The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-10-26
OUR IRON
Il GREAT SCHEME FOR Il NARROW
GAUGE COAST LINE.

| Shortening tho Time Charles
tom and New York by Eighteen Hours
"A Magnificent Proj.ct-Win It Pay'
IFlom the Wilmington %Journal.1
There has been duly chartered In North
| Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia three
| railroad companies, and to them have been
| granted powers of consolidation. The parties
interested have agreed substantially on the
| terms and conditions of merging and consoli-
| dating, as was originally Intended; and they
propose to build what practically may be re.
gsrded a seaboard railroad, on the narrow
gauge plan, from Norfolk, Va, to Charles.
ton, 8. c., via Wilmington, N. C. This line
will pass through the eastern counties OF
| North Carolina, and the counties of Horny,
| GEORGETOWN and Charleston In South Carroll.
ma. The movement is Of great local value
and Importance to the sections through
| which the line will pass. Eastern North. Car.
ollna is now and has always been exceedingly
isolated, with meagre means Of ingress and
egress. The country is rich and productive,
the resources large and Important 1t Ia
thickly settled, and the population, as a
whole, is advancing and productive, espe-
clally through the representative elements
OF it. They have heretofore, however, had
very insufficient means Of communication,
have been TO q great extent cut OF
from the most expeditions lrnes ot"intercourse,
and been deprived ofqaicE access to the lead.
ing business, centres and markets, and 80 far
as we can Judge greatly need some rapid,
reliable, frequent and cheap means oticommu-
nication with, so to. speak, the outside world.
The same condition of. affairs exists TO a greater
or leRs extent Id the counties In South Caro-.
lima through which the proposed, what we
may term, Seacoast Railroad will pass, only
North Carolina. Hence we take IL the people
in these sections will be- Interested In learning
1t is proposed to open up an outlet through
their counties, furnishing facilities far beyond
what they now enjoy, the throwing open Of
their valuable lands for use, culture and profit,
the affordiDg to them OF all modern adVan.
tages In the transportation of freights and
passengers, the benefits of telegrsphlc com.
munIcatlop, and the very many other benefits
and profits which usually result from putting
q comparatively isolated country. which Ia in
trinsicaliy OF great natural wealth, resources
and consequence, in quick. active, business
contact; with the Important markets Qf the
country. The advantages also TO the terminal
and Intermediate cities and towns will be very
welghty and Important. - ~.
The proposed railroad is of Importance also
as a through route, shortening, as It will very
materially, distances between salient points
and leading cities, and expediting and cheap
ening as 1t may the rates on 1reights and pas
aengers. 1t is the purpose of those Interested
to extend their line from Norfolk north by
rail, crossing the Chesapeake Bay at OF, near
dimensions for the service, carrying the en-
tire train over, as was formerly done ct Havre
de Grace, between Baltimore and Phlladel-
phia.i at the Susquehanna River. As q through
route. this would shorten the time between
W~Ilmingtoniand New York over the present
rail- Z schedule time of some ten TO twelve
hours, cay the half of q business day; and
from Charleston TO New York OF sorne sixteen
TO eighteen hours, practically probably the
whole Of q business day.; IL is further expect
ed to extend the route from Charleston south.
This new railroad project Is further inter-
estiug and important in two other respects,
and give It q national and general value. The
first Of these points liz, 1t will demonstrate the
fact that land transportation under the mar
Quoted 10 more than successful competition
with ocean coast navigation, especially when
insurance and time are also considered. This.
fact will be one Of universal Interest, as having
q further general bearing on land and water
transportation-two very Important SUBJECTS
Is the enterprise, when eventually and finally
completed, will connect all the leading sea-
ports OF the Atlantic within Its route, by the
shortest rail route. In case Of foreign. inva-
sion OF this country this line of railroad would
assume q national Importance az AN element
Of protection. There s now even,n0rail COM
munlcatIon of any kind with many vulnerable
points or. the coast. The imporiance oil. this
point was clearly shown In the case of the
State of South Carolina, by the Savannah and
Charleston Railroad, In the late war.
The SURVEYS and location of the road from
Norfolk to Charleston will be commenced
early. From what we can gather, The parties
Interested are active. and mean work. They
have already spent a considerable amount Of
money on The undertaking, which Is one of
the best evidences they are 10 earnest. The
company is composed of Southern gentlemen
of character and strength, along the line, and
ofNorttern gentlemen Of capital n railroad
experience. The organization, we learn, Is
complete, and there Is q tull corps of officers,
with an executive committee with full power
to act 1t ts their purpose TO move as .expe-
ditiouslyi and, as early ,ss possible. and there is
reasonable assurance, we hear, the work
when commenced viii be prosecuted vigor-
ously, We understand further the parties in-
terested propose now. shortly TO canvass the
section through which the road wilt runito
ascertain If. the eight OF way be had free,
whether they can obtain any land grants from
persons who might be benefited by the con-
strucLion Of the road, and further, to learn
what aid and subscriptions they might rely on
and obtain from individuals, counties and
cities along the route. -,
It is proposed to bnild, as above remarked,
q narrow gauge road (three feet gauge.) The
public are under the lmpression that the mar
row gauge, system OF railroads ID only snita-
BILE for branch lines, or sparsely settled SEQ
tIons; that they ara only useful as feeders.
This Is q great error. The narrow gauge
railroad (three feet gaugebls fully competent
and suitable in each and all respects TO a runk
or through line. It can maintain speeds OF
forty miles per hour with: perfect safety. This
is the highest practical working speed adopted
In this Or any other country as q matters Of
regular business. The usual speed on The
wider or four feet eight and One.halfinches or
Eve feet gauges, (these are known as the or
binary wide gauge roads 10 this country i3
from twenty 10 thirty-ave miles per hour. In
freight capacity they are equal, ifnot superior,
to the present wider gauge system OF roads.
Their freight cars will carry from two TO three
lime their W weight while the wider
gauge freight ears carry but as much only as
their own weight. In comfort to the passen-
ger the narrow gauge has the same orna-
mentatIon and elegance and ~conveniences as
the passenger car on The wider gauge road,
while In sitting room they give him more
SQUARE inches than does the ordinary wider
gauge cars. But above all, and of far greater
import, (adding, however, The above features,)
is the fact that narrow gauge roads, land by
this we wish to be understood az meaning
the three feet gauge road,) can be built for
about sne-hali the money or cost OF the wider
gauge roads, land by this expression We mean
the roads whose, gauges are either four feet
eight and q half Inches, or i've feet, those
hainr tho nnmm0n pQuOpe \ and mot 0Olv fhia