, 1889-06-27
WITHIN OUR REACH !
PORT TOWNSEND WILL HAVE coz
SECTIoN WITH A 1RANsCON-
TISENTAL ROAD.
Let the Good News Be rr.elaImed,

The distinguished visitors, whose pres
enee hero the past few days means so
much for the future of this city, left on
the North Paciic yesterday. The party
consists OF Mr.. w. II. Holcomb and
vile, Gen. Jno. Gibbons, Lit. Nc.
Clearned, Peter A. Dey, chairman OF the
board of railway commissioners of Iowa
q. d. Lane, second vIce-president OF the
Union Pacific; ]. n. Cammeron, assistant
to the president; G. NJ. Dodge, director
OF fhe Union Pacific; Miss NJ. F. Conroy,
w. II. Kennedy, chief engineer OF the
o. r. ( n. Co., and J. c. Lalor, steno-
grapher.
Their visit here caused considerable
excitement and interest to our citizens,
as the result OF said visit is of the greatest
Importance to all.
While nothing definite has been ar
rived at yet, We are confident that their
sit here assures Port Townsend Of hav-
- nnections with transcontinental
line Of railroad.
Yesterday the party was driven around
the city and over tho proposed site of the
railroad.
At 9:30 o'clock g. m. the visitors were
escorted to the offices of the Port Town
send Southern Railway, where the COM
mitteo appointed to receive them, COM
posed OF Chairman J. G. GlarE, and
Messrs. D. NJ. Littlefeld, F. c. Harper
and F.-W. Pettygrove, we're in waiting.
G. NJ. Dodge, director Of the Union
Pacific, is man Of few words, and his
remarks are short but to the point. His
first remark to the eammittee verifes
this statements
"Well, what do you WANT"
OF course he was informed that q rail-
road was what was most needed, and q
definite answer regarding the same. Mr..
Dodge said that he appreciated the de-
sire to want definite answer, but that
he was not prepared to give one, as the
whole matter must first be brought be-
fore the board of directors, when he
would communicate the decision of that
body to Mr.. w. H. Holcomb, who would
in turn communicate with the commit
tee.
He was informed by Chairman Clark
that the bonus raised Was but an indica-
ton Of the interest the citizens of Port
! Townsend took in the matter, and that,
if necessary, the ssmoupt could be in
creased.
Mr. Dodge replied that the bonus
raised sas all that was necessary, and
highly complimented the city on their
donation, and said it was a splendid
showing for the size OF the city. He
further stated that the next thing to be
done would be to secure donations OF
land between here and Chehalis. over
which the road would be run. He rec
commended that good man be secured
to go with the committee or agents OF
the committee, and lay the matter be-
fore the people who owned land along
the proposed route.
Mr.. Holcomb recommended a conf
petent engineer at Seattle, and, on his
suggestion, he Was telegraphed to, and
| will undoubtedly be put to work i'm
mediately.
Mr.. Dodge explained to the committee
that it would take road three or four
years to make itself payable, that ran
through an unsettled country, ,sas the new
road will, and the interest on the invest
ment would be very heavy, in conse-
quenco OF which the $10O, 900 bonus was
required.
This is the first time that the U. P.
folks have been able to receive PROPOSE
sitiOn of this kind, and decision will be
reached soon.
Mr.. Dodge gave reasonable assurances
that a road would be built into Port
Townsend.
As for the land and money offered by
Port Townsend he assured the commit
tee that he was more than satisfied and
stated that it reflected great credit on
our city.
1t is but mete and proper at this time
to mention that the officials of the Port
Townsend Southern are deserving com
mendation for their work in the past and
at present. We believe their efforts are
now appreciated.
As regards the citizens committees. all
know they have done their work rapidly
and well, and We are satisfied that their
efforts will be crowned with success.
As the bonus raised is entirely salts
factory all that now remains for the COM
mittee to continue their good work is
to secure the donation of land along the
route; and this will surely be an easy
matter, as the value of the land through
which the road would run would be
trebled in value, and land owners could
| well afford to donrte part of the same.
There is no one who does not appre-
ciate the importance of having such a
road as the Union Pacific make this city
her terminal point, and we feel sure that
the committee will find no trouble in Sc
curing the necessary amount of land.
-~N~
4 Fourth OF July Prophecy.