Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-04-24
IRON MOUNTAIN Il. r. EXTENSION.
Meeting of the Citizens OF Phillips
county Arkansas.
Cor. of the Missouri Demoorat.I

IneFe was q meeting tO-ttAE cuIlp poecu
of the best material Of the county Of
Phillips, held in the city Of Helena, for
/ the express purpose of taking the proper
steps toward the construction OF an eX-
/ tension of the Iron Mountain railroad to
this city. Our oldest and best men were
in attendance, and the interest manifest
cd on the occasion showed plainly
enough that the people are alive to the
| important results TO them which must
! grow out Of this great public work. The
! Committee that recent visited st. Louis
| 10 ascertain how the commercial and
railroad pulse beat on this question, sub
mitted the report Of their visit, and
/ the people were grahhed TO learn
! that the men Of st. Louis also appreciate
/ the beneficial effects which must flow
/ from the construction Of the Iron Noun
! tain railroad, with the Southern terIni-
nus on the Mississippi river at point be-
/ low ice and sandbar distinctions, and at
| a point, too, so far above overflow as to
| offer uninterrupted communication with
/ the Mississippi river at all seasons Of the
/ year.
At the meeting to-day, all the prelim-
! mary steps were taken, looking first to
/ the survey, and then to the grading Of
/ the road and the railroad men of st.
I Louis must not be surprised if We have
caught portion OF that progressive and
I enlightened public spirit 50 Characteristic
/ Of st. LOuisans.
/ An organization under the charter
I granted by the Legislature of Arkansas
4 lust previous 70 the war viii immedi-
ately take place; books of subscription
TO the stock Of the road viii soon be
/ opened, and we will then be able to test
the reliance we may place upon the offers
Of assistance in this behalf rendered Us by
certain gentlemen of your city during
the short visit Of our railroad delegation
to st. Louis We look confidently TO
that assistance, believing that the motive
which actuates ourselves in this matter,
to-wit: the benefits which will accrue to
the city where we dwell and the country
which supports il, wiiiCpeTate with a ten
fold effect upon the business men
Of your own commercial metropolis.
No railroad South or North of Mason
and DiNon's line will pay better than the
one proposed. Not one converging at
your city yields the amount of trade
which this road will pour into St. Louis.
The poverty eutailed on the South by the
late war viii soon pass away the splen-
did plantations now lying waste will ere
another year blossom white with cotton
and golden grain; towns now in ruins
will gradually emerge from the sad de-
bris and desOlatiOn OF war, larger and
more beautiful than ever; the indepepd-
ant isolated life of the old plantation,
the purse Of the large hearted hospitality
and honor OF the planter will give place
% a wider prosperity, more dlftuslYe
and popular prosperity s!ri1Sing from
the combination of capital the emancl-
patton OF labor, the eitusiOn of the new
life opening up 10 the fertile fields OF the
. - -. 80
and come il assuredly will-what city
North of us viii reap the rich CONNER
cial harvest springipg Jherefrom,
which some city must certainly reap?
Cincinnati and Louisville are already
| bidding for this prospective trstie; even
the distant city of New York Is pTepar-
ing the way for the mighty crowd of
southern men who, before many years,
will " 90 North - to purchase their spring
or fall stock of goods Our capacities for
! trade viii increase every day, our de-
mands on the cities of the North will in
crease with every GWOW turned in new
soil, every tree " circled by the axe for
"deadening.n What city will reap
the golden harvest of trade springing
from the hundreds Of millions Of acres
| i'm the valley Of and watered by the
l tributaries of the Lower Mississippi II
81. Louis is true TO herself this trade
will 90 to her, and its natural transit
is over the Iron Mountain railroad
from Helena. When this road is
built, st. Louis will at once command
the trade of Arkansas, Texas, and the
greater part of Tennessee, Mississippi and
Louisiana! Surely this Is a prize worth
| the expenditure Of q few thousands Of
dollars. The route proposed is an air
/ line, passing through the heart of the
Southern country, and tapping the Mis-
/ sissippi river at the head of low water
navigation, seven hundred miles from
/ the Gulf of Mexico; a route which may
( be extended on the other side of the Mis-
/ sissippi river, along a belt of land above
overflow, almost on an AIRLINE TO Can
/ ton, Miss, on the Mississippi Central
railroad, or united with the Mississippi
| and Tennessee railroad by the cOnstruc-
! ton OF a branch twenty miles long,
/ through the Mississippi bottom, from the
/ Mississippi river 10 Batesville, in Pamela
/ county, Miss,
/ st. Louis may build or aid in the
/ building of the Columbus or Memphis
I routes, but neither Of these meets the
| necessities Of the case. Either of them
would be beneficial To your people, of
| course, but they are Gyt sufficient: for
| every hundred dollars which they viii
I add 20 the municipal wealth OF ST. Louis
| the Iron Mountain railroad viii bring a
! thousand, The Increasing magnitude
I ana vigOT of.your Southern and South
| western trade demands this permanent,
unObstructed and air line highway. This
road viii be a direct line of eommunica-
ton passing through your city from
st. Paul and Jefferson City to New Or
| leans, and viii intersect The main public
/ lines Of travel 10 New Mexico and
California, on all of which projected
lines Of railroad are already being sur
veyed. Can any intelligent citizen of St
| Louis disregard the amount of wealth.
the tremendous impetus to trade, which
| the proposed extension would yield to
st. Louis? We, Of Arkansas, have suf-
1 fered too much by the ravages of war to
build this road unassistei, but QUE people
are willing to do everything in their
power, wall meet your people halfway,
| that this great public work may be COM
pleted. Our people are fully aware Of its
Importance 10 them, bat their every step
is shaclled 10y their limited means; still
their resources are unlimited and they
can aud Viii do much toward the con-
summation of a public improvement so
devoutly TO be wished for"
Let the capital of st. Louis meet the
enterprise Of Arkansas, and this road will
i la oopefrf,ofad