The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-16

gia road. Therefore I feel assured tnaS the security which we stand ready to pledge Is worth all of the estimate or s1,200 ,O00.
 with the rapidity with which the Georgia roads are approaching West Point let me refer you to the accom- panSIng report of the Monroe Railroad and Banking Company in which the president estimates the distance from a point on their road to which 1t will shortly be completed, to West Point as only sixty miles: and further states the fact that an application will be made to the present Georgia legislature to continue their road to West Point. The completion of ours will then perfect the chain of steam communication from the Alabama river to the Allan" tic.
 "The advantages In a natural point of View--and indeed in every view in which you may take it--Are so obvious and acknowledged that I will not tres pass longer on your time by a detail Of
 T am very respectfully
 Charles T. Pollard.
 'President."
 This letter saved the day and en- abled the indominable little band of promoters, led by Colonel Pollard, to continue the great work which was destined, some seventy years after wards, not only to pour untold wealth Into the laps of these 1908 merchant princes of Montgomery, but to form the key of the situation and make Mont gomery one of the gateways of the great trans-continental connection be- tween New York and the sunny shores of the Golden Gate out in California.
 Won the Legislature.
 Colonel Pollard's letter carried the day with the Legislature in Tuscaloosa, the capital of Alabama then being in the beautiful City of Oaks. and. backed by the State, the work of construction was kept going.
 In less than four months-on April 8, 1S40--there was meeting in Mont gomery of the stockholders of the road, at which Colonel Pollard was unani- mously reelected President, and the following Board of Directors elected for the ensuing year: Charles T. Pol Fol lard, Abner McGehee, B. s. Bibb, Will liam Taylor, Lewis owen, Jesse P. Taylor, N E. Benson and Thomas M. Cowles of Montgomery, Moses Wheat and Simeon Taylor of Chambers Coun- ty. William B. s. Gilmer and James E.. Scott of West Point and Thomas M. Blount of Pensacola. At this meeting assurance was given the public that by the 1st of May the company would have a locomotive running some distance and that by the 4th of July, the loco motive would be running through from Montgomery to Franklin. That they kept their promise. is shown by the fact that on Monday, the Sth day of June, 184O, the road was opened for general travel and transportation for distance of twelve miles from Mont gomery, and double daily line for the accommodation of passengers would be run regularly on that portion of the road Freight cars had been run ming on the twelve miles for some days and a good many bales of cotton had been brought to Montgomery.
 Colonel Pollard was beginning to conquer all oposition. The crest of the hlll had been reached, and where noun ing but fog and gloom had shrouded the path going up, the way down on the other side was illumined with good cheer and the beams sent out from the huge glow worm of success.
 From The Alabama Journal of that day, the following is taken: we congratulate the enterprlsing owneri of the road upon their success so far and trust that their most sanguine eX- pectations may be more than realized in its usefulness and in the profitable investment of their capital. They cer. tainly deserve well of their country for their untiring perseverance amid diff faculties and embarrassment which seemed well nigh insurmountable, We venture to assert that no work of the same importanc. to the community generally ever met with so much oppo- sitlon and received so little encour- agemen from those whose interest should have been to have aided in its completion with all possible speed"
 The first passenger train ever run out of Montgomery-and the second in the State of Alabama, a railroad being in operation from Tuscumbia to Deca. tur, in the northern part of the State was this magnificent result of the years of struggle gone through with by Colo mel Pollard. It was the first steam train ever operated in Alabama, the one in North Alabama having horses and mules as a motive power, This sth day of June. 1S40, was made a gala occasion. a number of representa- tive citizens of Montgomery being the guests of Colonel Pollard, who wound up the return trip with barbecue at Pickett Springs.
 An Old Advertisement.
 November 4, 1S4O, the following ad-