The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-03-10


MARION COUNTY, Miss, FEB, %, 1880.
EDITORS CLARION Permit me 70 lntilct
upon you a communication from the Piney
woods of South Mississippi, upon the subs
iect of the Ship Island Rail Road. / see by
the newspapers that there has been little
talk upon the subject sincethe meeting of the
legislature but / am fearful that the mat
ter will end there. This has been the case
for the last thirty years, and nothing practis
cal has been done yet. In 1886 some inter
est was taken in the matter through the ace
ton of the Legislature. At that time dos
nation of land WAS secured from the General
Government, an appropriation made and
very impracticable survey made. l say im~
practible from the fact that the proper route
was not taken in large portion ofthe survey
and such is the case with the survey of the
Vicksburg anu Ship Island Rail Road. The
old route from jackson to Mississippi CITY
is the grandest rOad-bed in the State, and is
unsurpassed in the whole South for the con-
struction of a Rail Road, and is the one that
should be adopted. The Nicksburg and
Ship Island Road is a chimera and will new
er be built. 1t may be built Us far as the
Chicago, Saint Louis and New Orleans Road
and become a feeder to that road, but will
never go to Ship Island. The whole length
of the line fIom Jackson to Mississippi City
on the proper route does not exceed one huns
dred and seventy-five miles to connect the
Capital of the State with best harbor in the
| Gulf of Mexico. and it being the first deep
water which can be reached by the Southern
| Pacific Rail Road. Ship Island has advan-
tages over New Orleans that cannot be
overlooked. II is natural to be supposed
that that the latter city will use influence
and money to defeat the building of this
road rs heretofore, aud Mississippians must
expect to meet and combat them. 1t is fol-
| ly for east and West Mississippians to sup
/ pose that this road will not be of any prac-
| tical benefit to them. 1t will be a compet-
| tive line with the other lines running to
| New Orleans and Mobile, and will cheaUen
freight tariffs on these roads, besides deliver
ing cotton at point that will have the same
advantages over New Orleans that the lat-
ter city has over Galveston and Mobile to-
wit; better shipping facilities and deeper
water with no tOwage, and if New Orleans
and Mobile make money by handling the
cotton crop of Mississippi, why cannot a
city of her own with all the advantages be-
longing to Ship Island prosper? And in
addition to all this, look at the large amount
of capital that would flow into the
State from the building of this road. No
place in the South offers better locations for
factories than this road would from Month
cello to the point where the road would leave
the river a distance of fifty miles There
are seven as fine water powers there is in
the State, with any amount of Yellow Pine.
Hickory, White Oak, Maple, Ash and Beech,
besides other hard timber too numerous to
mention, in inexhaustible quantities, in the
midst of productive lands capable Of produ-
cling cotton, corn, peas, potatoes, rice, fruits
and vegetables. The lands from Monticello
to Jackson are too well known to need anv
comment from me. From the point where
the road would leave Pearl river to Missis-
sippi City is an unbroken Pine belt unsur-
passed for lumber turpentine and tar, bv
any region in the South. | will venture TO
say that the road from Jackson can be built
one-third cheaper than any other road or
route that has been proposed. / speak from
personal knowledge of the country through
which they must pass and a route can be
found from Pearl river to the seacoast that
Railroad can be constructed upon. for
one fourth less than the estimate for the old
jackson and Ship Island or the Vicksburp
and Ship Island survey, and / will take
great pleasure in pointing it out to any one
DESTROYS OF seeing the same / have writ
ten this to bring the subject to your atten-
ton, and hope that the Legislature will do
something for the promotion of this impor-
tant enterprise Very respectfully, yours,
j. NJ. FORD.