Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-03-28
LIBERAL FRANCHISES
WILL AID WORK
Geo. A. Whiting Tells Stevens
Point Business Men That
Electric Line Will be Built If
the Cities Will Give LOYAL Sup
port to New Company.

EIeLtIlL LlAC VIII bC Duhk IL
the Cities Will Give LOYAL Sup.
port to New Company.
The Stevens Point Business Mems
Association held meeting Thursday
afternoon of last week, which will
interest people of this city in that
Geo. A. Whiting, the Neenah capital
ist, and well known in this city, spoke
about the proposed electric railway
from Nekoosa to Stevens Point. The
Stevens Point Daily Journal Friday
gave the following account of Mr..
Writings address:
Mr.. Whiting said he had no set
speech. He came prepared only TO do
a little off hand talking on the railroad
and would probably branch of onto
some other matters of local interest.
In the first place he wished it under
stood that he was not personally a
practical railroad builder and he was
not a promoter in the ordinary sense
of that term. He said he was not pro-
noting this railway for the personal
gain to be made out of this PROPOSE
tion itself, but because the other prop
critics in which he is interested and
the whole community would be
bettered by having better transporta-
tion facilities.
In 1892 and 3, he said he obtained
street railway franchise from the
city of Stevens Point and confidently
expected at that.time to build the road
in the immediate future. In fact he
had experts on the ground preparing
the estimates when the Westinghouse
people telegraphed their man to come
home as there was a panic on. We all
knew in short time that there was
a panic and that it was very much
son.
A year ago, he said, he talked to III.
+. Whitcomb, of Milwaukee, one of
the best informed railroad men, one
Of the best financiers and one of the
most practical railroad builders in the
state, i'm reference to the revival of
this project. Mr.. WhitcOmb at that
time, because of stringency in the
money market, counseled delay, but a
month ago, Mr.. Whitcomb, on his own
initiative, took up q project and
stated that he believed the time had
arrived to secure the franchises. Mr..
Whiting said he had every confidence
i'm Mr.. Whitcomb's judgment and in
this proposition. The Wisconsin
river valley he thought, was bound in
short time to eclipse the Fox river
valley. AS an element in the manu-
featuring industry the Wisconsin
river surpasses the Fox. The mean
fiowage of the Wisconsin exceeds that
of the Fox by eight per cent. The
principal difficulty with the WiScon-
sin at present is that it is erratic.
We have water floods and famines.
This can be easily controlled by the
regulation of the tiOwage from the
lake region at the headwaters. We
have already corrected q large part of
the fault but there is still much to do.
Hence the organization of the Wis
consin River improvement association
for the express purpose OF developing
great system of dams to CONTROL the
tlowage at the headwaterS. \ steady
water supply in the Wisconsin river
means more business and more pros
perity to every city on the river.
There is great future in sight for
water power industries on this river.
/ am terribly interested in this pro-
iect, not for myself alone, but for the
future Now is the time to perfect
this system when the water rights
can be reasonably acquired. Long
after you and have paid our final
debt to nature, the Wisconsin will
continue TO flow on bringing wealth
and prosperity to the thriving COM
munities along her banks, but it must
bo changed from an erratic to con-
stant stream in order to secure its
greatest usefulness.
There are approximately 10000
people tributary to this little line of
80 miles of railway which we propose
to build. We all know local street
railways in small towns do not or
haye not been made topiY. Oshkosh,
much larger town than this, has
had its sad experience. Thirty thou
sand people located at the terminals
of small interurban line would not
pay, but the location of the popula-
tion so scattered along our proposed
line as it is, we think promises good
for the present and better for the
future. Our line if built will start
at Stevens Point and run to the paper
mills, strike Plover, Meehan, Biron,
Grand Rapids and then the long
string of busy, manufacturing centers
that dot the river from Grand Rapids
w AN1NCONti. L ilO paper iihttob- iSN'
alone along this route pay out from
$4,000 to $50, 900 per month to its
wages earners. They are good people
and know how to enjoy advantages.
We think they would appreciate a
trolley line and believe it will pay.
We think we know where we are
going to get the money to build this
line but we need good, broad fran
chises. We must not be hampered by
petty and annoying and unbusiness-
like requirements although we fully
expect each community through
which we pass to fully protect its
legitimate interests now and for the
future. We come to you as business
men with fair proposition and eX-
pect fair treatment in return.
We have organized with a small
capital but it is ample to carry on the
preliminary work. AS soon as oul
franchises are secured we will put oul
engineers in the field and in short
time we expect TO be able to so or
with the actual work Of construction,