Daily national Democrat., 1859-12-28
southern Route for Pacific Railroad.

Railroad Convention, HSiN =" -
a sbor, time ago, expressed preference tor
the Central Route as the line of the Paeihc
Pailroad. but did not make il sine q'tG non
that the Company to be organized under
their auspices should build the Road upon
that route, if they happened to find, upon fur
ther exploration and survey, that any other
route was better The subject then being
open, it is important to have all the light,
with reference to the different routes, that
can be obtained. Solely with the view OF
exciting as much attention as possible to the
comparative merits of the routes, and not as
favoring any one route in particular, we pup
hsh letter which will be found below. 1t
is from very distinguished Engineer Mr. D
NJ. FELTON,. who is now President OF the Pml"-
delphia. Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad,
having been appointed to the position by
Boston capitalists who have control of the
Road. He was previously President of one
of the principal railroads leading out of Bos
ton. He is a native of Massachusetts, receiv-
cd thorough education at Cambridge
throughout the United States and is regard
ed as one of the most skillful and successful
Railroad Managers in the whole country. In
expressing as he does decided preference
for the Southern Route for the Pacific Rail
road, to.wit: along the SD parallel, he can
scarcely be accused of being prejudieed by
any sectional feeling, since his place Of nativi-
ty, his training and his associations all forbid
any particular bias towards the South. The
letter is addressed to highly respectable
and very intelligent gentleman of this city,
who gives US permission to publish it. 1t is
as follows:
PmLADELuHIA Nov. 3, 1859.
DEAR SR:-I duly received your kind fa-
vor of October Sd, and am much obliged to
you for it.
have always regarded the Southern Pa
cifc Route as preferable to any other, be-
cause the climate is such as to impose no diff
iculty in its operation at all seasons of the
year.
ID. Because greater portion of the soil is
fertile, and the way business will be much
larger.
Sd. Because being accessible at many points
by water, the materials Gun be furnished to
many gangs at the same time and the Road
can be built much more eXpeditiously than
on either of the other routes where the ma
terials will have to be supplied from the end
only, over the track as it is laid
4th. Because it will form connection
with all the Southern rs well as all tn,
, Northern Roads, and will thus form NOR,
! firm Bond of Union for the whole country
] Southern route will be common Trunl
for all the Roads, whereas Middle or North
ern route void be considered by the South
sectional.
shall be happy to hear from you often.
Truly yours, S. NJ. FELTON,.
The first reason he assigns for his prefer
ence is that the climate is such as to impose
no difficulty" in the operation of the road
He alludes no doubt mainly to the difficulty
arising from SHOWS On this subject jeff
Davis, then Secretary of War, speaking OF
the S2d parallel said in his report to Con-
gress in 1855, with reference to the explora-
: tions and surveys which had been made.
:, "The SHOWS on all the other routes, excep
q that of the S5th parallel, could not fail at Gel
n tain seasons to suspend the working of th
road, for on all, such SHOWS are known t
have fallen would interpose an effectua
$ barrier to The passage Of trains"
The second reason assigned in the letter is
because greater portion of the soil is fer
tile and the way-business will be much
larger" As to this point it would seem
: from the conclusions drawn by the report o.
Captain Pope, that the belt of fertile land
which lies on the west side Of the Mississippi
extends on this Southern Route, as far as th'
, head waters of the Colorado of Texas, thre
f degrees farther west than on any of tn
E Northern routes. The evidence in favor o
Q this opinion, as brought toward by Captain
. Pope is not however considered conclusive
Further examination will be necessary in or.
der fully to determine fact of so much i'm
portance in making a comparison between
the different routes. Admitting that Pope i;
wrong and th1t the fertile belt of the Mis-
sissippi terminates at the 99th Meridian, il
becomes important to know what character
of country lies between that point and tn,
Pacific Slopes. The whole Of this distance i
uneultivable soil, with the exception of strip
of land in the valleys of the Rio Grande, ella
= and Pecos rivers and of the Colorado of tn
n West The way business that these woul
il give might or might not be very considera
# bic. But, it is to be taken into considerable
that on the Northern route there is cultiva
ble land at intervals all the way to tn
Rocky Mountains and a very considerabl
amount of it in the Utah Territory. Th
length Of the generally unculdyable sol
above alluded to on the Southern route i
l.2lO miles
3 Mr. Felton's Sd reason is because bein:
: accessible at many points by water, the ma
terials can be furnished to many gangs at tn
same time and the road can be built mucl
/. more expeditioasly than on either of th
: other routes where the materials will hav,
to be supplied from the end only over tn
track as it is laid"
We are inclined to think there is SOM
force IN this reason, but there would be mucl
more II timber were plentier on this route
i Inc advantage of navigable streams fo
bringing materials to the road would not h,
> great, if the materials themselves were want
: ing. Ties and lumber it is said, can be oh.
tanned "fronl the Guadalupe and Huec
Mountains. from the headwate of Rio Min
bres, from the Pinal Lleno, from the Salina
| ~.