| From the Charleston Mercury |
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| January 13, 1864 |
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| Railroad Transportation |
| The principal railroads in the Confederacy
are now sedulously engaged in endeavoring to increase their stocks, and
to provide for the contingencies of future service or loss. Under the
delusive expectation of an early termination of the war, the railroad
companies have, heretofore, relied almost wholly on their existing
stock, and made but few efforts ta supply or reparation. They scarcely
husbanded their resources, which, under the exhausting demands made upon
them, became greatly diminished. Of late, with more experience, a wiser
prescience seems to guide their management. In different parts of the
Confederacy iron is now being provided and rolled for machinery and the
construction and repair of locomotives and rolling stock. The Secretary
of War has recommended that skilled mechanics be furnished from the army
for some of the more delicate machinery needed by the railroads. The
railroad transportation is of incalculable importance to the
Confederacy. Shut off from the sea, and with command of very few of its
rivers, the Confederacy is dependent, almost wholly, on the railroads
for communication and transportation. |
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