The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-06-19
THEOLDANDNEW
THE SOUTH IN 1889 AS COM
PARED WITH 1884.
IT'S WONDERFUL DBVEL0PNEVP.
Number of Now Railroads Built Dur
Ing tho Past Year and Their Total
Mileage-WonderfnI Progress i'm the
Development OF Resources.
BLESS me, ain'tit pleasant,

|
Riding on rail-
Until within recent years, the ex
preston which heads the column, wa
not heard in the Southern States, ex
cept on rare occasions. OF course th,
larger cities :were connected ny rail
roads,an the railroads were, perhaps
as numerous as the development
which had then taken place, demanded
ormade possible. The principal mean,
of travel was by horses and carriages
and steamboats,, the provcrbia
Southern gentlemen with hi.
horse and saddlebags, is still
being commonly spoken of, especially
in the North, where the South il
looked upon yet rs the slow going
section it was until a few years ago
The South by her location, was always
naturally a great agricultural district
of the country, and it took years and
years for the residents of that section
70 discover that they had coal, iron
and timber more plentiful than any
other section of the world. But when
| the discovery was once made, and the
fact was thoroughly demonstrated, it
did not take long for what idle South
ern capital there was, to find invest
ment i'll these fields and for Northern
capital, and even foreign capital, to
be attracted to them. The extent OF
this development is nowhere more
plainly visible than in the incurred
amount of railroad building which
has been going on in the South ever
since the war, and particularly in the
last few years
To give some idea of the extent and
rate at which the ten Southern States,
a map of which is included in the
heading OF the Trades man, have been
developing recently, q comparison of
the amount of their railroad building
in the years 1854 and 1889, is interest
ing.
In 1884, there were siXnew railroads
built in the State of North Carolina,
the aggregate mileage being 17i.1
miles. In 1889, in the same State,
fourteen new railroads were built, ag-
gregating 259.5 miles In 1854, SC nth
Carolina built two new railroads, ag-
gregating 25.7 miles; in 1889, three
railroads, aggregating 49, miles. In
1884, Georgia built seven new rail
roads, aggregating SIS miles; III 1889,
seventeen new railroads, aggregating
1888 miles. Florida in 1854, built six
new railroads, aggreSatinG 1S2. Gmiles.
and IN 1889, twelve new railroads, ag
SreSatlnS 1858 miles. In 1881, Ala
bama built seven new railroads,
agSregating 9G.2 mile, and in 1889,
twelve new railroads, aggregat-
ing LAO miles. In 1884 Mississippi
built three new railroads, aggregating
1882 miles, and in 1886 she built four
new railroads, aggregating 100 miles.
In 1854 Louisiana built four new rail
roads, aSgregating 112 miles, and in
1889 nine new railroads, aggregating
l22 uiles. In 1884 Tennessee built
only four railroads, aggregating 30
miles; III 1889 she built ten new roads,
aggreSating 1913 miles. Arkansas
built four roads, aggregating $50
miles In 1854, and in 1889 five new rail
roads aggregating G2 miles. In 1884
Texas built three railroads with Il
total mileage Of ll3 miles; in 1889 she
QUILT ten railroads, aggregating 1872
miles.
This statement shows that in 1881
the ten Southern States built forty
six new railroads and an aggregate of
1,109.3 miles, and in 1889 the same
States built ninety-siy new railroads,
aggregating 1,777.7 miles. The in
crease in the number of new roads is
more than 100 per ceut., and the in
crease in the number of miles built is
more than fifty per cent.
In the year 1889 no two other States
in the Union built as much railroad
as did the ten Southern States. Fur
Their, no State in the Union, unless it
be the new State OF Washington,
shows as great an increase for 1889
over 1884 The State of Georgia in
1889 built more miles of railroad than
any other State in the Union, except
Washington Another thing to be
cleaned from the foregoing figures, is
the fact that the Southern States
have divided their railroad building
for the year 1889 among more differ
ent roads than have any of the other
States. This shows that the great in
crease of mileage does not come from
building of any one solid trunk line
through the section, but from the eX
tension of roads already in existence
a few miles further here and here, to
reach some new and probably bere-
tofore undeveloped resource.-The
Tradeslnan.