The San Angelo press. (San Angelo, Tex.) 1897-1907, 1902-07-30
PROGRESS OF The ORIENT.
Work of Construction Being Pushed
at Different Points Along
the Route.

Construction work on the Orient
line in the United States is in
progress at several points and it is
expected the grade Will be COM
pleted for a straight stretch of 416
miles before the close of this
year. Should the accomplish
ment of this purpose of the officers
of the road be carried into next
year it will be because of delay on
one piece of heavy work between
the Red river and the terminus
of the grade southbound in Kan
sas and Oklahoma to Fairview,
o. T. The distance from fair
view to the Red river is $50 miles,
of which about sixty miles has
been graded. 1t is possible the
remaining ninety miles, on which
there is heavy work, may not be
completed this year, but if it is,
/ the Orient officials say their
grade will extend from the north
line of Harper county, Kan, to
Sweetwater, Tex, 416 miles,
January /.
The Orient line into Harper,
Kansas, was completed yesterday
and train service will be establish
ed at once, although'a time sched-
ule will probably not be adopted
before about August /. Many of
the merchants of Harper, as an
inducement for the earlier COM
pletion of the line to that point,
recently signed document
pledging themselves to give the
Orient n large share of their
freight, and it will be put in
through tariffs, via Anthony, in
connection with the Missouri Paci-
fic, Rock Island, Frisco and
Choctaw and at once become COM
petitor for through business to
and from Harper.
South of Anthony, the line is
completed to n point in Oklahoma
one and one-half miles south of
Waldron, making twenty-seven
miles of completed roadbed there.
Track laying to Carmen, thirty
three miles farther south, is de-
layed only by failure to secure
bridge timbers for the streams
between that point and the end
of the track. Nearly 5000 feet
of bridging is under construction
there, and the company experience
ed delays both in getting the
timbers sawed and in securing
cars for shipment when ready.
1t is all either on the ground or
enroute now and the line will be
pushed through to Carmen.
North of Harper, Kan, the ten
miles of grading needed to COM
plete the line through Harper
county has been awarded to four
separate contractors, conditioned
on it's completion not later than
October /. 1t is necessary to lay
the rails through Harper county
this year in order to secure valu-
liable bonuses. 1t is also proposed
to continue the track laying south
to Fairview, o. T., and to have
in operation by January /, q
stretch of ninety-one miles of
roadbed from the north line of
Harper county to Fairview. Presi-
dent J. J. Sylvester and Vice
President w. A. Williams, of the
Union Construction Company,
which is building that part of the
Orient line from Kansas City to
Fairview, returned yesterday
from an inspection trip over the
completed portion, They say the
track is in excellent shape.
R. L. McCaulley, the banker of
Sweetwater, Tex, and one of the
principal representatives of the
Orient interests in that state,
arrived yesterday for a conference
with Vice President w. w. Sylves.
ter and other officers of the road
and will spend several days here.
Work on the grade in Texas is
progressing rapidly and it is ex-
pected that by November the
} $50 miles from Sweetwater to the
Red river will have been CON-
, pleted. Permanent locations of
J the line south of Sweetwater are
now being made and the work of
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