The Atlanta daily herald. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1872-1876, July 20, 1873, Image 3

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THfrOBQUUlA WB81MIW. I ces. tbe area tributary to our road, closely | resembles that tributary to the Western and | Atlantic. Ttfe former has less second and ! third class, and more first class lauds in cul tivation than the latter. The third class ara f ble lands along our route, from the Chatta hoochee ridge to the rim of the limestone ba sin east ot Cboekolocko valley, are for the most part ufecultivated. The second and third classes in cultivation are yet generally fresh and productive. The Chockolocko, Alexandria and Coosa valleys are classed with the most productive lands of Alabama. In the product of lumber our road will ■ command a large business. The poorer qual- To Tin Dirzctobs or the Georgia Westees ities of ridge lands along our route are gen- Rcport of President Srsst. Geobgla Westebs KAILBOAI) Urncx,) A iT.asxa, June 21, 1873. f Ktsolttd, That the President be requested to furnish this Board of Directors a written communication of his views relative to the Georgia Western Railroad, embracing the In formation obtained by him during his iate visit to the State of Alabama, and that the city papers be requested to publish the same. erally covered with unouiled forests of a au- * rehouse to the fongdog I ^^f^fo^u^long^hTot^'re^^ Baileoad CoarrANi : resolution, I have the honor to state that the j rendered it difficult to obtain a good qualitv visit of tysjor Campbell Wallace and myselt of lumber in Atlanta, even at high rates. This to Talladega had reference mainly to the act has forced into use inferior qualities, to the 1 detriment ortho consumer. Our road will of the General Assembly of Alabama, granting aid to railroads, ineluding so muck of the Georgia Western as should be constructed in Alabama. A condition in the grant requires the work in Alabama to be commenced at the city of Talladega, and prosecuted in either or both directions, and that twenty miles be completed by the first day of November, 1874. The nature of the grant is a loan, without in> terest, of $4,GOO of eight per cent State bonds per mile of completed road—$80,000 to be de livered to the company on the completion of twenty miles, and $20,000 as each successive live miles shall be completed. The company to pay the State three-fourths of one per cent of the gross receipts of the road in Alabama, each year, for the term of five years, and five per cent of the gross receipts as aforesaid, each year thereafter, until the principal of the loan shall be paid. The loan is a donation of interest. It is a lien on the revenues, but not on the property of the company. To pass the road through the city of Talla dega will require a large deflection lrom the direct route, and a consequent increase of dis tance and cost Without material aid from supply this lack for many years. The deposits of iron and coal in Northern Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, are attract ing capital from the Northern States and Eu rope. Developments along the railroad in operation are in rapid progress. The con sumption of iron has reached such large fig ures as to constitute its production one of the leading branches of industry in the world. Where the ore, fuel and flux for smelting are convenient to each other, the profits of smelt ing are so large as to seem fabulous to those who heve not the data by which to estimate the cost of producing pig iron. The profits of well managed furnaces in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, during the past year, have ranged from fifty to sevent> - five per cent. These results will rapidly peo ple the iron districts, stimulate other branch es of industry, and make these favored regions tho wealthiest south of the Potomac. The railroads now in operation and in progress through and into these districts will soon ! have a tonnage business of iron and coal be- { yond the most sangnine estimates of their managers and projectors. Of these advantages, our roads will have a . lull show. Iu the Chockolocco, Alexandria, and their lateral valleys, are deposites of i brown hematite ore, apparent!}’ inexhaustible. | Near our western terminus, we reach the Red Mountain deposits. This range is capped al most continuously, for a distance of exceed- ^ ® ® - , ing thirty miles, with red hematite ore, yield the city and county of Talladega, it was deem- j ing from thirty-five to sixty per cent, ot metal, ed inexpedient to attempt a compliance with ! The ore leads in some places are twenty-five the conditions of the State grant, as the in- J feet thick, lying above* the drainage, admit- ereased cost and perpetual expense of main- j tiDg the greatest facility for mining. A number of furnaces are now iu blast along the range near Birmingham, and prepn- taining and working the longer line would . neutralize the benefit of the proffered loan. We found a lively feeling of interest in the I rations are making for many more. Invest- road manifested by the citizens of Talladega, ments have been made in these deposits by and an impromptu meeting of representative i men. residing in and near tho city, was or- 1 capitalists of the Northern btates and Eng laud, with a view of extensive smelting and ganized. Maj. Wallace addressed the meeting ; manufacturing works. The estimated yield in a plain, candid speech, explaining the po- j of this range of red hematite ore beds would sition of the company in reference to the con- ■ tax the capacity