Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1922-11-16
WATAUGA e
GREATER NORTH CAROLINA


To the Editor Of the Observer:
The life and greatness Of state
10 not unlike that<of q man. It Il
the little things in life which when
taken collectively, make the big OF
great man. The same holds true
with our state. Our institutions Of
learning, our facilities for the care
Of the unfortunate and afflicted, oul
farming industries, our manufactur.
ing industries, our, commerce, oul
good roads, our water power, oul
transportation facilities, when taken
collectively make . great and won.
derful state.
Right here there are two things
to be born in. mind, one is that the
progress Of q state like all other
things, does not stand STILL. II either
goes forward OF it retrogrades. The
other is that this present generation
is responsible for, the future Of ouI
state, or greater North Carolina. We
have made tome wonderful strides
in the past 20 yeara While making
such progress in one way We have
lost sight Of other things that are
Of equal importance.
Our educational and farming in
terests havs developed to the point
where we needed better roads az
our mode Of travel has been revo-
lutionized in the past 20 years. Our
people were shown the necessity Of
better roads. Today we have out
lined and are building the best sys-
tenn Of roads in the United States.
developed to the point where they
must have increased transportation
facilities 80 as to cheap the freight
on their imports IS we'll as their
exports.
For example, within q radius Of
so to rs miles Of Charlotte there are
several hundred textile mills, ,furni-
ture factories and other industries,
all Of which use coal more orless.
At Charlotte today you are paying
approximately $14.00 q ton for soft
coal, proportionately the same all
over this radius Of so or rs miles.
At Jefferson, Ashe County, N. C.
the same coal is selling today at $6
q ton.
A railroad built over the noun
tains by way Of Blowing Rock to
Boone, there connecting with the
Norfolk & Western which brings
coal into jefferson, would place JEFF
ferS1H md Charlotte less than $50
miisaaApsrt which ct present by rail-
oadsthey are about 500 miles apart.
You, at q glance, can see. what a
saving there would be on coal to
this section ofthe state. This line
would penetrate the coal fields Of
coal alone would pay all additional
tax Of such q development and in
very few years would pay the prin-
cipal, and to further foftify our
selves and our industries there
should be q railrooad built from Ga
lax, Va. by way Of Dobson, N. c.,
Elkin, N. c.. Statesville, N. c. to a
point near Denver, Lincoln county,
N. C., there to intersect the road
from Jefferson, Boone and Blowing
Rock. At Galax, Va. you connect
with the Norfolk & Western and
are only IS miles from Radford, Va,
which is the gateway and southern
outlet for the coal fields of Virginia
and West Virginia. This line would
bring Radford, Va. far less than 200
miles from Charlotte, q direct line
to Cincinnati and Chicago.
The two above spoken lines Of
railroad would cost but little to
build, would open the coal fields Of
Tennessee, Virginia, and West, Vir.
ginia to North Carolina by far the
shortest route Of any railroad. The
| cost Of constructing these lines
would be q nese pittance when com.
pared to the advantage to be derived
therefrom. They bring the whole
Norfolk 4 Western railroad. system
lin close and diret touch with thii
section. They bring the Louisville 4
Nashville railroad system in close
touch also, both Of which would be
touch with greater North Carolina.
Public improvements are like pri.
vate business, we will have, to admit
there Is always certain amount Of
selfishness. think I have showr
every citizen and every industry In
this section where they will be in.
akidually benefited by these i'm
provements.
This line Of constructive worl
will not only help our present manu-
featuring industries, but It will
broaden the fields Of industry ant
induce hundreds Of others to com,
into our territory. Likewise, 1t viii
help the farming industry Of thi,
section. When our people once real
ize these facts they will then se,
that this piece Of constructive worl
is done, for it Is q well known fac
that We cannot have development,
in production without development
in transportation. A line which vii
shorten the hauling Of coal into thi
territOrv unAans much tn ma from ,