truths' IN RELATION TO THE NEW YORK & ERIE RAILROAD, WHICH EVERY CITIZEN OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK OUGHT TO READ. 1842. NEW YORK: PRINTED AT THE STANDARD OFFICE, NO. 2 WALL STREET. 1842. To D. 0. Macomber, Esq. General Agent of the New YorJf and Erie Railroad, Sir, The subjoined statements relative to internal improvements, particularly the New York and Erie Rail- road, showing the bearing of the same on the interests of the citizens of New York, as a commercial emporium, I have prepared with much care, 1 from sources deemed authentic. They are respectfully submitted for the con- sideration of the Stockholders of your Company, and of the people of this city. Your obedient Servant, EDWIN WILLIAMS, Compiler of the New York Annual Register, New York, Jan., 1842. BRIEF FACTS IN RELATION TO THE NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD. Chartered in 1832 Organized in ----- - 1835 Loan Law passed in - - - - - 1836 Loan Law modified in - 1838 Again modified in - - - - 1840 Whole length of the road when finished from Tappan to Dunkirk, 446 miles. The entire road is under contract. Now finished and in operation, 46 miles, from Tappan to Goshen. Two hundred and fifty miles more can be finished in 1842. Amount already expended on whole work, $4,500,000 Amount necessary to finish the road for single track, - - - - - 4,500,000 Of this the southern counties will furnish, 1,500,000 Required of the City and State of New York, 3,000,000 Up to the first day of November last, there were over 5,000 men employed in the con- struction of the work. The number now employed is not less than 2,000. Amount that has been paid by the 11 coun- ties on the fine of the road, - - 1,000,000 4 Amount that has been paid by New York and Brooklyn, $442,000 Amount of value of the productions of the southern line of counties during the past year, $22,000,000 POPULATION. The following is the population, by the census of 1840, of the counties through which the N. Y. and Erie Rail- road passes, with that of the adjacent counties in New Jersey and Pennsylvania : — Counties in New York. POPULATION. Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, Delaware, Broome, Tioga, Chemung, Steuben, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauque, 11,975 50,739 15,629 35,396 22,338 20,527 20,732 46,138 40,975 28,872 47,975 341,296 Counties adjacent. Chenango, 40,778 Cortland, 24,605 Tompkins, 38,113 Yates, 20,442 Parts of otLCo's, 142,147 Total popula., 607,381 Cos.inNJcr--) sey y Penn. ) 9 Total, 774,484 o a a bj)— a ^ '3d 3 is 83 9 ■r o Counties in New Jersey. POPULATION. Bergen, 13,223 Sussex, 21,770 Pennsylvania. Pike, 3,832 Wayne, 11,848 Susquehanna, 21,195 Bradford, Tioga, Potter, McKean, Warren, Erie, 32,769 15,498 3,371 2,975 9,278 31,344 Total, 167,103 Assessed value of real and personal estate in N. York Counties here enumerated, in 1840, $84,000,358. Population of City of N.York, 312,710 City Brooklyn, 36,233 5 The population of the counties traversed by the Erie Canal, and counties and parts of counties adjacent, is 710,000, (including the city of Albany.) The population of the State of Massachusetts is 737,699. ESTIMATED RECEIPTS OF THE RAILROAD. The following statement shows the actual receipts in one year, for freight and passengers on several of the most important Railroads in the United States. The expenses of these Roads will average about forty per cent, an- nually on the receipts. If we estimate the anual receipts of the New York and Erie Railroad — 446 miles in length, when completed — to average the same per mile as either of these Railroads, the following will be the result : — Railroads. Length. Estimate in pre* Annual portion far N. Y. Receipts, and Erie R. R. Utica and Schenectady. 