The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1861-06-26

The Railroad West.
Opc day last week we made short visi
to Monona to see our friends, note the i'm
provemcnt Of that ancient town and witncs!
the progress of the railroad work toward
the Cedar. Friends all well and in excel
lent spirits at the prospect of speedy
connection with the River. Charley Dear
is P. M. he also keeps drugs and books L
sell, for cash only he comes pretty nca,
swearing he'll never sell for anything else
Emery and his sister have large school
(nearly 100 scholars), and from the happy
faces of regiment of little people whom
we saw on the road to the seat of learning
we conclude the children like their teach
ers-this is the first point toward success
in imparting knowledge to the young. The
Railroad Company have store in the ole
stand of Egbert & Evans. 7. Whitmore
is Agent, Salesman and individual "poss.'
His stock is of good size and well assorted
Tom was as busy the day we were there as
he could be, scarcely getting moment to
spare for a chat. He knows what good.
arc, is judge of human nature and we are
of the opinion the Company cannot vel
dispense with his services. Charley Adams
the Superintendent. Of the work, and Judge
Brown, the figure-master- general, were as
busy, flying round among the hands, as
though they had the road under contract to
Sioux City, while Esbert (she old onc) be.
haved as il he expected to hear tho whistle
Of the Locomotive every moment. The
last named gentleman is Of the sanguine
bilious, and these qualities account for his
hopes and his firmness in opinion.
The road track is as crooked as can well
be made, but the reason for this is obvious
A straight line from the River to Monona
would involve an outlay of thousands Of
dollars for cutting, filling, culverts, bridges,
ETC., etc.,-by following the natural lay of
the land the dis :ance is much increased, but
the grading is done for comparatively moth.
ing, and as money is the great want, the
plan adopted by Mr.. Dwight is doubtless
the correct one. When the pioneer comes
west he uses log house and puncheon
floor; when his farm is well improved he
builds brick or frame dwelling, fills it
with pictures and sofas and the ladies OF the
establishment wear silks and ten dollar
bonnets: had he commenced to live stylish
in the start he would have exhausted his
means before the foundation Of fine house
could have been completed. When the
road in its serpentine profile is finished and
the country is thereby developed, land en-
HANGED in value and confidence obtained
for the line, it will be an easy matter to
straighten the track, obtain capital assis-
lance and put the line in first class trim be-
fore the country. It is said that 20 miles will
be ready for the ties by July Goth, ready
for the iron by Oct LIST, and that Loco
motive will arrive at Mcnona by January
LIST at farthest! This looks "fast" but it
must be remembered that Dwight, Brown
and Thompson figure, Brant and Ingersoll
mark out the path and the untiring ADAMS
pushes the thing through-the last named
gentleman is as restless as polar bear
though as unlike that creature in other res
poets as Union man is to Berlin Heights
Spiritual,stic-A Abolition Free Love fanatic or
a Yanccy- Davis fire. eating treason mongcr.
We were informed that over two hundred
hands are already employed on the grade in
the vicinity Of Monona. and that work on
the North line or branch, had commenced
vigorously this side of DEBORAH. The
country needs a Railroad and the amount
Of grain now raised west Of us is so great
that the 'rural districts cannot dispense
with it much longer. McGregor does not
fancy the removal Of her business to towns
west of her and it is natural that her citi.
zsns feel cool toward the enterprise, but al
the same time it is useless Ito kick against
the pricks" and as the locomotive is bound
to come we may as we'll make the of it.
1t will undoubtedly change the character
of our trade and possibly put things in
such shape that we will all have forgotten
ten years hence that we ever had an appre.
hension about it. To the talk that the per.
manent and eternal end of the road is to b.
North McGregor Zone mile above us) ",
have only to say ''wait and see ~ Maybe
McGREaoR proper will be left out in thu
cold, her business transferred west ant
north, her citizens become "hewers Of woot
and drawers of water" for other towns, bu
we will not yet lose any sleep over so humi
liating contemplation. Without rail
way our town would have doubled in bust
ness annually for the next five years, ,eitj
a railway We expect very confidently to SCI
an annual increase of trade at this point
Checked we will be in the growth We wer
anticipating; but not "dead'' exactly no
dying, even if a dozen railways are project
ed toward shutdown or the north pole
The crops on the prairie look we'll
Corn is rather small but the present weathe
will hurry it along before John Frost, Esq
puts his fingers on its emerald blades. al
along the road new houses are being built
new fences put up and the signs Of thrift
meet you in every direction. In the frs
8 miles out of town (from to Z o'clock il
| the morning) we met over 100 teams com
ing to market with grain--on our return il
the evening We counted $50 and quit; tn
dust was SO choking on the prairie that
was almost impossible sometimes to Sc
teams at ALL No rain fell west Of Ger
Bigelow's on Wednesday last-hcrc we ha