The age-herald., 1900-07-13
ASTOR AND ALABAMA
 AND HOW THEY MET
BY LUCIEN JULIEN WALKER

instrumental in preventing the investment of millions of money and the creation of great seaport in Alabama; and so for Ala | bamians much of individual interest at taches to the expatriated American. In 1892 plans were projected for building | A port at Dauphin Island, thirteen miles below Mobile which would have been the deepest, safest and best harbor on the Southern coast, and one of the best Tn the western world There would have been 1 thirty feet of water on the bar, ana the navies of the world might have anchored | there in perfect security.
 The building of such port would have resulted in the building of a mighty clty' | Thither would have flowed in many ex- haustless currents the richest commerce. l ''calm health of nations" in the past, now' and for all the years that shall come | Across many seas from many lands, over | many ways of rail and down many rlVefs l would have been sent countless opulehce' | The earth's thousand years store ot Ala l bama iron and coal would have been | drawn upon for ever-increasing largess l The wealth of half the countrys fields and l forests would have paid abundant tribute l to the new city by the sea- Most uue' greatest plentifulness of all this VIII DC poured into Mobile. Our own Gulf Clty | and pride of Alabama" as the good oi- l vinity doctor Sumner used to style one | of the most delightful and promising or | all present or possible towns! But 'he l port on Dauphin Island would have been a second and greater port of Mobile ana l from the river front to the island there l would have spread the mightiest city south I of Manhattan. So some day it shall be- I but not so soon as it would if the plans formed eight years ago could have been l successfully developed.
 | Men of fortune in this country became l greatly interested in fortunes promise at | Dauphin Island, and In London 1n- | vestors cordially endorsed the un- | dertaking They spoke in confident assurance, and their money was waiting to l give force and effect to their speech. Ex- pert engineers and business men were sent over the sea charged with the mission of 1 thorough examination and exploration, surveying and estimating as to all possible cost and profit. After months of patient l and painstaking investigation, and going into every detail in the good methodcal English way, these Englishmen drew up an l eldDOldtc ISpOIl dHu gave u tilo poi t-puiiu- | ing plans their absolute approval That was sufficient for and entirely satisfactory l to all the men of money. The new port | should be built
 l As the critical stage in the necessary | company formation approached, there ap- l peared in influential mining and engin- eering journal of Chicago a lead | ing article denunciatory of the Dauphin Island undertaking, which was declared to | be impracticable, wild, impossible, and a l scheme to rob investors. The article was characterized by slanderous and scandalous | falsehoods; and to make it worse and more l hurtful a copy of it was sent to the Pail | Mall Gazette, MT. Astor's personal organ in London, with request to reproduce it for the information of innocent investors in England. The Pall Mall Gazette, with | out making any sort of effort to ascertain | facts, willingly complied with the request and accompanied the libelous publication by editorial utterances of identical nature.
 The London agent of the American in- | terests demanded of the Pall Mall Gazette retraction and explanation. The promise was given that the matter would be in- vestigated at once. Within week that organ of the house of Astor printed a lengthy editorial denunciation of the Dau- | phin Island scheme as being but another American railroad project to swindle Eng fish investors. Then there was most vigor- ous protest and vigorous demand from the agent of the Americans, and again there was promise that the truth would be told and the wrong righted. MT. Astor him. self was appealed to in vain. The English | investors became alarmed and eaid tbot
 they must withhold their money. Three reputable. English engineers swore that the statements made by the Chicago jour- nal and by the Pail Mall Gazette were damned lies. The chief engineer who had been at Mobile and made the most com l plete investigation, and had reported to the English investors, declared the state ments to be wholly without the semblance of truth and as an evidence of his good faith and his own judgment he proved that he had himself invested $25,O0O of his savings in land between Mobile and Dau- | phin Island. It was all of no use. Mr.
 Astor was the owner of the Pall Mall Ga | Zette; MT. Astor was an American; MT
 Astor was man of great wealth; Mr As | tor must surely be right. Unless MT. Astor I personally vouched for the untruthfulness
 
 Dauphin Island scheme, the English in- vestors must continue to withhold their money.
 But, stay! Let action at law be taken against MT. Astor. If this were done, and the publications in the Pail Mall Gazette proved to the satisfaction of an English jury to be lies, then would the English investors come forward with all the money required to build the new port at Dauphn | Island.
 This proposition was urged upon the ma jority of the directors of the undertaking, who resided in New York. For reasons known to themselves they declined to sanction legal action against MT. Astor. The Hon. H. Austill of Mobile sometime
 a Chancellor of the State and subsequently a leading member of the Alabama Legisla- ture, one of the best, most trustworthy, and most reputable Christian gentle men in America or out of it