Arkansas intelligencer., 1858-07-02

tie eettlenentS OF OfeROu anu w SSniDRtou.
To say nothing at al Of the sectional charac-
ter of that route, its great length, greatly
augmented by the meandering courses Of the
prairie ridges, which must be followed in the
construction Of railroad, is enough to con-
denim it with practical men; aud then again,
| most Of the stone and timber, commence at
whichever terminus they NAV to construct the
road, must be transported immense distances
along it as it progresses, rendering its cost at
least one-fourth greater than it would be,
could those indispensable materials be found
in sufficient quantities along the route. The
Indians, through whose country it passes, can
not be induced to work for love or money,
aud consequently laborers would have to be
carried from the States contiguous to the
| eastern terminus; and to carry on the work
with that energy which its magnitude requires,
would make such great demand for labo
rsrs, that their pay must necessarily be in
creased far beyond any amount over tina:
which has ever been given within the United
States. But supposng the railroad should
be constructed along the 42d parallel, at the
unnecessarily excessive cost which it will
surely amount to, the contingencies arising
from the climate Of that latitude, will greatly
reduce the profits of the road, if they do not
| render it wholly Improbable, by making it
necessary for the cars to cease running alto
gether in the passes of the Rocky mountains,
from early in November until late in March
Col Bonneville, who is thoroughly acquaint-
ed with the Rocky mountain passes, through
which it would be necessary for the road to
90, if constructed on the 421 parallel, says
that fine dry snow falls in them over six
feet in depth, and is as difficult to travel
through as quicksand. Here then, is an in
surmountable difficulty to the running of the
cars during the winter. Even should the
friends Of that route propose to raise the track
to the height of six feet, it would be as i'm
practicable as if laid in the ordinary mode;-
the foundation, in order to give the track the
necessary sodity at an elevation Of six feet,
must be proportionately wide, and the RENE
dy would then only serve as shelf to aug
ment the difficulty dssigned to be overcome.
The greater portion Of the country through
which that route goes, as have said before,
is only inhabited by savages, who, it is very
well known, are neither a commercial or a
productive people; they subsist by the chase,
and barter but very sparingly for such things
as are absolutely necessary to their vagabond
existence. So the owners Of the road could
not reasonably hope to put down or take up
enough way freight ior them to compensate
for the delay and trouble undergone for re-
ceiving and delivering, but must entirely de
pend upon the patronage Of the inhabitants
Of the vicinity of the termini. Let us leave
the AID parallel for the present, and take a
view of the route along the 32d parallel.
1t is proposed by another sectional class Of
Pacific railroad projections that it shall com
menoe at Fulton, Arkansas, and proceed
thence through Texas and the Gadsden pur-
chase, to San Francisco, California. This is
as long, if not longer route as that along
the forty-second parallel of latitude
and, although, have not at hand the report
of the survey of it | can safely affirm that it
is free of the climatic obstacles of the latter,
however more ultra sectional it may be-
California, the Gadsden purchase, Texas and
part Of Arkansas, would be the only direct
benefciaries of the route; and, excepting these,
the northern States Of the Mexican Republic,
would be more benefited, indirectly, than
any part of our own Union. These facts, of
themselves, ought to be sufficient to quash the
expectation of its advocates unless Congress
intends to sacrifice the well being of the nor
thern and central portions Of the Union, in
order to CRAFTY portion Of the south. But
that route is too far south to be as beneficial
to the southerners as they expect it to be-
Western Arkansas, northern Texas, and the
Gadsden purchase, throwing in California,
cannot raise money enough in quarter of
century, to complete the road. They are but
thinly settled, and the route has, with but one
exception, the same physical obstacles as that
along the AID parallel. From Fulton to the
white settlements of California there are al
most four times as many vagabond Indians
as there are white men; and if the Congress
OF the U. S. should legislats to CRAFTY the
concocters OF this sectional project, the sick
illness of the climate would be sufficient to
prevent its contamination, by lettering
great amount Of laborers from going there to
work. The meanderings of the route would
be, perhaps, more numerous than those Of
the forty second parallel; and the sandy Elano
Estacado and other plains would be found
much more destitute of wood and water
There may not be found the deep banks of
firm dry snow, which are such formidable
obstacle to winter travelling in the vicinity of
the forty second parallel butt has its exten-
sive sandy plains, and high mesas or table
lands, traversed by innumerable wide canons,
which are SO wide and deep as to render
them costly, if not impossible to be crossed
by bridges. In 1882 l saw, at no great dis
tance from the Mogoyon mountains canon
between two tables, SO wide and deep that
we consumed the greater part Of twelve hours
IN crossing with pack-animals; and crossed
many more almost wide and deep. The
Mogoyon mountains, are of the same range
as those of the Gsdsden purchase; and gen
tlemen who have travelled the route have in
formed me that the tables there are IA high,
and canons as wide aud deep, as those have
just mentioned; and that this is not the case
at remote intervals, but that the canens occur
frequently throughout its whole extent to the
Rio Colorado. If that route should be adopt
ed, the company that should undertake its
construction, may calculate to pay as much
for building bridges or inclined plains, as