Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-03-25

Union Wires with those of Mexico.
General Eckert, manager of the con-
solidated Western Union Telegraph Com
pany, accompanied Jay Gould in his
recent Southwestern tour, and has given
New York World reporter some inter
esting facts about the journey.
eve are carrying the Western Union
wires, =" he said toward Mexico and to.
ward the Pacific. We shall have about
twelve hundred miles of railway and the
same length of telegraph laid during the
coming year"
with what points to the eastward
will these lines be directly Connected"
They will centre at st. Louis, but
will be connected with New Orleans
through Shreveport, and this connection
will be completed before the close of the
present year.
did you find any important local
traffic springing up along these lines?"
Certainly. The central belt of Texas
in particular is the richest cotton region,
l suppose, in the republic, some of the
land producing, am told, two bales to
the acre. Within the same belt the &C.
reals also yield abundantly wheat. corn,
barley and oats, and Texas includes a
vast area of fine grazing country. A very
important trade is growing up between
the eastern portion of Texas and the rest
of the State. Eastern Texas is full of
verv fine lumber, long leaved pine and
other woods, which, when the roads are
completed, will make very profitable
return freight on the lines which bring
cotton and other products to the sea,
coast.
lis the country settling up with good
population?"
Eyes. There is a considerable move
ment of emigration from other States of
the Union, and large and steady influx
of Germans. The census shows that
Texas is growing more rapidly than
almost any other State in the Union"
Glow did you find the city of Calves
ton %
"Busy and prosperous, though we were
not there in the best business season. l
visited the recently-Opened cotton ex-
change, and found it very fine build
ing, which would do credit to any
Northern city,"
y
violence IN the State?'
Nonsense" said Gen. Eckert, laugh.
ing. 1--WE found the country as quiet
as any part of the Union We found
no disorder anywhere. In fact, we did
not see single drunken man in all
Texas, and, now that think of it, none
OF our party saw drunken man during
our journey to Texas and back until we
got back, when we came upon one just
outside of the ferry house,
did you hear much of politics in
Texas?"
Little or nothing We went there on
business, and found the people generally
absorbed in minding their own affairs.
The only place where we found any DO.
litical feeling was in Galveston. where
there was great hubbub over the cleo
ton of Mayor. We found all the car
riages Of the town taken up in carrying
voters to the polls, but there was no
rioting of any sort"
''WIll your new telegraph lines COM
municate directly to MexicoY"
Yes the cables laid by Colonel
Scrymser from Brownsville to Vera
Cruz, touching at Tampico, have Just
put the Western Union system in CON
nection with the whole Mexican tele-
graph syshem, which is owned and
worked by the Mexican Government.
This system extends over about four
thousand miles, snd all parts of Mexico
over which it extends are now in teie.
graphic communication with New
York
''On the whole, you agree with Mr..
(1nnlh n his vi Of ho 1
prospective importance of this south.
western region"
81 certainly do. Mr.. Gould was so
much impressed with what we saw that
he had not only decided to establish
line of steamers from Galveston to Next
can ports, but gave orders to build
branch of the main or Laredo line of the
Missouri, Kansas and Texas line. This
line win diverge from the main line at
Benton and run two hundred miles
through what is called the Garden of
Texas to Galveston. The construction
of this line will also give Galveston a
direct connection with the Texas Pacific
at Fort Worth.
Where do they get the coal for these
steamers and railway lines from?"
cat present from New Orleans and
New York, but the Missouri, Kansas
and Texas Railroad is opening up extern
sive coal mines on the line of that road
in the Indian Territory, about one hun
dred miles north of Denison."
"What is the quality of the coal?"
ut is a fine bituminous coal. We
were told at the st. Louis gas works
that it cokes as well as the PENNSYLVANIA
coal The coal deposits are apparently
inexhaustible, and the company is de-
veloping them on large scale, sending
out machinery by the aid of which they
will turn out about {, 900 tons day"
Can it be supplied at a moderate
price?'
THE coal is now delivered on the cars
at the mines ready for shipment at So
ton. When Mr.. Sloan saw these coal
deposits and the extensive preparations
for working them. in view of the great
prospective demand for coal, not only
in the Southwest, but in Mexico, he re-
marked that the Missouri, Kansas and
Texas is destined to be another Della
ware, Lackawanna and Western.