Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1885-10-03
THE RAILROAD AND THE RIVER.


Scooped." have never in my life
seen more errors in 80 short Il pace.
The writer says, ito go back little
: it will be remembered that break
occurred between the Ryman line and
the L. & N" Now this Is not true.
The Ryman line and the L. 4 N. have
never had break, from the simple
fact there was not then, or now. any
contract between them. But Capt.
Ryman and Gracey & Bro did break
a their business relations, the former APP
pointing an agent OF the line to work
! up business for his boats, the latter
building boat to run in the exclusive
interest of GAINESVILLE. Thus you will
; see there was no break between Capt.
Ryman and the L. Il N. but to make
the L. & N. bring a pressure on Gracey
d Bro. to- remove their. boat, he
would attack the business OF Clarks-
, Vile through his agents in any way
possible. The through business at
other points was not attacked. The
whole power of the line, and the ener-
gies of the talented agents, was con-
centrated on this one point. Encour-
aged by the hearty support of almost
every one along the river and nine
tenths of the citizens of GAINESVILLE, we
successfully defended ourselves for al
| most five years. All this time our
valuable wharf boat was passing to de-
cay. We asked for no aid except
moral support, though several citizens
offered pecuniary assistance.
What passed between Mr.. M. H.
Smith and Capt. Ryman am not pre-
pared to say, but if there is no more
truth than is be found in the ex-
preston following, then there is none
in it whatever. He says, THE railroad
claimed the right to name the rive-
agents at this pI.rer IF they did, [
am quite cunlid"nt i, wss not exer-
cised upon either Capt lyman ar
myself. and that the author never
heard such on idea expressed by any |
one connected with the rtilrn>d, t,,l,l
Ryman or myself We h,d b..~p ifr |
uninterrupted agents OF Capt ;;y:nan
for II years, and coulI have con3iua",i !
As such 90 this dat. Except the i,terc-;
OF Clsr ksville demanded better taci.-
ties and cheaper rates - .iucc-,fuiiy |
contend with rival ritrs. AT .his
time the commerce of Ctark.v:'ln was
so small, lis rcee.p'S aai .h.! uents
by river so insigniilc4int frun local
points, thar it was almost -. act of a
crazy man "a fhr.w :r-> 81 lucrative
business ~ The agency vi Capt Ry-
mans line of steamers TO engage in
running purely local boat, which
must, necessarily, be runat a loss until
the trade of GAINESVILLE was increased
to sufficient magnitude to make the
boat an investment.
Again he says, ain the division OF the
spoils, Ryman gets the control of the
river, the railroad of the trade of
GAINESVILLE, while the agent of the two
two lines levies a tribute on every
pound of freight coming into or leav-
ing GAINESVILLE"
The L. & N. and Capt. Ryman have
no agreement i have a letter from
Ryman this day stating that such was
the fact For "the tribute levied by the
agent" am so positive the accusation
is untrue that | will pay to any regu-
lar merchant of GAINESVILLE one hun
bred dollars for every nickel he has
paid to my wharf-boat for receiving
his freight and forwardingit to its des-
tination. / have not done this free
business because / deemed it the prop
er wayrto do business, nor do think
many of the merchants would have
demanded it of ME, but to build up
the river trade was the grand object of
all, and contributed this much more
to the grand effort. As to @the tribute
by rIil,% know of none, unless h re-
fers to the transfer of mrrchandis,
from the depot, which ann willing Ia
abandon, whenever the merchants
think they can do it better for them
selves. ] have done it as promptly rs
any one can do it, anil as cheaply, |
know. only transfer BY contr.,ctIhe
through business, that is shipped TO
points or from points ON other lines.
The local business, embracing tobacco,
grain, etc, is transferred by consignee,
but is generally turned over to me, at
fully as much, and in some instances
much more than | would have receiv-
ed, had il been through shipments.
During all this long struggle there
were many efforts made by Capt. Ry-
man and myself to adjust our differen-
ces. There was never any dispute
between US about the value of my
steamboat Interest, or who would be
his agents here. Our difference was
all the TIME: what rate should be
allowed to and from points on the
Cum berland in the Gracey trade. This
was the burthen of our eferts to settle.
Dub lily nO FAOA- |
bitant, as it would, if he yielded to
them, have endangered more import
ant, interests. 1t was then l conceived
the idea of expanding in a larger and
better boat, twelve or fifteen thousand
dollars, and run her between Clarks-
vile and 'Paducah, two trips per week.
The boat was contracted for with Capt
Howard, at Jacksonville, Ind, and
the frame work set up, when Capt.
Rymam came to GAINESVILLE and offer
ed to yield to the demands / made OF
him if the boat then under cOnstruc-
ton could be stopped. He went to
Jacksonville, arranged with Capt.
Howard to stop the boat, and in Nash
vile the following day paid me in
cash about $500 more than half the
cost of the Gracey when new, and en- ;
tered into an agreement in writing,
which / am not at liberty to publish,
but if any of those who feel an interest
in the matter wish to peruse the docu-