Smyrna times., 1879-09-24
The Peach and Railroad.

The last peaches this week will find their wav
to market and the hurry and hustle at the boat
landings and railroad depots be in o measure
over. IL has been busy year for the rail-
roads aside from peaches (as in comparison
with the several years previOus) and the
amount Of commerce carried over our trunk
line of the Delaware Railroad has been quite
heavy. From the first of August until the
present time the work ON this road has been
prodlgious. Persons not familiar with the
massive work of the great corporations can
scarcely form an estimate in their minds of
the magnitude of the work in freight, figures,
rolling stock, &c. During the most of this time
this great corporation (for the production of the
Peninsula has so increased as to make it a
large, profitable and commanding enterprise)
has been running twelve peach trains, in addi-
ton to the regular passenger and freight trains
and carrying much of the time nearly 300 car
loads OF peaches per day. To be able to meet
the demand of the public from day to day for
such immense shipments required very large
outlays in rolling stock, and at very heavy
cost And 1t Is more to the credit of the
company that it was able to meet the heavy
daily demands in the face of the fact that the
yield OF fruit and consequently the demand
for cars was nearly double the estimates pre-
vious to the ripening of the crop. And, so far
as we have learned, not train was delayed
beyond the proper hour in reaching its desti-
nation and what Is equally as gratifying, not
an accident has ACQUIRED to one of these swift
freight trains. 1t stands greatly to the credit
| of Superintendent Mills that this vast COM
merce has thus been so successfully directed
without loss or accident and that too on a
single track. The profits of the road this year
have of course been large but, while the road
has been making piles of money for itself it
has been the means of hundreds and thousands
Of dollars returning to the pockets of our
farmers that might otherwise, but for the
| facilities the road afforded, have been empty.
The benefit of the road for travel and for
marketing our products are beyond disputa-
tion. There is Q question, however, between
the managers Of the corporation and our
producers in regard to the freight tariff that is
far from satisfactory to the shippers, Without
pretending to say what they should or should
not charge, experience has taught that the
corporations which make their rates such as
invite rather than prohibit traffic are the sue
cessful lines. The Railroad should be amply
paid, for they assume large risk; but if the
shipper is not also rewarded for his invest
ment time and labor he has no encourage
mspt to make for himself and per conse-
quenee-.the company
Wilson l., Cannon, Of Dover, returned a
week or so ago from trip to New York State
and Eastern Ohio. Mr.. 9, does not pass
through the world with his eyes shut, In his
observations and inquiries he learned, as he
told us ON his way home, that there was very
little difference in the railroad charges where
he had been and our road. with the exception
OF peaches, and, he might have added, timber
products. When he told them that our road
ran twelve fast lines of freight, containing
nearly 3lO car loads of peaches, each day they
were surprised that the road could do it. 1t
looked like the work of d western through line
local traffic.