The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-10-25
SOUTHERN LEADS
IN OEvE[0PME
STORY or nu1LDrSG or GREAT
SYSTEM nnADs Luke
ROMANCE
WORK BEGAN IN 1893
SOUTHERN RAILWAY BU1LT UP
IRON wKECsks or DsssoINTs;D
xAYxuDADs-ThE WORK OF
eAMuEL sPENCER.
WORK BEGAN IN 1893

yY1.A m atfeMetoa sf .he wtcis
r~unxxy r.ys.Sd or the problems which
sha ~ 3pnAE We hAg thrust upon
To H~vs,h, fSr annual report OF the
sout.Asn xa.1~sy = an unusually In
Nx-eatinE acnsmc1t. VITA more mile
age IL the cotton pr oduc.ns States
soan any ntA4r railroad. tbs southern
has Alwx~. accurately. rets:ted tre
financial st.>en..h o. Tire territory II
served. I'ss~- normal conditions. this
years I..:ns GOO .hnle cotton crop
WOULD mean at ieas, twelve months of
great prosperity. With Europe. which
ordinarily takes two-fhirds NJ otir cot
ton. out of the market. however, this
years crop has proved heavy burden.
Vow can the South carry IS cation
until buyers are found7 This weeks
annual report OF the Southern Railway
should throw much light ON that very
isteresting question
Southern Railway was formed In
1893 through consolidation OF a num-
Der of disioin,ed, incomplete. single
track, bankrupt roads. Those roads
had been forced into the hands OF re-
ceivers because there wax not enough
business In the South TO go around.
When the panic of 1893 broke. the
South had not recovered from the
! civil War. For several wears after
1898 many sSrewd bankers questioned
the soundness OF the southern Rail-
way project.
samuel Spcnccr's Work.
Samuel Spencer picked OFT the
4aql miles of haif-starved track that
went into the Southern Railway and
undertook to operate the system
Spencer was an able man, and his
plans for the Southern Railway We're
bug All of the money he coult get
his hands on he spent FOR improve
msntx OF permanent character
Whenever he could, he pulled up light
rails and laid down heavy sta saay d
!. ores: he tore down wooden ridges.
them with steel structures:
ne ecrapped old locomotives and
freight cars and bought new ones of
modern design. Whenever he fcuiS
effort Il, he was strengthening out the
rea6hsd and laying small stretches
q dcabis track.
fsy~never realized that the future OF
fAe Sorfhsrn Railway WAS bound up
with the South. He knew that his
road could emily prosper when the
Eouth as q whole prosEerec. Work
ing along hose lines he established
Z land end Industrial denartmens to
check immigration from. ard to In
fluence imnisration 10 the South. TO
eserye as a clearinghouse OF infor-
nation regarding Industrial opportu-
mites and To promote and establish
manufactures in this territory served
by his read. He also established a
department Of farm Improvement work
T., hAlp the Southern farmer increase.
improve and market his crops. lie
showed the Southern farmers how
they could increase proper fertilizers
and then he worked to establish fer
t.i;xer plants along his tracks--to Sc
cure permanent traffic. He developed
the 49, OF cottonseed and then In
duced plants using that by-prodnet
IN build In Southern Railway territory.
He showed the South how to build
good turnpikes before he died In his
chr Thanksgiving eve OF 1905; in
thousand and one other different ways
Re helped tho South to come into It's
own.
End Of Voting Trust.
Spencer was in complete charge or
the Southern Railway from the day
She company was formed. but the man
egement of the property was official
" In the hands OF three trustees. j. T.
Morgan, George F. Baker and Charles
Ianier. Only recently that voting trust
vas dissolved and in the annual re-
port at hand the twu surviving .rns-
tees. Charles IAnier and George F.
paker. give an interesting account OF
tte ground that was covered during
their stewardship. In 1893 the South
ern aid M have a single mile : o. !
ere were 2sS miles OF second track.
ting ~ past twenty years the
.mnv ~ increased It's locomo-
tiyes iroai SIS TO 1854. its passenger
cars from iS7 TO List, and Its freight
cars from 1891 to 4a.sf7. During
that period Ss5.6Ss.ooo was spent for
new equipment and charged to capital
account, 34l,363.00o for additions and
hetterments to roadbed. and $14,-
500. goo for construction OF new lines,