240 



The demand for coal or coke will not be confined to Detroit. It is 

 confidently believed that a coal and coke depot at Jackson, on the Cen- 

 tral Railroad, io supply the region south and west of that place, would 

 experience a demand quite equal to, if not greater that that at Detroit* 

 This involves an inquiry into the mode of transportation from the mine 

 to Jackson. A plan is proposed to run a railroad from Lansing — the 

 capital of the State — by the way of the mine, to Dexter, a distance of 

 about forty-three miles. It is contemplated to run a railway under a 

 former charter, from Grand Rapids, by the way of Lansing, to Jack&on, 

 the survey of which route is now in progress. There is also a great 

 railroad enterj^rise started at Cincinnati, to run a hne of railway from 

 that city, through Hillsdale and Lansing, to the Straits of Mackinac, for 

 which a company has been formed and organized, called the Cincinnati 

 and Mackinac Railroad Company. W. Gunckle is President, and Geo. 

 Y. Welhngton, Chief Engineer. 



A reconnoisance of the entire line has been made by G. Y. Welling- 

 ton, a competent and intelligent engineer, and eighty-four miles of the 

 route, in the State of Ohio, are said to be already constructed. A re- 

 port of more than ordinary ability has been recently published, exhibit- 

 ing the plans, prospects, advantages and probable profits of the road. 



The construction of either of these two last-mentioned railways will 

 aftbrd the means of transporting coal and coke to the Central Railroad 

 at Jackson, whether they are to be drawn from the hne of the Oakland 

 and Ottawa Railroad or from the mine at Red Cedar River. ^From this 

 mine to Lansing, a distance of about 14 miles, the coal and coke, until 

 the road is made from Lansing to Dexter, will have to be conveyed in 

 wagons over a plank road, the mine being situated on the hne of the 

 plank i-oad from Detroit to Lansing. 



Until the one or the other of the railways between Lansing and Jack- 

 son shall be made, the coal and coke must find a market chiefly in De- 

 troit, either over the Oakland and Ottawa Road, or over the plank road 

 by the way of Howell. 



I have some reason for suggesting that the mining company, when 

 formed, may secure coal lands for mining operations on or near the line 

 of the Oakland and Ottawa Railroad. 



I will now proceed to explain how the article of cole may he profi- 

 tably carried over the plank road to Detroit. 



