The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-04-20
AS TO THE TWELFTH
STREET FRANCHISE

Editor of The Herald:
Seeing in The Herald that the
St. Louis. Brownsville and Mexico
railway company has asked the city
council to grant them a franchise to
widen to standard gauge the track
of the old narrow gauge railroad
on Twelfth street, known as
the Brownsville & Gulf railway, which
was formerly owned by the New
York & Brownsville improvement
Company, running from the station
of the Rio Grande railroad to the
freight ferry, and that the council
has required thirty days in which to
give this important matter due con-
sideration before acting and altho'
not a resident but property holder
in Brownsville | deem it my right
to express my opinion about the mat
ter of granting this franchise 1t
seems that the intention of the St. L.,
B. & NJ. Company, in asking for
this franchise is to construct
standard gauge road to run through
Twelfth street and extend the
R. G. railway to the freight ferry.
where the international bridge will
be constructed, where passengers
from Matamoros will board the train
running direct to Point Isabel This
certainly would be great conven-
fence, and likely profitable to the
S. L.. B. & NJ, railroad company, as
it would obviate the expense of con-
structing a road through some other
street or avenue or around the city.
Twelfth street is only % feet wide
from sidewalk to sidewalk BY wild
ening the gauge, making the track
six feet wide and the projection of
the cars on each side of track two
feet, this would only leave seven and
half feet on each side for the pas
sage of vehicles and undoubtedly
would cause not only many serious
accidents. but an injury to the to
the owners of property and persons
doing business on that street. East
Commerce street in the city of San
antonio is about the same width as
Twelfth street in Brownsville, and
no cars are permitted to run on East
Commerce street. for the same reason
that none should be run on 18th
street.
The Baltimore & Ohio railroad Co.
asked permission to run its road
through Baltimore street the widest
and busiest thoroughfare in the city.
The city authorities granted the right
of way, but, to safeguard its citizens
and property owners from accidents
and losses, required that the cars
should be drawn through the street
by horses. This proposition the COM
pany accepted and hauled the cars
through the city with four big gray
horses
Franchise Was Forfeited.
When the road on 18th street.
which was formerly used by the New
York & Brownsville Improvement
Company, was abandoned for two
years. it forfeited its franchise and
should have been justly condemned
by the city authorities and removed
as a public nuisance For the same
reason when railroad corporation
abandons traffic on its roads even if
only for a short time. unless for
some unavoidable natural cause. it
fOrfeits its charter
| earnestly hope that the city cOun-
ell will give this vital question due
consideration and act for the inter-
est of the city of Brownsville and its
citizens, by not granting the unreas-
enable and presumptuous request of
THE St. l.. B. e NJ, railroad Co. for
a franchise to run their cars through
18th street
JOSIAH TURNER.