The Tupelo journal., 1907-02-15
To the Public Served by the
Southern Railway.

of view and from public express
sion, the importance Of the work
of this Company, especially in
the South, and the fiduciary re-
lation ship which it bears to its
! patrons and to the public, | de-
sire to make a brief statement
OF some Of the conditions which
confront it, and Of the purposes
and policy Of its Enlargement
The management would not
ignore the fact that at present
railroad service generally, includ-
ing that of the Southern, is far
from satisfactory. If there was
no adequate and justifying cause
for this, these conditions would
be objectionable, but, the fact is,
they spaing largely from causes
which for the moment cannot be
controlled;
One exceedingly potential
cause is the extraordinary devel-
opment of the South. In his last
public address, the late Presi-
dent of this Company, Mr. Sam
uel Spencer, referred to this de-
velopment as follows:
"The South has entered upon period
of increased production in agriculture
and in manufactures, and of general
industrial and commercial activity, such
as her best friends and most enthusi-
astic prophets had scarcely dreamed of
fifteen years ago. Within that period
the cash value of her cotton crop has
doubled, the amount of pig iron pro-
duced at her furnaces has increased
enormously, and the product of her coal
mines has increased more than three
| fold. Cotton factories have sprung up
within her borders to the extent that
more of her cotton crop is now manu-
| factured on her own soil than in all the
mills of New England. The total value
of her annual manufactures now aggre-
gates nearly eighteen millions in value.
| The total of her agricultural products
is now oyer seventeen hundred millions
per annum.
This increase is likewise indi-
Gated in the volume of rsffic han
died by this Company. In 1895
the number of tons of freight
carried one mile was 1908, 932, :
S44, while in 1906 the number of
tons carried one mile was 4, 1885,
915, ,839, showing an increase of
over three hundred per cent, or,
allowing for the increased mile
age, an increase of over 1873 per
cent; while in 1895 the number
of passengers hauled one mile
was 178, ,015, 925, as against 549,-
1854 in 1906, showing an in
crease of over two hundred per
cedt, or, allowing for the in
creased mileage, an increase per
mile of road of over eighty per
cent.
Nowhere in the United States,
except in the two States of the
extreme Northwest, Washington
and Oregon, has there been such
industrial development as in the
South.
1t is perhaps not too much to
clam that, outside the energies
and efforts of the people them
selves, this Company has been
one Of the chief factors IN this
development. Manifestly the
vast increase OF traffic incident
to this commercial awakening,
requires enormous increases in
transportation facilities.
The management Of the South
ern Railway Company has not
been unmindful of this fact, and
did not wait for the coming Of
the development itself, before
attempting to increase to the ut
most possible extent its trans
portation capacity. 1t must be
remembered that this Company
has not been in existence more
team about twelve years. 1t
found those railroads Of the
South, now constituting a part
of its system, of light and faulty
construction, poorly equipped and
utterly unprepared to handle
any considerable traffic, They
had been recently bankrupt and
were without credit.
AS soon as the new Company
came into existence the manage
ment adopted a policy of better
ment and improvement and some
thing of what it has done to pre-
pare for the traffic of the South
will appear from the following
statement:
IT HAS SPENT
In new, approved and heavier
rail, S10,880, GOO
In double tracking, reducing
grades ard changing align
ment 6,942, ,631
In rev steel bridges for heav-
ier power 2,578, $40
In branches and spurs to in
dustries 1858, 288
Inside, passing and CONNER
ciaI tracks 3,148, ,806
In shops, tools and machinery
2,03l, 14S
In additions and Improvements
to yards, real estate, road
way and structures and 9TH