The National tribune., 1907-01-17
From the Meth . chry.aIIs.

It was a long arrows flight from the
! folding of the battle-f1agS to the close
| of "a. Thirty years, nearly the lifetime
| of generation; and a1tho new South
| had arisen thru the efforts of its in
| domitable people, still there were many
waste places in the South left barren
| by the scourge of war, growths of field
| pine over vast areas of erstwhile plan
tation, deserted hamlets and farmSideS,
decayed towns and vanished popula-
| tionS, a dearth of industry surrounding
| every oasis of thrift, regions where
| apathy yet reigned within a days jour-
ney from scenes of activity and enter
prise. Hundreds of miles of unsettled
country flanked the railroads, and deso-
| late landscapes greeted the eye at sadly
/ frequent intervals of travel. Evidences
of the appalling destructiveneSs and
prolonged effects of a gigantic war re-
| manned wherever the tocsin had sound
ed so long ago. Many of the railroads
had never recovered and had merely
struggled during those following Y ears
to preserve their charter rights. Bank
rupt, decrepit, depleted of rolling stock,
honeycombed rail and rotting roadbed,
diSmally stretching their iron arms thru
unproducing fields for traffic that did
not come, such were the railroads of the
South, even in 1894. with the exception
of few trunk lines traversing wealthy
of the roads assembled-saved from the
universal dead-pit and merged into the
Few system Rehabilitation, repairs,
relling stock, warehouses, depots,
tracks, new grades, bridges, roadbed
and innumerable minor essentials must
be supplied, involving expenditures
many times greater than Immediate and
prospective revenue from traffic. The
bonded Indebtedness of the various
roads, accruing interest, overdue out
standing Indebtedness, the necessity or
demand for readjustment, liquidation.
resecurihg, provision for current oper-
ating expenses and additional facilities.
and for the necessary purchase of still
other and yet other lines Of road, all
combining to challenge the bold Saladin
who had ridden into this sea of sand
and to overwhelm him. By a reference
to Poor's Manual for 1894, wherein
the financial condition of each of these
roads is shown, and the names OF which
give below, together with those later
acquired, something of the magnitude
of Mr. -Spencer's task may be made still
more manifest In 1894 the lines alb.
sorbed into the new system numbered
not less than As, while to-day the sys-
tenn fs operating 1872 lines of road, each
one of which was at one period or an
other independently managed or con-
troIIed. Chiefly the lines thus operated
Dy the southern railway SOHlpdHS diS.
Atlanta & Charlotte Air Line.
North Carolina.
Georgia Pacific in Mississippi.
Georgia Pacific in Alabama.
Columbia & Greenvi1le (S c..
Charlotte, Columbia & Augusta On.
c., S. c., Ga-). Hf1'~
Richmond, York River & Chesapeake
(Va-).
Atlantic, Tennessee & Ohio.
Richmond & Danville CVa-).
Oxford & Henderson On. c..
Clarksville (Va.) & North Carolina.
Statesville & Western On. c..
Washington Cd. c., Ohio & Western.
Oxford & ClarksvilIe Va.).
Northwestern North Carolina.
Virginia Midland.
Western North Carolina
Baltimore, Chesapeake & Richmond
Steamboat Co.
Yadkin Railroad IN. C.).
High Point, RandIeman, Asheboro G
Southern.
DanvilIe & Western.
North Carolina Midland.
Elberton Air Line.
Selma, Rome & Dalton.
Alabama Central.
Tennessee Central.
Cincinnati, Selma & Mobile.
Rome & Decatur. s---t
Tennessee & Ohio.
Knoxville (Tenn.) & Augusta tGa.).
Walden's Ridge (Tenn.).
Johnson City (Tenn.) & Carolina.
Knoxville CTenn.) & Ohio.
Memphis & Charleston.
Macon & Brunswick (Ga.).