Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-09-19
NO. 75.
conquest OF THE MOUNTAINS.
Blue Ridse at Last to Be Penetrated
BY Different Railroads.

StHOtUUG ndhEodoos
After many a long year of waiting
the rush to capture the mountain
passes Of the upper south is under way.
Their conquest is not to be accompanied
by the clash Of arms, but by the home
ly music Of drills, picks and shovels In
the hands Of toilers of the soil working
to establish new lines OF railroad COM
munication through regions new to
modern conditions. although environed
by them. The near future, Il appears,
will witness the construction Of several
railways through the highlands of the
Virgintas and the Carolinas.
Immediately following the announce
ment Of Eugene Zimmerman that the
Cincinnati Hamilton & Dayton and
Pere Marquette lines would provide
railroad from the Great Lakes to the
Atlantic ocean at Charleston, 8. c., the
Southern Railway awarded a contract
to build the Johnson City Southern
Railway across the mountains from
johnson City, Tenn, to Marion, N. G.
The contractors already have men on
the ground, and more are being sent
forward to begin construction on the
most difficult part of this route, that
through the mountain regions. A sur
vey for the road was started only In
June, and the promptness with which
construction has begun Indicates its
Importance. Meanwhile the South g.
Western Railway. which Is dominat-
ed by a syndicate composed Of Sea-
board Air Line directors, is pushing
its extension southwark from Spruce
Pine, N. c., to point near Marion, and
beyond there towards Spartanburg, 8.
C. Northward the same company Is
building to get into the Toms Creek
coal fields. Perhaps, according to re-
ports, the Virginia & Southwestern
Railway, which Is after an entrance to
the saTne source Of fuel supply. may
become allied with the South & West
ern in its tntermountain extensions, al
though the former has its own charter,
permitting the construction Of road
to the sea. It Is not improbable that
some agreement will be reached to car
ry out such joint plan.
Still another route Is being built
through the Carolina mountains, one
which II seems will be taken up by the
Zimmerman interests for their line
This is the plan Of the Carolina &
North Western Railway, which bought
the Caldwell & Northern railroad and
is extending II. Practicable lines have
been run through the mountains by the
engineers and a choice Of two routes Is
to be made Farther south Is. the
scheme of the Greenville & Knoxville
Railway Co. to build along the aban-
doned roadbed Of the old Carolina,
Knoxville & Western through the
ranges TO Tennessee. and not far away
from this is the Southern's proposed
connection, on which work has started,
from Bushnell, N. c., to Maryville,
Tenn. Coming UP from Georgia In this
vicinity Is the Tallulah Falls Railway.
headed for Franklin, N. c., but which
will doubtless from there find a juno
tion with the Southern's system In the
Old North State.
All these various projects are believed
to have found available routes through
the mountains with lines not too Sc
we're, ard most OF them will doubtless
be completed The development Of coal
territory Is primarily their purpose, but
there it much other natural wealth-
amid the mountains which may be
made OF Industrial value through the
building Of spur lines or branches from
them. These would In many In
stances demand the use of geared loco
motives to overcome the heavy grades,
at least for freight business, although
motor cars might be employed for pas
senger service. To be sure, In regions
so sparsely populated as the remote
valleys and uplands Of Western North
Carolina II would be necessary that
such lateral lines should be constructed
at low cost, after the manner OF many
lumber roads. To secure this cheap
ness Of construction the proximity OF
a large quantity Of timber from which
ties could be cut Is favorable. and light
rail or perhaps partially worn rails OF
sections now too light for main-l line
traffic might also be employed to keep
down cost to a profitable basis There
Is no doubt that there are many dis
tricts which could be afforded railroad
communica' ions on a satisfactory n
nancial foundation providing that con-
struction was done under the supervis-
ion Of men familiar with local condi-
tions and economic requirements.
Like impenetrable walls Of iron the
great Appalachian mountains of Vir-
ginia and Carolina for years bade def
ance to all efforts Of railroad projectors
who several decades ago would have
built trunk lines from ports on the
South Atlantic coast to the great cities
Of the west. Their towering peaks,
mighty ranges and chasmlike gorges
seemed obstacles too tremendous to be
overcome by engineering which would
be permitted by business considerations.
But commercial conditions have vastly
changed. and what the past could not
afford the present will assume with
cheerfulness and profit.-Manufactur
ar's Record.