of ten doubl-3 track railways ditions of the StAte loan. He stated that sur- j for two hundred years. veys were then in progress for the purpose of i In the lateral valleys of the Chockolocco, instituting comparisons of cost and distance ; i two furnaces are in blast, and others in pro- and if the route via Talladega should be ' cess of erection. By the time wo can com- deemed feasible, the city and county of Tal- | plete our road, there will be tributary to it ladega would be asked io subscribe $300,000, j one full train load of pig Iron per day, and to be applied to the construction of twenty this tonnage will expand in increasing ratio, miles of road, as required by the act granting j The crude ore is now beiDg shipped to points State aid. In his opinion this was the least in Illinois, by the Red Mountain Iron and sum, in addition to State aid, that would jus- Coal Company, at a clear profit of lour dollars tify the company in deflecting the road so per ton. largely out of the direct Ponte between its ob- I was informed by an intelligent gentleman jective points, even if the route should prove , from Ohio, that this company had been offered of easy construction. . a contract to supply 600,000 tons of ore to The agricultural and undeveloped mineral ! the same parties in Illinois at the same price, resources of the county were shown to justi- | The contract was declined. lroutwBui mmmffPBmm and We 4hall also compete successfully “ * Our Texas. for Louisville and St. Louis business, distance from Atlanta to Selma will be ton miles longer, and to Meridian twenty miles shorter than the route via Montgomery. To 8t. Louis via Corinth will be about twenty miles shorter; to Memphis via Corinth about forty miles shorter, aud to Louisville via roads controlled by the L. and W. R.R., eighty miles longer than the route via Chattanooga. That w© shall compete successfully with the shorter line for Louisville freight lies in the fact that the control of the line from Louis ville to our junction is in the Louisville Rail road Company. This company can afford a lower rate per mile for 395 miles to our junc tion that on 185 miles to Nashville. Aa evi dence of this, on the opening of its line through to Montgomery, this company pro posed to compete for business from Louisville to Atlanta and Augusta via Montgomery, over a line 192 miles longer than via Chattanooga. To control the Atlanta and Augusta busi ness, and to prevent a reduction of rates, the N. and C., and W. and A. roads agreed to re linquish to the Louisville and Montgomery some miles ©f any given width—say fifty miles oneachside of the road—than there is for a like width along the Central route from North Platt© to Sacramento, 1,480 miles. Yet the gross receipts of the two roads composing the Central route for 1872, wore equivalent in currency to $23,734,750. This sum includes the receipts of 472 miles of branches, which probably amount W '$£.500,000. This esti mate would leave $21,234,750 as the gross re ceipts of the main line, 1,907 miles in length, being a trifle over $11,000 per mile. Will not the Southern route largely exceed this sum per mile ? I think so. My convictions are strong that the principal tonnage of the Southern route will seek the short land transit between good harbors. If I am correct in this. Port Royal must become a point of the first importance, as a harbor it is said to be superior to any south of Norfolk, and inferior perhans to none on the whole Atlantic coast. In this expression and connection, we do not propose to ignore the claims of the excellent harbor of Bruns wick, with its equal advantage of overland distance. The opening of the Southern route to the Pacific will infuse new life into the line all business south of West Print, origins- , whole system of Southern railroads, and tihg at or beyond Nashville. The route via Grand Junction competes for business be tween Atlanta and New Orleans, over a line 297 miles longer than via Montgomery and Mobile. Our route to New Orleans will be 80 miles louger than the latter, but will be about the same distance as the short line, w he a the New Orleans and Selma toad shall be completed. For the foregoing reasons we shall compete successfully lor business between Atlanta and all stations along the Lonisville line, includ ing Nashville; also all station on the St. Louis route, with an increasing advantage in dis tance as we come South from Union City: all stations on the S., R. and D. Railroad, from Jacksonville to Selma, and the Alabama Central Railroad to New York ; all stations on the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad from Atlanta to Meridian, and the Vicksburg and M. to Vicksburg ; all stations on the N. O., J. and G. N. and Mississippi Central Rail road, as tar north as Grenada, and all stations on t^e Mobile aud Ohio Railroad, giving us a field for competion embracing miles of finished railroad, east of the Mississippi river, in which we have equal advantages with other lines. But the great line running nearly due west from our western terminus, to the Mis sissippi river, at the city of Greenville, thence west to trans-continental railroad at Texar- cana, passing through Columbus, Mississippi, crossing the Mobile and Ohio Railroad at , and the Mississippi Central at Winona, on which the work ot construction has been commenced, will make ns a link in the strongest line south of Richmond. From Texarcaua, the Trans-Continental is graded to Sherman, in Grayson county, and the iron rails in course of delivery ; and thence it will connect with