Newspaper headline from Charleston News and Courier ("The Roads to Charleston are Open!"), regarding rail line connecting Charleston to Cincinnati, 30 April 1899

Document Description:

In 1899 the Southern Railway, a nationally competitive railroad, leased the South Carolina and Georgia Railroad. The merger not only made the headlines of the Sunday Charleston News and Courier, but filled the entire front page. With the new addition, the company’s total track mileage increased to 5,613 miles, and made “Charleston a port of exit and entrance for all points this side of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.” Over sixty years had passed since the first proposition of using the railroad to connect Charleston to Cincinnati, and therefore the to the west. By linking these two cities, the Southern achieved what the Blue Ridge Railroad, among others, had failed to accomplish in the 1850s. Although later than once hoped for, Charlestonians still reveled in the prospect of trade, both from within the state and beyond, that this connection promised. The newspaper claims, “… the Southern is heralded as the harbinger of better times…” in its front-page account of the merger. The article includes details about the exportable goods, including cotton, that Charleston would have access to; concerns about the corporate takeover; the distances between major cities connected to the railroad; and a map of the Southern rail system. Additionally, the article places the city in the larger context of railroad transportation in the South in comparison to the rest of the country and the wider world.

Citation:

“The Roads to Charleston are open!” The Charleston News and Courier. 30 April 1899. Newspapers on Microfilm. Published Materials Division. South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.

Transcription:

THE ROADS TO CHARLESTON ARE OPEN!

THE BARS AT COLUMBIA LET DOWN.

THE SOUTHERN HAS LEASED THE OLD RELIABLE.

WE GET BACK OUR JOBBING TRADE.

WE GET A SHARE OF THE ALABAMA COAL AND IRON TRADE.

WE GET A SHARE OF THE GREAT WEST’S GRAIN TRADE.

WE HAVE A BETTER SHOW AT THE COTTON TRADE.

The South Carolina and Georgia Railroad, as an individual line, is now a matter of history, and in its place is the arm of a giant, the Charleston division of the Southern Railway. This transformation was effected yesterday and the people of Charleston rejoice generally that the change has been accomplished. The Change means much in a commercial way for this city. The advantages that both Charleston and the Southern Railway will gain by the deal are mutual and, therefore, are certain, for the railroad company must work to secure profits and the merchants of the city must co-operate to extend trade and grow great. With such conditions existing, good must surely result for both.

For years Charleston’s trade has been very circumscribed for the reason that there were no railway connections further than Columbia or Augusta that were devoted to the interests of this city. The merchants of this city had been driven from the Piedmont section of South Carolina, by a natural tributary, which was being fed by other cities. It is hoped and confidently expected that the ownership or control of the South Carolina and Georgia by the Southern will remove this great obstacle to Charleston’s commerce. The Southern, of which the South Carolina and Georgia is now a part has control over nearly six thousand miles of track and is thorough master of the situation as far as this city is concerned.

The Southern has been master of this situation for several years, and having no interests in Charleston everyone is aware of the damage done to the city. Now that the Southern has invested largely in Charleston, many millions being at stake, it can readily be seen that the influence which had been withdrawn, to the city’s great detriment, can now be wielded for good in the same measure.

In a nut shell, the deal of yesterday makes Charleston a port of exit and entrance for all points this side of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, through the coal fields and iron mines of Tennessee and Alabama, giving a field for commercial operations that had, heretofore, not been dreamed of by even the most sanguine Charlestonians. The deal meets with the general approbation of the public. The situation had become very bad, and the Southern is heralded as the harbinger of better times, and a warm welcome is in store for its officers and owners. Not only a welcome can be promised, but hearty co-operation is offered sincerely and honestly by the merchants and commercial men generally.

STOCKHOLDERS MEET.

The stockholders of the South Carolina and Georgia Railroad met yesterday at 11 o’clock, at the offices of the company, corner of Ann and King streets, in pursuance of the following notice, which was published in the News and Courier:

“Notice is hereby given that a meeting of the stockholders of the South Carolina and Georgia Railroad Company will be held at the principal office of the company in Charleston, S.C., on the 29th day of April, at 11 o’clock in the forenoon. It is proposed that the company should guarantee the payment of the principal and in interest of the first mortgage gold bonds of the par value of one million, eight hundred thousand dollars ($1,800,000) of the South Carolina and Georgia Extension Railroad Company, said bonds to bear four and a half per centum (4 1-2 per cent) interest; payable semi-annually, and it is also proposed that the company should guarantee the payment of the principal and interest of the first mortgage gold bonds of the par value of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) of the Sumter and Wateree River Railroad Company, said bonds to bear five per centum (5 per cent) interest, payable semi-annually. The purpose of the meeting is that the stockholders may assent or refuse to assent to the making of such guarantees.

