The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1867-06-14

what IA. bee. as.., ..s whoa Il vim be

The Union Pacific Railroad, ,
from Omaha, Ncbraska.
what has beeu dose. and when, Il win be
iT fHo - itta E1ntshed. 1tHH 80
-eies of atg,s - lIo 3 - "a 7ila
No great enterprise was eyer begun
about which 50 little has been said and
SO much has been done. The public
have avagueidea that q railroad is being
built from somewhere in the East to
somewhere in a farther West than a rail-
track has ever before been laid; but
where it begins or what route it follows,
or whore It is to end, We venture to as
sert not one in q thousand can tell
For dozen yeass we have heard that
a great Pacific Railroad ,cas 10 Be built,
and dozen names and dozen COM
panies, and a dozen routes-from the
southern boundary Of Texas 70 the north
ern boundary Of Lake Superior-have
been urged upon Congress as the great
eat and best means for uniting the At
lantic and Pacific shores Bubble after
bubble was blown, and each burst in
turn when touched BY the sharp point
of practical experience.
The absolute necessity for Pacific
Railroad TO retain and bind moro closely
together the eastern and western ex-
tremes of the continent in one great Uni-
ted and Pacific country, the immense
cost Of government transportation to its
frontier and Rocky Mountain posts, and
the even greater cost of Indian wars, in
a region that nothing but a railroad
could civilize, and nothing but lciviliza-
ton could pacify,- great importance
of opening a 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 easieT,--all
these prudential reasons finally pressed
with such weight upon Congress, that
it determined that the road should be
made. There were, indeed many 9th
ers: two thousand miles of additional
territory would be opened for settle
ment; vast bodies of land now value
less would be made productive; the tide
of business and travel that now winds
a tedious and dangerous way along the
borders of oceans, would be increased
ten-foId; 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 locomotive!
The imperative need of the work was
admitted, but it was too vast for indivi-
dual enterprise to attempt No,combi-
nation of private capitalists was willing
to risk hundred million dollars in the
construction of 1000 miles of railroad
through wilderness. As the under
taking was strictly national, SO no power
less than that of the nation was suffi-
cient to accomplish it; and large as the
cost necessarily would be, the expendi-
ture would save a much greater cost to
the country.* But the Government did
not wish to enter upon any new system
Of internal improvements on its own ac-
count; and its only alternative was to
grant its aid in the most careful man
ner to such responsible individuals of
suitable character and energy as might
be willing to risk portion of their pri-
Yate means in the construction of the
road.
THE CO.'S CHARTER AND ROUTE.
This charter was granted and perfec-
ted by various acts of Congress, and
the Company comprises men of the
highest reputation for integrity, wealth,
and business experience. Among the
officers are General John A. Dix, Presi-
dent, Thomas c. Durant, Viee-Pesident,
and Hon. John ]. Cisco, late Assistant
Treasurer Of the U. s., Treasurer.
> The Capital authorized by the Char
ter is One Hundred Million Dollars, Of
which it is estimated that not exceeding
Twenty-Five Millions will be required,
and of which Five Millions have already
been paid in.
Surveying parties were at once push
ed out in various directions across the
continent 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 l,9o0 miles. The
Chicago and North Western Railroad is
now completed from Chicago to Omaha,
a distance of 492 miles; and several
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 west up the Valley of the
Great Platte, and thence across the
plains a distance of 5I7 miles, to the
Black Hills, or easterly spur of the
Rocky Mountains. Col Seymour, the
Consulting Engineer, reports that the
grade is much more favorable than was
anticipated-she maximum to the Rocky
Mountains not exceeding so feet to the
mile, and from that point to the sum-
a I::do of tho confinAut II will