Semi-weekly herald., 1912-08-15
STILL HAVE HOPES.


Juan citizens went to Denver to in
terest the Denver chamber of com
merce in the matter of using its in
fluence in getting the Denver & Rio
Grande Railroad company to stand
ard gauge the road between Durango
and Alamosa. The matter was taken
up then and considered with consider
able enthusiasm, but somehow the
matter was dropped and no further
effort was made to have the COM
pany give the improvements desired.
The chamber of commerce realize that
the San Juan people do not mean
to discontinue their efforts until the
end sought is obtained. The fact that
Mr.. Reagan is now working on this
matter in the interests of the Los
Angeles people causes the Denver
chamber of commerce to make a re-
newed effort TO persuade the Dem
yer " Rio Grande people to join them
IN saving the trade Of this sectcion.
The Denver Post took up the matter
and published the following articles:
The chamber Of commerce is go
ing to make another effort to induce
the Denver q Rio Grande railroad
to standard gauge its line from Ala
mosa to Durango, in order that ship
ments of freight can be made directly
into Denver without being transfer
red from narrow gauge to standard
gauge cars at Alamosa.
"A party OF ABOUT 200 San Juan
valley boosters invaded Denver about
three months ago and asked the cham
Der to use its influence with the rail
road company in obtaining this i'm
provement, but no satisfaction was
had from the road at that time.
Since then the San Juan people
have entered into negotiations with
the Los Angeles chamber of COM
merce, asking them To try to get n
line Of railroad built from some point
on either the Santa Fe or Southern
Pacific railroads into Pennington, N.
NJ, which is the terminus of the Rio
Grande standard gauge tracks. The
Los Angeles organization appointed a
committee to look into the San Juan
country and its resources and report
ed back very favorably. The San
Juan congress has employed J. w.
Reagan, former chief engineer Of the
Southern Pacific railroad, to gather
statistics and make estimates on the
cost Of the construction of the new
lines, which would give that country
a direct outlet to the Pacific coast.
Mr.. Reagan has force of men on the
work and his report will be ready
about Sept. l..
When the San Juan boosters were
in Denver they said that they want
ed to ship all of their products into
Denver and that they wanted to do
all of their business with the busi-
ness men of this city, but unless bet
ter transportation facilities could be
obtained for them, other business CEN
ters would have to be looked for. The
of commerce wants this bus
mess to come to Denver and thus
make the San Juan one of the city's
most fertile tributaries"
For number of years the people
of this section have been talking
about and planning for better railroad
service for the San Juan country.
Having failed in all efforts, many
came to believe that the people would
finally content themselves with what
they have, but the people of this Sec
tion think otherwise and are acting
accordingly. Since the last great and
perhaps final movement along this
line, the Denver business mean bust
mess and at the present time are CO.
operating with the Los Angeles cham
Der of commerce and the construction
of the road from Pennington to Gal
lup seems almost certain. In relation
to this mater the Denver News says:
Denver business mer are aroused
over the efforts being made by Los
Angeles to get the trade of the San
Juan district by constructing stand
ard gauge railroad from Pennington
to a connection with The Santa Fe at
Gallup, N. NJ, or with the Southern
Pacific in Arizona.
To prevent such a move, which
would rob Denver of the trade of this
rich territory, the chamber of COM
rece will make another effort to in
duce the officials Of the Denver & Rio
Grande railroad to provide standard
gauge Connection of some sort with Du-
range. This would make it possible
for crops from southwest Colorado
and northwest New Mexico TO be
moved into Denver without being
transferred from narrow gauge to
The people of the San Juan district