been my fortune to engage with and lead men, and hold public position, and this demonstration . today is a tribute to the men who bore arms with me. Governor, I thank the people of Ohio, and thank you for this hearty welcome. When these remarks had been concluded twelve hundred school children sang, under the leadership of Professor Scarritt, the following song of welcome which he had composed for the occasion : The cannon tells your coming with loud resounding roar ; The people wait the echo, with shouts from door to door ; In song we youthful Buckeyes, beneath our Buckeye dome, Greet our grand old Clermont boy, with a Buckeye welcome home. From town and farm come thousands, the Boys in Blue are here, To bail our Buckeye Chieftain with ringing cheer on cheer ; Victor — whose great deeds are shared in History's grandest tome By our own brave boys who fell — take their mute welcome home. From Occident to Orient, you've circled earth around, The Nation's fame exalting, with princely honors crowned — Swordless, rank First Citizen, till, fate with duty come, Our Boy, and Chief and Citizen, a Nation's welcome home. 228 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. Then boys let welcome ring, Welcome we girls do sing Let echo from the dome Crown our chieftain, welcome home. After the singing and review of the school children a brief reception took place, during which General Grant took by the hand a great many children, teachers, clergymen, students and others who were presented to him. At the banquet, which followed this reception the General was welcomed by Chairman G. W. Manypenny, and responded briefly. Toasts were then proposed and responded to as follows: Our State, Governer R. M. Bishop ; the Capital City, Mayor G. G. Collins ; The Nation, Governor-elect Charles Foster; Civil Authority, Chief Justice Gilmore ; Foreign Relations, Hon. Stanley Matthews; The Army and Navy, Colonel T. W. Anderson ; The Press, W. S. Furay ; The Citizens of Columbus, Hon. William Dennison. From the banquet, General Grant was conducted to the rotunda where a general reception took place, and a steady throng of people passed by from 7:30 until 9:15 P. M. Handshaking was on this occasion dispensed with. In passing, the people nodded their greetings, which were reciprocated. In the meantime a vocal musical programme was rendered by the Mannerchor, led by Professor Carl Schoppelrei; the Liederkranz, under Professor Herman Eckhardt ; the Amphion Club, under William H. Lott, and the Vulcan Glee Club, under J. R. Reynon. In the opening chorus, Home, Sweet Home, all four of the societies joined under the leadership of Professor Eckhardt. During the evening the city was handsomely illuminated, and a fine display of fireworks took place on the Capitol grounds. The ball at the City Hall worthily crowned the honors paid to General and Mrs. Grant. They arrived at the hall at nine P. m., but owing to the General's weariness, withdrew at eleven, and returned directly to the special train which brought them to the city. During the night they took their departure for Philadelphia. The system of standard time, first adopted by the railways in November, 1883, and by resolution of the Board of Education, was also applied to the public schools of Columbus, beginning on Monday, November 19, of that year, but after a week's trial was discarded. The Franklin County Courthouse, completed for use in 1840, as already recorded, was at that time considered a very appropriate and elegant edifice of its kind. It occupied inlots 358, 359 and 360 on the southeast corner of High and Mound streets. Two of these lots were purchased and donated by the people of the South End ; the third was afterwards acquired with public funds by the County Commissioners. The aggregate original cost of all three was $1,556.04. The cost of the old Courthouse exclusive of the ground on which it stood was about $11,000. An annex to the original building, to be used as a Common Pleas courtroom, was erected in 1852. Long before the beginning of the metropolitan period the need of a larger and more convenient temple of justice began to be seriously felt. The destruction of a large part of the public records by fire on March 31, 1879, impressively illustrated CURRENT EVENTS SINCE 1865 - 229 this need. Its practical recognition by the voters and taxpayers of Franklin County has given to the city the finest piece of public architecture yet within its limits. The history of this beautiful building belongs rather to that of the county than of the city, but may be briefly stated. On July 4, 1885 —the date on which its cornerstone was laid — the following account of the circumstances of its origin, was contained in the Ohio State Journal : The old courthouse became more and more insufficient for the business of the county, as that business increased, and for some years prior to the spring of 1884 the question of tearing it down and erecting a new one was agitated in a quiet way, though nothing definite was done until Monday, February 18, 1884. On that day a numerously signed petition was filed with the County Commissioners requesting them to submit to the people the question of building a new structure for county purposes. It was ordered by the board that, in view of this petition, and "whereas the present courthouse and jail is becoming every day more insecure [is] wholly insufficient in accommodation, and [is] endangering the lives and health of the people and officials transacting the public business therein, the question of erecting a new one be submitted at the next spring election. In the meantime measures had been taken in the legislature to have bonds issued in case the people wanted the courthouse. The following law passed March 15, 1885 [prepared by Hon. H. C. Noble], was managed by representative Caspar Lowenstein. " 1. That the County Commissioners of Franklin County, Ohio, be and the same are hereby authorized and empowered to issue bonds not to exceed $500,000 of said county, to be known and designated as new courthouse building bonds, in sums not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 each, with or without coupons attached, payable to bearer, at the county treasury of said county of Franklin, or at such agency in New York City as may be established by the County Commissioners, the name of which agency shall be inserted in said bonds with interest at the rate of not exceeding six per cent., said interest to be payable semiannually and the principal of said bonds to be paid at such times within fifteen years after date as the county commissioners shall prescribe. Said bonds so to be issued shall be for the purpose of procuring the money and means, and defraying the cost and expense of erecting a new courthouse building for said county of Franklin. Said bonds shall not be disposed of for less than their face value with accrued interest thereon. Said bonds shall be signed by the said county commissioners, or any two of them, and countersigned by the auditor of said county ; provided that the proposition and policy of erecting and building such new courthouse shall be by said county commissioners first submitted to a vote of the voters of the said Franklin County, at the regular annual spring or fall election for their approval in accordance with the provisions of the statutes in such case made and provided. "2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage." The vote was taken April 7, and resulted : Yes 9,350; no 5,922. On April 14 the Commissioners accordingly made the following order : Whereas, the question of building a new courthouse and the question of building a new jail, and the purchase of ground for the same having been submitted to the voters of Franklin County at the last spring election, Monday, April 7, 1884. and a majority of the persons so voting having voted in favor of the question so submitted ; it is therefore ordered that the necessary steps be taken at once by this board to carry out the wishes of the majority, as thus expressed at the polls; and it is further ordered that said new courthouse be built on the lands now occupied by the old courthouse, to wit : The southeast corner of High and Mound streets, in the city of Columbus, Ohio, known as inlots 358, 359 and 360, in the city of Columbus, as the same is designated and delineated on the recorded plat of the said city of Columbus. The Commissioners at once began operations and April 24 appointed George H. Mätrel architect to prepare plans for the new building. Henry C. Noble was appointed by the Com- 230 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. mon Pleas judges to act with the Commissioners and the county officers in the approval of plans to be submitted by the architect. The first meeting for this purpose was held May 1, 1884, though nothing was done at the time except to request the various officers to make suggestions as to the amount of space required for their respective offices. This was done, and in due time the plan of the architect was presented and approved. Prior to this, however, condemnation proceedings were instituted for the purpose of securing more land adjoining the old courthouse lot on the south. This lot was numbered inlot 361, the north half of inlot 362 and inlots 381 and 382, respectively. These proceedings were finally successful, though only after much trouble. It was not until September 22, 1884, that the plans were finally approved and accepted. On September 29 the first contract toward the new work was let [for] removing the mound on which the old courthouse had stood and leveling the site for the new courthouse