The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1881-04-15
q. :. AND Il. RAILROAD.
New Orleans Democrat. !

New Orleans Democrat.l
1t seems almost certain that the V. s.
and p. railroad, more familiarly known
as the North Louisiana road, has been
purchased by the company of which
Col. Tom Scott il the head and repre-
sentative. This road is now about
seventy-siN miles in length, and runs
through the alluvial region lying be-
tween Vicksburg and Monroe. With
II little reparatfon and with such i'm
provement as may he necessary to raise
the roadbed above high water mark,
it must be regarded IA n very valuable
piece of property. Connecting the
Ouachita with the Mississippi river,
laying under tribute the rich bottoms
of the Roundaway, Tensas, JOS bayou,
Macon and B@uf, and operating as a
low-water outlet for all the produce of
the Ouachita, Bartholomew, Saline and
other streams north and west of Mon
roe, this road, even as it stands, is capa-
bic of great and lucrative develop
ment. 1t has not, in the past, attained
as large usefulness as it might have
attained. a lack of means to place it
in full condition and to develop to the
utmost its intrinsic capacity has pre-.
vented the present as well rs the past
homogeneous of the road from reaping
the benefits which, under more favor
able circumstances, they might easily
have reaped. The road has always
been trammeled and embarrassed by
financial difficulties. 1t has always
been compelled to forego a great many
advantages which the management
fully recognized, but which they found
themselves unable to realize. And the
same causes which have curtailed their
profits and impaired their usefulness
have at last operated to force them in.
to this sale, by which the control, if
not the exclusive ownership of the
property, passes into other hands.
We frankly avow that, on many
considerations, we shall be sorry to see
displaced the gentlemen who for so
long have been prominent in the man.
agement-if, indeed, such displace-
ment be contemplated by the pur-
chasers. These gentlemen, while they
able to do everything they could wish
for the people in their territory, have
certainly been animated by the kindest
spirit and the most friendly purposes.
The people recognize this and are cor
respondingly grateful. But it is i'm.
possible to deny that all the substantial
interests of the section will be promoted
by the road passing into hands that
are competent to achieve its Legitimate
destiny and to lift it up to the height
of usefulness it has right to occupy
Valuable though it be, even in it's pre-
sent condition of development, it will
if extended and properly connected
become enormously and incalculably
valuable. 1t is possible that the
Shreveport extension still remains the
most important field of progress open
to the road, but there are other exten
sions which will contribute vastly tc
its business, and may eventually be.
come most potent factors of its wealth
A branch running northwest to Cam.
den and Arkadelphia, taking Bastror
and Ouachita City in its way, and
another running due north to Ham
burg and Monticello, would bring tC
the road and, naturally, to New Or
leans prodigious streams of commerce
And should these things be done, with
Il latitudinal line to Shreveport, tapp
ing Minden, Homer, Vienna anC
Sparta, the Nicksburg, Shreveport ant
Pacific railway would become one O
the greatest carriers of produce in tn,
country.