66 CHAPTER X. ROUTES OF THE SOUTHERN AND THE TEXAS AT PRESENT.-A FINE COUNTRY. THE GULF STATES, GALVESTON, &C.-A REMI- The headquarters of the central division of the Southern Express Company are located at Atlanta, Ga., W. H. Clayton, superintendent. The railroads which form this division are thirteen in number, and are arranged in routes, as follows: Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad, Western and Atlantic Railroad, Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad. N. S. Woodward, route agent; office, Knoxville, Tenn. Atlanta division: Central Railroad of Georgia, Western Railroad of Alabama, between West Point and Montgomery, and Columbus and Opelika; Atlanta and West Point Railroad, South Western Railroad of Georgia, Mobile and Girard Railroad of Alabama. Jno. Lovette, route agent; office, Macon, Ga. Western Railroad of Alabama, between Montgomery and Selma; Alabama Great Southern Railroad, Alabama Central Railroad, Selma, Marion and Memphis Railroad, Montgomery and Eufaula Railroad. J. W. Walker, route agent; office, Selma, Ala. Atlanta, the principal office of this division, is a city of 45,000 inhabitants, situated a little north of the central part of the State. It is the capital of the State of Georgia, and its importance as a commercial centre was demonstrated during the war, when the armies of Sherman and Johnston struggled so fiercely for its possession. The close of the war left this city a mass of ruins, but its enterprising population, reinforced by emigration from all quarters, soon repaired its waste places, and its development since the war has been almost phenomenal. Its climate is unsurpassed for health, being located eleven hundred feet above the level of the sea, free from all epidemic diseases, and of equable temperature both in summer and winter. It is called the Gate City of the south, and it deserves the name, on account of its great railroad facilities. In fact, the railroads leading to and from Atlanta have been, more than any other cause, the great sources of its prosperity. In connection with the railroads, the Southern Express Company has contributed its share to the success of the city, and numbers among its patrons the most successful and enterprising men in the community. The Express Company's business in this city is of a general nature, and has always been prosperous. W. W. Hurlbert, is the popular and efficient agent. Lynchburgh, Va., is a city of about 22,000 inhabitants, situated in the central part of the State, and famous for its numerous tobacco manufactories. The Adams and Southern control this office jointly, and are represented by W. R. Twyman. Numerous watering places are located on the lines between Lynchburg and Atlanta, and are made quite lively during the summer by visitors from all sections. The East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad, a line running from Bristol, Tenn., to Chattanooga, Tenn., passes through one of the richest countries in the world. Great quantities of poultry, butter and eggs, are shipped from stations on this line to all points north and south. The butter of this region is unsurpassed for delicacy and sweetness. In the winter time enormous quantities of dressed poultry are shipped from this country to all points south, and the sure and speedy transportation offered by the Southern Express Company, makes it the channel by which these supplies seek the market. Macon, Ga., a city of 20,000 inhabitants, is situated in the central part of the State. It is the northern terminus of the Southwestern Railroad of Ga., a line running through the most fertile portion of the State. In this section are produced the earliest and finest peaches in the world, and this fruit is transported to the various markets north and west by the Southern. Experience has demonstrated that in transporting fruit of this nature great distances, refrigerating experiments are total failures. T. H. Henderson is the justly popular agent of the Southern Express Company in Macon. Montgomery, Ala., is a city of 20,000 inhabitants, and the capital of the State. It is situated in the cotton belt of Alabama, and is one of the principal cotton markets of the south. The Southern carries the cotton samples from this city to the northern and European markets, and the funds necessary to move the large cotton crop from this section seek transportation by the same Express channel. W. M. Shoemaker is the company's agent in Montgomery. Columbus, Ga., the "Lowell of the south," is a city with a great future before it. It is situated at the head of navigation on the Chattahoochee river, and has water power and manufacturing facilities unrivalled in the south. Its climate is healthy, and the surrounding country fertile and prosperous. There are numerous cotton and iron factories in this city, and all are in a prosperous condition. The Southern Express is the medium through which the various factories send samples and great portions of their goods to all parts of the country. M. V. O'Brien is the Southern Company's agent at this point. The