The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1868-09-09
The California End Of the Pacific Railroad.

The California End Of the Pacific Railroad.
The San Francisco Bulletin, describing the opera
tions of the Central Pacific railroad, says:
John Ghinaman is ubiquitous You see him every
wherein every mie-on almost every foot of the
road-from Alta to Reno His bizarre figure grees
you at every station at the mouth ofeTery tunnel
the sdeof eyeryscauseway and cutting, In the most
perilous places-Where the is deepest and the
ayalanches thckest-you see him high up the
mountain tops, ehoppng wood, plying his shovel
his pick; you see him at his task in the gray of the
early dawn and the gloom of the evening twilight
There is not lazy bone in bis body and he is not too
asdious to do the shabhest kind of work provided
he is paid foFit He works hard and eats bus little
does his own cooking washes and mends his own
clothes. He is hardy, patient, persistent faithful to
his employers and seldom refuses to do what he is
told He has developed such aptitude for certain kinds
OF work, has made himself SO essential item in the
great work Of building the road over the mountain,
and has been Ehal true steadlast and inoensive,
that all, even the day laborers speak well Of
and, we believes generally treat him kindly IF John
is not very largely stocked with ideas, he has mita
tive instinct largely developed AZ tunnel cutter be
was especially Invaluable During the progress of the
summit tunnel there wasa strike in some Of the Neva
da mines, and number of Coruishmen came up TO
work for the company. But it was found that the
Chinamen could do considerably work and stand
the fatigue and foul air Of underground work much
better. The CornishRen tried it awhile but eoncIu-
ded TO leave the work of boring through granite noun
stainsst the more adaptable Celestial aid went away
in disgust
Between Sacramento and Reno are ffteen tunnels
with an aggregate length of 6262 feet They are all
cut through the hardest kind OF rock and Justly rank
among the greatest achievements of railroad engineer
ing. We have already spoken Of the great tunnel at
the summit; those az Coldstream and Poard's Hill
are hardly Inferior monuments of patient labor and
successful skill. At the latter the work OF blasting
was especially extensive. The heavier - blasts "
through ormoas of rock into the eddy below
had made residence in the vicinity anything but com.
Portable, story is told aud voaehad for BY Mr.
Grant proprietor o. the Donner Lake House. that one
rock landed-near the lake with such violence that its
bottom was buried feet below the surface of
the eart 1t is stated that the aggregate cost OF con
structing this series Of tunnels was sl7500Oo.
The Central Pacific Company have had many obsta-
ces, some OF them unforeseen, contend with. The
sastWinter was almost unprecedented in its severity.
Ill those living along the line of highest eleeations
unite IN the statement that much snow has not fall
len in many years The result was failure to con-
meet the two ends OF the line and vest of the
NIT ana Il practical severance OF communicate fJI
some months. In consequence of this, the work was
put back at least third of year so that the cars to
day. instead OF running to Huubolt river are runuinR
only to Reno. Some difficulty has been experienced
IN getting iron. Two of the eompany's rolling mills
East recently burnt down; another was disabled for
several months by reason of accident. Hence in
order to meet the demands, it has been found neces
5AEy to bring iron the Isthmus at of course
greatly increased expense Some difficulty has been
experienced recently in getting labor The akal and
sage bush regions Of Nevada have had IA bad fame
and IN many instances, workmen have, been found
aVerse to going east Of the mountains Even the Chi
lanlen have shown disposition TO hold back having
IN idea that Shakes abundant in Eastern Nevada
creatures OF which John has a mortal terror But
2 spite OF these obstacles the road is being pushed
Onward with more vigor than ever before