Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-09-01
SOUTHERN RAILROADS,
'hicsgo Railway Age, August 3D.


Remarkable as have been the en- terprise and
energy displayed in railroad build ng in this
country in the last deca e, they have no where
been noe striking and commendable, con-
slder1ng the extraordinary circumstances,
than in that section constituting wi at are
commonly known as the twelve southern
States. In 1855, twenty-one ears ago, those
states, then in tie hight of their prosperity,
contained more miles of railroad than either
course, the Pacific states. For the next I've
years their progress was very rapid, and in
1850 the mileage had increased frum 1857 to
9l6z and, even then, nearly equaled that OF
the fifteen western states and Territories in
spite OF the vastly greaier area and superior
al Sntag ) OF the lstter. Then came the great
civil war, Transforming the souGh into q vast
battlefield, and laying a crushing weight
upon every form of enterprise and progress.
" nile the north was prosDering in spite OF,
and, indeed, as result of the war, and in five
years from the outbreak mad CON truct-d
near " 5000 miles of iron roads, the heavy
hand OF military pecess ty had seized the
railway system Of the south, and not only
was the work of cOnstruo ton almost absO-
lutely stopped, but the work OF destruc-
the contest ended in 1865, although few hun
dIed miles Of roads had nom1nalty been add
ed, almost the entire system of southern roads
was pract cally wreck. None who traversed
the war-harrs ssed regions in those ark years
will ever forget the spectacle Of ruin present.
ed at frequent intervals along the great high
ways; iron rails torn from Their places, twist.
ed and broken by IRE and hammer, and scat
tered In useless heaps along the way; ties,
Oh4NoEbS anu OS6b 70 CQarr6d rag
ments, or formless piles OF stones; embsnk-
ments leVeled, cuts filled with debris, wrecks
OF locomotives and cars strewn thickly along,
stationnouses in ruins, and all the vast m A.
GILL cry OF construction and transportation
destroyed. This upon the roads where the
tide OF war had ragged, and where, to one or
the other side, the interruption OF communi-
cation had become q military necessity. On
other roads, remote from The actual contest,
the ruin was almost as complete, Tor cons act
use all these years In the forced transports
u0n OF troops and munitions for one or the
other OF the contestants, wi h an almost en-
tire lack of the means of repairing the ex-
traordtnary wear and tear, anu an almost
complete Cessation of the ordina
business by which the lines had
been supported, had left the roads in
a fearfully dilapidated ana practically bank
rupL condition. So matters stood with the
southern railroads when peace returned. Mil
lions of dollars worth of their property and
ed, and moreover the finances and business Of
the entire south were lett so deranged that the
problem OF restoring the wrecked rail way sys
tenn was vastly more difficult of solution than
mat OF building 1t ali anew in ordinary tim %
would have been. However, the men OF the
south took up the task with a courage and
energy worthy of all praise. Railroads, and
more OF them, were lndi .penSable to the res
to-al1on OF the country, and not only did they
proc ed al once TO restore those that had been |
ruined but also 70 project and Dullu many |
more, and the figures to-day snow what ener- |
gy can accomplish IN spite OF the most ad- /
verse circumstances. We tal'e from the latest /
auihnrttg the follo Eing tabia. giving the rail-
road mileage OF each OF the southern states /
Just before the commencement of the war, at /
Its close, five years later than that, and last /