Source: The Mining Journal
Marquette, Mi.
March 19, 1887 Saturday

Duluth to Boston

The Boston Herald devotes two columns to the meeting of rail-
road men recently held in Boston to take action on the new rail-
road scheme of which The DSS&A is a part. The result of the
meeting was that those present decided to go to work actively
before the legislature to get the charter necessary for the Mas-
sachusets part of the road, the necessary funds being pldeged if
that is obtained. After detailing the progress made on The DSS&A
and the MSSM&A the principal speaker, Mr. Smith, president of
the Boston, Hoosier Tunnel & Western road said:

"From S. S. Marie to Brockville, Ont., is the next branch of
the road. The distance is 500 miles, and of this 40 miles have
all ready been constructed. The St. Lawrence River will be cross-
ed by a bridge and the road will pass through New York west of the
Adirondack mountains, in as near an air line as is possible and
connect with the West Shore road at Rotterdam Junction and then
with the BHT2W. It is further proposed to-connect by the BHT&wW
route to North Adams or Williamsburg. From Williamsburg to Wil-
liamstown, a distance of twenty miles, a new road will be built
and by the New Haven & Northampton ‘road connection will be made
with the Massachusets road to Bostone From Duluth to Boston by
the present route round through Chicago it is 300 miles longer °
than the proposed new route. The gentlemen holding these lines
are nat interested in any respect with any of the lines termi-
nating in New York. It is 50 miles nearer to New York from Rotter-
dam Junction than to Boston, but Boston is 200 miles nearer Liver-
pool than New York, and it is proposed to make up the difference
in railroad freight by the difference in steamship freight. Bos-
ton has fine terminal facilities that can be built up, and in
other ways it offers advantages superior to those of New York, so
that the gentlemen interested are anxious to make Boston the term-
inal point.

These gentlemen want to reach all the manufacturing towns in
central Massachusets for shipment of their goods to the west,
rather than have them first taken to New York, as at present, 50,
even if the Fitchburg road was bought, the new road would build
the new line to Massachusets. The gentlemen interested in the
BHT&W are also unanimously in favor of the plan for a new road
from Duluth to Boston. Some of the gentlemen interested in the
matter are these: Messers Columbus H. Cummings, a prominent rail-
road man of Chicago, worth at least $5,000,000; James McMillan
and Hugh McMillan, wealthy and prominent men of Detroit; Samuel
Thomas of New York, present of the Bastern Tennessee, Virginia &
Georgia railroad and a man of big wealth; Calvin S. Brice, Francis
Smith and George Warren Smith of New York; H. C. Faunestock and G.
F. Bader of the First National Bank of New York; Austin Corbin,
president of the Reading railroad, L. Van Hoffman, James 0. Sheldon
and H. R. Sheldon of New York, both men of large wealth, Robert B.
Minturn of Grinnell Minturn & Co., S. V. White, J. H. Stebbins and
pe 2 Duluth to Boston

and J. G. Moore of New York; Augustus Kourtze, B. C. Barnard & Coe,
D. B. Hatch and Messers Rosenbaum, Van Hess & Tholman of the Boston,
Hoosac Tunnel & Western. All we ask is simply to get the charter to
complete’ the scheme. Ships will return to meet the freight, and
Boston will at last realize what she has so long wanted., a through
trunk line to the far west, independent of New York."

In response to the questions of the gentlemen present, Mr. Smith
made the following statements: "If we cannot get the charter re-
vived for the road in Massachutes, we shail seek an outlet through
New York."

"The Massachutes Central and the Boston & lowell roads will be
included in the consolidation as far as coming to Boston is concern-
ed, that is, the main line of the Massachutes Central and the part
of the Lowell road over which it rums to get into the city. The
Boston & Lowell depot will be the eastern terminus of the road."

Another gentlemen present asked, "What assurance have you that
the new road won't be gobbled up by a Vanderbilt syndicate?" Mr.
Smith answered,"None of the gentlemen interested in this scheme
are interested in any of the Vanderbilt roads, ‘The Vanderbilts
control the principal road in the Northwest, the C&NW, but the new
road does not come into very close competition with that. It
would not be an easy matter to gobble this road up. The gentle-
men interested are very wealthy men. Is suppose money can buy
anything, but I can't see any reason whey that should be antic-—
ipeated. The Vanderbilts will not either, have as much interest
taking this up as they did the West Shore. There is no local
competition. The new road reaches a section locally, that the
NYC doesn't touch at all."

\aSseA

MSSM&A