The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-09-09
Railroads and Terminals to Make It One of Greatest
 Coal Markets
PEOPLE REALIZE
 FUTURE PROSPECTS
Charleston to Reap Full Share of the Advantages Opening of the Canal Is Giving to All
 Southern Ports
By HOLLAND

NeW 1Ork, SepIemDer S.-tSpeclal.1 The future of Charleston & C.. the men of capital who invested in the Clinchfield coal district and the construction of a railroad from that district southerly to Spartanburg, s. G., believe, is of such brilliant promise that these men of cap- tai now feel justified in saying that Charleston is likely to become within a few years one of the greatest of Amer iean seaports. In this view T. Jeffer- son Coolidge of Boston. Thomas Fortune Ryan, the Blair brothers and Norman B. Ream shared without any modifica- tion In the last six months of Mr. Ream's life-he died in December of last year-he frequently spoke with enthu- sasm of the future of Charleston His was an interest stimulated by sentiment tai associations. He took part as a young officer in civil war days in the siege of Charleston and at that time. as he afterward said, he began to ap- preciate he wonderful opportunities which lay in the grasp of that city for becoming a great seaport
 When the great awakening to her in- dustrial and commercial opportunities be- gan in the south, about the year 1880. it was often spoken of by men of impor- tant affairs as singular fact that Charleston seemed to be sleeping while other southern cities were awakening to their opportunities. In the spring of 1SS3. the late John Garrett the great construc- tive force of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, visited Charleston, not with bus- ness purposes in mind, but to enjoy the opportunities of Charleston are and he spoke with some regret of the apparent indifference of the citizens to those op- portunities. Nevertheless Mir. Garrett seemed to be sure that great impulses which were stimulating the south at that time would ultimately be felt by Charleston
 There seemed to be a time when New port News and Norfolk would command the greater part of the export trade which originated in the south. Prior to the war, when there was no Newport News, Norfolk commanded a large trade
 particularly with the West Indies and South America. The construction of the greatest shipbuilding plant of the United States at Newport News and the terni- nal facilities there created by the late c. P Huntington made 1t possible for that new and artificially established port to take rank with the leading sea ports Of the Atlantic coast south of Bal timore.
 The builders of the Clinchfield railroad took heed of the fact that Charleston was the nearest seaport, as the bee flies. from the Clinchfield district to the coast In one of his conversations upon the purposes and achievements of those Who are associated with the construction or the Clinchfie1d railroad, MT Ream said that they believed it was the highest economy to secure a straight line. no matter what the original cost of survey or construction might be, from the Cllnchfield coal district to the seaport. The range of that straight line had for It's terminal Charleston. The railroad It. self was to be a new gateway from the Ohio valley to the sea.
 It Is. therefore, outside capital which. having recognized the opportunities Charleston offers for creating a great seaport, undertook to establish one there. In July of this year a report reached ths city Of the progress in the way of ''N 'Sf SioIiHSjll Oi 1ndTleSIDn as a great port which has already been made
 These activities are due entirely to the energy and constructive foresight of those who manage the southern railroads ana Of those who have created the Caro- llna Clinchfeld and Ohio railroad sys- tenn The managers of the southern line. those who were the predecessors of Fair Tax Harrison as executive head of the system, especially the late Samuel Spen- dad that 1t would be not only to the great advantage of the Southern railroad sys- tenn, but incidentally to the great advan- tage of Charleston if adequate terminal facilities were established here The Southern had in July substantially com pleted it's terminal at a cost of about seoooo. MT. Ream looked upon the per fecting of terminals at Charleston for the Cllnchfield railroad as sure to be a very important factor in securing the success of the Clinchfield system. Within few months, possibly year, the rail- road will have completed a great pier which will offer abundant terminal fa- cilities for the Clinchfield so abundant as to provide a capacity for handling 1000 tons of coal an hour. No longer will Charleston be numbered among the cities which have neglected their opportunities. The city is to be an influential factor Tn the adjustment of the new commer- cial relations between the Pacific and the Atlantic coast which is made neces- saty by the completion of the Panama canal. Charleston will be the port upon the Atlantic coast at which the railroads will call. How greatly the citizens of Charleston have been stimulated by this new impulse and how considerably their activities will affect the general prosper ity of the United States are illustrated by the fact that steamship line op- erating between Charleston and Norfolk. Va, has been organized. Apparently these two excellent ports upon the At lantic front are to cooperate neither being rival of the other, but each stimulating the others business In the old days, no railroad made direct en- trance to Charleston. Mir. Garrett, in speaking of this fact in 1885, said that 1t seemed to him astonishing that the only way to get into Charleston was bv shuttle line which connected the city proper with the main line, which ran some two or three miles distant Now a criticism of that kind would be impos sible. subsidiary of the Seaboard Air Line has just made entrance to Cha rles ton proper.
 New Orleans has expended several mill lions in perfecting terminals Houston. m cooperation with the federal govern ment, has completed a ship canal which Will make Houston a true seaport Mo- bile is to be the scene of irrs.ortant com mercial development Including terminal facilities. Upon the Atlantic coast. Charleston and to a lesser extent VII mington, N. C.. Norfolk and Newport News are to reflect the great commer cial awakening which has been in part estimated by the Panama canal and ,,,