The weekly Placer herald., 1854-05-13
The Pacific Railroad Bills.

Two projects for Pacific Railroad are
now before Congress in the shape of bills
carefully prepared and reported by Sc
lect committee. DR.. Gwin's Senate bill
provides for single line of road, speci-
fies no particular route, but leaves the Sc
lection of one to the President; proposes
to aid the work by donations of land, by
granting each alternate section for twenty
five miles on each side Of the track; and
by awarding to the parties who shall un-
dertake to build it mail contract for an
extended term of years, at not more than
5000 per mile, which would amount, ac-
cording to common estimates, to $500, ZOO
per annum. This is the substance of the
Senate Bill.
That reported by Mr.. McDougal's COM
mittee is prepared with more attention to
details, and is essentially different from
DR.. Gwin's. 1t provides for three great
objects, to-wt:
Firstly, The construction Of two
lines of railroads, one from the western
extremity of Lake Superior by the west
route, to he determined by the President,
to the Pacific; and the other, south of the
97th parallel from the Mississippi to the
Pacific.
Secondly, The construction of two
lines of telegraph on the lines of railroad
above described
Thirdly. The opening and maintaining
by military labor, of one or two good ira
yelling roads from the frontier of
the Mississippi states to the Pacific ocean
or to the borders of states on that coast.
The means provided for the accom-
plishment of these great objects are sim
pie, but apparently effective. The Sec
retary shall advertise for proposals to
build the Railroads and Telegraphs nam
ed in the bill. Persons making the pro-
posals shall state what guarantee they
will deposit; for how long time they
will require to hold the road as their pro-
perty before surrenderng it to the govern
ment, as provided in the bill; for what
sum they will carry the mails, &c. A
contract shall be awarded to the parties
making the most advantageous offers in
these respects.
When the contractors surrender the
road to the Government, it shall belong
to the States in which it may lie. Land
shall be issued to them in quantities pro-
porlioned to the length Of the road built
by them from time to time. The Presi-
dent shall establish six military stations
along the road, and may increase or di-
minish the number of posts at his discre-
ton. The officers in command shall en-
ploy the detachments under their COM
mand in making and maintaining the
common roads provided for.
These are the chief provisions Of this
great Legislative measure.
TO DRIVE AWAY RATs.-A friend has
just informed us of plan he adopted to
get rid of rats. His premises swarmed
with them He took small fsh-hook,
attached to a fine wire, and suspended
on it a piece of cheese, letting it hang
about a foot from the around. One Of
the rats leaped at it and was hooked, and
set up such squeal, noise and rattle, that
all the rest forsook him and fled. Not a
ratremained on the premises.
A clergyman lately illustrated the me-
cessity of corporal punishment for the
correction of juvenile depravity, with the
remark, that "the child, when once started
in course Of evil conduct, was like a
locomotive on the wrong track-it takes