Atlantic City: Its Early And Modern History (1868) - Paperback

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER V. aitroad At the time when Dr. Pitney first conceived the notion of building a railroad over the meadows of Jersey, for the purpose of connecting Philadelphia with the sea, it was opposed to his proposal, that it would be impossible to draw the people away from Cape May, then the favorite resort. The Doctor's long acquaintance, however, with the Jersey shore, had taught him that Absecon beach was a much more accessible spot than Cape Island. He knew that the journey from Philadelphia to Cape Island lay over a rugged and unsatisfactory upland grade. The scenery, too, was at that time rough and uninteresting, presenting a continued and monotonous aspect of the worst kind of farm country, that belongs to a race proverbial for " saving the fractions." By continued and earnest advocacy of his darling scheme, the Doctor finally succeeded in obtaining the favorable consideration of monied railroaders, who lent their countenance to the proposed enterprise, so far, as to hold a preliminary meeting, and appoint Dr. P. to engineer a bill through the New Jersey Legislature. The faith, however, both of these capitalists, and the people of Absecon, in the ultimate success of the project, was not of a very strong character. The people along the proposed line heard every mention of the coming railroad with derision. Their conduct was a repetition of that of the Fourierites and Socialists. The subsequent history of the road in its organization, subscription to capital stock, and in some other respects, is the old story of the antagonism existing between enterprise and staple stupidity. " Build your road, and the people will starve to death when they get to the beach," said a Jerseyman. "We shall bring over the iron track the food with which to feed them," was the reply of the Doc...