The morning news., 1899-10-28
PRESIDENT R. G. ERWIN'S VISIT
HIS FIRST TO SAVANNAH AS HEAD
OF PLANT SYSTEM.

state of Affairs and the Sit
uatiOn in the Railroad World
Generally - Is Not Worried by
Fear of Competition With the
seabOard System-Prosperity Has
Given All the Railroads Enough to
Do, He Says-The Former Friendly
Relations of the Southern Railway
and the Plant system Have Been
Resumed-SOutheFn VIII Compete
for Freight as Well as Passenger
business From Savannah.
President R. G. Erwin of the Plant sys-
TEN of Railways and the Plant Investment
| Company is in the city and will remain
here several days. This is Mr.. Erw.ns
first visit TO Savannah since his recent
election to succeed the late H. B. Plant
at the head of the two great corporations
which bear their founders name. Being
native Savannahian and almost a life
time resident of this city, he was so thor
| oughly famliar with the conditions here
that it was not necessary for him to pay
an Immediate visit to the real headquar-
Iers of the system
Mr.. Erwin arrived in his private car yes
terday morning. After breakfast at the
De Soto he visited the Plant System offices
and the offices of Erwin. duBignon & CHS
holm, of which firm he is the head spend
ing the day in consultation with the Of
hc.als of the system The new president
of the Plant System is in fine trim. He is
In splendid health and seems to be thriv-
ing under the amount of work which the
duties of his office impose upon him.
NO there are no Changes in prospect"
he said, when seen by a Morning News re-
porter. Everything is going right ahead
just as il did before Mr.. Plants death All
the old officials are in their places and no
| change in the arrangement of the sys-
| TEN is contemplated a present The roads
of the Pant System are doing a very sat
| isfactory business and there are no com
plants to make. In fact everything is
moving along so smoothly that l have real
| ly no news to tell you"
What effect is the recent consolidat ton
of the Georgia and Alabama and Florida
Central and Peninsuar Railroads with the
Seaboard System, likely to have upon the
railroad situation in the southeast, and
particularly as regards the Plant SYSTEM"
Mr.. Erwin was asked. rs it not likely to
bring on sharp compeution?'
I'VE have no fears on that score" he
replied. THE advent of the Seaboard
System is a good thing for Savannah, and
for that reason l am glad to see it, 1t is
doing a splendid work on Hutchinson's Is
land, which is bound to be of great bene-
fit to the city, and the consolidation of the
Seaboard lines is about to give Savannah
a new Union depot, something which she
has very much needed. When all the
roads are getting just as much business as
they can handle there is little need to wor-
ry about competition. This Is the case
just now. 1t Is not a question with the
roads of getting freight, but of finding the
rolling stock with which to handle 1t. The
big demand for materials of all kinds has
given a big boost to the railroads. The
present era of prosperity has reached the
South, l am glad to say. Cotton, lumber
naval stores and phosphate, are all much
higher than they were year ago, our peo-
pie are getting the benefit of the high
prices, and the railroads are coming In for
their share Financial panics, similar to
the one of 1888, are bound to occur at in
tervals, and when they do business of all
kinds is affected. Railroads suffer with
the rest, and with a shortage of freights
comes sharp competition. Just now all in
dieauons are favorable to pleasant rela.
tions among the railroads of this section
for some time to come
OF the new union depot Mr.. Erwin said
that Ii has given him a great deal of
pleasure to enter into this movement in
behalf of the Plant System. "Our pas
senger shed here is not exactly in keeping
with the standard of the system" he said
nor with the character and volume of
our passenger business. The need of a
better structure has been foreseen for
some time, but the change was delayed
with the hope that some arrangement sim
liar to that which has just been brought
about could be effected The new passen-
ger station will be an Imposing edifice and
one which will be a credit to the city as
well as to the railroads which will make
use of it. Our plans will shortly be ready
to give to the public, and the work viii
be undertaken and pushed to completion
as soon as possible"
''What arrangements have been made
with the Southern Railway for travel 10
and below Savannah" Mr.. Erwin was
asked.
THE Southern is now at work on
connection with the Plant System at
Yemassee, - he replied, "A short line will
be built from Columbia to Perry, on the
Carolina Midland Railroad The Southern
now controls the latter road, which will
be used to its junction with the Port
Royal and Western Carolina, which will
be used to Yemassee from which point
the Southern will reach Savannah over
our line. The Southern win probably bring
in its passenger trains with It's own en-
gines. 1t has moi yet been decided wheth-
er the Southern will run it's trains further
south"
''Win the Southern compete for freight
into and out OF Savannah over this
route?" MIR. Erwin was asked.
II have no doubt that it will" he re-
piled. "As to whether the Southern Will
bring in it's own freight trains or whether
the trains will be handled by us has not
yet been decided"
'Is Is not true that the relations between
the Southern and the Plant Systems are
not now very close?" President Erwin was
asked.
THE friendship between the Southern
and the Plant Systems is a very old one"
replied the president. 1T begun in the
days of the old Atlantic and Gulf and
East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia
Railroads and was continued when the Sa-
vannah, Florida and Western succeeded
the Atlantic and Gulf The East Tennes-
see meeting with the Savannah, Florida
grew up an 'interchange of business be-
tween the two roads The first through