7S $400,700 12, 301,436 Utica and Syracuse, 53 251,200 2.1-25.200 Mohawk and Hudson, 16 150,500 4,214,000 Camden and Amboy, 92 685,300 3,337,150 Boston and Lowell, 26 231,575 3,936,775 Boston and Worcester, Ui 267.547 2,675,470 Boston and Providence, 41 202,601 2,228,611 Baltimore and Ohio, S3 433,000 2,165,000 Baltimore andPhiladelphia, 93 490,500 2,207,250 N. J., (Jersev to Bruns'k, 31 203,100 2,944,950 The average receipts of the above ten railroads, would produce on a Road of the length of the New York and Erie Railroad (446 miles,), $2,313,5S4 deduct for expenses 40 per cent., 1,125,434 producing a nett income of 1* $1,6S3,150 6 equal to seventeen and a half per cent, on the cost (of nine millions of Dollars,) or deducting six per cent, on the State Loan of three millions, ($180,000) and we have Twenty-five per cent, to divide among the Stockhold- ers of the remaining six millions of Dollars. It is believed that neither of the above Railroads are as favorably located for a profitable business, as the New York and Erie Railroad. The Utica and Sche- nectady Railroad is prohibited by law from carrying freight, which will be the principal source of income of the New York and Erie Railroad. The following is from the New York Courier and En- quirer of January 11, 1842. New York amd Erie Railroad as an investment. — There can be no doubt that the Stock of this Company will prove as an investment, among the most profitable in the Uni- ted States. How can it be otherwise ? when it will con- nect the Mississippi valley, by the Allegany River and Lake Erie, with the port of New York. But, that our readers may see what other roads are doing, most of them in less favorable positions than the Erie Railroad, we give the returns of sundry Railroads for one year. These returns were made about two years ago, since when they have much improved. Returns of Railroads for 1839. Length. Receipts. Expenses. Philadelphia & Baltimore, 97 $490,635 $169,130 Camden & Amboy, 61 685,329 358,043 Utica and Syracuse, 51 197,023 65,647 Utica and Schenectady, 78 400,671 119,630 7 Boston and Lowell, 25? $241,229 $92,151 Boston and Providence, 41 312,907 93,562 Boston and Worcester, 44J 231,807 126,384 Efmtprn imporriTHPtp \ j-iLioLv^iiij i yji.li ij±\s Lt^, i 25 ftQ 1 74. Taunton branch, 11 58,018 40,611 Nashua and Lowell, 14J 55,053 20,885 450£ $2,799,186 $ 51,048,318 1,048,318 Nett profits, $1,750,868 Cost of the above Railroads, $16,164,505. The nett annual profits are therefore nearly 11 per cent. The estimated cost of the N. York and Erie Railroad, which will be 446 miles in length, equal in the aggregate to all of the above roads, is $9,000,000 ; consequently, if the nett profits annually only average the same as the above roads, the income will be nearly Twenty, per cent, on the whole cost. But three millions are borrow- ed on the credit of the State of New York, on which only Six per cent, is to be paid. The dividend, therefore, on $6,000,000 capital, (deducting interest on the State loan, $180,000) will be over Twenty-six per cent. PRODUCTIONS OF THE ELEVEN RAILROAD COUNTIES. Statistics of the southern tier of counties, in New York, viz : — Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, Delaware, Broome, Tioga, Chemung, Steuben, Allegany, Catta- raugus and Chautauque, by the U. S. census of 1840. AGRICULTURE. Value. No. of Horses and Mules, 72,552 $3,627,600 Do Neat Cattle, 409,249 4,910,92S 8 No. of Sheep, 710,579 $1,421,158 Do Swine, 270,319 810,957 Value of Poultry, 215,528 Bushels of Wheat raised in 1839, 1,399,771. 1,399,771 Do Barley, 118, 2o8 70,954 Do Uats, 2,981, /18 592,344 jjo i^yej C O A K. A f\ 217,274 Do Buckwheat, 470, /7o 235,388 Do Indian Corn, 1,3^9,551 809,730 Pounds of Wool, 1,598,147 479,444 Bushels of Potatoes, 4,772,850 954,570 Tons of Hay, 564,550 3,387,300 Pounds of Maple Sugar, 3,1)11,996 150,599 Value of Products of the Daily, 1,851,945 Do of Orchards, 321,069 Total, $21,456,519 Products of the Forest. Value of Lumber produced, $1647,039 Tons of Pot and Pearl Ashes, 1,200 Cords of Wood sold 114,518 Principal Manufactures. Total capital invested in Manufactures, $5,498,068 Sides of Sole Leather tanned, 234,770 Do Upper Leather, 77,885 Number of Sawmills, 1,829 Value of Machinery made, $95,040 Do Woollen Manufactures, $46S,322 Do Cotton do $398,000 Do Sundry other Manufactures, $625,514 Tons of Bar Iron manufactured, 42,000 9 MASSACHUSETTS RAILROADS. The following are the last annual returns we have re- ceived of six of the Massachusetts Railroads, showing the receipts from passengers and freight, and the expen- ses of the roads for the same years. Receipts from } Railroads. Lgth Pass'gers. Freight. \ Exnenses. Boston & Lowell, 26m.