The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-24
TEN YEARS OF ALABAMA
No. 63-Rairoads and Railroad Politics
1865-1874

Tennessee river. The survey must be made and completed in that same year, 1858 The object was declared to be. here as in the act ordering the survey and building of the road from Selma to the Tennessee river" to connect the Tennessee river with the navigable
 waters of the Mobile bay" To this avertment of purpose, however, was now added to the requirement that the survey should show the most prac- ticable route with reIerence to the development of the mineral region"
 The act provided that the governor should select the engineer The en- gineer would have no oversight from state commission of any kind. He was 10 report to the governor only full statement of the length of the route, grades, cost per mile to build the road with all other particulars of
 which he might have knowledge.
 Troost had been disabled by an acci- dent on his own road In the south eastern part of the state at work in his profession, was a young engineer who had also been employed in his profession under MT. Samuel G. Jones, gineer, building road in the north. eastern counties. His name was John '. Milner, now 31 yearsao of age. with university education and the experi- ence of forty -niner;' that is, 10 ytdfS ptIpre ne ndt uflNtH an oN wagon across the plains to seek gold in California and had soon returned. Governor Moore was remarkable in his capacity to find men that he needed and to embrace an opportunity. Had he not been victim of disabling dis ease, no doubt that he would have been one of the famous commanders of the Confederate army.
 The governor had never seen Engineer Mftpqr Ip tba
 to appear at the executive offices. He appointed him to survey one of the most important lines of railroad in the United States, long line, difficult and tedious to be laid off inside of 10 months, and the reports made ready for the egisla- ture.
 Milner only knew one man in the town of Montgomery He needed friends to take counsel of His equipment. his as- sistants were to be purchased and select ed. He had never seen the country | through which he was to march afoot l in the dense wilderness for many months. 1 1t was left to him to find the starting point of his line and to select the ter imitation on the Tennessee river. The l governor placed in his hands the statute under which he was to proceed and told him no instructions were available. Leaving the governors offiee, under a
 sense of deep responsibility, the young l
 confdantes Those he selected were MT.
 Samuel c. Jones, the engineer, and Judge Jchn D. Phelan of the supreme court. | The survey was made from Montevallo ] to Decatur News of the project had gone
 forth, People at Guntersville heard with
 amazed contempt of the projected com petitor with their approaching railroad.
 The road that would connect them with Mobile, via the Alabama river, would carry cotton in abundance. It would bring as return freight luxuries that cot | ton producers could afford to buy A i railroad from A1ontevallo, through Blount
 and Morgan counties, would not pass a single village from Eyton to the vicinity | of Decatur. There was not n farm on
 nine-tenths of the mileage that would make 10 bushels of corn 10 the acre. | Miners survey and hundred pages of | estimate was ready for the legislature in | November, 1S59
 i The governor sent the papers in, merely
 stating his belief that they were well | prepared. That was Saturday.
 l The senator from Calhoun county, pen 1 etrated from border to border by the sur
 veyed line of the Alabama and Tennes- see river road, a gentleman of ability | Thomas A. Walker, and the senator from l Dallas. a cotton planter, James NJ. Cal noun. took the report to their rooms al the Exchange hotel, read and discussed lnost of the day, Sunday.
 | Mr Walker made a motion Monday tha the engineers report be laid on the table
 Who is this engineer2' exclaimed tn,
 senator He comes here with grea book of instructions to the legislature ant asks that all his trash be printed al the public eXpensel Who is he. anyhow never heard of him until Governor | Moore found him. His statement of costs in building his road is sufficient prooi that he is not to be relied on" Senator Calhoun said he had read the engineers
 report, and would have none of it. MT R. M Patton from Lauderdale, county
 well under the influence of the proposed
 road if built, thought the engineers re port should be printed.
 Congressman George s. Houston iron l Limestone happened to be in Montgomery He heard of the trouble over the rail
 road matter. He saw the engineer and as
 sured him of his sympathy. Houston went zealously to work with the mem
 bers and by February, 1S60, an act was
 passed that gave final form to thu
 project.
 We injected the experience of the rail
 road with the carpetbagger and negr'
 Legislature for convenience and now re turn to the chronological order.
 There was gap of s7 miles between