Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1853-08-10
The Lyons Iowa Centt61.

| TO thibk that ibis ROAD VIII De pusheu tdPiuy
1 forw ard to this city aud westward to the Mis-.
souri,. We believe the company intend II pcs
sible, to retain the reputation which they have
already won, ofleading the ''pioneer railway"
/ in Iowa.
Along the whole lire as yet surveyed. from
Lyons and Fulton City to this place, a distance
of seventy five miles. strong forces Of men have
been set to work at various points and the con.
tracts for the entire route let out, excepting
few miles in neighborhood Of Dewitt and
the Wapsipinecon river, and between Iowa
City and the Cedar. The latter portion we
are credibly informed will be let out as soon as
practicable.
Mr.. O'Shaug hnessy. who has contract in
the immediate vicinity of town, and who may
be known to some of our citizens as former
" connected with the construction Of the Bur-
lngton and Mt. Pleasant plank road is daily
expected with an additional force Of an hund-
red and fifty hands and a complement ,f hors.
es and carts
We have had the utmost confidence from the
start in the ability and determination Of this
company to carry on their project with the least
possible delay. The project was new to most
Of US, and perhaps matter Of surprise, but it
is no longer such to any one who has taken the
trouble to examine its leading features; its fea-
sibiity, its directness Of connection with Chi
cago and Eastern markets, its unrivalied eros
sing at the narrows of the Mississippi. and the
beauty and resources Of the entire extent Of
country through which it isdestiked to pass.
There is another feature in thisw work worthy
ofnote, especially in this age OF disasters and
outrageous calamities, which is that not single
draw bridge will be requisite on the whole line
from Chicago to Council Bluffs or some point
! on the Missouri river a distance Of rising six
hun red miles. Nature herself seems to have
reared her bluffs and abutments upon every
stream which it crosses, as il anticipating the
construction Of an air line trunk road from the
emporium Of illinois to the far western borders
of Iowa.
We understand, further. that SO far as their
views have been solicited the citizens of coun
ties west regard the continuation of this line
with the utmost favor. At Fl. Des Moines a
few days since, a large meeting of the inhabi-
tants Of that town determined to present a Pc
tition to the Judge Of Polk county.to submit
to popula. election, the question Of subscribing
5000 900 to aid in this enterprise
The greatest difficulty experienced in mat.
ters of this kind, has become the scarcity of
laborcrs and the almost impossibility of OBJ
tanning them in sufficient number. To any one
who has witnessed the ship loads which are
unladen weekly in our seaports this may seem
exceedingly strange. But our wonder ceases
when we look abroad over our Union. and be
hold the countless works Of internal improve
ment which are rapid y raising our country
to the proudess commercial position in the
world On one railroad alone. now in process
of construction there can be no less than ten
thousand employ ees engaged and elsewhere in
like proportion to the magnitude Of the work
undertaken
In order to avoid this difficulty the Lyons
Company have sent an agent to Europe ex
pressly for the purpose of directing emigrants
to central Iowa His intention is to send
twenty thousand men at least to settle along
The line of this road. and we well know that
TO state in the Union presents stronger induce
ments to the foreign or native emigrant than
does Iowa.
Her climate is mild and beautiful for nearly
two thirds of the year, while the winter seas
ons are far less severe than in states to the
north o! us or in eastern states upon the same
latitude. During the p,st winter we had
snow but three or four days, and it is an unu.
s,ial circumstance to experience season more
severe than that.
The soil and entire agricultural resources of
the state are unsurpassed, and to test this as
sertion, it is tolerab!y good proof to state that
during little over three months just past, about
hundred and seventy five thousand acres Of
Government land have been entered in this
land dis riot alone, one out of five districts in
the state. s &..ss....4.sg.g t
Strangers are hockiug in upon us in increas.
lng numbers, and what We are des ined shortly
TO have, is a railroad connection with the east
in order that Iowa may become fully known
abroad and her many advantages fully appre-
cated.
The counties west of us contain yet much
vacant land, well watered and timbered and
only waiting the transforming hand Of the in
dus,rious laborer, TO smile with beauty and
blossom like the rose"
We are informed that corps of engineers
will proceed without delay through these coun
ties towards Fort Des Moines, and we Judge
that the whole country clear to the Missouri is
admirably adopted to railroad construction.