The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-03-30

the road to Jefferson and Whitewater
 from Geneva. The new promoters is- lsued $1,0OO 1000 in bonds, which were in 1 addition to the farm and town bonds
 already issued and sold for the benefit
 of the enterprise. contract was then
 made with the Canadian railway con-
 struction firm of George F. Harris & | Co., Harris immediately came to Wis
 consin from Canada, bringing with him
 large outfit, consisting of steam show
 els experienced workmen, etc, and
 started in in dead earnest. He secured 1 w. H. Bradford, now well known re-
 tired citizen of Milwaukee, as his pri-
 vate secretary.
 About the same time the new owners
 ordered twelve hundred tons of English
 'T' rails, to be delivered in Milwaukee.
 These rails were finally unloaded at the
 dock at Milwaukee In bond and the
 secretary of the road, Edward Barber,
 was called upon by Collector of Gus
 toms Gotleib Weiss to, plank down $12,-
 0C0 in gold as duty on the foreign
 from Harris went to work grading
 the road from Geneva north and did
 some heavy cutting through the White
 water bluffs and on through to Jeffer-
 son, where he put in bridge over the
 Rock river to connect the road with the
 Northwestern line. The English rails
 were taken to Whitewater and laid for a distance of about two miles, making a spur from the Milwaukee and Mississ- ippi road
 Then rumors of war depressed busi- ness, capitalists became timid and hard times set in, and the companies with completed roads found 1t very hard to make both ends meet, to say nothing of the prospect for new enterprises. The bonds of the Central would not sell, and its funds got low. Harris had a big bill due on work faithfully performed. The company met and decided to give him the bonds to see what he could do with them. He, could do nothing, of course, and the company is still in his debt He wanted his money and his men were clamoring for their pay
 One bright Sunday morning some one reported to the chief engineer of the new road, Frederick Starin, that long train of flat cars had arrived at White water Junction, and that the trainmen had broken the switchlocks on the track the Milwaukee and Mississ- ippi and the Wisconsin Central's two miles of spur. Starin got the secreta- ry, Edward Barber and both hastened | to the scene to learn just what was up. They found their contractor, Harris, in ! charge of the train, and he had a big | crew of his men with him. He ran his special" up to the far end of the road, two miles beyond the junction, and | there, on that beautiful Sunday morn- Ing, when courts were not in session and proceeded systematically to load the Wisconsin Central railroad on his spe- ,ial train--ties, rails and all. The men would take up and place a section of he road on the flat cars and the train would then retreat far enough to give he men q chance to work on the next section, thus taking up the track in the wake of the train until all of the two niles of railroad were on board. Then Contractor Conductor Harris gave the ignal and his train, with its load of English rails, pulled out on the main inc of the Milwaukee and Mississippi md disappeared around a curve.
 What did we do?" exclaimed Secre- ary Barber. Well, what could we do? Harris had our road aboard his train: 1t vas Sunday, and besides, he had a big ang of Irishmen with him, and we de- ided under the circumstances to let i'm steal the road. We knew he could ot get, his money, and we did not lame him much AS his train passed s with our railroad on board he smiled raciously at us and waved goodbye. Ve never saw Harris after that. The l emainder of our railroad in Illinois radually disappeared also; we never l new how or where. But the right of l 'ay is still there-paid for. In later [ ears Edwin H. Abbot and George Es- erly of Whitewater the inventor of l le Esterly reaper and header, made an l ( fort to revive the project, but without lccess, and it was never built t"-Even- lg Wisconsin. |