The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1868-10-30
OUR RAILROADS.
Chattanooga the Center of the
South.

From the New York Commercial Bulletin.
During the few years that have elapsed
since the close of the civil war the new
ly reconstructed State of Tennessee has
adopted liberal policy of railroad de-
velopment which cannot fail to promote
the future interests of the State. at
present the new railroads, with few
exceptions, are not yielding fair in
terest on the amount of capital cxpend-
ed upon them in consequence of the
| prostration of industry, which has not
yet recovered from the losses sustained
by the recent conflict, but the period is
not remote when immigration and CAPT
tai will give a new impulse to the State,
and then the Tennessee railroads are
| likely to be among the most profitable
and important in the United States. The
State has now contingent liability to
the amount of S30,000,000 in railroads
already constructed or IN progress. This
money is secured on railroad property
worth over S5O,O0O,OO0. and is by no
means lost. 1t will yield profitable re-
turns in due time, for it is not in the ma
ture of things that State with the i'm
mense natural resources, and the admir-
able climatic advantages of Tennessee,
can fail to achieve high degree of pros
pcrity.
Exclusive of the railroads projected
or in process of construction, Tennes-
see has now 1,4O0 miles of railroad in
actual operation. In consequence ofan
obvious geographical necessity, these
railroads-or the most important of
them-cOnverge at Chattanooga, which
may be regarded as the great railroad
center of the South. 1t was this fact
that rendered Chattanooga so important
i'll military point Of view, during the
war, and made it an object Of such Sc
rious contention between the opposing
forces. The same causes that operated
to render Chattanooga so important
during the war arc in full force to in
crease its Importance in time of peace.
Situate at point on the Tennessee
River where the richest valleys in the
South converge, it must be the great
center of Southern traffic and industry.
Of the railroad lines in Tennessee no
less than six converge at the present
time in Chattanooga. One line connects
Chattanooga with the rich Mississippi
Valley Of the Southwest, while another
unites it with Nashville and the great
Northwest. The railroad system of
Virginia and the Atlantic seaboard is
linked with line that connects Chatta-
nooga. A line to Atlanta taps the rail-
road system Of Georgia and the Caro-
linas to the Southeast. A new line now
in rapid process Of completion, will
soon connect Atlanta with Alabama and
Rome in Georgia.
! Besides these lines new ones are pro-
iected or are in process of construction
that will still further develope the re-
sources of Tennessee and bring it into
closer communion with the great cen
ters of American commerce. OF these,
the most important is an airline from
Chattanooga to Cincinnati, through q
rich iron and coal country. A railroad
surveyed, but not yet built, from Nash
Vile to Knoxville, is probably destined
to become link of the Southern Pacific
Railroad that is to have its Atlantic ter
minus in Norfolk, Virginia.
Our space will only permit us to glance
at few Of the principal railroads in
Tennessee. They are the East Tennes-
see and Virginia road, East Tennessee
and Georgia, the Nashville and Chatta-
nooga, the Nashville and Northwestern
line, the Nashville and Decatur, the
Nashville and Louisville, and Memphis,
GAINESVILLE and Louisville. Besides
these lines, the railroad system of Ten
nessee, of course, connects with the
great lines in the adjacent States, and
these promote its prosperity. 1t is pro-
posed to extend the Mississippi and
Tennessee Railroad, from Memphis to
Grenada, southwark so as to connect
with New Orleans line. This and 9TH
er projected Improvements must contri-
butte powerfully to the growth of a
State which only requires political re-
forms to render it one of the richest and
most prosperous in the Southwest.