The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1856-01-07

that suggested to the foresight Ut Dew
C linton and his sagscious eoadlutors the
{ construction er the Eric Cansl-a work
which has given him an mmortal tpme e.
Ii is eocntry too Of great powers OF pro-
dac,icn, capable Of sustaining an immense
amount OF animal life !: and il already yields
aud demands sas, supplies OF the necessa-
ries OF subsistence From Buffalo 10 Chi
cage there ia the chain Of the great Lakes,
with sn uninterrupted wates communication
and with country bordering on them 50
nearly level as 10 afford the creates, laciii-
~ iof chean and expeditions transportation
~ .silgoad From Chicago---a city which
IS hteralls the prodigy Of The times, and
pbich. a. Il seoas 10 ne, IL only get in the
fret stage u It's groNth--irom Chicago, !
say, 10 Rock Island There ia the ssnse erer
surface and il possible stiil higher powers
d production. With this great line, lndi-
ana llliaeis, Ohio, Pennsy WANNA, New aer-
scy and Maryland are all directly connect
Ell. Ncr may reach Philadelphia and Bal
t.aorc ~ .a.lToad as well as New York ana
thus choose Y, drown market on the Atlantic
coast n is a nero question OF economy or
MOTT. The local demands OF this vast eS-
tent 81 county, through which continued
ines .. railroads have been completed, are
d themselves suiieent, without he contfi-
tauans al ether district, tQ Sustain ;ae works
cI Improvement constructed upon it, The
Population io whose wants these works are
more or less tflbuiafy, cannot at ais mo-
nent tall short Ct thirteen millions OF souls,
and il is multiplying in ratio far exceed
ing the rate OF It's natural increase.
lowe presents great advantages for the
continuation cr tbis Ire. It is q rolling
pr afie Of uncommon fertility, without u Sc
roas obstruction from the Mississi ri to the
Missouri. In ascending from the former at
Davenport 10 the general plane Of elevation
$50 feet in miles, we hare already overcome
one OF tie greatest obstacles between Rock
Island and Council Bluffs The country
for the irst thirty miles in Nebraska, which
our engineers have explored, is much the
same-easly crossed by railroad and ca
pable Of producing abundantly all the
examinations show that the valley of the
Platte river for hundreds OF miles. almost
10 TIC base u the Rocky mountains, is high
~ favorable fos continuation OF the road.
Yen are all aware that five routes to the
Pacific lave been surveyed under the drec-
tioa Of the War Department. TIE route
west from ST. Louis near the 3sth and 39th
35th are virtually disposed Of either as i'm
practicable OF too cos ly. The route rear
the 47ih and 49;h parallels, along orr north
ern frontier, Is MT only open To the obiec-
ton OF expensiseBess, but ii is ton remote
from the centre Of our territory and popula-
ton. The last objection applies TO the
route near The a2nd parallel though it's be-
liesed 10 be the least expensive one Of al!
From the surveys the choice would seem
to De between the latter and the route near
the 4ist and 42nd parallels west from Coun-
ell Bluffs: and if this The great elevation OF
a portion of The line exposest to temporary
Interruptions, in winter, on the other, the
torid climate Of the Colorado desert renders
it necessary TO suspend labor in the oFen
air for several months in the year. Under
these Circumstances il appears 10 me that
it requires no power Of prophesy to loretell
the result. Missouri and our friends NORTH
in Dubuque and in Minnesota must unite
their Improvements with ours at some point
cast Of the Rocky Mountains and 90 with
IA 70 the Pacific on Il great central route
with several examinations on the Mississip.
pi, and with those termini from St. Louis
10 ST, Paul nearly all the States in the Tn
ION sill be conveniently connected with
the great commercial centres of the ,tIau-
TIC and Pacific coasts. The Secretary of
War states that the difficulties of the line
from Council Bluffs to San Francisco are
aiready known L. be less than on any other
route except that Of the 32nd parallel and
be states further thst,after his report TO Con
g-ess waa made, the discovery oF still
more direct r"at rom Crest Sal Lake
to San F,aso nraclicahiota oaghout ior
wagons was snhglaeed b. h., atiiccr COM
aaadlng thc troops in Utah. a route, which
If found practicable Tor railroad. w.i! not
oaly iezscn The length Of this linz, bu, lurtb-
er diminish its difficulties
| have condensed from the Sctretary'8
repor. table showing the relative lengths,
cost, Sc, Of the two last mentioned lines
and viii read il IL you in Illustration Of
some u their comparative 7drantsges.--
This table is ahnexed)
(Here Ger. Dix read the table. which is
annexed
The act Of Congress, under which these
routes were explored, required, for obvious,
reasons, no surveys east OF The Mississippi
liver. Bot il would be great mistake to
'egard railroad from the Pacific to the
Mississippi. as all that Is needed for the