to the plane of the streets. The work was not complete, however, until March of the present year. October 9, 1884, the issue of bonds which had been authorized by the legislature in the act quoted above was begun. One hundred thousand dollars of bonds were issued to mature as follows : $20,000 November 1, 1889 ; $20,000 in 1891 ; $20,000 in 1893 ; $20,000 in 1895; and $20,000 in 1897. These were taken up at once, and the Commissioners have had plenty of money since that time. On February 6, 1885, the contracts were let for the building as follows : Excavation, Carper & Blaise, Circleville, $880; stone masonry and concrete for foundations, same, $15,325 ; cut stonework, Hibbard & Schaus, of Newark, (afterwards given to Whitmaier Brothers, $96,000; brickwork, Frederick Fornoff, $32,000; tiling (marble), Aston & Huff, $6,105; tiling (encaustic), same, $3,188.25; slate and copperwork for roof, W. R. Kinnear & Co., $13,980 ; terra cotta tiling, Pioneer Fireproof Construction Company, Chicago, $8,300; tin and galvanized ironwork, W. R. Kinnear & Co., $19,980; plastering and stucco work, William Gulick, $5,350 ; carpenterwork and hardware, John Rouzer & Co., Dayton, $32,587.90 ; painting and glazing, Lewis Fink, $19,700; gas piping, I. B. Potts, $572.25; frescoing, B. B. Crane, $4,650; steamheating, Kelley & Co., $6,742; plumbing, Andrew Schwarz, $1,963; wroughtiron work, Hough, Ketchum & Co,, Indianapolis, $75,000. Work on the excavations and foundations was begun as soon as the weather would permit this spring, and has been pushed as rapidly as possible. The foundation is now complete, and part of the iron joice for the first floor are in place. It will require two or three years to complete it, and when it is completed it will be one of the finest structures of the kind in the West. . . . Mr. George Bellows is superintendent of construction. . . . The laying of the cornerstone will be the climax in the proceedings, and from it will date the progress of future work. The stone is in the northwest corner, and is made of granite. The High Street face is inscribed : County Commissioners, William Wall, Joseph M. Briggs, Richard Z. Dawson ; County Auditor, Frank J. Reinhard. The face on the Mound Street side presents the following : Chairman Committee on Plans, Henry C. Noble, July 4, 1885. Architect, George H. Mätzel. Pending the erection of the new building the county courts and officers were provided with temporarily rented quarters in buildings of the immediate neighborhood. On July 4, 1885, the ceremony of laying the cornerstone was impressively celebrated. A civic and military parade, with conspicuous industrial features, preceded the formal exercises of the day, which took place in the presence of a large multitude. After music by the St. Cecilia band, an invocation by the Rev. B. N. Spahr, and additional music by the Fourteenth Regiment band, lion. Allen G. Thurman, orator of the day, was presented by Ron. Casper Lowenstein, and delivered a very appropriate and able address. The combined musical societies CURRENT EVENTS SINCE 1865 - 231 of the city sang the Star Spangled Banner, and further remarks were made by Governor George badly and Mayor C. C. Walcutt. These exercises were followed by the laying of the cornerstone, in a cavity of which, prepared for the purpose, were deposited the following articles : Original of Judge Thurman's address ; programme of the exercises of the day ; list of officers of the occasion and contractors of the courthouse ; County Commissioners' report; list of county officers ; National Treasury statement of June 30, 1885 ; specifications for the courthouse; annual reports of the Board of Education, City Clerk and Board of Trade ; list of contributors to the donation of the original site ; Picture of the St. Paul's Lutheran Church ; programme of the centennial celebration of 1876; City Directory for 1885 ; copies of the various newspapers and periodicals published in Columbus. The erection of the building proceeded rapidly, and on May 11, 1887, the board of Courthouse Commissioners adopted the following, offered by Mr. Noble : Whereas, the thirteenth day of July next will be the centennial anniversary of the passage of the Ordinance of 1787, for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River ; and whereas, that ordinance has been justly regarded not only as the great charter of liberty for the millions of people who settled and inhabit this vast territory, but also as containing many of the fundamental principles of government and law that have made the States created therefrom (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin), great among the States of the Union, and for these reasons an appropriate occasion for the dedication of a courthouse at the capital of Ohio ; and whereas the architect, G. H. Mätzel, is of the opinion that the new courthouse will be substantially completed on that date, therefore Resolved, that we appoint Wednesday, the thirteenth of July, 1887, for the formal dedication of the new courthouse to the uses for which it has been built by suitable public ceremonies. The entire cost of the building as completed and furnished was as follows : Additional ground, $38,750; courthouse and boilerhouse, $420,000; furniture and equipments, $50,000; jail, $165,000. The amount of courthouse bonds issued was $300,000; of jail bonds $164,000. On July 4, 1889, the foundation stone of a monument to the poet Schiller was laid in the City Park. The occasion was signalized by an extensive and interesting parade of the German societies and addresses at the Park by Governor J. B. Foraker, Hon. Henry Olnhausen, Mayor P. H. Bruck and Hermann Determan. The addresses were interspersed with music by the Mannerchor and the Fourteenth Regiment Band. The monument was dedicated on July 4, 1891 when another impressive parade took place, consisting largely of devices emblematic of the life and works of Schiller. Hon. Henry Olnhausen was on this occasion President of the Day, and opened the exercises at the Park with a very eloquent and thoughtful address in the German language. Other addresses were delivered by Governor James E. Campbell, Mayor George Karb, Hermann Doterman, Alfred E. Lee and Joseph Dauben. The Declaration of Independence was read by F. F. D. Albery. Some appropriate pieces of vocal music were rendered by a selected choir of the German singing societies, led by Professor Hermann Eckhardt. 232 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. This beautiful monument is a gift to the city by the German Americans of Columbus. It consists of a granite pedestal, surmounted by a bronze statue of Schiller, cast in Munich. The statue weighs 2,640 pounds ; its cost was $3,000. The total height of the work above the surface of the ground is twenty-five feet, its total cost was $6,500. An act of Congress which was passed and became a law in January, 1888, established an office of the United States Customhouse in Columbus, for the direct delivery of imported merchandise. This arrangement is regarded as a valuable convenience by numerous merchants and manufacturers. In 1888 the construction of a new markethouse on the West Side was begun, and on March 29, 1889, the building was formally opened. Addresses were delivered at the opening by Mayor P. H. Bruck, J. E. Robinson and D. J. Clahane. The progress of Columbus in population since its original settlement in 1812 may now be briefly stated. According to an enumeration taken in the spring of 1815 the borough then contained about 700 inhabitants. Since then the population, as shown by the decennial census, has been, 1,450 in 1820 ; 2,437 in 1830 ; 6,048 in 1840; 17,822 in 1850; 18,629 in 1860; 31,274 in 1870; 51,647 in 1880 ; and 88,150 in 1890. In 1863 the municipal area was increased from 1,600 to 2,700 acres; in 1871 it was raised to 6,752 acres. In 1890 the area comprised within the corporation limits was about twelve square miles and the total length of streets belonging to the city proper was 166.09 miles. Further details and comparisons as to the material growth of the city are reserved for the topics and chapters to which they are more especially germane, and the general historial narrative, which has now been carried down from the primary settlement at Franklinton in 1797 until 1890 — almost a century — will here close. NOTES. 1. Ohio State Journal. 2. Ibid. 3. No complete and accurate list of those who actually served on the staff appears either in the newspaper reports or the committee minutes. Apparently some of the persons appointed were not really mounted or in service. 4. Ohio State Journal. CHAPTER XVIII. RAILWAYS. BY JOHN J. JANNEY. I shall never forget the walk I took with my father [Lucas Sullivant in 1823] on his way to inspect the work at the mill. Both of us had been restless and sleepless the night before and neither was well. The symptoms of the fever were manifesting themselves and both were soon after prostrated: He took me around on the brow of the ridge in the west end of Franklinton, where he halted. On the west all the broad bottom for two miles out and, with a few insignificant clearings, the country even to Darby Creek was covered with a heavy forest; so also was all across the river in the forks of the Whetstone, and on the eastern side of the Whetstone across the bottoms where now are the Waterworks, the iron furnace, Goodale Park, the Penitentiary, the railroad depot and so on out to Alum Creek. From the point where we stood the spire of the old Statehouse and the scattered houses of the new town were visible. I never could determine whether my father was addressing me or only involuntarily speaking out his thoughts, for he said in a low tone of voice as he turned himself around looking westward : I would like to come back in fifty years and stand on this spot. I would not be surprised to see steam wagons running across these bottoms." In far less than fifty years I have again stood on the same spot and seen the steam wagons, with their huge trains, rushing along over these bottoms at a rate of more than twenty miles an hour.