Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-01-25
Southeast Missouri Electric Line.


The promoters OF the st. Louis,
Hillsboro and Southern, the pro-
posed electric road from st. Louis
to Hillsboro, Mo-, announced
yesterday the completion of the
financing and the letting of con-
tracts for building the line. The
franchises and right of way have
been secured, the surveys COM
pleted, and construction work is
to begin March 1st. The line to
Hillsboro, the county seat of
Jefferson county, forty miles south
of st. Louis, is planned as the first
link in through trolley road to
the Thebes bridge, $40 miles from
st. Louis, by way of Potosi and
Bismarck, with branches and con-
nections extending through Salem
to Cabool, in Texas county. The
road south from Hillsboro is to be
built by separate company, not
yet organized. The promoters will
go to New York next week to in
terest capitalists there in the ex-
tension, which is to cost 81, 500, 900.
The money for the first link has
been furnished by syndicate or
ganized in Chicago, and including
among it's members: w. G. De
Cell of Chicago, Burage & Co.,
brokers of Boston, and Barnhart &
Co., a New York brokerage firm.
The company has a capital stock
of S1,200,000 and has issued the
same amountin bonds, which have
been underwritten. The local
officers and directors, who are
nominal stockholders, although the
ownership is with the syndicate,
are; R. E. Williams, president;
HI. M. Bowen, vice-president and
general manager; II. D. Brandt,
secretary; l.. H. Winer, Hillsboro,
treasurer; and S. D. Winter. The
company was chartered in 1902,
and was originally a st. Louis
enterprise. After difficulties in
financing the road here, outside
capital was finally interested and
the deal was closed within the past
few weeks. Ten acres of ground
on South Broadway, at the River
des Peres crossing, part of which
is in the city and part in the coun-
ty, has been secured for terminals.
At this point the road will con-
meet with the outer belt line being
built around st. Louis and with
the Iron Mountain terminals. This
point is also the location selected
for the proposed tunnel under the
Mississippi river, for which the
Manufacturers railway is seeking
terminal franchises. According to
General Manager Bowen, the road
has already secured terminal ia
cilities ample enough for trunk
line. For passenger traffic the road
will make a connection with the
Broadway car line to get its pas
sengers into the city.
"The line will be built to Hills
boro inside of a year." said Man
ager Bowen yesterday. ga few
days ago we closed contracts fol
80 per cent of the distance and all
the electrical equipment with j. G..
White & Co. of New York. The
cost of road bed construction will
be about S64S, 900, or $4,000 a mile
We have contracted for S51, 900 in
cars and equipment and power
! house to cost $4,000. The power
| station will be located on Big
river, in Jefferson county. By
> erecting a dam and turbines We
. can generate 1900 horsepower a
a minimum cost. The equipmen
. will be of the most modern type
: including 500 horsepower electric
| locomotives that will haul forty
r loaded freight cars.
Q "The passenger cars are of hand
Q some design and constructed tt
|. run double or two in train. They
Y can travel sixty miles an hour ant
: we can maintain schedule o
e eighty-five minutes to Hillsboro
k allowing forty minutes from tn
d courthouse to the River des Pere
= on the street cars. The heavies
Q grade on the road is l04 feet to tn
It mile, and electric locomotives ar
: better grade climbers than tn
steam engine. We expect to dra'
s a large part Of our freight traffi
IS from the opening of new coal an
|, lead mines in Jefferson, Washing
70 ton and st. Francois countie;
It The line will tap new countr
70 and the through road will max
n us competitors for all traffic int
le st. Louis across the Thebe
.. bridge"
il The survey on the new line goe
s through Sappington in st. Lou
l. county, and crosses the Merame
Ut river at Ed. Buffers farm. Th
70 divide between the Meramec an
ut Missouri is crossed at High Ridg
is and from there the line follow
ot Big river to within a few miles {
,r Hillsboro. The projected extens
x ion is routed to leave the Hills
it boro line at Regina and parall
Q. the Iron Mountain southea
lg through Potosi, Bismarck an
l. Delta to Commerce at the west en-
le of the Thebes bridge. A brane
ID from Potosi southwest reach,
Of Salem, where it is to connect vii
is a new trolley line from Salem
lg Cabool on the Frisco system. Al
ID other branch is projected in
Crawford county to reach co
8, mines near Sullivan.
g. --.--------------
"a Remember we have.a very lary
= stock of stoneware, queenswar
" glassware, fruit jars in glass al
~ stone, Jelly glasses in plain al