Arizona weekly citizen., 1896-02-01
INTERVIEW
With Mr.. Brewster Cameron
he Arrived This Morn
ing on the Sunset
Limited.
The Old Pueblo Will ALWAYS
Have a Warm Place in
His Heart.
Greets Old Friends, Makes New
Friends, and Talks Entertain
ingly of the Future Glor-
les of Arkansas Pass.

N Mr.. Brewster Cameron returne
'f to Tucson this morning on the SUI
10 set Limited after an absence fror
Is Arizona of more than two year
'r He was greeted at every turn b
y old friends who gave him a we
s. come, the warmth of which can On
q ly be appreciated by those who hav
q lived together on the frontier. Hi
g evident happiness in returning to hi
s old home, in renewing old friend
ships and making new ones, show
C that success in new fields has no
d dimmed the ardor of his love for tn
= old pueblo and her people.
: Mr.. Cameron has more gray hair
than when he left Arizona, and is
trifle stouter, but he has not other
Z wise changed in appearance.
ri 81 am glad to get back to Tue
son." said Mr.. Cameron this after
noon to a representative of tn,
DAILY CITIZEN. "Wherever
, may go, this town and its people
and this territory and its people viii
always have warm place in my
=. heart. Whenever and wherever
meet citizen of Arizona now,
meet an old friend. The public
lquestions and private interests thai
divided US into hostile camps year:
ago are like forgotten chapters in
ancient history, while the recollec.
tions of the hardships of frontier
life, the perils of Indian raids and
other dangers grow brighter in my
mind each year, and my friendship
has grown warmer with time for all
who shared in the trials of those
Idays.
| The reporter interrupted Mr..
Cameron at this point, with the in
quiry as to how his attention was
directed to Aransas Pass.
"My attention was first called to
the project by Mr.. B. H. Wilson,
who was then general manager of
our company; but it was the long
haul from Arizona, which absorbed
the profits of the cattle business,
which first led me, some years ago,
to carefully inquire into the trans
portation question and the more l
studied the subject the more deeply
became impressed with the i'm
portance, as commercial enterprise,
of deep harbor on the gulf coast
of Texas. l became convinced that
the commercial freedom and mate
rial prosperity of the west could only
be accomplished by shortening the
rail haul. A critical examination
into the physical condition of the
several gulf harbors, with eminent
hydraulic engineers in my employ,
convinced me that thirty feet of
water could be secured at Arkansas
Pass, which would place harbor,
deep enough to float the largest
ships, an average distance of 500
miles nearer to every farm house
west of Omaha or Kansas City.
This was equivalent to moving the
great producing centers of the west
500 miles nearer to the sea, where
cheap ocean rates could be secured
on all export products, as well as on
all goods imported and consumed by
the people of the great west
"After an expenditure of time,
effort and money that is appalling
to contemplate, in retrospection, and
during one of the greatest panics of
our time, interested one of the
great banking houses of the world
in the enterprise, and they signed
contract on the first of July last to
furnish the money to build the
breakwater; and the results of this
stupendous work, which have eX-
ceded the predictions of our engi-
neers, are fraught with far-reaching
benefits to the farmers, artisans,
miners, merchants and manufactur-
ers of the great west.
"Every mine, farm, ranch, viii
lage, town and city in Arizona is
brought 4I2 miles nearer to the sea
by this work. The developments
that will follow deep water at Ar
ansas Pass will give a tremendous
impulse to the prosperity of the en-
tire west, of which Arizona will
share.
"It is impossible to exaggerate
the prosperity that will Immediately
come to Aransas Pass and that To-
cality. 1t would require a column
to recite the resources that will swell
the wealth of that port. The rich
trade of northern Mexico alone
would build a great city at Arkansas
Pass. The stock yards, which will
handle one million beeves annually,
for slaughter or export, will be the
largest single industry, with its COL
latual establishments, but other
manufactures of magnitude are as
sured, and these and the additional
railroads will add enormously to the
aggregate wealth and population of
the town. The prediction of Gen.
G. M. Dodge, the railroad magnate
of New York, seems about to be
verified, that "At Arkansas Pass will
spring up one of the largest cities in
the shortest time of any ever built in
America"
sin my opinion the greatest of all
the attractions of Aransas Pass is its
Incompatible climate. AS a sum-
mer and winter resort, it has hon.
estly earned the title of the 'Italy of
America.