The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-05-11
q. r. B.

49,
You may talk until the COWS come
home about the boomers OF the great
and alleged golden West, but honest,
there's nothing to 1t. Their Southern
brothers have got them tied to the
post with a log chain and. a short
hitch. They have faded away into
a dim and nebulous nothingness
leaving not even a streak of fire be-
hind them, Compared with that
bunch If Knoxville and Greenyille
RAILROAD boosters fo~regathered i'm
Knoxville last week the best YOU NAV
say of them is this:
Go South, young man, go South
and n how to really boost!"
For alas, the article they have been
handing out to a deluded country has
been only n-ear-boosting. The real,
unadulterated, Simon-pure article in
boosting is now found only in the
South, and the very best samples of
it We're on display in Knoxville last
week.
Solid Train of Boosters
They came from three States-Tenn-
essee, North Carolina and South Caro-
lima. and when they boarded The
train which took them over the first
thirty-mile section of the new road,
Dit took four coaches to hold them all
and the whole out o. doors to contain
their enthusiasm.
But it meant buSiness-this won
derful enthusiasm-it meant business
and the building of the road! Busy,
responsible men do not drop their
private affairs for three days and
spend their own money to attend a
meeting of this kind just for the fun
of the thing. They were all dead in
earnest and their ~earnestness. in pur-
pose al have but one result-the
building of the Knoxville and Green
vile Railroad stretching from Knox
vile. Tennessee, to Greenville, South
Carolina, touching Canton, an indus
trial wonder, through Henderson
vile, perhaps, as THE resort of the
South, and developing untold millions
of natural wealth now lying idle. use
less, in the fair country between.
Two Links Built.
AS is generally known, w. ]. Oil
yer has built the first link in this
road. thirty miles of railroad from
Knoxville to S~ieyerville. now in OBJ
Grafton and developing a wonderfully
fair and ~marveloasly rich country.
At the Greenville end Mr.. divers
associate, Mr.. Patterson, has another
link of the road in operation, and it
is the purpose of everybody, almost,
to connect these two links and make
a, through line from Knoxville to
Greenvi1le.
Then where?
~Charleston?
Who knows?
Extend To Canton
During the banquet, marking the
close of the conference Mr.. Oliver stat
ed positively that he would construct
his end of the line on to Waterville,
and possibly to Canton, N. c.. within
the next 18s months. Mr.. Patterson
made. no statement as. to his present
purposes, but things are, understood
to be in good shape at that end
of the proposition.
Breese Of Brevard.
It. was all wonderfully interesting
this banquet-where men who
know, like Will Breese of Brevard got
up and talked about vast deposits
of iron ore, of MANGANESE and of lime,
awaiting only the coming of Tenn
essee's cheap coal to build great
smelters and boundaries. President
Haynesworth of the Greenville Cham
Der of Commerce told how they there
had millions of dollars to spend for
things that Knoxville had to sell and
only the direct railroad connections
were lacking to make the exchange.
A. Wy A Gath ~ on6nrcanui
in a clean-cut logical speech which
commanded the quiet attention of all
in the hall, told something of what
this county had to offer. Canton's
board of trades president gave facts,
and figures about tons of freight
handled there which must have prov
ed interesting to Mr.. Oliver and his
associate. And so on and on. Men
from all three States told Of the
urgent need of the road, and some
there were, like the Brevard and
Greenville delegation, who spoke Of
hundreds. of thousands of dollars al
ready voted and waiting to aid the
road and promised more help if it
were needed.
Conference Successful
While no definite arrangements
were made the full result expected
from this conference was obtained.
It has resulted in cementing more
closely the already friendly relations
of the people of the section to be
traversed by the road and has given
everyone present a definite idea of
what is expected. Not a man there
but firmly believes the two links of
tho road Will he and that with
its connections with Western lines
there will ultimately pass through
this section great engines pulling
trains made up on the Pacific coast
and which will unload their wealth
o the docks of Charleston on the
Atlantic. 1t may sound like a dream
but then, too, Hill, Hartman, and
other railroad kings have first had
dreams and then-built railroads!
Hospitable Treatment.