St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1880-07-31
Louisiana Railways.
THE MORGAN COMPANY PUSHING THEIR
WORK FORWARD IN WEST LOUISIANA
THE VARIOUS LINES Projected.
IN. o. Picayune, July 27th.l

called upon George Pandely, Esq, Su-
perintendent of the Morgan Railroad,
for the purpose OF ascertaining all the
facts Of Importance to the public con-
corning the completion Of the railroad
from New Orleans to Houston, and
other matters relative to the proposed
road from Eermilionville to Alexandria.
Mr.. Pandely stated that the managers
of the Louisiana Western Road from
Vermilion to Orange give assurance
that this line will be completed by the
list of September. AS is well known,
there is a gap of few miles only to be
completed, when the road will be con
tnuOus from this city to Houston, the
Morgan Road extension having been
open for traffic and travel for several
weeks from Morgan City to Nermillon-
vile, distance OF sixtyfour miles.
Relative to the proposed line from
Vermilionville to Alexandria, Mr.. Pan
dely said he would clleerfully answer
every question relating thereto, as the
Morgan Company had no secrets to
withhold either upon this or any other
question of a public nature or under
taking.
A contract has been entered into by
the Morgan Company for the completion
OF the road from NermiliOnvllle to
Opelousas, distance of 81 miles by the
LIST of September. OF these 81 miles, II
are already finished and the grading for
the remaining nine miles is completed,
' thus making favorable showing fol
fultillment of the contract within the
time specified.
The Morgan Company has furthermore
perfected all arrangements for the I'M
mediate extension Of their road from
hnalltnSnc n q mint miles havnnI
Alexandria, on Red River. According
to a contract between Mr.. Chas. A.
Whitney, President OF the Morgan Com
pany, and Mr. Chester GriswOld, Vice
President of the Albany and Rensselaer,
Iron and Steel Company, this latter is
to deliver to the former 5000 tons of
Bessimer steel rails during the months
of September, October, November and
December 1880, and January 1881, to-
gether with all the fasteniDgs necessary
for the construction Of the railroad from
Opelousas to Alexandria.
A corps OF engineers, under Messrs.
Rogers and Ballintine, are already In
the field locating the line which the Nor
gan Company are DESTROYS of locating on
tue east side of the town of Washington
and on the east bank of Bayou Bpuf.
A land agent follows the corps of engin-
GERS, for the purpose of obtaining rights
of way Of one hundred feet i'll breadth.
for the proposed road, a large number
of which have already been granted, and
the people Of Washington, st. Lam
dry parish, have taken upon themselves
to furnish to the railroad all depot
sites in that town, and the right of way
from OpelOusas to Washington.
1t depends solely upon the land
owners whether or not the road will be
located on the east bank of Bayou BGuf.
From the grants already received, the
company is glad. to note that there is a
warm feeling towards the project, but
the Morgan Company will positively
not break ground until such time as
reasonable concessions of rights OF way
shall have been granted. It's proposed
that the road from Opelousas to Wash
ington be completed and in running or
der by the 10th Of October. This dis
tance is only six miles but some very
heavy work is required to be done.
The road from Washington to
Holmesville distance of 81 miles, will
be in running order in January 1881,
and the road from Holmesville, Avoy-
Giles parish to Alexandria, a distance Of
ming order by the close of March, 1881.
The only possible drawback to this is
an epidemic, or delay in the delivery
of cross ties, as, although the country
is very broken between Opelousas and
Washington, there is a level sward
from Washington to Alexandria, or
rather to the terminal point beyond the
rapids, some two miles above AleXan-
dria, where freight will be received from
Shreveport and all points along the Red
River.
1t thus behooves the people along the
line of this route to continue rendering
every assistance to the Morgan Com
pany in granting rights OF way, and Sc
cure railroad through the magnificent
BHuf country which las been talked and
written about for the past forty years,
and which is a sure guarantee for easy
and certain increase to |
the value of their lands and population.
Two hundred thousand cypress crossties
will be required for the road, $4,000 of |
which have already been contracted |
for. The contract for the remaining
$4,000 will be awarded as soon as pos
sible.
Shortly after the~construction Of this
road another line is proposed from Lit
tie Rock, Ark, to connect Herewith.
A BLOODY DRAMA-AT A SUNDAY
SCHOOL MEETING.-On Sunday last at |
a Sunday School meeting in the fourth
wa ri af This Darish q daSnarata fnht