672 Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer

bus, Bladen, Robeson, Richmond, Anson, Union, Mecklenburg,
Gaston, Lincoln, and Cleveland—a section highly productive of
turpentine, cotton, and other articles of export, the class and
grade of cotton grown in Anson and Union Counties being supe-
rior to that of any other section in the State.

Prior to the organization of the Seaboard Air Line Railway
in 1900, the Seaboard had no lines south of its Carolina Central
Railroad except its one line from Monroe to Atlanta. Before
this consolidation in 1900, the old Seaboard Air Line system of
roads had a total mileage of approximately 925 miles. Today
its mileage is 3,074 miles, exclusive of its ownership of such
lines as the Raleigh and Charleston, Marion and Southern,
Tampa Northern, and other short lines of varying length.

The main track southwestward from the Carolina Central
leads from Monroe through Atlanta to Birmingham, the center
of the South’s iron and steel manufacturing industry, connect-
ing there for interchange of passenger and freight traffic with
the direct lines to the Mississippi and Missouri River territory,

and through New Orleans and Shreveport to the Southwest and

The line southward from Hamlet leads to deep water at Sa-
vannah and to Jacksonville, where connection is made to the
east coast of Florida, to Cuba, and to Nassau. Also, its line
runs through the northern part of the State and along the Gulf
of Mexico, and northward from Tampa. From Savannah it has

lines to Montgomery and through southern Alabama.
The system is serving a very material portion of the South’s

progressive territory, and is entitled to its adopted trade-mark
of “The Progressive Railway of the South,” and on its list of
directors and general officers there is shown a preponderance of
Southern-born men in its management. Its headquarters are
maintained at Baltimore, the chief Southern city on the Atlan-
tic coast.

The original Carolina Central Railroad has performed for
many years an obviously valuable duty to the people of North
Carolina, connecting, as it does, some of the most attractive
western and middle counties with the coastal section, and as the
other parts of the system developed it added strength to this link,
extending to the communities in proportion to their abilities.
Thus Wilmington has felt a strong impetus from the extension
of the Seaboard. Indeed, Wilmington’s attractive shore front
was found to be nearer to the populous communities of the in-

Peace Restored 673

terior, as far south as Atlanta, than any other Atlantic sea
resort; and from all that section of Georgia and South Carolina
as well as from the sections of North Carolina served, many
inhabitants of the inland areas seek the attractions of Wrights-
ville Beach during the summer months.

The original promoters of the Carolina Central Railroad had
a vision that it would cross the mountain chain and afford ready
connection with the States lying beyond, and in later years this
has been realized by the construction of the fine Clinchfield
property from Rutherford County across the mountains, through
the States of Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, to the
most valuable coal deposit east of the Rocky Mountains; and
thus has the dream of these original enthusiasts come true.
Across the rugged mountain chain is an excellent carrier, offer-
Ing easy and comfortable transportation to a territory which, in
their day, was far from direct connection with the eastern sec-
tion of North Carolina.

Agriculture, the backbone of all prosperity, widely extended
in the States served by the Seaboard, has called for the ampli-
fication of fertilizer manufacturing and distributing facilities,
and Wilmington has shared largely in the extension of this
important industry. Favored with an excellent channel and
capacity for docking ships, and a wide area of rail distribution
therefrom, it serves the continued extension of territory with
its accumulated fertilizer material.

At Wilmington, the Seaboard has terminal facilities of the
value of one million dollars, comprising two thousand feet of
water front on the Cape Fear River, with a twenty-six foot
depth at mean low water, five large terminal warehouses, and
three slips. There have recently been erected terminal mechan-
ical facilities, including coal elevator, turntable, repair track,
and additional yard facilities. Within the past seven or eight
years the Seaboard has spent half a million dollars in improve-
ment of its terminals at Wilmington. The storage capacity of
its Wilmington warehouses is approximately one hundred thou-
sand tons.

; Mindful of the value to its territory of agricultural exten-
sion, the Seaboard has provided a department charged with this
duty—to promote the best methods, better agricultural condi-
tions, better marketing; the establishment of industries in its
territory; the bringing in of good citizens from States of the
Union less favored in climate and soil, and in every way to
advance the welfare of the agricultural class.