523 



FARxMEKS' REGISTER— RICHMOND, &c. RAILWAY. 



been made in the line, and it is now ascertained 

 tliat it will not probably exceed *680,000, or at 

 farthest -ij! 700,000, inclusive of the above items. 



I remain, dear sir, yours, very respectfully, and 

 iruly, 



MOIVCURE ROEINSOK. 



T. Ritchie, Esq. 



The following extracts from the address of the 

 conimissioners, |)ub!ishL'd in this city in May last, 

 will throw additional liglit upon the value "of the 

 proposed improvement: 



EXTRACTS FROM THE ADDRESS, &C. 



j^ddress of the Commissioners, to the Citizens of 

 Richmond and Fredericksburg, and the inhabi- 

 tants of Henrico, Hanover, Caroline, and Spott- 

 sylvania. 



By the report of the engineer, communicated to 

 a committee ol" citizens of Richmond, on the 4th 

 of January last, it appeared that the distance be- 

 tween Riclnnond and Fredericksburg, by tlie ex- 

 perimental line- surveyed prior to that time, was 

 sixty and a half miles, and that the whole cost of 

 the work, including depots, warehouses, and water 

 stations, locomotive engines, cars, and carriao-es 

 was estimated at seven hundred and sixty-three 

 thousand dollar*. The farther surveys which 

 have been since made by the engineer, show that 

 a reduction m distance of one and a half miles 

 may be effected betv/een Richmond and the Pa- 

 munkey, by a line terminating in H street, on 

 Shockoe Hill, and the cost of which will be about 

 ^40,000 less than that of the line first traced. 



The commissioners understand from the engi- 

 neer that no doubt is entertained by him, that far- 

 ther reductions in the length and cost of the road, 

 will result on its definite location, so that the whole 

 cost of the road, with all its aj^pendages to Fred- 

 ericksburg, will not probably exceed '#700,000, if 

 indeed it should reach this sum ; and that the 

 whole length of the road may probably be reduced 

 to flfly-eight miles. 



Presuming these views to be correct, (and that 

 they are so, the commissioners have as a o-nar- 

 antee the professional re])utation of the gentleman 

 to whom their surveys were committed,) there can 

 be but little doubt of the productiveness of the 

 improvement, and that as an investment, none 

 which has been offered for many years to the pub- 

 lic can be more advantageous. 



In confirmation of the above positions, they 

 would respectfully submit, 



1st. That every rail road hitherto made in our 

 country for tlie accommodation of travel has been 

 pfoductive. 



2d. That the line of rail road in question, would 

 necessarily take, not only the whole travel between 

 the city of Richmond and town of Fredericksburg 

 and the north, and that between the city of Wasl> 

 ingtonand towns of Alexandria, Georgetown, and 

 Fredericksburg, and the whole south, and all the 

 local travel on this line, but also the largest portion 

 of the large travel between the north and south, 

 now accommodated by the packets on the coast 

 and the bay steamboats. 



That the above view is correct, it is only ne- 

 cessary to advert to the fact that the Baltimore and 

 Ohio Rail Road Company are now executin"- with 

 great energy the branch" of their rail road, which 



is to connect the cities of Washington and Balti- 

 more ; and that this work v/ill have been completed 

 in the course of two years from the present time. 

 By means of it and the contemplated improvement 

 between Richmond and Fredericksburg, a travel 

 may be expected to be diverted from the bay and 

 the coast through our towns, and an increase of 

 that on the line of the improvement, the extent of 

 which can only be appreciated by those who have 

 witnessed the vastly increased intercourse pro- 

 duced by similar improvements in other quarters of 

 our country. 



In the absence of specific data on the subject, 

 the experience of the Petersburir Rail Road Com- 

 pany furnishes some facts which are pertinent. 

 Previous to the execution of that work the average 

 number of passengers in the line of stages be- 

 tween Petersburg and tlie Roanoke did not, it is 

 understood, exceed three each way per day, or 

 varied between 30 and 40 j)er week. Since the 

 execution of that work, the number has averaged 

 generally between 30 and 40 per diem, or from 300 

 to 350 per week ; the increase of the travel on the 

 route occasioned by the execution of the rail road 

 having been nearly in the ratio of ten to one. 



Presuming only half the increase between Rich- 

 mond and Washington that has taken place on the 

 Petersburg Rail Road, or an increase in the ratio of 

 five to one, (and when we recollect the great fa- 

 cilities which will be produced by the contemplated 

 improvement, the estimate seems to be at least a 

 very moderate one,) we should have about 420 

 passengers per week on the contemplated rail road; 

 or estimating the flare of each passenger at ^4, 

 sixteen hundred and eighty d<dlars per iveek, on the 

 proposed improvement,//'5m passengers alone. 



AVith every confidence in the above views, the 

 commissioners respectfully present the following as 

 a probable estimate of the annual receipts on the 

 proposed line of rail road : 

 For passengers, 429 per week, or 21,840 



per annum, at #4, 87,360 



For the transportation of the mail, 10,000 



On cotton, coal, agricultural jiroducts 



and merchandize, 25,000 



122,360 



Deduct for repairs of road, wear and 

 tear of locomotive engines, cars and car- 

 riages, and expenses of transportation, 50 

 percent., 01,180 



$'61,180 



And we have a nett balance of $61,180, or 

 nearly nine per cent., to divide to stockholders im- 

 mediately on the execution of the proposed im- 

 provement. 



But there can be no doubt that the above in- 

 come must largely increase with the growth of 

 our country and its increasing trade and travel. 

 With the facilities offered by the proposed com- 

 munication for the transportation of coal and cot- 

 ton to Fredericksburg, there can be little doubt 

 that the last named town will become like Rich- 

 mond and Petersburg, rapidly manufacturing; and 

 its excellent water power, so readily available, but 

 now so little used, be emplo3'ed to give a new 

 stimuliLs to the industry of the country in which it 

 is situated. The efiect of an increased prosperity 



