Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-12-20
aovER Il RIVER"
Leaves from the Note-Boek Of an Appeal
Edftor-What ne saw and Heard.
Little Rock ailroad-Eisc endataoH
and Prospects rowth Of Tewns-
Memphis Kea In Little 1oek.i

A trip from Memphis to H~openeId is very
quickly, and may be comfortably made upon
the transfer boat OF Major Patterson, the " Elk
~celsior," which, so far as we can learn, gives
satisfaction to the railroad company and
travellers by the most disheartening highway
as a railroad man told rs, TO be found In the
United States. Leaving the levees foot Of
Union street, at n am, ten minutes lands Us
at the company's wharfboat and elevator. By
the latter our luggage, which has been pre-
viousiy checked on the :" ferry" Is elevated to
the platform on which may be found piles OF
freight awaiting cars for the Interior. A look
AT TRAIN
reveals an engine mud-stained and much the
worse for wear, a box-car, and two passenger
cars, one for ladies and their escorts, the other
for men. The luggage and mails aboard, we
start on time " for Little Rock. The cars are
Men, women and children OF every hue, from
deep black to fatrest blonde; OF every degr8e
Of fortune, from poverty to wealth. and OF every
nationality. All shades of politics have their
advocates, from the stern, u~nbending and un-
yielding Democrat TO the u~nblushing Radical
rogue who makes a paradise for himself amid
the Responding and despsirtng planters beg
CARED by the war. The hopes of such a crowd
are as varied as their physical, political or
social complexions. A few are on pleasure
bent, the majority are son business" They
sit by twos or tours, or stand in the aisles, only
those who are ACQUAINTED engaging In con-
versation. Presently all This order Is broken
The cups and downs"o OF the cars as they
labor over the pillows created by contractors
elicit all sorts of CALCULATIONS and remarks
Men hitherto strangers interchange opinions,
and various examples of "hard times" on
railroads are related, but nome, a think,
that can parallel that which the Mem phis and
Little Rock railroad can afford A few voices
are raised in defence of its present manage
ment, and as what they said was in the main
Just and borne out by alter experiences and In
yestigation, we viii give 1t space under the
heading
When Tate, Greenlaw and Livermore took
hold OF the Little Rock railroad, IL was In as
good condition as their predecessor could leave
1t, owing 10 want of money w~herewtth to putt
through. Seventeen miles Of It, lying through
the Cache bottom. we're TO be built, and the
bridge across White river; the first forty-ive
miles were to be raised TO a grade above over
1ow, the gauge to be altered 10 tour feet eight,
aud 8 full outfit Of rolling-stock TO take the
place Of thai on hand, nearly worn out by con-
tinued and hard service. In answer To the
clamors Of the public at both ends and along
the line Of the read, IL had been opened under
the energetic B. ID. Williams, who, as superin-
tendent, managed to put passengers through in
twelve 10 fifteen hours from end to end, by
rail and stage. Once opened, It was fouHh by
sible to close 1t for repairs and completion.
At any facrtnce of discomfort and ineonve-
nience, 1t must be kept open, said " the dear
people" who IN this, as in other matters, are
70 be obeyed. And so Messrs. Tate and Green
law said to Colonel Liyermore, "keep the road
open and DO the very best you can 10 accom-
modate the public, consistent with the mott
energetic prosecution OF the work 10 be done,
in order that the road-bed from Hopeheld to
Madison may be lifted above overflow and
the necessary repairs and alteration OF guage
to 1T II TO the use of the new rolling stock"
And this is being done. The trains ara run
with q regularity, that considering the
work OF construction progresses uninterrupt-
eddy. is really astonishing. There are, Of
course, hills and hoIlows. 1t could not well
be otherwise. In some places the track is up
10 grade, raised upon the worst material that
ever laborers handled, in others IL is on the old
level. In these latter gaps fully one thousand
two hundred and seventy-five men are en-
pl0yed in the work of grading. They labor
under the instructions Of Competent SUPER
who unite in the declaration that
by the first of March, the Memphis and Little
Rock railroad will be among the best, In every
respect, to be found in the country. This Is
the present prospect on the road. On his
side. in possession of the nayy-yard and with
n boat now under construction, with CAPACITY
to transfer whole trains at q time. we are Of
opinion that the Little Rock railroad Is ap-
preaching It's days OF prosperity. But even
under the adversely induced by repairs and
construction, traffic is Increasing:
TRAFFIC. IN 1870.