The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1861-12-12

us 20 fight. our mon snd officers wcrs an xjoa
to fight, and thai all icit oonGdsnt Of our abil
TO win signal victory, tSat wosl redound Z
the CrUdi' OF our country snd ourselves.
As Acon a. hsd finished. IlunNer ssks fo
q vote on my proposition to Gght: eveyr res'c
of the covnC,I voted 10 % Jorydrd md soaL
We separated At four O'J ,ck, each Ors Of a,
psuted IN our own mibi- that The army you'd
mOve In sdyance the roNt morning. Ths noxt
morning arrived, aud with il Hdutsis order 10
ref,cdt'.
The Pacific TcicgrUph-IIow " v~ns Con
struc'cd-Iiot.ru Of tue workiReu.
On Thanksgiving Day-'hs 2sth ut, s,y.
the Rochos'et uNi"N large purity Of the -o,k
uicn orgsSrf In Coastuc ing tho Parid- Tcia-
Etal from tho western bori.r. To Sdt Lake
City, under the dir ction VI MIR Creighton ar
rived At OMAHA on their return. Among them
~as samuel T.. Starr, Of hi, city wlN reached
home on Ihurcny l,s'. Nj Starr WA. one en-.
tagcd ia the rr'cuc'l work Of construction, in
the dh,rSnt brsn,h.s. and he gives an in orcs'-
,ug account Of re u aurcr in whijh the enter.
,il.o vas C0uduc',d TrO lae tsi hccn CON
'tuticd TrVltu, 20 igly lNt - rtt wet ~
lIl, -Ousgh, vii h I, ON tho FLAT river 800
mil,s east Of Dcr,cr FROM that point to P,rt
nrdgur, aDou: 700 nilc the lins ~. c'struct-
,d IS tho Jarty Of Whirh Mr.. Starr -, Quo.
Ma. Cic gL.cn sd irrm - 10 ~ men cirrloy,i,
and they Wcfc divided IN thfCO trans Tho
met Ci one train Il < the hols those of aun. her
eat down the pole, a 4 -ot them, AID tho third
,I' Up the wire, H. tho thrc' trains thorc wcrs
hl out 20 wagons and 200 cattle including fcN
nil,h cows, io flrLish milk f,r tls men. TdO
wagons ned from - 80 10 hundred pounds
ach, consisting Of Witc inouls,ota. tols camp
tqhpAgr and provisions. Tho trains wcrs said
10 Oe tho lsst that ever started over tho Plains
The cattle beirg exec llent, the wagons good,
ana ali that pciiaincd 20 the comfort oCtho mon
WAS in kocpng with the rest. q Od tents vero
provided, also co king s'nycs aui ali the nscs-
rary u'enslls for providing meals, ard-whst
was quite in keeping wi h thess--ihe hest food
that could bc conveyed over tho plains and
mountains.
The first pole was SGT on the i'h Of July. at
Julesburgh, and the last on th, section at Fort
Brldgcr, about ono hundred miles this side Of
Salt Lake City, on the 10th Of October. The
dtgseis train went all 'id and got along at tho
rate Of about twelve miles per day, digging
abo ut twcnty-iour holes for each mile Tho
train which put up the polos only made about
ten miles per day and was ono hundred and
hity miles behind the digg, IL when the httor
reached tho eud OF the iou'e. On tho plains
the digging was easy, and the work went rap
lilly on-iu the mountains IL was slow, owing
10 the rocky soil
The polos wero selected cut, stripped Of bark
by the men, and wore then drawn out by tho
cattle and distributed along tho line. In some
localities excellent timbor was found In groat
abundance, hard pine being most plenty though
some Codar was obtained. Dead or dry pines
were often found in largo quantities, some Of
which would make three poles Zach of suitable
size. In somo localities tho poles had to Ia cut
in tho mountains and hauled over ono hundred
miles. Each pole is twenty feet in lcrgth, and
is buried four feet in tho ground. lhrou IA
tho Rocky Mountain Pass, where tho line runs,
ihcro are points whore thi snow is known to
cover the ground TO tho d9pth Of eleven feet.
The line Is we'll nut up, and ia as substantial
"A "A 81 hR haa xutrg
not exposed to damage from tho falling Of trees,
as care Was taken to avoid every thing Of that
kind
Tho route adopted was mainly along tho road
aero-s tho plains and through tho mountain-.-
serpentine form, the Telegraph takes direct
line following the general course OF tho road.
The track pursued by the wos, ON train over tho
plains is very crooked often made so hy tho cat
Ito dying In the path. Whom an animal fall,
its carcass is seldom removed from tho track
except as tho wolves carry il away by piece
moiil and trains which follow turn Out To avoid
II, thus making n crooked track. for tho bones
OF Thousands Of animals lilo bleaching along the
great paths that lead from the Missouri 70 tho
Pacific.
The constructors Of this telegraph line mot
with no hostile Indians, though they saw many
Of tho natives along the way, and somatmes
suffered by their thioving dcprcdationI. The
Indian Agent at Deer Creek, sixty-iiye miles
above Fort Laramie, tCll Mr.. Starr that ono Of
the Sioux chiefs cOuvet1cd with him about tho
telegraph project before tho poles were set, and
said that hs understood that poles were To 10 sat
sixteen feet high, and then strung with wires
closely from top To bottom. As this would make
a wire fence all the buiTIlocs and other game
would bo kept from coming down 10 tho south
He looked upon the project with disiayor, but
when he understood that there was o. be hut ono
wire and that sixteen tcot above the ground, he
was quite relieved OF his fears, and appeared TO
be satisfied. Speaking OF the manner in which
tho natives regard the telegraph Mr.. Starr saws
the antelopcs were timid AMI di-trustful. Hmds
Of them crossing the plains would stop when
they came tn the telc lraph, and eau iously eX-
anime the poles before ven uring to pass between
them.
The stations Of the Telegraph Operators arc
chiefly AZ the stations Cf the Mail Company
from fifty 10 one hundred miles apart. There
are usually two or three persons at each sta.
tOn taking care OF the mules of tho Stage Com
pany, and these are all the society the operator
has. The work Of repairing the same must,
for the present at least, be performed by the op.
orators, going out when they lind communica-
tiOn with the next station interrupted. The
duty of an operator and repairer is anything
but pastimo, and TO perform it well requires
hardy, courageous men, who are not afraid to
bc alone and to contend with snow storms aud
Whatever else they may meet in that vast wild
region over which they must sometimes travel.
The right men will, in time, be found in the
Iight places, and Of the successful working Of
the telegraph to the Pacific none are more con
ldcut than tho men who constructed il, aud
Nho therefore best know what obstacles are
in the way.