Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1853-06-02
MINERAL POINT RAIL ROAD.
First Strike 7!
GREAT Gathering On THI PEOPLE.
" 0rk-E Commercial!
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On Monday asst, the citizens of Miner
al Poa.t and the surrounding neighbor-
hood to tic number of from 600 to 500,
met az The Court House, where a process
sion was formed under the direction of
Chas. y. Mumf)rd, Esq. as Marshal, as
sisted hv I. J. Otis and p w Thomas,
ESQ. aad accompanied by the Mineral
Point Bapd, proceeded to the I'd Section
Of the Mineral Point Rail Road, one mile
south If The village, where were perform
ed the ceremonies of BREAKING
GROUND for the commencement of op-
erations on the Road The honor of
breakille the soil was assigned to Col.
ABNER NICHOLS, he being one of the
Oldest settlers Of the town,--one who was
present al the raising Of the first Log
Cabin in Mineral Point As the Colo
mel raised the first shovelfull of dirt from
the ground, the crowd expressed their JOY
by long loud and hearty cheers, such as
before these valleys and rocks never
heard After the ceremonies of breaking
the ground, appropriate speeches were
made by Messra n B BoYDEN, G. L.
FRosr, ] B GEAY, / E MEssMoRE and
CYRrs Ho2DxAN, Esqs, interpreted with
soul st;rring music by the Band, and loud
cheers from the audience.
Mr. Woodman stated to the meeting
the terms upon which the contractors,
Nessrs Chamberlains & Cooke, had under
taken tie job Of constructing the road, and
his firm conviction, (based upon good rea
sony that tie stock viii prove a safe and
good irv. etment to those holding it. He
stated tae objec, Ct the company in ask
ing for County Bonds, aud urged upon all
tile necessity Of action and vigilance in
obtaining full and decided vote Of the
people u tie County upon the subject.
During tue whole of the exercises, our
citizens manifested that same zeal that has
ever actuatcd them on the subject, and
that will continue until the Road is COM
pletcd aud the Iron Horse shall speed his
way through thevslley in which they were
on that day assembled.
We base giveu our readers but brief
sketch Of the proceedings of the day
enough hayevcr. to show them that the
long wished for day has arrived when the
work should be commenced on this road
which is to become a principal instru-
ment In making Old Iowa one of the rich
est counties in the State, or in the West
We repeat. the work has been commenced !;
and It will 80 forward The contractors
are men ofknowD ability and perseverance
They are ready so perform their part, and
it ONLY rgmuins Tor those interested to put
their shoulders to the wheels of the cars
and see that they are kept in motion, by
furnishing tue company the means for car
rying it 5n to completion. Jubilees and
enthusiasm. such as were witnessed on this
occasion are commendable and proper ;
but they viii not pay for building Rail
Roads Contractors and workmen must
have something more substantial Our
citizens havo subscribed literally in the
stock Of th.s Road. And yet much more
is needed ID push it forward to a compile
ton. u secure this end, the company
have asked The credit of the County, and
it remaioa far the people to say whether
it shall he granted. Let every one con
slider well tile subject, and act for the good
of the Whole, and we have no doubt that
on the goth Of June, the vote will be near
" unanimous '.for the Rail Road PROPOSE
ton )" nay more, we believe that in less
than one year after the Road is completed,
the citizens Of Iowa County viii regret
that the county had not taken one hun
dred and fifty Thousand dollars stock in
the Road, as well as lending their credit