The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-03-31
fBY n. .. rosTER)

more down right. unfaltering determina-
ton than any private enterprise ever oe-
fore undertaken in Texas
II is direct and overwhelming Contra
dicticn OF the belief or assertion that out
side capitalists are afraid to invest IN
Texas These Port Arthur people nave
spent millions building a railway and per-
fecting that ship canal. and they are ready
h spend few millions more.
They seem to do everything on large
scale. Every improvement is undertaken
with a view tn the future-and that future
In their eyes is big city at Port Arthur
with vessels loading and unloading there
from all parts of the world
That excursion and celebration last week
was on big scale They brought people
there from ten or twelve States, and lew
from foreign countries. There were gov
errors and other high State officials whole
train loads Of Legislators from Kansas
Arkansas and Texas, capitalists and farm
ers and railroad presidents from every
where. newspaper men from twenty or
thirty cities-all kinds of people and lots
OF each kind.
| locked at the crowds swarming over
that little town and wondered what they
all came for and how they were ever IN
duced to come. Then I thought OF the
many thousands of dollars spent In bring
ing them there and OF the thousands
| It cost to entertain them aud began to
wonder how much work and worry II
would require to make the citizens of some
other and much larger Texas towns UNDER
go such an expenditure merely for an ad-
vertisement.
Did 1t pay?
! OF course It paid. There are several
thousand walking advertisements Of Port
Arthur today. The newspapers Of Texas
OF Missouri, of Kansas, of Nebraska, OF
! Arkansas. of Illinois, and of several other
States contained long Geographic descrip-
tions of the Port Arthur entertainment
and the cause thereof These newspaper
accounts have been placed before the eyes
of at least one million people. 1t was an
advertisement that the promoters of the
excursion couldn't have received by any
other means, and II was worth ten times
the amount expended
~
The seven miles of ship canal connecting
the waters of Sabine Lake and the Gulf OF
Mexico, together with the Improvement;
made at Port Arthur, have cost the pro-
moters of the enterprise five million dol
lars. with this lavish expenditure they
have created a new seaport on the gull
for the largest ocean going vessels, have
connected a land-locked fresh water har-
Dor with the terminus of an S00-mile
north and south railway system, thus re-
ducing by 500 miles the distance over
which the export food products of the
Southwestern States have been hauled BY
east and west lines to New York.
The sublime faith OF the men behind
the Kansas City, Plttsburg and Gulf rail
road in the possibilities of Port Arthur a.
shipping point is worthy of the highes
recognition, The final development of thu
work has demonstrated the great wisdom
displayed in designing and carrying gu
same, but the many oppositions, the lega
complications, and the various obstruc-
tons that these men had to contend will
were enough to dishearten any but tn,
most courageous. But President Still
we'll OF the railroad company and Mr.
de Goeijen of Amsterdam, Holland, neve
wavered in their faith and determination
and they interested other capitalists in the
work. Mr.. de Goeijen represented The
! l...If To-, .I, .
burg and Gulf and the canal enterpris
in Europe, and to his personal aid, | an
told, is largely due the credit for tht
financial support Mr. Stilwell secured il
Holland. The canal plans, which man,
capitalists and fnanciers In this colntr
had called visionary were submitted t
the most noted engineering experts ii
Europe and approved by them. The Hol
anders especially put their faith and mon
ey into the work.
In all respects the canal, harbor ant
railway terminals are most complete
Port Arthur is situated on Sabine Lake
J a body of water thirty miles long an,
about ten miles wide, which marks tn
, hOuuudEy OIL 1eAds ana lsOulSldHd. OeNe
and one-half miles from Port Arthur Sa
bine Lake narrows into a long channe
called Sabine Pass. This channel is fror
twentysix TO forty feet deep and extend
for seven miles to the southwark, terminal
ing in the Gulf OF Mexico. At the outwar
end of the pass is bar, which has beer
pierced by a channel formed by extendin
] for a mile or more from shore two jettie
Of piled stone built by the United State
government, and which when completed
will cost sl,05O,OOO
) The jetties narrow the entrance to tn
pass from the gulf, and the wash of tn
imprisoned waters to and fro with tn,
, ebb and flow of the tide has secured
channel over the bar from sixteen to TWEEN
ty-hve feet deep Last March the gov
! eminent reports OF the war department
: showed depth of 24.1 feet at mean 10y
,, tide over the bal, but securing since Ia