the Texas Pacific at Fort Worth. stimulate the trade and growth of Southern tmde centres. The subject of future trade centers in the South is au interesting one, in which our city is deeply concerned. My theory touching the subject will doubtless be scented by many. I hold that our past experience justi fies the conclusion that no leading trade cen ter will exist on the Atlantic coast south of Norfolk during the life of the present, and perhaps the succeeding, generation. The cities of Charleston and Savannah are among mately thus: Western and Atlantic and A. R. Trusting that our citizens will not per- and Air lane 75 degrees; Atlanta, Richmond mit the great enterprise so aue^icioasljraA- ana Air Line and Georgia 45 degrees; Ga. and j menced to liiger for lack of their farther s$p- M. and W., 50 degrees; M. and W. t and and W. P., 70 degrees; the sum of which is 240 degrees, and the average 60 degrees. This leaves 120 degrees between the W. and A. and the A. and W. P., being exactly double the average of the other angles. Here is this large angle confronting us on the West, the bi-section of which points to the country, of all others, from which Atlanta would most naturally control the trade, if di rectly ucoessible; and a country pre-eminently superior in resources to that traversed by four of the other lines, and in some import • ant respects decidedly superior to that tra versed by the W. and A. K. K. The Ga. Western will give to our merchants ad ditional facilities, ally result in extending their trade to tho Mississippi river. These facili ties embrace quite 1,000 miles of railroads completed and in progress, aiong which there are no controlling markets. It will give At- port, I am I TmirWTlWTT. 1 — L. P. GRANT, Pres. Ga. Western Railroad. CHARLESTON CARDS. Geo. W. Williams, William Bihnik, JOS.JL JiOMUXb*.*', Am fiMMa/B., Host. & 0 atkoabt. Frank E. Taylor, . I. WILLIAMS k CO. WHOLESALE GROCERS, tb '“uX Th£ Cotton Factors and Bankers, HAYNE 8T., CHARLESTON, S. C. WILLIAMS, BIRNIE A CO. Fanta cheap eoaf of excdUnt1 CO ITl fTI i S SiOII Merchants, ening the price of fuel for domestic purposes, and stimulating investments in many branch es of manufacturing. It opens to Atlanta the great .mining fields of Alabama, destined to contain a great industrial population, by a shorter line than to any other leading market. How important, then, that we enter these fields at an early day, and give direction to the trade during its growth. Atlanta started out with an earnest purpose to construct the Georgia Western railroad sufficicently far to give a basis on which the mortgage bonds of the Company could be negotiated, to [complete it. The city has made a cash sub- the oldest colonial settlements. They have j scription of three hundred thousand dollars, had every advantage which long established Another of like nmouot from the city, and capital and ample facilities of communication j the payment of the Georgia railroad supscrip- H5 lleaver Street, New York. may35-6m HENRY BISCHOFF & CO WHOLESALE GROCERS AND DEALERS IK Carolina Rico, with the interior and coastwise could give. Added to them, they had, previous to the war between the States, an advantage result ing from the labor system, indirectly control ling the trade and exchanges of the more opulent planters, thereby restricting the inte rior towns generally to the small trade of the poorer classes. At the same time they fur nished the retail merchants of the interior with their stocks. Only a few years ago Charleston supplied a large majority of the merchants of Middle, Western and Northern J . E . ADCER & CO. IMPORTERS OF HARDWARE, tion, will complete and equip the first thirty I CUTLERY, GUNS; BAR IRON, STEEL AND AGRICULTU- milee. This consummated, I would feel that the completion of tho whole road was as- j sured. In this I maybe over sanguine, but I ! have never known a line of equal strength, in resources for business, with a like basis of j credit, fail to command means for its comple-! tion. A further subscription by the city is op- ou the ground of increased taxation. This | subject should be fairly and candidly stated. RAL IMPLEMENTS. 130 Meeting Street and 62 East Bay Street, CHARLESTON, S. C. •naySS-dGm Georgia with their stocks of dry goods, boots I The individuals composing the board of di- aud shoes, hats, hardware and groceries. Notwithstanding these advantages, the city was not increasing in population, nor trade, for some years preceding the war, while Sa vannah, by reason of the extension of rail roads into Southwestern Georgia, and Eastern Alabama, was advancing with a steady, though slow growth. The war dismantled Charles ton, blockaded up the harbor, and destroyed her avenues of communication with the inte rior. Savannah having sustained no serious in jury, promptly applied the means for re- FRENCH’S NEW HOTEL, posed by a minority of our citizens, mainly | CORNER CORTLANOT AND NEW CHURCH STREETS NEW YORK. ON THE EUROPEAN PLAN. . - - . , - - _ _ _ , RICHARD P. FRENCH, T» V e r 0U ? . P f Qper X H ld h 7 ™ Ch \ i of late Colonel Bichaod Funncii. of French’* lhey have no direct interest to be advanced Hotel, has taken this Hotel, newly litted up and en- by the construction of the Georgia Western tirely renovated the same. " ’ - centrally located in the business part of the rectors ara interested iu common with all our tax-paying citizens, in proportion to the real j city. W. H. PARKINS. This route from Atlanta to Fort Worth, a dis-1 opening her avenues of trade, and absorbed fy a much larger subscription, if #necessary, to secure the road. Up to the present time,the furnaces in Geor gia and Alabama have been run with charcoal, The remarks of Maj. Wallace were favora- I a convenient supply of which cannot long be bly received and elicited a general expression it. favor of the subscription, with the opinion that it would be voted. On leaving Talladega, and after a brief visit to the iron works of Messrs. Tyler and Noble, near Oxford, I proceeded by rail to the young city of Birmingham, with a view to an •lamination of the topographical features of the country east of the Coosa river. So much has been said and written of Birming ham that it is quite unnecessary for me to go over the 44 oft trodden ground.” 