The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1901-04-19
Creating Business.

we nave received q little pamph
}. let issued by the Southern Railway
. giving in detail The growth Of textil,
4 mills along the lines Of that system
g during the year just ended, togeth
: er with an enumeration of all III,
textile industries now located in th,
. same territory. The pamphlet i.
interesting, not only in its showiuI
OF the really remarkable work which
this road is accomplishing in build
ing up the section which il Gov. rs
but vastly more SO in the revel atior
: OF possibilities which await the ap
plication of similar principles tc
other systems. The Southern has
long been noted for the persisten,
= policy it has followed in this partic.
ular. Since its reorganization j,
has been the best friend the south
has had, and while the work &C.
complished cannot be classed as
philanthropic, a great deal Of it has
been for the benefit Of the South in
the abstract, rather than for direct
FIprofit TO the Southern system as a
corporation. The pamphlet in
question shows that during 1900 no
less than "a new textile mills and
kindred industries we're located
along the railway, with an equip
ment Of l,137 $50 spindlcs and %,
lS5 looms. In addition a number
OF established concerns increased
their equipment, several Of them
erecting new mills, while others re-
placed old machinery with new.
inaddition to the mills enumerated,
16 other textile mill buildings are
in various stages of construction,
and several companies have been
organized for the purpose of begin
ming work this year. In all the to.
tai Of mills now number over 500,
with an equipment of III, ,619 looms
and 4 ,463, ,493 spindles. This may
he regarded as tedious enumeration,
but the lesson it conveys ought not
not to be lost on railway managers
in general. The territory traversed
by the Southern six or eight years
ago, omitting a few centralized
points, was regarded as most un-
promising in general prospects. Yet
the managers Of the system, by sheer
persistence, have SO change condi-
tions that the property to day is re-
garded as one OF the most promising
in the country. OF course railway
Systems have always tried to attract
business, but for perfection in de-
tail the Southern is easily in the
lead. And what this road has done,
others, even in thickly settled re-
|gions, will be forced to do in the fu.
ture. Heretofore the trunk lines
have been content to handle the
business that came to them. With
rare exceptions they have ignored
one OF the most potential features in
the upbuilding Of their traffic. The
maximum Of business that the trunk
lines will handle has not yet been
reached, but in the eastern sections,
at least, future increases will be
smaller than in the past. Why
should the roads accept this as an
inevitable feature? Any one OF the
great lines, with an intelligent bu.
reau working with distinct pur-
pose can create fol- itself new traffic
quite outofproportion to that which
it may receive in the ordinary course
of events. A bureau such as de-
scribed could give to manufacturers
information as to the best location
of certain industries; it could tell
them where freight rates were low
est, and in endless ways divert to
its own territory revenue that
might insure certain returns in divi-
dends. The most vital point in rail-
road operation is supposed to be the
scientific handling Of transporta-
ton, but second to it ought to be an
intelligent application to the work,
guaranteeing steady volume OF
transportation to handle, and in that
particular golden opportunity has
been neglected. The success of the
Southern road in establishing on an
average two textile mills week
along its lines during the full year
1900, should open the eyes of other
railway managers.--The New York
Financier.
The aoove explains why Asst
T. +. Agent K. ID. Stratton is anx-
ious to lJcate Straw Board Factory
and Vitrified Brick works at Jasper.
Will our citizens help build up home
interests?
Many train Of thought ought to
be switched into a siding.
What dry time some Of us would
have il we got nothing but our de-
sorts