Washington telegraph., 1855-08-22
3D. Niles through Ara6Le Land
Miles thro' Miles thro' geuer
arabic land ally sterile land

arabic land ally sterile land
Route of the
4Sth deg. 535 1,490
Route of the
42d deg. 632 1,40O
Route of the
SD deg. 7S4 1880
to be decisive 1t appears that full two
thirds of the distance on either route must
be through country generally, and some
times exclusively sterile This is, in point
of fact. The worst feature In road to con-
meet the Mississippi and the Pacific.
There are. it is true, small areas of fertile
land; but, at best but trifle compared
with the whole The proportions are as fol-
lows Assuming ten miles on each side,
(in long line. altother too small.) as the
section Immediately dependent on the road,
We have these results:
Square miles
Square miles on the whole road. g.
900 by 30 10000
Route Of 4Sth deg, miles of arabic
country 535 by 20 1O.70O
Add smal! areas 1000
Arabic land 11.7OO
Route of the 42d deg, miles of ara
bic country 12.64O
Add small areas 1000
Arabic land 1900
Route Of the 42d deg. miles of ara
bic country 1860
Add small areas $500
Arabic land 17.7SO
Reduced to their ultimate proportions,
the following are the ratios of the arabic
land
Northern route 80 per cent
Middle 35
Southern " As
Supposing the whole amount Of arabic
land be reduced to acres, and the value (the
road being made certain. in which the op-
portunity for towns, cities and farmers on
the route would be increased an hundred
fold to be four dollars per acre, We have
the value Of arabic lands on the routes,
thus -
Northern route S29. $4,000
Middle 34,9lS,4OO
Southern 4562S, 800
Neither Of these sums Will construct the
road But. We are well aware. that MANY
persons will make an estimate far bevOnd
ours, by adding immensely to the valuation
of sites for cities. towns, mines, factories,
etc; and, perhaps. this Will be right, by
making time an element Of value vet, i.
cannot De concealed, that wild lands remote
from cities. are not valuable, till roads are
constructed 10 them On the Southern
route, however, we shall see the value of
lands will approximate much more nearly
the whole cost of the road The State of
Texas has granted twenty sections per mile
TO the Pacific Railroad Company This
amounts to II 800 acres per mile, and in
Texas, on Railroad, would be immediate
" saleable at So per acre This would be
S64 600 per mile more than enough to CON
struct the road within the territory-about
700 miles
4th Comparative Cost--The estimate
of the engineers are as follows:
Route OF the 48th deg. S124151. coo
' 42d iI6. .095. 900
32d S4.07O. 600
The Southern route is by far the cheap
est, and if the road is to be constructed by
individual means, this VIII prove decisive
fact
5th Summit iereis The following are
the summit levels, or what are called the
Passes on The several routes, and when We
consider that these passes are far below the
general height of tho mountain ridges, we
may have some idea of the magnitude Of the
difficulties 10 be encountered on mountain
railway:
Northern route 6.044 feet.
Middle S.733
Southern 90 5,717 80
On the Northern route there must be a
tunnel
9Th CLimate-It is not to be denied, that
in regard to climate, the Southern route has
immensely the advantage The recent ex-
perience of the effect Of SHOWS on the Hi
nois railroads shows clearly. that if SHOWS
on the great plains will not entirely obstrnct
the running of cars. they viii undoubtedly
diminish the profits of the road. On roads
liable TO encounter great snow drifts. there
must be depot stations placed near together,
and provided with all the means of comfort,
or it will eDdanger the lives of all passen-
gers in the winter season. On the parallel
of the sd deg, there will be 10 difficulties
| of this SORT
We have now compared carefully the da-
ta furnished by the government surveys of
railway to the Pacific We confess, that
In any aspect such a work is of immense
magnitude. and encountering great difficult
ties In this age and especially in this
country. men are net apt to be deferred by
difficulties, where the end In view is one
Offering sufficient reward In this case
there is great and magnificent reward
in view. The enemies of the Pacific rail-
way are entirely mistaken in the most i'm
portant elements of the enterprise its re-