| Annual Report of the Port Royal RR |
| as of July 1, 1863 |
| President's Report |
| |
| To the Stockholders of the
Port Royal Rail Road Company |
| |
| Our third annual meeting
finds us in the throes of a revolution, the enormous proportions of
which had not been anticipated by the most sagacious among friends or
foes. Amidst all the disadvantages of a state of war, with an invading
enemy, our work has been prosecuted, under a kind Providence, with
favorable results; although with a much smaller force than had been
desired. In consequence of the urgent call to arms, and the responsive
spirit of our young men to volunteer, we have, with difficulty, retained
for our operations in the field, only our Chief Engineer, one assistant,
a Superintendent, and three overseers. We have under our control three
hundred and seventeen (317) refugee negroes, of whom there are,
estimated by the farmer's rule, one hundred and forty (140) full hands,
who have been, and are, employed in grading the track of the Road. The
value of the work done by these negroes from the time of their arrival
on the Road up to the first day of July last, is set down by the Chief
Engineer |
| At |
|
|
$37,352.26 |
| From which is to be deducted for Subsistence and other
incidental expenses |
|
$28,147.75 |
|
| Less cost of Supplies then on hand |
$3,680.00 |
|
|
| Less invested in Mules, Wagons, &c |
1,122.17 |
|
|
| Less cash in hands of Superintendent |
694.62 |
$5,496.79 |
$22,650.96 |
| One-fourth of this sum |
|
|
$14,701.30 |
| Is to be paid to the Superintendent as compensation for his
services, or |
|
|
6,675.32 |
| And this sum |
|
|
$11,025.98 |
| Is to be apportioned to the owners of the negroes as
follows, to wit. |
|
|
|
| Wm. M. Murray, 148 negroes, 56 hands |
|
5,239.98 |
|
| Daniel F. Jenkins, 76 negroes, 37 hands |
|
2,629.69 |
|
| Thos. H. Grimball, 75 negroes, 36 hands |
|
2,287.57 |
|
| Wm. C. Bailey, 18 negroes, 11 hands |
|
868.74 |
$11,025.98 |
|
| By the terms of the contract
with these parties, these sums, and the amount due to the
Superintendent, are to be paid to them respectively in the stock of the
Company; and the scrip has been ordered to be issued to them
accordingly. |
| We now hold five mules, two
wagons, three carts, and the gear which cost $1,112.17, and are worth at
present prices about $4,000. |
|
It is worthy of remark that, notwithstanding the war
prices, which are now in excess of past famine prices, and which we
have been obliged to pay for every article that has entered into our
consumption, this work has been done within the original estimates,
and so done as to save to the owners of the slaves 33 87/100 per
cent. of the value of their labor, and to increase the stock of the
Company $14,701.30. The aggregate of work done may not meet the
expectation of some persons -- it is not so much as had been hoped
for, but it is because we have been unable to procure the tools
necessary to the employment of a larger force. In consequence of
this disadvantageous circumstance we refused, in November and
December last, to take a number of negroes in several lots, equal to
the force now employed.
|
| Messrs. Hudson, Lane & Co.
still observe unbroken silence in relation to their contract, which
remains in the same condition in which they left it. The Secretary has
been requested to write to these gentlemen, and urge them to define
their position, and to enquire whether they expect to prosecute the
work, and when. |
|
It has for a long time been manifest that Messrs. Goether
& Chisolm could not do the work under their contract within the time
stipulated in the contract, nor has it been exacted of them. Mr.
Goethe has, however, amidst discouraging embarrassments, growing out
of the circumstances of the country, prosecuted his work with
steadiness; and although employing a very small force, will complete
it in time for the purposes of the Company. He has done his work
well, and deserves commendation. |
| We now have more than thirty
(30) of the eighty-five (85) miles between the Charleston & Savannah
Road and Augusta, graded. With the same force we now employ the entire
distance between these points may be graded in about two year. What
them? Darkness enshrouds the future -- it may not be proper to attempt
to penetrate it or to anticipate the calamities of a war characterised
by a spirit of atrocity which has heretofore marked the savage only. We
will not speak of subjugation or extermination -- the one may be
possible, the other is not. Our work may be disturbed; but only as a
thousand private enterprises have been disturbed, by the fell spirit of
invasion. But suppose it shall not be, our grading will be done, and if
not before, when Peace shall invite Commerce to our shores, we will
stand ready to place Augusta, destined to hold an exalted place among
the cities of the South, within one hundred and five (105) miles of the
Deep Water of Port Royal; when she, and Macon, and Atlanta, will
be sending the rich Southern and Western products that will flow in upon
them to be carried across the broad ocean in exchange for the
merchandize of every nation, relieved of all corrosive tariffs. |
| The Company now owe for
borrowed money, the following sums, upon the notes of the Company,
endorsed by a majority of your Board, to-wit: |
| To the Bank of the State of South Carolina |
$15,445.00 |
| " " "
" Charleston |
12,814.92 |
| " " "
" South Carolina |
5,176.44 |
| Making an aggregate of |
$33,436.36 |
| And to Contractors -- To Goethe & Chisolm, five notes |
$6,271.60 |
| Hudson, Lane & Co. hold three notes |
6,267.24 |
| Making an aggregate of |
$12,538.84 |
|
| It had been hoped as soon as
the cotton, upon which the subscriptions to the stock of the Company
were based, could find a market, that these subscriptions would have
been paid, and the Company not only relieved from debt but enabled to
prosecute their work without difficulty or annoyance -- but this
reasonable expectation has been disappointed in the presence of
unparalleled prices for cotton. We can now only invite the
attention of such as have hitherto neglected to pay, to the fact that
all the instalments have long since ben called for, and are bearing
interest. |
| The Reports of the Chief
Engineer and of the Treasurer are herewith submitted, which furnish the
details of the transactions in those departments respectively. |
| R. J. Davant, President |
| Allendale, S. C., August 12, 1863 |
|