668 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

of the University. Loyalty to the institution is losing none of
the enthusiasm that finds its occasional magnetic center in great
athletic contests; but it is steadily receiving also a far deeper
and richer interpretation. There have been, during the past
year, many inspiring evidences that we are coming more and
more to see that true loyalty to the University consists not
merely in pride in the institution, nor merely in love for it as
our Alma Mater; but also, and mainly, in our personal devotion
to the high things for which the institution stands, and our
practical service in making these things prevail. This devotion
we share with all good men everywhere whose aims and ideals
are kindred, and with every agency that seeks to make them
effective in the life of the State. The essential character of the
institution is codperation in its fullest and deepest sense; it is
the institution for expressing in intelligent and constructive
terms all of those varied aspects of human effort that make
complete and unified the life of the State. Adequate equipment,
therefore, to do its work with freedom and vigor, it asks not in

any selfish measure, but as the heart of the general good. If we
view it in the lesser way of partisanship, whether friendly or
unfriendly, we shall think too lightly of its mission, misconceive
its true character and potential greatness, and so fail to give
it the means to perform its functions with the strength, the
vision, and the confident faith necessary to the leadership com-

mitted to its care.”

THE ATLANTIC COAST LINE RAILROAD.

The equipment, rails, and rolling stock of the Wilmington
and Weldon Railroad and its connections north and south were
thoroughly worn out at the end of the war, so that when peace
came there was need for entire rehabiliment. Mr. Walters,
Mr. Newcomer, and Mr. Jenkins, of Baltimore, becoming in-
terested in the property, so managed it that in a few years it
became wonderfully productive, and under their control it was
a nucleus of railway development. From it has arisen, Phoenix-
like, the Atlantic Coast Line, in its equipment and management
one of the finest examples of railroad development in modern
times. It has been called the aorta of Wilmington’s commercial
and industrial life. Without it Wilmington could not have
flourished. Many of our inhabitants of slender means depend

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upon its dividends for their daily bread—others of larger for-
tunes have always preferred to invest in its shares, not only on
account of its admirable physical equipment and its stable finan-
cial policy, but also because Mr. Henry Walters, the chairman
of the board, and his associates in its excellent management,

command the respect, the confidence, and the admiration of its
stockholders, large and small.

. From this training school of the thousands who depend upon
it for their occupation and support have arisen many young
men, succeeding to vacant places of responsibility and honor
because the quality of their instruction has been of the best and
— industrious application has resulted in deserved promo-
ions.

In July, 1898, the connecting lines of the Wilmington and
Weldon Railroad in South Carolina were consolidated under
the name Atlantic Coast Line of South Carolina, and in Novem-
ber following the lines from Richmond to Garysburg were or-
ganized as the Atlantic Coast Line of Virginia. ‘Two years
later, the above companies were consolidated with the Wilming-
ton and Weldon and its tributary lines in North Carolina under
the name Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, and in 1902 the Plant
system in Florida and Georgia was consolidated with the At-
lantic Coast Line. Thus the present Atlantic Coast Line Rail-
road, having more than 4,600 miles of track, extends from
Richmond and Norfolk on the north, to Tampa, St. Petersburg,
and Fort Meyers on the south, and to Montgomery on the west,
traversing the great coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard,
through the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. The country through which
it passes is rich in agricultural development and _ possibilities,
and the trucking industry on its lines has grown to enormous
proportions. Near Wilmington is the greatest strawberry-pro-
ducing belt in the world. These berries are shipped to the
Northern markets from this section in great quantities each
year, and are considered a most profitable crop.

Starting in Virginia, with its grain and other hardy crops,
the line passes through the cotton and tobacco belt, thence
through the wonderful garden-truck. section of the Carolinas
and Georgia into the semi-tropical sections of Florida, abound-
Ing in citrus fruits of unrivaled quality as well as early vege-
tables of every variety, which the fortunate introduction of the
art of making ice, invented by Gorrie, and the use of refrigera-

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