The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-02-17

] hC DlOUOoNu lIllt vi Iotlh llbAa
Ardmore to Lawton was taken up
on the initiation of the Lawton
Chamber of Commerce. said E. r.
Sutton of Philadelphia today, "and
am going back to my home and
stay there till towns along the line
carry out their agreement and if
they do not desire to do so there
are plenty of other fields of oper-
alton
Mr.. Sutton has spent several days
in Ardmore, he was joined here yes
| terday by X. l.. Robertson and Jake
l.. Hamon of Lawton. These people
have spent three weeks with Ard
more and nothing definite has been
done toward guaranteeing the mon
ey required to secure the road. They
have nothing tangible to take back
to the Philadelphia people and the
capitalists of course will take nc
steps toward the building of the
road.
The committees are out this
morning, but in more than half the
cases they are told by the people
that their minds are not made up
yet about what they will pay"
c. G. Jones OF Oklahoma City
has his right OF way segregated
from Oklahoma CITY to Cornish
He is now arranging to finance his
road. The greater part Of :he work
has already been done. The perma-
nent survey has been made, the
right of way is paid for, the map
OF the survey is before the people
who have promised to put up the
money. The vast fertile territory be-
tween the Santa Fe on the east
and the Rock Island on the west
will be given railroad transporra-
ton. Whether that transportation
will be from north to south or from
east to west depends upon Ardmore.
Lawton and Duncan have closed
their contracts with the railway
promoters.
If that line of road runs from
Oklahoma City to Cornish it will
cut off the trade territory tributary
to this town on the west. 1t will
Kill our retail trade there as the
Frisco did on the east. If the road
Is not built from here to the north
west or to the west, Ardmore will
be county seat town of from six
to seven Thousand people. 1t can
not be a larger town than that.
1t cannot attract wholesale and Job
bing houses because there will be
no territory for them. 1t cannot at
tract manufacturing enterprises for
the. reason that they cannot ship ont
the finished product.
Ardmore stands today in the cen
ter of vast scope of country with
radius of one hundred miles sur
rounding her in which there is no
town to dispute its commercial pow
er. If the lines of road emanate
from this town it offers the best
field in Oklahoma today for invest
ments. If the roads run north and
south, Ardmore has nothing to at
tract nor TO offer the investor. I'm
der such conditions close in prop
erty only will have any value and its
values will shrink far below what
it is now. The growing period of
a town is what the people make it,
Some towns grow for a hundred
years and some get their growth
at twenty years. Ardmore cannot
stand still. 1t is moving every year
one way or the other.
If this line of road is not Sc
cured the town will retrograde very
fast.
When a citizenship of a town
loses confidence in the town, stagna-
tion in business and property values
is the result. Ardmore has attempted
several enterprises and failed. 1t must
not fail in this. II failure must be
written on our banner no individ-
ual will have the courage to under
take another enterprise for the city.
Ardmore has a million dollars
worth of unimproved, non-producing
real estate. One-fourth of that
amount could easily be sacrificed up
on the altar of progress. Acreage
property in towns is burdensome
1t produces taxes and nothing more.
Sixty thousand dollars of the
amount required has been raised.