Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1919-08-05
MAKING FORT BROWN THE
MODEL MILITARY POST OF
THE SOUTHERN BORDER

The spur track connecting Fort
Brown with the Gulf Coast lines,
running from the old rice mill up
Harrison street to the fort is rapidly
nearing completion, and Captain Ju-
les W. Markell. who is in charge of
construction work, expresses the opin-
ion that by August 20 the track will
be ready for the first cars to run
into Fort Brown. The track has al
ready been completed at the post, and
now extends as far as 4th street on
Harrison. Grading work from that
point is proceeding rapidly, and the
graders are being followed by the
gravel and track layers.
The government is building the
track from the post to Twelfth and
Harrison, which will give them nearly
a mile of track, and from that point
the Rio Grande railroad will build
through its yards to connect with the
Gulf Coast lines at the rice mill. Two
tracks are being constructed in the
post, one to run to the hay sheds and
the other to the warehouses, making
the tracks in the post in the form of
"Y". All materials for the COM
pletion of the spur are on hand, in
cluding the steel and gravel, and the
work will soon be in its final stages.
The Rio Grande Railway Company is
prepared to complete their part of
the work( and their portion of
trackage will be ready to connect
with the government tracks.
Gravel for the spur track, as well
rs for the road improvement at the
post, has been coming in at the rate
of about six carloads per day, and
thus far their gravel supply has kept
up with the work. For the spur track
and the five miles of graveled roads
which will be constructed in the post
in the next few weeks approximate
iyi 1900 cubic yards, or three hun
dred carloads of gravel will be used.
Many Changes at Fort Brown.
Few people in this city or -vicini-
sfyr fully realize the great scope and
Importance of the work now being
done at Fort Brown. The spur track
is to run direct to three immense
division warehouses, each 60x12O
feet in size, the work on which is now
well under way. One spur of the
track also runs to two gigantic hay
sheds, each 60xl0O feet in size, both
of which are practically completed.
In addition to these another large
warehouse of the same size is being
constructed for subsistence and sup
plies, which will have no track con-
nectlons. These will give Fort Brown
the best warehousing facilities Of any
point on the border, and signify that
the war department contemplates
keeping an immense quantity of sup
plies at this point
Another Improvement feature at
the post is the construction of gravel
ed roads and cement sidewalks. Up
to the present time two miles of
roadway within the post has been
graveled, and the work has been done
In thorough manner. The gravel
has been placed to a sufficient depth
to insure a permanent road, a heavy
roller has been used to pack it, and
the completed road attests the road
making ability of those who are in
charge of this work. There are still
approximately three miles of roads
to gravel, and this will be done with
in the next few weeks. The com
pletion Of the spur track, which will
permit the gravel to be brought into
the post, will greatly facilitate the
work. Cement walks are also being
built throughout the post, and there
will be approximately three miles of
sidewalks. When these improvements
are completed Fort Browns will be
quite revelation to those who have
come in contact with its muddy roads
and walks of former days.
New Buildings on Every Hand.
In practically every part Of the
post new buildings are in various
stages of completion, most of the
building work being done by the
Fitch Construction Company, who
started work on their contract at
Fort Brown about two weeks ago. The
laundry building has been completed
for some time and will be ready for
operation as soon as civilian help can
be secured. A large shed. 20x80 feet
in size, designed to house mobile army
witchens has also been completed, as
has also the pack train quarters. The
latter building is S0x20 feet in size
and has an eight-foot porch facing
the river.
Other buildings already construct
led or in the course of construction
include six 4-room non-commisSioned
Officers quarters, three officers
quarters, eight new barrack buildings
i,2Ox140 feet in size. with asbestos
shingle roof and constructed upon
the northern cantonment plan; four
Continued on page g.
81