The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-08-09
The LOUISVILLE & nashville.


great expense with rock aud cement.
And this IL equally. true to-day; for
without . great railread, no country,
however eat It's natural Resources,
can be fully DEVELOPED 1t cannot
Keep prOgress with the busy world
around it unless the shining rails al
some great railroad systen-those
pul-Ing arteries OF couImerce-pen--
trAte- it, innernlost depths ~ carry
the life-quickening elements II tr;tde
and trafic.
First u railroSd crossing then q
town has SlurD-t bsrnuIe the natural
law of settlement and Q"pulation-
The merry cIanE of the school bell
The clam0r at the church bell, fol-
low like an echo the clarion ring from
the locomotives; aud the smoke from
the furnace, the workshop and the
factory goes upward to the clouds
only sitter the smoke stack OF the
locomotive has pointed the way.
Tne xreatrst railroad i'll the South
to-day, aud, perhaps, the best paying
dividend road in the entire country
is the great. system stretching almost
from the Great Lake to the Gul1 ana
from the Atlantic to the e1holees
uIaiu. u( the y orthwe-t-the Louis
Vile * Nashville. Il stretches over
an empire the likeness OF which
would throw iuto shadow the empire
of many ancient mnnarchs; 1t pene-
trsftes and binds country whose
people and progress would be the
pruude-t boast to-day in the crown
Of royalty
Like all great enterprises, this sys-
tenn started with a small beginning
a road to run from Louisville, Ken
TnnnplEpP
with the proyress OF events, it went
on to the gulf via New Orleans, 1t
stretched out to the great river at
ST. Louis and threw an ann to the
Atlantic in another direction-until
it covers every section OF the South
and much of the North and North
west with it's circling steel. To-day
If is regarded rs the MIST solvent
CORPORATION in the South, having at
tained that position by most wise
and conservative course. 1t does all
its mower to adjust its rates to the
lowest legitimate scale without I'M
settling business by rate war.
Think of It--a r.Iad originally about
one hundred miles long, now pene-
crates fully five thousand-or nearly
round the globe if put into one line,
and whose stock, once almost worth
less. now the most sought for as an
Investment Of all railroad stocks IN
the country.
Tt ia impossible in this short article
TO notice all of its officers; but this
sketch would not be complete with
out speaking of the wonderful career
in railroad circles of President NJ. ID.
Smith. His is a typical American
bows career-an humble beginning,
hard work-brains and hOnesty--a
lofty pOsition in railroad circles.
Judge w. J. Wood, the Third Vice
President, is especially near to the
people of the South and Middle Ten
nessee, and is doing all he can to keep
them. @
AS an example of what the Louis
Vile & Nashville Railroad has done,
let us look ut Alabama. 1t was this
road which has elevated that state
from one Of the smallest to the larS-
sst iron producing state in the nlted
States. And Tennessee can claim al
most equal good done to her These
facts alone are worth q world OF
guesses and surmises. and It's iact
that wherever the smoke OF their en-
zines rise upward, progress and pros
! perity, has followed in its wake.
The organization of this company
ia wonderful; the traffic transparta-
ton and maintenance OF way depart
neuts are in charge OF energetic anu
able men; their employees are ioyai
and satisfied; and the leading primer
ole of all correct railroad progress Is
we'll recognized among it's officers
namely. that in order to successfully
| carry on a railroad, it is necessary to
40 regulate its charges or to build up
| local business, which affords the larg-
eat part of it's traffic; pursuing this
course the conduct of th6 company
towards the people of Tennessee and
Alabama has been especially marked
| and successful. For side by side with
the increase of the earnings OF the
RAILROAD, towns and cities along II
have developed and the entire
country benefited thereby.
This has been done i'll the face OF
most unusual depression ever known
in the price of agricultural and min
eng products.
| This road has been especially
Watchful of the immigration inter
ests of Tennessee; and we learn tha
it is the policy of this road to give
all persons who contemplate settling
here, a round-trip rate OF one ana one
third, with stOp-oyer privileges.
| As an evidence of what this rOao
has done while others have even
failed to pay their dividends; as al
evidence of its prosperity while 9th
ers are suffering from the genera.
business depression OF the times, II
is only necessary to state that 90 pay
! fixed charges aud per cent. diyi
dends in 1855 required S5,S9S,26S. IL
1892 $7,5OO,OOO was required, ant
AGAINST this increased requirement o
! $i,6OI, 1872 is an increase of 4,S56, 2S4 IL
gross earnings, one-third of which
| 7the ratio reported by the Louisville
Nashville last year, 20 woI 3H
tine earnings of the system have abou
kept even with the increased capital
| ization, Notwithstanding the depres
4 sion which has affected Southern
roads.
It is impossible to estimate tn
value of this great road to ColumbI
and Maury County. Its business thdn doa a
bled in the past eight years. 1t !
| sinnlv wonderful to see the amour