Cincinnati Southern Railroad

a railway extending from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the only steam railroad in America that is owned by a city. The history of the road is not without an element of sentiment that lifts it above commercialism. Cincinnati, the home of Mrs. Stowe when she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, gave deep offense to the Southern trade by an anti-slavery attitude. The influence of the pro-slavery men was thrown in favor of Louisville, a commercial rival of the anti-slavery city. At the close of the Civil War the wholesalers of Cincinnati felt that an effort must be made to regain trade. After preliminary agitation the legislature of Ohio granted authority. The citizens approved by referendum. Bonds were sold, not in a single issue, for $18,000,000. Congress gave permission to bridge the Ohio River; Tennessee gave a right-of-way to Chattanooga, and, after long urging, Louisville citizens not assisting, Kentucky granted permission to cross the state. The management of the enterprise was placed in the hands of five trustees named by the superior court. There was tremendous opposition to the unheard-of course of a city building a railroad lying in three sovereign states. Suits and injunctions, elections, and charges of dishonesty kept the board on its mettle. The road was completed in 1880. The event was celebrated with bonfires, banquets, and ringing of bells. The road was leased. In 1891 an attempt was made to buy the road; but the citizens who had voted to build the road now voted to keep it, and the road was leased instead for sixty years at a rental of $1,116,000 per annum.