The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1871-02-23
ADVANTAGES OF RAILROADS..

ADVANTAGES OF RAILROADS..
Wekcar it constantly said by the opponents
to the Valley Railroad, when the subject of
the expenditure of large sum &c money in
the county is urged by the friends OF the
Road as one great reason Why the people
should vote for the subscription that even 1t
there is a large amount Of money spensslt Will
be for value received, that is, that for every
dollar paid the people, -four, grain, hay or
some equivalent will be required BY the con-
tractor or the Company for that dollar
Now, this is, Of course, true to very con-
siderable extent-in fact. absolutely true
as to the staples mentioned. But the staple
articles of -four, corn and hay are not the
only things consumed in the. construc-
ton and equipment of Rail Roads There
can and will be thousands Of dollars made by
the sale of vegetables frat, milk, &C., which
now, every summer, are lest entirely to the
farmer. Think Of how many cabhages, Gu
cumbers AID tomatoes are every year allowed
to rot ia the superintendent gardens Of our
farmers And of the quantity of milk that
is allowed to sour and become worthless Of
the hundreds-of bushels of apples that fall
under our trees and are never picked up!-
Does not every intelligent man know that
every one Of these articles vii! command a
good price in the camps Of the r. r. hands !?
But this is small matter when compared
with another of which we are about to speak
1t requires about $500 cross-tics and string
ers per mile to build Railroad. These, at
40 cts. apiece (the price paid by the Ches
Il Ohio R. r amounts to $500 per mile
How many farmers and land owners in Au-
gusta along both lines Of this survey have
surplus timber enough to furnish ties for one
mile of road ? We venture to answer that
there is hardly one that cannot furnish at
least enough for the Road through his farm.
ty. Here, then, will be 1872 900 secured by
the citizens Of this county for something
which never has, and never would have prof
tied them orc cent without the Railroad
A thing, which, in cases where farmers want
to clear their land, is often positive bur-
den to them, is thus made source Of profit
In fact, We may say, that every dollar thus
obtained is as much new created wealth, for
the county of Augusta, as if it had been dug
out of the earth in gold dust. It must be
remembered, too, that these ties must be re-
newed every s siz or eight years. In addition
O the ties t here will, also, be considerable
quantity of wood consumed in the passenger
engines, which will stand upon the same foot
ing as the ties-that is, be constant source
of income to the people along the line of the
road-a clear gain to the wealth of the Deo-
pie Of the county. To show that We do not
over-estimate the importance of this subject,
we will cite an instance which occurred in
this county since the war. A young gentle
man of our acquaintance went to the South
west corner Of this county on the line OF the
| Ches & 0. Railroad and purchased 1000 acres
of mountain land at 81 per acre, which, be-
fore the construction of that road could have
been readily bought at 10 cts per acre. With
capital of $3.50 and two horse team to
| begin with, ne, IN the course OF two years,
had cut, hewed and sawed over SIC, 600 worth
of cross-ties and lumber and sold them to
the Railroad Company and others, and after
wards sold the land for what he originally
paid for it,
This is only one instance of the wealth
creative effects of Railroads. There are
others which equally illustrate how sources
OF profit are brought into existence from
what was practically valueless property
We know Of one other case, at least, where
gentleman, from woodland that cost him
about 81 per acre, has cleared nice farm,
erected comfortable dwelling, and now VAL
ues his land at S25 per acre. All, too,
accomplished by selling ties, wood, &C., to the
Railroad company or the immediate repre-
sentatives Of the Company
The profit and prosperity to the owner Of
this land, were not the only advantages grow
ing out of the operations Of this one person.
A great many laborers received benefits, in
getting out the ties and cutting the wood
The money thus coming into their hands,
passed to the farmers and merchants for fam
lily supplies, and thence into general circula-
ton, contributing its share to the common
prosperity, while the original operator was
enabled to permanently improve what was
before comparatively valueless tract of land,
and thereby add to the marketable price of
adjoining lands. j. XIX
Foreign News.
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