The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1882-06-08
RAILROAD MATTERS.
The A. & K, the C. & A.. and the 5 "
And the A, N. & Gin Prospectu'

And the A., ~. q S.'h F'oSpoe'1
Col. E.F. Verdery, of Augusta, Ca
President of the Augusta & Knoxville
r. R., stopped over in Newberry a few
hours Saturday on his return from Lau-
rens, whither be had gone to look after
the work now in progress on the Green
wood, Laurens & Spartanburg Il. 4.
The HERALD had the pleasure OF short
conversation with him, and gathered
from him the following facts:
The onlv work now being done on
the G., L. & S. R. R. is the grading OF
the road from Laurens G. H. to the Sa-
luda River, under the direction Of Capt.
Pearson, the engineer. About hve
miles of grading has been done, and
this includes nearly all the heavy work
between Laurens and the river: Col.
Verdery being asked why he did not
take convicts for this work said, that
two reasons had operated against it.;
first, the responsibility attendant upon
keepine the convicts was greater tna2
the directors wished to incur, and, sec
ondly, they preferred to give the work TO
free labor, as the road had already had
a great deal of trouble about conVlcts.
When work was first begun at Laurens
there was no difficulty IN hiring as many
hands as were wanted, but lately the
labor has been shifting and uncertain
a week ago they had one hundred and
twenty, now they have only sixty-hVe.
This uncertainty in the supply OF Tree
labor had induced the directors to change
their minds concerning convict labor;
and Col. Verdery was on bis way 10
Columbia Saturday to make application
for fifty convicts, This number will be
sufficient to keep the mules and carts
going all the time. The road will still
employ free labor also. There is no
thing being done on the Abbeville side.
Abbeville County made no subscription
for the road between Greenwood and
the Laurens line. and the Laurens SUBJ
scription can be used only in Laurens
County. The company will begin work
soon in AbbeYille County. and the road
will be put through without delay.
It will be remembered that the A. &
K. R. R. subscribed $4,000 lately to
the Savannah Valley R. Z. Knowing
there must be some good reason for this
generosity, we asked Col. Veriery what
+ was. He said that the subscription
was made on condition that the S. V.
R. r. would make Dorn's Mine "a sta
So ~, tho n e. A r. R. in Edoe6eld
County, its terminus, and that the con.
dition has been accepted. The contract
for grading the S. Y. road has been let
to Superintendent Twiggs, Of the 6. &
A., who is soon to resign bis position
as Superintendent and begin work on
his contract, which is to be completed
in one year. The S. 2. r. B. will run
from Anderson, on the Blue Ridge. to
|. Dorn's Mine, a distance Of ffty-slz
miles. This road will form very I'M
uortant branch of the G. &. A. and be
a large feeder for Augusta, drawing
freight and travel from the line of the
Blue Ridge, as the G. & A. does from
the main line of the c. & G..
Col. Verdery says the Greenwood &
| Augusta is doing good business, that
Augusta is shipping large quantities ol
| freight to Abbesille, Anderson, New:
berry and other points along the Colum-
bla & Greenville.
Col. Verdery spoke very favorably o.
Newberry and mentioned the fact thai
there had always been a very kind feel
ing existing between this section OF the
State and Augusta. He spoke Of the
aforementioned project of a road from
Augusta to Newberry and Chester, and
ofthe defeat of the bill providing for it
charter at the last session of the Legls
lature. (Col. Verdery did not say so
but we have been informed that thu
charter was defeated by Charleston in
huence.) Augusta, be says, is very
anxious for direct railroad connection
with Newberry and Chester. He say:
that such a road is bound to be 6uat
aostsiza the nert ten gears. 1t would open
up a large and prosperous section t
the trade of Augusta, and would max,
the distance from that city to New Iorl
forty miles shorter than by any road
now in existence-which is very I'm
portant item in this fast age.