The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-16

known west of the Mississippi than east of that stream. He made life miserable for the managers of the great trunk lines for several years. and some day the farmers may come to understand what he did for them. With a few other men
 he started out about ten years ago to
 build a railroad from Kansas City to the
 Gulf. He got about 100 miles of the line
 constructed when the panic of 1895 came
 on. It took several years to build the
 next ten miles. Dozens and dozens of
 times it seemed as though the project
 would have to be abandoned. But MT.
 Stilwell never lost hope. He hates Wall
 Street and it's methods He wouldn't list
 his stock there. He is wonderfully con vincing in his arguments and has great magnetism.
 There is a story that in the darkest days of the road-it was called the Kan sas City. Pittsburg and Gulf-Mr. Still
 well was riding In a train bound for Chicago, when he by chance got into con
 versation with a fellow passenger, who happened to be banker of Amsterdam. The Dutchman was looking America over for the purpose of finding some good field
 for investment. Mir. Stilwell talked to
 the Dutchman. He talked so earnestly
 and so well that they raced to New York, embarked on the first vessel bound Hol-
 landward. and when MT. Stilwell return
 ed to this country enough Dutch capital was interested in the Kansas City, Pitts
 burg and Gulf to put 1t through with d whoop.
 Obstacles Overcome
 And 1t was a wonderful road. Never
 was there a line that had SO many ob-
 stacles to overcome. First. Mir. Stilweil wanted to make Galveston his Gulf out
 let. but negotiations for the purchase of the Gulf and Interstate Road, which
 would have given the entrance he desired
 failed He cast his eye on New Orleans but was blocked by the Southern Pacific
 and the Texas and Pacific. The Gouds
 and the Huntingtons harassed him at
 every turn. AS last resort he deter
 mined upon Sabine Pass. the dividing line
 between Texas and Louisiana. Sabine
 Pass was at that time thriving seaport
 of about 1l5 inhabitants.
 Most of the town and the land contiGu-
 ous was owned by Kountzc Brothers.
 wouldn't pay the price kountze Brothers
 asked for right of way through the terri
 tory and the wharf frontage he desirrd
 so the road was practically line from Kansas City 10 nowhere. Unable to
 reach the Gulf. MT. Siilwell hit upon d plan for making the Gulf reach him. He bought an immense tract of land on the shore of Lake Sabine. ten or fifteen miles north of Sabine Pass, and he started in
 to dig shin canal through the shallow | lake to the deep water 1t Sabine Pass. | Immediately he was bnnIbarded with 1 suits. The work was stopped by the Sec retary of War, and once more StllWelI
 was high and dry, with no terminal for his railroad.
 Dug to His Own Port. Ever rcsourccful he changed his plans and dug his snip canal across the prairie to Sabine Pass. At the town he built on
 the lakeside-called Port Arthur in ms honor-he put up one of the finest hotels in the Southwest. Near by he established probably the largest and most important agricultural experiment station in Amer ica. A few miles north he built a town called Netherlands. and he brought over hundreds of Dutch farmers and started them growing rice fruits and vegetables He tapped the living streams and put in systems of irrigation by which thous- ands of acres of barren lands were made l to blossom with many crops. and at Port | Arthur ne put up an export grain eleva- | tor and wharves and piers that would | do credit to an ocean seaport. instead Of | a basin in the prairie
 l But that was merely incidental. Great manufacturing plants had been fostered | along the line of the road. and a line of
 steamships had been put on between Port ] Arthur and Europe lt was necessary to | furnish ample cargo for the vessels ana | to keep all the rolling stock employed 1 The Kansas City. Pttsburg and Gulf. l having been kicked and buffeted by all
 rival lines now began 10 hit back | It wasn't much at first. but soon 1t be-
 gan to hurt, and the Missouri Kansas
 and Texas, the Gulf, Colorado and santa
 Fe. and other North and south Roaus | were forced to compete with the Kansas
 City. Pittsburg and Gulf or let thelr | young rival run away with the business. | Then it hurt the East and West lines
 severely. and rates were cut to meet the | Gulf competition.
 The Farmer Profits.
 | And here Is where the farmer came In. Every cent a bushel of cut In the transportation rate meant just that much added to the farmers pocket when It is considered that the bulk of the export grain of America goes from the trans Mississippi belt. and that this amounts
 to hundreds of millions of bushels some