$127,008 $104,567 $91,400 Boston & Providence,41 134,851 67,947 143,127 Boston & Worcester, 44£ 170,855 96,692 140,441 Lowell & Nashua, 14£ 35,794 46,849 52,532 Eastern(from Boston) 60 164,971 18,326 85,793 Taunton, 11 40,910 17,108 44,671 Total— 197 $674,389 $351,489 $557,964 The population accommodated by the above Rail- roads, is less than one-half of that which will be depen- dent on the N. Y. & Erie Railroad for trade and travel. The length, however, of the New York and Erie Rail- road being 446 miles, the following is the proportion of annual receipts from passengers and freight, compared with the above roads. In this calculation no allowance is made for the trade and travel from Lake Erie and the Ohio valley. Receipts for freight on 446 miles, $790,850 Do. Passengers, 1,517,375 $2,308,225 ♦Expenses, (much too large, but in propor- tion to the above roads,) 1,252,919 Nett profits of Erie Railroad, $1,055,306 Interest on State Loan, (of $3,000,000,) 180,000 To be divided am'g stockholders of $6,000,000 $875,306 or over 14 per cent. * These expenses will not exceed 40 per cent, on the receipts. 10 Westen Railroad of Massachusetts. This Railroad, constructed by the funds raised by the citizens of Boston, and those of the State along the line of the road, also by a State Loan of about four millions of dollars — extends from Worcester to West Stockbridge 1 17 miles, connecting on the east with the Boston and Worcester Railroad, 44J miles long, and on the west with the Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad. 38 J miles in length, making 200 miles from Boston to Albany, in the hands of three joint stock companies. The fol- lowing from the Boston Atlas, since the completion of the Railroad, shows the calculations of the Bostonians on the Revenue for this year, of the Western Rail- road alone, 117 miles in length, which is but little more than one-fourth of the length of the New York and Erie Railroad. Revenue of the Western Railroad. An intelligent friend, and one who is well acquainted with the subject, has furnished us with the following do- cument, showing the probable income of this magnificent public work. Estimated Nctt Revenue of the Western Railroad for the year 1842, in case said Railroad has a sufficiency of Cars and Locomotives. Nett amount, after deducting Toll to the Boston and Worcester Railroad, and after deducting all other ex- penses : — 100,000 bbls. Flour for the Connecticut Valley. 100,000 « " « Trade centering at Worcester. 20,000 " " " West of Chester. 780,000 " " " Boston. 1,000,000 barrels at 15 cents per barrel, nett profit on an average, $150,000 11 300,000 Through Passengers, being 500 each way, per day, at $1,50 each, nett profit, 450,000 Way Passengers will probably equal, in profit, the Through Passengers : but say one-half as much, nett, 225,000 50,000 Hides to Greene county, say 625 tons 100,000 Sides Leather, back, 937J " 50,000 Hides to other places, at or near the Road, 625 " 100,000 Sides Leather, back, 937£ " At $2 per ton, nett profit on 3125 tons 6,250 100,000 Hogs, dead and alive, or in bbls., at 50 cents each, nett profit, 50,000 20,000 Head of Cattle, dead or alive, or in bbls., at $1,25 each, nett profit, 25,000 100,000 tons Mdze. up, through freight, at $2 per ton, nett profit, 200,000 50,000 tons way freight, of articles not enu- merated, at $1 per ton, nett profit, 50,000 2,000 tons Wool at $3 per ton, nett profit, 6,000 10,000 bales Cotton at 50 cents per bale, nett profit, 5,000 6,250 tons Salt at $1 per ton, nett profit, 6,250 30,000 tons Boards and Scantling, Shingles, Timber, Staves, and other Wood, at $1 per ton, nett profit, 30,000 40,000 tons Pig Iron, Marble, Freestone, Grindstones, Plaister Paris, Mica Slate, Lime, and other Stones, at $1 per ton, nett profit, 40,000 1,000 tons Fur and Peltry at $3 per ton, nett profit, 3,000 12 4,000 tons Pot and Pearl Ashes at $2 per ton, nett profit, 8,000 5,000 tons Cheese at $3 per ton, nett profit, 15,000 3,000 tons Butter and Lard at $3 per ton, nett profit, 9,000 10,000 tons Coal at $1 per ton, nett profit, 10,000 20,000 tons Wheat at $1 per ton, nett profit, 20,000 10,000 tons Rye, Corn, Barle}^ and other Grains, at SI per ton, nett profit, 10,000 5,000 tons Bran and Ship Stuffs, Peas, Beans, and Potatoes, at $1 per ton, nett profit, 5,000 500 tons Clover and Grass Seed, Flax Seed, and Hops, at $3 per ton, nett profit, 1,500 3,000 tons Furniture at $3 per ton, nett profit, 9,000 2,000 tons Iron Ware at $1 per ton, nett profit, 2,000 5,000 tons Wooden Ware at $1 per ton, nett profit, 5,000 Estimated Nett Revenue of the Western Railroad, for the year 1842, $1,341,000 which, on its cost, $6,700,000, is 20 per cent, per ann. This document has been prepared with very great care. Any one who will examine the detail of the Trade on the Erie Canal, during 1839 and 1S40, (table 2 and other ta- bles of Senate Documents No. 63 and 65 of New York Legislature for 1840 and 1841,) and will reflect on the fact that Massachusetts is the best market to sell a great amount of the products which come from the Canal, and is also the best market to buy the goods wanted in return ; — any one who will reflect that the West produces, almost spontaneously, what we want, and desires to buy our man- ufactures, the products of our fisheries, and our imports ; any one who looks at the authentic fact, that 3000 passen- gers go daily between New York city and Albany during 13 eight months of the year, and who further reflects thatWest- ern New York and the whole West is full of Yankees, who- desire to visit their kindred, and to have their visits re- turned ; any one, who reflects that the amount paid for freight and passage on the Erie Canal, and on the Rail- roads parallel to it, exceeds £5,000,000 annually, and who also looks at the fact, that the Western Railroad is a continuation of said Canal and of said Railroad ; any one, who takes up the present document, item by item, and after investigation, sets down his own conclusions, and then foots up those conclusions — will come to a result the magnitude of which may astonish him, and yet fall far short of sober reality. Is it not, then, perfectly natural that the Western Rail- road, like the Grand Junction, the London and Birming- ham, and other long lines of Railroads in Great Britain, — and like the Erie Canal and the long lines of Rail- roads along side of it, — should, by the magnitude of its Nett Revenue, astonish even the most sanguine ? ACTUAL RETURNS OF THE N. Y. AND E. R. Viz, 46 Miles of the Eastern Section. The section of 46 miles, from Piermont on the North River, to Goshen in Orange county, was put in operation on the 23d Sept., 1841. The following are the returns of the business done on the road from that time to 1st Jan., 1842. Freight. Lbs. No. of Pass. 23d Sept to 1st Oct. 6 days, 322,112 593 1st Oct. to 1st Nov. 26 days, 2,400,950 3,711 1st Nov. to 1st Dec. 26 days, 4,814,645 4,173 1st Dec. to 1st Jan. 27 da}'S, 4,019,812 3,150 Total, 85 days, 11,557,519 11,627 2 14 Estimating the yearly income of the rond on tlic basis of the present business on 40 miles, it will he as follows, Supposing the freight and passengers to be carried on an average half the length of the road; calling the number of miles in operation one-tenth of the entire length, and the time above stated, one (juarter of a year. Freight, 231,150 tons a $4,50 $1,039,075 Passengers, 40-3,080 a $0,00 $2,790,480 $3,S30,155 Add for freight and passengers west of ~) Dunkirk and the Allegany River — say > 700,031 20 per cent. ) Total annual Receipts, $4,590, ISO THE WESTERN TRADE. To estimate the value of the Western trade we will only ta.ke the business done on the Erie Canal and its branches, exclusive of the Champlain Canal. The tolls on these canals amounted, the past year, in round num- bers, to $1,9 L5, 090, being an increase of about $242,000 over the tolls of 1340. The number of tons transported in 134 J on these canals was as follows : — Ton?. Erie C mal, S29,90J Bra riches, (exclu sive of Cham- plain Canal, 245,229) 340,857 1170,817 The number of tons coming ftiom 'other States in 134 ), by w iv pf^ufjTdo, BI i.ek R >ck, and Oswego, was 131 513, and the number of tons passing to olher States on the canals and by -those ports, was 57, 297. 