The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-02-17
tween railroads and the Inhabitants of city or

tween railroads and the Inhabitants OF city or
town is absolutely necessary for the financial
advancement OF the one and commercial devel-
opment of the latter.
without this cooperation neither the railroad
the community will succeed as far as II can
rhe best facilities within the giving of officials
of a railroad should be provided for the inhabi
tants OF the cities and towns through which the
tracks run. The public should. by its heartiest
patronage. make 1t worth the while Of the rail-
road to improve its facilities and make them
upto-date and adequate to the demand
Claremont, thriving hustiing James River
town of SOC industrious Inhabitants complains
bitterly about the maintenance of a narrow.
gauge road between that town and Emporia The
business men Of Claremont believe the traffic to
and from the town warrants the establishment
of a broad-gauge road. They declare the contin-
uance Of the narrow.gauge road. said to be the
only such span of trackoge owned by the South
ern Railway in Virginia. hampers and hinders
the growth of the city Their plea for better
and more up-to-date facilities Is based on the
grounds of civic pride and future thought of
the development of the community. Complaint
is made about the narrow gauge system because
1t is necessary for every piece of freight
signed to Caremont TO be transferred from
broadgauge car at Emporia, thus causing
warranted delay. The antiquated railroad sys-
tenn at present maintained makes 1t impossible
for citizens of Claremont to reply to any letter
they receive inside of twenty four hours Threat
has M nd NJ takS ba IN Gfofa
Corporation Commission. The Southern Rail
way, whose officials have always shown them
selves to be in hearty sympathy and accord
with the upbuilding and development of South
ern towns of promise, should obviate the neces-
sity of an appeal having to be made to the cor.
poration-regulating body. If the people of
Caremont continue protesting as at present,
they will surely get a broad-gauge line, and it
would be infinitely better for the railroad COM
pany to provide 1t in appreciation of the needs
! OF the community than to wait and be compelled
| by the Corporation Commission to furnish ade
Quate facilities.
| Some idea as to how the people of Claremont
feel in this matter, and their Justification for
complaint, may be gotten from the following
editorial published in the Claremont Herald
under the caption of IA Outrage:
1.-THE Southern Railway Company should
provide way for immediate transfer OF
mixed carload freight from the cars to the
| station warehouse.
i THE freight arriving by boat is brought
| up the hill by the Southern Railway shifter
I and patrons of the road forced to put up
! with having to secure their own freight
i from cars regardless of whether they must
nm n nfh hoy afnrfo al tya dos
It, This is shameful thing, but neverthe-
I less true. How the officials OF modern-day
/ railroad can have the nerve to force such
accommodations a detenceless public Is
/ beyond comprehension.
i THE Southern Railway management
seems to be absolutely deaf to the appeals
of business men for more adequate service
on this branch. Having made every possi- .
! bic plea to the road for justice without re-
suits, there seems to be only thing left
and that Is to appeal to the State Corpora
ton Commission of Virginia
| The train is scheduled to arrive here at =
IL o'clock and leave at 1850. but 1t hardly
ever gets here until o'clock and leaves as
soon as possible afterwards. The only mail
we have is received on this train, and before
1t can be distributed at the post-ofice the
outgoing mail is often made up and 500
4 people are forced to wait for another TWEEN I'd
/ ty-four hours before letter can be dispatch
ed from Claremont We do not believe an.
other town in Virginia is handicapped In
any such manner.
I'VE have grievance against the rail-
roads, but how can the railroads expect to
make friends by forcing such a service upon
u the people? 80. ~....,
i "ciaremont only asks, for Justice
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