Evening journal., 1891-09-21
ABOUT ARKANSAS HARBOh
A Tale from Texas Concern
ing Russell Harrison.
INVESTORS ILL USED, IT Is SAID

World from Aransas Harbor, Tex, says
This pretty little city thirty miles froii
Corpus Christi, is soon TO be the center d
interest in the United States, because Of
an effort to indict Russell Harrison. Hs
is at the head Of the Aransas Harbor and
Land Improvement company, which sold
mgny hundred thousand dollars worth ol
land here on the promise that within one
year they would obtain deep water IN
Aransas pass and so make harbor rival
ing any on the Gulf coast
The People Must Pay.
"On Saturday, Sept 10, about sl00,00d
In notes given for the purchase Of these
lots by local and state settlers fell due.
In the meantime the year within whicl
the company promised TO have deep water
in the pass has about elapsed and nothing
| has been done. AS the company has failed
| TO keep its promies the purchasers of lots
| have refused TO meet their notes. They
invested here because Of the distinguished
names associated with the project. Ex.
| Lieutenant 1overnor Wheeler and Rus
| sell Il. Harrison stand at the head.
Mr. Wheeler says the people must pay.
He has been in communication with Mr..
Harrison and others within a few days
and has received orders 10 push the pay
ments. A food Of suits will be brought
by Harrison and Wheeler, and probably
thousand Texans will be made defendants
Say They Have Been swindled.
"On the other hand these sturdy Texas
settlers claim that they have been swindled.
They say the company has thrived by
system of misrepresentation, and Mr.. p
H. Tansey, OF Aransas Harbor il pre-
pairing a case for the grand jury with a
view TO indictng all the principals.
1T will be bitter fight. The local pa
pers are full Of references Co the pending
trouble, and facts are being brought to
light daily which are alleged to be not
creditable to Mr.. Russell B. Harrison
Not content with inducing Texas TO in
vest in his enterprise, he organized
a special expedition into the state from
: New York and visited Aransas Harbor
| with full retinue OF artists and writers
I for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
Z = and other publications. Then was issued
the special Texas edition Of October, 1889,
with illuminated cover, in which two pages
!, were devoted exclusively to the wonders
! Of Aransas pass So people in the east
were induced to invest on the strength OF
the fine promises held out, and it is sup
= posed the company took in several hum
dred thousand dollars at the headquarters
on Fifth avenue, New York.
al Description Of the Harbor.
n For more than fifty years there has
been great desire on the part Of the peo-
q. pie for a deep water port upon the Texas
n, coast, capable of accommodating ocean
n. going vessels. Aransas pass is situated
y. between Kockport and Corpus Christi and
M is an opening from the GuIf Of Mexico1ntd
9o the bays on which the two towns named
n are built Inside this pass there Is a
~ natural and magnificent harbor thirty feet
- T.~ ...I Ia "A
~ affording all the necessary anchorage and
- dockage,
\, 1.-The pass is about 1900 feet ia width.
~ All that is needed to make a great port az
1d this point Is to deepen the pass and re-
move the sandbar which now separates the
gulf proper from the inner harbor.
History OF the Alleged Scheme.
" During the year 1855 the San AuteEiu
ed and AranEas Pass railway line was built
tt from San Antonio TO Rockp0rt The presi-
H. dent OF the road, Colonel Uriah Lott sasy
I'D the value Of the harbor If the bar could bc
" removed, and Immediately took steps %
is get control Of the enter prise.
"The land upon which the so called City
Of Aransas Harbor now stands was the
property Of Judge T. p. McCampbell.
te While Mr.. Lott was thus engaged certain
al other men, now interested in the Arkansas
III Atb1 anu improvement
rs obtained from Judge McCampbell an op-
ne ton for the purchase OF the land. Among
OF these men was Il. B. Wheeler, then lieu
tenant governor Of Texas.
wheeler enlisted the services OF B. III.
Wilson, OK Monette, Mo-, and with the as
~ sistance Of others, sufficient funds TO com
IL mence operations we're secured With
h SSO,OO0 1900 acres OF land were ostensibly
cd purchased and a town site was laid ont.
no Russell Harrison as President
y 1T was this land, never before occupied
except by cattle and hogs, that was ma'le
the basis OF a high sounding corporation
4 advertising itself as having paid up
~ capital OF 81, 900, O00' Russell b. Harrison
NJ has been in il from the start but has
" visited the place only once-when the
4, transfer Of the property took place.
n. The Worlds correspondent then says
that Harrison has doomed the scheme
through the press. and was given a block
OF stock valued at 100000 for the use oi
w. his name as president Of the company.
lis The World adds:
m, "The management studiously avoided
Of giving to the purchasers abstracts of title.
ng OF all the property sold and bought IN
ce Arkansas Harbor there has never been an
abstract Of title furnished by the com.
pany. They have many times promised
GO W AS 1Nf hhA VI ~ eH-o AN~~N N~N-
ny terly failed"
m Were the Promises Broken7
A. The World says that at the first sale OF
lots Sept 10 and lS, 1890, Governor Wheeler
stated that great things would be done in
year The following promises made by
ia, him to investors have not been kept;
ied The great commercial city has not been
I'M built
by The best men in the country have failed
TO materialize.
The 100000 Of paid up capital wa
bogus.
ul- The railroads had nothing whatever Il
lie do with the scheme.
ty, There was no written contract as repre-
ng sented.
There was not and is not any termina
railway company.
The town company did not control AM
lor does not control Harbor Island, and a.
al though year has passed little has beei
.ks done toward making the deep water CHAN
La mel
The World says that seven congressmei
were in the scheme
ew The Thirty-third Annual Meeting
in NEWARK, " j., Sept. 21.-The thirty
tbs third annual fair Of the New jersey STAT
ing Agricultural society opened at WaYerii
/ park near Newark, today.