The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1908-03-12
Benefit of Railroads.
What a Story Could be Told of
the Vast Changes Which
Take Place in a Community
Which for the First Time Sc
cures a Railroad-Some
Thoughts Suggested by the
Construction of the Virgin
ian Railway.
Baltimore Manufacturers Record.

Baltimore Manufacturers Record.
Lunenburg county is just being brought
to the front by the construction OF the
firginian, formerly the Tidewater Rail-
way, this being the first railroad ever
through the county; and op-
pOrtunities for fine Investments are open
there now.
This extract from a letter by Mr..
John f. Walker, of Lynchburg, presi-
dent of the kennedy-W Walker Land 4
Development Co., is suggestive of the
blessings which come to any section
by the building of railroad through
it. Lunenburg county, long shut off
by the lack of transportation, is now
presented as a fine field for invest
ment opportunities because of the
fact that Henry II. Rogers has put
$50, 100000 or more into railroad
connecting the coal fields OF West
Virginia with tidewater at Norfolk,
and in doing SO has built through
Lunenburg. What story could he
told of the vast changes which take
place in a community which for the
first time secures q railroad! What
an advancement Immediately fol-
lows in real estate values! What
new activity stirs the people to
greater life and energy! What broad
ening Ofall the faculties of mankind
as they catch the inspiration of the
thrill of the locomotives life and
energy! 1t is altogether probable
that the advance in the values of
property Immediately tributary to
the line of the Virginian Railway far
exceeds, by reason of its cOnstruc-
ton, the total cost of the railroad.
The investment which Mr.. Rogers
has made, whether it be $4,000, 900
or $4O,OOO,OOO, will be profitable
only if sufficient business is developed
and at a sufficient rate of freight to
earn a good dividend upon the cost,
and a surplus sufficient to take care
of the terrific wear and tear which il
constantly going on ia railroads.
But while this uncertainty follows
every railroad investment, the land
owner along the line has no such un.
certainty connected with the en-.
hancement in the value of his prop
erty. The coal land which was worth
a few dollars an acre if very distant
from railroad transportation sud.
denly advances to $25 and $40 and
$50 and 500 an acre, and often
times to much more. The timber
land increases in almost equal pro.
portion, while town property and
farm land is often more than doub.
led in value.
And then what n great influence
the construction of this particular
road, with it's vast terminal facilities
for the handling of coal, is going to
have on Norfolk. Equipped, as it
will be, with coal piers capable oI
loading on ocean vessels 5000, ,0Gg
tons or more of coal year, it will
bring to that port hundreds of coast
wise and foreign steamers; it will
stimulate every line of industry and
add immensely to the commanding
position which Norfolk already has
in domestic and foreign trade. Every
other town along it's line, every farm
and every other piece of property be-
tween Norfolk and its Western termi-
nus near Charleston, w. Va, which
is made accessible to toimproved trans
portation facilities will be tremen-
dously improved. 1t is conservative,
as Just stated, to estimate that this
enhancement in value will be much
beyond the total investment in the
road itself.
Looked at in the narrow view oi
the day, all of this increase i'm value
should be called "watered. Why
should the farmer or. the timber
land or the coal land owner see his
property doubled in value without
any work on his part to accomplish:
such a result? These very land
owners, however, many of whom will
be made rich by the construction oil
this road, if we are to Judge them by
the agitation which has been sweep.
ing over the country the last few
years, while gladly pocketing The
benefits which they received. in Ell.
hanced values, will promptly begin
denOuncing the railroad and its
builder and seek by legislation to
hamper its operation and to make
Improbable the millions invested in
its construction. The Manufactu
rers' Record hopes that the people
along that line have learned a lessor
from the sad experience Of the coun
try, and that they will not pursu,
that course. But that il the policy
which very large proportion of ths
population OF the country, from The
very highest to the very lowest, hav,
been busily engaged in advocating
during he Last few rears Isn't 4