Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1904-04-06
Railroad Race For Narrow Pass.

Two great railroads, the Santa Fe and the Gila Valley, Globe & North ern, otherwise the Southern Pacific, are rushing with might and main to reach and occupy that narrow gorge a few miles down the Gila from San Carlos, called the Box Canyon, says the SoIomonville Bulletin. Whichever reaches and occupies the canyon with their grading will have the right to hold it against all corners. The route through the canyon is very rough, and SO narrow that more than one railroad cannot occupy it, hence the haste to occupy it.
 This struggle beween two giant cor porations will be watched with great interest by all, and especially by the people of this valley, as it is plain to them that whichever may win, there will be greater and better freight and passenger facilities for them.
 The Santa Fe people have been giving it out, and by their surveying parties have made it appear that their intention has been to proceed up the Aravaipa Canyon end down the Sul- phur Springs valley to Wilcox, and parallel the Southern Pacific from that point to Deming.
 But the Southern Pacific people have been on the alert, and have evil dently regarded the Santa Fe peoples assertions as "fishy," and before the latter could get much of a start, the former are rushing teams, men and supplies from this valley to the scene Of action.
 Speaking of similar activity at Globe the Silver Best says: ''The ar rival at Globe last Monday night of a railroad grading outfit in charge of R. R. Coleman, aroused a good deal of interest and there were various stories afioat as to what company it represented, its destination and pur- pose.
 Mir. Coleman and his assistants were either dumb when questioned, or else made misleading statements. How ever, it was easy to guess that it was a Southern Pacific outfit, as Ethe G. V. train was held two or three hours at Bowie by a telegraphic order from President Randolph to await the ar rival of the Southern Pacific train bringing the grading outfit.
 There were three box cars filled with scrapers, toJls and camp outfit and about fifteen men in the party. Efforts to secure teams to haul the outfit to it's destination-supposed to be the Gila river, in the vicinity of Kelvin-were only partially success ful. Five six horse teams were en- gagged, and these pulled out Wednes day morning with the camp furniture and provisions and an augmented crew. The section gang of the CIV, G. < \. joined the outfit, influenced by an offer of better wages.
 It seems to be pretty we'll under stood that this party of graders will pitch their camp on the Gila some where above Kelvin and start work where it is likely to most obstruct the Phenix < Eastern.
 The Southern Pacific has two sur vey corps in the field, and it is be- Iieved that they will begin grading l above Dudleyville, in order to hold l the route up the Gila river canyon.
 On the same subject the Florence Blade says that the right of way map, | covering the Arizona & Eastern pro- posed line between Dudleyville and | Kelvin is identical to that of the Phe- nix S Eastern in all its "dips, spurs and angles so to speak. Or, in other words, this map places the proposed | Arizona < Eastern line, for a distance of eighteen miles east of Kelvin, ex- actly on top of the established grade | lines of the Phenix < Eastern.