The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1885-11-12


30 We ran on westward through Tho g1thering
twilight until We came 70 0unnison, where for
the present We will part BRNvuLI.
jacksonville Tinssuaion. Nov. q
RECElvER DUvAL'S PLANS.
with Treasures TAenas.
In his arduous and important task Of restoring
Navigation Oompanys system Of roads. Mr. II.
r. Duval will have the aid OF Captain J. Hanson
Thomas Of Maryland, . thoroughly competent
and experienced railroad man, with whom he
has long been associated In the management
Of transportation interests. Captain Thomas
served during the la.e war on the stat Of Gen.
w. w. Loring. Of Florida, and comes among rs
bearing the most cordial expressions OF esteem
and good will on the part Of his old commander
He IL gentleman Of culture and varied acquire
ments, . brilliant convorsationalist, an excel
lent racOnteur, but withal, man Of business In
stincts and strictly business habits. He was M.
Duval's right hand man during the several
years when the latter had charge Of the two
great Dispatch Lines Of the Erie road, the prin.
cipal lines for East and West-bound frcights
south Of the lakes.
When Mr.. Duval accepted the general man.
agement Of the F. X and N lines, Captain
Thomas was offered and accepted the response
BILE post OF Treasurer, and during the past three
weeks has been Overhaung the accounts and
records OF the company with such searching
th0roughness that he has been able to Law before
the managers the precise facts a. TO the dnau-
cial condition Of the company, the receipts and
expenditures OF the different divisions and sub.
divisions, and even the contributions to the gen.
eral business made b. each of the 6ity.threc re-
porting stations on the different roads For the
first time in Its history, probably, the company
knows precisely where II stands, its sources Of
revenue, and its reasonable expectations of bust
ness.
To q reporter of the Times Union, yesterday,
Captain Thomas gave some highly interesting
facts as To- the immediate results that will follow
from Mr.. DuvaPs appointment a. receiver. he
said that in company with himself and other Of
ficials of the road, Mr. Duval while In the State
last month, went on q tour of inspection over all
the lines, ascertainng from observation and in
quiry on the spot the exact condition Of things,
and making up his mind as to what was needed
" put the roads in proper condition to do the
work required Of them.
"Of one thing you may be certain" said Cap
tain Thomas, and that is that anything that
Mr.. Duval undertakes TO do will be done prop
erly and with adequate facilities. Under no cir
cumstances would he assume the responsibility
or undertake the thsnkless task o! running what
you have called the rotten road 1t was un-
derstood when he accepted his post that he was
the road in proper condition, and he will have
them in that condition If they remain under his
control until he can carry out his plans"
At this point the reporter asked if any definite
steps had yet been taken to secure the improve
ment Of the road 10 time for the winters busl-
ness.
"They have" said Captain Thomas. Tho
Florida Central and Western IL the most lmpor-
tant of our lines In the inspection to which
referred just now it was found ttat ia order to
put this division, from Jacksonville to the Chat
tahoochee River, in thoroughly good condition,
about IS miles Of good steel raila, and about 50,
600 new ties were required. / have this day re
ceived q telegram from Mr.. Duval informing me-
that he has just closed contract for the pur-
chase of 9000 tons Of 60lb. steel rails OF thee,
1000 tons have already been shipped, and the
remainder are to follow almost Immediately
Prior to this we had purchased 800 tons of steel
rails that had been brought to Fernandina for
General Gordons road. Mr.. Duval also inform
ed me that he has purchased three Of Roger
delivered at once"
Here the reporter asked Captain Thomas how
many miles of road 1900 tons of rail would
iron
about ITO miles," said Captain Thomas.
So you see we will have enough to put the
and still leave q considerable surplus for use
elsewhere, az needed"
Finding that Captain Thomas was in q com.
municative mood, the reporter asked him when
the employees of the company would be paid, re-
marking that pro Quad interest was felt In this
matter tiiougho 1t the State.
al am glad you asked me about that" said
Captain Tho mas. To-day all the Jacksonville
employees were paid Of. On Monday the pay
car starts out on It's rounds, beginning with the
Western Division. The payments now made
are made for the month Of October, which was
chosen beca lse it will give all the men . full
months pay. no previous payments having been
made upon il. This has caused some misappre-
hensOn," continued Captain ThomaA because
some have imagined that it meant that al back
Indebtedness on this acc0unt was to - ignored.
Such, however, 10 not the casa. You may say,
with all possible emphasis - coming nom me,
that the FIRST work OF the Receiver will be to pay
of all bs OK Indebtedness 10 employees; and Il 10
my confident expectation that everything will
be paid OF before Christmas. When the en-
ployes have been paid, the next In order will be
the payment Of the vouchers for supplies to the
road. especially ties aud wood men,"
How about the payment and wages and SAL
aries In the futurer asked the reporter.
"A new order Of things will prevail In that
respect. Hereafter the year will o art prompt
ly on the 9TH day OF each month, and whatever
a man has earned during the preceding month,
tina. he shall he paid for"
Captain Thomas has established the trcasuFer's
ONCE 10 this city, and MI. Duvai VIII als0 reside
here The thoroughly live and basisessiike
affairs of the Florida Railway and Navigation
roads will be TO the interest OF the State - we'll
as of the company, and the people Of the State
are 10 b. congratulated upon . change that
promises to lit into prosperity system. that has
been haupered and fettered for years by greed
and incompetence