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Show MOFFAT FILES BIS MORTGAGE Twenty-Two and a ' Half Kilns, Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Secures Capital for Construction. Short Line Between Denver and This City to Be Connecting Link in Transcontinental System. RTO LONGER Is the Short Line be-Vj. be-Vj. tween Denver and Salt Lako a matter of speculation. The first legal steps in the official and financial working of the Denver, Northwc.Mhrn - Pnrlflr thn AlrITiif line, were taken in this city yesterday when a transcript of the articles of association as-sociation were filed with the , county clerk and the mortgage for S22.5QO.000 was filed with the County Recorder, whereby the commonwealth was enriched en-riched in the sum of $5000 as a filing fee. The big mortgage Is given to Alvln Krech as trustee for the Mercantile Trust company of New York city, and covers the entire line between Salt Lake City and Denver, a total of 500 miles-, according ac-cording to the survey of Chief Engineer Sumner. Thly is at the rate of 515,000 a mile, which Is almost the same as the rate to the mile of the Oregon Short Line property. tiou papers goes for naught, but that the mortgage has been filed at this end of the route at a cost for filing of $5000, that one of the biggest trust companies of New York takes that mortgage, these are matters' which go beyond speculation, specula-tion, and If any doubt existed as to the ultimate result, Jf should be dispelled with the announcement of these latest disclosures. Road on Solid Basis. In another part of this paper is a statement from David H. Moffat, the president of the company, ln which he iys that all the reports about tho road stopping work are the merest nonsense, and if the obstructionists will only let him alone he will build tho line. The writer of this had several Interviews with Mr. Moffat a little over a year ago. and It was then plainly to be seen that the road was placed on a solid foundation, founda-tion, and that no expense was being spared to make It the shortest and best line between the two cities. The offices of the Colorado i Utah Construction company in Denver were fitted up in the handsomest manner possible and the best men procurable were found In charge. Not a moment since the office was opened has there been a cessation In the work and that the line wll come through there is not now the shadow of a doubt. In this State there are two surveying parties at work, and they have been In the field for over a year. They have sought lines through the reservations, have been through all the canyons back of Salt Lake, have ramped at Brighton. Brigh-ton. Heber, Park Cltv and places all along the line; ln fact, worked In a systematic way to secure the best route into this city. Deed on File. The deed filed yesterday In the office of the County Recorder sets out that the bonds are of the denomination of $1000 each, bearing 4 per cent Interest per annum, and payable September l, 1952. The 22.500 bonds of this denomination denomi-nation are secured by a first-mortgage deed of trust, conveying and being a first Hen upon all real and personal properly, rights, franchises, contracts and Incomes now owned or that may hereafter be acquired by the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway company. com-pany. The deed Includes the transfer of all right, title, Interest and claim whatever what-ever which the railway .company may acquire In or to all and singular railroad rail-road or railroads, constructed, being or to be constructed between Denver and Salt Lake along the Moffat route. The line of the road between these two cities is described in the trust deed a3 follows: From Denver by way of Coal Creek, canyon and Boulder park, across the continental divide, through tho Middle park, to and along the valley of the Bear river and to and along the valley of the Duchesne river and to the city of Salt Lake, a distance of 500 miles more or less. Bonds Issue in Installments. It slates specifically In one of the articles of the Instrument that 20,000 of the bonds, amounting to $20,000,000, shall only be executed and delivered In Installments to the amount of J-10,000 for each mile of track of completed railroad. rail-road. The remaining 2500 bonds are to be issued only for extraordinary expenditure ex-penditure Incurred ln constructing a tunnel through the Rocky mountain range or for some other rea&onablc and proper use. The deed Is signed by David II. Moffat Mof-fat as president of the Denver. Northwestern North-western & Pacific Railway company, attested by Frank B. Gibson, secretary, and for tho Mercantile Trust company by Vice-President A. A. Krech, attested at-tested by the assistant secretary. The witnesses for the party of the first part are J. C, Thomas and John C. Anderson, Ander-son, and for the party of tho second part Guy Richards and E. B. Clark. Certificate of Incorporation. A transcript of the certificate of Incorporation In-corporation of the Denver. Northwestern Northwest-ern