—Joseph Sullivant in the Sullivant Family Memorial. On September 15, 1825, George Stephenson opened the Stockton & Darlington Railway in England. The first train which passed over it comprised thirty- four vehicles and one engine, Stephenson himself being the engineer and a signal man being sent on horseback in advance. The train moved off at the rate of ten miles, and attained a speed of fifteen miles, per hour, on favorable parts of the line. This railway was constructed for mineral and goods traffic alone, but in response to public demand the company, in October, 1825, began running what must have been a curiously constructed daily coach called the Experiment, carrying six passengers inside and fifteen or twenty outside, and making the journey from Darlington to Stockton and back, twelve miles, in two hours. The fare was one shilling, and each passenger was allowed not more than fourteen pounds of baggage. The rate of transportation of merchandise was reduced by this enterprise from five pence to onefifth of a penny per ton per mile, and the price of coals at Darlington declined from eighteen shillings to eight shillings and six [233] 234 - HISTORY OF TIE CITY OF COLUMBUS. pence per ton. Five years later Stephenson secured the premium offered by the Liverpool & Birmingham Railway for the best engine, by the production of his machine called the Rocket. It had eight inch cylinders with a sixteen-and-a-half inch stroke, and driving wheels four feet eight and a half inches in diameter. The weight of the Rocket was something over four tons. The success of these experiments attracted attention in this country. Ohio had just begun her system of canals and popular as it was at that time persons were not wanting who foresaw that steam carriage would supersede them. Among such persons was Colonel James Kilbourn, who wrote and published on December 29, 1825, 1 only three months after Stephenson's successful experiment, a communication from which the following is taken : " By the lucid reports of the committee of the British Parliament and their Board of Engineers it is manifest that railroads are altogether preferable to canals at any time, and can be used at all times, as well in winter as summer." Mr. Kilbourn suggested railway lines in Ohio as follows ; "From Portsmouth to Sandusky Bay ; from Middletown on the Big Miami to the same point on the north ; from Marietta to a proper point at or near Cuyahoga Summit to meet the canal, say at Akron ; from the northwesterly bend of the Ohio, near the south line of the State, by Warren to Grand River ; a branch road from Lancaster in the Hocking Valley, to intersect the Scioto line at a convenient point; and a lateral road from Zanesville by Columbus to Dayton, connecting the three principal lines." In subsequent communications of February 23 and 26 Mr. Kilbourn suggested that "the adoption of this system of internal improvements in place of canals would greatly encourage the manufacture of iron and the development of the mineral sections of the State." A meeting of the citizens of Columbus and other interested localities, held in the Statehouse January 9, 1836, with Governor Lucas as chairman, declared by resolution its " highest satisfaction" with a movement then contemplated to construct a railroad from Cincinnati to Charleston, South Carolina. At this meeting delegates to a convention to be held at Knoxville, Tennessee, July 4, 1836, were appointed. On November 26, 1846, Asa Whitney, the projector and untiring advocate of a railway to Oregon, delivered a lecture in the United States Courtroom at Columbus. Samuel Medary was chairman and Walter Thrall secretary of this meeting, which, in the course of its proceedings adopted resolutions commending to the attention of Congress the project of a railway from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean. This scheme had been proposed by citizens of Oregon a year earlier. On February 4, 1830, the legislature of New Jersey incorporated the Camden & Amboy Railway Company, with a capital of one million dollars, and authority to construct a railway from Camden, opposite Philadelphia, to some point on Raritan Bay. It was stipulated that the charges should not exceed eight cents per ton per mile for freigh t or ten cents per mile per passenger, the company to pay the State, in lieu of all other taxes, a transit duty of ten cents per passenger and fifteen cents per ton of freight. 2 The company ordered a locomotive from George and Robert Stephenson, which was shipped January 11, 1831, and reached Philadelphia the following August. The whole amount of track completed at that time was RAILWAYS - 235 about three-quarters of a mile from Bordentown. The locomotive was hauled in wagons to the track and there put together. A tender was made of a whisky hogshead mounted on a fourwheeled platform construction-car and connected with the pump of the engine by a leather hose fitted by a shoemaker of Bordentown. Steam was raised September 15 and several trips were made before the public trial took place November 12, 1831. On that trial R. L. Stevens was conductor, Isaac Drippy engineer and Benjamin Higgins fireman. The locomotive weighed ten tons. Its cylinders measured nine by twentyone inches. The machine had one pair of drivingwheels four feet six inches diameter, and one pair of wheels not connected, the hubs being of east iron and the remainder, except the Iron tires, of wood. The New Jersey State Gazette of November 19, 1831, gave the following account of the trial trip : On the twelfth instant an experiment was made by the managers of the new railroad now constructing from Bordentown to South Amboy with their locomotive machine and two or three coaches attached thereto. About a mile and a quarter of the rails had been laid and the experiment succeeded, it is said, to the satisfaction of all present. A large number of members of the legislature and others attended and were highly gratified with the exhibition. The machine to which the coaches were attached drew them with great velocity along the road and it is calculated that when the road is completed to Amboy, the whole distance can be performed at the rate of a mile in two minutes, and some say less. The track consisted of castiron rails laid on stone sills three feet apart. It cost about $18,000 per mile, and was completed to South Amboy in February, 1833. Horses were used for drawing the trains until September, 1833, when the locomotive, commonly known as the John Bull, which had been lying idle since its trial, was put into use with one of the three daily trains and continued to be so used until 1866. It was exhibited at the Centennial Exposition and is now in the National Museum at Washington. A monument is to be erected at the point from which it first started, one mile below Bordentown. The shaft of this memorial will be bound with some of the rails and spikes used in construction of the original track. The first railway chartered in Ohio was the Milan & Newark Railroad, which was incorporated by an act passed February 7, 1832. According to this statute the road was to commence at the head of the Milan Canal, at Milan, in Huron County, and extend southwardly through Norwalk, Mansfield, Mount Vernon and. Utica to Newark on the Ohio Canal. At that time Knox and Richland counties formed the great wheatgrowing region of Ohio, and Milan was one of the most important grain markets of the State. The road having its two terminal points on the canal, it was intended to furnish an outlet for the grain districts which it penetrated. It will thus be seen that railways held at that time a place secondary to that of the canals. It seems to have been thought that the canal could furnish the railway with all the business it could do. Among the first railways operated in the State was one from Sandusky City to Monroeville, which was in operation December 14, 1838. Its advertisement, printed July 19, 1839, was accompanied by a picture of a train of cars built in the form of a stagecoach, which seems to have been the idea] model of that day for all passenger-carrying vehicles. 