Pointe Coupee Democrat. [volume] (False River [i.e. New Roads], Parish of Pointe Coupee [La.]) 1858-1862, 1858-07-31
The Baton Rouge, Groese Tete
and Opesazss4as Eais Road kSs
Condition.

IL 1GElESkDE..
Our attention was attracted some
time since, to q communication III the
New Orleans Bulletin over the sigma
ture of " G. w: r. b." in which the fol
lowing sentences ccur:
The Baton Rouge and Opeiousas rail
road will be a goud road, JccG9sc it will
connect with the Great Western and
| Ope1ousas. Without the-Gleat Western
road and its extensions to Northern
Louisiana and Texas, the Baton Rouge
and Opelusas road would be a mere
neigItborlood road;s like the Clinton and
Port Hudson, and worthless as apaylng
investment.
It is clearly evident that &C. W. r.
B." knows nothing OF the business OF
the road he speaks so disparingly Of, or
he could rot have made d charge so
utterly void Of foundation. We propose
| giving our readers a plain n~nv&rnlshed
| Statement Of the affairs Of our road, and
| they can draw their own conclusions.
The entire sum subscribed and paid
in. for the construction OF the Baton
Rouge, Crosse Tetc and Opclousas Rail-.
road, amounts to 1924, 600, out OF which
thew have constructed sixteen miles OF
road. costing $4,000 per mile, purchas-
ed So negroes, two splendid locomotives,
one fine passenger car, two baggage
cars, and ten freight cars. An excel
lent depot has been erected at the
at the Crosse Tete terminus, together
with offices, out-houses, negro cabins,
ETC., while at the river terminus, all the
buildings and sheds necessary for bus
mess, have been erected. The Company
however, intend putting up at this ter
minus, a large ~commodious brick depot,
for which the brick are now making, a
warehouse and wharf, all of which will
be completed sometime during the fall.
The road is in the most perfect order,
with all the necessary turntables,
swithes, ETC., and is declared by COM
petent Judges to be second to none in
the United States.
The entire indebtedness of the Com
pany amounts to $6l 600, Of which $780,
600 are due W. S. PIKE, Esq, Of Baton
Rouge and the remainder tdnJAMEs RoBB,
Esq, Of New Orleans. These two sums
cover every dollar owed by the Com
pany, and they become due IN April
next. The resources of the Company to
meet these demands are, Ist, the last In
staIment upon subscription notes,
amounting to $4,000; I'd, the Baton
Rouge subscription of $4,000; Sd, State
subscription of $4,000, and 4th the
nett earnings of the road up to that time,
saw at least $4,000, making in all Ill.,,
500, to pay off its Indebtedness. And,
in addition to the above amounts, the
Company can at at any time dispose OF
sixteen negroes, having little or no oc-
casion for their services, since the COM
pletion of the road.
The receipts of the road from all sour
ces., from June 1st, 1851, to June LIST,
1858, amounted to- $2s, 500. The ex-
penses of the road for the same period
were $14,4oo, including wear and tear
o machinery and the road salaries, cloth
ing and feeding negroes, and all other
incidental expenses. By this plain
statement the prophetic &C. w. I. BIZ
can see that our road cleared the first
year of it's existence Sl4, 600. It will
be borne in mind that the crop Of Crosse
Tete last year was quite small and the
return freights very light, or undoubt-
edly the receipts would have been much
heavier. Does this look as if our road
is worthless as a paying investment,
even if it has not the assistance OF the
Great Western Road and its extensions
to Northen Louisiana and Texas? 1t
would be acting the wise part if some
men would only assure themselves OF
tile correctness of their charges before
they put them to paper for an adnlrIng,
public to gaze at. The crop Of Crosse
Tetc this year is very large, which will
Of course, make the business OF the road,
the present year, only SO much heavier
while the return ireights will be great
ly-increascd. 4 pretty close estimate
Of the business of the Road this year,
from say June 1st, $50, will reach about
$4,000, while the expenses will. be very
little increased, if anything, and yield a
very handsome dividend for the year
The business along the line of the road
is rapidly increasing, which only tends
to make the receipts greater.
The reader can now understand the
position of the Crosse Tete road before
the people of the State, and can draw
his own infferences as TO whether It will
prove a paying Investment or not. For
our part, we would prefer owning one
share of it's stock, to owning len Of the
Great Western Road, without whose
assistance ours would be worthless?
The healthy condition of the affairs Of
our Company is To be attributed to the
admirable management of the Board Of
Direetors-men who shrewdly and wise
L. consulted The psnrfh Of every dollar