“Henry Parsons, Secretary.”

The stockholders, who were represented by proxies, refused to guarantee the bonds of the Georgia and Carolina Extension Railroad Company, and also refused to ratify the contract heretofore made with the Southern, thus divorcing it from the South Carolina and Georgia completely, and then the stockholders of the South Carolina and Georgia leased the South Carolina and Georgia Road to the Southern for thirty years. The lease took effect immediately.

The meeting at which this business was transacted lasted almost the entire day. The stockholders of the South Carolina and Georgia were represented by attorneys, Mr. A. B. Potter, of New York, and Mr. Joseph Barnwell, of this city, and Auditor F. A. Healy. The interests of the Southern Railway were looked after by Col. A.B. Andrews, first vice president, and Mr. B. A. Abney, of Columbia, the division attorney of the Southern. There were several disagreements between the parties over minor details of the lease. Which necessitated delays, occasioned by the sending and waiting for answers from the headquarters of both companies in New York. There was never any trouble about the principal features of the trade, and never a fear that the negotiations would fall through. The main features of the contract were settled some time before and yesterday was merely the legal and formal signing and sealing of the contract.

THE LEASE SIGNED.

The task was finally accomplished at 5:30 o’clock yesterday afternoon, and the South Carolina and Georgia and all of its branches and other properties were turned over to Col. Andrews, representative of the Southern Railway, and it immediately became the Charleston Division of the Southern Railway.

The following order was promulgated immediately after the papers were signed:

Southern Railway Company

80 Broadway,

New York, April 29, 1899

Executive Order No. 26: The Southern Railway Company has this day leases the property and franchise of the South Carolina and Georgia Railroad Company, and having assumed possession thereof, that the property will from date be operated as the Charleston division. The jurisdiction of the president and vice presidents of the Southern Railway Company is hereby extended over said property. All officers and employees now engaged in the operation of said property will be governed accordingly. The South Carolina and Georgia Railroad Company no longer being in possession of the property of the South Carolina and Georgia Extension Railroad Company, the above order does not apply to the property of the last named company, Samuel Spencer,

President.

ORDERS TO OFFICIALS.

It will be seen that the order of President Spencer does not recognize the Ohio River and Charleston as a part of the Southern system, and when Co Andrews was asked what would be done about the proposed extension of the Ohio River and Charleston to Spartanburg he simply remarked that the Southern had nothing to do with the Ohio River and Charleston, and he could not speak for the people who owned that property. The Spartanburg extension is not now considered necessary, as the Southern’s present lines will answer all needs in this connection. It is then quite positive that the extension of the Ohio River and Charleston will not be heard of again at an early date.

As is usual in the case of a railroad transfer there is much agitation as to the dismissal or retention of employees in the road that is absorbed. Col Andrews, when asked about this matter, said that for the present there would be no change in nay of the forces. President Spencer issued the following order on this subject:

Southern Railway Company,

Office of the President

80 Broadway, N. Y., April 29, 1899

Executive Order No 27: In pursuance of announcement made in executive order No 26, this further order, effective this date, that L.A. Emerson, traffic manager, Charleston division, shall report to w. W. Finlay, second vice president at Washington, D.C., and Joseph H. Sands, general manager, Charleston division, shall report to Frank S. Gannon, third vice president and general manager, at Washington. Henry Parsons, treasurer, and F. A. Healy, auditor, will report to Samuel Spencer as president of the South Carolina and Georgia Railroad, in respect to all business accruing to May 1. In respect to business accruing on and after May 1 these officers will be governed by instructions to be hereafter issued by A. H. Plant, auditor of the Southern Railway, 1,300 Penn. Avenue, Washington, D.C.,

Samuel Spencer, President.

THE TERMS NOT STATED

The terms of the lease have not been made public as yet, but will be in a short while, as the instrument is a simple operation lease, and will be duly recorded, when the public can satisfy its curiosity as to the exact stipulations of the contract. While at present the trade is merely a lease there are wise people who think that it virtually amounts to a sale, and that the near future will demonstrate the fact to the satisfaction of everyone. Be this as it may the Southern is I control of the South Carolina and Georgia, and a much brighter future is in prospect for Charleston – and the folks hereabouts are glad of it.

WHAT COL ANDREWS SAID.

