The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-03-28
RAILWAY.
The Prophet Of a New Era In Ag-
rioultural transportation.
Western Producers Building
Roads 20 Primary Markets

the Nottnt llFes femnrkhDle chhfnc-
ter known throughout that region as
Farmer Hines He is regarded by
his neighbors as the prophet Of a new
era in railroad building aud operating,
when roads will be built TO primary
markets by the producers in the
country they traverse, capitalized for
their actual cost and operated with the
closest possible economy. Farmer
Hines has been preaching his faith at
country schoolhouse meetings all along
the lower Red river valley for two or
three years past aud last summer he
began putting his theories into prnc-
tice. BY his talks and by the distri-
button Of circulars, be succeeded in
enlisting 80 large a body Of adherents
that lac commenced to build railroad
without money and without credit, and
actually finished forty miles of grade
before the frost came.
Farmer Hines studied the map care
fully and found that the grain from
any central point in the lower Red
River Valley say Grafton-is hauled
4l2 miles over the Great Northern
lines to reach the primary market at
Duluth, whereas direct line from
Grafton to Duluth would be only 2sl
miles long, saving 131 miles. The
Great Northern has four lines in that
part Of the valley, running north and
south and converging in a main line,
which goes away off to the south as far
as st. Cloud, Mimi, before it strikes
out direct for the head of Lake Su-
| perior. The Northern Pacific has
only one line in that part Of the valley.
This parallels the Great Northern roads
aud gives grain route to Duluth
about eighty miles shorter from COM
peting points than the Great North
ern's average haul. Farmer Hines
railroad runs across the valley east
aud west, and is to go on through the
woods region of northern Minnesota
to a connection with the Duluth and
Winnipeg Road, already running for
a distance of about one hundred and
twenty-five miles west of Duluth.
Hines calls his road the Farmers
Railroad, and thus far all the work on
it has been done by North Dakota
and Minnesota farmers. His fnan-
ciering methods are unique. He has
now about two hundred men at work
in the northern Minnesota woods cut
ting trees and clearing the right Of
way. Each man gets his necessary
provisions, $18 a month in the stock
of the company and 50 a month in
money The men are enthusiastic
converts to the Hines theory of rail-
way construction. The chief argu-
ment he uses is this: The average
freight weight on wheat from lower
Red River Valley points to Duluth is
eleven cents per bushel If wheat can
be profitably hauled 400 miles for
eleven cents bushel over roads cab
italized at over $40, 900 a mile it can
be hauled $50 miles over road cost.
ing not over So, 900 per mile and pay
good profit at seven or eight cent
per bushel. And if the saving shoult
be only three cents per bushel the ag
gregate annual gain to the valley
farmers would amount to very large
sum.
Hines is sturdy, nervous, indie
fatlgable sort of a man, only thirty
four years old. The merchants Q
Duluth recently made up a carload O
provisions and shipped them out t
his camps south of Red Lake. A fe,
thousand dollars in money has ais
been subscribed at Duluth to aid hi
enterprise Hines told the Dulut
people lately that he will have hun
dred miles of road graded and fun
nished with ties ready for the road b
the end of next summer. He is YER
religious man and at the last meetin
of his stockholders he wanted to pu
a clause in the by flaws of the compan
prohibiting the running Of trains o
Sunday, but he was obliged to b
content with bylaw providing tina
the Sunday laws OF Minnesota g.
North Dakota shall not be violated
He also wanted provision inserte
/ caff1po oparf tan nor onnf ~ 4ba ~,