Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1859-09-28
From the Charleston Courier.
The Hiwassee Rail Road.


The Hiwassee Rail Road.
This road is projected by the citizens of th'
Northern section of Georgia, as branch o
the Blue Ridge Rail Road, to connect Clay
toll with Chattanooga, by way Of Duck ToW1
and Cleveland.
Clayton is a town in Rabun county, Geor,
gia, on the line of the Blue Ridge Rail Road
about four miles this side Of the Rabun Gap
By wagon roads, the distance from Clayton to
Duck Town is seventy miles, and from Duck
Town to Cleveland, forty miles, and from
Cleveland to Chattanooga, by railroad, is
thirty miles. The Hiwassee branch OF the
Blue Ridge Rail Road, will make Chattanooga
4l5 miles distant from Charleston, by the
way of Aiken and New Market. Charleston,
by the Georgia rail roads, is 446 miles from
Chattanooga; showing an advantage in dis
tance, by the Hiwassee Rail Road, of 81 miles.
The distance from Savannah to Chattanooga,
by Macon, is 43l miles, and by Augusta, Al
miles. The Hiwassee road will give Charles
ton an advantage in distance from Chattanoo-
ga, over Savannah, by way of Macon, OF l6
miles, and by way of Augusta, of 26 miles
The distance from Charleston to Duck
Town by the Hiwassee branch will be 347
miles, willie the distance from Savannah to
Duck Town by the Georgia and Tennessee
Rail Roads will be to Cleveland 439 miles,
with 40 miles more of wagon road from
Cleveland to Duck Town, making in all 479
miles from Savannah to Duck Town. This
gives to Charleston an advantage over Saran-
nah for the Duck Town trade Of l32 miles.
At and around Duck Town are situated the
celebrated copper mines of Polk county, in
Tennessee. These extend into Georgia across
the line between those States. A very large
capital from Europe and the North is invested
in these mines. The products Of the mines
yield very large freight to the Georgia Rail
Roads. Mr.. Perry, in his speech at Tunnel
Hill, stated that copper ore tanked next to
cotton in the freight it furnished to those
roads. In the report of the "Georgia Cen
trail Rail Road" for 1856 it appears that
7,772.239 barrels of copper ore were carried
over that road by way Of Macon alone, ex.
elusive of what was carried over the Georgia
Rail Road, by way of Augusta, to Savannah
and Charleston. The cost Of carrying ton
of the orc from Duck Town by turnpike to
Cleveland varies from $40 to SIS, and from
that place by rail road to Savannah or Char.
lesion $40 more, making total freight OF
$50 to $25 per ton. The ores have, besides,
to bear the cost of freight from those cities
to New York to Liverpool to be smeted.
These charges for freight Of the ore greatly
reduce; the profits of the mines. The great
Cumberland Coal Bed crops outiabove the
surface about eight miles west Of Chattanooga.
Itis most important to the profitable work.
ing of the mines that the coal and copper ore
should be brought near to each other by rail
road. 1t is therefore essential that rail road
should connect Duck Town with the Cum
bcrland Coal Bed. The distance between
them is about rs miles. The coal and copper
freights would not support the expense OF n
rail road, dependent on them alone, as rail
road from Duck Town to the Coal Beds would
be. But if the HiwaSsee Road were built.
the general trade between Charleston and
Chattanooga, by the IIiwassce branch and
Blue Ridge Rail Road, would make the Road
from Duck Town to Cleveland prudent in
vestment. So important is it to the produc-
.iyeness of the large capital invested in the
Duck Town Copper Mines (said to amount
to many millions Of dollars that large con-
tribution from the owners CT tue Mines may
confidently be relied on, for they have deep
interest in the construction of that part Of
the Hiwassec Rail Road which would connect
Duck Town with Cleveland.
The counties through which the Hiwassee
Rail Road is located, are fertile, much more
fertile than would be inferred from their pro-
duction5, for the distance from market dis
courages from any more agricultural labor
than suflices to supply the nccessares of liie
County and individual subscriptions to cor
siderable amount may be confidently ex'
pected.
The first movement towards the undertak-
ing of this Road, will be seer il the follow
ing extract from the Chattanooga Adrsrttse''
of the 18th instant:
RAIL ROAD MEETING IN UNION COUNTY.
In accordance to previous notice, large
and respectable portion of the citizens o.
Union county, met in Court House at b!airs
yillc. On motion, the Hon. S. S. Llorshaw
was called to tho cLnir, and Captnir Alfred
Butt requested to act rs Secretary. DR.. An
drew Young was called OH TO explain the oO.
iect Of the meeting nftcrwbic?l lie ntroduc:
the following Preamble and RESOLUTIONS, te
wit:
We, q portion of the people of Northeast
Georgia, feeling from our isolated position
our great need of rail road facilities, and hay
ing assembled for the purpoe OF devislne
means to forward tie construction ol tht
Hiwassee Rail Road, unanimously adopt tht
following resolutions:
Resolrsd, That the Hiwassee Rail Roat
charter together with the charter from Duck
Town Copper Mines to Cleveland, Tennessee
IN distance not exceeding one hundred miles,
from the nearest and most practicable line O
connection between the Great Valley of tho