Col Andrews, he who came here to look for quarter during the Reunion and incidentally leased a big railroad and several branches, was seen in his room in the Charleston Hotel last night. The Colonel appeared very much pleased with his days work, but expresses some regrets that he did not secure the quarters he wanted, and would be compelled to live in his private car while here in attendance on the Reunion. There was a sly twinkle in the genial gentleman’s merry eyes when his attention was called to his former expressions of admiration of the harbor and the great efforts the people were making for the success of the Reunion. He laughed outright when the Reporter suggestion that from a very ignorant man in railroad matters two weeks ago he had developed wonderfully in wisdom concerning common carriers, Col. Andrews, when asked what effect, he thought, the deal would have on Charleston, said:

“I think it will be exceedingly beneficial to Charleston in many ways. It will first restore Western South Carolina to Charleston, besides bringing a great deal of other business here. We will now feel a great interest in Charleston and will do everything possible for the upbuilding of this city, which will be out pleasure and our interest. Our interest, heretofore, has always been in different directions. We will be anxious and will do all we can to build up Charleston in the future. In addition to reclaiming the jobbing trade of Western South Carolina, Charleston will also share of the Western grain business and the shipment of pig iron from Alabama. Our intention is to throw commerce towards Charleston and not to divert it in any way.

“Our relations with all the railroads in this vicinity are cordial and if the Atlantic Coast Line, Plant system, Louisville and Nashville, or Georgia Railroad, want to do any business through Charleston, they will find the Southern Railway willing to work on good, fair terms with them. What we want is business, and we will take it legitimately from any person or road that want to give it.”

THE JOHNSTON STEAMSHIP LINE.

The reporter next asked Col. Andrews if there was anything in the report that the Johnston Steamship Company would establish a regular line of steamers from this port. The Colonel replied very naively:

“Our coming here will not drive the Johnston people from this port.”

On being pressed closer for information on this particular point Col Andrews admitted:

“The Johnston Company and the Southern are on very friendly terms, but I cannot say what their intentions in this matter are, but if the trade develops the steamers will come here in numbers sufficient to met all demands that may be made for them. Yes, I believe it is a fact that the Johnston people handle nearly all of the Southern’s foreign business, but I cannot say just now what they will do in this particular instance.”

BETTERMENTS FOR THE ROAD.

“How about betterments on the South Carolina and Georgia Road, Colonel?”

“Why, certainly, we will go right to work to improve the property. New 70-pound steel rails will be laid as soon as possible, and rock-ballast will be put on. The road bed is capable of being made one of the finest in the country, for it is old settled. With the rails and rock we hope to have it in first –class shape, able to stand fast passenger schedules and bear heavy freight trains.”

“Tell the people something about the train service Colonel?”

“Oh, I can’t do that just now. That’s a matter for the traffic department to look after. But the people of this city can rest assured that they will have the very best that business warrants. Such information as this will be given out later.”

“Colonel, don’t you think Charleston needs a new union depot?”

FAVORS A NEW DEPOT.

“Certainly, Charleston needs one, and a good one, too, and the Southern is in favor of giving the city one. Our people will cooperate in any reasonable way with the city and with the other roads to get one.”

The emphasis with which this last remark was made carried the conviction that Col Andrews is eligible to Charleston citizenship for his opinions on the depot question.

It is useless here to recount the many advantages that Charleston will derive from being in close contact with the 5,613 miles of track that the Southern now controls. A reference to the map on this page will show anyone the rich fields that are traversed by the lines of this system. Theses tracks make it possible for Charleston to become the port for foreign shipments of grain, iron, coal, cotton, lumber and a host of other commodities that find their way from this country to foreign lands.

The immediate results will be to the jobbing trade of this city. The Southern will make it possible, for Charleston merchants to reach the Piedmont section via the Columbia and Greenville, up towards Charlotte and down to Augusta, via the Charlotte, Columbia, and Augusta Road, and to Augusta and middle Georgia by the Charleston Division and the Augusta Southern. It now remains but for the people of this city to bestir themselves and take advantage of the possibilities that have been opened by the new combination.

The business men of the city are so well pleased with the new order of things that a banquet will be given in honor of the event at the Charleston Hotel to-morrow night. Col. Andrews and such other officials of the Southern as can reach the city in time will be the guests of the occasion.

MR SPENCER MUCH PLEASED.

He Says Charleston’s Long-Cherished Dream of a Through Line to the West has been Realized at Last.

New York, April 29 – J.C. Hemphill, Charleston: I have your telegram and greatly regret that other imperative engagements here prevent my being at Charleston Monday evening, as requested, and thus meeting you and other friends and influential citizens of Charleston.

I beg to convey to you and to them my thanks for your kind invitation and expressions of good will towards the Southern, which now, in fact, realizes your long-cherished purpose of a line from the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Charleston through the coal fields of Tennessee.

