Lexington weekly intelligencer., 1883-05-19
THE MISSOURI oEy n.npoAn

THE MISSOURI oEg RAJ RAILROAD.
state Of Mi,, "' glance at map of the
with tho = ,ouri they will be struck
railv,. act that the two great trunk
h. .ys which traverse the middle OF
g state are exceedingly crooked. Inc
F, Wabash runs from st. Louis long way
north to Moberly, and the Missouri
Pacific beside its sinuosities In follow
ing the Meramec and the Missouri
rivers makes q big bend south at Pleas
ant Hill. The G. & A. is not strictly q
Missouri road and is longer than eth
er. All three of these roads in addition
to their great length have very heavy
grades. In consequences of these facts
capitalists have for some time seen
great possibilities for q direct road
from St. Louis to Kansas City, by the
shortest practicable route, crossing the
Missouri river first at Howells ferry
and next at Arrow Rock, such road to
be of q minimum grade 30 that great
speed can be attained upon it, and in
order to enable engines to pull heavy
| loads from end to end without the aid
of pushers at any place or the necessity
of other extraneous assistance. 1t is
practicable to make this route thirty
miles shorter than any other, and this
with its advantage of grade would
place 1t beyond competition by the old
routes. Such road is bound to be
built sooner or later, even If local inter-
ests do not further it, but this is no
longer to be the case. A number of
gentlemen living in Saline and Lafay-
cite counties have determined to supply
link in this system by building rail-
road from Lexington to Marshall, a
distance Of forty-four miles.
On the 11th inst. these gentlemen
met at Marshall and organized the Mis-
souri, Central Railroad Company, to
build and operate railroad from Mar
shall to Lexington, via. of Malta Bend
and Waverly, the company to have d
capital stock of $500, 900. Forty-four
thousand dollars of the stock was sab
scribed by the incorporators, who are
Messrs. W. M. McNeely, W. M. Walk
er, j. II. Cordell, T. e. Rainey. II.
Boyer, A. L. Hawkins, D. R. Coltrane
and j. B. Breathitt, of Marshall; W.
B. Steele, Robt.-Taylor and Robert
Taubman, of Lexington; Baltimore
Thomas, w. A. Redd, J. M. Hopkins,
Jno. E. ,Corder, Nathan Corder and
N. P. Buck, of Waverly; A. s. Van
stone, A. F. Brown, VIM. Baker, John
H. G. Fulton and Blosser & Wilson, of
Malta Bend.
The directors are Messrs. J. 81. Cor
dell, T. c. Rainey, Jno. B. Breathitt,
S. T. Wilson, A. F. Brown, VIM. Ba-
ker, Baltimore Thomas, John E. Corder.
VIM. A. Redd, Nathan Corder, Bobert
Taubman, W. B. Steele and Robert
Taylor.
The officers of the company are, j.
II. Cordell, president; w. B. Steele,
vice-president; Robert Taubman, treas
urer, and T. G. Rainey, secretary. The
company is duly incorporated under
the laws of Missouri.
The mere mention of the names of
the gentlemen who are inaugurating
this movement is guarantee of good
faith. It is no visionary scheme. 1t
Is not spasmodic one. It has been
well Considered; carefully calculated
on, and is started advisedly. These
gentlemen are putting their ownmoney
into the road and will ask the people to
take no risks in the matter.
1t seems to us that the organization
is in the right direction; that it will
succeed, and that its success will be of
great benefit to this county. We have
mentioned some of the advantages
which the completed road will enjoy.
Beside these it will penetrate the finest
agricultural. country in the world; it
will open out inexhaustible and easily
worked mines of the best coal known
in this section; it will pass through
some of the principal cities of Missouri
Fulton, Columbia, both with promi-
nent state institutions; Marshall, Lex
ington and Independence, and near or
through Boonville. The day is not far
distant when the local travel and traffic
alone on this line will support it, but
with its other facilities, as naturally as
water flows down hill, it viii attract
all immense through business in pass
engers and freight.
The link now proposed to be built
will possess peculiar advantages as
beginning of the greater enterprise. 1t
is needed locally. 1t will rest at Mar
shall on the G. & A., and at Lexington
on the Missouri Pacific, thus securing
the competition of these two great cor
porations for its business.
1t now depends on the people on the
proposed road as to whether or not it
shall be built. If they are liberal in
subscriptions of stock and in granting
the rights-of-way, thereby showing to
capitalists that the work is popular and
desirable, twill certainly succeed. The
matter should be vigorously pushed.
and our people should see to it that
nothing is left undone to secure the
road.
The Jefferson City correspondent of
the republican says of the railroad as
sessments:-'The state board of equali-
zation at their meeting to-day assessed
the main lines of the railroads in this
state per mile as follows: Missouri
Pacific, eli, 900; St. Louis, I. M. and