'--'--*--*--^-^-^-*-*-*^-'-**-^-'^^*^^'^ '■ '■ I THE /f k ♦irt /i^ THE 3IOST T3IP01iTANT COAL ROAD imm TO CHICAGO, FORMING PART OP A THROUGH LINE wm liB III MEii ft ¥11 mm m SPECIAL ATTENTION INVITED TO THE FIRST MORTGAGE BONDS AS AN INVESTMENT. M ARCH, 1871. \^^ OFFICE OF THE COMPANY, No. 38 PINE STREET, NEW-YORK. ■"r y rTT ¥ vt ^w w w y tt t y y^yy^ t w^wwwww^ ^wwwww wv w^ww^ Tyy^^^y ^ lyyi^ y ^ ^ y y < ifVfVfVVI^ ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SURVEY T H E ,.C t) lip, I t r 14* IV THU 3IOST UIPOBTANT mi ROAD lilADl^fJ TO CfllOACO, FOUMIKG TAUT OF A THROUGH LINE 4r m<< i ;©■ 111 Mlii f 111 illl SPECIAL ATTENTION INVITED TO THE FIRST MORTGAGE BONDS AS AN INYESTMENT. MARCH, 187 1. JOHN VV . A M E R M A N , PRINTER, No. 47 Cedar Street. 1871. |Iucaf)o, |anu illc and J inccnncs s |aiI-|oa(l | ompanj). W. D. JUDSOX, President, New- York. AMOS TEXXEY, Treasurer, F. E. JOXES, Secretary, Chicago. Z. F. SUMMERS, Chief Engineer, .... ililif(D13. JAMES W. ELWELL, Xew-York. JAMES D. FISH, W. D. JUDSOX, AMOS TEXXEY, MATTHEW TAYLOR, JARVIS WILLIAMS, Boston. X. F. MERRILL, Chicago. WILLIAM YOUXG, Valparaiso, Ind. ALVAX GILBERT, . . . ... . . RossviLLE, III. WxM. R. FOSDICK, Ex-Pres't St. Nicholas Nat. Bank, New- York. JAMES D. FISH, President Marine National Bank, ^1S 5. 0^77 -3 ^439'". M.M^ To the Holders of Five-Twenties or other funds for invest^ ment : YouK attention is especially called to the First Mortgage Seven Per Cent. Gold Bonds of the Chicago, Danville and Yincennes Eail-Eoad, which are still selling at 87i- and ac- crued interest, as having claims to the confidence of invest- ors, such as those of other new rail-roads have seldom, if ever, possessed. This Company's Koad extends from Chicago, the chief rail-road centre of the West, through the Eastern Counties of Illinois, to the City of Danville, and thence to a junction with the Evansville, Terre Haute and Chicago Kail-Road, with which it forms a continuous line through the Western Counties of Indiana to Evansville, on the Ohio Eiver. Its general route is from North to South, across the richest and most thickly-settled portions of Illinois and Indiana, and it connects with Chicago four important cities on its line, that for want of rail-road facilities have hitherto had but a limited trade with that important metropolis. And not the trade of the cities only, but the grain, cattle, hogs, sheep, and all the surplus products of the fine country that the road traverses and controls, will seek the Chicago market, to be exchanged for lumber, building materials, merchandise, groceries, furni- ture, etc. From the country beyond the Ohio, too, and from places all along the " through line " to the Gulf, a considerable volume of trade will be added to the above. Local trafiic and travel derived from a rich agricultural country, that abounds at the same time in mineral wealth, such as coal and iron, is by far the most certain and most profitable traffic. Xo territory can give better support to a rail-road than that which is covered with thick farming set- tlements, thriving towns and villages, and successful manu- facturing establishments. Measured by this standard, no one of all the Illinois rail-roads can pour a larger trade into Chicago than the Chicago, Danville and Yincennes. On a well built road, under economical and honorable management, a large traffic is the safest and surest basis of its bonded debt. And having at least as good a business, this Companj^'s Road ofiers as good a bond as the older Chicago Rail-Roads, whose honds are esteemed among the hest in the country. The only thing lacking is the completion of the road, and a few months' time will suffice for that ac- com})lishnient. But besides all this, and more important than all, the recent discoveries and'demonstrations in the '' coal fields " of Indiana revolutionize the iron manufacture and iron trade of the Western country. The carrying trade of coal and iron for the future is assured, in large measure, to the rail- roads leading from these coal fields, x^s afuel for all manufac- turing purposes, for locomotives and for general domestic uses, there is no better coal in America. Directlv alono^ the line of our road there are "block-coals" enough and native ores enough to run a thousand blastfurnaces for a thousand years, without materially diminishing the quantity. There is nothinoj better in the world for smelttno; iron ores than these coals, and nothing that produces the best iron at so small a cost. Lars'e iron manufacturers must come to this region as they have done and are doing, or else be left behind in competing for the iron business of the West. The ra])id multiplication of blast-furnaces and rolling-mills along and near this line of road positively assures to the Chicago, Danville and Yincennes Rail-Road a business in carrying coals northward, and Lake Superior iron ores south- ward, that will be simply enormous, such as no other new rail-road in the West or in the East ever possessed or con- trolled. A small opening of the Brazil coal fields has, in a short time, doubled the business of the Terre ITaiUe and Indianapolis Eail-Road.