THE CAIRO BRIDGE.

3

THE CAIRO BRIDGE.

New Yoke, February 24, 1892.

To the Board of Directors of the Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans

Railroad Company:

Gentlemen :—The opening on the 29th of October, 1889, of yourbridge across the Ohio lliver, for traffic, marked the completion of therailroad from the upper Mississippi and the Great Lakes to the Gulfof Mexico, for which Congress, more than forty years ago, made agrant of lands, and for the construction of a part of which the Statesof Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky chartered yourCompany and those to whose franchises it has succeeded. It is unne-cessary at this time to refer to the early records for evidence of theefforts of your predecessors to forge their respective links in this chainof communication; suffice it to say that in our time the work hasbeen finished.

As you are aware, the Illinois Central Railroad Company waschartered by the State of Illinois, in 1851, for the purpose ofbuilding that part of the line, laid out by the Federal Congress, whichlies north of the Ohio. The annual reports of the directors of thatCompany to their shareholders show that this purpose of their corpo-ration was never lost sight of. The following extracts from the re-ports made to the then president of the Illinois Central RailroadCompany, Mr. William H. Osborn, by Captain, afterward General,George B. McClellan, Vice-President, and by Mr. James C. Clarke, thenMaster of Transportation, will suffice: Under date of January 1,1859, Vice-President McClellan said:

In accordance with your instructions, I, last summer, passed over most of theroute from Cairo to New Orleans and Mobile. The prompt completion of theselines, of which no doubt can be entertained, will add greatly to our business.”

While Mr. Clarke said :

The Company s natural connections are with those roads leading to Mobile andNew Orleans, and the early completion, probably not later than August next, of athrough connection with those cities cannot fail to confer upon us substantial bene-

fits. The value of a great through traffic north and south by rail is yet unknownbut it is reasonable to suppose that passengers, and the more costly freights, willseek the most direct and least expensive route, to the exclusion of that by the river,which is circuitous and uncertain. As this is the last time I shall submit a reportupon the Operating Department of this road, I desire to record my opinion that thenorth and south traffic of the Mississippi Valley by rail will, ere long, give such re-sults as will surprise the shareholders, and cause them to regret the sacrifice theyhave submitted to in disposing of their stock at a time of temporary distrust anddepression.”

Although the advent of war postponed the realization of Mr.Clarke’s expectations, his subsequent success in building up the busi-ness of your railroad, and his more recent achievements in connec-tion with his present duties as President of the Mobile & Ohio Rail-road Comjmnv, fully vindicate the opinion set forth by him at thatearly day.

In 1872, Col. Henry S. McComb, then President of the South-ern Railroad Association, which was operating the New Orleans,Jackson & Great Northern and the Mississippi Central Rail-roads, effected a negotiation with Mr. Wm. H. Osborn, then oneof the directors of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, whichresulted in the extension of the Mississippi Central Railroad fromJackson, Tennessee, to Fillmore, a point in Ballard county, Ken-tucky, nearly opposite to Cairo, and the establishment of a transferferry between those points. The circumstances attending the subse-quent bankruptcy and the sale under foreclosure, in 1877, of the NewOrleans, Jackson & Great Northern and of the Mississippi Centralrailroads, and of the consolidation of the corporations which purchasedthose railroads, under the title of the Chicago, St. Louis & New OrleansRailroad Company, are too familiar to need repetition.

The question of bridging the Ohio River took definite shape in theyear 1879, when, at the instance of Mr. W. K. Ackerman, President ofthe Illinois Central Railroad Company, soundings, surveys and estimateswere made. From that time on the regimen of the river was watchedcarefully and repeated negotiations had between committees of yourBoard and that of the Illinois Central Railroad Company.

An Act of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, en-titled “An Act to authorize the Chicago, St. Louis & New OrleansR. R. Co., and the Illinois Central R. R. Co., or either of them separately,to build and maintain a railroad bridge across the Ohio River,” havingbeen approved March 29, 1886, was formally accepted by the Chicago,

St. Louis & New Orleans R. R. Co. on April 1, 1886, and a certificate tothat effect lodged with the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth.

Work was commenced by the Chicago, St. Louis A New OrleansRailroad Company on the approach to the bridge shortly thereafter,and detailed plans for the whole work were prepared by Messrs. GeorgeS. Morison and E. L. Corthell, in conjunction with Mr. E. T. Jefferv.

At a meeting of your Board held March 26, 1887, the following pre-amble and resolutions were unanimously adopted :

“ Whereas, under powers granted by the United States and the several Stateshereinafter named, a trunk line of railway from the Lakes to the Gulf, passingthrough Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, has beenconstructed and is now in operation, save the space across the Ohio River at ornear Cairo;

And whereas, by Acts of Congress in 1848 and subsequently, the constructionof a trunk line from the Lakes to the Gulf was encouraged as a great nationalthoroughfare by grants of lands to the several States, to be used for the purpose ofaiding its construction ;

And whereas, in a popular convention, held in the City of New Orleans onthe 6th of April, 1851, resolutions were adopted requesting the States of Louisiana,Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky to aid in the establishment of a trunkrailroad from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Northern Lakes, and in pursuancethereof the State of Louisiana, in 1852, incorporated the New Orleans, Jackson &Great Northern R. R. Co., for the purpose of building ‘ a continuous line ofcommunication between New Orleans and the northern and western portions ofthe Confederacy,’ on such a scale as to be a‘main trunk line.’ And the Stateof Mississippi declared on March 11, 1852, that the construction of such road ‘fromthe City of New Orleans, passing through the State of Mississippi’ * * * ‘isdeemed a work of great public importance’ * * * ‘andshould be encouraged

by legislative sanction.’ And the State of Tennessee, on February 25, 1852, inthe preamble of an Act granting it power to pass through said State, says:

‘ Whereas, by resolutions adopted by a railroad convention begun and held onthe 6th of April, 1851, at the City of New Orleans, in the State ofLouisiana, it appears to this General Assembly that the rights of wayand charter for a railroad, to extend northward from said City of NewOrleans through a part of the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Ten-nessee and Kentucky, to the Ohio River, having in view to connectthe same with the proposed great North and South Central Railroad ofIllinois, are earnestly solicited from the legislatures of the Statethrough which it is to pass ’ * * * and ‘ it is deemed a matter of

vital importance to this State that a direct communication by railroadto the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Northern Lakes be established ;’

And whereas, that part of said trunk line from Chicago to the Ohio River atCairo was built and is now owned by the Illinois Central Railroad Company, under