The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-11-10
BLACK DIAMOND RAILROAD.
An Interesting and Successful Meeting
t;eiu; 81 Its Interest.

great I,lack lpiaiLOnu lfallfORu WAS Hcii
in the opera House last Thursday night
and proved - ice an enthusiastic and sue
cessful meeting. When the meeting adj
iourncA the IMPRESSION, almost to man.
was that tn. Black Diamond will be
bllilt, and that IL will be built through
the ci:y OF Anderson, and that tho work
viii begin i'll "a very short time. There
are Il few. very few, prominent croakers
in Anderson who did not attend the
meeting and who are trying to spread "a
We, blanket on tho work. but they are
mighty lonesome and may he expected
to fall in line at no very distant day.
This meeting was called, and an invi-
tation extended to Col. Boone TO be pres
ent, by the City Council upon request by
petition OF our citizens, the petition being
signed by two-thirds Of tho property
owners Of the city.
Among those present were: Albert T..
Boone, OF gainesville, ohio; Hon. Will
liam kirkley, Toledo Ohio Judge j. II.
Simons, cynthana, Ky; Gen. J. G. J.
Williams. Knoxville, Tenn; James y.
Boyd Dover, Ky: John w. Mattox,
Cynthana. Ky; Col. Duncan &. Wilson,
beaufort, >. G., cXpresdcnt Of tho Port
Royal Il Augusta I;ailroad; S. II. Rod
gers. Port Royal, S. G.. editor of this Fat
metre POST >. i. Thompson, Port Royal;
K. r. .Iaynes Est, II. a. II. Gibson,
Roht. A. Thompson and G.. w. Pratt, of
Walhalla, S. {.
III addition to these, almost every
prominent man of this city and very
many prominent and representative
farmers Of Anderson County were also
present.
After short address OF wolcome ,y our
distinguished Mayor, G.. +. Tolly, j. l..
Tribble, Esq, Of Anderson, was called to
the chair and J. r. Jayncs, Esq of Wal
halla, made secretary.
Speeches were made by Gen. Williams,
of knoxville, Tenn, and Col. Boone,
pointing out the proposed route from
Knoxville to Port Royal through Rabun
Gap, WalhalIa, Anderson, Abbey lille,
Eigeiield, Aiken, Bnrnwell, Hampton
and Beaufort, and showing tho vast
amount of Tonnage from coal fields Of tho
Southwest the hard wood forests of Ohio
and kentucky. tho Tennessee marble
belt, the North Carolina slate belt and the
wheat and corn iclis, through all 0f
which this great road will pass. They
spoke OF the wonderful success al this en-
tcrpriso through tho States Of Tennessee
md Kentucky, notwithstanding tho vast
amount of opposition with which the en-
torprise met ut the beginning, and showed
low this opposition had been steadily
fi1a mil
ion souls north Of North Carolina enthus
ias.ic for :he im Ii ediato completion OF
the road to the South Atlantic and with
money enough to build It. They made
plain the fact that the route through
South Carolina to Port Royal would save
thousands Of dollars in construction Of
tho road aud give water facilities which
must attract the attention Of the world
Col. Boone made the statement that be
had been offered every dollar headed to
complete the road In exchange for the
control of the franchises Of the road when
completed, but he had spurned the offer,
determining from the outset to enable
the people, by owning the franchises of
their several States, TO protect their intor-
esta against :;is mighty corporations
whose freight rates have been sucking
the life blood of the producers; that it
will never be necessary for the Is. D. to
pool with any other system, because 1t
will have double the tonnage of any other
road. He stated the fact that there were
people enough and money enough to
build the Black Diamond and 1t would
be hui!t, the only question being whether
it Ehould be built through South Carolina
and through. Anderson or whether It
should be constructed through the State
OF Georgia along the west bank OF the
Savannah river as II Is already surveyed.
He stated that the road would be con-
structed with double track, and gave
most excellent reasons founded in acono-
my for 80 constructing 1t. Gen. Viii.
liams paid a glowing tribute to the men,
ory cf John c. Calhoun and Robert y.
Hayne, and quoting them as saying that
tho time must come when railway from
the South Atlantic to the West will be
built and that it must pass through Ra-
bun Gap. He stated that knoxville WAS
thoroughly in earnest in this matter. that
they had in 1895 invited Boone to come
an4 teke charge Gf the enterprise, thut
they had already subscribed $4,000 and
VII, give:one million more; with the vast
amount OF tonnage in coal, iron. marble,
slate, hard wood, corn and wheat, all OF
which would last for ages, the Black
Diamond with 200 miles Of road would
do moro business than the great Southern
with its 5000 miles Of road. Much stress
was laid upon the great Jellico coal mines
which lio immediately in the path OF the
Black Diamond in tho States of 1'ennes-
see and Kentucky, and the great enter
prises the opening up OF these mines
must cause to spring up III the country
iyit y South OF them, and the relation of
coal to all manufacturing industries It
was clearly shown that coal now costing
$3.50 per ton freight to Anderson would
be reduced to S5 cents per ton or less,
saving of $l.45 per ton and proportionate-
ly all along the proposed route,