HISTORY 



OF THE 



GRANGE MOVEMENT; 



OB, THE 



FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 



PART I. 

 EAILEOAD MONOPOLIES. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF AMERICAN RAILROADS. 



The first Railroad Enterprises The Pioneer Railroad A Modest Beginning 

 The Mauch Chunk Railroad Inauguration of the Railroad System In- 

 troduction of Steam The First Locomotive Opening of the Baltimore 

 and Ohio Railroad to the Potomac Improvements in the Construction of 

 the Roads Rapid increase ol Railroads Building of the Great Trunk 

 Lines between the East and West Efforts of the Eastern Cities to secure 

 the Western Trade Completion of the great Roads Commencement of 

 the Railroad System of the West Its Rapid Growth Statement of the 

 Annual Growth and Coat of the Railroads of the United States Their 

 Present Condition. 



FEW things have been so remarkable in the wonder- 

 ful growth of the American Republic as the increase 

 and expansion of its railway system. A comparatively 

 young man finds no difficulty in remembering the time 

 when the only means of communication between the 

 various parts of the Union were the canal boat and the 

 stage coach. Half a century has witnessed the won- 

 derful growth of the American railways. It has also 

 witnessed the gradual change of the system, which was 



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