Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1853-03-09
Railroad Matters.

vigor and promptness, which betoken more
than ordinary confidence in the practicabllty
of It's accomplishment, we have no shadow of
doubt.
4 gentleman Of this city las kindly handed
lis a letter received BY him from enc Of the
delegates at the recent Dewitt convention, OF
which we give thcex;ract below;
while at Dewitt some New Yorker came on
an agent of the Seymours, as he understood,
and subscribed 100000 of the stock The
Directors avow their intention of proceed
ing Immediately to survey and locate the
road as far a. TiPlnn and to commence grading
and building this summer; their present design
is not TO proceed farther han Upton until they
know definitely what the Davenport folks
intend to do-that las to their route westward.
In this statement we have the most implicit
reliance; did we aot there is no earthly reason
for doubling it. The facts are before us-a
Cooperation known to be energetic and re spon-
Sible has sprung into existcnco--the ball is
rolling, and we are all naturally anxious to as.
certain the direction il viii take upon its west
ward course.
To us there has always seemed but one pos
sible line to pursue. IT Lyons the facilities
for bridging are certainly not equalled at any
other point between Dubuque and St. Louis
There are bluffs acruss which a bridge can be
thrown over one hundred feet above high wa
ter mark, and accessible from the cast by
grade of abou: 90 feet to the mile.
Thence proceeding westward we find high
natural abutments on the Wapspinicon at
Buena Vista, which is on an air line between
Lyons and Covers Ferry, as We learn by let
ter in the last Muscatine Enquirer
At Covers Ferry, as is well known to our
citizens genera'ly,is the most practicable cross
ing Of the Cedar by all odds, and only 4G6 feet
from bluff to bluff. Even the good citizens of
Rochester we understand have finally accceded
to this idea.
Thus far we feel bold to assert the Lyons
company Wi | see the necessity of making the
above points Ard that Iowa City shall then
be cut off and left ingloriously by herself, is
among the possibilities and not the probabili
ties.
If the Davenport road .hail be constructed to
this place, would it not. be better policy asks
writer in the Muscatine Enquirer. for the Ly
ons company to make a depot or miles north
west Of Iowa City,so as to curtail the immense
trade which is destined to flow in upon us from
that quarter? This is a generous suggcstion-
The writer is evidently Cooking out for num-
Der one" but We fear he has missed it now.
We believe in all sincerity, and having no
interest at stake to prejudice our belief. that it
would be more for the advantage of both roads
to unite at this or some other point, than 10
continue on westward thus nearly allied and
with interests totally hostile.
That nothing depends upon the support
which our city shall render to the Lyons or
any other company, it is folly to suppose
That We, as point are so incvitabe-or as a
commercial centre so inestimable to any rail
road company, as necessarily to become the re-
cipients of railroad blessings. however listless,
or indifferent, or illibcral we may be- it is
still greater absurdity to suppose.
Opcnhanded effort--"material aid"-aclivc
inhucnce-all riA tell in their due time and
season even though five hundred capitalists
stood ready this moment individually to shout
der the whole Lyons and Council Bluffs pro
Jeet Without these, what right have We to
expect their favo: or denouncc their indier, nee
The bestowal of favor implies reciprocal
obligation, and This is principle of CONNER
cial courtesy, as marked as the courtcsies of
social life. We trust that our citizens will |
march up to this work with open purses, and |
if finally their expectations be disappointed,
they will not be compelled to lay the occasion
thereof entire'y at their own doors.
individuals tell US of the "moral obligations"
to the Davenport road, by which they are
bound. Tie nature and extent of these oJliga.
tons are best known to themselves There are
many in lamcntable ignor ,er IN this point.
There are many who wonder at the hidden
mighliness of obligations which, they are told
all our other railroad consid erations.
They cannot conceive Of the mysterious es-
sencc of obligations, so powerful as to pre-
clude them from lending a liberal support to
another road, which, wilhom that support. will
inevitably so pass us as to sap an exceedingly
important source of our present increasing
and become ten times more det-
rimental to the other road as well as actu
ally disastrous to ourselves, than as if Iowa
City should be thepoint or point of their union
1t is not unreasonable to suppose that the
Davenport road may also cross the Cedar at
Covers Ferry, and this we conceive TO be the
reason for the present indefntencss of the Ly.
ons road beyond Upton and not that it is oc-
casioned by fear of coming into contact with
the Davenport road at Iowa City.
As we said in last weeks issue, we believe |
that Johnson county can materially" and ad. |
vantageously aid both roads. without COM |
promising her moral obligations" on the one
hand, or sacrificing valuable interests on the
other.
We understand that a force of FIVE hundred |
men are to commence working upon the first fif. |
teen miles Of the Lyons road in the coming A. |
pril. and that thorough surveys are to be made
along the entire line.
We also learn, but with how much assurance
Of its truth we know not, that preliminary
survey has been made from Davenport to Mus
catine, and is making towards this city.
DIED suddenly on Monday evening Mr.
WILLIAM II, TURNER, an old gentleman known
long and well to the citizens of this place and
the State at large.
W.SuIScraS Eplruary OF