* But this is only a slight indication of what the general opening of these mines, and the carrying of their coals to Chicago and the Northwest, will add to the otherwise large earnings of this Company's road. Ent notwithstanding the enormous trafhc that is ready to press upon this line at its completion, and notwithstanding the Company are building the best new road in all that sec- tion of country, the " londed debt " of the roadis only ^18,000 per mile, less than half the debt of other roads whose bonds, without a business to protect them, are claimed to be the very best in the market for investment. Moreover, this small debt of $18,000 per mile is toe only debt of the Company, while it is the first and only lien upon the Company'' s road, property and franchises. This Company's road will be finished and the cars running to Watseka, 84 miles from Chicago, in a few days. Iron has been jDurchased for all the unfinished part of the road, ties are being prepared, and every thing indicates the earl}- completion of the work. The Evansville, Terre Haute and Chicago Road is completed from the Ohio north to Newport, 130 miles, leaving not more than 25 miles to build. The Evansville, Henderson and Nashville Eail-Road has just been opened over its entire length. From Nashville to Pensacola there remains some 40 miles to build on the Northern Alabama, and 60 miles on the Selma and Gulf Rail-Road. As it is the interest of these several roads to push forward the construction and close up the gaps, it would seem probable that the entire " Through Line " wnll be opened by early autumn. The Chicago, Danville and Yincennes Company have made arrangements for depot accommodations in the city, whereby its passenger and freight business will be as well provided for as that of any road leaving Chicago. The Company have issued Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars of First Mortgage Sinking Fund Bonds, * Indiana State Geologist's Report, p. 21. having forty years to run, bearing seven per cent, interest, payable semi-annually in New-York, both principal and interest payable in United States gold coin. The bonds are in sums of $1,000 each. The interest upon them, at the rate of seven per cent, per annum in gold, is payable semi-annually on the first days of Ayjril and October of each year, in the City of New-York. They have semi- annual coupons attached, but they may be registered by any purchaser, in the Union Trust Company of New-York, for protection against loss or accident. About one-half of the loan has already been negotiated, and the proceeds of the balance, with the remaining subscrip- tions which have been made to the capital stock, will be amply sufficient to complete and equip the entire road. The Price of the Bonds is 87* and Accrued Interest. The}^ may be obtained of the banks and bankers wlio are acting as the Company's agents for the sale of them, in the chief cities and towns in New-York, New-England, Penn- sylvania and Maryland. Where there is no agent, they may be had by correspond- ence directly with the Company, at their office, No. 38 Pine- street, New-York. Remittance may be made through any Bank, and the bonds will be sent by express, free of all charges to the purchaser. ^W Agents will please order their Bonds directly of the Company, who will receive Five-Twenties or other marketable securities in payment, and return by Ex- press any surplus with the bonds. By order of the Board. W. D. JUDSON, P7'esident. New-York, March 20th, 1871. The following letters will be read with interest by parties who are seeking further and more complete information : Marine National Bank, Neio-Yorh^ February \Uh, 187L W. D. JuDsoN, Esq., President Chicago, Danville and Yinoennes Bail-Road Comjpany : Dear Sir,— In answer to numerous inquiries made of me as one of the Trustees for the bondholders, by letter and otherwise, as to the security and value of the First Mortgage Bonds of your rail-road, I will reply by a letter addressed to you : First.— 'T1\\Q bonds of your Company are, in my judgment, a good investment. They are based upon a property so val- uable as to secure the payment of interest on them from earnings of the road. Second. — Tliey are the first and only lien upon the road and its equipment, the franchises, and all present and future acquired property of the Company. Third. — The Sinking Fund, created and set aside by the provisions of the mortgage, will be sufficient in amount to retire the whole issue of these bonds at or before maturity. Fourth.— Th.Q\'Q cannot be issued over two million live hundred thousand dollars, according to the terms of the mortgage. Fifth. — Forming, as this road does, part of an "Air Line" from Chicago to Pensacola and Mobile, 850 miles in length, about three-quarters of which is already completed, running through Danville, Terre Haute, Yincennes, Evansville, Henderson, Hopkinsville, Nashville, Decatur and Selma, the expectation of a large through freight and passenger busi- ness seems to be reasonable and well founded. 