It is with much satisfaction that the management of the Southern Railway Company views the accomplishment of this object, and I hope at an early date to have the pleasure of visiting Charleston and of assuring you in person of the interest which the company feels in at least reaching your city and port.

Samuel Spencer

THE SOUTHERN LINES.

A Vast Network of Rails which Can Now be Made to Bring Business to Charleston.

It will be interesting to the people of Charleston just at this time to know something about the individual line which go to make up the Southern system. The most important of them are as follows:

Atlanta and Charlotte Division, 876 miles. Atlanta to New York, via Suwanee, Gainesville, Greenville, Spartanburg, Blacksburg, Charlotte, Danville, Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.

Charlotte, Danville, Lynchburg and Washington Division, 381 miles. Charlotte to Washington, via Salisbury, Greensboro, Danville, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Galveston, Manassas and Alexandria.

Richmond and Danville Division, 140 miles. Danville to Richmond, via Keysville, Amelia Court House and Midlothian.

Richmond and West Point Division, 39 miles. Richmond to West Point, via Fair Oaks, White House and Sweet Hall.

Franklin Junction and Rocky Mount Division, 37 miles. Franklin Junction to Rocky Mount, via Sandy Level, Glade Hill and Redwood.

High Point and Asheboro Division, 28 miles. High Point to Asheboro, via Glenala and Randleman.

Chamblee and Roswell Division, 10 miles. Chambee to Roswell, via Dunwoody.

Tocca and Elberton Davison, 51 miles. Tocca to Elberton, via Lavonia, Bakersville and Bowman.

Charlotte, Columbia, and Augusta Division, 191 Miles. Charlotte to Augusta, via Rock Hill, Chester, Columbia, Batesburg, and Trenton.

Charlotte, Statesville and Taylorsville Division, 64 miles. Charlotte to Taylorsville, via Mount Monroe, Statesville and Sloan.

Aiken and Edgefield Division, 24 miles. Aiken to Edgefield, via Crafts, Seiglers and Trenton.

Columbia and Greenville Division, 144 miles. Columbia to Greenville, via Alston, Newberry, Greenwood and Belton.

Belton and Anderson Division, 12 miles. Belton to Anderson.

Hodges and Abbeville Division, 12 miles. Hodges to Abbeville.

Asheville, Spartanburg and Columbia Division, 162 miles. Asheville to Columbia via Alston, Carlisle, Spartanburg, Saluda, Hendersonville and Skyland.

Salisbury, Asheville and Morristown Division, 381 miles. Salisbury to Chattanooga, via Statesville, Newton, Hickory, Marion, Asheville, Hot Springs, Paint Rock, Morristown and Knoxville.

Greensboro, Raleigh and Goldsboro Division, 130 miles. Greensboro to Goldsboro, via Hillsboro, University, Raleigh and Selma.

Salisbury and Norwood Division, 41 miles. Salisbury to Norwood, via Gold Hill, Richfield and Albemarle.

Murphy Branch Division, 124 miles. Asheville to Murphy, via Sulphur Springs, Waynesville and Natabala.

Winston-Salem and Mocksville Division, 27 miles. Winston-Salem to Mocksville, via Clemmansville and Advance.

Richmond, Keysville, Durham and Raleigh division, 163 miles. Richmond to Durham, via Keysville, Jefferies, Oxford and Lyons.

Greensboro and Wilkesboro division, 103 miles. Greensboro to Wilkesboro, via Winston-Salem, Rural Hall and Elkin.

Atlanta, Birmingham and Columbus division, 291 miles. Atlanta to Columbus, via Austel, Bremen, Tallapoosa, Aniston, Birmingham and Cardiff.

Columbus and Greenville Division, 168 miles. Columbus to Greenville, via West Point Winona and Greenwood.

Greenville and Percy division, 24 miles. Greenville to Percy.

Ltta and Webb’s division, 34 miles. Greenwood to Webb’s.

Atlanta and Fort Valley, division, 104 miles. Atlanta to Fort Valley, via Kallulah Junction, Williamson and Topeka.

Bristol, Knoxville and Jellico division, 65 miles. Knoxville to Jellico, via Clinton.

Clinton and Harriman Junction division, 51 miles. Knoxville to Harriman, via Clinton and Oliver Springs.

Chattanooga, Atlanta and Brunswick division, 430 miles. Chattanooga to Brunswick, via Columbus, Dalton, Rome, Rockmart, Austell, Atlanta, McDonough, Forilla, Macon, Helena, Jesup and Everett.