236 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. On February 8, 1832, the first railway touching Columbus— the Columbus, Marion & Sandusky—was incorporated by Lincoln Goodale, Gustavus Swan, Joseph Ridgway, Daniel Upson and Aurora Buttles, of Franklin, and sundry others of Delaware, Marion, Crawford and Huron counties. Its capital stock was one million dollars. Its charter provided that if two hundred share; should not be subscribed within the first five years after the opening of the books the act of incorporation should become void ; also, that the stock might be doubled, and that the State might after twenty years purchase it at ten per cent, premium. On March 4, 1844, this charter was amended with William Neil, A. Chittenden, Orange Johnson, Daniel Kellogg, Charles Stanbery and William A. Platt, of Franklin County, as commissioners instead of those first named. The same authority was conferred upon these commissioners as upon their predecessors. It was required that the road should be commenced within five and finished within ten years, its route to extend from Columbus to Worthington, and thence via Delaware, Waldo, Marion and Little and Upper Sandusky, until it should intersect the Mad River & Lake Erie Railway. The charter contained this further provision : " That said company and the corporators and the stockholders thereof shall be subject to all regulations, restrictions and individual liabilities of an act entitled an act instituting proceedings against corporations not possessing banking powers and the visitorial powers of courts, and to provide for the regulation of corporations generally." The Milan & Columbus Railroad Company was incorporated February 11, 1832, with James Robinson, John Bishop and A. V. Payne, of Franklin County —so the record states — and others of Huron, Marion and Delaware counties as commissioners, with a capital stock of one million dollars, to construct a double or single road or way from the head of the Milan canal, through Milan, Norwalk, Peru, New Haven, and Mount Gilead to Columbus. If the capital stock should be deemed insufficient for the purpose of the act the president and directors, or a majority of them, were authorized to increase it not exceeding one million dollars. Section twenty of the act reads : They shall have power to charge for tolls and the transportation of persons or goods, produce, merchandise or property of any kind whatsoever transported by them or by others along said railway; any aura not more than the tolls charged on the Ohio canals on the same kind of goods, merchandise, produce and property of any other description, or passengers, going in the same direction ; and it shall not be lawful for any other company or any person or persons whomsoever to transport any persons, merchandise, produce or property of any description whatsoever along said road or any of them or any part thereof without the license or permission of the president and directors of said company. If the road should not be commenced within five years and finished within fifteen years the act was to become void, and after twenty years the State was authorized to take possession of the property at cost. The provisions of this charter, as of a large number of others enacted during many subsequent years, show that the sympathies of the legislature were on the side of the canals, and that it was not intended to permit the railways to have free competition with them. RAILWAYS - 237 The Columbus, Delaware, Marion & Upper Sandusky Railroad Company was incorporated February 8, 1832. with Joseph Ridgway, William Neil, J. N. Champion, Lyne Starling, Junior, Wray Thomas, Robert Brotherton and Moses H. Kirby, of Franklin County, and others of Delaware, Marion and Crawford counties as commissioners, with a capital of $500,000 which might be doubled if necessary. If thirty thousand dollars should be subscribed within three years the company could organize. The road was to run from Columbus via Delaware and Marion and "as near by Little Sandusky " as might be "found advantageous," to intersect the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad at or near Upper Sandusky. The charter provided that whenever the company's dividends should exceed six per cent. per annum the legislature might impose such reasonable taxes on the amount of said dividends as might be received from other railroad companies. This charter was amended March 4, 1844, by making William Neil, A. Chittenden, Orange Johnson, David Kellogg, Charles Stanbery and William A. Platt of Franklin County and others of Delaware, Marion and Crawford counties commissioners, thus superseding the Columbus, Marion & Sandusky Company, Februaryrated Februafy 8, 1832. On March 12, 1836, the Columbus, London & Springfield Railroad Company was incorporated with Gustavus Swan and William S. Sullivant of Franklin County, and sundry others of Madison and Clark counties as commissioners, the capital stock being $200,000. The road was to run from Columbus to Springfield, via London and South Charleston or the suburbs of each. The charter provided that charges might be made not exceeding one and a half cents per mile for toll and five cents per ton for transportation of merchandise, and not more than three cents per mile for each passenger, all persons paying the prescribed tolls being permitted to transport persons and property on the line " with suitable and proper carriages" and subject to the by-laws of the company. It was further required that as soon as.the receipts, after deducting expenses and liabilities, should exceed four per cent. the directors should make a dividend so that no contingent or accumulating fund exceeding one per cent should remain undivided for more than six months. On March 14, 1836, the Columbus & Marysville Railroad Company was incorporated with John McElvain, of Franklin County, and others of Union County, as incorporators, the capital stock being $350,000. The road was to run from Columbus to " Marysville and thence to the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad at or near the Big Spring in Logan County. The rates of transportation prescribed for this road were the same as for the Columbus, London & Springfield, but the company was authorized to have five per cent. surplus. The Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Company was incorporated March 14, 1836. Its history is reserved for another place. The Urbana & Columbus Railroad Company was incorporated March 14, 1836, by citizens of Urbana with a stock of $300,000. The road was to commence " at any eligible point in or near the town of Urbana " and extend thence " by the nearest and most eligible route to some point in or near the city of Columbus." The company was authorized "to locate and construct a navigable canal or basin 238 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. from the termination or depot of said railway in or near the town of Urbana to any proper point on Mad River" and to connect the same with any navigable feeder that might be constructed by the State from Mad River to the Miami Canal. The rates of transportion were restricted to a maximum of four cents per mile for passengers and three cents per ton per mile for freight. The charter was amended March 11, 1849, so that the road might terminate " at any suitable point on the Columbus & Xenia Railroad instead of Columbus; or at any suitable point on the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad ; or unite with both of said roads, with proper branch roads, as the directors of the Urbana & Columbus road might determine." The excitement about railways reached a climax about 1836, in which year forty-nine charters were granted and by which time nearly all the lines since built had been suggested or chartered. The Columbus & Pittsburgh Railroad Company was incorporated March 2, 1846, by William Neil and Joseph Ridgway, Junior, of Franklin, and sundry others of Knox, Licking, Holmes, Coshocton, Wayne, Tuscarawas, Carroll, Harrison, Jefferson and Columbiana counties, with a capital of two million dollars. This road was to extend from Columbus to a point on the Ohio River above the city of Steubenville. The charter provided that the company might receive such rates of toll for the transportation of freight and passengers as it pleased, provided that the same should first be " posted up in a public place at each depot." It was stipulated that the State might, at the expiration of each period of ten years, regulate charges on the line and might reduce the rates charged for freight should the line come into competition with the canals. By an amendment of February 24, 1848, the company was authorized : To connect said road with any other railroad starting from Columbus and tending in the direction of Pittsburgh or commencing at the Ohio River within the State of Ohio north of the town of Steubenville and tending westward ; provided that said company shall not be at liberty to locate and construct their road west of Mount Vernon on a line parallel to the line of road of any other railroad company heretofore incorporated which shall have organized and actually in good faith commenced the construction of their road before the company incorporated by this act shall have actually commenced the construction of that part of their road, nearer than twenty miles to the lines of said roads unless for the purpose of connecting therewith. On March 12, 1845, the Franklin and Ohio River Railroad Company was incorporated by William S. Sullivant, Lincoln Goodale, Samuel Medary, Samuel Parsons, Leander Ransom and Orange Johnson of Franklin County, as the Franklin & Washington Railroad Company, with a stock of one million dollars. The road was to extend from Columbus to " such point on the Ohio River as shall be opposite the actual terminus on said river of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad " and the company was authorized to fix its own charges, but by an amendment of March 2, 1846, the rates charged for freight and passengers might be changed by the State if deemed too high, or if they should compete with the canals. The Columbus & Springfield Railroad Company was incorporated March 2, 1846, by Michael L. Sullivant and Wray Thomas, of Franklin County, and others of Madison and Clark counties, with a capital of $800,000. This act was repealed RAILWAYS - 239 February 16, 1849, but had previously been amended February 24, 1848, so as to permit the location of the line from Dayton to Springfield and thence to a point on the Columbus & Xenia Railroad at or west of the town of London, provided. That if the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company