section of country through which the railroads of this division run, is in a prosperous condition generally, and the outlook for the Southern Express Company's business cheerful and encouraging. Of the personal qualifications of the superintendent of the central division, W. H. Clayton, the author has only to say, that he is well worthy of his extensive and important charge. H. Dempsey, division superintendent of the Southern Express Company, with headquarters at Augusta, Ga., has filled that position about thirteen years, having been appointed to it in 1867 or 1868. The author resided in that fine city during the summer and fall of 1841, and can well imagine that our friend Dempsey finds it a very agreeable home. It was there, as long ago as 1858, that he began his Express life, as a messenger for the Adams. After various changes upward and onward, he found himself, in 1861, serving as route agent for the Southern. President Plant appreciated his capacity and usefulness then, and that estimation has been increased during the lapse of years. Augusta is now an important emporium—a place of commercial importance (not as a cotton market only, which was the case in 1840), and Superintendent Dempsey's division abounds in good points, sustained by a productive agricultural country. Georgia has several kinds of soil and climate, differing in the different sections; and the topography of the country is affluent in variety. In the higher region, grain prospers better than cotton, and there are many good orchards also; while in the lower tier of counties (Baker, for instance), cotton is a very remunerative crop. With thrifty husbandry, good government, and a judicious development of her ample natural resources, Georgia will become the New York of the south. It would be a satisfaction to be able to speak more fully of the western division of the Southern Express than has been done in these pages. Messrs. Osborne and Fisher are certainly entitled to special notice for their intelligent and assiduous care of the business in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Poor Memphis, though sorely depleted, gives hopeful symptoms of recovery. New Orleans is not the great southern port that it was when I resided there in the winter of 1842, but after twenty years of depression, it begins to look up, and promises great things for mercantile enterprise, the Express included. THE TEXAS EXPRESS COMPANY is owned by the Southern. Henry B. Plant is its president, and Michael J. O'Brien its general superintendent. It is more immediately, however, in charge of C. T. Campbell, an accomplished and experienced expressman, who rose from the ranks; doing yeoman service in former years, both for the Adams and the Southern, and in December, 1875, accepted his present laborious position. In the spring of 1878, he was considerably exercised (and so, too, were Messrs. Plant and O'Brien), by what became famous in the south as the Texas Express robberies. The robbers were masked men, who waylaid and entered the cars, and plundered the messenger's safe. This bold villany occurred, not once or twice, but four times within a period of seven weeks. The desperadoes came to grief, however, before long; every one being captured, and sentenced to long imprisonment. No, I am wrong. One of these caballeros (the last to be overhauled by pursuers), escaped that prolonged ignominy in this world (only, however, to encounter eternal shame in the next), by the sudden and unexpected loss of his life. Having been hunted down by an officer of justice on the highway, he was told to surrender at discretion. His only response was a curse, and the discharge of his revolver at his challenger. As prompt as the desperado, the officer fired at the same instant. The shots were simultaneous, and equally fatal. Both the hunter and the hunted fell mortally wounded, and then and there took their last farewell of earth. In the private office of the Southern Express president, in Twenty-third street, New York (the very room in which the Nathan murder occurred), I was shown the gay Mexican sombrero which had dropped from the Express robber's head when he fell. It is a broad-brimmed fur or felt hat, originally white, perhaps, and (encircling its crown) in place of a band, is a heavy gilt cord, with a pendent tassel a showy chapeau. Probably, its owner had been, despite his brigand life, a gay fellow in his time, and accounted handsome by the Mexican señoritas. The routes of "the Texas" are as follows: Houston and Texas Central R. R.; main line, Houston to Denison, 341 miles western branch, Hempstead to Austin, 115 miles; Waco Tap, Bremond to Waco, 45 miles. International and Great Northern R. R.; main line, Houston to Longview, 235 miles; Brazos division, Palestine to Austin, 181 miles Huntsville branch, Phelps to Huntsville, 8 miles; northern division, Troupe to Mineola, 45 miles. Texas and Pacific Railway; main line, Texarkana to Fort Worth 253 miles; Trans-continental division, Texarkana to Sherman, 155 miles; Shreveport Tap, Marshall to Shreveport, 40 miles |