The age-herald., 1901-04-25
MORE TALK ABOUT THE NEW RAILROAD
  Some of the Big Roads Proba-
 ply Behind It. iNCORP0RAT0RS ARE SILENT MT. Badham, However, Says It Is a Genuine Enterprise and Is Backed By Eastern capItalIsts-Some
 Interesting Gossip.
lNCORPORATORS ARE SILENT

The publication in the Age-Herald yes terday of the application of Walker 1 Percy and associates for a charter for | the Birmingham and Atlanta Air Line 1 Railroad was generally discussed in rail- road and industrial circles in Birming-
 ham yesterday and gave rise to num- | Der of gossipy rumors relative to the l probable packers of the Birmingham men l whose names appear on the application l for a charter. It Is generally believed
 that the seaboard Air Line road in the l East, and either the Illinois Central or l the Kansas City, Memphis and Blrming-
 ham in the West arc behind the move
 ment and that the Birmingham and At lanta road will be built and utilized as
 connecting link between the three great l systems
 | None of the men mentioned in the ap- | pllcation will give out any information that will indicate the identity of the real owners of the projected road, but there | are enough apparently we'll grounded ru- mors circulating to create the belief that the new road is to be part of either one or all of the three great systems of rail- ways that are known to be seeking an entrance to Birmingham.
 1 Some Rumors.
 The Illinois Central Is one of the great 1 systems of railways In the country hay | ing direct line from Chicago to New | Orleans. and with other lines to St. Louis, Omaha and other Western trade centers, and with branches extending in- to all parts of Illinois, Iowa. Eastern Missouri Western Kentucky, Western l Tennessee and through the State of Mis- sissippi and the southern portion of Lou l isiana. It also has a branch line from 1 Aberdeen Junction, Holmes County, Mis- 1 sissppi, to Aberdeen, Monroe County. l near the Alabama State line. There Is 1 also a branch line of the Illinois Central running from the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham to Winfield, Marion l County, Alabama a distance of about 1 ten miles.
 The Seaboard Air Line runs from Rich- mond. Va, through Eastern Virginia and | North and South Carolina and Georgia to Atlanta and also line to Montgom- cry, in this State. This system has been seeking an entrance to Birmingham for several years and at one time was re- ported to have bought the East and West Railroad of Alabama, whose road runs l from Pell City, Ala, to Cartersville, Ga.
 The Kansas City, Memphis and Bir- I mingham, the other line which IS men | toned in connection with the ownership of the Birmingham and Atlanta Air Line, runs from Birmingham to Memphis, where it connects with the Kansas City. Fort ] Scott and Memphis road. which is owned | and operated by the same company and l under the same management. The Kan sas City lines recently passed into the l control of the St. Louis and San Fran cisco Railroad Company and while the 1 two systems will be operated as inde> | pendent systems a community of interest will be established and maintained. The St Louis and San Francisco covers l the Southwestern portion of Missouri, l Eastern Kansas and the Indian and Okla homa territories and has line running l into the Northern part of Texas. Should l the St. Louis and San Francisco, through | the Kansas City lines, be back of the l Birmingham and Atlanta Air Line, this would give a system that would cover l more than half of the entire South and give 1t entrance to the best cities and the greatest industrial centers in the
 South.
 Mr. Badham Talks.
 1 In speaking of the proposed new road
 yesterday H. L. Badham. one of the ap- picants for the charter, said:
 'It is genuine enterprise and is backed | by eastern people, Whether the eastern
 interest is railroad or not I am not at | liberty at this time to state. I will say,
 however, that the people at the back of
 the road have ample capital to build and
 that building will ensue in the immediate
 future. We will not ask for local sube
 scriptions to stock or bonds. All we want I Is the good will of the people through
 whose cities we pass, and courteous and
 fair treatment in our efforts to secure
 terminals at the three leading points,
 namely, Aberdeen, Birmingham and the
 Georgia State line. The charter was not
 obtained for selling out purposes. It was
 the first step necessary in the building of
 the road. and the road Is to be built" Walker Percy, who is one of the app1i- | cants for the charter for the Birming-
 ham and Atlanta Air Line Railroad Com
 pany went to Memphis yesterday, 1t is
 understood, for the purpose of consulting
 with his brother, who is attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad at that place This lends color to the belief that the
 Illinois Central is back of the movement
 to build an airline road from Birming-
 ham to Aberdeen and from Birmingham to Atlanta
 I The road from Birmingham to Aber- I deen would open up a new and rich min
 eral district not yet developed. It would
 traverse Lamar. Fayette. Walker and