The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-04
A Bee LINE FOR HELENA,
The Northwestern to Build From
Casper, Wyoming, to Z Point
West Of Helena
Peter Winnie, the Denver Capital
list, Confirms the Correctness
Of the Report
The Burlington ALSO An Assured Fact
Some OF the Plans OF the Denver
Syndicate In Regard to Helena.


Syndicate In Regard to Helena.
There ID one man who is not a resident {
Helena. but who keeps as we'll posted G
the city and the state in general rs ar
who make their homes here. 1t is Pet,
Whine. the head Of tho Denver syndicst
which has put thousands of dollars int
Helena in the form Of improvements. L
this syndicate 10 due many Improvement
on Main street. the Denver block o
Broadway, Che beautiful I.enox suburb. th
nsw Helena cemetery, and hundreds c
other enterprises which have aided in til
upbuilding of the capital city. Mr.. Winnie
home is in Denver, but he visits Helen
half a dozen times a year. and each tri
results in some substantial good thing. II
ia now here, having arrived Friday. Las
Tuesday the Denver Republican, under tn
heading, "a Bee Line to Helena" published
the following:
"Several days ago a telegram from Chey-
enne was published in the Republican &c
the effect that articles o; incorporation had
been filed for the Big Horn Valley Railway
company. The capital stock was given as
36.000,00O, and one of the incorporators
was the ~well-known W.. w. Dudley, of In
diana. He is the attorney for the Chicago
d Northwestern railway, and this fact
makes the report Of great Importance. The
routs outlined in the articles of ~incorpora-
tion is from Fort Casper, in Wyoming, to a
point n few miles west of Helena. Montana.
The line of the Northwestern is already
completed to Fort Casper. and there is no
doubt but that the Big Horn Valley road is
merely an extension of the Northwestern.
The aim of this road is to reach the Pacific
coast by connection with the Northern Pa
cifc, and the indications at present are that
it will get there before long.
The importance of this road to Denver
is that by the Union Pacific road this CITY
connects with the Fremont, Elkhorn &
Missouri River line. which is the North
western. and the extension referred to will
give almost direct communication with
Helena"
Mr.. Whine was shown the above yester-
day and asked what he knew about it.
''This is the first time I have seen these
facts in print" he replied. but the day /
left Denver a railroad nan told nae the ar
ticles of incorporation were to be filed and
that the objective point was Helena. Az !
understand it, the Northwestern desires to
get some of the business Of the National
park and at the same time reach the Cooks
City mines. These two points alone will
result in a good business, but. further than
that, it desires to get into the cattle raising
regions of Montana. Both the Burlington
and the Northwestern will build to Helena,
rs this city il the railroad center of this
section. ! firmly believe that had it not
bsen for the hard times Of the past year
both roads would have been in Helena by
Jan /, 1892. Az it 10, their arrival is only
delayed. There are several things which
could be done to encourage the rapid build
ing OF these roads. One, I believe, would
Of local capitalists to build a
union depot. and it would be a
paying investment, too. AS I said
before, Helena is the railroad center OF the
state, and everything done by the home
people to encourage the coming of new
lines will bring them quicker, The traffic
arrangements between the Northwestern
and Union Pacific amount almost to a con-
solidation. The latter road wants to ex-
tend its lines farther in Montana but is so
hampered by the conditions imposed by the
government it cannot. Now the best thing
is to have its companion road do the build
ing, and that is just what the Northwestern
viii do"
II never saw q better feeling" continued
Mr.. Winnc, lin Helena and Montana gen
orally than there il to-day. l was here last
March, and the conditions did not look
near so we'll as they do now. The large re-
turns from live stock, the prosperity Of the
quartz miners and smelling interests. and
the rich yield of the placers cannot help
but result in the most prosperous times
here. Then Helena is taking hold OF this
manufacturing problem in the right way.
She is going into enterprises which give the
greatest promise of successes, in That tho
raw material is here and here also is the
market for their product. Tho equippipp
of the steam motor line with electricity is
also a great thing for the city. and will be
most substantial Improvement. 1t is an
excellent thing to have such a oolnpan as
the Northwestern Guaranty interested in
the city,
II notice also that the city government is
inclined to give some encouragement this
year than it did last. to those who spend
ing their money on improvements. Our
company wanted to put a f~vsstory building
on'ths ground where the Denver building
stands. 1t was an improvement that would
add largely to the revenues of the city and
and at the same time benefit the general
public and our company. We asked that
the city do some grading, but were refused.
Then we did it at our own expense, and in
stead of putting up a ive-story building,
put up only three. When 70 were building
the railway to Lenox, we asked that the
city do sone grading. This also was re-
fused. The result of ali this was that some
u Our pcoplo UeCdme very DlCE6r ana others
Disguised, SO that d ! number of enterprises
which We contemplated carrying out had
TO be abandoned, because some Of our peo-
pie refused to put another dollar into Hell
ena. ! did not feel this way, because
knew that the action Of the council was not
based on any particular opposition to us,
but arose from a Task OF comprehension of
what was justly due. Nowhere else in this
western country would requests such as
ours have been refused. where the invest-
meEts VIC were making are as large. Bnt,
rs I say. ! think there is a better apprecia-
ton Of the subject now, and that everyone
is ready to work for the best interests of
the CITY and do everything to aid in it's up
building" Asked about tho plans Of his
company, Mr.. Winnie said: Zone object of
my visit is to close the contracts for operat-
Ing our lines by electricity. The Lenox
line 10 already wired, and next week I hope
to mako arrangements for the power. If
can make satisfactory terms we prefer
to buy the power rather than put in q plant
of our own. As to the University line, we
may or may not be able to equip that this
year. We would like to, and it depsnds
altogether on whether tho contractor can do
the work this season. If he cannot, then il
will be done as soon RS spring opens. We
also have other things in view which will
give employment to a number of men and
improve the city. ! feel much encouraged
over the outlook in Helena and will do q
number Of things l would not undertake
did ] not feel that the city and state were
about entering OF q most prosperous era"