Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-03-29
SUCCESS OF GULFPORT
Monument to the ENTERPRISE of
a Far-Seeing Man.
OLD DREAM Is REALIZED
Greatest Lumber-Shipping Place on
the Gulf.
RISE OF A THRIVING CITY,
Pier Extends a Mile Out to Sea,
Where Ocean Steamers Can Load.
Immense Increase in Traffic.
OLD DREAM is REALIZED
RISE OF A THRIVING CITY
By WILLIAM f. CURTIS

Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
CT LFPORT. Miss March 81 1909.
Gulfport is a monument to individual
enterprise. the creation of one man
Capt. Joseph 7. Jones of Buffalo. presi-
dent of the Gulf and Ship Island Rail
way Company which runs from Jackson,
Miss. where it connects with the ILL
nois Central, to this place. and proba bly,
hauls more lumber than any other rail
road in the world
Capt. Jones was born in Philadelphia
July IL. 1872. His father died when he
was only a year old. His mother strug-
gled along alone until he was able to re-
lieve her of labor and anxiety, and he
began his business career when boys are
usually in school. He went into the army
as a private at the beginning of the war,
was promoted to be captain of his COM
pany and when peace was restored went
up into the oil counties of northwestern
Pennsylvania to seek his fortune in
Wnicn he was remarkably successful He
became one of the largest oil producers in
the Bradford district, and during the
thirty years Of his experience there ac-
CURED great wealth. In 1898 he moved
10 Bunalo and became prominent in sew
eral large enterprises. including that most
wonderful of all railroads.&c. trolley
llne that runs up and down the gorge of
Niagara river. from the foot of the falls
10 Lake Ontario. He has been success
full in every undertaking and his iudg
ment is highly regarded by the business
men OF Buffalo and western Pennsylva-
MA, and. III fact. wherever he is known.
In the winter Of 1878 Capt. Jones
came down to the gulf coast for rest and
recreation, and stopped at Pass Chris
tan. He fell in love with the country
and like every other far-sighted. intel
ilSent business man. recognized the
splendid Opport unitieS that are going to
waste down here. He says that he sat
one day upon the beach looking out over
Mississippi sound. dreaming of what
might be done with all the resources and
advantages nature has provided He saw
a great pier extending out into the deep
water of Mississippi sound, and ocean
steamers being laden from it with the
cotton. turpentine. lumber and other
products of This locality. He saw rail-
WAY stretching northWard into the tur-
pentine farms, the lumber camps and the
cotton fields by which that produce was
brought down He saw machine shops.
warehouses. office buildings. banks.
stores, schoolhouses and long streets of
residences stretching back into the pine
forests, and a palatial hotel. where
strangers could be made comfortable and
by which they could be attracted to the
place. When he awoke from his dream.
Capt Jones says that he started out at
once to realize what he had imagined.
and 1t is all here today-one of the most
remarkable triumphs Of human enter
prise.
Capt. Jones' Dream Realized.
The first thing he did was to get hold
Of the charter and land grant of the Gulf
and Ship Island railway, for that is the fun
damental base of the entire undertaking
As early as 1854 a company obtained a
charter for a railroad from Chicago to
BILOXI, and the pro electors obtained large
tract Of timber land as subsidy, but the
civil war put an end to that scheme. The
project was revived i'll the early eighties.
and twenty miles of track was built with
labor Of negro convictS from the state
penitentiary, but the enterprise was again
abandoned. In 1895 Capt. Jones COM
menced negotiations. and with the assist
ance of "a syndicate Of old friends in the
oil regions of Pennsylvania he bought
up the charter and all that was left of the
grant, and came down here personally to
take charge of the construction of the
road and the town.
At first he proposed to make Biloxi the
terminus Of the railroad. according to the
plan OF the original projectors. but the
people of that little city did not grasp
the Importance or comprehend the magni-
tude OF his purpose. They gave him no
assistance or encouragement whatever
but rather repealed his advances. Hence
he selected location nine miles to the
westward. where a few fishermen were
living in dilapidated cabins. Capt Jones
bought a large area of land and COM
menced work in 1901. Today, eight years
later. he has a thrifty city of nearly IL, OOO
inha bitants, prosperous. living in beauti-
ful homes and doing business in handsome
blocks Of stone and brick, while "A dock
more than mile long extends from the
beach out into Mississippi sound, where
the fleet of British Admiral Buckingham
| anchored in the war of 1872 to prepare for
It's attack tho cify nf nrlo
Capt. Jones has expended about So 600. :
WD at Gulfport. including SoO00OOO for
the pier and d channel seven miles long
and 300 feet wide to deep water so that
ocean steamers can come alongside it for
| their loads. The dock is equipped wit h
the most modern and complete facilities
| Tor handling cargo, with trolley lines
| passing from end TO end, and a pleasure
pavilion for the enjoyment of the towns
people.
Large Exporter of Lumber.
| The port was opened for traffic in 1902
It's lumber shipments that year amounted
to about nineteen million feet The next
year the total swelIed to more than a
hundred million feet, and in 1904 Gulfport
smashed all records and became the larg-
est lumber exporting point on the gulf Of
Mexico with 24I21:i. 800 feet to it's credit
in addition 10 go. $50 gallons of turpentine.
$4,000 barrels of rosin and a correspond
ing amount OF OtneT cargo In 1905 the
exports of lumber were 233. $4,000 feet
and III 1908 they were 300. GOO feet for
Capt. Jones dream has come true
Jones is naturally attracting many en-
terprising men to Gulfport, and more will
come. The chances for making money
here are favorable although the real es-
tate boom which possessed the town for
five or six years has exhausted itself, and
property is now on a sound financial
basis. Real estate spectators bought
tracts If pine land ad ia cent to the town
and laid out additions of sufficient area
to accommodate a quarter of a million
population. They sold town lots all over
the United States a fabulous prices, and
thousands of people We're swindled. To-
day property has a much higher value
than at any other place along the coast
between New Orleans and Mobile and
conveniently located lots are held at city
prices The most favorable location along