Washington telegraph., 1849-08-22

San Diego, whose harbor has all the requisite ad-
vantages of great commercial depot, aud the
terminus OF such road.
This route is the shortest from the Mississippi
to San Francisco, if that to be made the ter
minus, by continuing the road from Diego up the
coast, and thus bringing upon ats llno both our
great harbors on the Pacific.
On this route there is not single great national
obstacle to the construction of The road. In In
worst portions of the route the dcuitles Will not
be greater, if as formidable, as nearly every road
in New England and New Yo.k has surmounted
in its cons,ruc,ion;-whie through the greater part
of the distance, it can be made the cheapest road
in the world. A reconnaissance from your place
to Red River aud up its valley was made lew
years since by Prot. Forshey, who pronounced 1t
one OF the most favorable routes Tor a railway he
had ever explored. He estimated the cost OF the
constructlon-if recoect rght-at not more than
$ 900 per mile. l nave seen some OF the UP
per Regions OF Texas and along Red River, and l
doubt if nature anywhere presents more favora-
Bile and inviting pathway for railroad on earth.
A fellow traveller an engineer by profession esti
mated the cost Of railway over the route we
past at s. 900 per mile, and thought the agricul-
turaI resources oil the country through which 1t
would pass would justify its construction before
many years.
An army of laborers, less than either line Of our
army in Mexico during the war, which could be
supported at far less cost than either ot those lines
OF military operations, would grade SUI to l00B
miles of this road in year. On nearly the whole
o. this route there is abundance OF timber ac-
cessible for the Of railway; in many parts
| fine cedar forests abound. LIE Grand, who ex-
plored the country between the head waters oil the
Red River aud the Rio Grande, says, ''lhe coun-
try is fertile we'll wooded and has fair proportion
| OF water"
| From the Rio Grande to che Colorado, along
the banks of the ella, it wia be admitted by the
Bulletin that the iron horse need not suffers Tor
| fuel or water From the Colorado to San Diego,
a distance of ITS miles, there is desert plain OF
| 80 miles to which the objections of the Bulletin
might apply in the CONSTRUCTION oil the road. but
after il shall be once built locomotive might be
sustained for three hour, the time necessary to
pass it, without watering or woodIng General
Kearney carried his battalion over 1t, without
much suffering, and found on Its western borders
portal through the mountains, with ITS sides rising
perpendicularly 10 the height Of 5000 to 5000
feet and ope ming into erte and heavily tinlbered
country beyond.
You will observe thlt the head waters of Rod
River are upon the same parallel as the head
branches of the Gila aud that the latter flows 10
! direct western cours deviating very little from
the 33o of la;itua. The valley of the Rio
Grande. where theroad would cross it Oh this route
is 1900 feet allowable level OF the sea; The highest
| elevation noted b, Lieut. Emory in his passage of
the dividing ridg between the waters Of the Kio
Grande and Gil river is 6, 100 feet, making rise
| of only 1900 fet in distance of 80 or 80 miles,
! which is a YER easy grade for road. From this
elevation the descent of the Gia is very gradual
and uniform, ill it unites with the Colorado where
if IS only 20 eet above the ocean. The valley Of
the Gila caltains evidence Of having once been
occup;ed y numerous population possessing
o.,,,Ii, fa and il.
cuped k semi civilized tribes who have perna-
| nent villages, and no mean agricuturaists,
| raisnc cotton, corn, wheat, beans and pumpk ns
| in abundance.
The distance from San Diego to the Rio GraDde
by this route is about $50 miles,-thence to
Shreveport, point always accessible for steamers
ON Red River, is 700 mes;-thence to Natchez
or Vicksbnrg, 200 miles further, making the whole
distance from the Pacific to the Mississippi river
only 1850 miles. If the road be extended along
| the coast of the Pacific to San Francisco dis
tance of 400 miles, the length of the whole road
| from the bay of San Francisco to the Mississippi
would be about 1000 miles. F.om the junction of
the ella with the Colerado--a pom. to which
steamers or vessels from the Pacific can always
ascend--to the, RIO Grande the distance is only
500 miles, From the Rio Grande to Warren or
Fort Towson, to which steamers ascend Red river,
the distance is about 600 miles, making the dis
| the navigable tributaries of the Mississippi only
HOO miles.
At Vcksburg or Natchez this Great Western
Railway would be carried to the Atlantic shores,
| by an extension of the main trunk of the Georgia
and South Carolina roads which are progressing
| through Alabama and Tennessee to the Mississip-
pi. Charleston and Savannah would be the South
ern Atlantic termni of the Great National High
way Mobile would meet it with the road she is
Oh b,d frOn her ifica,. Raw fOt he
Ohio river. Its northern stem would be the branch
| of the Georgia road now constructing from the
Tennessee river to Nashville, and thence to Lou
| isve, which will bring it into connexion with the
Railways extending from the Ohio river to the
| Eastern sea board.
| For the greater portion Of the dstance--a
that section of i. east Of the RIO Grande--the cost
of construction would not exceed s. 900 per mile
| But allow $3.50 900 per mile, (which is the aver
age cost per mile of fexcavating and building rail-
| roads through the Granite Mountains and over the
| broken surface of New Hampshire-and the total
cost of railway from the Mississippi river 10 San
Diego--a spacious harbor on the Pacific, would
be only $50 100000 The small State of New
Hampshire, without commerce, the poorest IA ag
ricutural and mineral resources OF any State of
the Union, is building and has built, within
her own borders $50 mites Of Railway at a cost
| of $35, 100000. Shall it then be said that the
enterprise and resources of the rich middle and
| Southern valley states are unequal to the building
of $50 miles of Railway at cost of $50 900 400;
or if the duty of its construction be assumed by
the General Government the cost of the whole
road would not be equal to the expense incurred in
the support of the Mexican war for any one year,
which the country sustained ye ar after year with
out being conscious of the burthen.
! 1t will not be deemed an extravagant estimate
to suppose the number Of emgrants from the states
10 California the present season to be $4,000, and
the expense of each person fer the transport
of himself and personal effects to be $780,
which will make an aggregate of $30,000,000.
II we add to this sum the time which would be
saved'to each emigrant by rail road, at 80 days
in the Journey, and value each DAYS time at 81