The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-07-19
COLUMBIA, TENN, FRIDAY, JULY 10, 1875
eur Railroaa..;

We make the following extract from
a recent address of Col. w. J. Sykes
advocating the construction Of q cen.
trail road extending from the Eastern
to the Western limits of Tennessee:
Such road has long been q necessity
and it is matter of astOnishment that
it has not been built. We need q road
to connect the coal regions of the Cum
berland mountains with the iron dis
tricts of the Tennessee river; to bring
corn, wheat, pork and beef cattle to
the western part of the State growing
cotton. West Tennessee needs iron,
coal, marble and limestone, that abound
on the line of this road, and Middle
Tennessee needs direct acc-ss to the
Mississippi at Memphis, the eommer-
cial metropolis of the State. This road,
in connection with that from Cincin-
natl, would constitute the most direct
route from that city to Memphis, and
penetrate the most desirable portions
of both Middle and West Tennessee.
From McMinnville to Memphis, by
this route, the distance is go miles; by
the Huntsville and Decatur route 1t Is
not less than 29O miles. The distance
from Columbia to Memphis is 100
miles by the present railroad routes iI
is 270 miles. These facts are pertinent
to ShelbyvilIe and all other intermedi-
ate towns. Its semphatically Tennes-
see road, to be extended, eventually, to
Knoxville. This road might be extend
ed from the Tennessee River through
Centerville, Hickman county, to
Nashville, thus opening the finest iron
region of the State to Nashville, jack
son and Memphis. The business that
it would do as mere local road be-
tween McMinnville and Memphis
would make it profitable, yielding at
least eight per cent. upon its cost. To
this road from McMinville to Memphis
would cost $3,000,OO0, and eight per
cent. upon this amount would be $2SS, :
600. The cost of the Memphis and
Charleston, including branches, was
Sc, 744, ,6F.17, and yet before the war
fhis road yielded twelve per cent on its
cost. Is it not reasonable to suppose
that road from McMinnville to Mem
phis, which will cost only $3, ,6O0, 900,
will yield larger dividends? The earn
ings of the Memphis & Charleston,
after paying operating expenses, were
in 1853, SITS ,O36 and in 1850, they were
1878, 500. The gross receipts Of the
Memphis and Charleston road were In
1859, 81, 800, ,S12; in 1850, S1635, ,096, and
in 1871, they were s1417 Al 49, 1t thus
appears that the gross earning on this
road were, for the year ending 30th
Of June, 1871, quite az great as in 1859,
and nearly as great as in 1860.
The gross earnings of the Nashville
and Chattanooga road in 1860, were
greater than in any year before the
war, and were then only 1874, 1852,
and for the last three years they have
exceeded a million of dOllsrs q year,
and last year amounted to 81 Az, l33.-
32. l-
These figures are given to show that
the business of our roads, as shown by
their receipts, has not decreased, and
in the ease of the Nashville and Chat
tanooga road has greatly increased.
The building of new railroads does not
injure, but rather benefits those already
i'm existence. They increase the pOpu-
latiOn of the county, and augment the
volume of trade and travel. They
cause a reduction of freight charges
and increase the business OF the roads.
making the reduction. Railroads thus
create the business they do and "make
the food they feed upon" By the time
we reach McMinnvilIe, other roads
will be there, both from the north and
the south, and if of different gauge,
the cost Of tranferring freights, not
more than ten cents per ton, will be
more than saved by the reduced rates
at which it can be carried over this
narrow gauge central road. 1t will
cross the Mobile and Ohio, the Missis-
sippi Central, the Nashville and De-
catur, the Nashville and Chattanooga
and the Cincinnati and Southern roads,
all running in different direction
from this road, and while it will benefit
them all, it will be enriched by all. To
show the ability of the people along
its line to build this road, it may be
stated that the assessed value of the
in the counties through which
it is to run amounts to So, 392, ,739.
Without Shelby county they contain
taxable property worth $43, ,512 ,6S8. If
the building of this road should only
increase the value of the property in
the counties outside of Shelby, twenty
five per cent, and this is q very low
estimate it would amount to IL, IL, S,OO9,
to say nothing of the value of the road,
itself. In view of the great necessity
for this road and the immense benefits
it would confer, to doubt its ultimate
success is to doubt the energy and sa-
gacity of the people interested in its
completion.