shall, within one year from the passage of this act, commence the construction of that part of the road authorized by the charter of said company which lies between Dayton & Springfield, and shall complete ten miles of the same within two years, then the company hereby incorporated shall not construct a road betwee;said points ;. and provided further, that said Dayton, Springfield & Co- lumbus Railroad shall not, at any point between Springfield and Columbus, diverge from a straight line southward more than one mile, if the Columbus & Xenia Railroad Company shall consent that said Dayton, Springfield & Columbus Railroad may be connected with said Columbus & Xenia Railroad at London or some other convenient and suitable point. The stock was increased to $1,200,000. On February 8, 1847, the Central Ohio Railroad Company was incorporated by Robert Neil, Samuel Medary, Joel Buttles, Joseph Ridgway and Bela Latham of Franklin County, with others of Licking and Muskingum counties, and a capital stock of $1,000,000 and the privilege of increasing the same to $2,500,000. The Springfield & Columbus Railroad Company was incorporated February 16, 1849, by Michael L. Sullivant, Aaron F. Perry, William Dennison, and D. W. Deshler of Franklin County, and others of Clark and Madison counties, with a capital stock of $600,000, the road to extend from Springfield to Columbus or to some point on the Columbus & Xenia Railroad between Columbus and Xenia, the intersection, if made, to be at the town of London. The Columbus, Piqua and Indiana Railroad Company was incorporated February 23, 1849, by Joseph Ridgway, Junior, William S. Sullivant and William Dennison of Franklin County and others of Champaign, Miami and Drake counties, with a capital stock of $2,000,000. The Little Miami Railroad Company, of which the history is reserved for another place, was incorporated March 11, 1836. On March 14 of the same year the Muskingum & Columbus Railroad Company was incorporated by Joseph _Ridgway, Junior, Alfred Kelley and P. B. Wilcox of Franklin County, and sundry others of Licking and Muskingum counties, with a capital stock of $400,000. It was stipulated that the road should extend " from the west bank of the Muskingum River near the town of Zanesville " through the Licking Valley to Columbus; that it should be commenced within three and completed within ten years ; that its dividend should not exceed six per cent. per annum ; and that after thirtyfive years the property might be purchased by the State. An act passed May 1, 1852, provides that if any railroad " extends or shall hereafter be extended to any place in the vicinity of or to a point of intersection with any of the navigable canals or other works or improvements belonging to the State," it must " fix and establish a tariff of rates . . . to or from such place to a point of intersection, . . . not higher for transporting similar merchandise, produce or property over a shorter distance of its road than is charged or received according to such fixed tariff;" and the company must keep such tariff posted " at the several business stations on its road," any change of rates to be posted at 240 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. least two days before it shall take effect. It was further provided that if a railroad company should adopt and adhere to a rate for freight as before stated, the Board of Public Works might authorize it to cross " any navigable canal or feeder, slackwater improvement, navigable river, stream, lake or reservoir with which any of the canals of this State are connected ;" but on the twenty-eighth of the next preceding month the Board of Public Works had adopted the following order : That all bridges erected by railroad companies over au of the public canals of the State be removed by the first day of June next, and that the Secretary of this Board give immediate notice to the several railroad companies of the passage of this order; and that, in default of such companies removing, such bridges by the time aforesaid, each acting commissioner cause the same to be removed from the public works under his charge. An act passed April 17, 1854, made stockholders liable " to an amount equal to their stocks subscribed in addition to their stocks;' and by another act of May 1, 1854, it was required that a majority of the directors of a railroad company should be residents of the State. Subsequent legislation requires that in case of consolidation, the place of residence and number of shares of stock held by each director or other officer shall be stated. An act of 1848 prescribed a passenger rate of 3 1/2 cents and a freight rate of five cents per ton, per mile. An act of 1852 reduced the passenger faro to three cents but left the freight rate unaltered. On March 10, 1871, the legislature passed an act requiring that the space betweeen passenger cars should be bridged. For this statute there was certainly no demand, since, among 55,000,000 passengers carried in five consecutive years by the railways of the State, only three had suffered for want of such bridges, and of these two were intoxicated men and the third a child which had been permitted to wander to the platform. The constitution of Ohio, adopted in 1852, provides that incorporations, instead of being granted by special statutes, as had previously been done, shall be provided for by general law ; consequently they have since been obtained in pursuance of such a law by filing proper certificates with the Secretary of State. A list of the railways touching Columbus which have thus been incorporated is hereto appended. The number of such lines is eightyseven, their aggregate capital $112,160,000. Little Miami Railway.—This company was chartered March 11, 1836, with a capital of $750,000. The charter having become void for nonuser it was revived February 15, 1844, and on February 5, 1847, its stock was increased to $2,000,000 and the directors were authorized to borrow not exceeding $400,000 at not over seven per cent. interest. By act of February 24, 1848, the stock was increased to $3,000,000 and the company was authorized to subscribe stock sufficient to build branch roads over any ground on which the construction of a branch had been permitted. The first survey of the line was made in 1836 by 0. M. Mitchell, and the first meeting for the election of directors was held August 23, 1837, at the Den-. nison House in Cincinnati. At this meeting Bennet Lewis, James Galloway, Junior, John Hivling, George W. Neff, Charles Anthony, Rebert Buchanan, D. A. Powell, P. A. Sprigman, Matthias Kugler, Clark Williams, Jeremiah Morrow and John Sexton were elected directors and George W. Neff was chosen president, R. RAILWAYS - 241 Buchanan secretary and Charles Anthony treasurer. In 1837 the work of construction was begun ; the line was opened to Milford December 2, 1841, to Xenia in August, 1845, and to Springfield in August, 1846. In common with all railway lines built at that time, this road was first laid with flat or " strap" rails which were replaced with T rails about the year 1848. On December 27, 1845, notice was given that from that date passenger trains would leave Cincinnati daily at eleven A. M. and Xenia 8:30 A. M., Sundays excepted, connecting with Neil, Moore & Co.'s stages for Columbus, Zanesville, Wheeling, Cleveland and Sandusky City. On April 18, 1846, a summer arrangement of two trains daily, except Sundays, when only one train would be run, was announced. On August 11, 1846, it was stated that what was intended to be the first through trip was interfered with by the Springfield train, going down, and the Xenia train, coming up, meeting one another on the same track and derailing both. On August 18, 1846, a banquet was given at Springfield, at which a large number of prominent citizens from various points on the line took part by invitation of the directors. The canals still retained the consideration and confidence of the public and their intersets were not permitted to be sacrificed in behalf of railways; on the contrary, it was believed and stated that, in an important degree, the Little Miami Railway would “aid the business and replenish the revenues of the principal canals of the State instead of drawing business and profits from them." 8 In compliance with public sentiment the company was required to report to the Auditor of State the amount of its dividends, and when they exceeded six per cent. on the stock the Auditor was required to draw on the company for an amount equal to the amount of tax the company would be liable to pay under the act of March 2, 1846. On March 30, 1864, an agreement was made between the Little Miami and the Columbus and Xenia companies of the first part, and the Columbus & Indianapolis, the Richmond & Covington and the Indiana Central of the second part; the Dayton, Xenia & Belpre of the third part, and the Dayton & Western of the fourth part, for an equitable arrangement for operating and distributing traffic and proceeds. On June 6, 1854, the last rail was laid on the Ohio & Mississippi, and on August 29, the same year, the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine and the Greenville & Miami railways were opened, making a line from Dayton to Indianapolis. On January 1, 1865, the Little Miami Company leased the Dayton & Western ; on November 30 it leased the Columbus & Xenia ; and on January 3, 1865, the Dayton, Xenia & Belpre, sold under forclosure, was purchased by the Little Miami and the. Columbus & Xenia companies for $250,000. On January 1, 1868, the Little Miami, the Columbus & Xenia and the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati made a contract with Charles W. Doubleday which gave the latter an exclusive right to run sleepingcars on their roads between Cincinnati & Cleveland. On April 7, 1868, the Little Miami and the Columbus & Xenia companies made a contract with the Western Union Telegraph Company giving it the exclusive right to operate a line on their premises. 