Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-05-11
!. ON THE AIR LINE.''
InreresiIng Railroad Rtminis-
ckncgs.
JOifIBgs on the Memphis, Hell
ena and st. Louis Railroad.

= era AAA -. AAO6As AsuAAh
Dear appeal: Your old journal, known
10 all along the "KiDg OF Floods" and
d" Queen OF Valleys" is q medium, and
humble pen has kindly sought to ask 3
few inklipgs Of railway fsc's.
The first railroad hat ever approached
our "youDg Crescent City" OF the
{" Bluffs OF the Chickasaw," was laid
down on cedar cross ties with "hst
bars," and was known as the Memphis
and Lagrange Railway" one-horse"
OF low s-days, yet a sensation OF twenty
yesrs ago.. The pioneer locomotive wac
or its first President, "Gsn. Nor
ris,U in compliment to the late Gen.
Easton Norris, who died q few years
ago IN Iowa City, having cas-. his lot
in q Northern cline, as he
then thought that Memphis aid
her prosperity and her railway progress,
was in a future thst he might NOS sur
vive to sac accomplished. Could he but
awake froUa the distant grave in which
he sleeps, the workings Of less than a
quarter OF 2 hundred years would doubt
less be beyond all his ardent hopes and
expectations Of his Memphis, and OF
"trOdden down." war ruined Fort
The Memphis and Charleston
Il siIroad. conceived in the brain OF the
IltustriouI James G. Jones, and rushed
with velocipeie time TO completion by
the iCdomitsbie Sam Tate, would seem
ia its projection . ravs taken q century
90 have united the Atlantic with the
Mississippi ~ but to day finds it recorded
and iron bars" bind, with all lite
great, grand commercial ties, the two
oraaf eir:aa Of ocean and riysF.
TIE Memphis and st. Louis Railroad
is now cast for the season, with q fall
promise Of an early debut. The untiF-
ing Col. E. II. Porter, its President, has
returned from the East, and Is assured
the work will s0on go brsvely on.
The people Of Arkansas should nov rem
der, at once, tnsir sid. The countless
acres of the richest lands OF the world,
that now remain 3 waste under the wa
ters ef the " present food" and which
been feTtilizsd Oy its deposit OF
years, will soOn be reclaimed by the
g spade" which will throw the line of
a into ons grand line, on which the
iron horse will speed, swsking the low
lands with his snort. To some, who are
not familiar with the inexhaustible re-
Of the Toothpick State, this may
appear as a sketch Of fancy on the part
Of the interested.
1t vas once cur pleasure to meet Gen.
W. T. sherman during mis- last visit to
your city, and in q private conversation
the residence Of Col. Miles O.. The
.praeticability Of leveeing the Mississippi
was suggested by DR.. F. G. McGavOek,
Of Arkansas. Gen. g., be 1t remem-
bered, wished to put ths colorsd troops
Of his command TO work in leveeing the
river, laying aside the bayonet and taxi
up the shovel and the hOe," bat it
was o o favored At headquarters. He
contended that this grand scheme
would eventually be done, for the rich
soil capable of producing q bale OF cotton
and ssventy-iYe to one hundred bushels
IF corn TO the acre, would be reclaimed
Il not by individual enterprise iE would
De By the Government.
We eefrOm 8 recent number OF your
that = COMMITTEES, headed by Col.
w. Forney, are coming on an extended
.Our South 20 learn the demands and
ion may be called to the trans Missis-
,ippi, and while the great hand IF the
great Republic ia levyiog a tax, let it
play a hand on ths railroad teUee, and
he vast country now aWaste will meet
- kGAa 11 EOA ~ AkAAA1a {
Of a hoe to laugh with 3 harvest"
The denizeus of toe old Pine trae
States will desert the poor ciSy-hiil sides
IF peanuts ADD sweet potatoes for the
ielta flats, the rich l0wiRnds OF the West.
When oUr great river is down, her
SAID bsrs in reach Of one
isthOm, GDd her current ice bound, the
mErksts can then fad nearer
The needed produce which must
snd sill fCd It's way out by the Mem
Dhis and st. Louis Lsvee Railroad.
This question was once ~agita5cd, AID
Oy some OF your press, bus did nOs meet
he proper helping hand, on the ground
ths sigHHlps could not be reclaimed.
During the years, tho few, which
have been exempt from al overflow,
swamps became comparatively
Try, and the natural drsiaage OF the
and would soon take OF the waters of
Hood or rain, with the Ieve9 in front.
We have lived for fifteen years in the
6 wilds," have trsvsisd in every shape
but On & velOcipedeG we are familiar
gish it's soil and its resources, and We are
confident, Ss We know that a great
liver emptiss its waters into tina Gulf,
q levee is the only salvation for q
Ssste now given to the flood.
The air line Of this railway will not
approach nearer q 3 n mill Of its west
shore, unless tbs p~ermsueeney Of the
Dapk will justify it. Ths banks reclaim
cd are not subjsct to drOwth, for We have
seen corn crops cast SIS late as the 2Sth
u June flourish and ripen with a full
harvest.
Stockholders in this road can put their
in at 81 SO per acre, and exemH.
them from taxation, and after the cOm-
CT the road are entitled to a res
eryation Of O~us-fOurth. This quarter re-
claimed, under the careful eulrurs OF the
plowhoIder will be all he wants become
more fertile with every crop. The
required number Of acres viii soon
be subscribed, snd Rno2er strong arm OF
iron will secure to Memphis sn addition
contribution from hsr railway trans
ports.
We have extended our hurried
ioklings further than intended, but trust
that they find q mention with you az
facts, and not as a dead limb on the tree
of railroad progress.
When we met Col. Porter last he vas 8
passenger on q down packet on his return
hong. Brick POmeroy was also a pas
seDGer on the same boat.
We resd in his q red hot numbers
soma Il interesting ~ rail- {" trips, such as he
alone eaa write. We hope that this
Briok mas ind a transportation on this
road e'er n rides his last rail CT life, and
that be uiay ind the depot not SIS 3 bat
but q whole brick, as he is, and give
some notes Of the lowlands, and its rail-
way. Yours, by the way.