Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1924-12-21
GULF RY.
Twins AFTER Is
! YEARS WAITING
Time Was Spent Encour-
!. aging Development by
! Men Who Dreamed of
Present Wonderland ]
4
BY H. c.

senger train of the Gulf Coast Lines
puffed into Brownsville. 1t discharged
few passengers. hardly any baggage,
practically no express, half a dozen let
tiers. Then the engine turned around on
a "Y" track, footed a couple of times
and chugged sadly back to Houston.
The run was an expensive one and Of
ficials of the railroad sadly shook their
heads. One great big word stared them
in the face if success was to be their's.s
That word was development. Develop
ment of the virgin, then arid, territory
through which they had laid their
transportation line. But trains had to
be run regardless Of expense and loss.
1t would never do to miss the schedule
one time. The confidence of the travel
ing public would be broken.
For Is long weary years that railroad
was operated at a loss, figures in the
main office show. But during that time
a dream had formulated in the minds of
the officials, a dream that at the end
of the 18th years was unfolding into a
joyous reality.
The great Rio Grande Valley was a
paradise when water was fed to the rich
land.
Run Excursions
How they did it officials of the road
are at a loss to explain today. But some
how, somewhere they managed to bor-
row money and operate the costly rail
road line and at the same time start a
development campaign, always an ex-
pensive business by itself.
There was only one way to convince
people of the productiveness Of the
great section that was take them
there. So for the past Is years excur-
sion trains have been running back and
forth carrying homeseekers from every
part of the world.
Those first trains frightened away
wolves and wild deer from the right-of-
way of the road. Sometimes the pas
sengers shot at the antelope as they
sped away from the train. 1t was A wild
country.
At Brownsville they embarked and
looked around. A few sleepy citizens
stretched and yawned and went back to
sleep. A few others, imbued with the
dream, sprang forward and carried out
the program set by the Gulf Coast
Lines, that of showing these strangers
just what was here.
Development Starts
Most. of them bought land because
there was the proof Of the soil before
them, fruit and vegetables grown with
out trouble. Some of them who did not
buy went back and the nearer they
reached their home the more they re-
GREETED not buying. They told others
about the Valley and so the develop
ment started.
Mesquite and cactus were cut down,
bitches dug and water, pumped from
the Rio Grande, flowed down long rows
of plants and how they did grow.
c. w. Strain, passenger agent for
the line, remembers it all very strongly.
He remembers the diseouragements,
how the directors of the road met many
a time and discussed whether it was
really worth the effort. He remembers
how they stuck to their dream and how
at last it has blossomed into a land
richer than famed California;; a land
that surpasses California for climate
and productivity.
1.-The fact that there are now 100000
happy and contented citizens in the
Valley, with a dozen or more prosperous
towns and cities, is conclusive proof of
TIE III dSNClOBlHS Ihlo
territory" Mr.. Strain said.
Truck Shipments Grow
"The shipment of winter vegetables
alone from the Valley has grown from
1893 cars in 1911 to 1852 cars in 1924
and conservative estimate for the pre-
sent approaching winter season, indie
ates a further increase to from $4,000 to
10000 cars.
"Only within the last few years have
the farmers Of this section developed
into an important factor the production
of cotton and last year something like
$4,000 bales were produced. This year
more than 81, 900 bales were shipped
and the heavy production was grown
on land which previously had raised
vegetables.
"The development of citrus fruit,
particularly the wonderfully superior
grapefruit grown in this section, prom
Uses to rival all citrus fruit districts of
the world. 1t was only last year that
the citrus fruit production reached COM
mercial proportions and with the de-
veloping age of the more than 1000, 10000
trees now planted in the Valley, it will
only be a matter o ftwo or three years
until many thousand car loads of this
fruit will be furnished the markets of
the world"
With all of it's years of handicaps and
disappointments the railroad appears to
be an outstanding example of success
won by perseverance. 1t has reached the
point of production of its own traffic
sufficient to permit necessary improve
ment in track, power and equipment and
end a superior transportation service
to all of the territory through which
it operates. The management is con-
stantly on the alert to make further i'm
provement in all facilities and services.
And so two steel rails running along
the shore line Of the Gulf of Mexico
have carried man into a territory that
has .blossomed into a prosperous, heal
thy and growing country; a country
with a future 10 times more beautifuIl
and satisfying than its growth in the
past.