The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-28
SOUTHERN PROGRESS
SUMMARY FROM THE MANU- LECTURERS RECORD.
Railroads in This Section Find It Necessary to Enter Birming- ham and Many are Now Head
 ed in That Direction.

Baltimore. March N.-(Special )-The trend of railroad building in the South at present Is toward the Gulf of Mexico and also toward Birmingham, the center of the great mineral district of Alabama, Noting this, The Manufacturers Record says this week. There are no signs of a lessening demand for transportation fa- cilities to one or another of the Gulf ports. and 1t has also become al matter of necessity for the railroad systems in that section to enter Birmingham. A glance over the situation shows that rapid progress is being made by those lines which have already begun con- struction, and, in addition to these. there are several new corporations which prom fse to be of considerable magnitude.
 Considering first those railroads which are seeking a Gulf outlet, the Missouri Pacific system Is found to be fast push ing it's line southward along the west bank of the Mississippi to reach New Or leans. The Shreveport and Red River Valley Railway Is also building on toward New Orleans from the Northwest. Both of these companies are doing active work and the Frisco System has recently de- clared its intention to reach the Crescent City, the Council having passed an ordi- nance giving an entrance there. From Gulfport, Miss, We find the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad building an exten- sion, and a survey is being made for a 2OO-mile line by the Natchez and Gulf Railroad Co.,. recent incorporation which proposes to build from Natchez to Gulfport. In addition to those is the Vlcksburg and Gulfport, another new company, which plans to build from Vlcksburg to Gulfport. 1S0 miles. From Mobile the Mobile. Jackson and Kansas City Railroad is extending northward through Mississippi with the reported ob- ject of reaching Memphis, Tenn, and recently company called the Pensacola, Meridian and Northwestern has been in- corporated to build from Memphis, Tenn. to Pensacola, Fla, with a branch to Mo- bile. Farther west-in TeXas-both the Rock Island and the Frisco Systems will, It is reported. build extensions to Calves ton, the former from Dallas and the lat ter from Paris. Tex.
 Among the railroads which are push ing or towards Birmingham the Sea board is found in the lead, with the recently purchased East and West Railroad of Alabama In course of construction and to be connected with Birmingham and Atlanta by next fall. The Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad is building west through Georgia, and the Atlantic and Birmingham is also constructing an ex- tension, each with the object of reaching the great mineral section of the South. The Louisville and Nashville is improv- ing its facilities in the coal and iron re- zion of Northern Alabama by building a couple of extensions
 "A new railroad recently incorporated is the Birmingham, Columbus and St. Andrews, which proposes to build from Birmingham via Columbus. Ga, to St. Andrews Bay, Fla, and 1t has just been announced that the Union Springs and Northern is to build from Fort Davis on the Seaboards Montgomery line north west sixty miles to Rockford, which is in the direction of Birmingham, and fur ther extension of about equal length would carry the road to that city. Such an extension could be used to give the Seaboard Air Line very direct route from Birmingham to Savannah.
 Tt appears probable that after the Seaboard enters Birmingham the com pany will turn its attention towards get ting a further extension to New Or leans. It has been reported upon several occasions that the system would build beyond Birmingham, but nothing authori- tative has been announced upon that subject.
 This new railroad building, as we'll as that which is in prospect. will provide eX- tensive facilities for transporting the agr- cultural products of the West and South west on the one hand and the mineral pro- ducts of the Birmingham district on the other to tidewater outlets either on the Gulf coast or on the Atlantic. The busi- ness out of Birmingham is growing fast, and must need at least all the facilities that are now being prepared for its transportation"