The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-11-18
RAILROAD WORLD.

O. E Evans, general manager of the Louisville and Nashville railroad. accom- panied by General Passenger Agent c. l.. Stone. Traffic Manager c. B. Compton. Superintendent of Transportation c. B. Phelps, passed through Birmingham yes terday morning. going south.
 The "Newsboy' conveyed the "Black Patti Troubadours" to Decatur yester- day morning
 Mark Ford, general agent for the Great Northern railway, with headquarters in St. Louis, was in the city yesterday.
 Renfro Jackson, commercial agent for the Monon route, with headquarters in Atlanta, was in the city yesterday.
 ". L. Henderson, the Southern railway land and industrial agent at Mobile, was in Birmingham yesterday.
 L. c. Cardival. travelling freight agent for the Mobile and Ohio at Montgomery, was in the city yesterday.
 c. L. Rogers, general agent In Nash vile for the Evansville and Terre Haute railroad, was in Birmingham yesterday.
 A special to the St. Louis Globe-Dem- ocrat from Richmond says President John Skelton Williams of the Seaboard Air Line, who returned to the city today from New York, said tonight; 'The fi- nancial proposition recently made to the Seaboard Air Line by Thomas F. Ryan and Blair &. Go. of New York will be acted upon by our directors at their meet ing on Wednesday. The proposition meets the cordial approval of myself and my as- sociates who own large majority in- terest in the system. The money which is offered. if accepted, will be used to pay off the companys floating debt, which, by the way, Is inconsiderable amounting to scarcely more than one months gross earnings. and also will furnish the funds desired for certain important plans for development, including the amount re- quired for the completion of the Birming- ham line. The funds necessary for the construction of the Seaboards new road between Atlanta and Birmingham were secured more than six months ago through the sale of $6,000, 900 Birmingham division the additional funds now desired in this connection are to be held for the purpose of providing extensive terminals and equipment and for the old East and West railroad, now part of the Atlanta Bir- mingham line. which expenditures were not covered by the bond sale above re- ferred to-"
 The New York Commercial says: Ru- mors of war in Florida passenger rates are heard. The Queen and Crescent has given notice of It's intention to put FIori- da tickets on sale that will be good going one route and returning by another. These tickets, 1t is understood, are to be sold at an advance of F per cent over the rates put in for the round trip winter tourist tickets.
 It is understood that all the southern roads except the Louisville and Nashville and the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis have acquiesced in this arrange ment. The Louisville and Nashville threatens, If the Queen and Crescent puts these variable route tickets on sale, to reduce the regular winter tourist rates over 12 per cent This action will un- doubtedly bring on a passenger rate war on Florida business and perhaps to other southern territory.
 In a descriptive sketch of the president of the Seaboard Air Line the New York Commercial says:
 ''The career of John Sketon Williams as an organizer and manager of large industrial and railroad enterprises was so uniformly successful for many years that he was called the J. P. Morgan of the south throughout that section. It was due to his energy that the falls of the St James river were harnessed to supply the traction, lighting and other industries of Richmond with electric power. He was president of the Georgia and Alabama railway, which was ab- sorbed into the Seaboard when he ob- tained control of the old Seaboard and Roanoke, and. made it the backbone of a system which now includes 26O0 miles of track. He is the president also of the Richmond Trust and Safe Deposit com pany, the largest company of its kind in the south. He was prominently iden- tifed with the organization of the Vir- oipia. (soroliua Cha,pieol oop,nan,,u