The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1872-02-16

s"S asV'Mp OSt ROua HAteuucOs
The specill report of. Hon. Josiah
Kirby. President OF tho Rock port and
Northern Ccidral Ilaiiro al, male in De-
ccmbcr and lately put in pamphlet form,
for general distribM,io,s. ,Wrskes such 4
clear pr'>cntatiom Oi' the ad van Ia gcs. n II
10 say actual neccssities. ofthe cons,ru =.
ton of this road 10 the commercial in.
terests of this city. that IL Mould seem
scarcely necessary 10 reiterate them.
let there are many of our leading mer-
chants who will perhaps never mud time
10 read the entire report, or may MOI
come into possession of II. For the ben
EFT of such. and with a desire 10 rcawak
en- the public attention 10 this enterprise.
we make brief resume Of President
kirby's argument. n
The original design Of this route en-
braccd the construction OF n Zine from
I.oogoo'ce. an the Ohio and Mississippi
Road. to lsorkpor. Carefn! inves,iga.
ton showed tic great dcsirability of an
extension of the line SO that il would
extend from Mitchell to,.Mt. Vernon,
Indiana, on the Ohio river.
This change" says Mr.. Kirby. "nc-
cessarily involves 4 much larger outlay
of money. which increases the estima-
ted cost Of the work. in round numbers.
rom Sl.onooOl to 1870. OOo;" bur. he
says. "thIs Increased cost. however lnryc
II may seem. Is not to be considered for
moment in comparison with the cx-
traordinarv advantages to be gained. as
the line from Rockport to Looyootee
would Of necessity be exclusively local.
while the addition Of Mitchell and MI
vernon open up in connection with the
ONO and Mississippi Road. two trunk
lnes from Cincinnati to the lower Ohio.
ut Rockport and Mt. Vernon, and form
connections with important roads as
well as the river, at both of these
points" $3.50
The report then goes into detailed
statement of the additional cost of this
extended line. and also an elaborate es-
timafe, based first on the probabilities
OF trade..and nextson facts and figures
rollated from the financial reports of
other roads. to show that this road woulI
prove pccuninarily profitable invest
'nent, over and beyond its general ont
come of advantage to the trade of the
city.
President Kirby devotes much space
III MS report to remarks upon the min
eral wealth of the section which would
be rendered accessible by the contem-
plated road. A map attached TO the re-
port, and marked and lettered by Pro-
lessor Cox, State Gco!ogist of Indiana
shows that almost the entire face of Tho
country traversed by the road has un
mistakablc evidences of an immense
coal field. which has only TO be worked
to be made profitable and abundantly
reward the laborer for his industry. as
well as to yield never ending business
TO the road.
but the most interesting feature of the
subject. and the one to which Mr.. Kirby
calls special attention. is that both lines
from Mitchell to Rockport. and from
Jasper TO Mt. Vernon. run over and
within convenient working distance oil
the most extensive deposits of the cclc-
brated Indiana block coal" of whic,
PROT. Cox says, in recent Letter.
that It IS the most valuable fuel in
me world for manufacturing iron and
That the attention Of English capita,
has been recently attracted To this i'm
portant mineral il a mltter of record IN
history.
In order to accomplish this work in
IT'S extended and enlarged shape Mr..
nirov anu his Directors now appeal to
lhe merchants. manufacturers. and capi
lallsts OF this CITY to subscribe an addi-
llonal sum Of $50OOO to the carital 81
the road. The sum asked ia SO disnro.
10 the very evident adyanta-
yes sure to accrue from the construction
of the route, that it would seem need
less TO urge a prompt response to the
request. There are more than five hnn.
nred mercantile and manufacturing es-
tablishments In this city, each or anv
one OF which would think it q mere
bagatelle to expend a thousand dollars
out Of hand in an effort to secure snch
an amount, of trade as this line would
bring to this city. II does not apnear
possible, even considering the proverb-
'al tardiness and conservativencss of orr
people, that this appeal will meet with
neglect. A thorough and systematic
OF the report among those
iirectly Interested should be made i'm
and this distribution should
DC followed, after lapse Of time suffi-
'ient Tor the careful reading Of the PAM
phiet, by the presentation Of the SUBJ
scription papers. = Cincinnati Times and
Chronicle.