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THE ATL ANTI AN
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A Railroad That Will Revolutionize
West Indian and South American Traffic
John H. Flagg In Leslie's Weekly.
The recent purchase by J. P. Mor
gan & Co., the eminent banking firm,
of $10,000,000 first-mortgage bonds of
the Florida East Coast Railway Com
pany, marked the first issue of bonds
by this railroad company ever offered
to the public, and the appearance of
the first dollar of outside investment
in an enterprise as remarkable as any
C. H. MASON,
Chairman Police Board, and Al
ways for Anything That Will
Help the Cause of Labor.
ever undertaken by a single individ
ual in the history of railway construc
tion.
A few months ago the New York
Herald propounded to its readers the
question, "Who are the ten greatest
living Americans?’’ The replies were
numerous and interesting—numerous
because an answer can be .readily giv
en by the average reader without pro
longed consideration or troublesome
research; and interesting because,
among other things, of the contrariety
of the opinions expressed, since, be
yond one or two notable names, scarce
ly any two of the responses agreed
as to the persons entitled to the desig
nated honor. In the nature of the
case, no criterion or standard for
“greatness” can be prescribed. While
eminently proper that those should be
considered who have distinguished
themselves in the various professions,
in scholarship, or for conspicuous at
tainment in science, or letters, the
public benefactor (under whatever
standard may be 'employed) would
seem to deserve equal consideration
with them—“that person being a bene
factor of the race,” as Dean Swift de
clared, “who causes two blades of
grass to grow where one grew before.”
Therefore, in a comparatively new
country like ours, where general pros
perity so largely depends upon the de
velopment of our natural resources
and the creation of adequate facili
ties for their transportation, it would
seem obvious that that person is “a
benefactor of the race” whose genius
conceives, and whose indomitable
courage carries forward to completion,
some great and difficult commercial
undertaking by which mankind de
rives a distinct and lasting benefit.
By reason of the magnitude of his
achievement in providing • a great
quasi-public utility, at enormous cost
and solely as an individual, without
local or governmental aid, one involv
ing the solution of untold engineering
difficulties, and prosecuted through a
period of financial disturbance and in
dustrial paralysis unprecedented in
our history, Henry W. Flagler un
questionably stands foremost among
living Americans in this field of hu
man endeavor. Only an outline of his
undertakings can be given within the
compass of such an article. This is to
i be regretted, for, although his rail
road has been under continuous con
struction for a score of years (no less
than 5,000 men being at times em
ployed thereon), the work has never
theless been so quietly and unosten
tatiously carried on that even now the
public has no just conception of its
nature, magnitude, or importance.
Comprehension of the stupendous en
gineering difficulties involved in much
of the work has up to this time been
confined to professional engineers and
scientific bodies, who have closely
watched its progress from the begin
ning, some of whom have been more
or less skeptical as to the outcome.
Having a decided aversion to public
notoriety, Mr. Flagler has not em
ployed himself in proclaiming his
plans and purposes from the house
tops, or in other spectacular adver-
JACK J. HASTINGS,
Member of the Firm of Smith,
Hastings & Ransome,, Who is
Spending His Vacation in
Philadelphia and in the New
England States.
Central Bank and Trust
=CORPORATION=
CANDLER BUILDING
Capital, Five Hundred Thousand Dollars
Undivided Profits, Two Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Dollars
Deposits, Three Million and Five Hundred Thousand Dollars
A Strong, Well [quipped, Cerservatively Managed Bank
4% on Savings Deposits
YOUR ACCOUNT IS INVITED
Branch, Corner Mitchell and Forsyth Streets
ASA G, CANDLER, President
tising. He has been willing, without
envy, that others should stand in the
limelight. Beginning with the bridge-
Ing of the St. John river at Jackson
ville, he has proceeded step by step
to construct, equip and put in opera
tion a railroad 600 miles long, travers
ing the entire East Coast of Florida
to Its southernmost extremity, pene
trating for much of the distance a
wild, uninhabited, and inaccessible re
gion. It renders northern markets
available to owners of thousands of
acres of land hitherto regarded as
worthless; it has created enormous
values where none existed before, and
has led to a marvelous Influx of per
manent homeseekers and transient
winter residents and the upbuilding of
prosperous settlements and bustling
towns in sections where a solitude pre
vailed and where for centuries the
Seminole and the alligator had and is
puted sway and held civilization at
bay.
Hitherto, for four months of the
year, practically two-thirds of the
country’s population has shivered with
cold throughout our Inhospitable
northern latitudes, finding relief there
from only by fleeing to southern
Europe or to the Pacific coast. Now,
they are seeking Florida resorts In
stead and spending their money at
home, Mr. Flagler’s enterprise having
made accessible an American Riviera
infinitely larger than that which skirts
the Mediterranean, and one which has
been made even more seductive and
delightful as a winter resort for our
people. To accommodate this large
transient element, adequate provision
had to be made and at heavy cost,
and to that end alone, not les3 than
$12,000,000 have ben expended on ho
tels, casinos, golf links, public baths,
hospitals, street paving, sewer con
struction, and other like essentials to
health and comfort.
But the most audacious project of
Mr. Flagler approaches the road’s final
stage of completion. Within another
twelve months he will have completed
and in operation an extension of his
East Coast system, a standardized
R. B. BRITTAIN.
Proprietor Brittain’s Hotel and
Cafe.