The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-06-22
south FLORIDA q GULF
RAILROAD TO OPEN WITH A
BIG FREE BARBECUE

OSCCiO SouAbg new fAA44Tud0s tue
South Florida & Gulf. viii begin op-
GRAFTON of twenty-three miles OF its
trackage on Monday. June 26th, from
KenansviIle to Prairie Ridge. CeIe-
.brating the opening Of the road to
public traffic big barbecue and open
ing celebration will be held at the
demonstration farm of the Southern
Colonization Company at Pine Island
on Thursday, June 18th.
This new railroad, which bears as
its slogan. Through the Heart of
the Prairie will open up the great
prairie section of Osceola county,
where the Southern Colonization
Company has large tracts of land. It
is rumored that the opening of the
railroad will bring about a number
of development propositions in this
section and that important announce
ments may be made of further extern
sions by the railroad company, when
the line is completed to passenger.
the present proposed terminus.
At the celebration at Pine Island
there will be big free barbecue and
speeches by prominent men from all
parts OF Florida. There win also be
music and dancing. The barbecue
will be prepared by Dan Prescott, ia
nous throughout Florida as a borbe-
cue expert. He will be aided by
corps Of able assistants and the crowd
will be well fed.
The officers of the new railroad
company, all of whom will be pres
ent, are:
Maxwell A. Kilvert. president.
Fred B, Lynch, of st. Paul and
New York, famous in the ranks of
Democratic leaders. vice president,
Charles H. Armstrong, general
manager, who was also the man in
active charge OF the construction Of
the road.
j. M. Hansell. formerly Of Kissim-
NEE, superintendent.
DIR. r. Fitzpatrick, also Of Osceola
county, supervisor.
AS is indicated in the list of off,
cials the road was built almost en-.
tirely with local labor and under the
direction of ocal men, the company
believing that employing men on the
ground was the best method of aiding
in the development of the country
through which the line passes.
The demonstration farm of the
Southern Colonization Company at
Pine Island. where the barbecue will
be held, has been kept up for the
past few years despite the fact that
the land market was slow. Now that
the railroad is to begin operations the
company is about to reap the benefit
of its faith In this section of the
State.
Prominent men from all over Flor
ida will be invited to make addresses
at the celebration. Among those who
are to be invited and who may ad-
dress the crowds which attend are:
J. P. Beckwith, vice president and
general manage of the Florida East
Coast railroad, whose Okeechobee
Branch is tapped by the new line from
Fenansville; Fred B. Lynch, who will
come fresh from the Democratic con-
vention in st. Louis; Capt. r. e.
Rose. state chemist of Florida, who
was one of the pioneer residents of
Osceola county; Governor Park Tram
nell, Congressman w. ]. Sears, Roy
al C. Dunn, Hudson Burr and Newton
Bitch, members of the Florida Rail-
road Commission; Hon. Frank Walk
er, county commissioner of Osceola
county; C. A. Carson, Arthur e. Done
gan, w. B. Makinson, John M. Lee,
e. L. Lesley, H. G. Stanford and N.
c. Bryan. men prominent in the pub
lie affairs of Osceola county.
A majority of those who attend the
celebration will go by automobile, but
to accommodate those who wish an
other means of transportation a
special train will be operated from
Kenansvill to Pine Island on the day
Of the barbecue, leaving Kenansville
at S:45 a. m. and returning will reach
Kenansville at p. m.
The opening of this railroad will
mark an epoch in the history of Os-
ceola county. giving a means of trans
portation in this great prairie section
which has long been known to cattle
men as an area of health and wealth.
1t is expected that large crowds
will attend the barbecue from every
section of osceola county and from
the adjoining counties of Orange,
Seminole, Polk, DeSota, Brevard and
st. Lucie.