1 was favor ably impressed with the location, the sub stantial character of its principal business houses, the neat and tasty designs of the pri vate residences and the evidences of respecta bility and good order of the people. The future progress of the city deDends mainly relied on. A supply of mineral coal free from sulphur, or which cokes freely, is there fore indispensible to the future working of these iron deposits. It is sufficiently well known that an abun dant supply of good bituminous coal exists in Tennessee, Northern Georgia and Alabama, but its existence along or near the route of the Georgia Western Railroad has been ques tioned. On this point the citizens of Atlanta feel a lively solicitude, as a supply of good coal, at a moderate price, was a leading argu ment in favor of the city subscription to the road. They may rest perfectly assured that the most sanguine representations made to them on the subject did not exaggerate the supply. The coal measures of Alabama are known as upon the development of the mineral depos- the Coosa, the Cahaba aud Warrior fields. its of iron and coal which, in close proximity, literally surround it. Our route crosses the two former, and ter minate8 about ten miles east of the W estern Heavy rains detained me in the city beyond border of the latter. The British Consul of my intended stay, and contracted the time I bad expected to devote to the country. Through the kindness of Gen. E. P. Alexan der, President, and Major Wm. S. Greene, Chief Engineer of the Savannah and Mem phis Railroad, I was permitted to inspect plans and profiles of surveys, made for that road, from Childersburg and Talladega to Birmingham. These, with verbal explana- Mobile, in a review of the resources of Ala bama sent his government, estimated the pro duct of these coal fields at 52,250,000,000 tons—equal to the maximum capacity of twenty double track railways for more’ than 600 years. Where our surveys cross the Coosa and Cft- haba fields, the width of each is about ten miles. Outcrops of coal are frequent along tanco of 860 miles, combines greater agricul tnral, mineral, and lumber resources than any continuous line of like extent in the United States. I am fortified in this impres sion by the indorsement of Hon. Jno. P. King, who has examined this subject carefully and willi a lively interest. As before shown, we have the shortest line to Meridian, ou which route westward there is a gap of only 96 miles unconstructed to the initial point of the Texas Pacific. Thence to Dallas, on the Trinity river, the line will be completed about the 1st of October next. Thence to Fort Worth the grading is in pro gress. During the year 1874, both the Trans-Con tinental and Texas Pacific are to be completed to Fort Worth. Col. Thomas A. Scott, Presi dent, expects to complete the entire line to San Diego in five years The Southern Pacific of California is now progressing from San Francisco southward, to join the Texas Pacific at or near San Gorgonia Pass, being completed an. in operation to Sa lmas, 118 miles. The Southern Transcontinental Railroad is no longer a myth and a delusion. Already there has been expended about $7,000,000 in construction and surv eys. The company have donations from the State of Texas, and the United States for 31,000,000 acres of land; an ample and most reliable basis of credit. We may, therefore, reason upon the results of its completion, without being obnoxious to the charge of “blowiug bubbles.” These proba ble results are of such magnitude, that an at tempt to elaborate them, would extend this communication beyond the limits to which I had intended to restrict it. I will, however, briefly state some of the points of leading im portance. The distance from New York to Omaha by one of the shortest, if not lhe shortest line, is 1,401 miles. From Omaha to San Francisco is 1,907 miles, making a total of 3,308 miles. tion by Major Greene and information fur- j our line in both fields. In the latter our chief nisbed by John A. Grant, gave me quite a correct idea of the physical features of this portion of the country. In compaoy with our Chief Engineer. I spent three days on horseback in a critical ex amination of the leading topographical diffi culties to be overcome in the construction of our road between the Coosa river and the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad. engineer saw workings by the country people for smithing purposes, on a vein six feet in thickness. The same vein is reported ten feet thick about two miles distant from these workings. The Coosa field has beeo opened on Broken Arrow and Trout creeks, a few miles north of our direct route, where the outcrop is conve nient for loading into flat-boats. ^This is gen- ComiDg east from Birmingham lour ranges , erally known as the SL Clair coal, and has of high ridges, or low mountains, are eu- | been