Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-05-30
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THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
Aa13 Prom Omaha, Nebraska.
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What has been done and when it
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-i7No great enterprise was ever begun about
which SO little has been said and, so much
has. been dome The public have vague
idea that aai.railroad iss being built, from
somewhere in the East to somewhere in a
farther West than q rail track has ever be-
fore been laid but whereit begins, or what
route it follows. or where it Is to end, we
venture to assert, not one in q thousand can
tell. dls7 3 sossg saitsis la7 lias 30 -Iisa.s
For q dozen years we have heard that a
great Pacific Railroad icas to be ebuilt, and .
dozenlnames and a dozen companies, and a
dozen rohtes-from the southern boundary
of Texas TO the northern boundary of Lake
Superf7f y ave been urged upon Congress
ss the sest and best means for uniting
the Aa-tic and Pacific shores. Bubble
after buDble was blown, and each burst in
turn when touched by the sharp point of
practical experience. bfe5a II. .g-.,5s.sl
The absolute necessity for q Pacific Rail-
road to retain and bind more closely TO-
gether the eastern and western extremes of
the continent In one great United and Pa
cifc country, the immense cost Of govern
ment transportation to its frontier and
Rocky Mounts in posts, and the even greater
cost of Indian wars, in a region that moth
ing but railroad could civilize, and moth
ing but civilization could IA pacify,-the
great importance of opening road to the
rich gold and silver mines of the Rocky
and Sierra Nevada Mountains, so that the
way to the resumption of specie payments
might be made shorter and easier,-all these
prxdentiN reasons finally pressed with such
weight upon Congress, that it determined
that the road should be made. There were,
indeed, many Others: two thousand miles
Of additional territory would be opened for
settlement; vast bodies of land now value
less would be made productive ) the tide of
business and travel that now winds q tedi-
Gus and dangerous way along the borders
of two oceans, would be increased ten-fold
and how would the fathers in the East
strike hands with their sons and daughters
at the Golden Gate, if they could only be
borne on the wings of the locomotivel
The imperative need of the work was
admitted, but it was too vast for individual
private capitalists was willing to risk a
hundred million dollars in the construc-
tion of 1000 miles of railroad through a
wilderness. As, the undertaking was
strictly national,i so no power less than
that of the nation was sufficient to accom-
plish it; and large as the cost necessarily
would be, the expenditure would save a
much greater cost to the countTy.* But
the Government did not wish to enter up
on any new system Of internal improve
ments on its own account; and its only
alternative was to grant its aid in the most
careful manner to such responsible individ-
uals of suitable character and energy as
might be willing to risk portion of their
private means in the construction of the
road. o'.A ="
THE CoMPANY's CHARTER AND ROUTE.
This charter was granted and perfected
by various acts of Congress, and the Com
tation for integrity, wealth and business
experience. Among the officers are Cen
John A.. Dix, President; Thomas C. IDu-
rant, Vice-President, and Hon. John J.
Cisco, late Assistant Treasurer of the U.S.,
Treasurer. 1a} ,..
The Capital authorized by the Charter is
One Hundred Million Dollars, of which it
is estimated that not not exceeding Twen-
ty-Five Millions will be required, and of
which Five Millions have already been
paid in. g sei ga T'1'ss s1e ...aEs2.e ga,.
Surveying parties were at once pushed
out in various directions across the conti-
nent to find and locate the best available
line between the Missouri River and the
Pacific Ocean. This was established at
Omaha, in Nebraska, on the east, and will
finally be at San Francisco, in California,
on the, west-a distance of nearly 1,90O
miles. The Chicago and North Western
Railroad is now completed from Chicago to
Omaha, a distance of 492 miles; and seve-
raj other roads are rapidly building to
unite with the Union Pacific at the same
point; so that its eastern connections will
be numerous and complete
The general line OF the road from Omaha
is wesE up the, Valley of the Great Platte,
and thence across tie plains distance of
517 miles, to the Black Hills, or easterly
spur of the Rocky Mountains. Col Sey-
mour, the Consulting Engineer, reports
that the grade is much more favorable than
was anticipated-the maximum to the
Rocky Mountains not exceeding 80 feet to
the mile, and from that point to the sum-
NIT or divide of the continent, it will not
exceed 80 feet to the mile. From the Rocky
Mountains, the best practicable route will
be taken to G eat Salt Lake City,and thence
II no hnll
the eastern base Of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. The Central Pacific Railroad
is now being rapidly built east from Sacra-
mento. CAL, and is already completed
about 100 miles, and will connect with the
Union Pacific.
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE AND ITS COST.
As we remarked before, there has been
very little talk, and great deal of work.
Almost before the public were aware, it
had been begun. On the First of January,
1867, the Union Pacific Railroad was fin
ished for 305 miles west from Omaha, and
fully equipped with Locomotives, Rolling
Stock, Repair Shops, Depots, Stations, &c.
-and the Company bave on hand Iron,
Ties, and other materials, sufficient to fin
ish the road to the Rocky Mountains, or
517 miles from Omaha, by the first of Sep
tember, 1857. 1t is expected that the whole
line through to California will be COM
pleted in 1870.
The first 305 miles were graded, bridged
and ironed, with heavy Trail, and sup
piled with suitable Depots, Repair Shops,
Stations, Locomotives, Cars, and all the
necessary appurtenances of first-class
road for S50 000 nar mile and IF ie hal;ax,