The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-22
"A NEW LINE OF STEAMERS.
THAT WILL RUN BETWEEN THIS
PORT AND THAT OF HAVANA.

PORT AND THAT OF HAVANA.
Assurance Almost Positive That the
First Sailing VIII he Made Within
the Next sixty Days-SOuthern Nav
fEation Company Is Said to BE Pc
hind the PrOject-Capt. ID. 6. Purse
Has Been offered the Agency of the
New Line at savannah and Is De-
Iibcrating Whether or Not He
Shall Accept It-CIose Traffic Ar
ranGements with other Transport
tation Lines Have Been Effected.
There Is good reason to believe that with
in sixty days there viii be a line Of
steamships running regularly between this
port and Havana. carrying freight ana
passengers, and with a schedule OF at least
one sailing a week from each point. Capt.
D. G. Purse has been offered the agency
of this line Of steamers at Savannah, and
has the proposition of the company un-
der consideration.
When seen about the matter last night
Capt. Purse would not reveal the name
of the company. nor describe it more fully
than 70 say that it was located in New
York thar it was an institution of fnan-
cial responsibility and standing, and that
Il was in a position to carry to success
any programme for the establishment of
a line Of steamers upon which ii might
decide to enter. From other sources Of
information. though, il IS believed that
the new company is the Southern Naviga-
ton Company of New York, an agent and
confidential adviser of which corporation
is known to have been in Savannah about
two weeks ago
Capt Purse stated to a Morning News
reporter that he sdl held the proposition
of the company under Amusement, and
that he would not be in position to ac-
cept or reject it positively within the next
few days He gave il as his fixed belief,
however, that the line would be establish
ed, and that it would have such advan-
tageous connections and other sources of
business that ii would enter upon the exc
cution of the project with gratifying as
surance of success almost from the very
start
Capt. Purse stated that The new line had
already esta bhshed a traffic arrangement
with the Central Railway. by which 1t was
to transport from this port to Havana the
immense volume of freight that that great
system would bring here from the West.
To secure this through freight for this
port many and varied negotiations. with
widely divergent business interests in the
West, have been found necessary, and the
confidential agent of the company. after
completing that part of the business local
to Savannah, went TO Chicago, to consult
some of the interests located there 1t is
reported that his visit to the Western me-
tropolis has been attended with much
success and that he has secured for h
line the very business he had been espe-
ciaHy commissioned and instructed to Sc
cure, by any legitimate means and at all
hazards.
The arrangements said to have been
made with the Central are satisfactory
and complete in every way. The same
company that is to establish the new line
of steamers is also engaged in passenger
transportation TO France during the time
that the Worlds Fair at Paris is to be in
progress. The company has booked pas
sengers from all parts OF the South and
Southwest, and il IS part of its arrange>
ment with the Central that these passen-
gers shall be brought 10 Savannah and
carried North and to New York by the
vessels of the Ocean Steamship Company.
A reciprocal arrangement will be made
for the transportation Of pass myers and
freight for Havana from New York to Sa-
vannah by the Ocean teamship Company
liners. the vessels of the new company to
take both passengers and freight at this
port.
1t is said by Capt Purse that the traffic
arrangements made by the new line en-
brace the contract for the transportation
of the fresh meat of the Armour Packing
Company TO Cuba. This meat now goes
by way of Norfolk, and it is the intention
to divert it to Savannah and have it
transported by the new line of steamers
to Havana. The company expects also to
do a large business in carrying Western
grain and manufactured products to the
new possessions of the United States in
the West Indies. Capt. Purses under
standing of the company's present plans
Is that two vessels will he put on the line
at first. This will enable the company to
run a schedule rather faster than one
sailing a week each way.
In connection with this compauy's in
tended embarkation in the business of
carrying passengers across the water to
and from the Paris Exposition, Capt.
Purse stated that the company had char
tered the Plant System steamship La
Grande Duchesse, and that the Duchesse
would be run between New York and
Havre. Rumors TO somewhat the same
effect have been in circulation before. but
they have been denied as often as they
have been circulated
Vice President Egan of the Central Rail-
way and Ocean Steamship Companies,
when placed in possession of Capt. Purses
information anent La Grande Duchesse.
stated that 1t was news to him. SO far as
Mr.. Egan's Informal ton on the subject eX-
tended, the trips of the beautiful vessel
between Savannah and New York will not
be diminished by reason of the Paris EX-
position or on any other account.