15 It thus appears tint at least three-fourths of the pre- sent business on the Erie C.mal and branches is derived from the people of this State; while the trade from other States is annually increasing, and adding to the Canal revenues. The tolls on the Erie Canal and branches in 1S40 were $1,073,320 The Freight paid to the owners of boats, &c. in addition, was at least as much more, 1,073,329 Amount paid for Freight and Tolls, S3, 340,040 Of which the people of the State of ) ^ New York paid three quarters, ) v ' ' SHIPPING ON LAKE ERIE. The following statement is an abstract from Lieut Col. Kearney's Report in 1S39 : — Vessels owned at and sailing from Ports on Lake Eric, Ships 4, Brigs 8, Schooners and Sloops 213. Total vessels, 225 Tons, 17,988 Value, SG5S,400 Steamboats, 01 " 17,325 ; < 1,741,203 Total, 2SG 35,313 $2,399,000 ROUTE, SURVEYS, AND RELATIONS OF THE NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD. The route is, in all respects, most eligible for a work of such extent. Proceeding westwardly, from the harbor of New York, it traverses eleven counties within this State t its course being nearly midway between, and eighty to one hundred and twenty miles distant from the Erie Ca- nal, and the C mals which extend westward from Phila* delphia. The physical character of the country precludes 1G the construction of any rival work within fifty miles or more on cither side ; while the numerous streams and valleys which are intersected, afford great advantages of access to adjacent districts on the right and left. The road will, therefore, naturally, command the tra- vel and tonnage of a veiy wide and extended region, com- prising twenty-five or thirty thousand square miles, and a numerous population, besides a large proportion of the travel and traffic of the Lakes and Western States. The line, moreover, has the advantage on more than three quarters of the whole distance, of being laid in the valleys of rivers, and other considerable streams, as the Ramapo, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, the Che- mung, the Canisteo, the Genesee, and the Allegany rivers, and their tributaries, where the grades are ex- tremely favorable, and the soil in the valleys west of the Delaware, adapted to the use of piles. Next in importance to the route and location of the road, are its relations to other avenues and sources of travel and business. Under this head it is obvious, first to notice its rela- tion to the city of New York, the great mart for the pro- ducts of this and the Western States, and of the merchan- dize to be transported in return, for consumption in the interior; where, from the east and south, the great lines of travel meet, and where emigrants and other passengers from Europe, for the most part make their landing in the country. When it is considered that the road extends, by the shortest practicable line, from this city to Lake Erie; that it is designed for the transport of heavy ton- nage, as well as of passengers ; that it will be open for use throughout the year, that the plan of its construc- tion will render it competent to any conceivable amount 17 of business, and that passengers rmy with safety ha trail sported over it from one extremity to the other, in eighteen or twenty hours.; the import. mee of its connec- tion with this metropolis, and the value of its local t Meet* here., in obviating the disadvantages of a northern climate, and rendering business as active, and supplies as cheap, in the winter as in the summer months, cannot fail to be apparent. Tiie pier, which extends about 4030 feet into the Hud- son, farms a safe and valuable harbor, in connection with abuad mt space for all the accommodations of a depot at Fiermont, (or Tappan,) 20 miles fiom this cily. Proceeding westwardly, the road passes through tho valley of the Ruriapo, and a region of the most valuabla iron ores, and divides the county of Orange into nearly equal parts. From Goshen, situate near the centre of the* county, railways are proposed to Ncwburgh, distant about twenty miles ; to the line of New Jersey, in a southwes- terly direction, find to the north, through Kingston, Sau- gerties, and Catskill, to Albany ; of which the two foimer have been chartered. Near the western boundaiy of Orange, the line approaches the Delaware river, and in- tersects the Hudson and Delaware Canal, which extends from the Hudson river, near Kingston, to the Anthracite* coal beds of Pennsylvania. j In Broame county, the road intersects the Chenango can d, which extends from the Erie canal at Utica to the Susquehanna river; and also the line of a proposed railway from Utica to the Susquehanna, which has been chartered and surveyed \ and another from Binghamton through Cortland and