The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-08-13
TIE PACIFIC RAILROAD.
Ths California Ehd-Tho Chin amen and
Vholr LabOrH.

The San Francisco Bulletin, describing the
operations OF the Central Pacific Railroad, says:
"John Chinaman is ubiquitous. You see him
every Swhe ere-ou every mile-on almost every
foot of the road from Alta to Reno. His
bizarre figure grsets you at every station,
at the mouth of every tunnel, on the side
perilous places-where The snow is deepest
and the avalanChes thickest-you see him
high up on the mountain tops, chop
ping wood and you see him down in the
deep guleys plying his shovel or 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 his body, and he is not too
fastidious to do the shabbiest KIND of work, pro-
vided he is pail for it. He works hard and
eats but 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 an Item IN
the great work of building the road over
the mountain, and has been withal so true,
steadiast, aud inodensive, that even the
and we believe, generally treat him
kindly. If John is not very largely stocked
with ideas, he has initiative instinct largely
developed. AS tunnel cutter be was espe
cially Invaluable. During the progress of the
great Summit tunnel there was strike in some
OF the Nevada mines, and number of Cornish.
men came up TO work for the company. But 1t
was found that the Cinnamon could DO cOusde-
rably more work and stand the fatigue aud foul
air of underground work much better. The
Cornishmen tried it awhile but concluded to
leave the work of boring through granite
mountains to the more adaptable Celestial, and
went away in disgust.
Between Sacromento and Reno are fifteen
tunnels, with 40 aggregate length OF 6262 feet.
They are all cut through the hardest kinds of
rock, and justly rank among the greatest
achievements OF railroad engineering. We have
already spoken Of the great tunnel 'at the sun
nit; those at Coldstream and Pollards Hill
horHlu inf ant of
labor and successful skill. At the latter the
work OF blasting was especially extensive. The
heavier blasts threw enormous masses of rock
into the eddy below, and made resideuce in
the vicinity nything but comfortable. story
is told and vouched for by Mr.. Grant, pro-
prietOr of the Bonner Lake House. that one
rock landed near the lake with such violence
that its bottom was buried seventeen feet below
the surface of the earth. 1t is stated that the
aggregate cost of constructing this series of
tunnels was 81, ,750, 900. Following is list of
the distance of each from Sacramento, and the
leDgth.
'The Central Pacific Company have had many
obstacles, some OF them Unforeseen, TO contend
with, The last winter was almost unprece-
dented in it's severity. All those living along
the line of highest elevations unite in the state
ment that so much snow has not fallen In many
years The result was failure to connect the
two ends OF the line east and west OF the sum
nlt and a practical severance OF communica-
tioDs for some months. In consequence of
this work was put back at least a third of
a year so thai the cars to-day, instead
OF running to Humboldt river are running
only 10 Reno. Some difficulty has been
experienced III getting iron. Two OF
the Company's rolling mills East recently
burnt down; another was disabled for Sc Seral
months by reason of an accident Hence, in
order to meet the demands, 1t has been found
necessary to bring iron across the Isthmus at,
of course, greatly lY.incIeased expense. Some
difficulty has been experienced recently in get
| ting labor. The alkali and sage bush regions
OF Nevada bave bad fame, and workmen nave
| in many Instances, been found averse TO going