The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1889-02-21
THE THREE yC'S MEAN BUSINESS.
A Contrac. for Extending tho Road from
Rutherfordton to the Great Coal
Fields-S2, 500, 900 is tho Cost
Of the Work.

New YORK. February 14.-Col. R.
A. Johnson, the general manager of
the Charleston, Cincinnati and Chica-
so Railroad, said to-day that the COM
pany had awarded to Knoxville firm
the contract for building the road from
Rutherfordton, n. c., the present ter
minus, to Pocahon tas County, West
Virginia. The amount of the contract
is two and a half million dollars.
Col. Johnson also said that Gen.
Rosser, in an interview published in
the New York World yesterday, gave a
correct account of what was proposed
and of what had been done.
The interview with Gen. Rosser,
mentioned by Col. Johnson, is as fol-
lows:
II have just seen signatures affixed"
said Gen. Thomas L. Rosser yesterday,
''to y construction contract which
means a new trunk line across the
American Continent and new trans
atlantic route for freight and passeng-
ers. It means also the development by
civilization of the .birthlight Of the
Cherokee Nation, the last and richest
corner of this great land of ours to
yield it's treasures to. the locomotive
and the forge.
"Have you ever noticed that the
great American trunk lines run from
northeast to southwest, through the
richest portion of the country? TO the
north the continent is crossed more
evenly by the New York Central and
Pennsylvania systems, but their gener-
al trend is from the northeast to the
southwest. The Baltimore and Ohio
and Chesapeake and Ohio, and Nor
folk and Western and the Richmond
and Danviile system takes their course
southwest from the Atlantic coast.
Hence parallelism and competition.
But why not have trunk line cutting
across all these and running from the
southeast Atlantic coast across the new
mineral regions Of the South, which is
the mineral depot of the world, to the
great Northwest, the grain depot of the
world?
"This has become practically &C.
complished fact by the award yesterday
ola two and half million dollar con-
struction contract by the Charleston,
Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad Com
pany, through the Massachusetts, and
Southern Construction. Company, of
New York, to Mcdonald, Shea & Co.,
of Knoxville, Tenn. The entire con-
tract for the construction Of the new
trunk line from Charleston, s.. c., to
the Northwest had been let to the
Massachusetts and Southern Construc-
ton Company. The latter sublet yes
terday to Mcdonald, Shea & Co., the
building of the road. from Rutherford
ton, n. c., to the great coking coal
region of West Virginia, in Pocahontas
County, which may now begin to COM
pete with the camel and coke trade of
Pennsylvania for the trade of the
world.
"Take railroad map and see how
uniformly the great railroads run to
the Southwest from the Atlantic sea-
board. Now look at Charleston, S. c.,
and take bird's-eye view of the new
railroad route from that southeastern
port straight up. to the Northwest,
through Western North Carolina, Eas-
tern Tennessee, Southern Virginia and
Eastern Kentucky to the great grain
regions of the Northwest. The Char
lesion, Cincinnati and Chicago Road
proposes to run from Ashland, KY, to
Charleston, and the Massachusetts, and
Southern Construction Company are to
build it through so far. From Sumter
to Charleston it uses the. lines of the
South Carolina Railway, which it will
eventually buy.
The connections with New York are
made Indirectly by cutting the other
great trunk systems, with which
traffic arrangements are and are to be
made, and directly by the Old Do
minion and Bay lines of steamers and
the Seaboard Railroad system, which
connects directly with the Charleston,
Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad at
Catawba Junction. The Bay Line also
gives direct connection with Baltimore
and Philadelphia.
"There is romantic interest attach
ing to the wonderful mineral country
which will be tapped now for the first
time. Il is the heritage Of the Chero-
kee Nation, and the story is that un-
principled white men bought it from
the Cherokees for a consideration OF
pots, pans and kettles. So ignorant
were the Cherokees of what they were
selling, and so artful were the whites,
that the latter took from the side of one
hill enough iron to make all the pots,
pans and kettles mentioned in the
deed, and of such purity that the ore
itself was beaten into the required
utensils without 50 much as putting
fire to it. I know it to be a fact that at
Wilder's Forge, in that country, Gen.
Wilder takes out ore SO pure that it re.
quires no treatment. The Indians un-
doubtedly used to make their horse,
shoes out Of the ore. The hard woods
found in that country now are walnut,
cherry, ash white oak, black walnut,
red oak, white pine and poplar. Some
of the poplar logs are from four to six
feet in diameter"