Oaondaga. counties, to Syracuse, and thence to Lake Ontario at O wego, which has been chartered, and which, in connection with this road, will 13 offer the most direct and eligible route from this city to Upper Canada. At Owego, in the county of Tioga, a connection oc- curs with the Ithaca and Owego Rail Road, which ex- tends from the Susquehanna to Cayuga lake, by the navigation of which, it forms an important route from the Erie canal. Near Tioga point, a connection is anti- cipated with the North Branch canal in Pennsylvania. In the county of Chemung, the road intersects the Chemung canal at Elmira. The same point is contem- plated as the termination of a Railroad, which is in part constructed, from Williamsport in Pennsylvania, a dis- tance of about seventy-five miles. To perfect a cbntinu- bus line of Railways from Philadeiphia to Elmira, and thence, by the road of this Company, to lake Erie, is a principal object of the Williamsport road. The distance from Elmira to the Hudson at Piermont, supposing the most eligible line from Binghamton to Deposit, to be adopt- ed, is two hundred and fifty-two miles. The interval between Piermont and this city is entitled to be regarded only as a ferry. Our road, to say nothing of its uniform character and management, or of the preference due to New York as a market, can be considered in no hazard of a diversion of its business by the lines in Pennsylvania, while as routes both of travel and transport from Philadelphia to Lake Erie, and for the conveyance of Coal and of Iron from the district north of Williamsport, the Pennsylvania works will be largely tributary to the productiveness of the New York and Erie Railroad. At Corning, in the county of Steuben, the railway, forty miles in length, from Blossburgh in Pennsylvania, occupied chiefly in the transport of bituminous coal, ter- 19 minates in the line of this road ; which also, at the same place, intersects a navigable feeder of the Chemung ca- nal. From Painted Post, or Erwin, near the junction of the Canisteo with the Conhocton River, a railroad is pro- posed to D3 connected with this, extending up the valley of the Conhocton to the village of Bath, and thence to the Crooked Lake. In the county of Allegany, at Cuba, the line of the road crosses the Genesee Valley Canal, which extends from the Erie Canal at Rochester, to the Allegany river, a distance of one hundred and seven miles. At Hins- dale, in Cattaraugus county, this road will connect with a railroad which has been chartered, extending along the valley of the Ischua to Buffalo. The line passing down the Olean Creek, in the county of Cattaraugus, approaches the Allegany river, along the northerly side of which it extends about thirty miles. At Olean a connection will be formed with works, to be hereafter constructed, extending thirty miles up the val- ley of the Allegany to valuable beds of bituminous coal. From Olean by the Allegany river, which is open early in March, to Pittsburgh, is a steamboat navigation of 250 miles, and thus connecting with 20,000 miles of river navigation in the Valley of the Mississippi. From the termination at Dunkirk, on the shore of Lake Erie, a railroad has been chartered and surveyed to Buffalo, forty-five miles ; and another is proposed in the opposite direction, to be extended along the southern shore of the Lake, into the State of Ohio ; from the East- ern border of which State, a continuous line of railroads has been chartered, and portions of it constructed, through Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois, to the Mississippi, opposite to St, Louis, to be intersected in 20 Illinois, by a route from the city of Cairo, at the junction of the O.i.o ;m.l Mississippi. Tl*e h irbor of IXmYirk is spi.eiou> and secure. It is open earlier, and occasionally some \v,>eks earlier in tho spring anil I Iter in the auluina thai? that of Bull.'ilo. Tli 1 f.)ll jw'.irr will be the distance from the city of New York to Cincinnati, by the N. Y. & Erie Railroad and other works now in progress. New York to Piermont, 20 miles. N. Y. & Eric It lilroad to Dunkirk, 446 Dunkirk to Eric, Pennsylvania, 45 Erie to Cleveland, 90 Cleveland to Sandusky, GO Sandusky to Cincinnati, » 21 L Total, 872 miles. This distance may be travelled, when the chain of railroads is