Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1864-04-15


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H. The Inssresas of AluscasiAe.
We are induced to say . word upon thi
| theme by way Of supplement- to an artiel
published in this week q Cbutie-. 81 Weacn
dorss what the Courier ssJs'relasiye to tn
necessity Of our people acting with eneft.
and promptness in securing to thi. city
vast trade that must ere long find an ontle
upon this river We think the editor il
error in stating the object Of the iCeda
Rapids and Missouri River Railroad CO, to b
an early completion Of its line to the Mis-
souri, river. II is we'll understood that roas
will not pass Boonsboro for, years At least
Whenever the country between the De-
Moines and the Missouri rivers can sustain
. railroad, that companyTwill push on. BY
the arrangement referred to by the Courier
there can be 70 doubt that during the pres
ent year the Cedar Rapids and the N. & NJ
road will form junction ..at . peint not far
ther east then Marengo, nor west thsn the
west branch Of the Raccoon river. Ecoao'
my dictates the Junction shall be made d
Narengo, ~ but some six or seven miles ol
road will be required. The junction may
however be formed At Des Noines. Suppose
the lsttsrto be the case, the trads west
and north of Des4 Moinss, and fos oonsid-
erable distance eastward, viii 6nd its way ia
the Mississippi by the Keokuk, Des Aoines
L Minnesota Railroad, which will be complet.
cd to the vicinity Of Oskaloosa the present
year. Suppose however the junction is
formed At Aarengo, Ill the trade west of that
! point will be- divided between At least two
points: Davenport and Clinton. Muscatine
being nearer this junction than Davenport,
and nearer southern market by thirty iniles,
our city with proper facilities might prove a
formidable completion. We have however
in our mind what We believe to be the best
railroad scheme for this city yet suggested.
From the Dubuque Times we learn that the
Legislature Of Minnesota recently amended
the act to facilitate the construction Of the
Minneapolis l. Cedar Valleyl Railroad, which
provides that not less than 80 miles Of the
road from Minneapolis to the Iowa line, shall
be completed by the LIST Of January, 1866, and
ready for business before receiving any
lands. Of this road the La Crosse Rspu6H.
can says: '-1 .' ''"... '..
"Mr. Chamberlain intends to build the
Minnesota Central formerly known as the
Cedar Valley r. r. a. far south as the Iowa
and Mnnesota State line to = point that is
nearly one hundred miles west from La
Crosse, there to connect With . line extend.
ing down through Iowa :, The Minnesota
Ger trail intersects the Winona and st. Peters
r. R. at Owatonna, about the same distance
west from the Mississippi"
This road il now under contract. 1t is
perhaps not generally known that very
large proportion Of the road from Cedar Falls
to the Iowa line is graded, and that the
work is still being pushed forward. That q
line of railroad from Minneapolis to Cedar
Falls will be in successful operation within
the coming four years we have no doubt
The people Of Dubuque are deeply interested
in this road, and so at the recent session Of
our Legislature they secured the passage Of
law relative to running arrangements be-
tween the Dubuque & Sioux City and the
Valley roads. Upon the theory that this
road will te built at an early day, is it reason
bic to suppose that the rich portion of the
Cedar Valley lying between Cedar Falls and
Cedar Rapids will be long without railrosd
facilitiesl Build this line Of road down the
richest valley in Iowa. and what then ?
Sin ply this. Let Muscatine see that rail
road be completed from Wilton Junction to
Clarence Junction, distance Of seven miles
perhaps north Of Upton, and lying on the
Chicago 4 Nebraska road. This road will give
to the commerce west Of Clarence direct com
munication with the best shipping point in
Central Iowa. Nor would this enterprise
stop there. The pecuniary interests Of the
Dubuque Western road (now nearly com :
pleted to Marion) would build the connect
ing link between Dubuque and this city, viz !:
from Anamoosa to Clarence. -.--
The railroads we have here mapped out are
by no means fancy sketches. A connection
with the Cedar Rapids road as indicates, cer-
tainly presents to the people on that road,
Muscatine as the point for southern trade.
With the connecting link from Anamosa to
Clarence during constable part Of each
year, large trade from the north would find
this its outlet TO the South. With the COM
pletion of the Cedar Valley road, a road from
here to Clarence would make this city vast
storehouse for the products Of that great
Valley. Let US have our elections con-
venient both to railroad and river. Let
every facility be offered for making Musca-
tine what her natural position designs her =
not Chicago nor Milwaukee, nor st. Louis;
but q. commercial depot second to none in
Iowa.. It may it should be done. ,
We believe the greatest enterprise upon
which our people can enter for many years
to come, is the completion of the road from
Wilton Junction to Upton and Clarence, and
the erection of such elevators as will accom-
modate our trade. |i' III 4s'-
The Friends Of Soldiers. IT.
A Bill permitting persons in the military
service Of the United States to vote At elec-
tions for the State Of New Jersey was de-
feated in the Legislature of that State a
few DAYS since bY strict partY vote. The