Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-01-10
PERSONAL. AND GENERAL

IHE amount OF cotton received by the
Chicago, 81. Louis and New Orleans rail-
road during the month OF December last
KS l0l,S77 bales.
JOE V. MEIos, OF Boston, has invented a
new system of elevated railroad. The pc
culiar construction OF the track with its
single rail, the cars with horizontal wheels
and rolling braces, and the engine with its
horizontal drive-wheels gripping the rail,
were examined and several interesting tese.
made. The gentlemen present expressed
much pleasure at the results OF their in.
spectioB.
The great obstacle in the way OF railway
building 10 China Il said TO be the over-peo-
Piled condition Of the country. The Chi
nese thinkers say, if we build railroads to
transport people aud merch andise from one
point TO another, what are we going 10 do
with the great surplus of labor il will throw
upon US? What can we do with the thou
sands OF coolies and others thrown out Of
employment? The question is a very seIi-
GUS one. At present the internal commerce
oil the empire is moved always entirely By
the canals and natural water ways, or on the
backs OF camels, mules a1d men. There
are but few horses and almost no vehicles
Is the course cf 4 SERIES of interviews
with prominent Arkansas railway men, con.
corning the recent rsilway- bond decision,
the Little Rock Democrat learns that this
decision, if sustained, wilt fall heavily on
the Mississippi Valley road, because $1,000,
600 OF the squsnd@red bonds are charged
TO its account. The actual benefit that the
road derived from these bonds is estimated
at ten cents on the dollar. 1t maltsrs not,
however, for even this amount was impTop-
erly used or squand cred outright The road
is now struggling for existence, snd must
necessarily continue 10 struggle for years TO
come. This debt, then, is a dark cloud OF
misfortune that will shsdow il for years.
IF the sounds we hear, says the San Diego
Sun, now count Tor aoything, San Diego will
soon be the seat of the greatest railroad war
ever fought upon the American continents
war in which is marshaled on one side
army whose banners bear the ca
balisiic letters as. z. r. X ;" and on the ban
ners OF the other viii be found the mythical
symbols'"A. T. and s. F." A dispatch from
Boston states that Ihs ownership Of the Cali
fornia Southern had passed into the hands Of
: the Atchson Company. This transaction was
: not unexpected among the best informed
NM 1t has- beeu an open secret that more
--aonths ago al agent Of the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa l'e Company visit d San
Diego and ook an inventory of the California
Southern Tor the avoWed purpose of buying
and the few words contained in the
dispatch in question furnish the missing link
for a chain Of eyide ace which goes to chow
that the Eastern corporation intends to m axe
fight for an outlet TO the Pacific coast. II
the Southern Pacific ever entertained hopes
of buying the California Southern, that fancy
is now dissipated We know that man
would sooner pawn his chances for an after
life than that the A'chison Company would
dispose Of their present vantage ground, en-
bodied in the possession of highway that
leads down 10 the wsters OF the Pacific. But
the California rsilro I'd msgna,es are always
prepared Tor an emergency. For some time
the Sun has maintained that Stanford had
his eyes on San Diego, and that a branch
line Of his road would be built here. III we
ever felt strong in that belief we do now,
when glimpse is had OF the movements OF
the rival companies. May be il is forced
upon the Southern Pacific but let come
whatever may, the latter will never be
caught mapping by he men from Boston.