| 20 Sept 1863 |
| |
| Majr L. J. Fleming |
| Chf Engr & Gl Supt |
| Mobile & Ohio RR |
| Mobile Ala |
| |
| Dear Sir, |
| On Monday last, we met Prest
Board & Col Pritchard {Superintendent, Alabama &
Mississippi Rivers RR} at Demopolis. Our interview resulted in
nothing satisfactory or definite. Prest. B.
{President, W. P. Bocock} was rather non-committal. He said his
company either held possession under the Contract with Prest Battle or
they did not (a ??? logical conclusion thus far). If they did not, then
they held ??? military authority. His Company insist on the validity of
the Contract with Prest Battle and failing in that will set up a
military claim. He expressed himself in very strong and emphatic terms
that his Company will never allow or consent for the Road from York
Station to Meridian to pass into the hands of the Mobile & Ohio R. R.
Co. He ????? on soon as the Settlement could be made out to permit us
with a full exhibit of the business & earnings of the Road from York to
Meridian. This we have not yet recd hope to get in a day or two. If our
Company are governed by my advice we will at once proceed to recover
possession of the road so as to be to lease or otherwise dispose of it
as we desire |
| We would be pleased to meet
yourself and Judge Brown at Columbus Miss on Saturday next in relation
to a lease Contingent on our putting you into peaceable & quiet
possession. They may if they find we are not prepared to run or to have
the road run take it in their hands to offer us possession we not being
able to run it ????? military and intervention. We left Co. Tait with
Genl Bocock. All manner of pretexts & shifts will no doubt be resorted
to to retain possession that their joint ingenuity aided by Lapsly can
invent. |
| I am in very great haste |
| Most Respectfully |
| Yr. Obt. Svt. |
| R. Jemison Prest
{Northeast & Southwest Alabama RR} |
|