The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1855-09-14
VIRGINIA AND TENN. RAILROAD.

lie readers OF the Athens Post, ma
ny of whom have been with us from its
first establishment seven years ago, will
we know be pleased to learn of the ra-
pid progress of the work on The Virginia
and Tennessee ROad-the Eastern end of that
great iron line of which our own road is one
of the most important links. Twenty-Five
years ago we made the trip from Trenton,
New Jersey, 10 Knoxville, Tennessee, on foo,
by "easy stages" of 33t miles per day.
The valleys were broad and weary 10 cross
and the mountains tall and rugged. The spirit
of Improvement had been aroused years be-
fore, had already accomplished much, and
was accomplishing more; but We never for
moment thought rs we wendell our lonely
way across the mountains with no heavier
burthen than light heart and thin ward
robe, that the same spirit would in few short
years more bring the great marts of the
East and the queen cities Of the South to-
gethcr, to meet and salute each other and
lock hands forever, on the summit of the
Blue Ridge. 1t would have been dream
then. But the work is now about accom-
plshcd-the deep valleys have been filled,
the tall mountains penetrated and leveIlcd,
and in two years more, at farthest, New Or
leans and Boston, Charleston and New York,
will be united with bands of iron. But
the great work will not be complete with the
union on the Blue Ridge-the genius of i'm
provement is restless, untiring, and will not
stop. 1t has reached the Mississippi, and the
iron sced drinks daily from the blue waters
of the Gulf 1t is still looking Westward,
and in view of what has already been accom-
plished, it is not presnmptuous to expect
that in n few years more the reality will pre-
sent n line of railroads-an unbroken line
running through the heart of the Union,
with its Eastern end resting on the rocky
strand of New England and its West upon
the now distant Pacific.
May we not hope that this "annihilation of
/ space anc distance" between the two ex.
trcmcs-this bringing together and still
greater identity and blending of interests,
commercial and social, will have the effect to
Danish the sectional jcalousies and unnatural
prejudiccs at present unhappily existing be
tween different portions Of Union which il
is the first duty, and should be the first OBJ
jcct, Of us all to preserve and pcrpetuate.
The following article in regard to the pro-
gross on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad,
we find in the Richmond Desp'.'c h:
VIRGINIA AND TENNESSEE KALRoAp.-At
| Wvthevillc, few Days since, we were invit-
ed to accompany the Directors in an excur-
sion to the new terminus of the Virginia and
Tennessee railroad fifteen miles beyond that
| place. The rehicle IN which the Directors
and their companions for the voyage were
seated is styled gondon, rs we learned
from Capt. Buford, the efficient Superintcnd
ent and Engineer Of the process of track lay
! ing. A railroad "gondoIa" is, however, not
at all like the famed vessels which traverse
the canals Of Vcnicc-it is simply n flat
with sides some six inches high. A number
of chairs being placed upon this, the gentle
men took seats in them and uncovered and
with unostructed view, travelled to the ter
minus aforesaid. The country was very beau
tiful; the grazing farms bung made even
unusually vcrdant by the superintendent
r,ins which have for some time fallen in the
mountains,
We fnund the new portion Of the road adj
mirably constructed 1t terminated at pres.
cnt IN very deep cut through the crest of n
J ,.1nr,hl,, oI,rot;,r - IT, Al
waters of New River and the Holston, near
the hamlet of Mount Airy, in Smythe coun.
ty. Fifteen miles being thus deducted from
the distance to the Tennessee line, there re-
mains near .Gfly miles to complete the road to
that point. The embankmcnt, however, for
nearly that entire distance is complete and
the supersructure only is wanting. The work
is going ahead, bravey and will, we trust, be-
| fore many months be completed. From the
President down, it has a most able and ener-
gctic corps of officers and they are doing all
in their power to complete the road at the
earliest possible day. But one thing has de-
layed 1.-THE rant Of money! Through the
untiring exertions Of the President, the work
has been kept going sometimes with great
err and sometimes lesser force; and money
or no money, we believe he will have the
great work finished before ve.y long
Indeed we begin to think he has learned how
to build railroads toHhom money.
| The company do not expect to run their
passenger trains on this new section, nor we
suppose their freight tiains; and possibly
there will, be very little active business on
| the line until it reaches Seven Mile Ford,
some fourteen or fifteen miles further. There
the very rich valley of the Holston is tapped
and there will be n point of accumulation of
considerable business COR the road. At
present very little travel is attracted from be-
you'd Abingdon; but as the line progresses
towards the Tennessee boundary the travel
increases, and when it reaches that point the
great majority of travellers from East Tennes-
see will be drawn upon it, adding large.
y IT, the revenues of the great improve
ment.
CLEVELAND DEUo-SroRE-We neglected last
week to call attention to the advertisement
for the Cleveland Drugstore. Mr. Thompson
has rs large on assortment MS can be found
in East Tennessee, and Keeps none but pure
and genuine articles.
g7y- Persons who want to subscribe for the
forthcoming Biography of Hon. Hu. L.
White" are requested to leave their names
with the editor of this paper. The work will
be one that should be in the hands of every
Tennesseean, and we hope our friends will
1.ovo tbo;r names mmediatelv thnt we NAV