OFFICE RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS. Hon. A. C. HASKELL, President C, C. & A. R. R., Columbia, S. C. DEAR SIR: On the 27th of March last we called your attention to the interview of Captain Walker with yourself on the 28th of February last, concerning the notice of Commissioner Bonham in respect to passenger accommodations at the depot of the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad in this place, which letter has not as yet been replied to. Will you please let us hear from you, as we feel constrained to insist that the matter be no longer deferred. Yours very respectfully, M. L. BONHAM, Chaiaman Board Railroad Commissioners. CHARLOTTE, COLUMBIA AND AUGUSTA RAILROAD COMPANY, A. C. HASKELL, President COLUMBIA, S. C., April 20, 1883. Hon. M. L. BONHAM, Chairman Railroad Commissioners of South Caro lina. DEAR SIR: Your favor of 19th inst. received. I beg leave to say in reply, as I already have done orally, that the railroad company is anxious to erect a depot for passengers at Columbia, and will do so as soon as money is at hand and suitable ground can be purchased. The larger portion of the land has already been bought, and arrangements for purchase of balance almost perfected, but stayed by a recent decrea of the Court, which has clouded the title. You may rest assured that the railroad company feels the importance of such a depot as much as the public can, and has been deterred only by lack of means. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, A. C. HASKELL, President. M. L. BONHAM, Chairman, L. J. WALKER, T. B. JETER, M. T. BARTLETT, Secretary. OFFICE OF RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS, Hon. A. C. HASKELL, President Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Rail road, Columbia, S. C. DEAR SIR: Your letter of the 20th instant has been received. You misunderstand the Commissioners in supposing that they require your company to "erect a depot for passengers at Columbia." If you will refer to the communication to you of Commissioner Bonham, of the 234 June last you will find the following: "Notice is hereby further given that you are required to comply with the terms of the 83d Section of the aforesaid Act, (82d Section in the copy issued from this office,) and to construct at your depot in Columbia two good rooms or apartments of reasonable size for the amount of travel, to furnish the same with comfortable seats for the accommodation of the passengers, and to place such rooms in charge of an employee of your company, to be kept open at such hours as to accommodate passengers traveling over your road, on any of its passenger trains, as provided by the said Section." It is now more than a year since the General Railroad Act was approved, and ten months since the above notice was sent you, and while we have deferred action, on account of your oral statements from time to time that you contemplated erecting a depot, we cannot consent to allow the matter to remain longer in a state of uncertainty. Your letter gives no assurance that the requirements of the notice will be complied with, and we must again respectfully ask whether or not you will comply at an early day. Hon. A. C. Haskell, President C., C. & A. R. R., Columbia, S. C. DEAR SIR: On the 24th uit. we wrote to you in reference to passenger accommodations at your depot in this place, and as our letter has not been answered, suppose that it must have miscarried; if so, please let us know so that we may send you a copy of same. We would have called your attention to this matter sooner, but there has been for two weeks past no meeting of our Board in consequence of the indisposition of two of its members. Yours very respectfully, M. L. BONHAM, Chairman Board Railroad Commissioners. M. L. BONHAM, Chairman,} Commissioners. L. J. WALKER, M. T. BARTLETT, Secretary. OFFICE OF RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS, Hon. C. R. MILES, Attorney General, Charleston, S. C. DEAR SIR: By the Railroad Commissioner's Report for 1882, page 14, it will be seen that that officer issued to the railroad companies whose roads meet in Columbia a circular, from which the following is an extract: * "COLUMBIA, S. C., June 13, 1882. "Notice is hereby further given that you are required to comply with the terms of the 83d Section of the aforesaid Act (82d Section in the copy issued from this office), and to construct at your depot in Columbia two good rooms or apartments, of reasonable size for the amount of travel, to furnish the same with comfortable seats for the accommodation of the passengers, and to place such rooms in charge of an employee of your company, to be kept open at such hours as to accommodate passengers traveling over your road, on any of its passenger trains, as provided by the said Section." Soon thereafter the Union Depot in Columbia was begun for the use of such of these roads as desired to