Transcontinental Railroad Complete

                                             Transcontinental Railroad Complete
                                    “Tales About the New Rails” by William Webb”

            Today marks a grand day that will long be remembered! The Transcontinental Railroad is finally complete!
            (P. 5, Hughes) “The golden spike was driven in Promontory, Utah on a wonderful day in May, in the year 1869, to mark a glorious finality of tracks that run through 1756-miles to bridge the gap between Sacramento and Omaha.”  The Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad, finally joined those last two tracks that connected the last piece of the puzzle. 
             (P. 2, Wallace) “The grand event was headed by Leland Standford, Collis P. Huntington, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins, who we like to call the Big Four!” These brave souls toiled endlessly to ensure that this great enterprise was successfully brought  to a spectacular completion, after years of daily struggle.
            Huntington was the fine soul who watched the money end of the deal, while  Crocker, full of pep , saw to it that the  rails were properly laid down across the Sierra and the deserts of Nevada and Utah. We have Stanford who tended to the most important details that brought on the completion, and let’s not forget about another hero, Hopkins, who made sure that none of the $150,000 of set aside funds was squandered away, foolishly.
            The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 allowed the federal government to go forth with the building the great railroad, which required substantial labor from our dedicated men, along with a talent for remarkable engineering.  The project was one of the greatest achievements of Abraham Lincoln‘s presidency, but sadly, President Lincoln didn’t get to witness the conclusion when he had to leave us four years, ago.  He would have been proud to board the train!

(1869, Hughes, William, Riding the Rails, www.oldnews.com, p.5)
(May, 1869, Wallace, James, Grand Occasion, www.newsarchives.com, p. 2)
                                  Corruption of Tweed Ring Exposed
                                   “We Got Em, Boys! By Bill Hicks
            We brought in the bad guys!  William Tweed and his rowdy henchmen will no longer rob society!   New York will become a whole lot richer, now that Tweed and with his helpers, Peter Sweeny, the City Chamberlain aided by Richard B. Connolly, Comptroller and A. Oakey Hall, Mayor, will no longer control the city with their deception and no longer will they rob the people of our city.
            “These boys took what they wanted, folks, totally more than a whopping $30,000,000,” (p. 1, New York News) by turning in false tax charges, receiving some cash on the side and by using other little deceptive tactics. This bad-boy, Tweed and his possies, had no shame!  The Tweed Ring made themselves look good, as they helped the poor, trying to seem fair to the city, while they filled their pockets up to the brim!
            “Our very own Tweed, former Senator, will be finally brought to justice and will have to explain why he helped rob our city and the people and, “Boss Tweed” will finally know that he can’t do that bad work, anymore and he can just sit behind some bars until he learns his lesson for his wrongful deeds, since 1968 when he first popularized.” (p. 4, The New Yorker) Tweed won’t be buying any more votes, or cheating the folks of New York for them.  The power of these men is being stripped and the people will be all ears, when they have their day in court.
            I’ll be there to cover the full story as Tweed and his corrupt “henchmen” try to explain their little dirty deeds!  Folks, Don’t let these boys escape! All dirty deeds must be accounted for under the law.
            I’ll be keeping a close eye on Tweed.  He has a very long history of not playing fairly.  I’m sure all those people he cheated in our great city, will be keeping a very close watch on him, as well, to make sure he stays where he belongs.

(1870, Hicks, Bill; Haulin Em in, NewYorkNewsarchives.com, p.1)
(1870, Wilde, Willy; We Got the Boss, TheNewYorkarchives.com, p.4)
                                                Strike at Homestead Steel
                                   Big Strike at the Mill by James Mason
            Today in Homestead Pennsylvania, the boys won’t be working at the mill!
            In this year of 1892, Andrew Carnagie will fight for his strong belief, in the rights of labor for his workers, at the steel mill.
            A simple disagreement over rate of pay with the Union started this strike and with the steel mill being so daggon important to this town and the people of Homestead, this steel mill, will close their doors!  Over 3,800 workers are on strike until they get better pay and have a say in what goes on at the steel mill.
            (P. 1, Homestead News) “The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers isn’t agreeing with the pay that those boys want and Mr. Carnegie is going to quickly, put them in their suitable place.”  Andrew Carnagie and his partner, Henry Clay Frick, have had their say at other steel mills, (p. 3, Our Voice) “We will be heard! By going on strike, we will be sending a clear message.”
            Let’s just hope there will be some kind of agreement and we can get these boys back to work with some real compensation, so they’ll get what they deserve for all that hard work they put in down at the mill, and I sure do hope this don’t start up a big ruckus, where somebody’s going to get hurt or worse yet, killed!
            I’ll keep you properly updated and just maybe, folks, this fiasco won’t be an event that goes down as one of the most famous strike’s in history!
            Let’s keep our fingers crossed that these boys have a say at the mill and get the money they are asking for!  If they don’t, it’s going to get pretty messy at the mill!
            (1892, James Mason, Big Strike at the Mill, Homestead News, p.1)
            (1892, Albert Peters, Andrew Carnegie Speaks Out, Our Voice, p. 3)