A Great Railroad Enterprise
It is reported that the Kansas City, Wyandotte & Northwestern railroad company are making preparations to extend their line to the Gulf of Mexico by way of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and the Kansas City, Watkins & Gulf Railway.It is a well-known fact that our townsman, J. B. Watkins, was the originator and is one of the chief factors in the enterprise known as the K. C., W. & G. Railway. Mr. Watkins is now in Europe, ostensibly on railroad business, and whether there is ground for the statement that a consolidation has been erected between his road and the K. C. W. & N. W. or not, we are unable to state, but if such is a fact, the consolidation will certainly be of vast benefit to both roads, and of incalculable interest to the people of the territory through which the roads pass.
Lake Charles is an excellent harbor, with sufficient water to float the largest ocean steamers. From the lake to the gulf there is an outlet of sufficient depth and flow of water to float any ordinary ship of commerce. At the mouth of this pass, however, there is an obstructing bar which will have to be removed in order to make the channel available for vessels of heavy draught – an undertaking, however, that could be accomplished with the expenditure of a reasonable amount of money and proper engineering skill.
From Kansas City to the Gulf by the K. C., W. & G. Railway, the distance will not greatly exceed six hundred miles, the shortest possible route from Kansas to the coast and an open sea.
The consolidation of Mr. Watkins’ gulf road with the K. C., W & N. W. means a short and direct route to salt water navigation for the people and the products of the great northwest for Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas and Colorado.
Along the line of Mr. Watkins’ road in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas are vast forests of timber pine, oak, cypress and other valuable woods for which there will always be a demand in the prarie <sic> states of the northwest. In addition to this, portions of the country through which the road passes are rich in mineral wealth. There are vast deposits, now undeveloped, of anthracite and bituminous coal of excellent quality; also marble and other building stone of desirable quality that will be eagerly sought after when it is made accessible to good markets. Some portions of the country through which the Watkins road passes is also rich in iron and lead ores, while other large tracts of land are valuable for farming purposes.
Mr. Watkins has been working on his gulf road enterprise for many years and we are now pleased to state that it has so far crystalized that fifty miles of it are actually in course of construction, the first fifty miles from Lake Charles north.
The people of Kansas City are beginning to be interested in this road. The completion of this great gulf outlet will certainly be of vast advantage to Kansas City. If it is to connect with the K. C., W. & N. W. road, it will also be of great benefit to Lawrence, as this city will be on the line thereof.
~ The Daily Record, 12-Sept-1889, Page 2, Column 4
J. B. Watkins, C. A. Hill,
President Vice Pres.
Paul R. Brooks, W. E. Hazen,
Cashier Ass’t Cashier
Watkins National Bank
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Capital - - - - - - - - - - - - $150,000.
Surplus - - - - - - - - - - - - $7,000.
The best equipped and finest Banking House in the State.
We do a general Banking business.
We solicit your business and assure you fair and honorable treatment.
Savings Department.
“A thousand men win competence by quietly saving their spare money, where one gets rich by crazy speculation.”Deposits received in this department Thursdays and Fridays.
For the accommodation of our customers in the north part of the city, we have opened a branch at
729 Mass. St.
Next door to Jacob House’s clothing store.~ The Daily Record, 12-Sept-1889, Page 2, Column 6
You can visit the memorial page for Jabez Bunting Watkins.
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