complete, in 4S or 50 hours. STATEMENTS Stowing the importance of the New York and Erie Railroad to the City (/New York. I. — Annual Consumption nf C mntry Produce in the City of New York. The following is an approximate estimate of the an- nual amount of sales of articles of country produce in the city of New York, for the consumption of the inhabi- tants : — Fresh Beef, $1,470,000 " Veal, 305,700 " Mutton and Lamb, 3:3-5,000 H Pork, 000,000 Poultry, Game, Eggs, &c., 1,000,000 21 Salted Beef, Pork, and Hams, 1,200,000 Vegetables and Fruit, 1,200,000 Milk, 1,000,000 Butter, Cheese and Lard, 1,500,000 Flour, Meal and other Bread Stuffs, 3,000,000 Hay and Oats, 750,000 Fuel (wood and coal) exclusive of St'boat fuel 2,500,000 Articles not enumerated, 580,000 $15,500,000 The above is not intended to include building mate- rials. The number of buildings in the city in 1840, was 32,116, viz: Dwelling houses, 16,45S ; Dwellings and Stores, 6,614 ; Stores and Offices, 3,855 ; other build- ings, 5,189. The opening of a new avenue for supplying our mar- kets, such as the New York and Erie Railroad, which passes through a section of country well adapted to the furnishing of most of the above articles, would have the effect of reducing prices, by increasing the abundance of supplies. This reduction may be safely estimated to average ten per cent, on the above amount, thus sav- ing annually to the inhabitants of this city, a million and a half of dollars. The cost for driving cattle from the vicinity of Lake Erie to the City of New-York, is S10 per head ; time, five or six weeks ; the loss in flesh is about $6 per head. Cattle can be brought to the city on the N. Y. & E. R, R. when finished for S5 per head for the same distance as above, in thirty hours, without the loss of a pound in weight. Saving $11 per head ; other live stock in pro* portion. 22 2. — Chionolog'cal Table rf I he Assessed Value rf Real Es- tate in the * :ihj "f Sew- Yo /7r, for a serajs of years. Year, IS 17 - Real Estate, $57 T 799,4^ 1820 52,0C2.S53 182:3 50 1^4 220 1 S25 53,425,395 1>2^ 77,130,830 1 S)L 9-3.710 4-5 1333 - 1U124 5!>6 1834 - 123,249,280 1S:>G - 233,742,303 IS:}!) - 106,040,134 1S41 - 136,347,246 Increase of value of real estate in this city, since 1S31, over 90 millions of dollars. % Assessed value of personal estate in 1S41, $65,430,456 " " 1S33, 5-2,366,976 Increase,— 13,064,480 The effect of internal improvements on property in this city, is shown by the above ; the Erie Canal having been opened in 1S25, and the Ohio Canal in 1S32. RAILROADS TERMINATING AT ATLANTIC PORTS. The f allowing statement shows the number of continu- ous miles of railroad, now in operation in the United States, terminating at the different Atlantic ports: — New -York, Piermont, Jersey City Amboy, Brooklyn, Boston, Providence, Stonington, Norwich, 1U Miles. 46 119 61 40— 27S 41 47 53 New Haven, Miles 35 B .-id Report, 73 Philadelphia, 420 Baltimore, 300 Norfolk, 78 Richm'd & Pet'sburg, 2S7 Wilmington, 162 Charleston, 312 Savannah, 137 23 It wiD be seen from llie above, how much remains to be clone in New-York, to place this city on an equality with other Atlantic cities with regard to Railroads. Lines terminating at Boston, 720 miles, " " at or near New-York, 278 " Difference in favor of Boston, 442 " NOW READ THE FOLLOWING. The number of voters in this city is more than 40,000, embracing all classes, of which more than 20,000 are interested in the business and prosperity of New York, and can afford to take and pay for, at least, one share of the Stock, ($100, to be paid by small instalments,) to secure the immediate construction of the New York and Erie Railroad. You are fortunately among the number who are thus interested, and thus able. In Boston, no man*was found, however humble, if owning property or engaged in business of any kind, who was unable to take a share in the Stock of the road leading to that city. A Committee has been appointed in each ward to re- ceive subscriptions from the citizens, and you are now respectfully and earnestly appealed to, to call upon some of the Committee, and subscribe for one or more shares, according to the interest you have in the accomplishment of this project. Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Seymour B. Dlrst Old York Library