Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1880-04-29
5,50O,OO0 tons. In 1860 it had incresed

$500, 900 tons In 1869 it had incresed
to l2,500,000 tons, and in 1878 it
reached 20,600,000 tons. The tonnage of
vessels entered at the port of Now York
increased in the same proportion. In 1860
it was 1,860,000;.in 1868, 100000 and
in 1879, 6,661,S25 tons. Tie imports
and exports of New York City for tho
same periods were as follows: In 1860,
1854, 600, 900; in 1870, $504, 900 900, and
in 1879, S653,000,0OO.
Philadelphia was tho next Atlantic city
to tap tho Western reservoir, and wo ac-
cordiDgly find that tho tonnage of vessels
entered at that port gradually increased
from 15G, 900 tons in 1858, to 278,0O0
in 1868, and 1,315,649 tons in 1879,
whilo tho import and export trade kept
paco with tho tonnage In 1860 it
amounted to s2O,OOO,OOO; in 1870 to
s3l 800, 900, aud in 1870, to ST., 100000
Baltimore was the next in the race, aud
having overcome all difficulties and pushed
her splendidly equipped roads across tho
mountains, rapidly gained on her next door
rival. We lind that tho tonnage of Balti-
more, which had fallen off during the war
from 225,000 tons in 1861 to SO, 900 tons
in 1865, rose again quickly, and was ZIG,
600 tons in 1868, 559,00O tons in 1874,
and l,374,6 tons in 1879. The imports
and exports advanced FROM SS,50O,00O in
1860 to s34 100000 in 1870, s57 100000
in 1875, aud ST. 500, 900 in 1879.
Boston has been the last of our Atlantic
ports to reap tho benefit of Western trade.
Shut out by an almost impossible barrier,
Boston began moro than thirty years ago,
to cut her way through mountains that
could neither be surmountcd nor passed
around. Only within the Inst three years
has she completed her masterpiece Of cus-
nccring skill, the lIoosao Tunnel, but
already sho has felt the effect of her pcrse-
verancc. The tonnage which had remained
almost stationary for over twenty years
being 70S, 800 tons in 1856 and $4,000
in 1877, suddenly began TO improve,
reaching 033, 900 in 1878, and 1,l37 900
i'll 1879. The import trade of Boston so
far shows no Improvements, remaining about
$40, ,000,00 per annum. Tho export trade
| already feels the effect of the new conncc-
ton. From sl3, 100000 in 1860 it de-
clined to $1,000 in 1870, but roso to
$50, 100000 in 1875 and S4S,000,000 in
1870.
The figures we -havo giveu demonstrate
the vast profit sure to be enjoyed by porls
which: have direct and independent through
lines to the West, and it is not indispensable
that the new routes seeking Western bust.
ness should be powerful enough to deprive
established lines of their traffic There is
room for all. There is is room for ul. The
five great trunk roads 10 tho United States,
with the Eric Canal aud the Canada
Southern are inadequate to tho demands of
the Western trade and unable to carry
Eastward as rapid and regularly as is dcsi-
rablc tho surplus produce of the West.
The difficulty will increase, if the accom-.
modations be not enlarged. Tho land now
under cultivation bears but small proper
to the area still in q state of nature, and
with steady and increasing immigration
from Europe and the Eastern States Of the
Union, 1t is not cxtravagant to assume that
the products of the West will moro than
double in amount during the next twenty
years. What has been done is shown in
tho following figures: The production of
corn in tho Sta,es West of the Mississippi
in 1S49 was 5,250,000 bushels; in 1850,
100000 bushels; in 1869 $4,000, 900,
and in 1877 l52,000,000 bushels. Twen-
ty-fivc years ago no railroad had been com.
pleted from the scaboard to that river. In
1875 there were thirteen railroad bridges
crossing the river, North Of St. Louis,
which had been built at cost of over
$40 5000, 1000, and in that year 1914, 1854
tons of freight crossed those bridges going
East. In 1878 3,554,S39 tons crossed in
tho same direction, showing an increase in
three years of over 100000 tons a year.
Let us sec what this annual increase
would do for one oity on the scaboard,
should it get the whole of it. 1t would
give it ten trains of forty cars, caoh car
carrying ten tons of freight every day for
three hundred days, or 1000 each day
and would require four vessels of ono thou
sand tons cycry day to remove it.
Is not this prize worth striving for?
Shall Charleston remain inactive while
every other city and port on tho Atlantic
and Gulf is making tho most strenuous
efforts to obtain it?
There is now favorable opportunity for
the construction of additional lines Of com
munication, and there arc special reasons
why the great West now looks more keenly
than ever to tho ports of the South Atlantic
coast.
From Alabama to Virginia, distance of
more than 400 miles, only ono line of rail.
road connected tho railroad systems of the
Northwest and the Southeast. 1t is a
necessity to the different combinations now
forming for the development Of Western
and Southern business That there should be
at least ono other line of railroad connecting
the West with the South Atlantic. Unless
this be had, each and every Western line
,p1, :to .....