16* 242 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. On December 1, 1869, the entire property of the Little Miami and the Columbus & Xenia and leased lines were leased to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway Company at eight per cent. on the capital stock, the interest on the funded debt, five thousand dollars per year for the expense of the organization and the assumption of all lease obligations of the Little Miami organization, which was to receive and pay over all dues to its leased lines, thus giving the Little Miami company and all leased lines eight per cent. net on their capital stock. At the election in 1847, Jeremiah Morrow, Jacob Strader, John Kilgore, Griffin Taylor, R. R. Springer, A. Hivling, Samuel Barnett, James Hicks, Lewis Broadwell, John Kugler and Nathaniel Wright were chosen directors, Jeremiah Morrow, president ; Jacob Strader, secretary ; John Kilgore, treasurer, and WilH. Clement, superintendent. A stock dividend was paid as early as January, 1845, before the road was complete, and from three to eight and one half per cent. semiannually thereafter has been paid in every year since December, 1852, except in December, 1867, when four and one nineteenth per cent. was paid in stock. On February 23, 1870, the Little Miami leased its own and all leased lines, including the Columbus & Xenia, to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis. Columbus & Xenia Railway.—This company was incorporated March 12, 1844, by Joseph Ridgway, Samuel Medary and William Dennison, of Franklin County, with others from Madison and Greene counties. The capital stock was $500,000, which was increased on February 14, 1848, to $1,500,000, and on January 7, 1864, to $1,800,000. On December 31, 1889, the stock was reported at $1,786,200. The company was authorized to construct a railway from "any eligible point in or near the town of Columbus, in Franklin County, thence by the most practicable route to the town of Xenia, in Greene County, or the suburbs thereof." It was also authorized to " construct branch roads to other towns or places in the several counties through which said road may pass," and the management was given authority to contract with any person or corporation for the use of roads, streets and bridges. This latter provision, or something similar, is found in many of the earlier railway charters in Ohio, the idea seeming to have been that a common road bridge could be used as a railway bridge. The charter further provided that the company might demand and receive tolls for passengers and freight not exceeding the tolls charged on the canals for the same kinds of goods or for passengers going in the same direction, and that it should not be lawful for any other company or individual " to transport any person, merchandize, produce or property of any description whatsoever along said road or any part thereof, without the license or permission of the president and directors of said company." This latter provision is found in many of the railway charters of that period, its object being indicated by the charter of the Scioto & Miami Railroad Company enacted March 18, 1839, and providing that the company might construct a railway "from or near the town of Lockbourne, in Franklin County, by the way of the town of Xenia, in Greene County, to the town of Dayton, in Montgomery County ;" that is, from the Ohio to the Miami Canal. Section nine of this act provided that the corporation might demand from all persons using its road a freight charge of eight cents per ton per mile, and a rateable proportion for any greater or less quantity ; and " for every RAILWAYS - 243 pleasure carriage or carriages used for the conveyance of passengers four cents per mile in addition to the toll of freight upon the road ;" all persons paying such toll being permitted, with suitable and proper carriages, to " use and travel upon said railroad, subject to such regulations and rules as the corporation are authorized to make." One of the objections brought against railways being that they could not be used like a common highway by any or all persons alike, such provisions as these were inserted in the charters to meet that objection by permitting the use of the road by any person who would furnish " proper and suitable carriages." The charter of the Columbus & Xenia company further provided that the State should have the right at any time after twenty years (extended to thirty-five years March 8, 1845,) to purchase and hold said railroad for the use of the State at a price not exceeding the original cost and necessary expenditure for fixtures up to the time of purchase, " and fifteen per cent. thereon." If the dividends should at any time exceed six per cent., the legislature might levy a tax thereon equivalent to that received from other railway companies. This latter clause was repealed February 23, 1846, by an act amending the charter and providing that the State should have power to reduce the charges for transportation of persons and property should such charges, in the opinion of the Board of Public Works, be deemed unreasonably high. The Board was authorized to exercise this power'of reducing charges once in every ten years, but this amendment was not accepted by the company and has not been considered by it to be binding. The Little Miami railway having been completed between Cincinnati and Xenia, the first daylight trip ever made between Columbus and Cincinnati took place August 19, 1845. One of the newspapers stated as follows: " Two new [stage] coaches have been put on the line between Columbus and Xenia. They are named George M. Dallas and Cave Johnson, and are very superb vehicles. All we want now is a railroad between here and Xenia and another to Cleveland to render traveling a pleasant past time. The first road will be built at no distant day ; what shall we say about the other ?" Response to this inquiry was soon made. A subscription of $200,000 having been made to the stock of the Columbus & Xenia Railway a meeting of the stockholders was held on April 12, 1845, and William Neil, Joseph Ridgway, Senior, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, William S. Sullivant, D. W. Deshler, Samuel Medary, Charles H. Wing, A. F. Perry, Joshua Martin, R. E. Neil, Orange Johnson and William Dennison, were chosen directors. On the same day William Neil was elected president, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, secretary, and D. W. Deshler treasurer. On May 29, 1845, the commissoners and surveyors left Columbus to locate the line and on June 11, it was announced that the preliminary survey had been completed. The Cincinnati Atlas newspaper of July 25, 1845, said : " We understand that an effort is making to fill up the stock of the road from Columbus to Xenia and that an influential member of the company (Mr. William Neil) is now in the city for this purpose. The greater part of the stock has been subscribed at Columbus and on the line of the road, but they need $50,000 more which they wish to raise here. As soon as this sum is subscribed the road will be put under contract and the work commenced with a 244 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. view to its completion in the fall of next year ; say at the farthest, by December, 1846. They have already decided to put down the heavy rails and to make the road substantial in the first instance." Sylvester Medbery, appointed engineer, completed the second survey of the line from Columbus to Xenia, September 24, 1845, and reported it as fiftytwo miles long, with only four deviations from a straight course. On November 22, 1845, a settlement with the engineer and his employes was ordered and their salaries were suspended until further notice. An act of March 2, 1846, amending the charter of the Franklin & Washington Railroad Company, subjected the Columbus & Xenia Company to the same conditions as to taxation which had been imposed upon the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati company, and reserved to the General Assembly power to levy such taxes on the capital stock and dividends as it might deem proper. By another act of February 6, 1847, the directors of the Columbus & Xenia were authorized to connect their road with the Little Miami at a point to be selected at their discretion. Further legislation of February 4, 1848, empowered the directors to construct a branch from the terminus at Columbus to Delaware, and on March 21, 1850, the company was authorized to extend its road to Dayton. To insure prompt action the charter provided that if contracts were not made for the construction of one-fourth of the road within one year from its ;late, it would be void. By different acts passed in February, 1846, subscriptions to the capital stock of the company were authorized as follows : By the town of Xenia not over $50,000; by the City Council of Columbus and the Commissioners of Franklin County, $50,000 each ; and by the town of Xenia $6,1000; and by the Commissioners of Greene County $50,000. The company was authorized by the same legislation to borrow $300,000 at not more than seven per cent. interest, and the directors were given discretion to connect their