Panama City pilot., 1908-07-16
Completes New Road to
the Gulf.
BEN STEELE, WITH FAMILY FORTUNE,
OPENS VAST TERRITORY. ST AN.
DREWS BAY TO 0PELIKA, ALA.

Ben Steele, of Atlanta, Tech boy,
announces the completion of his work
in constructing the Atlanta & st An
drews Bay railroad from Panama CITY
on the gulf to DOthan, Ala, where it
connects with the Central of Georgia
and the Atlantic Coast Line for points
East and West Trains, the finest OBJ
tainable in this country, will begin
operation in both the passenger and
freight service on July Is between
these two points.
The young railroad builder will then
push on with his construction work
toward Opelika, Ala, where he will
tap the Atlanta and West Point with
his line, thus giving Atlanta another
direct route to deep water for her
freight, and passenger service that
will enable traveller to leave Atlanta
at O'Clock p. m. and take breakfast
at Panama City, by the clue waters
of the tropical Gulf of Mexico.
The announcement of the new road
and its steady advancement I'D from
the gulf, thru 'mnes OF rich timber
land, thru region blessed with acres
upon acres Of cotton-growing indus
tries; its progress impeded now by
injunction, now by physical obstacles
such as lake and lagoon; the an
nOuncement of the new road sounds
somewhat startling in view of the
fact that not word has been said Of
1t publicly during its entire construc-
ton period, extending over a space
of two years or more.
There was no need of public word,
in fact. Ben Steele was building that
road strictly on his own ability and
his family's fortune. There is a mil
lion dollars invested in it, and not a
bond has been sold or a share OfstOck
placed on the market 1t is strictly a
railroad of the Steeles, A. b. Steele.
the well-knOwn lumber king of At
lanta, having conceived it and Ben
Steele, his son, having built it. Foot
by foot, mile by mile, until now it has
reached its first stage of completion,
they have brought that road up from
the gulf by their own energy and en-
terprise, and the fact that it is the
only road running north and south
thru one of the richest sections of
this country; the additional fact that
it connects with all the principal
roads running east and west between
the mineral district of BIRMINGHAM
and the Atlantic seaboard-this en-
vironment assures them ample reward
for their tremendous labors.
1t is line long needed and it will
be line generously patronized.
1t will develop aterritory now prac-
tically wilderness of long leaf vel
low pine, with thousands of acres of
government lands and more thous
ands of cotton growing acres ready
for the pillow and harrow when the
development shall set in.
1t is, in short, a master stroke of
enterprise and the effects of it will
be felt throughout this section for
generations to come.
In giving this line to his section.
Ben Steele, the 24-year-old Tech boy.
has verified all the hopes and aims
of the founders of the Georgia School
Of Technology. They built that school
in order to train Southern BOYS how
to develop Southern resources and
here is the purpose of the institution
wrought out in the most gratifying
manner. While other young men
have left tie school to accept posi-
tions of trust and responsibility in
other sections, Ben Steele took the
training it gave him and applied it
on a large scale to his own section