davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1902-08-07
RAILROAD MEN
VISIT OUR CITY
rs st
The Party Was Made Up Of James ].
Hill and Other Northern Pacific
Officials.
SAY We ARE ENTITLED TO A ROAD
Aresln Doubt rs to Whether the Best
Plan Is to Build from Sites
or Cut de Sac.

Grangeville was honored yester-
day by visit from President James
j. Hill, of the Great Northern and
Northern Pacific railways; Presi-
dent G. S. Mellen, of the Northern
Pacific, and six other officials of
the great railroad system. They
had telephoned in advance of their
visit, and our people sent down
private carriages to bring them up.
They arrived here at 1916 and lie it
at 2:3O p. IN. lii the interval they
were entertained at the Jersey
house, and after lunch they visited
the banks and talked to some of
the citizens.
Briefly the object Of their visit to
this section was as follows: Since
President Mellen was here three
years ago the Northern Pacific has
passed into the control Of Mr.. Hill
and his friends, and Mr.. Mellen
has been 30 persistently advocating
railroad construction onto Canas
Prairie, and has boosted it to such
an extent, that Mr.. Hill had a nat
ural curiosity to visit us and see
for himself whether the many re-
ports he had heard concerning the
wonderful fertility of our soil and
it's extent and capabilities were all
that was claimed. for it. He ex-
pressed himself as being more than
satisfied, and said he had never
seen such magnificent crops as he
had passed. in coming up from
Sites. lie further said that we
were entitled to railroad, but that
the company was in doubt whether
to adopt the branch from Cul de
Sac, which would tap the whole of
the prairie, or to build a standard
gauge line from Sites to Grange
vile, and to run system Of lighter
lines from Grangeville to the pro-
ductive country around Denver,
| Cottonwood and Nezperce. He was
inclined to believe that the latter
proposition was the most feasible
The idea of an electric system from
Grangeville was proposed to him,
and being satisfied that water
power was available on the South
fork of the Clearwater he thought
that the problem might best bt
solved in that way.
This matter of a system Of cleo
trio roads radiating from Grange.
vile is one that should be immedi.
ately acted on by our people. Mucl
of the data has already been col
lected and is Immediately availa
BILE, and step should be taken tt
lay this matter before Messrs. Hill
, and Mellen without loss of time.
4 From what could be gathered il
seems that the whole of the Clear
water country east of Lewiston i
j as much Of battle ground betweel
, the Northern and Union Pacific a
it ever was, and the probable out
come will be what the FREE Pres
has persistently claimed, that W
shall eventually have both roads a
I competitive factors for the trade G
, this big empire Of ours.
: Messrs. Hill and Mellen ex
l pressed themselves as highly graft
fed with the traffic coming froI
, this section, and repeated their as
! sertion that we were entitled t
]. railroad facilities, and they prt
g posed to see that we got them jus
! as soon as they could mature thei