Arizona republican., 1896-05-23
SEEKING TIDE WATER More Railroads for Ariz-
 Ona. Denver & Rio Grande to Be
 Extended. PhonIx VIII in the Future Become Great Railroad
 Center.

Los Angele Express: Col. s. K. Hooper, general passenger agent of the Denver & Rio Grande railroad, with headquarters at Denver. and W. J. ShotweN general (California) agent Of the same road.( arrived in Los Angeles Tuesday and registered at the Nadean. Early Wednesday they called upon K. A. Thompson, general agent of' the Rock Island route, with whom they re- mained closeted the greater part of the morning. According to the part.ra- pants that conversation was prfvata- Here, however, explanations are ueceS- sary.
 The Denver & Rio Grande railroad Is Colorado's most important transport ing line, and runs from Denver to Grand Junction, Colorado. At ths lat ter point it connects with the Rr0 Grande Western railway, a line os- tensibly entirely foreign to the first road, but in reality a part of what-railss road men call the Rio Grande system. and which runs from Grand Junction to Salt Lake City. For years this syS- tem has been seeking an outlet to tdh water. To further this desire the Utah company, composed Of wealthy Mormons, organ zed a company under the title of the Salt Lake & Los An- geles Railroad company, and built eighteen miles of track, out of Salt Lake. Money gave out when the great Salt Lake was reached and constrrle- tion cea sed Then the Rio Grande syS- tenn built road from Thistle Junction on the.r main line to Salina, where actual construction ceased, hut the en- gineers were sent on to St. George, a town in the extreme southwest corner i of Utah. z
 i To this latter point the ln4d has been graded. Ia addition to th.s}2a corps of CT gineefs was sent out to explore and report upon the most feasible rouhe 1 from thence to the Needles, Cal, 3 point upon tire Atlantic & Pae fic which road is very, friendly to the Rio Grande 1 system. M
 ] In addition to these surveys ano her 1 has been made from Durango, Colo, q ! town upon the ma Il line of the Denver 1 G Rio Grande, through the Navajo res eryation to Ash Fork in Ar.z5na- Frun l Ash Fork the Santa Fs, Prescott & Phoenix runs to Phoenix, and from the latter point g. line has already been | surveyed via Yuma, Ariz., to San Di- ego, Cal Now, lately, the Rock, Island route, another friendly road, has s1lr-
 veyed road from Liberty, Kan. to | Phoenix. It is pos lively known that the Rio Grande system and the Rock
 Island are largely interested in tha San Diego road and put Up nos or the { money for the survey.
 | Whan seen in the morning he hPA
 just closed his conversst on with Mir. | Thompson at the Rock Island office. Ills greeting was affable, as t always is, but at first he positively refused to be interviewed, saying that he WIS in California solely for his health. When pressed, he admitted that he YVES yary busy dn Denver and that t was not
 usual for him to take pleasure jaunts at this time of the year Tha1 hs was
 asked if his road was not seek iug tisls
 water. He, answered Yes" after
 which the story as tod abolge was got
 ten from him piece by piece. Then he
 was asked if it was not this business
 that brought him to Los Angeles.
 'I am not at liberty to say" he Ee
 piled.
 But it is all true, is it not, colonel}'
 was asked
 "Yes," he answered, "but," With a
 sudden return of his accustomed ani-
 nation, 'I know nothing"