<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16809" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Bluefield Daily Telegraph<BR>July 1,
1909</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT size=4>VIRGINIAN RAILWAY MAY ENTER
PARKERSBURG</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG>Report That Link Will be Extended From Charleston
Believed to Have Substantial Foundation</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left> While it comes from an unofficial source,
there are many people in Bluefield who believe the report that the Virginian is
going to build from Charleston to Parkersburg has a substantial foundation in
fact. It is freely talked in railroad circles of the city, and those who claim
to be in touch with the situation readily admit the feasibility of the
enterprise.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> The Virginian is handicapped to a greater or
less extent for lack of a western outlet. Negotiations were once opened
for the acquisition of the Kanawha & Michigan, but these failed to
materialize. If a road should be built to Parkersburg it will not only
give the company direct connection with the western freight centers, but it will
give it a shorter route to the Great Lakes for the coal trade. The
Virginian has a traffic arrangement with the Chesapeake & Ohio, and at
present uses its tracks for its passenger trains between Deepwater, the terminus
of the road, and St. Albans. According to the report if the new line is
built this arrangement will be continued, and the Chesapeake & Ohio tracks
will be used between Deepwater and Charleston for general freight and coal
haulage. Nothing definite or official, however, can be learned upon the
subject at this time.</DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=left>[<EM>Who's to say that this wasn't at least discussed by
Virginian officials in private, but without leaving any written record, and
leaked out? Or, was this just another rumor passed on too readily by a
newspaper reporter in a railroad town?</EM>]</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Script size=6>Gordon
Hamilton</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>