The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1875-11-12

glance the I0nte Of the proposed narrow
gauge Railroad from Emporia to Arkansas
City, came forward and said he had of
late gwen much attention to the subject
OF narrow gauge railroads, but in quiet
way, as there hal been at various times
so much talk about railroads here, that he
had determined not to do any such talk
ing unless it was in advocacy OF some
evidently feasible plan. EInporia h d
the name of great railroad talking town,
and he did not wish to do any talking
that did not result in anything. EmpO-
ria had been too much divided in opinion.
Find that :own which, however much its
citizens differed in their opinions In re-
gard to political or religious or social
questions, always united its resources and
efforts whenever its financial interests
We're at stake, and such a town was al
ways q success-always progressive, and
prosperous. 1t Is time for Emporia TO
adopt this policy, to let the dead past
bury its dead, to unite on something and
make 1t success. The enterprise of
building railroad into the Walnut Val
ley had been attempted before and a
company was organized for that purpose,
but the panic of 1878 and the succeeding
failure of crops had knocked the company
Oh the head. But our time for action has
come again. The Walnut Valley is to
have railroad soon. The interests of
that Valley are with Emporia. Their
business connections now are largely with
Us. Their social acquaintance is with us.
Their trade will come here if 1t can. They
have crops this season that they cannot
market until they get "a railroad. One
man in that section has harvested 400
acres of wheat, and has not the teams to
use TO haul it to market. They want q
railroad from EmpOria to give them q
competing line Here they reach COM
peIing lines to the East. The president
OF the A. +. ~ 5. F. railroad had been
down in the Walnut Valley for week
talking up branch of that road from Ce-
dar Point. The interest of that company
is to prevent a railroad being built out
from EmpOria. 1t makes unfair discrim-
nations against EinpOria because Empo-
ria seeKs to compete with its monopoly.
The speaker had almost given up hopes
Of seeing railroad built from Emporia to
the Southwest, but having within few
months looked carefully into the narrow
gauge railroad system, his hopes had re-
Yived. Referring to the map, he pointed
out that from Emporia to Wichita by the
A. +. d $. +. road is 100 miles, but via
Augusta only 81 miles. II railroa be
built from Emporia down the Walnut. in-
stead or the people of Butler county
hauling their grain to Wichita for ship
lnent, the people of Sedgwick will haul
theirs to Augusta. The railroad
OF the future is the narrow
gauge. He had lately returned from a
trip through Illinois, where he found
town after town organizing to build mar
row gauge roads. That State is to be
honeycombed with the narrow gauge
system, He met on one train the Presi-
cent Of the Cairo narrow gauge, who told
him that last year his road cleared 20 per
cent. over all expenses, The times were
never so favorable rs now to commerce
railroad building. The cost OF nearly all
material is % to iOO per cent less tn n
three years ago. Iron alone makes q OF
the expense OF railroad building, and iron
now costs 100 per cent. less than it did
| live years ago. A. L. & s. +. rails are
now delivered ut Kansas City ut SI3 per
ton, and 1T the mills at S43 to $40. The
old price was S05. Cars, locomotives, are
all cheap now. A contract has recently
been made for 80 engines of So tons each
ut 5000 apiece. lie fully believed that
EmpOria and the Walnut Valley could
now build a railroad. The great burden
OF our present railroads Is their bonded
debt. One railroad in Kansas, the MO.
River, Fort Scott 4 Gulf, is bonded for
$5d, 900 per mile, and those bonds are not
worth ceLts on the d liar. A narrow
gauge can pay OF debt that broad
gauge cannot pay on the same business.
And u narrow gauge can do ali the bus
mess that is TO be done. Its average ca
pacity of transportation is from 1000 to
200 tons per mile per year. No railroad
In Kansas has been called on TO do any
such amount OF business. The average
they do Is 700 tons per mile per year. In
regard to the cost of building a narrow
gauge road from EmpOrIo to Arkansas
City there was, Of course, some guess
work in his estimates, and some estimates
were certainties. 1t would take an acttl-
al survey TO calculate all the items with
exactuess. But he felt sure that the to-
tai cost need not be over $1,000 per mile.
Iron is the heavy item. Grading on the
A. T. b ,. f. extension from Los Animas
TO Pueblo had been done at IL cents per
yard, one-half in cash and one-half in
county and township bonds. or course
there is much less grading on a narrow
than on broad gauge road bed. A mar
row gauge tie is 81 feet long and moi
much larger tnan = stick of good fir.
wood, and broad gauge tie is X to
feet long, with six inch face. The tim.
Der Of this country is large enough fol
narrow gauge ties. The difference be
tween the iron and steel rails is that tn,
steel rails are the cheapest. The bes
narrow gauge rails weigh, IL of iron, 8
, pounds to the foot, and IL of steel, % lbs,
and the additional cost per pound Of stee
rails is more than made up by their de
, creased weight. Besides a set of stee
rails last as long rs three sets Of iroi
/, rails. Locomotives for narrow gaug
; roads are now offered at s., 200 each. Ey
, erything costs less than for . broad gauge
4 A narrow gauge costs only half to opeF
! ate It that . broad guage docs. Even II
cost as much to build, it is worth oVvbin
/, after IL is built. A narrow gauge we ca
: carry freight at cost Of 4 mills per to
!, per mile. aud broad costs to II mill.
The broad gauge roads are so expensiv
that they cannot charge much less tina
they 90 and pay expenses.
The speaker had always looked upo
Z county raiiro I'd bonds as a free gift
= the roads. as their stock had prove
l. worthless, but narrow gauge raIlroa
It stock will lie gooI. because 1t can pa
niYidends. A = arrow ganye raiIrna