| Annual Report of the Greenville &
Columbia RR |
| as of January 1, 1865, |
| President's Report |
| |
| President's Report |
| |
| To the Stockholders of the
Greenville & Columbia Railroad Company. |
| The President and Directors
submit the following report for the year 1864: |
| The Gross Income amounts to |
$1,424,148.41 |
| The Expenses were (including Confederate States Taxes) |
846,944.82 |
| Net profits |
$577,203.59 |
|
|
The business done for the Confederate States Government,
including mail service, amounts to $428,919.11. |
| For causes which it is unnecessary for us
to attempt to relate, only a small portion of this amount has been
received. |
| In the last annual communication to you,
we reported that the surplus income had been invested in Confederate
securities and Cotton. Of the Confederate securities which we then held, |
| to wit |
|
343,000 |
| These have been used |
|
18,000 |
| Leaving on hand |
|
$325,000 |
| As follows. In 8 per cent. Bonds |
$40,000 |
|
|
" 7 " "
" |
245,000 |
|
|
" 6 " "
" |
40,000 |
|
| |
$325,000 |
|
|
|
Of the cotton on hand then we still have about 160 bales. |
|
The business of the year was done with but little or no
irregularity, and, at the close of the year, the road, the motive
power, and rolling stock, were in good order. We were in the receipt
of an income which promised prosperity. |
|
In this state of things the Direction resolved to pay to
the Stockholders a dividend, but before notice of the dividend had
been published the freshet came and washed away our Road in many
places, creating a necessity for all our funds. The Board,
therefore, rescinded the resolution declaring a dividend. |
|
Owing to the invasion of our State by the enemy, and
destruction of our offices at Columbia, causing the removal of all
our books of account, some of which have not yet been brought back,
we are unable to present to you all of the usual tables showing the
operations of the Company in detail. The Tables from the Treasurer's
office are as follows: Table No. 1 is the balance sheet of the
stock, liability, assets, and property account of the company for
1864. Table No. 2 is the balance sheet of J. P. Southern Auditor and
Treasurer, of receipts and disbursements for 1864. Table No. 3 is a
statement of the expenses of working the road for the year 1864.
Table No. 4 shows the amount of the earnings of the Road for 1864,
by transportation of passengers, freight, troops, &c., on Government
account and the mails. |
|
We also submit reports from the General Superintendent
and the Master Machinist, to which your attention is called. |
|
Here we close the report for the fiscal year. The events
which soon afterwards followed are so important, and have so
seriously affected the interests of the Company, that the Board deem
it their duty in this report to mention them with some
particularity, and refer them to you for your careful consideration. |
|
The heavy rains of the 9th and 10th of January brought on
a freshet that has rarely been equalled. Your Road was damaged in
its whole length, and in many paces washed away, to wit: between
Williamston and Greenville, on the Anderson Branch; the Abbeville
Branch and the valley of Saluda and Broad Rivers. On the Anderson
Branch at Broadaway, the East wall of the heavy masonry was
undermined and thrown down; in its fall it struck the West wall, and
the whole fell into a heap of ruins. On the Abbeville Branch two
breaches were made, one near the Depot at Abbeville, the bank being
partly washed down; the other at Wilson's Branch, where a culvert
and an embankment forty feet high, were washed out, making a gap of
about sixty feet. At Sauda River the larger part of the trestle was
thrown down and carried off. The road bed and track through the
Saluda Valley, a distance of about eight miles, were nearly all
washed off. At Little River, in Newberry District, and at the lower
crossing of Crim's Creek, the trestles were thrown down. In the
valley of the Broad River from Alston to Smith's Branch, three miles
above Columbia, a distance of about twenty-two miles, the road was
greatly damaged; every timber and iron for miles together were
carried off, and the track so badly broken, that scarcely half a
mile at any place for the whole distance was left in condition for a
push car to pas over it. The Bridges only were left uninjured. |
|
After the freshet, as soon as arrangements could be made,
the work of reconstruction and repairs was begun. By the evening of
the 14th January the Abbeville Branch was repaired, and the cars
passed over it. In one week afterwards the repairs above Williamston
were finished, and on the 23d the train ran from Greenville to the
lower Saluda Bridge. On the 30th January the repairs in the valley
of Saluda were finished, and on the 31st the trains ran from
Greenville to Alston. In the meantime the work had been pushed
forward at Alston and at Smith's Branch, and satisfactory progress
made. The hands from the upper division were then moved down below
Alston, and the work pressed forward with spirit and energy for two
weeks. Bad weather and the want of timber and a sufficient number of
hands delayed the work somewhat, but the work had reached Frost's
Mill from the lower end, and from Aston within a mile of Littleton,
leaving a gap of about ten miles still to be rebuilt. At this time
the work was suddenly stopped, by the approach of the Northern army,
under General Sherman. On the 17th of February, that army entered
the city of Columbia, and burnt our Depots and Offices there. It was
understood that the enemy was advancing upon our road above
Columbia, and at Alston. On this day the work was stopped, and all
the hands sent here. On the 18th February the enemy crossed Broad
River at and above Freshley's, and destroyed the road from where
they struck it to Alston, about eight miles. In many places the
destruction was complete. The iron was so bent and twisted that much
of it is unfit for track-laying again. A small trestle above Hope's,
the Depots at Pomaria, Hope's, Alston, Littleton, the three Bridges
over Crim's Creek, the Bridges at Alston and Littleton, were all
burnt. These five bridges were enclosed and covered, built after the
????? |
|
selves. If the valley route is adhered to, then we would suggest that
the Road be re-located in the valley of Broad River, so as to place
it ten feet higher than it is at present. |
|
The Road at Broadway is now being repaired, and will be
completed in a few weeks. The Confederate Government, with some
assistance from us, has undertaken the repairs of the Road between
Hope's and Alston; the work is well advanced, and will be finished
in a few days. The repairs, after the freshet, were conducted under
the direction of J. B. LaSalle, with his usual industry and
perseverance, assisted by Burns, Bowers, Summers, Whitlock, and
others, who regardless of the weather or their own comfort, devoted
themselves to the work; valuable services were also rendered by Mr.
Nicely, master workman on the Blue Ridge Road, and Mr. Enwright, of
Abbeville, who with much zeal came to our assistance in the time of
need. |
|
All of which is respectfully submitted, |
|
Thos. C. Perrin, President |
|
Greenville, April 26, 1865 |
|