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THE ATL ANTI AN » 1 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.