The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1889-01-30
Railroad Matters

As stated IN the NORTHERNER last
week, delegation of gentlemen from
this county visited Sturgis and had an
interview with the officers of the Stur-
gis, Indiana IL Ohio railway company
an organization perfected recently,
having for its object the construction
of Il line of road from Sturgis To Bryan,
Ohio, at which point it is to meet the
Columbus, Lima Il Milwaukee road, for
the construction of which the contract
is now let and the work To commence
April l. This last named road is being
pushed by syndicate of capitalists
owning 10000 acres of coal lands in
Ohio. and which is desrOus of securing
through and direct route To Milwau-
kec, to gain northwestern market for
the output of their coal fields. Calvin
=. Bl'ice. one of the most successful rail
road men in the country, and late chair
man of the democratic national com
mittee. i at the head of the movement
A. originally designed, the route should
be from Columbus, o., To Saugatuck, but
on closer investigation il WAS di>cOv
cred that Saugatuck was twenty miles
farther from the eastern terminus than
South Haven was, and that the harbOr
of the latter port was far superior to
that of the former, as ii requires dredg
ing To keep 10 feet of water at the en-
trance To Saugatuck, while IL feet Is
the nominal depth at South Haven. BY
consulting the map it will be seen that
the route from Columbus To Milwaukee,
via Sturgis, Flowertield, Leesburg and
Paw Paw, is almost an air line, and
will pass through one of the best sections
of country in the northwest.
The distances between the several
fnll
Columbus To Defiance, l25; Defiance to
Sturgis, 13; SturgiS to South Haven, 80;
and South Haven to Milwaukee, SO;
making total of 366 miles
L. r. Harrison, Esq, one OF the dele
gates from Paw Paw To Sturgis, informs
the NoRTHERNER that the people at
Sturgis, and places south of that point,
are wide awake To the needs OF their
respective localities; railroad meetings
are being held daily 1T various places,
and that the road from Columbus To
Sturgis is already and assured fact.
If we are correctly informed regard
! ing the attitude Of the officers of the L.
Il ). III. X. r., they are willing to sell
or lease, or to consolidate their line
with the new organization-putting in
as so much stock their franchise, right
of way, road bed and buildings, reSery
ing the rolling stock and iron, which
they could readily dispose of to other
narrow gauge roads.
The question which now confronts
our people here is: Can the gap be
tween LawtOn and Sturgis be filledg 1t
seems that il the matter were shown up
to the people along the proposed route
the people of all others most deeply
| interested-the right of way could be
7 A al aah
pledged as would warrant company
of capitalists to at once organize tor Its
construction.
A few of our solid business men met
at the parlors of the Savings Bank last
Friday night to listen to the report of
Messrs Harrison and Welch, of the
committee which visited Sturgis. From
the report of these gentlemen, and facts
gathered from other sources, IL II eyi-
| dent that the roads above referred to
will select some port on the eastern
shore of Lake Michigan as an outlet
for the coal product of the Ohio mines.
All else being equal, South Haven will
be the port selected. In order to secure
this, the people of this county will have
to take care of their own county, q. e.,
to contribute sufficient aid to grade and
tie the road from the lake to the Cass
county line. These money pledges are
to be made payable only when the road
is completed and in operation. This,
we believe, the people along the line
of the proposed route will do with
alacrity. One gentleman was so san
guine that he asserted his ability To
secure the pledges for every dollar
needed i'm four days.
Some further correspondence being
necessary with the Sturgis people, and
more definite information needed re-
garding matters connected with the Il. 4
5. II II. r., pending these the meeting
took a recess To re-assemble at the call
of its chairman, at which time every
business man in Paw Paw should be
present.
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