Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1852-04-08
Railroads.

AS the contemplated fdyeCteflie
Railroad has been and is the absorb
ing topic Of conversation in this re-
gion, We have thought that brief
review of the length and speed Of
some Of the principal roads in DIFF
ierent parts of the Union might
prove acceptable. Below are the sta
tisties 5, which We have compiled from
different sources.
1t is but proper to state that the
cost Of constructing ur Road will
not exceed one-half of that of any
one herein given. This is to. be at
trlbuted to the super or exec llence
Of the proposed route, and also, to
the fact that the requisite materials
are distributed bopnteously almost
its entire length. No better means
has ever been discoye red, for devel-
oping resources of a country, by
opening new markets for the farm
ef's surplus produce, than the con-
struetion of good public thorough
fares as Railroads and Turnpikes.
investments IN such enterprises are
as safe as any other bdertaking can
be; because they ALWAYS, with hardly
an exception, pay aigqod per cent
And in addition to- this, real estate,
for some distance from the Road OF
Pike, is always inefeased in value;
IN consequence ofEthe facilities fol
getting to aPayiRg market In fact,
the calculation has been made-.and
proven to be true that the enhanced
value Of property along the line Of a
Road, is equal to the cost of con
structing and equiphing the same
This has proven to be true in nine
instances out of tell, if not ninety
nine out Fan hundr44. In corrobora.
ton Of this statement, we will give an
incident which recently happened in
the Indiana Legs lature. Others
equally rolavent might be given but
Our space to-day will not permit
Pending the discussion Of the bill to
sell the States inter6sain the Madi.
son and Indianapolis Railroad, Mr.
Brough, President Of the company
submitted to the Legi4 lature a state
ment showing the con dition of che
road. He says that in 1915, the net
profits ofthe road were between S12.
600 and SIS, 900, in 1916, $4,000;
in 1913, $4,000, in 1919, S1O9I
600; in 1850, $3.50, 900; in 1851.
SlG40O0 showing In aggregate
profit of near seven hundred thou,
sand dollars, above the expenditures.
Add pg the expcnses,I the total in
come of the road during that time
is abput a million of dollars. The
same kind Of statements are received
from almost every section where
Railroads are in operation. The
Dundee IN. y R cord-situated
8 n the. line Of the Can andaigua Rail-
road-says:
Penn Van, instead of being dull
IN winter, is unusually lively, and our
own village is erid ently the gamer
Markets and business are kept more
uniform, and the facilities are such
that the farmers Of our country find
as good a marketat Penn Yam and
Dundee in winter as they can at Ro-
chester, Geneva or j eherson. The
influence. Of the Railroad has caused
an increased demand for farming
lands, which are every where held at
prices ranging from tE5o-to ten dol
lars an acre higher than they were al
Year ago.
But this article has already grown
on our hands to a length much
greater than we anticipat ed. H ere
are the statistics already alluded to-:
The number of miles in operation on
january 1st, 1852, was 1854; and
10,898 miles were in course of con-
struction. The length of Railroads
broughtinto operation since Jan. 1st.
IS4S, is 1924 miles 1t may rea-
sonably be- supposed that by the year
1860. 10000 miles Of Railroads viii
traverse the United States.r The
Of building per mile in New