The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-24
FEAR THEY WILL BE
 HIGH AND DRY Small Towns May Be Off the
 Railroad SURVEYS BY THE L. & N. Proposed New Route Is About n Mile From Hancevf11e and About the Same Distance From BIount
 Springs
SURVEYS BY THE L. & N.
BY CLYDE ". ENNIS

Hanceville, December 23.-(Special.)- The greatest consternation prevails among q large number of people up and down the Louisville and Nashville railroad, and if the rumors that one hears are true 1t Is not without cause that they are ex- periencing the feeling of impending evil. It is the opinion all along the line that the new double track of the Louisville and Nashville will practically wipe away prosperous towns of this and other sec- tions of the map.
 It is said here that the surveyors who are now in the field are locating line for the Louisville and Nashville which it is said will pass at least one mile from what is now Hanceville. Hanceville is rapidly growing, has many prosperous mercantile concerns and the people are happy and contented. But 1t seems they are to be left with the Louisville and Nashville trains whizzing by at least one mile away.
 The engineering department surveyors of the Louisville and Nashville are To- cated about one mile from this city, map ping out the new line. The construction of the double track has been widely ru- mored and W. L. Mapother, the senior vice president, gave out an interview not so long ago in Birmingham to the effect that the line was being re-surveyed. The engineers are mapping out line that IS said to swerve easterly from Birmingham cutting Blount Springs off the map and passing that now noted resort about one mt. ;e fo ther after leaving that place, causing a complete abdication of the Louisville and Nashville tracks at Garden City.
 I remarked to one of the leading men of this place today that it was not un- natural to assume that the present line would remain at least for the inferior class trains, and the new line for the bet ter class and heavier class trains.
 Not bit of it." he exclaimed. "The new line when constructed will leave us off the map altogether, and the present lines here will be taken up and I suppose thrown away
 The new double track work of the Louisville and Nashville which will beglr at no far distant time will be one of the largest pieces of railroad construction in this state. However, that will not be anything new to Milton H. Smith and his assistants as they have been doing such things for many years. The tracks will be constructed, it is stated, through terri tory mountainous in places, but with all cf that it is the opinion of Louisville and Nashville engineers that the present heavy grades of the north division will be greatly decreased and that the douDie heading of light freights and passengers will be thing of the past of this di- vision.
 The work as far as the Louisville and Nashville is concerned will result in great savings in the motive power department as we'll as meaning greater things other wise, but for the people of the smaff towns it is a move that Is intensely re- gretted.
 The Louisville and Nashville railroad has always played the part of a builder In the state of Alabama and in the district of Birmingham. And for this reason 1t is difficult to believe that these small towns which contribute their mite to the progress of the mother city, Birmingham, will be turned adrift. Be that as 1t may, one truth is certain, the people who re- side along the main line of the company north of Birmingham are greatly con- cerned about the rumor that the main line is to be taken away from them and a statement to the contrary would be rel ished by them as one of the greatest Christmas presents that could be devised.