The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1916-12-28
RAILROADS NOT TO HELP
, DEFEAT WILSON'S POLICY
COAL AND COKE
is BOUGHT AGAIN
And This Time the Dopester
Has the Purchase" Price
Partly Paid.

CHARLESTON, Dec. 2S-Anothel
( trunk line railway IS to enter Char,
lesion. Negotiations for the sale Of
4 the Coal and Coke railway to the Bal
4 timore and Ohio road are reported tc
\ have been completed and the report
is current in railroad circles that part
4 payment has been made for the prop
erty.
| For several months negotiations
for the purchase of the property have
been pending and various Interests
are known to have sought to buy the
Coal and Coke road, but it was only
a few days ago that the Baltimore
and Ohio system took over the prop
erty and it has not yet been officially
ANNOUNCED.
The Coal and Coke railway, run
ming between Charleston and EllIfns,
| is more than one hundred miles in
length, trayerses through rather
| sparsely settled section of the state
which Is also one of the wealthiest in
undeveloped natural resources
1t was constructed by three of the
foremost of West Virginia builders,
the late Henry Gassaway Davis, who
was president of the road until his
death few months ago; the late
Senator Stephen B. EIkins and the
late Richard C.. Kerens, of Missouri,
former ambassador to Vienna and an
intimate friend of Davis and Elkins.
1t has been suggested for many
months that with the purchase OF the
Coal and Coke railway by the great
Baltimore and Ohio system that ex-
tensions would be made from Elltins
the northern terminus, which would
connect the lateral road with the
;y, inc "a u
giving that line a direct route to
Charleston from New York with a
much lesser distance than now pre-
walls.
With the Coal and Coke road in
gress to Charleston, the capital city
of West Virginia, acquires another
trunk line, one of the greatest in the
world. and materially enhances the
prospects for the future of the city
from shipping, as well as other
standpoInts.
The Coal and Coke railway is the
most valuable Of all West Virginia
lateral roads. At Charleston it CON
nected with the Kanawha and Michi-
gan line and with the Redwood
CIarksburg branch of the Baltimore
and Ohio at Orlando. and finally with
the Western Maryland road at the
other end of the line.
That the Baltimore and Ohio sys-
tenn, OF which Daniel Willard is
president, will make many repairs to
the new property, is generally antic-
ipated. From Gassaway to Elkins
the Coal and Coke is said by railroad
men to be in excellent condition, but
heavier rails and Improvements to
the road bed are said to be needed
between Gassaway and Charleston.
With the connection of the Coal
and Coke with the main line of the
Baltimore and Ohio the immediate
development of the large deposits Of
coal and valuable tracts of virgin
timber in the territory traversed by
the road constructed by the Davis
and Elkins interests would naturally
follow.
While development has already
started on the line Of the Coal and
Coke and many mines have been
opened. facilities for the removal Of
coal to the markets have been such
as to almost preclude Investment and
development in that section of the
state,
With the sale of the road these con
ditions will be changed and there will
be an influx of new capital into the
territory effected by the transfer OF
the road to the Baltimore and Ohio
svStem