Cochran and Hawkinsville division, 10 miles. Cochran to Hawkinsville.

Rome and Selma division, 194 miles. Rome to Selma, via Piedmont, Jacksonville, Anniston, Talladega and Birmingham.

Selma and Birmingham division, 48 miles. Selma to Birmingham via Gurnee.

Gurnee to Blonton, 32 miles.

Selma and Meridian division, 105 miles. Selma to Meridian, via Union Junction, Demopolis and York.

Selma and Akron division, 53 miles. Selma to Akron.

Louisville and Lexington division, 87 miles. Louisville to Lexington, via Shelbyville, Laurenceburg and Versailles.

Laurenceburg and Burgin division, 90 miles. Louisville to Burgin, via Laurenceville, Salvisa and McAfee.

Versailles and Georgetown division, 91 miles. Louisville to Georgetown, via Laurenceburg and Versailles.

Rome, Gadsden and Attalla division, 62 miles. Rome to Attalla, via Cedar Bluff, Round Mountain and Gadsden.

Calcutta and Cleveland division, 15 miles. Calcutta to Cleveland.

Alabama Great Southern division, 295 miles. Chattanooga to Meridian, via Attalla, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and York.

Knoxville and Middlesboro division, 69 miles. Knoxville to Middlesboro, via Attalla, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and York.

Knoxville and Marysville division, 16 miles. Knoxville to Maryville.

Memphis and Chattanooga division, 310 miles. Memphis to Chattanooga, via Moscow, Grand Junction, Middleton, Corinth, Tuscumbia, Decatur, and Huntsville.

Florence Branch, 6 miles. Tuscumbia to Florence.

Rogersville Junction and Rogersville, 16 miles.

Embreeville Junction and Embreeville, 12 miles.

Besides the foregoing roads owned or leased by the Southern the following trains are operated on the “through car arrangements” part of the routes being over other lines.

“Washington and Southwestern limited,” New York to Atlanta, New York and New Orleans, Chattanooga to Nashville, New York to Memphis via Atlanta and Birmingham. “New York and Florida Limited,” New York to Tampa. “Cincinnati and Jacksonville,” via Asheville and Knoxville. “Cincinnati and Florida limited,” Cincinnati to Jacksonville. “Louisville, Chattanooga, and Birmingham,” “Jacksonville, Atlanta, Birmingham and Kansas City,” “St Louis and Jacksonville, via Louisville and Atlanta. “Washington and Chattanooga limited,” New Orleans to New York, etc.

EMPIRE OF THE SOUTH.

The Vast Resources of the Territory which is Tributary to the Lines of the Southern Railway Their Past, Present and Future,

Among the other things which the Southern Railway has done for the States Through which its vast network of rails run is the compilation of a handsome and interesting volume regarding their resources and recent developments. This book, which will soon appear, is called the “Empire of the South,” and from advance sheets The Sunday News is able to reproduce this morning a chapter from is entitles “The South – Yesterday, To-day and To-morrow.”

“The advance of the empire of the South,” says the author, Mr. Frank Presbrey, “has been one of the grandest and most noteworthy movements in the industrial and commercial history of the world. It has annulled the force of the adage, “Westward the course of empire takes its way and has destroyed for all time the theory of political economists that emigration follows isothermal lines.

“Considered in general, the development of the South in all avenues of human activity has been coincident and parallel to the growth of the country at large. When, however, this general region is considered by itself, or in connection with individual sections of the United States, a basis of comparison is presented which brings out with startling clearness and in incontrovertible figures the majesty and rapidity of its unparallel progress.

“Taken as a whole, the States included in this area form an empire of hale a million square miles. It is four times greater than England, Ireland and Scotland, and more than seven times larger than the combined area of the New England States. Within its borders could be places sixty-four States the size of Massachusetts and five hundred the size of Rhode Island. It has so generous a supply of natural and material wealth that if the balance of the world were swept out of existence it could prosper and support itself through the ages to come. Raw materials exist or are successfully grown in every part of the South in such prodigal abundance that transportation from mine and field to factory is a minor item. It has a system of intercommunication and connection with the outside world by water and rail which limits the boundaries of its trade and commerce only as civilization is limited. It has a genial climate and prolific soil, and in all avenues, industrial, commercial, agricultural and intellectual, offers its own citizens and those who may in the future become such every advantage and inducement to be found in any portion of the United States.