used lor smithing purposes in the adja- countered,lying nearly parallel with each other cent country and towns, and in the cities of and tending about north twenty degrees east and South and twenty degrees west They are named in their order, Red, Shades ana Oak Mountains. The fourth I will name Coosa Mountain. Red Mountain is crossed by the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad six miles northeast from Birmingham, at a low gap, requiring a short ent of about thirty-five feet at the apex of the gap. Our road con join and intersect ibe Alabama and Chattanooga at any point within ten miles northeast of Red Gap, pass ing west to a jnnetion with the South and North, or run along the Alabama and Chatta nooga Railroad to Birmingham. Shades Mountain beaks down into knobs, and low gaps, appftjaching the water-gap made by the mam Cahaba river breaking through from the northwest. We have the option of crossing the range by a low gap re quiring a summit cut of thirty-five feet depth, or passing through the water-gap. Oak mountain is cut to its base by the water-gap of Kelly’s creek, known as 44 Carr’s Gap,” in our direct line. The Coosa range is cut by Kelly’s creek at Lolly’s gap, about five miles due South from Carr’s Ga|>. It is plain that Lolly's Gap will not avail us. To pass the Coosa range in our direct route as lar as ex amined by John A. Grant and myself, will require a tunnel of one thousand feet in length. We concur in the opinion that fur ther examinations will result in avoiding the tunnel, with a small increase of distance. From the Coosa range to the Coosa river, a moderate profile is attainable. From the lat ter to the eastern border of the Chockolocko valley, a distance of about thirty-lonr miles, the work of graduation will be unusually light, with favorable alignments and gradients. Tee ascent eastward, out of the Chockolocko ▼alley,to the sharp serrated ridge dividing the waters of the Chockolocko creek, from those of the Tallaposa river, will involve about four miles of heavy grading. Thence to the work in progress, the country admits a choice ol two or more lines, either of which is practic able, at a moderate cost. The road can be substantially built, with iron rails weighing fifty-six pounds per yard, at an average cost of $33,000 per mile. In presenting some general views of the probable local business of the Georgia Wes largely of the area before tributary to Charles ton. Savannah is now the largest shipping port on the South Atlantic Coast The value of imports and exports through Savannah for the cotton year ending August 31st, 1873, will probably exceed $100,000,000; yet the trade, manufactures, and all other in dustries of the city, do not sustain a larger white population than we now have in Atlanta. I see no grounds of hope for any consider able future increase. The main drawback is climatic. The lack of immediate local sup port, by the interposition of a wide belt of pine barrens between the coast and good agri cultural settlements, is another serious draw back. These insuperable disadvantages are common to all South Atlantic ports. Again, the larger class of ocean steamers cannot enter the harbors of Savannah and Charleston. This fact must tend to transfer a considerable share of the shipping business to the superior harbors of Port Royal and Brunswick. Climatic causes will ever retard the growth of interior cities of the South, originally located with reference to river navi gation. What are the prerequisites, then, far future trade centres in the South ? I answer—alti tude above the draining rivers sufficient to reach a pure atmosphere, good free-stone water, and ample railroad facilities to insure low rates of transportation in receiving and distributing all classes of freights. Does not Atlanta meet all these requirements more fully than any city yet founded in the South ? The history of this city is a complete verification of the theory I have advanced. Without the pecuniary or moral aid of a single capitalist or leading representative man in the incep tion—with immediate surroundings of meagre promise—Atlanta has grown to the rank of the second city in Georgia. Slowly in tne outset, but in an increasing ratio from year to year, Atlanta has absorbed much of the Railroad other than is common to all our citizens. The taxable wealth of Atlanta is the result- | ant of the commercial, industrial and pro- j fessional interests built up, aud attracted here f by a common junction ot four lines of rail- 1 roads. I do not include the Atlanta and Rich- > mond Air-Line for the reason that the portion i operated from Atlanta has yet had only a small effect upon the general interests of the city. In less than three months hence this line will be opened through, when I expect to see our merchants absorb a large share of tho trade tributary to the line between Atlanta and Charleston. But to return to the main subject. The taxable property of Atlanta is - assessed at S13,000,00(1 for real estate, and i p °"«»!d*wl“ $4,000,000 for personal property. If this is j J. WAJtNKK ALL« PARKINS & ALLEN, Architects and £ugirmUndents, Will furnish Plans and Specifications for In less than three months hence this line ! CHURCHESi BANKS, STORE BUILDINGS* AND DWELLINGS OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS. OFFICE, Corner of Pryor and Decatur Streets, op- By comparing distances of unfinished links, 1 areas of trade, once controlled by the old es- |we have the following comparison of routes j tablisbed marts of Augusta, Macon, Colum- irom New York io Fort