The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1868-07-29

Il
tire country the agricultural resources of the
4 State, and should bo required 10 make an an
| nual report to the Legislature, embody the
| results OF their labors, and recommend such
improvements MS they may deem necessary in
| the system Of cultivation now practiccd among
our people, and such improved agricultural
| machinery, rs to them may seem most proper,
together with the value and mode Of using fer
tilixers. They should also sot forth tho at
fractions that our soil and climate and mine
raj resources offer to tho thrifty agricultlrists
mcchanics and miners of our Northe,n States,
and to those Of Europe. They should also
present tables showing the cost Of living, the
rates Of wages, the number and class Of me-
,hanics needed In tho several Countiee, aud
| the p.''ce Of land, and the terms upon which
IL can be rintcd. Their report should be. fur
nishcd to the TrGdcs Unions Of this country
| and Europe.
This information, jf properly distributed,
will, 1 feel assured, start u tide Of emigration
that will how into and greatly enrich the State.
Tho German md French grape-growcrs will
find in our upper tier Of Counties soil and
climate Us genial TO the grape as their own
vine. clad hills, being precisely on the same
parallel Of latitude ms the great wine making i
districts Of Spain and Portugal. Tho Swede
and tho Dane will find ample scope and verge
for their talents for mining in our gold ami
iron and lead rcgiona while even the Holan-
der, may exercise his cunning in draining the
tnatsh lands of our low country, which he may
get alihost for the asking. Our rivers, abound
ing With noble falls, arc running to waste,
when they should Iesound with tho bum of
thousands of busy spindles. These invite the
Manufacturer of the North, who will find Ia
Dor among us abundant and choap, and may ]
| look ffoh his own door upon fields whitc with
the eSttoh that supplies his mill:
RAILROADS. -.
According to the eighth census Of the Uni
ted States, there were pine hundred and eighty
seven (9S7) miles of railroad in South Caio>
lima at the close of tho year 1860, built ut n
cost Of twehty-two millions threc hundred and
eighty-five thous aud (S22 1885,, ,000) dollars.
IL may be interesting to observe that tho
| Charleston and Hamburg roHd was the first
passenger railway constructed in the United
| States. Il was commenced in Tho Spring Of
1929, and six 10y miles wcro completed in that
year. 1t is n noteworthy fact, that before tho
use OF locomotive was established in Great
britain, Or they were known in the United
| States, the directors of this road determined,
| upder tho advice OF their engineer, Mr.. Ho-
| ratio Ahen, to make them exclusively the
| tive power. The same gentleman, in the VIM
| ter Of 1929, made the drawings Of the first
American steam locomotive, called the Bes.
Friend" which was planned by Mr.. Z. l..
| Miller, of Charleston. Upon the Charleston
| and Hamburg ruad was introduced in 1881,
for the first time on any railroad in the world,
J the important arrangement of two four (4)
| wheeled trucks for locomotives, and lSng piss
I scuger cars.
The facts here slated arc designed to show
that the S:ate has never been wanting in men
of mechanical genius, wi'h the capacity to
| achieve the greatest enter rises, if properly
| encouraged. South Carolina, although the
first to initiate railway system, has prose-
| cuted it to very limited extent, compared
with the demands OF her commerce and the
| resources of her soil. The facility with which
railroads can be built in this State, is evidenced
by the fact that the railroads of south Caro-
| lima have cost in their coustruction less per
mile than any of equal length in the United
| States. would recommend tho fostering of
these great ana bcnefcent public enterprises
by the State, SO far as may be consistent with
the proper maintenance of other important
public interests. At the same time that rail-
| road corporations should be generously, but
judiciously, fosterod, yet suitable laws should
be enacted to regulate .their tsriG Of charges
for freights and passengers, or otherwise they
may oppress all classes by h,oir excessive
rates, and check the trade and enterprise of
the people. .. ..
Railroads are the main arteries Of commerce
They stimulate production by bringing the
market within easy reach Of the producer
They give an impetus TO every branch of trade,
while they promote unity and good will among
great populations, by enabling them to circu-
late freely. among. each other. would espe-
cially recommend that the State should fur
nish all the aid that it can expediently for the
speedy completion of the Blue Ridge Rail-
people of the State at large cannot ven be
over>estimated. Starting at Anderson Court
House as prolongation of the Westerly
branch of the Greenville and Columbia Rail-
road, II will traverse portions of the Counties
| Of Anderson aud Pickens, and Of the States
OF GeorgiaJ North Carolina and Tennessee,
having its Western terminus Mt Knoxville,
whence il will have connections with Chatta-
nooga tho great focal point Of Southwestern
railroads. 1t will also connect at Knoxville
with roads running direct 20 Louisville, Ken
tuoky, aud Cincinnati, Ohio. The entire
length Of the road will be 1876 niles of which
% miles lie within the limits Of South Caro-
lima. Tbirty-four (34) miles Of this distance
have been finished, and are now in running
order, from Anderson to Walballa-
, "The Blue Ridge Railroad Company In
South Carolina" was chartered by the Legis-
lature OF this State IN 1859; but unt0ward
events, among them the alleged ad faith of
, the first contractors, have prevented the pro-
secution OF tho work upon IL.
The total amount thus far expended on the
road Is three millions two hundred and ifty
thousand dollars ($3, 3,25O,000) dollars. The
additional amount required to complete Il Is
, stated by the President Of the road at three
millions five hundred thousand dollars (S3,-
, 500,000.) This increased estimate of cost per
: milo over that portion already constructed is
: due to the heavy amount of tunnelling that
will be required in getting through the Blue
. Ridge. The State now owns stock in this road
? 20 tho amount Of one illion three hundred
and ten thousand dollars tSl,3lo,00o)
+. The present bonded debt Of the Company is
stated at two hundred and thirty thousand
Q dollars (S23O, ,oOo,) secured by mortgage on
Q The road and its running stock. Mr.. j. w.
Harrison, President Of the Company states in
a recent report that he has made Of the con-
dition aud prospects Of tho Blue Ridge Rail-
road Company that all that Is expected oi
: the State is that she shall guar tho bonds
/. Of the Company for, say, three millions Of dol
lars, to be issued in such sums and at such
times as the progress Of the work may require
And that the State shall provide for the pay
4 ment Of the interest tho bonds while the
1 road Is being built. For example, tho Com