Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1906-01-19
that GREAT BEND 8 GULF NATTER.
4 Statement Of the R. R. Situation as
II Nov Appears to Stand.


more or less about the north and
south railroad. In order to give
the public a fair insight into the
situation we have made a careful
investigation of the facts and are
prepared to vouch for the follow.
ing statement, by those close to
the movement:
About the time the Chicago
capitalists entered upon the pro-
motion of this line of railroad a
st. Louis syndicate who then
owned and operated short line in
Oklahoma bteween Guthrie and
Enid concluded to extend their
line nOrthwesterly. 1t happened
that each of these syndicates was
in Ignorance of the plans of the
other and in locating their lines
each decided upon practically the
same route. The Chicago people
were first to occupy the field and
the st. Louis syndicate then decid-
ed to run their line through
another territory west of this and
accordingly put their surveying
parties through the counties run
ming parallel to this tier of count
les on the west of us. Their line
was projected through Larned,
La Crosse and Hays City. This,
however, was looked upon as an
experimental survey until Barber
County voted one hundred thous-
and dollars in county bonds to aid
the road, when the building of
that line began to look like a.
reality.
The St. Louis people then ap-
preached the Chicago crowd and
asked for a conference with a view
to getting together and building
one road instead oftwo. They in
sisted that inasmuch as they had
part of their line completed and
in operation as far as Cherokee
and the grading under way to
Kiowa they were fairly entitled to
the territory as far north as the
Union Pcaifc. The result of these
negotiations was the absorption of
the Great Bend and Gulf by the
St. Louis people with an under
standing between them and the
Chicago crowd that the St. Louis
syndicate would complete their
line to the Union Pacific and the
Chicago syndicate would extend
the same north through Kansas,
Nebraska and the Dakotas; and
that when completed the whole
would be operated under joint
traffic agreements.
This arrangement was carried
out in good faith by the Chicago
people and was undoubtedly being
prosecuted in good faith by the
managers of the st. Louis propo-
sition; but right here the Santa Fe
got in its work by quietly pur-
chasing the completed line of the
Denver, Enid and Gulf in Okla
homa, thus cutting off the south
ern outlet of the proposed system.
The Great Bend and Gulf line
is thus hung on a limb for the
present. 1t has not been sold or
turned over to the Santa Fe and
was not included in the sale to the
Santa Fe of the Denver, Enid and
Gulf road, but its future looks
precarious and time alone will tell
its fate.
Meanwhile the Chicgo syndicate
declare they are not daunted by
this miscarriage of ftheir plans and
they are in fact vigorously pres
sing forward the work of build
ing a line north from Great Bend.
These people and our own citizens
have acted in good faith through
out this entire matter and we have
full confidence in their efforts pro-
ducing substantial results in the
near future.
A young son of Geor ge Hart's,
south of the river, is very i'll with
pneumonia.