The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-06
.L.& N, BOOKLET 0N
 LINE $ EARLY DAYS
Started With $35.45 In 1881. Stone Ties Parallel With
 The Rails

time or the eStdDllSnment or tHS town of Birmingham. the Louisville with the state it helped develop, ant today employs s,2s3 men in Alabama with an annual pay roll of $15,461,415 The road daily operates 104 passenger trains in this state, "A freight trains and pays S77o,500 annually in taxes
 These and other" interesting mat ters are set forth attractively in "A Book About the Louisville and Nash ville." just issued by the publicity de. partment of the road, which traces the development of the line from its early days. and contains much ot historical and intimate personal in- terest.
 Few people know" says the book let, that one of the oldest railway: in America is the Pontchartrain. ra'l- road. which runs from New Orleans of tho Louisville and Nashville sys tenn. It received it's charter January 8, 1880. The Lexington & Ohio rail- road. likewise a part of the Louisville and Nashville system. received its charter January 2. 1880. Thus two of the earliest railroads in tho United States were built in Kentucky and Louisiana, showing that the states of the south and west were just as up y the east. These two railroads first used hors, power. In tns construc tion of the Lexington and Ohio road Longitudinal limestone sills and iron strips for rails were used so that It would be solid and thus endure I ,r- ever. Unfortunately. the heavy winter frosts played havoc with the stone sills. An old book cf that time states that many curves were put in the track by the construction engineers so that the conductor could see the end of lis train now and then and be sure that all the coaches were there.
 "On March 5. 1S5oH the Louisville and Nashville Railroad company re- ceived it's charter and was given per mission to organize, but 1t was nos until September 4, 1851, that books of subscription were opened, when 1,05s shares were subscribed for. The first payment on the stock subscrip- ton was $5s, of which $22.s5 was paid out for advertising. The re- mainder was placed in the treasury The Louisville and Nashville Railroad company began it's career with $35.Ao Mr. l.. L. Shreve. The first depot was at Tenth and Maple streets Louisville. The first offices of the company were at Bullitt and Main streets, in the Louisville Gas com pany building.
 "The Louisville and Nashville started off with an authorized cap italization of $3,0o0,00o. for which the city of Louisville subscribed $1.o00, ,ooo etc. The stock was afterwards bought back from the cities and counties that subscribed for it and they received over $4 for every $l put in it.
 Buys Small Lines.
 The early promoters of the Louis vile and Nashville probably did not have in mind running their road far ther from Louisville than Nashvi,le However, the later conceived the idea of going south to some point on the Mississippi river. The first sleeping cars from Louisville to New Orleans operated over the Louisville anC Nashville via Humboldt, the Mobile and Ohio. the Mississippi Central and the New Orleans, Jackson and Grea' Northern.
 "Of course. trains had been run to intermediate points before the oper- ation of the through train to Nash ville. In 1860 the road was 26e miles long, In 1811 the Louisville and Nashville leased the Nashville anf Decatur railroad. and acquired tat Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville railroad. In 1872, the Louisville ano Nashville acquired the Memphis anc Ohio railroad, and commenced oper' atine the South and North Alabama railroad. From 1879 to 1882, th' Louisville and Nashville acquired tht Mobile and Montgomery. the New or leans. Mobile and Texas, the Pensa' cola railroad and the Pensacola ant Selma, and built the Pensacola ant Atlantic To the north 1t acquired the Kentucky Central, the Evansville Henderson and Nashville and leased the Southeast and St. Louis; it bougn controlling interest in the Nashyilla Chattanooga and St. Louis railway and leased the Georgia railway joint ly with the Atlantic Coast Line. SUD seuuently it constructed the Birming ham Mineral and the line to Norton Va.. and acquired the Alabama Min eral, the Atlanta. Knoxville an
 Northern and the Lexington an m Eastern. extending the latter lo miles into the coal fields" The Louisville and Nashville book 1 let contains. many photographs, in
 cluding views of the depots in tn various cities which it enters. Bir mingham's station, crowded amoh' skyscrapers, stands out in startiini comparison 10 tne llltle IIdHlo ueP" which served in 1873.
 Under the caption. "An Institution Is the heightened Shadow of Man l the booklet contains an appreciation | of Milton Smith. president Of tn Louisville and Nashville, up to tn | time of his death in 1921. MT. Smiti
 first entered the Louisville and Nasn ville service in August, 1866. as loca | freight agent at Louisville. and wa | made general freight agent in lS6s He resigned in 1878 to accept servic
 elsewhere, but in 1882 returned L the service of the company as thir' vice president and traffic manager On July 6. 1882. he was made chic executive officer. the duties of whicl position he performed, as pfesiden
 or vice president, until March 8, 1891 and thereafter as president, contih
 uously until his death.
 l Attention is called in the Louis
 vile and Nashville brochure to tn
 plans of American railways to spen'
 $l,100, 900, 900 in Improvements durin'
 1924. The Louisville and Nashvill
 has spent, during the past 12 months
 more than 2,000.O00. or $10,400 pc
 mile, for cars, locomotives, doubl ! tracking, bridges, trestles, new an
 heavier rails, terminal and mechan ] ical facilities and miscellaneous i'm
 provements. More than $43,00,0O O | this represents Improvements tha
 are now in actual process of con