event of the day. Most of the taverns were kept by men who had served in the Revolutionary war, and the rude pictures of Washington, Lafayette, Putnam and Wayne upon the sign-boards generally indicated their popular heroes. There were also upon these signs buffaloes and other animals not specified by Buffon, and owls and fowls whose species would have bothered Audubon; there were the Black Duck, the Golden Swan, the Spread Eagle and the Cross Keys. "A local historian of the time says, 'The tavern keepers and landlords are really the only lords we have in Pennsylvania. They furnish us with militia Colonels and Generals, and Members of Congress, and do the honors of the town, keeping up its reputation for hospitality.' "Pennsylvania's system of turnpike roads was the first complete system in the country, but they had scarcely been finished when public agitation in favor of a complete waterway to connect Pennsylvania with the great waterways of the West was commenced. Succeeding Legislatures authorized surveys and estimates, until finally the State itself undertook the construction of a canal from Columbia on the Susquehanna to Harrisburg, and thence along the Juniata to Hollidaysburg, with the Portage Railroad across the Alleghenies to Johnstown and the western section of the canal from that point to Pittsburgh. Public sentiment demanded still further development, which resulted in the north and west branch canals on the Susquehanna. The artificial waterways provided transportation as far east as Columbia, but scientific skill was unable to construct a canal from that point to Philadelphia. To keep the trade in Pennsylvania, and divert it to Philadelphia instead of Baltimore, it became necessary to construct a railroad between these two points. For the construction of all these enterprises the State expended about $18,000,000. "The successful operation of this line of railroad and the building of similar lines in other parts of the country induced the people of the State, through the Legislature, to agitate further railroad development. Again commissions were appointed and surveys authorized. In 1839 Charles L. Schlatter was authorized by the General Assembly to survey a line of road which would connect Pennsylvania with the trade and commerce of the great West. In 1841 he submitted his report setting forth three feasible lines of road, which he called the Northern, Central and Southern, connecting on the East with the railroad already running to Harrisburg. His report, together with a map of his proposed lines, was printed by authority of the Legislature, and remains on file among the Archives in Harrisburg. His central route was practically adopted in the building of the Pennsylvania Central Road; his northern route is substantially the line of the Philadelphia and Erie; while the Cumberland Valley Railroad, east of the Alleghenies, and the Baltimore and Ohio west, cover to a large extent his proposed Southern lines. "Each successive improvement met with its full share of opposition. General Alexander Ogle, member of Congress in the days of General Jackson, in the course of a Fourth of July oration, described the opposition to the turnpike and wagon transportation: 'Your grandmother,' said he, can tell you what a rumpus these ninnies raised around the first wagon road over the mountains to Pittsburgh. It would break up the packhorse men, and the horsebreeders would be ruined. I told them that one wagon could carry as much salt, bar iron and brandy from Philadelphia or Baltimore as a whole caravan of half-starved mountain ponies; and I further told them that of all the people in the world fools have the least sense.' The canal system met with even more opposition than the turnpike, and the antagonism was increased as against the railroad improvements. The stage coach and the Conestoga wagon rendered the packhorse a useless institution. The canals and the railroad frequently left the Pennsylvania tavern and the village that surrounded it off to one side to seek other patronage than the traveler in a hurry. "On the 13th of April, 1846, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company was incorporated, and then commenced a railway development never equalled in any country or in any time. May 16, 1857, it purchased from the State the main line from Philadelphia to Columbia. At that time it owned and operated less than 400 miles of railroad; to-day it owns and operates within the borders of the Commonwealth 3253 miles of road, and outside of the State 5630 miles, making a total of $883 miles. "It now extends into 53 counties of the State; has reached the coal mines and ore deposits, the oil fields and the immense agricultural districts, until there is not a material resource of the Commonwealth that is not within easy reach of the best markets of the world. "The population of the State at the time of the incorporation of this Company was about 2,000,000. It has since then multiplied threefold. During the intervening period the Pennsylvania and other railroads have entirely changed the map of the State. Towns and cities have sprung up upon their lines whose capital, added to the native resources, have combined to the general advantage of all our people. It is but asserting a truism to say that the railroads have done more to develop the material resources of the State than all other business enterprises combined. "It is not my purpose to recount the great volume of the business done by this Pennsylvania institution, nor to attempt to enumerate the passenger traffic, or aggregate the transportation of freight, or the steady march of improvement and development of the Company. Its 9000 miles of road, its 28,000 stockholders, its 100,000 employees, its prudent management, vigilant oversight, the regular dividends, all combine to make it the greatest and most complete railroad enterprise and organization in the world. "Its last sale of mortgage bonds to the amount of £1,000,000 sterling, dated July 1, 1895, bearing three and one-half per cent. interest, maturing in fifty years, has established the fact that the financial credit of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at that time. was equal to the credit of the United States Government in the markets of the world. There has never been a breath of scandal against the honesty, integrity or capability of its management. It has never been in the hands of a receiver. "It is the original and best working civil service organization in the country. The promotions are based absolutely upon merit, and the best proof of this proposition lies in the fact that John Edgar Thomson commenced his professional career with the Engineer Corps employed upon the original survey of the road from Philadelphia to Columbia. Its next President, Colonel Thomas A. |