Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 110, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1913 — GIFFORD RAILROAD DEAL LOOKS GOOD [ARTICLE]

GIFFORD RAILROAD DEAL LOOKS GOOD

Although Temporarily Delayed It is Expected to Go Through—Some Opposition Here. > ” ' ■ 'i, - * -’• i - A' Rensselaer citizen who has kept posted about the negotiations for the sale of the Gifford railroad and lands to a Chicago corporation, says that he is very certain the deal will go through and expects that it will be consummated this week. It is the plan of the purchasers, he stated, to continue the road in the direction Mr. Gifford had been taking it, and it is expected to complete it to Wolcott yet this year and also to Crown Point. There is no intention to bring the road to Rensselaer, as had been stated when the negotiations were first begun. This will be a great misfortune for Rensselaer, as it is certain to divert much trade to the towns on the road that otherwise would come to this city. That it will go a long way, however, toward developing the Gifford country, is a sure thing and with the sale and 'cultivation of the lands there the population of the county will be materially increased and that will be a good thing for Rensselaer. The time will come, too, when another railroad and probably an interurban will be built here and we believe that our people should favor the sale, of this road in every way possible. 1 A man informs The Republican that at least three businessmen in Rensselaer have left no stone unturned to"'try to block the sale, sending the most unfavorable reports to the men who were contemplating the purchase, saying that the best of the Gifford lands' had sold for sls an acre and that the land left was not worth much if anything, and saying other things sure to cause distrust. But the prospective purchasers have made an investigation of their own which has caused them to discredit the reports received. It is said that the men who sought to block the deal in this manner hoped to be able to buy the land at a very low figure in case the deal failed and this they know can not be done if the railroad and lands all go to the same people, who have the means to develop it and get the price that the land ought to bring.