The Republican., 1900-12-27
NEW b. & o. BRANCH ROAD
Projected Feom Confluence Up Into Gar
rett County, Maryland, to Open
Vast Timber Lands.


rett County, Maryland, to Open
Vast Timber Lands.
On the outcome of a conference
that was held yesterday in Baltimore
between the officials of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad Company and rep
resentatives of the Droney Lumber
Company and j. r. Droney & Com
pany hinges the construction of a
branch railroad off the Baltimore and
/ Ohio at Confluence into Garrett
county, Md. That the road will be
built there is little doubt, and the
conference yesterday was for the pur-
pose of settling up the details. From
week to week recently the Courier
has contained notice of the work OF
an engineer corpe in the vicinity Of
| Confluence Their work was com
! pleted last week. 1t consisted in a
survey of the proposed route, which
is feasible at not great cost. The
lumber company and j. Il. DrOney l.
Company propose to build a town in
Somerset county along the line of the
railroad, where extensive manufac-
turing plants in wood work and
chemicals they have in view will be
established if the Baltimore and Ohio
will undertake the construction of
! the road.
/
w. w. Woods, Industrial Agent of
the railroad. his secretary, q. w. Du-
derer, and j. R. Droney, represent,
ing the new enterprise, went over
ground Wednesday and then came to
Connellsville to see ID. f. Maroney,
General Superintendent of the B. &
o., leaving Wednesday night for the
meeting in Baltimore. J. r. Droney
& Co., are big lumber dealers at
Olean, N. Y, and the Droney Lumber
Company is Pennsylvania concern,
the directors of which are j. r. Dro-
ney, o. F. Schonblome, president of
the Bradford National Bank at Brad
ford; G. G. Melvin, c. P. Byron and
d. H. Jack, oil men of Bradford.
Confluence, where the proposed
line will form a junction with the
main line of the Baltimore and Ohio
road, is S5 miles from Pittsburg. The
new line will extend about % miles
into Garrett county, Md; its exact
! tnp 10 OF do
Unamis, the proposed name of the
| new town, is called after an Indian
| tribe that once dwelt near the site.
| 1t will be nine miles from Confluence,
on the banks of Whites creek, feed
er of the Cassleman river in Somerset
county. The lumber company owns
| 10000 acres of forest, principally of
hardwood, in Somerset and Garrett
counties, and it is to develop this new
country that the line will be built.
Mr.. DrOney said before leaving for
Baltimore that if the expected deal
at Baltimore is concluded, ground
will be broken at once for the new
plants and $500,000 expended. The
work on the proposed railroad eXten-
sion will also go right ahead. He said
the wood working plant would turn
out such things as pals, tubs, sashes,
| blinds, etc. In reference to the chem
ical plant he said for the present he
preferred not to give any details.
| Those behind the industrial feature
of the deal are all men of wealth and
of such great business capacity as to
ensure in advance the success of the
enterprise. The officials of the Balti-
more and Ohio road have made a
study of that portion of Maryland
into which the new branch is projec-
ted and West Virginia and its re-
sources and have great faith in the
future of the two States. 1t will not
be surprising to see this extension of
it's lines followed soon by Others of a
similar character.
If the deal goes through it will
mean much to Confluence. At pres
ent the little town at the junction of
the Youghiogheny and Casselman n
rivers is thriving one as the start
ing place of the Confluence and Oak
land branch, which handles an i'm
mense tonnage in lumber. The new
branch would not parallel the Con-
fluence and Oakland or in any way
enter into competition with its traffic.
-Connellsville Courier.