Quasqueton guardian. (Quasqueton, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1856-1858, 1858-05-13

gypsum, coal and iron deposits Of the in
terror, if ever brought to market, must
be transported by railroads, as our rivers
offer no facilities for navigation. Lum-
Der, too, must be freighted west, and in
these facts Mr.. SMITH thought there was
abundant proof to sustain the opinion
that the Dubuque and Pacific would
be better paying road than the Chicago
and Galena, which has heretofore yielded
dividends of 29 per cent.
Mr.. SMITH said he would make no APP
peal to man or n community for aid in
pushing forward the work, on the ground
of sympathy, or because of the collat-
eral advantages growing ont of its con-
struction, such as the rise of property,
the facilities of travel, the communication
with markets, &c. He did not ask any
one to take stock, unless such person was
satisfied that the investment would be
directly remunerating one. lie thought
no one could doubt that it would prove
SO, and demonstrated it by showing the
resources of the company,
The company has grant of lands from
the state, Of 1881 ,O40 acres, or $3.50
acres per mile. At an average value of
Sc e5 per acre, at which the company
are confident they can dispose OF them,
these lands will bring SEA, 600 per mile.
Contracts have already been completed
with Messrs. Mason, Bishop & Co, for
building the road, without equipment,
but with the necessary buildings, shops,
&C.. of first class road, from Dyersville
TO Cedar Falls, for the sum of 800, 500
per mile, and from Cedar Falls to Fort
Dodge, at $4,000 per mile, showing
that the lands alone will more than build
the road, as soon as they can be made
available. Besides this, the company
has had donated to it, and now own, in
the different towns through which the
road passes, some 1000 lots, which,
the average value of Sl45 per lot, will
amount TO over million Of dollars. In
Dubuque the company owns about eighty
acres Of property, with a river front Of
nearly hree-fourths of mile, worth fully
half million of dollars This property
was likewise nearly all donated to tie
company, or else procured in exchange
for other property given them.
The lands of the company were shown
to be valuable, as we'll for their mineral
as for their agricultural resources. The
road runs through the northern portion
of the great Iowa Coal Field, and there
are, upon the company's lands, inexhaust-
ible stores of coal, iron and gypsum. In
the vicinity of Fort Dodge, where the
Des Moines river makes groove in
mother earth n third of mile in width
and 1873 feet deep, three strata of coal are
exposed, and two more are known to ex
list below. Prof OWEN, U. S. geologist, |
estimates the area of the Iowa Coal field i
at $4,000 square miles, sufficient to sup
ply the world with fuel for thousand
years. No richer deposit can be found in
any part Of it than that upon the com
pany's lands Pennsylvania receives
about 81, 100000 per annum from New !
York and New England for her coal, and |
why, Mr.. SMITH asked, will not this de-
post become like source Of wealth to
US, having tributary to us, for their sup
ply of this indispensable article of con
sumption, the immense territory of Wis
consin, Minnesota, Dacotah, Nebraska,
and the whole region north to the British
Possessions? The gypsum beds of this
region are alike ineXhaustiblc. This is
valuable article of commerce, now
worth rs much as -four in the Eastern
market. This substance is found in veins
of from 90 to 40 feet in thickness, and
millions of tons could be removed with
scarcely a perceptible impression upon
the quantity. The like remark is true as
regards the iron deposits These miner
ais must be more or less in demand, and
the railroad being the only means for
their transportation, must receive large
accession Of trade thereby, independent
of the fact that a considerable mining and
manufacturing interest must here be de-
veloped, furnishing other business for
the road.
Mr.. SMITH also exhibited the financial
condition of the company. Under assur-
anccs of the English loan, they had gone
considerably into debt in the prosecution
of some parts of the enterprise which
otherwise the company would not have
attempted The negotiation for that loan
finally failed, having been delayed until
the financial panic. Their indebtedness,
however, was neither ruinous or press
tho p,nrtnana itnp,t tho road N nl