Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-07-01
WiseelIaaeous geading.
THE DUNovANT-ELDRIDGE FEUD.
Railroad President Flees to New York
to Escape Vengeance.

Railroad President FIees to New York
to Escape Vengeance.
In mortal fear of his life, and with
the hope that in New York he may
escape the pursui. Of those who have
sworn to kill him, William T. Eldridge,
president Of the Cane Belt railroad,
has announced that on July /, he will
leave the state of Texas forever and
resign his position, at the same time
abandoning all the interests in his
native state which have made him
wealthy and prominent in many COM
mercial and industrial enterprises.
He has been shot at three times
from ambush, and is now slowly re-
covering from the last attack, which
was made on June Of this year, the
same day on which he was elected to
the presidency Of the railroad. A bull
let from a Winchester rifle entered his
right shoulder, passed downward and
through his lungs, and left his body
to shatter his left hand. His recovery
has been regarded as little short Of
Mr.. Eldridge now lies under guard
In the house Of his physician, DR.. w.
r. Eckhardt, in Houston. 1t Is an
nounced that a guard of his friends
will accompany him across the Red
river when he starts north. In the
city of Houston there Is today also a
sister of Captain William Dunovant,
whom Eldridge killed two years ago.
and this woman before her brother
died in her arms swore with uplifted
hand at his bedside that his death
should be avenged. The story Of the
vendetta which has raised Dunovant
party and an Eldridge party in three
counties Of Texas, is as dramatic as
any ever told. The final act Of the
feud may take place in this city.
Though Mr.. Eldridge is under in
dictment in Fort Bend county for the
killing of Captain Dunovant, 1t Is an
nounced by his friends that his bail
of $25,0O0 will be forfeited to the treas
urer Of the county and that when the
man leaves the state Of Texas he will
never return to it. For two years the
Eldridge- -Dunovant feud and the fail
ure to try Eldridge have been consid-
cred a grave scandal in the Texas
counties Of Fort Bend, Colorado and
Harris. While the state has been
ringing with its discussion little has
been allowed to reach the north.
Dunovant a Pioneer.
Captain William Dunovant was a
progressive, practical plantation own
er, who was the first man prominent
ly to seize the advantage of the fer
tile soil Of Southern Texas and start
development on a scale which at the
time was regarded as absurdly extra
VACANT. He owned 10000 acres in
Colorado county, which included Eagle
Lake and the village Of that name,
about fifty miles from Houston. When
the south first showed signs Of recov-
cry from the blasting effects Of the
civil war, Captain Dunovant plunged
into the cultivation and development
of his vast plantation, with methods
which made his neighbors open their
eyes wide.
He built a pumping station at Eagle
Lake to irrigate his land and was the
first to raise rice, which he insisted
was a product eminently adapted to
the soil of that region, one Of the rich
est in the world. Those who began
by laughing stopped to wonder at his
success, and 1t was not long before the
whole southland was ringing with
praise of the pioneer who had added
another great agricultural resource to
a country just emerging from i'm
poverishment.
He raised sugar cane, cotton, corn,
ramie, alfalfa and other products and
added manufactures to his agricul-
tural interests until he became pros
porous to a marked degree. Promo
ters of immigration held him up as
an example Of what live man could
do in Texas farming and railroad
agents published pamphlets for dis
tribution in the north showing the
prosperity of his immense plantation
and its diversified crops.
There lived in Southern Texas the
son Of a Confederate army officer, who
died soon after the war, leaving his
family in poverty. This son, William
T. Eldridge, Captain Dunovant took to
his plantation through friendship for
the father, who had been a companion
in arms. The boy was nearly grown,
but without education. Captain Dun
ovant educated him, clothed him and
took him into his own family. He
made him foreman, then overseer OF
his great plantation, and declared to
his friends that he loved him like a
son.
Planter Builds a Railroad.
Eldridge developed rapidly. He be-
came an admirable administrator and
a careful financier. His progress de-
lighted the old man. He left almost
the entire management Of the planta-
tion to the young man while he began
work on a project he had had In mind
for O long time, nothing less than the
building Of a railroad, on which the
products Of the Dunovant plantation
could be shipped direct from Eagle
Lake to mill, factory and the coast.
In due time the Cane Belt railroad
was completed from Sealy, on the
Gull, Colorado and Santa Fe railroad,
to Eagle Lake, now almost city. 1t
was about twenty-five miles long and
had locomotives and freight cars