participate therein, of which the Railroad Commissioner immediately received notice. The Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad Company alone declined, and the Commissioner in his Report of November 29th, 1882, page 14, said: “I have heard nothing 'from that company" (the C., C. & A.) " in reply to the circular requiring it to comply with the 83d Section of the General Railraad Act." The Commissioner learning that the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Company contemplated erecting a new station house for the accommodation of passengers at or near their Charlotte depot, took no steps to enforce the law, hoping that their purpose would be carried into effect. This Board, for the same reason, did not at once on its organization take such steps, but designated one of its members to confer with the President of the company on that subject. The following unsatisfactory correspondence followed, and the Board feels reluctantly constrained to call upon you as its attorney to enforce the provisions of the Railroad Law of the State, as required by said 83d Section. The sickness of two of the Board and death of one of those have delayed this communication. Yours very respectfully, M. L. BONHAM, Chairman Board Railroad Commissioners. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, CHARLESTON, S. C., June 8, 1883. Hon. M. L. BONHAM and L. J. WALKER, Railroad Commissioners. GENTLEMEN: On receipt of your letter of 31st May, I wrote to Hon. A. C. Haskell, President of the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad Company, requiring the company to comply with the provisions of Section 1494 of the General Statutes, in relation to accommodation for passengers. I have just received his answer, in which he says the company will comply with the Act, but under protest against the Railroad Act as oppressive and unconstitutional and without acknowledging the authority or power of the Railroad Commissioners. He says in conclusion: "I will at once direct removal of ticket and passenger rooms of Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad to another building where all requirements of the Act will be obeyed." (Signed) Respectfully, CH. RICHARDSON MILES, Attorney General. DEPOTS AND STATION HOUSES. Kinard's Station.-The citizens about Kinard's, on the Laurens Railway, petitioned the Commission for a depot. The following correspondence explains why the Commission did not require the railroad company to comply with the request. To the Honorable the Railroad Commissioners of South Carolina. HONORED SIRS: The undersigned, citizens of and adjacent to Kinard's, Laurens Railroad, respectfully ask that interposition on your behalf, which it is supposed the State of South Carolina invests you with the prerogatives of, which shall secure for them depot accommodations. Such accommodations are rendered desirable, and indeed necessary, from various considerations which lie within the very nature thereof, and the need of which is more particularly felt from the following facts: , Kinard's is three miles from Martin's Depot, but twelve from Newberry. This nearness to Martin's is disadvantageous, because, Kinard's not being a ticket station, we are required to pay passenger fare to and from Martin's when we use the railroad as a means of travel to Newberry, our main commercial mart. This is so obviously unjust and oppressive, that but few, and those only in cases of emergency, use the road for the purpose indicated. But the gravamen of the difficulty lies in the fact that all goods shipped for this point must either be freight prepaid or else they stop at Newberry. This prepayment is oftentimes inconvenient, expensive, if not impracticable; as, for instance, one of us, some days since, shipping some goods from a a point below Columbia, found that he could only ship and prepay to Columbia. In order to get his goods on through to this point, it was necessary to go to Colum bia in person, reship and prepay again. Again, goods prepaid and shipped to this point, put off on the platform, without depot or agent accommodations, must either lie there unprotected or the person to whom they are shipped must attend upon each train until their arrival. This virtually amounts to no accommodations at all. As at present constituted, the point is called Kinard's Turnout, but it is no turnout at all, but a mongrel, hybrid nondescript in railroad creation, neither fish nor fowl, and in many respects unsatisfactory. We trust you may be able to bring the authorities of the road to see and realize these points, and that steps may be taken for a speedy change. Respectfully submitted. A. A. GILBERT, Preacher in charge N. N. Circuit. H. O. HENSON, Postmaster and Farmer. W. W. SUMMER, Farmer. C. C. PECK, Farmer. G. T. SPEAKE. W. D. GARY. J. CRAIG GARY, Planter. D. L. GARY, Planter. W. H. BARRE, Planter. T. E. TEMPLETON, Planter. T. M. SMITH, Planter. |