8 ^Sixth. — Assnminc' the statements of tlie State Geolosrist of Indiana and his assistants to be correct, as to the vast quantity of coal found along and near this line, and the un- surpassed qualitj' of this coal for smelting iron ores, as well as for general manufacturing and domestic purposes, this road must do a verv larire business in carryinij coals in one direction, and iron ores as return freights in the other. AVhether the amount of this coal business shall approxi- mate to tiiat of the Lehigli Valley Road, Pa., or to the Reading Road, which has risen from less than two million tons carried in 1860, to more than four and a half million tons carried in 187«.i, time alone can determine. Seventh. — It seems to me evident that, with a rich asri- cultural country from the Ohio River upwards to furnish its local traffic, and with coal and iron in illimitable quantities to be carried to a ready market, your rail-road has a basis of strength and security for its bonds that could not be better, and that these bonds are entitled to the full confidence of parties seeking a good and safe investment. Very truly yours, J. D. Fish, Trustee. * Prof. E. T. Cox, State Geologist of Indiana, in his Report, Jan. 1st, 1870, says, pp. 30, 47: " Block Coal is a name used by miners to designate a variety of non-caking bituminous coal" ■" '^'' * " that mav he mined in laro;e cubes or blocks, which exhibits the whole depths of the bed." ^ * * " In coking, it scarcely swells or changes form, and never cakes or runs together. It is this latter character whicli gives to the 'block coal' its peculiar value as a fuel for smelting iron ores ; while it has sufficient bitumen — in the form of gaseous matter — to render it highly inflammable; and the blocks retain their shape until burnt to ash, in such a manner as will admit the read}" passage of the blast and flame through the entire mass of fuel, ore and flux." 9 " The discovery of Block Coal in Yerraillion County was first made public through the newspapers, on the 15th of November, 1869."— P. 132. " Yermillion County is thirty- six miles long, and varies in breadth from five to ten miles, with an average of a little less than seven, thus including an area of 249 square miles." — Prof. Bradley, p. 1 38. " The final conclusion of the scientific explorer must be, that good coal can now be mined profitably under at least one-half the area of the county, and tiliimately under probably two-thirds of the remainder. A thickness of eight feet would be a small enough estimate for coal underlying every square foot of the county. This would give, at the usual estimate of one mil- lion tons to the square mile for every foot of thickness, the amount of 1,950,000,000* tons as the supply of the county." — Pp. 161, 162. Prof. Cox says, p. 13Y: " As many as three thick seams of coal, with a total depth of twelve to sixteen feet, are found over a large area of this county, and the qual- ity will compare favorably with that of any other coals in tlie State." Prof. Cox again states, pp. 133, 131:: '-The Evansville, Terre Haute and Chicago Kail-Koad runs through the entire length of this ' Block Coal' field, and will aflbrd ex- cellent facilities along its line for the location of blast furna- ces." * ** "As this rail-road connects at Danville with another rail-roadf running direct to Chicago, no location in the ' Block Coal' region of the State can be more favorable for manufacturing iron, and for obtaining Lake Superior iron ores at a low rate of frei2;htao;e." * At $2.50 per ton for Block Coal, which is the " Cannel" Coal of our mar- ket, and $2.00 per ton for Caking Coal, which is the ordinary " Liverpool Coal," the value of coal in this county alone would amount to $4,387,500,000. The State Report, p. 69, puts the value of the coal in Clay County at ($4,364,000,000) four billion three hundred and sixty -four million dollars. But vast as this quantity is, it is by no means all that lies within the reach of the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Rail-Road, with its connecting and co-operating roads. f The Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Rail-Road. 10 From the late President of the Chicago and North Western Rail-Road Co.