Smith, Texas: | bus and Montgomery; all of which were cifc- 1st. Via Philadelphia, Pittsburg, St. Louis and Sher- | ies of considerable importance when the site 1 Tinmilas folk. Talladega, Wetumpka and Montgomery for many years. In 1847, while in charge of the Montgome ry A West Point Railroad, I purchased a flat boat load of St Clair coal for the smith shop. It was pronounced by the foreman superior to any he had ever used. Its fine cooking quali ties led the Confederate authorities to work the veins to some extent during the war. The Cahawba field has been opened near Montevallo and a number of points along the South and North Railroad. This ooal is su perior for grate purposes. Capt. G. J. Fore acre, JL M. Farrar, Esq., Dr. Armstrong aud myself used it for domestic purposes for a short time during the past winter, and wo con curred m pronouncing it superior to the best Tennessee coal. The South and North Railroad enters the Great Warrior field about fifteen miles north of Birmingham. Coal of good quality is now being mined in this field, at three or tour points in view from the railroad. The Savannah k Memphis Railroad will en ter the Warrior field about ten miles west of its intersection with the Son'h & North Rail road, and will traverse n for more than thirty miles. Owners of coal land in the Warrior field offered to contract in advancr ol tne comple tion of our road, to deliver the Warrior c al in Atlanta at $5 per ton —our freight charge to be limited to 1} cents per ton per mile. We cad do better. The Coosa and Cahawba coals can be laid down in Atlanta at $4 per ton. This estimate gives $1 90 for royalty and cost of uiniug, and ten cents for freight age per ton. * Classing the coal and the iron products of Red Mountain as local to our line, we claim a local support io itself sufficient to justify tho construction of the Getrgia Western Rail road. Our sources for through business are un rivalled by any road in the South. Intersect ing the Selma, Rome and Dalton at some point in Chockolocko valley, or at the city of Talledega; joining the Savannah and Mem- ! great value of which has beei. attested by phis at some point east of Red Gap; inter- 1 practical geologists. Already there is trihu- meeting the Alabama A Chattanooga Railroad j tary to tbia route, between the eastern border near the same point: joining the South of Texas and the Pacific, including the Nor- of Atlanta was a forest. In what consists this marked advantage, until recently unap preciated by our most sagacious and far-see ing men ? It is not alone in geographical po sition. It is not in superior facilities of trans portation. Augusta has five railroads and a navigable river. Macon has the same. Co lumbus has four railroads and a navigable river. Montgomery, five and a navigable rive*. * It is not in immediate surroundings. All of the cities named, in comparison, have the advantage of Atlanta in this respect; while Augusta and Columbus each has water power of very large capacity. The prepon derating advantage of Atlanta is in a dry, pure, invigorating atmosphere. This enables all classes to reside here during the entire year, with complete immunity from climatic fevers and the enervating effects of a humid miasmatic atmosphere. For the same reasons all outside may visit Atlanta, on business or for recreation, at all seasons, with security from local sickness, if not with a fair chance of improved health. Our merchants can hold in store every de- . 1,710 miles. Via Baltimore, Cincinnati, LouisviUe, Memphis, Ditto Rock and Longview, 1,780 miles. 3d. Via Washington. Lynchburg, Chattanooga, Mem phis, Little Rock and Longview, 1,670 miles. 4th. Via Washington, Lynchburg, Chattanooga, Meri dian and Shreveport, 1,680 miles, fith. Via Washington, Richmond, Atlanta.Georgia West ern, Meridian and Shreveport, 1.740 milea. 6th. Vi* Washington, Richmond, Atlanta, Montgome- ery, Meridian and Shreveport, 1,760 miles. Nos. 1, 2 and 3, will have complete lines to Fort Worth by the end of 1874. Nos. 4 and 6 will probably have complete lines to the same point by the end of 1875. The com pletion of No. 5 will depend upon our ability to push the Great Western to a connection with the Alabama and Chattanooga. From Fort Worth to San Diego, as demon strated by actual surveys, will not exceed 1,250 miles; and to San Francisco 1,650 miles, making a total distance lrom New York to San Francisco by the shortest line 3,320, and by the longest 3,430 miles; the former being only 12, and the latter being 122 miles ] longer than the Omaha route, and with prac- ! tical advantages ot working, by reasou of j lower gradients and easier curvature, equiva- j scription of goods and produce, without inju- lent to at least ten per cent. : ry lrom dampness of climate. Mechanics can From New York to the Pacific, at San Die- perform as much labor here without exhaus- go, the Southern route will be tour hundred tion os in more northern latitudes. This miles shorter than to San Francisco, by the i latter fact is far more important than present completed line. j is generally conceded. I have the opinions of It is evident from the advantages stated, some leading railroad managers and master thut the Southern route will command a fair - share of the through business aiong route number one to Sfc. Louis, with advantages as we come £outb, increasing to a complete command of that below the latitude of Nor- For coast^-wise and trans-Atlantic busi- the Southern route can have no success ful competitor, and in rigorous winters, the whole transcontinental business will