Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-27

lONk ONOU ut plNJNtNNAS NSAN N''''''
to carry out their contracts and the bonus
was forfeited.
The Kansas City. Rlttsburg & Gulf rail
road then came to the front, and last yeal
a bonus, to be paid by taxation OF S25OOO(
was voted by the town of Shreveport ant
the parish OF Caddo in aid of the new rail
road All the railroads of the place. The
VicRsburg excepted, have just decided tc
build a fine union depot II Is to be 2l5 teoi
In length. will accommodate eight tracks
and Is to be finished by July I. Shreveport
is already planning a big celebration when
the first train from the north comes in.
1t is now expected that train will be
run through from Kansas City early in FEB
ruary. The largest shops OF the Pttsburg
4 Gulf system are located here. They are
already erected, and appear to be durable
buildings They are all OF brick, and of the
most recent designs. The round house con-
tains stalls for twenty locomotives II
is possible that the new road may build
its own cars at Shreveport, the necessary
timber being most conveniently found
Should this be done about 600 men Will be
employed at the shops.
The country tributary to Shreveport is
principally OF an agricultural character, and
as vet is thinly settled Except during the
past year or so the tide Of immigration has
not been directed toward north Louisiana,
1t has flowed right on by toward Texas
and the extreme southwestern part OF the
country. There are great fields OF cotton
in the surrounding parishes, and shreveport
itself is a most important cotton market.
From September, 1895, to September, 1896
So 600 bales OF cotton were handled From
September /, this year, until December :,
73. $50 bales had gone through shreveport
In this period the partially completes iltts-
burg & Gulf road handled nearly 5000 bales.
The volume OF business from January, 1879,
to January, 1896, shown on the board OF
trade books amounted to over $l5,OOOO OOO
This year II Is expected to be larger.
Shreveport is expecting much from the
yeritable forests of long leaf pine Just south
of It, and along the Pittsburg and Gulf road
There is an unbroken tract 200 miles IN
length and twelve miles on each side OF the
railroad. where yellow pine abounds. one
can ride a horse or drive team through
any part OF this tract for there is no uh-
derbrush found there, and the pines are ever
so tall with but few limbs except near the
very top. General Manager Harmon OF the
Pjttsburg g. Gulf told a Bee reporter he
estimated there was 5000 cars of timber
In one little strip there. He said; i We
been here for twenty years, and 1t has al
ways been wonder to me why TINS rich
timber land has not been invaded oy
railroad before. We expect to snip large
quantities of this long leaf pine as far north
as Omaha and Des MONIES, anu as ldl '"S'
as st. Louis.
The railroad is now in operation as tar
south as Many La, seventysiX miles south
of Shreveport The grading between Many
and Beaumont, from which point the ran
road is in operation to Port Arthur, is being
rapidy completed and is expected to be
ready for the rails by February |. If the
work can be carried on without Interrupt
tion President Stillwelis prediction OF
through line from Omaha to the gulf in four
months ought TO be made good
SOUTHERN TERMINUS.
The southern terminus of the Pittsburg
g. Gulf road is Port Arthur, a delightfully."-
situated place for a winter resort ana wen
located for a shipping point II deep water
can be secured. 1t is on the north shore
of Sabine lake twelve miles from the CUR
of Mexico, and about six miles from the
head of Sabine Pass, where the deep water
at present leaves of. IL is not iar from
the mouths of the Sabine and OF the Neches
rivers. both of which empty their waters
into Sabine lake most attractive anu
well appointed hotel there is already doing
a good winter business. There is not Il
great number of inhabitants at Port Ar
thur yet, but among the few are seNerai
Omahans who wanted to be on hand before
the town Added to the excellent iaclil-
ties for boating and fishing there are OPP
portunities for fine hunting. II is not as
a pleasure resort, though, that Port Arthur
hopes to come into national prominence
President Stillwell says the export and
import business from the north through
Port Arthur will alone make 1t great city.
Resides he has great faith in the creation
of q shipping point there for the export OF
domestic fruit vegetables, lumber and hsh,
and further believes II Will become u great
manufacturing center for the lumber, sugar
rice. cotton, packing tanning and canning
Industries Should a small part OF his hopes
be realized Port Arthur will become one
of the important shipping and manutac,
turing points of the country. one thousand
acres of land have been set aside Tor ter
mnals, and 1t is expected that large sums
of money will be expended in building
docks, warehouses, elevators, rice mills ana
cotton congresses.
The success of the scheme appears to de-
pend upon the dredging OF channel twenty
six feet deep from the head OF SABINE
Pass. where the deep water now leaves OH,
to Port Arthur. a distance OF six miles. Con-
gress has been numerously petitioned TO ap-
propriate sums OF money sufficient TO per-
form this work, but the railroad company
will not wait for congress TO act III the mat
ter President Stillwell is authority Tor the
statement that It will proceed to do the
work on its own responsibility Should 1t
20 ahead and make a deepwater port there
the final realization Of the entire scheme
will have been reached.
There is considerable shipping business
at Sabine Pass now. 1t is the deepest water
port on the Texas coast, having q depth OF
over twenty-four feet at mean low tide. An
expenditure of $1,75O,OOO has been made by
the government there. and the pass dredged
it's entire length and jetties put in TO the
outer end of the pass. The river and harbor
bill passed by the last session of congress
contained a provision for appropriating
81 $50 900 to continue this work. Large
steamships have been loaded at Sabine Pass,
the Darlington Oength, 465 feet; breadth
sxty-fve feet; depth, 36ls feet; capacity,
4 700 600 feet of lumber) having discharged
a cargo there in October
STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY.
But it is patent to even a casual observer
that both Sabine Pass and Port Arthur can
not flourish as deep-water ports, at least
not In the near future. There will undoubt-
edly be a struggle for supremacy and 1t
will be another case OF the survival OF the
attest At present there is deep water at
Sabine Pass and not at Port Arthur, but the
terminal facilities at the former place are
something wrctched. There is but one
dock. vessels are kept waiting for their car
goes a long time and many Of them have to
be loaded by means of lighters. The
Kountze brothers own almost all the water
front, as well as the one dock, at Sabine
Pass.
The advantage that Is claimed for Port
Arthur over Sabine Pass is that 1t is far
enough back from the gulf TO be free from
the danger of any overflow. The people
there have not yet forgotten the tidal wave
that awopt over the town Of Sabine ten years
ago. The place was under ten feet OF water
and over 300 lives were lost, but few escap-
Ing the awful doom. Al that time the site