The true Democrat., 1856-11-18
Illinois Central Railway.


 ment 10 completion. We now proceed to fulfil that promise, Incidentally alluding to the pro- sress of other roads, and awarding to it's bull der, Col. Mason, that measure of credit he has so honorably earned
 The grant of lands was made by Congres September 2Oth, 1850 and the charter incor- poratln9 the company passed the Illinois Legis- lature the following February, and was ap- proved by the Governor on the 10th of that month. The firstannual meeting of the com pany was held on the third "Wednesday of March, 1851, at which Robert Schuyler was made president, Morris Ketchum treasurer. aud k. 5. Mason chief engineer Col Mason ar rived at Chicago in May, 1851, to begin the work, and from that day to the hour of rcsig- nation, which took place on the first of the current month, hia labors have been indefatiga- ble, his success wonderful, and his achievements without parallel in the annals of railroad en- gin ering.
 Under ordinary circumstances, five or six years Tn the growth or development of State or city proiuces no very extraordinary changes; but such hes not been the case with Illinois or Chicago. In 1851, the population of the State was not far from S75OOO, and of this city about 3l,OOO. The railroads in operatioa were-42 miles of the Galena and Chicago Union. II of the Aurora Extension, and 45 of the Great Western. This total of 93 miles was laid with strap rail. The grain exports of Chicago bv lake were 2,OOUOOO bushels in 1850, and 475O.- OOOln 1o5l; and the rec tipts of lumber hv lake were 1OO,0OO,OOO feet in 1850, and 125 100000 m 1891. Asking the reader to keep these facis Tn remembrance, we proceed with the history of the construction of the road.
 The hrst engineering party organized in Chicago or the 21st of May, 1851, and com. .. menced preliminary surveys of the Chicago branch, making Chicago point of departure, and by the middle Of summer seven other par ties had been organized and were in the field viz: at Freeport, La Sale, Bloomington, Deca- tur, Cairo and Urhana; and the whole line was surveyed and located previous to December 31, 1851. The work Of construction was com. menced at Cairo and La Sale, about Christmas ot the same year.
 On the first of Decent CT, 1851 the Galena and Chicago Union railroad was extended from + gin to Belvidere, 33 mlles--this portion of that line being the first heavy rail lad in IlH nois, and the first step iu he right direction in rallroad improvement m the west.
 Col. Mason spent portion Of the winter ol 1852 in Washington, engaged with Mir. Neal in selecting the lands donated by the charter | in February. 1859, the Michigan Southern railroad cars reached Chicago, making the first railroad connection with the east and the event Was duly celebrated by guns, dinners and speeches.
 The first contract for grading the Illinois Cen tral road was made on the 18th of March, 1852. for that portion of the bralch between Chicago and Calumet, and covered distance of four teen miles It Was hurried alon. for the pnr- pose of allowing the Michigan Central railroad to enter the city, and was completed on the 24th of May following, and a railroad commu- nIca'lon ol eGed between Chicago and Detroit
 Public coutracts were first made in Juur 1852, and the grading of the 1st, : l, Gth, Stl Jth and lOth divisions let, aIi on the lith ot October following, the 3.l, i l, 5th 7th, llth and l2th dlvisons were put uuder contract. Alter q bong contest with Inc citv of CnicarD finally, on the lith of June 1852, the city councll paa~cd an or.ducc lermittiug the llli- nos Central to enter the city and Iorate it, line along the shore of Luke Mcknight h July the ti"st in>'alIme,t of the first English loan oE Sf,OUOUOO Was raiI and it was not tl.l. til this payment had bean male thai the origi- natoEs oi the enterprise sad confidence iu its succes5.
 During the summer and fall of 1852 the rail- road system of Chicago Tas considerably en- lM2ed August the Galeua auI Chicago Union wa, extcudeI to Eorkfor.i, nIuety-two miles from Chicago On the 8th of October the Chicago, Alton and s,t Louts was opened from Alton lo Springfield, seventv-two miles. and on the llth the Chicago ani Rock Island road was opened from CnraIo 10 Joliet, forty miles, thence 1t was eNtenGel to Morris, tweDty- one miles further, January 5-h 1858, and to Peru, thirty nine miles more the 2lst of March ot the same Velr.
 ln March, 1855, Col Mason was elected St. perinten!enr of the road, and continued to dis charge the duties If that office, in addition to those oi the chief engmeership, uaul the ap- pointneut of NJ. Done iu December 1855 -l On the l6th of May, 1852, the first sixty miles of the Illinois Central, from La Sallc 10 Bloom inglon, was opened for business, and the com pany commenced working the road ou is own account. Thereafter the road Wa, opened and worked on from point 10 point, as shown in the statement below. or course we have space for little else than dates and events, but we call at tentlon to this statement, believing that the achievements here recorded will justify the ex- presson made use of above that Col. MaSoh', success Tn building the Illinois Central has no parallel in the history of civil engineering.
 DATES OF OPENING BY SECTIONS.
 Main Line. Cairo to La Sale, 3oo miles,
 La SalIe c. Blo mHGton.. Bo miles Mav li 1858. Bloomington to Clnton... 33 miles. March II 95i. Canton to Decatnr........ Z] miles, Ott. Is. ls54. Calro tp SaHdovHl. MS miles. Nov. P, lS54 Decatur to SAndoyal. s5 miles, Ian. l. l855
 sos
 Gaena Branch La S4llo to Dunlctl l45 miles Mend"ta to La Sae..... l6 miles, Nov II. 1853. reeport to "arren...... 25 miles. Jan. 9. ls54 Warren to Scales Mound. Il miles ScrI ll 1854 Scales Mound to Gclena. F miles, Oci. ao, lS5i Mendoza to Freaport. M. 62 miles. Fcb ]. ls55. GAlenG to Dunneth...... Y miles, June, F. ls55. 
 II;
 Chicago Branch, Chicago to Centralia, 25o miles Chicago to Caiumet...... II miles, May l5, 1852. Calumet to Kankakee.... 42 miles, July H. ls53. kankakec b Spring Creek 8l miles, Dee. ,. l95} Spring Creek to Pera..... z2 mites. May 23. ls5l i'efa to Urbana. Zp mics, July 25. 1854. Urbana to Mattoon...... II miles June 25 le55. Mattoon to Centraa..., Y miles, Sept, 27, 1856.
 During the time Col Mason has been cnaay- ed in this work, single handed as it were, a. chief engineer of the Illinois Central Schuyler, Burrall, Griswold and Osborn nave one after the other held the presidency; Ketchum, Bur rall, Edgar and Perkins the treasuryship; A of- sen, Bunce and Achorman lave been secreta- rles; while Neal, DuPuy and W.lson have had charge of the land departm ent, and Wyman, Van Nortwce, COmstock, Done, Clarke and ! Wilson have acted for greater or less lengths ol o'tHr oul '0IiHlGi'NtHNn ol tue fodNi, anu the railroad system of Illinois has expanded from 38 miles of s'rap-rail, May, 1851, 10 2,4OO in October, 1856
 Meantime Chicago has increased its popula- ton from 3l, ,O0O to 1lO,OOO, and the State of Illinois from 075OO0 to 100000. The ex- port grain trade of Chicago has sweiled steadily year hy year until it eluaIled l5, 75OOOO bushels last year, and promises to reach 2OOOOOOO of bushels in 1856. The import trade in lumber has increasee in corresponding ratio, and was equal to 326, ,OOOOOO feet in 1855, and gives every indication of touching 45000Q,O00 for the year 1856.
 giving an account of the natural obstacles pre- scented ln country comparatively new to the construction of line made at right angles to the movement of trade and emigration; we will