The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1913-06-21
NUMBER 46
St. ELMO RAILROAD.
New Line Offers Exceptional oppor-
tunity to DonaldsonvIlle Business
Men for Development Of Trade
Relations with Fertile Section.
New Orleans la. Nav

1
New Orleans, La, May 27, 1913.
Editor Chief:
enc and Louisiana Eastern Railroad
has about been completed. we are
anxious to call the attention of your
| bankers, merchants and professional
men to the opportunity opening be-
fore them through the construction
OF this road.
| Heretofore, we fear. we have been
SO busy both in constructing and fl
nanefng the railroad, together with
the development Of our St Elmo and
New Hermitage properties. that we
have been able to give but little of
the attention it deserves to the prob
lem Of developing trade between
Dena1dsonyille and the territory tra-
versed by our road
THE line. as you may know, be-
gins at st. Elmo and extends to the
New River seetioIa reaching all in
termedlate points such as DarroW and
Belle Helene, and making connection
with the Y. and NJ V at the latter
place. The territory between St FL
mo and the New River section is
thicls1y settled by small farmers, eul-
tivating soil as rich as any in the
state, producing such crops as cot
ton, corn, cane and truck. There is
also considerable timber along the
line OF this road that will no doubt
reach the attention OF some lumber
interests.
The policy of our company will be
to make the rate for Nboth freight
and passenger service allow as pos
.sible, with the idea Of developing
the territory and making our road
valuable for the future From ollr
present terminus it is only short
distance to the L. r. and N. line,
where we hope to make connections
before the year is out It is not at
all necessary for our road to stop
then, because there is a rich and al
most undeVeloped country extending
east for many miles from our present
terminus.
We desire particularly to call your
attention to the fact that with the
present connections DonaldsonyilIe will
compare very favorabIy with any city
in Lon isialla. q In so far as raj Ilread fa-
ii sss,sie Let ua CON
pare II with Baton Rouge, where the
greatest recent development has Ia
ken place Reaching Baton Rouge
on one side We find branch of the
Texas ard Pacific, and also q branch
of the Southern E.sfific, while at
5DonaIdsonyiIle we I'd the main line
of the Texas and Pacific, together
with a branch of that road extend
ing from Thibodaux to Donaidson-
villa, running through some OF the
richest lands in this state. On the
opposite bank of the river at Baton
Rouge, we find the Y and NJ. w.,
Frisco. L. r. and NJ, and Baton
Rouge, Hammond and Eastern rail-
roads. At st. Elmo, opposite Dom
a1dsonVille, our new roa'f, the st. Ell
mo, Belle Helene and louisiana East
ern, comes into use. This line con-
meets with the I and Nj 4 Y. and
Frisco, and with d little additional la
Dor and money will be made 10
reach the e. r.. and M, giving DON
aldsonville equally as good railroad
facilities on both sides of the river
as Is now enjoyed by Baton Rouge,
where, as / have stated before, the
greatest recent development III south
Louisiana has taken place.
Just as the completion Of the Pam
anna C9nal offers more trade posi-
bilitias TO New Orleans, just so the
construction Of of1r railroad now Of
fers to the business men of Donald
sonVi1le their opportunity New Or
leans will benefit from the Panama
Canal because its business men,
through the Chamber OF Commerce
recently organized, are stirring the
people up to take advantage Of this
business opportunity. It viii shortly
be up to the business interests Of
DonaIdsonville, through their Pros
gressiVe Union and individuals, to
take advantage OF the opportunities
offered them by our railroad.
We want the people of Donaldson
vile to feel that the St. Elmo, Belle
Helene and Louisiana Eastern is
their railroad; we want them to feel
chat in the operation of the road
we will cheerfllly cooperate In the
upbuilding of trade.
AS soon as our railroad has been
completed, it would give us great
pleasure to take a party of your cit-
fzens and business men over the
line and point out to them the op-
portunities We see for the develop
| uaent Of trade.
consider the construction of the
st. Elmo, Belle Helene and Louisi-
ana Eastern the most Important fac
tor toward the upbui1dfng Of Donald
sonyille and contiguous territory OF
anything that has been done In
many years. The possibilities Of
this road are more than we can real
fze for the moment With only a
slight pull we can complete our con-
| zleefion with the j.. r. and N. Then
before US Is a vast, nndeVeleped ter
fitory between the T.. r. and N. and
THE I. G. on one hand, Or between
the L. r. and n. and Clinton on the
other hand, either of which offers a
very attractive railroad proposition.
Let rs all get together, develor
the trade along the railroads now
leading to Donaldsonvi1le, secure the
4 fnoKo frN SQnwraY r reny.,at,r ~ 80 z41,.4s