Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1875-01-20
OUR RAILROADS.
NnONVttlc's Duty-Some Facts Clearly
Ntated-KnoNViiIe Merchants
To the Editors Of the Chronicle:

Much has been written about "A rail-
road connection from Chitwood to
Knoxville. 1t is not TO the Interest of
Knoxville to have that connection |
made, IL would not bring her any |
trade, it would most likely take away |
some Wha Knoxville needs is /: |
First, connection or connections |
South, other than She has; second, |
improvement of the grades of the |
Knoxville and Ohio 'uad. One con-
nection South size will have in less |
than two years, via the French Broad
River railroad, Asheville and Spartan
burg. She w'll also have another con-
necIiOn East aud North 10y the same
road from Asheville to salisbury and
Norfolk. The Carolina Central will
also complete their line so a. TO con-
meet to Asheville, giving a connection
to Wilmington. The connection she
should now have is mp the Little Ten
nessee river to Clayton, Ga. She can
accomplish this 10y buying the Knox
Vile and Charleston railroad and com
pleting it to the North Carolina Line.
If she would do this the owners of the
Blue Ridge Railroad would meet them
there. 1t may be said that the Knox
vile and Charleston road Is sold. 1t
Is not. Gov. Brown, or some one else,
has given certain parties an option on
it for two years by their paying 81 900.
Had he any right to do this? Is such
an option legal? If the option-hold.
ers, in the meantime, can sell out for
a handsome profit, then they pay the
State; If not they do not lose IA cent,
for they can make the 81 900 out of the
road, while for two yeeTs the State
may be kept out of sale of the road
to legitimate operators for its price of
500 600 in bonds, and lose SD 600 of
interest on those bonds.
1t is the duty of the city of Knox
VILE to buy this X and G. road, and
| then say To the Amsterdam owners of
the Blue Ridge road, I'VE will build
| this road to the North Carolina line, if
! you will meet us there And the re-
spouse will be, ave will meet you"
II may be said, of what value will n
connection with Knoxville, alone, be
! to these men or their road ? The towns
and cities of Georgia took in 1873
over forty thousand tons of coal from
! the mines on the X. and .. railroad.
That trade has beengreatly crippled 10y
the opening of the Dade Mines, thus
nearer to the market. This connec-
ton would put Coal Creek ahead of
them as to all East Georgia, and would
develop new market in south Caro-
lima, and even into North Carolina. A
business of 100 900 tons of coal could
be made to pass over the road, more
than enough To employ one train day
for 300 days, If that train consisted of
90 cars aud each car held 10 tons,
which with the regular local trade,
would make scene of activity around
Coal Creek greatly in contrast with
the present deserted air which per-
vaGes the holes piercing those hills of
wealth. Again, ii is well known
fact, that South Carolina, of all South
ern States, does least to produce her
own food. Thus the grain of Upper
East Tennessee, instead of coming in
competition with the Western grain
at Chattanooga would find market
at Knoxville at higher rates because it
could reach Augusta, Macon and Col
umhia, with less cost of freight. The
source of supply of hundreds of these
little towns would be Knoxville instead
of now from New York via. Charleston
and Savannah. East Tennessee
sends to Georgia over 1000 600 bushels
of grain. Full three-fourths of this
could be turned to South Carolina and
East Georgia by the Knoxville and
Blue Ridge road. This is forty i've
thousand tons-enough TO keep anoth-
er lot of trains of twenty cars each
running for full two hundred days. |
shall not lengthen this with statistics
showing that this can be done--that ii
is question of distances and railroad
construction, and that instead of grain
going down the river, as now, 1t would
come up to Knoxville, and fiat boats
from Clinch and POwells rivers would
stop at Clinton. Nor need | speak OF
the series of immense beds
of magnetic and specular iron ore on
the line of the Blue Ridge railroad in
North Carolina. Ask Mr.. Richards,
of the Knoxville Iron Company, if he
would not gladly take at least thirty
tons week of them. Nor need | al
Jude to veins of copper ore as rich
as any at Duck town, nor of pasture
lands which would furnish thousands
of cattle for the South. | have before
me letter from private gentleman
, of high scientific attainments, not u
speculator in any sense, who says
1.-THE immensely of the magnetic iron
ore deposits on the Little Tennessee
surprise me; the copper ores far ex'
coed my hope, and have seen silver.
lead ores of great richness"
Now, sirs, Knoxville needs no road
across the mountains TO get coal; she
taps the very heart in excellence and
quantity of that article at Coal Creek
= Her merchants do not need it to get
goods cheaper; they are themselves
importers, and she is VIGOROUSLY the
} best dry goods market in the South
t actually selling thousands of dollars
worth which go past Atlanta. She
4 simply needs better communication
with those markets, more direct than
) now-nO roundabout ways. II.
Schools in Cooke Comfy.
Cooke COUNTY, Jan. ~.