The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-10-08
THE SOUTH'S RAILWAYS.
H B. PLANT ON THE GREAT AT
LANrIC SYSTEMS.


Since the First Charter Was Granted
in 1627-The Great Systems as They
Fad Their Beginnings, as They Exist
To-day aud Their Future POSSIBLE
tiles.
The October number OF the Cosmopolitan
contains an interesting article by Mr.. H. B.
Plant, president of the Plant system, upon
the South Atlantic railways. The article is
the first of the series upon the great rail-
systems Of the United States.
Mr.. Plant accords to Charleston the honor
Of obtaining the first railroad charter
granted in the south In 1897, and the am-
bilious spirit in which it was conceived
may be inferred from the name given the
corporation-the Louisville, Cincinnati
and Charleston Railroad Company.
Work was begun on this railroad in
1929, and when in 1888 it was opened
to Augusta, a distance of 1856 miles, it was
said to be at the time the longest line of
railroad in the world. Other enterprises
followed. Richmond built to the Potomac
river on the one hand, and thus obtained
steamboat connection to Washington. On
the other hand it was connected with
Petersburg Wilmington Was connected
with Weldon, where Norfolk, or,
rather, Portsmouth, was joined with
it, as also Petersburg. Savannah
showed spirit Of enterprise beyond its rela-
tive Importance as to population by building
to Macon, and other interior lines brauched
out from these main stems. East and west
lines. too. were projected and constructed,
and the mountainous regions Of the Ale
ghanies was attacked at several points
Georgia was the first to accomplish the
feat of piercing the Alleghanies by building
the Western and Atlantic railroad from At
laV 90 20 In &fNrN rgfk
the Georgia railroad to Augusta and thence
| by the South Carolina railroad, it gave a
continuous railroad line from the Mississippi
| valley to Charleston, and by the Macon
! and Western railroad to Macon. and the
Central railroad Of Georgia through line
| to Savannah.
The progress eof railroad construction in
the south was abruptly terminated by the
| outbreak of the war in 1861. At that epoch
the principal lines Of transportation in those
| states were as follows:
From Washington a steamboat line con-
nected at Acquia creek on the Lower Poto-
mac with a chain of railroads through
Richmond, Petersburg, Weldon, Whining
| ton, Florence and Charleston to Savannah.
| AT Florence, 8. c., this line was In connec-
ton with another extension through Kings.
| vile, Brsnchville, Augusta, Atlanta and
| West Point to Montgomery, Ala. Norfolk
| was in connection with Knoxville and
| Chattanooga, and through Weldon, Raleigh
and Charlotte to the South Caro-
lima railroad at Columbia; also Charleston
with Augusta, Atlanta and Chattanooga;
| Savannah with Macon, Atlanta aud Chat
| tanooga, and via Macon with Columbus
| Ca, and Montgomery, Ala. These were
| the only through lines in the South Atlantic
states. The freight traffic of the South At
| lantic states was carried on through Norfolk
| and its suburb, Portsmouth, by steamer
| palt fofo Gn,tharr, Nfrnsinto nd
| East Tennessee by one route, into North
| Carolina by another.
The lack of track connection through the
| principal towns prevented a through car
service. and sleeping cars were unknown.
! Through train schedules and through
tickets were the exception rather than the
rule, aud the weary passenger, dusty and
| jaded, was unceremoniously turned out,
! perhaps at midnight, at the end of
one short piece of road and tossed
about in an omnibus by way of transfer
| to the next. Through baggage checks
| were also as rare as through tickets, and
the anxiety Of hunting up and reohecking
| baggage ct each of these transfers added
| one more discomfort TO the horrors of a
long journey by rail. The oonveniences
| afforded by an express service were just
making their appearance with the advent
of the southern branch Of the Adams Ex-
press Company, which was succeeded by
the Southern Exposes Company at the be-
| ginning of the war.
Mr.. Plant traces the history of the rail-
roads Of the south through the war in an
interesting manner, and the difficulties that
attended their rebuilding after the restor~
alton OF peace. he says:
1.-THE surrender at Appomattox left the
railroads In as woful a condition as the
country through which they had been built.
In many instances the bridges and station
hV,ffd iprrc had haa daetrnuaH hn lie form
up, heated in fires fed with the crossties,
and then twisted around the trunks OF trees
in fantastic forms known as Sherman
ties.n The equipment had been gath
| cred up by military officials, loaded with
supplies and carried off in retreat, to be
ultimately destroyed, abandoned or scat
| tered. The roads that were in operation
labored under all the difficulties consequent
upon their dilapidated condition. The
| corporations, whose Golfers were filled with
confederate money, were in default for
their fixed charges due in gold. Destitute
| of credit aud their property in ruins, but few
Of them escaped bankruptcy and reorgani-
zation. This was their condition in 1865
| With the return OF peace and unity of
government, the rehabilitation Of the coun-
try politically. socially and financially was
| largely contingent upon the restoration Of
railroad transportation. The corporations
controlling the most important commercial
! routes we're the first TO set their houses IN
order, ard the others followed as fast as
they could be reorganized, but It was not
until 1880 that this work was In some cases
accomplished"
In dealing with the present South At
lautic system, Mr.. Plant gives sketch of
the existing lines from Washington to
Tampa aud New Orleans. The systems and
their branches which he describes embrace
1900 miles of road. traversing aud ranify-
ing the South Atlantic states to an extent
he regards out Of proportion to their
present population and resources, as ia
evinced by the meager returns upon
the investments. This pRucity in results,
he considers, has been another impelling
motive toward consolidation into larger
corporations or so-called systems, the more
important of which, that Is, those controll-
ing each over 600 miles Of road, are as
| follows:
Miles
| Richmond and Danville ............. 1924
! Central railroad Of Georgia. ,037
East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. .... 500
| Norfolk ana western ......... ........... 49,
rant system. BOZ
Atlantic Coast Line. 01j
IO.sO2
Outside Of South Atlantic states ........ 2,741
|
Inside of South Atlantic states. ..........S.0 5I
| The total miiea0e of tho South Atlantic