road with that of the Little Miami company at any other point than Xenia if they should so elect. On February 8, 1847, the Commissioners of Madison County were authorized to subscribe $20,000 to the stock of the Columbus & Xenia, and the same amount to the Columbus & Springfield. On February 23, 1846, the charter was so amended as to authorize the directors to reduce the amount of each individual stock subscription to such a sum as the subscriber might desire, provided that the total subscription should not be reduced below $50,000. This seems to have been done in order to enable some of the subscribers to transfer a part of their subscriptions to another company. On February 14, 1848, the company was authorized to borrow funds in addition to those realized by payments on stock sufficient to complete the road and furnish it with necessary cars and machinery. The Ohio State Journal of August 13, 1845, contained these editorial admonitions having reference to the Columbus & Xenia Railway : This is an enterprise which deserves the attention of Central Ohio, and more particularly of Columbus and Franklin County. We understand that nearly all the stock is subscribed and we hope some of our citizens who have the means will give their aid to it immediately. We also understand that William Neil, the president of the company, has returned from Cincinnati and that the citizens of that city, ever liberal in public enterprises, are awake to this also. . . . The immense trade to the North and East from the South and West RAILWAYS - 245 must be entirely lost to Columbus and the central portion of the State unless the road is commenced and brought to a speedy completion. The Mad River Railroad, which is now building, from Cincinnati to the Lake, is destined to monopolize this entire trade unless the Columbus & Xenia railroad is completed. As the speed and comfort of passengers are always consulted they will undoubtedly universally choose the trip through the northwest part of the State by railroad to the lake in preference to a long and laborious ride from Cincinnati to Cleveland through Columbus by stage. But should the road be completed and the speed and accommodations of this central route be made equal to the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad it must be the most preferable route from the Ohio River to the Lake, as it runs through the richest and most prosperous portion of Ohio and the seat of government of the State, and makes a short lake trip to Buffalo. Passenger trains were started August 19, 1845, between Columbus, Cincinnati and Xenia, leaving Cincinnati at seven o'clock A. AL and arriving at Xenia at noon, where, as announced in the newspapers, passengers could take the coaches to Columbus and arrive there at eight P. M., accomplishing the whole journey in thirteen hours, including all stoppages. It was also announced that the stages of the accommodation line would leave Columbus at six A. M., and at one P. M. arrive at Xenia, where the passengers would dine, take the cars at two P. M. and arrive at Cincinnati about six o'clock in the evening. On December 1, 1846, stock to the amount of $187,800 was purchased of the individual directors by the Board, with the agreement that no liabilities should be created until $100,000 of that amount should be sold. On March 8, 1847, L. Goodale, Joseph Ridgway, A H. Pinney, R. E. Neil, William Dennison and Samuel Medary were elected directors, and on March 20, same year, it was stated that the Little Miami company was willing to guarantee to the stockholders of the Columbus & Xenia six per cent. per annum on their stock as soon as the road should be completed, and would agree to pay that rate annually and perpetually if desired, for the use of the road from Columbus to its point of intersection with the Little Miami. "Shrieks of locality" were loud and earnest. On March 10, 1848, a stockholder published a card in which he said that most if not all of those who had subscribed for stock in the Columbus & Xenia road did so with the understanding that the passenger station would be located near the tossing of High Street. On March 23 a large public meeting, of which W. T. Martin was chairman and Lorenzo English secretary, was held, and S. E. Wright, A. P. Stone, J. Hare, M. Jewett, A. Sites, J. Funston, and E. Glover were appointed a committee to confer with the president and directors of the road and require location of the station equidistant between the north and south boundaries of the city; and further, to demand that this city and county should be represented in the reorganization in proportion to the amount of stock subscribed. When the directors of the two companies — Columbus & Xenia and Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati — came to the selection of a site for the station, their choice lay between the northeast corner of High and Spring streets and the present location, but the latter was agreed upon by a bare majority of the two boards. Another controversy was raised about the same time by the claim of Springfield that the road should connect with the Little Miami at that place instead of at Xenia. 246 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. On April 14, 1847, a vote taken in the city of Columbus resulted 828 ayes to 214 noes, in favor of a subscription of $50,000 by the city to the stock of the company, and on May 6 an arrangement was made by which, in consideration of stock subscriptions by the city and county they should each have representation in the board of directors. On Juno 28 the directors agreed to lay a horse railway track from some convenient point on the main line north of Broad Street to and across the canal near its bridge on Friend Street so as to accommodate the warehousing interest in that vicinity. This track was not laid south of Broad Street. On the same day it was resolved that the main line should cross the Scioto River at some eligible point between the National Road Bridge and the Penitentiary. The salary of the president of the road was fixed at $1,500. On July 15, 1847, the Columbus City Council adopted the following : Resolved, that the right of way be granted to the Columbus & Xenia Railroad Company to run their railroad track or tracks through the city and along any street or alley, or part of a street or alley in the city north of Broad Street (excepting along High Street); and that they have the right to run locomotive engines upon the main line of their road running through the city and connecting with the depots and enginehouses at a rate of speed not exceeding four miles per hour. A proviso was coupled with this that the company should be liable for all damages that might accrue from such location. On October 13, 1847, Alfred Kelley, president of the company, solicited bids for grading and bridging the roadway from the west bank of the Scioto River to and including Big and Little Darby creeks, and on July 24, 1848, he advertised for proposals for grubbing, grading, bridging and ballasting the road from South Charleston to the Greene County boundary. On October 25, 1847, semi-annual interest was pledged on all cash payments of stock until the road should be completed and commence paying dividends. Proposals from the Little Miami Company to construct as a branch of their line so much of the Columbus & Xenia road as lay from Xenia eastward within Greene County were accepted November 3, 1847. On November 9 of that year the treasurer was authorized to sell any amount of city or county bonds not exceeding $10,000 for the best price that could be obtained not less than eighty cents on the dollar. On the same day the salary of the treasurer was fixed at three hundred, and that of the secretary at one hundred and fifty dollars per year. On March 6, 1848, the road was under contract from Columbus to West Jefferson and on December 4 of that year the Columbus station was located by a vote of seven to three. On March 29, 1849, the New York Tribune stated that the negotiation of the bonds of the Columbus & Xenia Railroad Company to the whole amount of $300,000 had just been completed by Winslow, Lanier & Co., and on August 7 two hundred tons of iron for the road had reached Sandusky. Part of the iron arrived at Columbus October 15, and on November 5 tracklaying was commenced at Columbus and prosecuted at the rate of threequarters of a mile per day. It was stated that the rails were delivered at Montreal from England at a cost of one and a half cents per pound ; which, with the transportation to Columbus, brought their cost up to three cents per pound. The expense for transporta- RAILWAYS - 247 tion from Montreal to Columbus was therefore equivalent to the original cost of the iron and its freight from England to Montreal. An engine was shipped from Cincinnati by river and canal and was used in tracklaying. The rails had all reached Columbus by January 17, 1850, and on February 25 of that year the newspapers announced that trains would run in connection with the Little Miami Railway as follows: Leave Columbus one P. M. and two P. m.; arrive at Cincinnati at nine P. M. and ten A. M ; leave Cincinnati at six A M. and two-thirty P. m.; arrive at Columbus at two P. M. and ten P. M. The one P. M. train from Columbus and the six A. M. train from Cincinnati were discontinued on Sundays. The company declared that it would not be responsible for baggage exceeding fifty dollars in value, unless the same should be returned to the conductor or agent and freight paid on it at the rate of one passage for every five hundred dollars in value above fifty dollars. Under date of February 25, 