“The magnitude of the South’s growth can best be told in comparative figures. Between 1880 and *1890 the true valuation of real and personal property in the South increase from $ 6,448,000,000 to $9, 621,000,000, a gain of $3,173,000,000, or 51 per cent, while the New England and Middle States combined gained only $3,900,000,000, or an increase of but 22 per cent. The per capita wealth of the South increased during the same period 23 per cent, while the increase in New England for the same period was but 1.8 per cent, and in the Middle States but 3 per cent. The value of farm property in the South in 1880 was $2,314,000,000; in 1890 $3,182,000,000, a gain of 37 per cent. The increase in farm values in all other sections was about 30 per cent. The total value of farm products in the South in 1890 was $666,000,000 against $1,550,000,000 for the remainder of the country. In 1890 the South produced $773,000,000, a gain of 16 per cent, while the gain of the rest of the country was only 9 per cent. A comparison of these figures discloses the fact that in the South there was a gross revenue of 24.1 per cent on the capital invested in farm interests, while in all other sections of the country the gross revenue was 13.1 per cent. In 1880 the South had $257,244,000 invested in manufacturing. In 1890 she had $657,288,000, a gain of 150 per cent, while the gain of the entire country was about 121 per cent. The value of the manufactured products of the South in 1880 was $457,454,000. In 1890 it was $917,589,000, a gain of 100 per cent. In 1880 the factory hands alone in the South received $75,917,000 in wages. In 1890 they received $222,118,000. In 1880 the South had invested in cotton manufacturing $21,076,000; in 1890 $61,100,000, and now about $125,000,000, in 1880 the South had $3,500,000 invested in the cotton seed oil industry. It has now more than $30,000,000 so invested. The railroad mileage of the South has been increased since 1880 more than twenty-five thousand miles, at a cost in building new roads and in the improvement of old ones of over $1,600,000,000. In 1880 the South made 289,816 tons of pig iron; in 1897 it made 1,796,712 tons. In 1880 the value of the product was $7,269,050; in 1897 its estimated value was $26,592,719. In 1886 the South’s output of coal was 3,576,144 tons; last year it was 32,862,630 tons, and has exceeded 25,000,000 each year since 1891. The resources of the national banks of the South increased from $29,337,700 in 1880 to $287,594,614 in 1897, and the mount of individual deposits from $69,846,500 to $150,875,309 in the same period. These figures are exclusive of savings banks, the deposits in which increased proportionately.

“No section is better adapted to the manufacturing industry than the South. It has all needed raw materials in the greatest abundance and of the best quality. Its iron ore fields are practically inexhaustible, and they embrace all varieties of ores, and many of them are of surpassing richness. It has coal enough to last for generations, even with the most prodigal use. It has limestone for reducing its ores, and every facility for making a first class quality of pig iron as cheaply as can be done in any part of the world. It has also been demonstrated that steel making is quite as easy and equally profitable as iron production. It has extensive forests of timber, with varieties suited to every kind of wood-working industry, and these forests in addition produce immense quantities of tar, pitch, turpentine and rosin.

“In building stones it has granite, marble and sand stone, all of excellent quality, and in unlimited quantities, as well as clays for pottery and earthenware, porcelain and brick clays, glass sand, and ocher for paint, etc.

“Besides its larger industries, many smaller ones are constantly being developed by cheap and rapid transportation. Fish and oysters from the South Atlantic and Gulf States reach every-increasing markets in the interior. Early fruits and vegetables are sent in enormous quantities as far north as Canada and the lakes, and tax the capacity of the railroads in their season, formerly the dullest of the year. Dried and canned fruits are shipped by the train load, and the Florida orange in crossing the ocean to England after running the Mediterranean fruit off this continent in its season.

“It is within bounds to say that, taking into consideration the extent and variety of material, the possible powers of production from the soil and their values, the mineral and forest wealth, the advantages from the climatic conditions—temperature, rainfall and length of growing season—the dynamic forces of coal and water power, and the advantages given by proximity of interdependent resources and by geographical position, the natural foundation of the South is four times as great as that of the North. Or, stated in another way, the Southern area, fully developed, is capable of sustaining, in equal prosperity and in greater comfort, four times as large a population as can be sustained in the Northern area under the same conditions.

“Much has already been achieved by the South in the creation and accumulation of wealth, and in the appliances for carrying on the work still further. In her own towns and cities, her railways and other means of transportation and the tonnage they carry; in the value of her farms; in mines in operation and their products; in furnaces, mills and factories, and their output; in active capital in the shape of money, credit and organization, in skill in the arts, and in ways and means generally, all considered together, the result of the South’s progress has been phenomenal.

“With twenty millions of people, and thirty odd thousand miles of railroad in operation, with cotton and other crops of great value, with mountains of coal and ore, with manufactures now large and rapidly growing, with an annual production of iron more than twice as great as that of the United States up to 1865, and over one-third the world’s production up to 1860, a good start has been made.

