Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1871-06-18
RAILROAD TO cambridge.
Important and Timely Suggestions, and
Interesting Facts. ---..-.--.-
cambridge, Tenn, June Is, 1871.

DANDRIDGE, Tenn, June Is, 1871.
The Chronicle has recently published
letters descriptive of Messy Greek and its
surroundings. cambridge, the county site
of Jefferson county, is exactly nine miles
and quarter south of Messy Greek, and
on the right bank of the French Broad
river. cambridge is now, and for long
time has been, the principle business CEN
tire of large and wealthy section of coun-
try, including the rich bottom lands which
lie up and down the river from town-the
beautiful Dumping Valley-and those
fertile and exhaustless districts that stretch
away south to the foot of the mountains
near the North Carolina line.
The need of some first-class line of trans
portation connecting this region directly
with some established trunk railroad has
long been keenly felt by the good citizens
and business men of all classes until at
length the time has come when the feel
ing has ripened and become "irrepress-
ible," and the determination to speedily
realize the hopes of the people in this par
ticular is a fixed fact. Il good road of some
kind from Ddndridge to the East Tennessee,
Virginia and Georgia Railroad ,CW soon
be built and operated. In these days of
steam, attention is naturally turned to
railway, and more especially to one of the
class known as q narrow gauge. This is
twenty years in this country, as well as the
improvements and spirit of the age, teach
that the business of Transportation is as
yet really in it's infancy, and that the pro-
gress yet to be made therein is almost in
calculable. To illustrate, in 1850 there were
but about 5000 miles of railroad in the
United States, but it is now said, and cor
rectly, that by the close of 1871, we shall
have 900 miles of railway, which will
be one-third of all i'm the world.
Of course the great markets and bust
ness emporiums have increased in no such
ratio, and many thousand miles of these
tracks are only tributaries to trunk lines
a prime object now being to secure good
feeders, y or short side roads for the prin-
cipal stem. The cost of transpOrta-
ton is, steadily declining, and will
continue to decline, and this demand by
the producing elements of the country
will not cease; G. q. a late and reliable
writer shows that the average cost of NOV
ing one ton of grain one mile by rail in
1850 was twenty cents, while just twenty
years later in 1870, it was but one and one
fourth cents. All this being true, are we
not ON the confines of the age of cheap
transportation The universal interest
now taken in narrowgauge roads proves
this, and the inventor of roads which can
be built at low rates of construction and
penses will be prime national benefactor.
No opulent section of country can begin
its main or tributary railroad too soon; if
grain or manufactured articles are once
generally placed at the depots of the great
through lines, public sentiment and the
increased business will together cut down
and keep down the rates of transportation.
If narrow-gauged roads can be built and
run more cheaply than those we have now,
the principal lines will certainly double
their rails, Law a narrow-guage alongside
of their present tracks, and, in addition to
all other decrease of expenses, save that OF
re-lOading from their little feeders"
These roads seem to prove successful, as
is shown by the following extract from an
official report of engineers: "Such road
now in Wales, only one foot seven inches
in width Carries more passengers than some
of the most prosperous railroads In this
country, CO. 81 Another in Germany,
two feet and seven inches wide, which cost
only 81, 600 a mile, and whose running ex-
penses are but sixty cents per train mile,
makes money with small business by
carrying freight at two cents per ton per
mile.n
It is said above that road will be built
from cambridge to Messy Creek or some
other point on the Bristol and Knoxville
line. The initiatory work is begun the
law i'm that behalf having been complied
with. Letters of Incorporation will be
granted by the Chancery Court at Dam
bridge at its special term next week. The
citizens at the proposed termini and along
the line have proffered the most liberal
subscriptions, and the entire route has