The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-11-10
THE SILVER ROUTE.
New Ostlss for shs Commerce Of ths
silver States.

New Ostlse for she Commerce Of The
silver States.
TO The Independent.
The growing antsgonism between The
friends Of silver in ths west and its opno-
nsnts In she sast ID likely 70 hasten the
consummation Of . work Of vast imp0s-
tanos 70 the country west Of the Nissis-
sippi and that 10 10 establish deep watsr
harbor ON ths Gulf Of Mexico. For more
than forty ysaTs government and other en-
ginesrs. who have bssn engaged ON coast
surveys and soundinRs aad The stsdy Of
currents Affecting the various passes
through the bars that guard The whole gulf
coast. have reported fsvoSsbly on one pass
particularly. and that IL Ayansas pass. On
harbor. from twenty -Hvs TO fifty feet deep.
Offering nine miles Of dookaGs front for the
largest vessels; the deep watsy extends ont
through the pass TO the gslf, whore there II
. narrow bar TO obstEuoI the entrance.
But for the outbreak Of the OWL war the
tIanscontiaental trafio Of the United
states would largely follow lines very diff
ferent frsm the present. and the CON meroe
OF California would be handled u AYansas
Pass. But the war killed the Central Tran
10 project and iefs its emo NOUS spssulH-
sivs probabilities open 10 syndicate Of the
present day: Thrss years ago the project
prove the bar and ano.hsr 10 build .hs city
Of Arkansas Pass. Tho terminal railway was
partially completed and 2. 800 feet OF jettiss
constructed before the financial st4in qenoy
con PEELED the suspension of operations.
The sftect Of the jsttiss proved satisfactory
beyond all expectations and dsmopstt atsd
twenty -four feet on the bar; that osn be
increased to thirty ieet with little sdAi-
tional expense.
While the wsYk has bssn suspended the
Importance Of this haybov has been growing
upon the psople Of tho west and southwest.
The people Of the ststos west OF ths Missis-
sippi had lsnQ recognized the importance
Of an outlet BY the gulf that would save
them annually on commerce that 10 now
heavily taxed for the long haul BY rail 10
the Atlantic ssaboayd. Tho war of The
gold oenteTs upon the western interests and
the paralysis caused BY the manipulators of
val q. ses have imbssd the western Deo-
pendent Of the distant financial osntsrs,
and oaused them more fully 10 realize the
great economic advantages OF a deep water
harbor comparatively near At hand. Hence
the interest In the recent deep watss con-
vention at Chicago, and tho hold the AHaR-
sas proposition has taken on the people Of
the west.
The probability of the speedy realization
of this project IL recognised BY the rail Dad
corporations and others who study the
situation from . business poiRt OF view.
The Southern Pacific will lose . oonsidera-
bic proportion of Its traffic On some hun-
drsds Of miles Of It's main line b. the open-
inevitsbls by purchasing the San Antonio
q Aransss Pass railway. The ofaeials Of
the other roads operating In tho southwest
say nothing less will tempt them. bat as
soon - there 10 twensy feet OF water on
Arkansas bar every railroad in Texas will
PittsbuTQ & Gulf railroad has already CON
struotsd and purchased 260 miles of track
heading this way.
proposition il on foot and practically
contaminated to conplets. the work Of OBJ
tanning the necessary depth of water over
the bar. II is not easy at this time to PEE
dict the effects Of this ha Dor on the state
Of Montana. but this much 10 certain:
With the completion Of tho Burlington to
Helena there will remain only ono gap of
180 miles. from Sheridan to Douglas Wyo..
on the railway from Montana TO the Gulf
Of Mexico. That gap will be filled in the
near future and Helsns will be only 1900
miles from Aransas Pass BY rail, or about
800 miles nearer than TO New York. All of
Montana west of the Big Horn will be that
much nearer to tide water. The diversion
of traffic to the gulf will give tho lines run
Aing north and south vast traffic he ot0-
fore moved east and west. The growth of
this north and south bnsiness will be 4
powerful factor In developing tho Rocky
mountain region. The north and south
lines will no longer bs merely feeders for
the trans0on tinentals, but they will develop
. sustaining business from the gulf TO the
Canadian boundary. AL Montana will feel
the beneficial effects Of the new relations
to be called into bsinR through the new
seaport at Afansas Pass.
The lands In southwest Texas are almost
all tied mp in great cattle ranges. but
enough has been done to demonstrate that
ths soil and elimaotic conditions render
them specially adapted for the production
of al! kinds of vegetables and some tropical
products. Gardners are now busy planting
tomatoes and other vegetables which will
ripen in the open air by Christmas and
command fancy prices In the northern
markets. q. p. PANToN.
m