Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-07-05
TEXAS PACIFIC RAILROAD.
The Work that Thomas a. Scott has
Undertaken-The Original Scheme
Of Hon. Jefferson Devils.

Vi noHs JeGtIsOu UEfIss
Forney's Shreveport Letter to Philadelphia
At this gateway Of the grandest mate
rial enterprise of this or any age, let me
give the general reader an idea Of the
work undertaken by Colonel Thomas A.
Scott and his associates. 1.-THE Texas
and Pacific Railway COMPANY" finds
J finished to its hands sixty-six miles Of
railroad, from Shreveport, on Red river,
to Longview, Upshur county, Texas,
which IS doinga good freight and pas
senger business. This is the line here
tof0re known as the Southern Pacific,
T and extends from Marshall, Texas,
, through a magnificent region, to Fl
Paso del Norte, near the boundary be-
tween the United States and Mexico,
thence 10 the junction Of ella and Colo
! RADIO rivers OF the West at Fort Yuma,
aud thence to the magnificent harbOr OF
San Diego, on the Pacific coast, which
Is land-locl,ed, and large enough for one
I, thousand vessels to ride at ease on it,
bosom. There is another branch, the
Transcontinental, which begins at Tex
arkana, in the county of Lafayette,
Texas, ten miles west Of Fulton, Akan-
sas, and extends through q fertile region
Of country to Fort Worth, in the county
of Tarrant, Texas, where it joins the
main line above described, and the two
together pursue the route to the Pacific
on the thirty-second parallel.
Colonel Scott and his chief engineer
have been continually occupied during
our trip of five thousand miles since we
left Philadelphia consulting maps, lay
ing out routes, providing for materials,
workmen, etc, so that when he reaches
Marshall, the threshold OF his work, he
win give his orders clearly. Colonel II.
G. Stebbins, Vice-President Of the COM
pany, is 10Y in London, negotiating the
first loan, which under the prestige at
tending this grand scheme, will be easily
secured.
CONSOLIDATION.
By uniting the two lines referred to,
chartered by the State Of Texas, and by
Congressional enactment included under
the title of "The Texas and Pacific
Colonel Scott secures all the lands and
bonds voted to the said Texas roads by
the State OF Texas, equal in value to
over twenty million of dollars. This is
exclusive of the subsidies OF Congress Of
public lands in the Territories, between
El Paso, in Texas, and San Diego, Cal
ifornia.
The distance from the eastern bound
AIRY Of Texas to San Diego is about six
teen hundred miles, or, including the
TranscOntinental road and its branches
from Texarkana to Marshall, about
nineteen hundred miles. There are no
engineering difficulties Of any kind TO
be met with; there is no practical diff
Guilty in regard to fuel or water, and the
country presents more facilities for the
construction of a railroad than a be
found on a line of equal length on the
Western Continent. Comparing the
different estimates of cost Of this line,
and comparing all the estimates with
the estimated cost Of all the other roads
in the United States, there can be no
doubt that this road can be constructed
in a first-class manner and thoroughly
equipped for business at a cost, as before
stated, not exceeding forty thousand
dollars Of bonded debt per mile. To aid
in the construction of this road, the
United States has made q grant Of its
lands in the Territories Of New Mexico
and Arizona and the State Of California,
in all not less than fifteen million acres,
in alternate sections, along the route Of
said road.
A GOOD THING.
Besides this development of business
is the actually existing business await
ing transportation, and already adverted
to, in Texas, chihuahua, Sonora, New
Mexico, Arizona and California. Mr..
Greeley, who travelled extensively in
Texas in 1871, estimates that in 1880 she
will have a population Of two millions,
and that her industry and enterprise will
have far outstripped the increase Of pop
ulatiOn. It is estimated that at least one
hundred thousand emigrants have az
rived within her borders during the past
year, and that there will be shipped
from the Red river country alone, during
the present year, seventy-five thousand
head Of cattle, seven hundred and fifty
thousand pounds of beef, one hundred
thousand pounds of tallOw with hides,
two hundred and twenty-five thousand
bales Of cotton, and large quantities of
wool, and that the receipts from all
sources will not be less than fifty mill
lion dollars.
ROUTE TO INDIA.
OF the through trade between Califor-
MIA and the Atlantic, and the trade and
traffic Of the Eastern Continent, this
road, from its superior advantages al
ready adverted to, must inevitably Sc
cure a large proportion. The gross earn
nings Of the Union Pacific and the Cen
trail Pacific railways combined, for187I,
the second year OF their through bust
ness, as officially reported, amounted to
seventeen million two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, Of which amount six
ty-ive per cent. was local business,
mainly created by the railroad itself,
and about dfty-three per cent, or nearly
nine millions and a half Of the above
sum, was net profit W. operating Nex-
penses. An equal revenue on the Texas
Pacific, estimating its total cost at say
seventy-hve million dollars, would give
a return Of yer twelve per cent, as
the net earnings and the amounts will
expand in an over-increasing ratio as
the country is settled and its resources
developed.
But s~uperadded to all is the m%unifieent
contribution of lands by the govern
ment, the general character Of which is
such as to secure their ready sale, and
the proceeds o. sales, of which in the
terms of the mortgage, are devoted to
the payment of interest on the bonds
and the purchase OF the bonds them
selves, the latter Of which features, it is
believed, will put the bonds at par as
soon IS the company itself shall be
able, from the sales of land, to announce
itself as a purchaser Of its own bonds.
Judging from the experience Of other
companies in the sale of government
lands, the inference is fairly warranta-
bic that the value Of the lands them
selves will be amply sufficient to build
and equip the entire road, thus doubling
tho anaTTrifU for tho M xruoan4 - Tho
bonds.
The Union Pacific Railroad Company
during the year 1870 sold 294, OO0 acres
Of land, at an average Of "a 46 per acre
81, 81 ,240. At a like rate per acre, the
100000 acres of the Texas and Pacific
Railway Company would produce $751;
900, 600.
MAGNIFICENT SCHEME.
l have now given you an outline of
the last project with which Colonel
Scott is identified. Its magnitude is al
most beyond comprehension; its prose-
cutiOn and completion worthy Of the
loftiest ambition. Needless for me to
say that our young and daring leader
looks to no pecuniary reward. That he
has already secured. He now aspires to
the higher object of reuniting North and
South in the bonds Of increasing COM
merce and lasting peace.
JEFFERSON DAVIS AND TOM SCOTT.
How mysterious are the ways of Prov
idence! A little more than twenty
years ago. when Thomas A. Scott was an
humble subordinate in the employ of
the Pennsylvania Central railroad, JEFF |
fersOn Davis was a Senator in Congress
from Mississippi and Franklin Pierce a
candidate for President. Scott voted
for Pierce, and the latter, elected in No
vember of 1852, made Jefferson Davis
his Secretary of War, March 4, 1883.
One of the FIST steps Of the latter was to
order a survey Of the Territories to find