New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-06-11
rExAs ANn Slssx oIss.as Ass RAII.RoAD p.

+ We are in receipt OF a nea,if-ptiaseu Ienpnio'
enttled BRIEF Prospectus OF the Texas and New
Orleans Railroad, lTexas Division) late SABINE ana
Galveston Bay Railroad and Lumber Company.
The object Of this pamphlets to set forth she pres
condition and future prospects of this railroad
enterprise the effect Of which, when carried out,
will be to place Now Orleans in direct railroad
communication with Houston, in Texas, which -
the focal center Of several Of the railroad improve
ments of that State.
We have read this n Prospectus with some IN
terest, and we have come to the conclusion that
this Is work in which the people Of this CITY, as
we'll a. Of Texas, have q very special interest.
When this line Of road Is completed-the Louisiana
as well as the Texas disision-we shall be placed
in easy, quick and cheap communication with one
Of the most fertile and interesting portions Of the
great State Of Texas, now so rapidly growing in
population and wealth.
The whole line of the road extends from Houston
to New Iberia, point on the New Orleans, 0pe-
lousas and Great Western Railroad, in the parish
Of St. Martins. This latter road is finished from
this city to Berwick's Bay, distance Of eighty
miles, and the remaining forty-fve miles which in
tervene between Berwick,s Bay and New Iberia
have been put under contract and will soon be
completed.
The Texas and New Orleans Railroad extends,
as we said above, from Houston to New Iberia--a
distance of a2l miles. 1t is, however, laid off into
| two divisions The Texas division Is that portion
/ Of the road-I0e miles between Houston and the
Sabine river, which is the dividing line between
Texas and Louisiana. The Louisiana diyision-115
miles connects the Sabine river with New Iberia.
Thus, when both Of these divisions are finished,
and our 0peIousas road is extended from Berwick's
Bay to New Iberia, we viii have an uninterrupted
line of railroad, Of uniform gauge, all the way
from New Orleans to Houston. And at Houston
we will connect with four other railroads, radating
in every direction from that city, and penetrating
the richest and most popuous regions Of the State
of Texas.
Id regard TO the present condition Of this road,
we learn from the Prospectus that the Texas Di-
vision is in a fair way of speedy completion.
Forty-fye miles are already finished, and the re-
mainder is under contract. The Company has on
hand iron rails enough to lay down seventy five
miles of track besides 2044 tuns afioat at Calves
ton. Seventy five per cent of the whole work
upon the Texas division is completed, preparatory
to laying the track-and the materials are on hand
and ready for use.
The Louisiana Division is not in as advanced a
state as the Texas Digision-bnt the whole of it is
nnder contract. The subscription for the #Louisi-
ana Division, we learn, exceeds one million of
dollars, and will be considerably increased during
the present year. The nature of the country is
such both upon the Texas and Louisiana Divisions,
| that railroads can not only be cheaply made hut
cheaply operated. Herein, Southern railroads
| have great advantage over those built at the
North. The operating expenses Of this road are
estimated at only thirty-three and third per cent
/ In the Eastern and Middle States, the operating
expenses rarely or never fall below fifty per cent
On the whole, the prospects of this line Of inter-
nal Improvement exceedingly fiattering The
State Of Texas, it is well known, has made most
muni6cent grants of land to her various railroad
companies Illinois granted sir sections Of land
per mile to aid in the construction of her great
work, the Central Railroad-but Texas has made
the princey donation of sirseen sections Of land
for the purpose Of encouraging the building fthese
indispensable arteries of commerce within her own
limits Besides all this, she lends them her credit
and her capital Large as the State is she must
soon be chequered all over with railroads, follow
ing SO liberal and enlightened policy. The bonds
OF this company, secured both by mortgage upon
the road and by these splendid land grants, and
bearing an interest Of eight per cent. per annum,
payable semi annually, we should think, offer in
ducements to capitalists such are rarely present.
ed. When the road is finished, the Company will
not only have its revenues from trade and travel.
but viii own magnificent body Of fine lands well
timbered and productive, and becoming more val
liable every day under the influence of the steady
tide of emigration which has of late been flowing
into Texas.
The author of this g Prospectus has, in one re.
spect, moderated the probable revenues of the
road when finished. He has estimated for one
hundred thousand !" through passengers per an
mum, and for only sir thousand !" wayn passen-
gers. Now, the experience Of most Of our rail-
road companies. whose roads have been several
years in operation, that the nag travel is equally
as valuable to them as the through travel In
other words, their receipts are equally as great in
the aggregate from passengers getting on and OF
at way stations as from those who go clear through
| from one terminus Of the road to the other. The
subject may be illustrated by street omnibus In
Q cty-which, in the course of trip, will take up
and set down ten passengers one that it carries
all the way from the starting to the stopping place.
4 If the estimated receipts for through passengers
on this road are half million year, it is altoge-
ther an underestimate 10 put down the way travel
at only thirty thousand dollars.
The grand results which New Orleans will secure
by the construction Of This line of road will not be
limited merely TO connection with Houston and
the intermediate country between the two cities
From Houston the hand Of Improvement points
westward-and it is not improbable that in less
than two years that city will have direct railroad
| connection with San Antonio, a distance of 2sG
miles. Thus then, there viii be a straight "chute
of railroad from New Orleans to the West more
than six hundred miles in length, mores than hall
| way to Guyamas on the Gulf of California, and
more than one-third of the entire distance to San
Diego on the Pacific coast
But there are other railroads radiating from
Houston, and penetrating different portions OF
Texas, which will all be, more or less, feeders to
the trade and travel of the Texas and New Orleans
road. Houston will soon become the grand receiv-
ing and distributing reservoir of the trade Of the
State; and the tendency of her commerce will, OIL
course, be eastward to New Orleans.
When we reflect upon the fact that Texas con
tains a larger area than the whole of the New
England States put together, with New York and
Pennsylvania thrown in--that her soil is rich, and
her productions varied-that land is cheap, and
taxes merely nominal-we will not be surprised at
the constant influx Of emigration 10 the State. With
the promise of so bright future before her, it
becomes her policy to draw closer the commercial
ties which bind her to New Orleans-and it is
aoua In flofify tn for