The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-01-04
The Great National North and South Line Of
Railway.

The surveys have been completed and
the estimates of length, cost, etc, of the
! Dakota, Wichita and Galveston railway
have all been made up, returned to the di-
rectory and printed. The road begins at
Bismarck, North Dakota, and runs south
east to Aberdeen, 140 miles another tran
sit beginning at Fargo, North Dakota,
! and joining the other at Aberdeen, 1872
miles; from Aberdeen the main stem runs
to IanktOn, from Yankton to Fairmont,
Nebraska, 81 miles, from Fairmont to the
state line of Kansas. A miles The line
across Kansas runs via Belleville, Concor-
dia, Minneapolis. Salina, Mcpherson, Hal
stead, Wichita ard to the south line of the
state, go miles, across the Indian terri
! tory, - to 40 miles east of the Santa FEES
line to the crossing of Red river, 242
miles. From Red River to Galveston sos
miles. Total mileage 1850, with additional
sldings and terminals of 50 miles. The
prospectus says that the Dakota, Wichita
and Galveston railroad, when constructed
will at once become the great trunk line
from the northwest to deep water, serving
for the most part, a country unoccupied
and without direct Gulf facilities The
country which this line will pass through
Will mile by mile, afford local traffic
sufficient at once to justify the investment
OF capital in the construction of railroad
through it, and as soon as it is certain that
this line will be built the assurance of
profitable results from labor and capital
invested in all lines of manufacturing
plants in addition to the increased indus
trial activity, would cause development
which will disappoint only because the
most sanguine will not dare to
make preparations 10 do the bust
ness that will be offered and which
will demand accommodations, and
when this line is completed it will not be
compelled TO haul empty cars one way and
partial loads the other, while for immi-
grants to the western states from Europe,
the southern, but more particularly the
northwestern states, this line will be their
shortest and cheapest means of reaching
their destination.
1t is now conceded by all that the exhorb-
liant duties on most foreign articles i'm
ported into this country must soon come
to an end. Consequently we can look for
more extended business with foreign coun-
tries, and it is also an admitted fact that
west, northwest and southwest must be
landed and done somewhere on the gulf.
And now that the government has decided
to expend six m lions at Galveston, Texas,
it is only a question of time when the
enormous business done at eastern harbors
must be divided with one or two on the
gulf
This business, to be handled with profit,
must have direct north and south lines;
not branches and feeders belonging to the
great east and west trunk lines, with their
innumerable meanderings, twists, turns
and irreconcilable complications.
Tho Dakota, Wichita and Galveston will
pass through the heart of the greatest
wheat, corn and cotton belt in the world. |
But a few years ago Galveston was
simply market for the products of the /
cotton belt and for the supply Of merchan- /
disc for that section. Now TO inconsider- |
able portion of the grain, cotton, pork, to- 1
bdcco and other products of the south find /
a market and outlet at the port of Gal /
weston.
And. as paradoxical as it may at
first seem, this line will in true I
and important sense be an east 1
and west line. At Galveston, every year /
the entrance to the harbor is improved, the /
wharfs extended and cost ofdoing business /
decreased, and viii be much sooner /
brought to perfection since the govern /
ment has championed the enterprise by /
a magnificent sum-and as
much more will be granted as is needed,
since the west is a unit on that one idea,
that all Der surplus products must 60 /
south to the gulf for transportation east.
This Dakota, Wichita and Galveston
line is, in short, magnificent enterprise
with far-reaching possibilities and I'M
rivaled opportunities. The line takes in
or traverses the very best sections of Da-
kota, of Nebraska, of Kansas, of the In
dian territory and of Texas, by far the
richest and finest portions, and what is of
vast Importance, it is the most desired aud
shortest possible