In accordance with a contract entered into by the Port Huron Business Men’s association with the Detroit, Bay City & Western railway, popularly known as the Handy Bros. Line, the Port Huron association began its campaign this morning to raise $40,000 in notes, payable when the first train enters Port Huron, to be given the Handy Bros. to assist in bringing the road to that city, in lieu of any other assistance in the way of providing right or way. That feature of the project is to be handled by Handy Bros. themselves.
A plan of campaign has been laid out, with ten committees of ten men each, to secure the subscription notes.
It was the idea of the committee that framed the plan of campaign to devote ten days to the work of raising the $40,000 in notes, with the expectation that at least $4,000 per day would be reported in. Today it will be known whether the first day will bring forth its proportion of the total fund.
During the campaign, Room 16, White block, the office of the Business Men’s association, will be headquarters of the campaign committee, and all business will be transacted from that office.
Report of Committee.
In connection with the coming of this road, and the fact that Port Huron business men will now be asked to back up the agreement by the Business Men’s association, it will be of interest to reproduce the report of the special committee, composed of Messrs. Canham, Henry McMorran, J. R. Sperry, F. E. Beard and S. J. Watts that went over the road in March and reported as follows to the Business Men’s association:
The committee left Port Huron on Tuesday morning and went to Yale via Pere Marquette and were there met by the two Handy Bros., with two automobiles and driven to Peck where we met their train in waiting for us, and took us over the road to Bay City, stopping at Sandusky for lunch, and on arrival at Bay City extended to us all the courtesies possible at their hands, calling in the prominent members of the Board of Commerce. They also provided us with a fine lunch before leaving for the train.
As we rule over the road and stopped at the different stations, for a new road we found it in what we thought fine condition. The stations were built of granite blocks and of neat style and everything looked in fine shape. In talking with some of the patrons of the road as we stopped at the different stations, we found a very friendly feeling towards the management of the road. We noticed one item that impressed us favorably with the management was the fact that they had built a number of sidings along their line, in some cases not over a mile apart, for the loading of products of the farmers and the taking on and letting off of passengers that desired to ride, these sidings being provided without cost to the patrons of the road. They are evidently taking a different method of handling the patrons of the road from what many of our trunk lines are doing.
Their terminal in Bay City, as to location, we consider a very fine one and we were quite pleased with the country we passed through, the improvements that have been made within the past six or eight years was quite marked, and with the system that they have adopted as to the patrons of the line, it would seem that it would be quite a popular line, and we think that is well worthy of the attention of our citizens in securing the road for this city on such terms as may be mutually agreed upon.
The Business Men’s association points out that under its terms not a cent is to be paid to the road until its first train reaches it Tenth street terminus in Port Huron from Bay City. And unless the road is completed by December 31, 1917, the notes to be given will be null and void.
Moreover, it is the intention of the Handy Bros. to begin at once the construction of the twenty-nine miles of road from Peck to Port Huron and have it in operation before the end of the present year, if possible.
