The age-herald., 1900-11-22
EMIGRATION TO
 WESTERN STATES Heavier This Year Than For
 Several Seasons Past. SHORT CROPS THE CAUSE Rumors Concerning Pennsylvania Ab- sorption of the Southern Railway. Net Earnings of Southern Roads
 Show Substantial Gains.
SHORT CROPS THE CAUSE

Emigration from the southeast this fall is said to be heavier than for several seasons past. In speaking of this yesterday the travelling passenger agent of one of the roads said that hundreds of families were going to Texas and other Western States and territories and that the indications were that before the winter Is over thous- ands of persons from Alabama and Georgia will have gone to new homes in the West. The agent stated that he believed that the short crops of the past season were the cause of the emigration from the southeast. When farmers have a short crop one year they forget all the good crops they have grown" continued the passenger agent "and want to change their homes. The winter following a full crop there is very little emigration from this State to the West but let the crops fall short and the movement Is enormous. Next fall or with in two or three years at the most, these same families will become discontented with their new homes and want to return to the old places in Alabama and Georgia and the Carolinas. That has nearly al- ways been the case, and will be again.
 Some of the railroad companies have in the past two or three years discouraged emigration from the sections traversed by their lines, and to this fact is attributed in part the small emigration in the recent past. This season extra inducements in the way of homeseekers' excursion tickets have been widely advertised. These cheap rates att tracted great many people who were dis satisfied because of the small crops of the past summer with the result that hundreds have gone to the West.
 Pennsylvania-Souther
 Should the Pennsylvania Company &C., ouire control of the Southern Railway the two systems combined would form the greatest railroad system in the world, and some one of its lines would reach every city of any consequence east of the Mis- sissippi and between the gulf of Mexico and the lakes except Boston and New Or leans Reports have been extensively cir culated during the past few days to the effect that the Pennsylvania people We're after the Southern. It is stated that they are willing to lease the Southern for a peri cd of 999 years and guarantee the holders of the preferred stock 31a per cent on their investment while the holders insist upon a guarantee of per cen,.
 With the control of the Southern Railway would pass the Pennsylvania Air Line," known officially as the Louisville, Evans vile and St. Louis and the Monon Route.
 Railroad Earnings.
 af the railroads last year, nearly all of the Southern roads show substantial weekly increases this year as compared with last. The following Southern roads which have reported for the second week in November show increases: Central of Georgia, in- crease $16,461 Norfolk and Western, in- crease $25071; Louisville and Nashville, in- crease $1O,S95. The Cincinnati, New Or leans and Texas Pacific shows a decrease for the same period of $15,755.
 It has been stated that the Southern Railway is routing all the business it can over roads other than the Queen and Cres- cent in order to make as bad showing as possible for the latter road A large num- Der of holders of Southern stock are also large holders of stock in corporations that form the Queen and Crescent ,and 1t is said they are trying to force sale of this stock held by interests other than their own The Queen and Crescent, until this year, has been great money earner and has been considered one of the best roads from the view of an investor in the South, but the earnings for the past few months have shown decreases each week. as com pared with the corresponding week last year. This decrease is explained by of- ficials and others with the statement that the iron trade has been dull since the be- ginning of summer, that the lumber trade has fallen off until 1t amounts practically to nothing and that the grain business, which formerly constituted a good portion of the freight of that road, has almost entirely ceased. Whatever the real cause may be the weekly reports made in Wall street show that the Queen and Crescent is not doing as profitable a business this fall as it did last fall
 Notes.
 Louisville and Nashville passenger trains from the north were delayed yesterday by the storms in Tennessee:
 ". J. Taylor, general agent of the Vest ern Railway of Alabama at Montgomery, was in the city yesterday.