Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1872-01-04
FAYtTTtyILts, TENNESSEE,
Duck River Valley Rail
road.

us iarroW-gauge roau IS to
run from Columbus, on the Mis-
sissippi river, cross the Tennessee
at Johnsonville, pass through
Columbus, Petersburg, Fayette-
vile, aud on to Atlanta. The
money IN already secured to con-
struct The line from Columbus TO
Johnsonville. The Chancery
Court Of Wayne county appointed
the following gentlemen Commits
sioDcrs Of the Road for Lincoln
county: James B. Lamb, Thos.
j. Gray, Jacob Gillespie, Joseph
Greer, and James III. Burnam.
On Friday, 22nd ult., the Com
rnissioners met and elected Jacob
Gillespie Lincoln connty's member
OF the Executive Committee.
We have before US very in.
teresting pamphlet, from which
we propose TO literally copy, en-
titled 1.-The Commissioners of the
Duck River Valley Railroad Com
pany, g foot gauge to the PEG
pie" of the counties of Tennessee
interested in the Road. It con.
tains facts relative to narrow.
gauge roads, showing the expense
of building, equipping aud opera
ting, their capacity, etc. To-day
we copy a portion of the work es.
pecialIy relative 10 the Road un-
der consideration
This Duck River Valley Rail
road will tap three important lines
IN operation, viz: the Nashville
and Northeastern, the MI8lvaIe
and Decatur and the Nashville and
Chattanooga Railroads, and would
also cross the projected road from
Cincinnati to Decatur, somewhere
in Marshall county.
This Duck River Valley Rail
road, rs projected, runs through
very productive land, one of the
largest iron ore beds in the State,
along Duck River, which is not
navigable and constant water
power, and finally taps the exten
,sive coal beds Of Cumberland
Mountain, thus placing the coal
and the iron in immediate close
connection on the same track with
out transfer. This road would
probably command more local
business than any other road in
Middle Tennessee, and would fur
nish much tributary traffic to the
trunk lines mentioned above. A
gauge Of three feet has wisely been
adopted in this case, as it will &C
commodate all the necessary traf
fic of the valley, and as a five foot
gauge would be too expensive and
TOO large for the purpose.
Economy and rapidly of trans
portation is one of the greatest
elements ofwealth of any country.
Wheat and other similar articles
of produce and commerce consume
tier Darn rdiue by transportation
with wagon and team a distance
of a few hundred miles, while the
same article can be transported
several thousand miles by railroad
with profit. Railway transporta-
ton is the bes::, the safest, the
fastest and the cheapest, while
the means of transportation afford
ed at the present time to many
parts of the Duck River Valley
are OF the most primitive and OK
pensive kind.
The articles of produce in GER
tain parts Of the country to be
traversed by this projected rail.
road lose q proportion of their
value on account Of the limited
means of transportation, as the
market is only reached after ex.
pensive delay, while other parts
Of the country, connected with
railroad transportation, reach the
ma ket at once, whenever it is IA
vorable, and the most rapid trans
actions in commerce command
and determine all others.
Whenever q railroad is built,
capital, population and great COM
mercial enterprises sooner or later
.JoNo,C, when there is any induce
ment for Investment, and the price
of land generally rises at least so
per cent.
In this case, when the road
would pass over a bed of iron ore
for q distance of about 40 miles.
where furnaces have been in oper-
alton and have produced a very
superior quality of iron, which
iron manufacture was suspended
only OH account of great cost of
transportation, it is plain that cap
itaI will certainly be invested in
v,,cb f,,rpacrs and iron establish.