} New- York., Decemher 17, 1870. W. D. JuDsoN, Esq., President Chicago., Danville and Vincennes R. R. Co. : Dear Sir, — During tlie past summer, while in Chicago, my attention was drawn to the high character and quality of the Indiana Block Coal, and tlie importance of it to Chicago and the country west of it, now and hereafter. I have no doubt that a road directly to the coal field from Chicago, and \vitli free access to the Lake Superior iron ores at Chicago, would, about as soon as completed, find itself fully occupied in transporting the Brazil or Block Coal of Indiana to Chicago, and the iron ores of Lake Superior from Chicago to the vicinity of this Block Coal, and to the furnaces already there, and to others that will be constructed there as soon as the ores mentioned can be economically transported to them. The Block Coal of Indiana and the ores of Lake Superior are not excelled in their high qualities and adaptation to the making of cheap first quality of iron ; and when brought together by rail, must supply the entire West with advantage and economy, that cannot, so far as I can now see, soon, if ever, be excelled. Your Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Eail-Eoad, in con- nection with the Evansville, Terre Haute and Chicago Eail- way, now being built, will, as I understand it, soon bring these ares and coals together ; and I have no doubt that when so completed and opened, the coal and iron trade alone will sup- port the investment from the beginning, and will increase yearly for many years. Besides the coal and iron traflfic to result from the con- struction of your rail-road, however, it must have the local business of the fine country through which it passes, and 11 the business of other roads with which it connects and co- operates. Its construction through a very level country of alluvial soil will be easy and inexpensive, and there is no reason to doubt that with fair management, its earnings will be ample to the payment of interest on all its bonds from the time of completion, and will soon, if not from tlie first, increase and be equal to a fair return on its stock. Yours, very truly, W. B. Ogden. [From the President of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway Co. ] New- York, March 12, 1870. Messrs* W. Bailey, Lang & Co. : Gentlemen, — I am familiar witli the line of the Chicago^ Danville and Yincennes Rail-Road, as far south from Chicago as I presume it is proposed to build it. It passes through a very productive agricultural country, and will have, in addi- tion, a large coal traffic from the Block Coal fields of In- diana. The road is not expensive to build, nor will it be expensive to maintain and operate, and cannot, with proper manage- ment, fail to pay interest on its cost. I have been twice over that portion of the road now com- pleted and in operation, and found the road-bed well made, and the track the best neio track I have ever traveled over of any Western road. Truly yours, G. W. Cass. 12 Office Chicago Iron Company, 45 Dearbokn Street, Chicago, January il, 1871. W. D. JuDSox, Esq., President Chicago, Dativille and Vincennes li. It. Co.: Deak Sik, — We are anxiously waiting for the completion of your road to tlie Block Coal fields of Indiana, so that we can compete successfully -vritli other localities in making Pig Iron. The long and circuitous route by which this coal now reaches Chicngo, makes its cost too great ; and what we need, to make Chicago the great manufacturing centre of the coun- try west of the Alleghanies, is cheap fuel to smelt the ores of Lake Superior. With these ores and the Block Coal of Indiana, we can make an excellent quality of Pig Iron suitable for the general foundry and mill uses, and I have no doubt but that it will be found to be pure enough to make the best quality of Bessemer Steel for rails. At the price at which you propose to deliver this coal, on the completion of your road, iron can be made here at fully $2 per ton less than it can be done in Pittsburgh, and of afar better quality. The Lake Superior ores are delivered here at $1 to $1.50 per ton less than they are at Erie, Cleveland, Detroit, or Buffalo. The distance from Escanaba, the great shipping point for ore to Cleveland, is 800 miles ; while to Chicago it is about 300 miles. Westward-bound freights on the lakes are from one-third to one-half less than Eastward-bound, the great bulk of our shipments being in that direction, moving our cereals, provisions, &c. This is a geographical fact which will always be in favor of Chicago; and as we increase in manufacturing our own 13 rails, steel and other heavy articles, the advantages v/ill be still more apparent. Last season, the selling price of Lake Superior 6tj per cent, ores at Escanaba, was p'> ])er ton; freight to Cleveland^ §2.50 ; dockage and treiiiht to Pittsburgh, (1 fiO miles, by rail,) $3 — making cost, delivered there, $11.50 per ton. ]|- tons to make a ton of iron, is $17.25 80 bushels coke, at T-|c., 6.00 Cost of ore and fuel for one ton iron, $23.25 To make it /lere, would cost : li tons ore, at $7.25, $10.62^ 2^ '' Indiana Block Coal, at $4.25, 10.62^ $21.25 Making a saving in favor of Chicago of $2 per ton. The freight on Pig Iron from Pittsburgh is $5 per ton ; thus making cost of iron made here $7 per ton less than it can be made in Pittsburgh and delivered here. It is difficult to estimate the advantages which will accrue to the benefit of Chicago and the Great West, when we are enabled to manufacture our own iron and steel, nails,