| From the New Orleans True Delta |
| |
| January 4, 1862 |
| |
| The Baton Rouge, Grosse Tete & Opelousas Railroad |
| Not having received a copy of the report
of the president of the above road, we avail ourselves of the subjoined
synopsis of a Baton Rouge contemporary: |
| |
The total assets of the road (not inclusive of the cost of
the track, etc.) is |
$274,091.89 |
|
| |
Liabilities |
95,556.05 |
|
| |
Excess of assets |
$173,835.84 |
|
|
| Over $120,000 of this excess is in notes,
bonds, cash and accounts, and the moment that the tightness that now
cramps finances loosens, will witness the payment of the entire
indebtedness. |
| The cash value of negroes, wagons and
mules owned by the company exceeds $117,000. |
| The receipts for the year past were over
$25,000. Expenses $13,000. But for the war, the receipts would have been
$60,000, at least. |
| The road is now completed near thirty
miles, and will tap the Atchafalaya, a distance of forty miles, in less
than four months. |
| The assets of the company, (planters'
notes, city bonds, negroes, etc.,) not being now available, it is
desirable that the legislature will grant the state's assistance of
$6000 per mile. This was authorized by the last state convention and
will enable the company to purchase the iron to lay the last twelve
miles. This iron is now in New Orleans. |
| This granted, the road will be finished,
and the surplus of assets that would then be on hand would alone pay,
when realize, a heavy dividend. |
| The construction expenses will then have
ceased. The force of negroes that belongs to the road will be sufficient
to keep it in splendid order, and the end of the financial year
succeeding peace, will witness a dividend larger than that paid by any
railroad in the Confederate States. Ten per cent. per annum, is a low
estimate, as the Atchafalaya and Red river road will pour freight and
passengers through this channel and the whole Red river valley, except
that already tapped by the Vicksburg railroad, will become tributary to
this road. |
| The long stretch by river, from Baton
Rouge to Alexandria, impeded by the low water and obstructions at the
mouth of Red river, will be avoided by this short cut, $100,000 per
annum, over and above expenses, will be realized by the stockholders
when the route is completed, and the connections made from Baton Rouge
to Alexandria. This is a low estimate, and yet would be 20 per cent. on
the total cost of the road. |
|