“Projected through the center of the half million square miles composing that section of the South east of the Mississippi River is a mountainous region of more than one hundred thousand square miles, extending southwestwardly seven hundred miles from the Pennsylvania line into Alabama and Georgia, and having an average width of one hundred and fifty miles. The northwestern side of this Appalachian region is a continuous, unbroken coal field, embracing forty thousand square miles, and containing forty times the quantity of coal, available to economical mining, which the coal fields of Great Britain held before a pick was struck into the ground. This region is cool and healthy, heavily timbered, and has a soil fairly productive, susceptible of easy improvement, and has the added advantage of a general elevation of two thousand feet above sea level.

“Along its southeastern side, from end to end, lies a valley strip of almost equal area, with a general elevation of one thousand feet above sea level, fertile, heavily timbered, the most abundantly and beautifully watered region in the world, rich in a broad and continuous belt of fossil ores along its northwestern rim near the coal fields. At the foot of the mountain ranges, which wall it on the southwestern side, is another bordering belt of brown ores, and between them the marbles, limestones, clays and other minerals.

“Southeast of the valley there is another strip of almost equal area of very high mountainous country, ranging from two thousand to sixty-five hundred feet above sea level, very heavily timbered, full of water power and rich in slates, fine clays, the crystalline marbles, magnetic and specular (Bessemer) ores, copper, talc, mica, corundum and other minerals. The wealth of iron matches the wealth of coal. Everywhere, from one end of this region to the other, its interdependent resources, lying in parallel strips, are connected by natural channels worn by innumerable interlacing streams. Upon this field has been made the remarkable development of the South in the past decade, but what has been done has been but the faint scratching on the outcrop. Around this great mound of wealth piled up in the center of the South, forming a natural workshop and a magazine of resource twenty times as great as Great Britain’s, lies more than half a million square miles of rich, fertile lands.

“This mountain region alone can furnish permanent employment, when fully developed, for a population twice a great as that of the United States to-day. Standing alone it has combined wealth of soil, climate, minerals, forests and dynamic forces, to sustain and employ a dense population, incomparably greater than the resources of any other region of like area. Its own powers are increased by the varied resources of the Southern and Central Northern States surrounding it. With a population as dense as that of Massachusetts it would contain about twenty-eight millions of

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people. As dense as that of England and Wales, fifty millions. Compared with Belgium, fifty-three millions. With Saxony, fifty-five millions. The relative inferiority of natural foundation in the countries named will suggest itself to every mind. About it, on all sides, is a country needing the surplus wealth which such population could produce and able to give back products needed in exchange. The only limit to the growth of wealth, whether in its amount or the rapidity with which it can be created, is the profitable exchange of surplus products between people employed in different work. Distance is the friction—the lost power—of commerce. The nearer to each other that various resources can be worked up for exchange, the smaller the loss. Compact growth is concentrated work. With the proximity of inexhaustible interdependent resources which nature has given to the South, it has the greatest advantage over the Old World countries, hampered by the long haul of food products and raw materials. They will be less and less competitors as Southern foundations are perfected and industries established. Here, then, is a field for profitable work and investment governed only by the one plain and inflexible law of permanent growth—symmetry. Compared with it, in magnitude of advantages any other field in the world is small.”

Correlating SC Social Studies Academic Standards:

Standard 3-1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of places and regions and the role of human systems in South Carolina.

Indicator 3-1.2 Interpret thematic maps of South Carolina places and regions that show how and where people live, work, and use land and transportation.

Indicator 3-1.4 Explain the effects of human systems on the physical landscape of South Carolina over time, including the relationship of population distribution and patterns of migration to natural resources, climate, agriculture, and economic development.

Standard 3-4: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the events that led to the Civil War, the course of the War and Reconstruction, and South Carolina’s role in these events.

Indicator 3-4.6 Explain how the Civil War affected South Carolina’s economy, including destruction of plantations, towns, factories, and transportation systems.

Standard 3-5: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the major developments in South Carolina in the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century.

Indicator 3-5.1 Summarize developments in industry and technology in South Carolina in the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century, including the rise of the textile industry, the expansion of the railroad, and the growth of the towns.

Indicator 3-5.2 Summarize the effects of the state and local laws that are commonly known as Jim Crow laws on African Americans in particular and on South Carolinians as a whole.

Indicator 3-5.4 Explain the impact and the causes of emigration from South Carolina and internal migration from the rural areas to the cities, including unemployment, poor sanitation and transportation services, and the lack of electricity and other modern conveniences in rural locations.

