Loudon free press. (Loudon, Tenn.) 1852-1855, 1852-11-13
From the Charleston Courier.
THE RABUN GAP RAIL ROAD.

one. This, with the increased facilities for get
ting it to market by our railroads, extending a
they do through Georgia to East Tennessee, il
this State to Greenville, and to Charlotte, ii
North Carolina, will make Charleston what sh,
long since should have been from her presen
position, the great outlet for the productions o
these States. The time shall come when We
shall no longer be dependent on the North fol
the staffof life, which, before our roads penetra
ted Tennessee and North Carolina, left us tc
look to thesa for our supplies when our crops
failed.
For years past millions of dollars have been
sent 10 the North to buy corn, -four, &C., when
! North Carolina and Tennessee could have furn-
ished us with an abundance if they could have
had the facilities for sending it here. Now they
have, and Tennessee alone can send us three
million bushels Of corn, which formerly was al
most valueless to them, as they could not ges it
to market. Now it viii net them fair price,
and be an iuducement to plant more than they
have heretofore done, As far back as l847.
the receipts of corn and -four from this State
and Georgia were more than sufficient for con-
sumption, and Charleston exported considerably.
The terminus of our roads was Atlanta and Col
umbia. Now with the great extension of the
roads and an overwhelming crop, we may ex-
pect large receipts. 1t is true Savannah will
divert some of the trade from the upper part of
Georgia and Tennessee, and it behooves Charles
ton and the State to look to their interest, and
secure the whole of that trade by building the
Rabun Gap railroad, which would give Charles
ton the whole of the Produce trade east of Chat
tanoOga. Itwould be one of the most beneficial
enterprises to Charleston and the State, they
have ever aided. By this road Charleston would
be brought 100 miles nearer Tennessee The
road would pass through the most productive
part of that State, where now they have to wag-
on their Produce to the River and boat it down
to Chattanooga. What an immense saving it
would be to the farmers of Tennessee. The
freight on corn would not exceed l6 cents
per bushel by this route, whereas the freight
from Chattanooga is 2I cents-a saving at
once of cents per bushel, besides the trouble
and expense they now have getting it down to
Chattanooga. Tennessee should look to her in
tereSt and inin his State in endeayQring to COM
mencc this great work. TO her the DEMENT'S
would be incalculable and to Charleston would
be the means of drawing the whole of a trade
which she now divides with Savannah. The
distance from Charleston to Chattanooga is 446
miles, and by the proposed road to Knoxville or
some other point would only be some $40 or
$50 miles. Charleston has equal advantages
with other cities for exporting Produce; compar-
ed with New Orleans she has the advantage in
some points. The freight from the farthest
points of any of our railroads will not be more
than the expense on the produce sent down to
New Orleans from the different points on the
Mississippi, with the extra charges in New Or
leans, for wharfage, &e., besides the risk of
damage they run by water carriage. Compared
with Northern ports, we have as many, as it is
known the risk of damage to some kinds of Pro
duee is greater when produced in Northern
climate and shipped to a warmer, than that pro-
duced at the South. Our -four is preferred even
at their own markets for export and eomsump-
ton, and brings higher price i
The direct trade of Charleston with the West
Indies and Brazil would give us every advantage
in sending -four to these countries. AS before
mentioned, the fact of our -four keeping better
in these warm climates, most naturally give us
that trade whenever the receipts sufficient to
export. The Grain crop at the North and East
this year has been below an average one, and
will keep their markets up, so that we can ship
there advantageously. New Orleans sends an
nually large qurntity of corn and -four to New
York and Boston, great deal of it, arriving in
a damaged state caused from the water carriage
it has to New Orleans, and the long voyage from
there to the North.
Our proximity to all the northern ports, would
save the heavy freight they have, without any
risk of damage on the voyage, at any season Of
the year. One great difficulty heretofore, in the
way of our exporting flour, has been its bad Or
der and South and North Carolina would do well
fishing large merchant mills, so that they will
buy up the wheat and put the flour in uniform
and merchantable packages. Instead, as it is
now, each farmer sends his wheat to mill and
puts into such barrels as he chooses, and they
are certain to he the cheapest he can get, with |
out regard to quality or appearance.
The present prospects of Charleston are graf
ifyingsapd by building the Rabun Gap railroad
it would complete her prosperity. She will soon
be known as a large exporter of provisions as
well as cotton. What has made New York the
large exporter of breadstuffs she is, but her con-
nection with the west by her railroads and ca
nails? 1t was not accomplished in year, nor do
we expect Charleston to accomplish all at once,
but great deal has been done, and more will
be by building the Rabun Gap railroad
MERCHANT.
FoHy.-For girls to be happy without marrl-