by me upon my return this morning after an absence of several days. On Dec. 5th, the C., M. and St. Paul road changed time, making us wait in Tomah twenty minutes for our passengers by that road longer than by our former time. Our time card No. 12 was made for summer running time, and was much faster than we can possibly run with safety, during the winter. It is simply impossible for us to make the connection at Junction City. This compa ny will use every reasonable endeavor to do so, because it is for our interest to do so, and we lose by missing the connection; but under existing regulations now in force on the C., M. & St. Paul R'y, and Wis. Central roads, it is impossible for us to make the connection with the Wis. Central trains, at Junction City, without running our trains at a dangerous rate of speed. Respectfully, JOHN W. HOYT, Commissioner. F. O. WYATT, Supt. Commissioner Hoyt to Chas. L. Colby, in reply. OFFICE OF RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS, MADISON, December 4, 1875. DEAR SIR-The Commissioners are under obligations to you for your favor of the 3d instant, relating to the connection of passenger trains at Junction City. I have communicated the substance of the letter to SuperintendWyatt, of the Wisconsin Valley Railway, and requested a re-consideration of his decision. Respectfully, CHAS. L. COLBY, Vice-President. JOHN W. HOYT, Commissioner. [Enclosure.] Resolutions forwarded by Dodge County Patrons of Husbandry to Hon. A. Scott Sloan. Whereas, the officers of the St. Paul Road, have, on the Northern division of said road, so arranged their time-tables as to greatly inconvenience the traveling public, by not making close connections at Portage City, thereby causing great delay and expense to travelers; and, Whereas, We believe the whole proceeding is malignant in its design. We desire to state a few facts in confirmation of our belief, to-wit: The train starts from Portage City east, by way of Horicon R. R. soon after the western bound train, on the southern division, leaves there going west, meeting the eastward bound train at Lewiston, about six miles distant; thus getting out of the reach of the traveling public desiring to go east by the Horicon division, by only a very few minutes; thus compelling travelers to remain in Portage twenty-four hours, or run the whole circuit of their road, via. Milwaukee, thereby taking a whole day, when only a few hours, and a short distance would be necessary. Also, that the west bound train on the southern division passes Portage only a short time before the west bound train on the northern division arrives there; thus compelling the traveler who wishes to go further west, to remain in Portage over night. Morover we desire to call your attention to the fact, that most of the time, only one train a day, is run upon this branch of the road, to-wit; the Horicon division. Whereas, The other portion of the road operated by the same company, is crowded with business, when these two tracks should be considered practically, as a double track road from Portage City to Milwaukee. Therefore, Resolved, That in the opinion of this council, said grievances are a proper subject for the Railroad Commissioners to investigate and correct. We therefore request you to present the same to the said Commissioners, as the sense of the Patrons of IIusbandry of Dodge. county, and request them if possible to correct the evil. N. E. ALLEN, A. F. BURGESS, Committee. HIRAM SAWYER, Master Dodge Co. Council P. of H. A. H. EDWARDS, Secretary Dodge Co. Council P. of H. Commissioner Hoyt to S. S. Merrill. OFFICE OF RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS, DEAR SIR:-Complaint is made by citizens of Dodge County, living on the line of your northern division, that the passenger trains on said division so far fail of proper connections at Portage, with the passenger trains on the La Crosse division, as to occasion. great inconvenience and loss of time. 19 R R C-II (Doc. 15) To state the case more definitely, and in the language of the complainants: "The train starts from Portage City, east by the way of the Horricon road, soon after the westward bound train on the southern division leaves there going west, meeting the eastward bound train at Lewiston, about six miles distant, thus getting out of the reach of the traveling public desiring to go east by the Horicon division by only a few minutes, and compelling travelers either to remain in Portage twenty-four hours, or run the whole circuit of the road via. Milwaukee, at the loss of a whole day, when only a few hours and a short journey would be necessary. Again, the western bound train on the southern (La Crosse) division leaves Portage only a short time before the westward bound train on the northern division arrives there, thus compelling the traveler who wishes to go further west, to remain in Portage over night." The complainants further say: "Moreover, we call your attention to the fact that most of the time only one train a day is run upon this (the Horicon & Portage) division of the road, whereas the other is crowded with business, when these two tracks should be considered practically as a doubletrack road between Portage and Milwaukee." Without assuming to judge the case, on this ex-parte statement, we risk nothing in saying that, if the facts are as reported, they constitute a grievance that must have been overlooked by the officers in charge of that branch of your company's business, and one that I doubt not they will have pleasure in removing, or at least mitigating, as soon as it is brought to their notice. I acquaint you with the alleged grounds of complaint, in the belief that you will give to the matter your early and careful attention. Very respectfully, JOHN W. HOYT, S. S. MERRILL, Gen. Manager. Commissioner. Commissioner Hoyt to S. H. Edwards. OFFICE OF RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS, DEAR SIR: I have just received from the hand of the AttorneyGeneral a formal complaint signed by Messrs. N. E. Allen, N. Lockwood and N. F. Burgess, Committee; Hiram Sawyer, Master, and yourself as Secretary of the Council, setting forth certain facts concerning the failure of trains on the La Crosse and Northern divi sions of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway to make proper connections at Portage City; also alleging that there is not such frequency of trains on the said Northern Division of said railway as is demanded by the interests of the traveling public. In pursuance of your request, the attention of the officers of the C., M. and St. P. Ry. Co. has been called to the matter, and I doubt not that immediately steps will be taken to remove all just cause of complaint. Very respectfully, A. H. EDWARDS, JOHN W. HOYT, Commissioner. Sec. Dodge Co. Council, P. of H. Manager S. S. Merrill, to Commissioner Hoyt. OFFICE CHICAGO, MIL. & ST. PAUL. R. R. Co., DEAR SIR:-Replying to your fovor of the 7th, I would say, the complaint received by you from parties in Dodge County was no doubt made previous to the publication of our winter arrangement of trains on the northern division, taking effect on the 5th inst. For a short time previous to that date we were compelled to discontinue trains Nos. 9 and 10 on account of lack of business sufficient to warrant running them. At the request of several business men on that line, we resumed the running of those trains on the 5th inst., taking through freight off of La Crosse division trains for that purpose. I dare say the party or parties who made the complaint to you are satisfied with the present arrangement of our trains on that division. I desire to state that our plan of running passenger trains on the northern division is the best we can adopt for the accommodation of the people residing, and doing business on that division. We do not have business enough to run more than one passenger train each way daily; and we run that train so that people living at Oshkosh, Berlin, Winnconne, Portage and Beaver Dam can leave home in the morning, reach Milwaukee at 12:30 p. m., and have nearly three hours to attend to business, and return home the same night, leaving Milwaukee at 3 p. m. This arrangement is greatly to the advantage of a large majority of the people who wish to travel on the road. Our leaving Portage before the La Crosse division train arrives from the west is bad; but still it is a matter of necessity; the distance via. Horicon being greater than via. Watertown, we are compelled to leave earlier than the train which runs via. Watertown, because trains from Oshkosh, Berlin, and Winneconnee unite with the Portage train at Horicon and form one train through to Milwaukee, and we must arrive there in season to connect with the Chicago train. Moreover, the people of Beaver Dam and other stations in Dodge County desire to arrive in Milwaukee as early as possible, so as to have sufficient time to transact business and return home the same afternoon. Not being able, therefore, to hold our passenger train at Portage until the train from the west arrives, we have now put on a mixed train, Nos. 9 and 10, which makes connections at Portage with both the east and west bound trains on the La Crosse division. I am certain that the business men of Beaver Dam and other stations on the Horicon line are well satisfied with our present arrangement of trains. As to running one of our St. Paul trains via. that line, instead of by way of the Watertown line, we cannnot do it and make our through connections. Yours, truly, S. S. MERRILL, General Manager. Commissioner Hoyt to A. H. Edwards. OFFICE OF RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS, DEAR SIR.-I have this moment received a letter from General Manager S. S. Merrill, of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, in answer to mine of late date, written in the interest of yourself and other complainants. We infer from the statements therein made that the arrangments tately perfected will remove the princpal grounds of complaint, and that the explanation given for non-connection of passenger trains |