Standard 4-5: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the westward movement and its impact on the institution of slavery.

Indicator 4-5.2 Explain the motives for the exploration in the West and the push for westward expansion, including the concept of manifest destiny, economic opportunities in trade, and the availability of rich land.

Standard 4-6: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the Civil War and its impact on America.

Indicator 4-6.1 Compare the industrial North and the agricultural South prior to the Civil War, including the specific nature of the economy of each region, the geographic characteristics and boundaries of each region, and the basic way of life in each region.

Indicator 4-6.6 Explain the impact of the Civil War on the nation, including its effects on the physical environment and on the people—soldiers, women, African Americans, and the civilian population of the nation as a whole.

Standard 5-1: The student will demonstrate an udnerstanding of Reconstruction and its impact on racial relations in the United States.

Indicator: 5-1.5 Explain the purpose and motivations behind the rise of discriminatory laws and groups and their effect on the rights and opportunities of African Americans in different regions of the United States.

Standard 5-2: The student will demonstrate an udnerstanding of the continued westward expansion of the United States.

Indicator 5-2.1 Explain how aspects of the natural environment - including the principal mountain ranges and rivers, terrain, vegetation, and climate of the region— affected travel to the West and thus the settlement of that region.

Indicator 5-2.3 Summarize how railroads affected development of the West, including their ease and inexpensiveness for travelers and their impact on trade and the natural environment.

Standard 5-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of major domestic and foreign developments that contributed to the United States' becoming a world power.

Indicator 5-3.3 Explain the effects of immigration and urbanization on the American economy during the Industrial Revolution, including the role of immigrants in the work force and the growth of cities, the shift from an agrarian to an industrial economy, and the rise of big business.

Standard 5-6: The student will demonstrate an understanding of developments in the United States since the fall of the Soviet Union and its satellite states in 1992.

Indicator 5-6.2 Explain how humans change the physical environment of regions and the consequences of such changes, including use of natural resources and the expansion of transportation systems.

Standard 8-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the American Civil War—its causes and effects and the major events that occurred during that time.

Indicator 8-3.1 Explain the importance of agriculture in antebellum South Carolina, including plantation life, slavery, and the impact of the cotton gin.

Standard 8-4: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the impact of Reconstruction on the people and government of South Carolina.

Indicator 8-4.1 Explain the purposes of Reconstruction with attention to the economic, social, political, and geographic problems facing the South, including reconstruction of towns, factories, farms, and transportation systems; the effects of emancipation; racial tension; tension between social classes; and disagreement over voting rights.

Standard 8-5: The student will demonstrate an understanding of major social, political, and economic developments that took place inthe United States during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Indicator 8-5.1 Summarize the political, economic, and social conditions in South Carolina following the end of Reconstruction, including the leadership of Wade Hampton and the so-called Bourbons or Redeemers, agricultural depression and struggling industrial development, the impact of the temperance and suffrage movements, the development of the 1895 constitution, and the evolution of race relations and Jim Crow laws.

Indicator 8-5.4 Compare migration patterns within South Carolina and in the United States as a whole in the late nineteenth century, including the population shift from rural to urban areas, migration between regions of the United States, the westward expansion, and the motivations for migration and settlement.

Indicator 8-5.5 Summarize the human, agricultural, and economic costs of natural disasters and wars that occurred in South Carolina or involved South Carolinians in the late nineteenth century, including the Charleston earthquake of 1886, the hurricane of 1893, and the Spanish American War.

Standard USHC-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the westward movement and the resulting regional conflicts that took place in America in the nienteenth century.

Indicator USHC-3.1 Explain the impact and challenges of westward movement, including the major land acquisitions, people’s motivations for moving west, railroad construction, the displacement of Native Americans, and the its impact on the developing American character.

Indicator USHC-3.3 Compare economic development in different regions of the country during the early nineteenth century, including agriculture in the South, industry and finance in the North, and the development of new resources in the West.

Standard USHC-4: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the causes and the course of the Civil War and Reconstruction in America.

Indicator USHC-4.5 Summarize the progress made by African Americans during Reconstruction and the subsequent reversals brought by Reconstruction’s end, including the creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau, gains in educational and political opportunity, and the rise of anti–African American factions and legislation.

Standard USHC-5: The student will demonstrate an understanding of major social, political, and economic developments that took place in the United States during the second half of the ninnteenth century.

Indicator USHC-5.5 Explain the causes and effects of urbanization in late nineteenth-century America, including the movement from farm to city, the continuation of the women’s suffrage movement, and the migration of African Americans to the North and the Midwest.

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