1850, we have the following account of the opening of the road:4 The twenly-second of February, 1850, was the commencement of a new era in Central Ohio, for on that day the railroad from Columbus to Xenia (fiftyfour miles) was open for use; and thus, for the first time, was opened to the people of this region a system of transit destined immediately to supplant and almost render obsolete all other modes of conveyance. The Twentysecond . . . was a clear, bright day, such a day as does honor to the winter climate of this meridian, in which the cheerful beauty of spring and the rigor of winter were admirably blended. . . . Such was the day . . . when I accepted the polite invitation of the engineer to accompany the President, a portion of the board of directors and a few friends on the first trip over the track from Columbus to Xenia. Among the passengers down, besides the officers and agents of the company, were Judge Myers, of the Senate, Mr. Fairchild, of the House, Mr. Drake, late Speaker of the House, Mr. Collins, president of the Cincinnati & Hillsborough Railroad Company, and several others. The trip down was made on an open platform, and was made in three hours and five minutes. This was not remarkable for speed, but when it is recollected that this is the first and an experimental trip when more than ordinary caution is required in testing an untried work, the speed (averaging eighteen miles an hour) was amply sufficient. When the arrangements for regular trips are completed and the machinery properly adjusted, twentyseven miles per hour will be about the average. . . . The company, leaving Columbus at two o'clock p. x. reached Xenia at five. In the course of the evening a new locomotive (appropriately named the Washington) built by Messrs. A. Harkness & Son, of Cincinnati, for the Columbus & Xenia Railroad Company, arrived at Xenia, and it was resolved to run it up to Springfield (twenty miles) in the forenoon for the purpose of ascertaining its weight and trying the quality of its performance. The engine, with ordinary equipments, weighed nineteen and a half tons, and the performance of its machinery was highly satisfactory to those concerned. The cost of the locomotive, we heard, was eight thousand dollars. Returning from Springfield, the company partook of a substantial repast served at the railroad office, and being joined by a number of gentlemen from Xenia, two passenger cars were attached to the new locomotive and the party left Xenia about half past three o'clock, reaching Columbus just at sunset. The Ohio State Journal of February 27, 1850, thus announced the " first train :" The splendid locomotive Washington with the first regular train of passenger cars from this city left at one o'clock today in the presence of a concourse of spectators. We put the 248 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. fact on record for future reference when the historian shall search the archives of the past to discover the date when an era so promising was opened by an event so interesting. On March 2, 1850, the state officers and the General Assembly by invitation of the company made a trip over the road to Cincinnati and return. One of the newspapers remarked in expectancy of this event that it would be " a novel sight to see the government of the great State of Ohio going off at the rate of twentyfive miles an hour." The road had been completed in a little less than two years under the management of its president, Alfred Kelley, and its chief engineer and superintendent, S. Medbery. Its track was laid with rails weighing sixtyone pounds to the yard on hewed oak ties well bedded in gravel. Its first cost with equipments was stated at $1,403,145.99. It has but three miles of curved line with a minimum radius of 5,700 feet. Its elevation above the Scioto, at the Big Darby crossing is 145 feet, at the Little Darby, 183 feet, at London 344 feet, at South Charleston 421 feet, at the Greene County line 356 feet and at Xenia 130 feet. Its maximum grade is thirtynine feet per mile. On March 26, 1850, S. Medbery, engineer, asked for proposals for grading, ballasting and masonwork for a track from the east side of the Scioto River to the station grounds on the east side of High Street, about 2,500 feet ; and on December 14, 1850, notice was given that after that date the cars would start regularly from the station grounds at the north end of High Street. Prior to that date a temporary station had been used in what was then known as Franklinton. On May 30, same year, the City Council requested the company to construct a branch from some -point between Franklinton and Columbus to and across the Scioto River at or near the junction of the canal feeder with the river, but the board declined. On October 28 it was agreed that from November 1 dividends should be paid semiannually to the stockholders on the first Monday in January and July beginning with July 1, 1851, the interest on installments to cease from that date. The salary of the president, Mr. Kelley, for 1851 was fixed at $500. On January 31, 1851, we find the following paragraph in one of the Columbus papers : " One of our friends, a lady of Columbus, yesterday breakfasted at home, dined with her mother in Cincinnati, and after a chat of two hours returned and took tea at home. Such events may not be uncommon hereafter, but this is probably the first instance of the kind." A proposition to consolidate the three railways extending from Cleveland via Columbus and Cincinnati was made May 9, 1851, and on May 15, of that year, the engineer of the Columbus and Xenia line was ordered to survey two routes between Xenia and Dayton. On June 28 the first dividend was ordered to be paid July 1, 1851, in stock and stock scrip at the rate of five per cent. On November 4, 1851, the baggage and mail cars of one of the trains were derailed four miles west of Columbus by running over a cow. This caused enquiry to be made whether something could not be done " to prevent these frequent accidents from running over cows," and the observation was made that more accidents happened from this cause than from all others. At that time all kinds of farm stock were permitted to go at large and were frequently run over by railway trains. The contrivance known as the " cowcatcher" was an invention of L. B. RAILWAYS - 249 Davies of Columbus, who, however, failed to patent it and gave it freely to the railroads. Its form has been somewhat changed, the original having been made exclusively of iron and having consisted of heavy prongs with sharp points projecting in front of the engine. The writer has seen hogs impaled on these prongs. The building for the offices of the company was begun and completed in 1853, on the west side of High Street, a short distance south of the track and still stands with but little alteration. On November 30, 1853, a partnership contract was made between the Little Miami and the Columbus & Xenia companies by which the two roads were operated as one line under a joint committee of four, comprising two representatives of each road. It was stipulated that, after paying out of the gross earnings all necessary expenses, the surplus should pay dividends, which should always be alike for the two roads and whatever remained should be divided as the directors might agree. This partnership existed until March 18, 1869, when it was dissolved, and the Columbus & Xenia company leased its line and rights to the Little Miami perpetually, the lessee to operate and keep in repair the whole lino and pay to the Columbus & Xenia Company a net sum of $31,258.50, this being seven per cent. on the stock of the company. It was stipulated, however, that should the Little Miami pay more than seven per cent. to its stockholders it should pay an equal dividend to the Columbus & Xenia, provided that such dividend should not amount to more than one per cent. additional in any year on the stock. The Little Miami company further agreed to pay the expense of keeping up the organization of the Columbus & Xenia company, and the salary of its treasurer not exceeding $2,500 per annum. Permission to the street railway company of Columbus to lay its tracks across that of the Columbus & Xenia Railway was granted November 30, 1863, it being provided that the street cars should not "interrupt, or delay or impede the free passage of the engines, cars or trains of the railroad company." About January 1, 1856, much ado was made of the fact that from the seventh of that month trains would run through between the Ohio River and Lake Erie, without change. On February 23, 1870, the Little Miami Company leased its property to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Company perpetually. This lease included the Little Miami, the Columbus & Xenia, the Dayton, Xenia & Belpre and the Dayton & Western. The lessee company was obliged by the terms of this contract to operate all the lines conveyed to it, paying all expenses, repairs and liabilites, and a gross sum of $480,000 to the lessors. The Pennsylvania Railway Company guaranteed compliance with this contract on the part of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis. Up to this time the Columbus & Xenia Company had paid one hundred and twenty quarterly dividends, none less than two per cent. Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati.—In February, 1831, the newspapers contained a report by Mr. Lockwood on a contemplated railway from Sandusky to Dayton with a branch to Columbus. Statictics were published showing the probable cost of the road and amount of its traffic. Its construction was earnestly