Semi-weekly herald., 1908-06-01

buy an interest, and that with the
money sd derived could continue de-
velopment" There is a whole lot of
good sense In the idea OF that old
miner; and II won, even though there
was not then a pound of ore visible
in the 900-foot tunnel. He opened one
OF the greatest mines in this state,
simply because he understood the psy-
chology of mining finance. The people
of southwestern Colorado are not i'm
poverished. as that poor miner then
was They can contribute each one |
according to hrs means. 1t viii lead
eventually to. a connection with the |
Santa Fe. Grand Junction ships her /
fruits 10 Texas and Oklahoma. Why |
can not Durango's tributaries ship TO
the same points, via the Santa Fe sys-
tenn and the telpher?
During the last period OF prosperity,
even up to last November, the trans
continental railroads were unable TO
handle the business of the country:
indeed, so great was the transcontinen-
habitually sidetracked passenger trains
to permit the freight trains to move
more rapidly. Such railroads know
that with recurrence of prosperity
the business will tax the carrying
power of the roads to the limit. with
out contributions from any new lines
that may be built, This fact was en-
phasized by Mr.. James ]. Hill when
he said 1t would require an expendi-
ture OF four billion dollars to put the
railroads of the country in condition
TO handle the traffic. This situation
has resulted in very little building of
laterals by the transcontinental sys
TENS in the Rocky mountains. Near
lion work has been done at the initi
atiye of western men-principally the
mine owners. The Tonopah Mining
company built the railroad connecting
that camp with the old lateral OF the
Central Pacific; and Clark and other
mine owners financed the Salt Lake &
Los Angeles to a point where it would
be built anyhow. Moffat is an instance
of the home capitalist even in trans
continental building. The newer rail
ways of Arizona were mostly built by
local mining capital. 1t is very like
ly that a review of the San Juan mines
would show that you have in south
western Colorado II number of mines,
any one of which could produce in a
year ore of a value equal to the cost
of telpher line from Durango TO Gal
| lup; indeed, there is good reason to
| believe that one of your greatest mines
| could produce the cost OF this road in
| four months. If the Santa Fe road
| had any intention of building to Du-
! range 1t would have reached here long
| ago. 1t is all well enough to read
newspaper reports of road this way
| from Ell Paso and Mexico, and every
reported attempt to build a broad
gauge here from such points should be
respectfully considered. But 1t seems
to me the people of Durango have been
hearing such things for many years,
and 1T is time for the people here to
| work out their own destiny. II is very
| probable that the telpher system will
be widely established within ten
| years; and that a telpher road from
Durango to Gallup would within few
| years have telpher connections, espe-
cially with the great copper camps of
| A,i.
ent railway system is too expensive
| in construction and operation to sur
vive against the competition of the tel
pher in slow freight and passenger
service. Perhaps telpher line might
not hope to achieve much success as
a passenger carrier against the com
petition of parallel trunk line, as 1t
would be slower; but the telpher rate
would compel a reduction of the pres
ent systems rates, even though few
people cared to ride in the telpher
cars. That was illustrated in the
freight business by the New York rail-
roads and the Erie canal When the
canal was built New York was the
| iourtu Guy III the country In point of
population. When the canal gave New
York City much cheaper transporta-
tion by water to the interior the rail
roads had TO meet the canal rates.
When the railroads met the canal
rates they we're preferred because they
were faster; but the result gave New
York City great advantage over all
other points on the Atlantic coast, and
1t bounded rapidly to first place In the
country Still the people used the
old canal as club to make the rail.
roads behave. And as a recognition
of its historic efficiency the people of
New York n few years ago voted
about Slo0000,0o0 to enlarge the pres
ent canal and thereby secure again
lower rate into the interior. Chicago
recognizes the same situation, and
hopes to secure boat connection with
| New Orleans on q competitive basis
| with the old railways by widening and
deeping the Chicago river In our gem
Grafton the telpher line may not fur
nish the luxurious equipment of a