be con trolled by it With the unrivalled harbor of Port Royal, where the largest class of shipping can enter without a pilot, and receive aud discharge freights aloug the railroad wharves directly into cars, for passage from ocean to ocean, between which will occur only oue tranship ment, and with the advantage of 1,000 miles less distance than the Omaha route, over roods of superior alignment and grades, no one can doubt for a moment that this is to become the great thoroughfare of tonnage and travel between th©Atlantic and Pacific. Emigrants from Europe and the older States of this country will fioclc by thousands along this ronto to people the rich prairies of Tcxas aud the fertile valleys of New Mexico, Arizona mid California. A large mining population will -be attracted to the numerous and exten sive gold-bearing quartz, silver and copp*r ores, known to exist along this route, the GULLETT’S LIGHT DRAFT COTTON CIN! SIMPLICITY, DURABILITY, LIGHTNESS OF DRAFT, with PERFECT WORK, beiDg the objects arrived at, have all been accomplished. Having sold cotton from these Gins during the two seasons past, we can with safety assure the planter that it will sell in our market at prices ranging from one-quarter to three-quarters of a cent per pound above same grade of seed cotton from &Dy other Gin, excepting the Steel Brush. FIRST PREMIUMS were awarded this Gin at the following named State Fairs: Mississippi—Jackson. 1871 and 1872. Gf.cbgia—August*. 1872; Savannah, 1873. Texas—Houston, 1873; Texas State Fair, 1873. Louisiana—New Orleans, 1873. call at our office and ex- Agents for COLEMAN’S CORN AND WHEAT MILL, which makes superior meal, and can be attached to aud run by the ordinary gin gearing, without expense above the cost of the Mill. iune22-d&w2m aud North Railroad, either at Birmingham or j them Statta of Mexfc a few miles north, we will be in a position to jug threo million H i population txceed- tern, I shall discard statistics. A general i compete on eqaal terms with auy other route In agricultural resources, tho southern route knowledge of the of the oonntry is » fl>r all travel and freights between i* no vastly superior to the c«-htral that is dit- k much surer guide. A good eountry, re*- 1 the Atlantic rlope north of Savannah , ftcult io iu*titu$e n comparison. Therein, to mote from faciliilM, ju*y show meagro figures I ami Mieon, that area of Alabama lying webt the beat ol my belief, more aud better amble in population aud products, in comparison • of the Ooona and Alabama rivers. Middle aud t lands on th^ Southern route between the 8a with a poorer, having superior fooditie*. | Western Tfcnneasee, Southern Arkiusas, aud pm .• aud Btuzm river* itr'lVxHK, a dMauce of mochnnics of the South, aud they concur in estimating a difference of twenty-five per cent, in the average amount of labor per formed by mechauics here, from April to Sep tember inclusive, aud in the cities of the South located in low, * miasmatic atmosphere, and this supposes no loss of time in either case, from loss by sickness. The difference is from enervation of the system. But this, as a general rule, falls on the employer, aud not on the employee. The latter, with his family —if he have a family—is liable to loss of time and expense from local fevers. These reasons insure to Atlanta the choice of mechanics—men who are not drifting*froinl place to place, but sober, Bteady, frugal men, who save their earnings, bny freehold, and constitute a large element of strength aud progress in our city. It should be borne in mind that these cli matic advantages of Atlanta are perpetual. No humnn agency can change them, nor sup ply the lack, to cities located along Southern rivers, or Southern Atlantic coast. In estimation, Atlanta was certain to be-[ come a great trade center, as the ag ricultural and mineral resources of the South are certain to be further and largely developed. What more do we need to give us a preponderance that shall insure this result beyond perad- v« mure. Let uh survey the field fora moment Com mencing with the Western aud Atlantic Rail road. and swinging around by the north aud east to the Atlanta aud West Point Railroad on the south weat, w« have five radiating lines i t railroads, from aud over which Atlanta draws all of its trade, except a small uiqouut of wagon trade from the immediate surround ing cuiintry. W»- find the angles continued b -t\veeu tl*e*e radiating lines to be approxt- the result of four roads, will not the Georgia 1C A 4 T II L' 4 |>|| & T f’|| Western, vastly superior in resources to the 1 1 • 11.IiA14If Ck average of the four, give a proportional result. This, at I cent the present rate, will i rOTTGN PAOTOR^ increase the receipts from taxes $60,000.1 1 ■ l vrvg, Add a like proportion for all other sources 1 of income, $20,000, and we have $80,000 ad- j AUGUSTA, - - - GEORGIA, ditional revenue without increasing the rate ] of taxation. By the time the Georgia West- j era can be opened through, Atlanta will need 50,000 tons of coal per year, and this con-1 Commission on Cotton, $1.00 Per Bale, sumption will increase rapidly. I have before shown that the Georgia West-1 era can lay down coal in Atlanta at a cost of $4 per ton. Whether the coal all comes over the AGENTS FOR Georgia Western or not, it is evident that the r rice must comq to or below this standard, as have allowed a margin of fifty cents per ton in royalty and cost of mining over what I be lieve will be the cost. The average price of coal in Atlanta for the past two years has ex ceeded $6.50 per ton. Rating it at $6, with out other sources of supply, and we have a saving of $100,090 per year in the item of fuel, which enters into the household ex penses of every citizen ; and the cost of all r __ articles manufactured here—for whether coal j other Gin made in the United States, or wood be used, a reduction in the price of the former will force a corresponding reduc tion in the price of the latter. might enumerate minor advantages amounting to do inconsiderable yearly sav ings. A cash subscription of six hundred thou sand dollars by the city, at the present market value of herbonds, will entail a yearly interest of about sixty thousand dollars. The length of time this interest will run without counterbalancing advantages depends upon the rate of progress in constructing the road to completion. It is quite certain that the completed line will rapidly reimburse the sum invested by the city, though the stock yield no dividend. The growth of business np to a dividend paying point may require five years time. If economically constructed, and prudently managed, I see no reason why it may not pay eight per cent, on the whole investment. l he business of the Western and Atlantic Railroad will soon reach a gross revenue of $2,000,000 per year, even with the active com petition for the long through business of lines now in progress of construction. Our line has superior resources bat not equal, present development. In less than ten years from the day of completion I believe its gross revenue will exceed $2,500,000 per annum. Events of the late past in the South have been sufficient to depress any people on the face of the earth; but we have passed through the thick darkness, and there is light ahead. There is unmistakable improvement and pro gress in all the healthier districts of the South. Improved systems of culture aud the the judicious use of fertilizers have ren dered profitable the culture of land, well located as to health and markets, here tofore estimated as valueless except for the forest growth. The immense mineral resour ces of the South are begining to be apprecia ted iu our own and forgeign countries. Their development has fairly commenced, with re sults so attractive to capital as to justify more sangaine estimates of the future value of' our road than I have ventured to place upon it There are some persons who oppose the Geor gia Western on the ground that it will injure both the Western and Atlantic and the Altanta &. West Point Railroads. Openly ex pressed opposition on this ground by those in interest would be fair and legitimate. An en larged view of the future justifies the opinion that the operation of the Georgia Western, if built, will ultimately benefit both roads in question, by building up Atlanta to a com manding industrial trade center, which will extend its business over the Western & Atlan tic Railroad into Tennessee and North hunm and to a like extent over the Atlanta ± West Point Railroad, into Middle and South eastern Alabama. One point of great interest I have passed over in its proper connection. I refer to the immense capacity of Texas, New Mexico, Ar kansas, and the Indian reserves, for stock growing. Already the annual supply for market will doabtless exceed 50,000 car loads. With increased facilities for shipment, the annual increase will be large. The great portion of this carrying business wiU be distributed to diverging lines eastward, in one of which the Ga. Western will constitute a link. Iu closing this communication. I trust it will not he deemed egotism to say that i have never sought to induce individuals or com- mum ties io invest capita! in schemes of doubtful result. No stockholder has been misled by my estimates of cost or revenues of railways entrusted to my direction, in eon-, drew sttnenott or mahagement. j jnir * dt DISSOLUTION. T HE FIRM OF PLATT & CO. I8 THIS DAY Dis solved by mutual content. The succeeding firm, Me**rs. Platt Brothers, will collect the accounts and assume the responsibilities of the firm of Platt & Co. E PLATT, PLATT BROS. -A. o. R33. thanks to a kind public for favora it has bestowed up- ou me. and to solicit for the new firm a continuance of the patronage ao generously bestowed upon the old one. Messrs. Platt Brothers have devoted many years to the Furniture business, and will be able to fully supply the demand and satisfy the taste of the public. Respectfully, juneli-tt PLATT Dissolution of Copartnership. Atlanta, Ga., July 18,1873. _ Georgi and P. Pelligrini, under the name and firm ot Pelligrini & Georgi, as proprietors of the Southern Terra Cotta Works, is this day dissolved by mutual consent. All claims against the firm will be paid by the suc cessors, and all debts due them will bo paid to Pelli grini k Castleberry, who are alone authorised to col lect the tame. P PUJJQRUL jy!9-3t. E. OEOBQI. NOTICE OF COPARTNERSHIP. Atlanta, Ga., July 18.1878. ■THE undersigned have this day f ship under the name and firm of PsUigrinl k Castle berry, for the purpose of carrying on the business of the Terrs Cotta Works. AU debts due to the Isle firm of Pelligrini A Georgi wiU be paid to them, they having the ooto authority to collect tne same, and all orders for Terra Cotta Works wtU be addressed to them. P. PELLIGRINI. JyiO-St _ M. T. CASTLEBERRY. SOUTHERN FEMALE C0LLE6E LiaOraugo, Orm. fJ^UB INSTITUTION, with * corp. of Kio, Kir* i'ia.s T.fc'hen. will ranimr «wrriM Uw Utt Widw day in August. Four premiums for excellence in Music aud Painting were awarded Pupils of this college at the last State Fair. Wot OaUlouges ed- t F. COX. President.