The Forrest City times., 1890-01-25
MEMPHIS TO PARIS.

A HHfsA0lfft dttittUAFtd a lNlllNau convention called in the inlefes. of tl,e rStention of the Little Rock and Mem- rhis railroad, met at Memphis Mon. day.
 The project has heen thoroughly ad- vertlsetl and has met with much enthu- siasm among the people aloug the pro- posed line of route. He delegates from Texas and Afkansas began to swarm at Memphis as early as sun day, I,y Monday the hetels were alive with tue visitors, al aprafantly full of enthusiasm osar the project.
 The delegations were composed Of substantial business men, bmkers, merchants, capitalists, railroad men. and others who recognize the import ance of the enterprise aud ln0k at t in a broad spirit and withth. kl1Nle3@s that If accomplished the hsueAg wi!i K mutual.
 There were delegates from Ft Worth, Paris, aud tlarksville. Texas, Little Rock, Hot Springs Rocky Com fort, and Nashville, Arkansas.
 Memphis Will be a principal beneil. claIs IS the proposed extension will r3n though magnificent country Lamar cOuhty fer instance. of which Paris k tile county seat. produces more cotton than any county ln the state> md Paris buys more than any town in tl8e state
 The county produces g., ,oo0 bales of cotton annually, and ut tlls Su oO1 bales is bought in Paris besides what is ship ped there ta the compress, The road would run tn olgh this county and Rel River county. which is equal ta Lamar county tn fertility but mol in size IL produces about two-thirds as much as the crop ot Lamar county.
 Then iii Arkansas 1t will run through a county producing magnificent timber
 walnut. oak and ash. Altogether the route taps country as rich as any to be found in the south. Paris wants another outlet and now Is the chance of Memphis to jump in and II slsa don't do 1t uow the chance will he gone as other roads will get in ahead of her.
 At present the entire cotton crop of Texas k divided between Galveston, New Orleans or St Louis and if Mem phis had the proper railroad facilities tu control fexas trade, Memphis would soon become the metropolis of the Sou,h
 Memphis, and perhaps Little Rock, could supply Paris and intermediate points with groceries as cheaply as any other markets in the world, and could handle their cotton tn better adyant- age with railroad giving then direct cunnection. I his road, too. would not he expensive to build. With he eAeep- ton ai the Hot Springs neighborhood where the cuimtry is mountainous. tue road would run thruugt, comparatively 4 Hat country. and in the mountainous parts uf II YOU would strike a section rich beyond measure in mineral depos- it's.
 With d direct road to Texas Memphis would double her trade in the next live years, and advautageously placed he- tween New Orleans and St. Louis, would soon surpass both. The distance from Little Rock to Paris Wa Texav- kama is about 290 miles, whereas the proposed extension would not be over ITO miles in an air liue.
 There are all manner of undeyeloped resources of htssimtss for Il railroad along the proposed iine. Commencing at Little Rock there arc tho most ex- tensiye granite quarries in the South west. Cal. Zeb Ward. president, is now supplying the contract iar paving the streets of Louisville. Beyond Lit tle Rock are uudevcleped iron and mangtursr fields and unexcelled tim- Der lands In saline county are the finest suapstnne quarries in the coun- 4 teg's clay. In Garland county, Hot Springs, the greatest heatih resort in the world. with iltty thousand visitors per year, and qnarrirs of the very finest whetstone, vast quantities If which tre even now skipped Co the East aud t8 Europe. h Clark and liewApstesA ags greensand and other mar anf VI Sp- vler county are tite celebrated aafi- mony mines of AntiInoty tns, the largest Tn the United States. and oper- ated bs Philadelphia capitalists.