Sz. Pacific Railway company, as Incorporated under the laws of Colo- rado, was filed yesterday In the office of the county clerk here. Jcrrold R. Letcher of this city Is named as resident resi-dent agent for the road. May Be "Western Pacific. Has the Moffat road any connection with the Western Pacific, and will yesterday's yes-terday's news mean a line through Salt Lake from Dener to San Francisco in place of merely the line from Denver to this city? It might seem so, us thu Mercantile Trust company of New York Is the same concern that was named as trustee for the mortgage of the Western Pacific Salt Lakers would natuially prefer rather that the line should be a through system than a local line, as it would mean the culmination of railroad Importance Im-portance and nothing more would be needed to make of this place the great city between Chicago and the coast. It Is utterly Impossible to get any facts about the Internal workings of these big deals, as the promoters are one and all silent. J. R. Letcher Is tho agent here for the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific, and C. O. Farnsworth for the Western Pacific. The Western Pacific will get a line from here to San Francisco some 200 miles shorter than any other line and this with the 200 taken off by the Moffat line will mean 400 inllos deliberately sheared- off the map with Salt Lake in the center of the system, and therefore on the great highway of travel. It would bring the bulk of tourist travel through this region re-gion and then by connecting with other lines the Moffat road would have connections con-nections for Puget sound as well as Southern California. Harrimnn or Gould? And what of Harrlman of Gould? This Is not by any means the least Interesting In-teresting feature of late developments. Salt Lake Is far from New York and a direct wire into the Mercantile Trust company has been cut. but If memory serves, was not Alvln Krech one of the big men in the days of the receivership and subsequent reorganization of the Union Pacific? And was not his name prominently mentioned as one who deserved de-served great credit for his share In tho work of rehabilitating the road? Then the question comes, Whom did he represent rep-resent ln those days, Gould or tho new power, Harrlman? Gould was strong on the Union Pacific then and he Is today to-day much stronger ln the Mercantile Trust, of which his friend Kreeh is president. The fact that President Krech of the Mercantile Trust Is the trustee of the mortgage and has ln the past been Identified with Gould on the Union Pacific, that the same financial institution has a mortgage on the Western Pacific, may not Indicate anything, any-thing, but then again It may mean a whole chapter ln the celebrated story of fighting for transcontinental supremacy. su-premacy. ' Explains It as Legal Matter. J. R. Letcher, named as agent of the company ln this State, when seen last evening, said that he had nothing to give out beyond what appeared In tho documents; that It was customary to file the papers in every county in a State to be traversed by a proposed railroad. As to any significance in the filing at this time, he was not Informed, and thought It was more of a legal matter mat-ter than anything else. The legal papers do not specify the route Into Salt Lake, and this would Indicate that It Is still a matter of doubt. The official map of the line as heretofore published shows tho line crossing the range from Strawberry' valley Into Utah valley, and thence to Salt Lake, while the surveys have all been made via Summit county. It has been claimed that a good line can be secured through Emigration canyon, the route being from Wasatch county nround tho hills north of -Park City and touching at Kimball's ln Parley park, following much the same route as tho old John W. Young survey. From Parley park the river Is followed Into East canyon and thence to the head of Emigration canyon Into this city by a circuitous route from the south; that is, swinging south from the canyon along tho bench back of the penitentiary and then Into the heart of the city. Engineers "Work on Line. A fact not heretofore published Is that over eight months ago a crowd of railroad rail-road engineers worked for days upon a line coming into the city on the eaBt of Slate road. Nearing the city the line turned to the west of Waterloo addition, addi-tion, and thence to the city. Who the men were and what they were doing could not bo learned, but It is Interesting Interest-ing to recall the circumstances at this time. ,lt stands to reason that such an old railroad builder as David H. Moffat Is not going Into this plan for the local traffic to be derived from the region between be-tween here and Denver, principally because be-cause the traffic is not there. But with a connecting link, say the Burlington, at Denver, or the alliance with Gould, and the Western Pacific, that would bo different, dif-ferent, and the Moffat road would in time become the leading road among the great transcontinental system |
