%315.  New York City the Metropolis.%—­The New York merchant, in other words, now had the whole West for his market.  That city, which till 1820 had been second in population, and third in commerce, rushed ahead and became the first in population, commerce, and business.

The same was true of New York state.  As the canal grew nearer and nearer completion, the people from other states came in and settled in the towns and villages along the route, bought farms, and so improved the country that the value of the land along the canal increased $100,000,000.

A rage for canals now spread over the country.  Many were talked of, but never started.  Many were started, but never finished.  Such as had been begun were hurried to completion.  Before 1830 there were 1343 miles of canal open to use in the United States.

%316.  The Pennsylvania Highway to the West.%—­In Pennsylvania the opening of the Erie Canal caused great excitement.  And well it might; for freight could now be sent by sailing vessels from Philadelphia to Albany, and then by canal to Buffalo, and on by the Lake Erie and Chautauqua route to Pittsburg, for one third what it cost to go overland.  It seemed as if New York by one stroke had taken away the Western commerce of Philadelphia, and ruined the prosperity of such inland towns of Pennsylvania as lay along the highway to the West.  The demand for roads and canals at state expense was now listened to, and in 1826 ground was broken at Harrisburg for a system of canals to join Philadelphia and Pittsburg.  But in 1832 the horse-power railroad came into use, and when finished, the system was part railroad and part canal.

%317.  The Baltimore Route to the West.%—­This energy on the part of Pennsylvania alarmed the people of Baltimore.  Unless their city was to yield its Western trade to Philadelphia they too must have a speedy and cheap route to the West.  In 1827, therefore, a great public meeting was held at Baltimore to consider the wisdom of building a railroad from Baltimore to some point on the Ohio River.  The meeting decided that it must be done, and on July 4, 1828, the work of construction was begun.  In 1830 the road was opened as far as Ellicotts Mills, a distance of fifteen miles.  The cars were drawn by horses.

The early railroads, as the word implies, were roads made of wooden rails, or railed roads, over which heavy loads were drawn by horses.  The very first were private affairs, and not intended for carrying passengers.[1]

[Footnote 1:  The first was used in 1807 at Boston to carry earth from a hilltop to a street that was being graded.  The second was built near Philadelphia in 1810, and ran from a stone quarry to a dock.  It was in use twenty-eight years.  The third was built in 1826, and extended from the granite quarries at Quincy, Mass., to the Neponset River, a distance of three miles.  The fourth was from the coal mines of Mauchchunk, Pa., to the Lehigh River, nine miles.  The fifth was constructed in 1828 by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company to carry coal from the mines to the canal.]