Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1868-10-28

those pleasant social inf uences that sometimes
cause the visitor to take rose.colored view of
eyerything,-but on 'our own hook" stopping
by the way, sometimes testing the quality of
the road on express trains at forty miles per
hour, and some / mes taking the miuu'e exam
ina;'on OF the road afforded by riding on a
freight train at eight miles per hour. Oar con-
clusions-the experiences of toe different men,
bers OF our trio, embracing an acquaintance
with nearly every railroad in The country
are. that the Uniol Pacific Railroad is the
eas lest riding read we have ever been over;
that the track is well laid, aud tha, the cars,
engines, and the general equipment of tue road
Is first class. And wherever AZ any pom: the
exIgenciss of the time had nece 5sItlted tue con-
structlon OF culverts, &C., OF z temporary char
acter, we found them either replaced by per-
manent ones, or men were employed on the
work of replacing them
There is no sham about the Union Pacific
Railroad. The track is laid rapidly to be sure
but il needs but brief inspection TO show that
1t is done well. and that the ceerity of the work
Ia accomplished by division of effort aud pre-
clsion OF manipulation almost as nearly me-
chanical as the work OF some " Onderful labor
saving machine. 1t is a curious spectacle to
see the car loaded with rails feeding them ont
continuously, and in turn using the rails Just
work, reminding one of the process oy which
the spider the filament fed out from its
own body as pathway through the air. The
platform car loaded with rails, fish pilates, and
bolts drawn by horses is driven rapidly up to
the front. Two sets of men standing on each
side seize each rail, drop them in place, the
car drives over them and the process Is re-
peaed until the car is empty when it is tilted oil
the track and another loaded car takes its place
The work Of placing the fish-pla.es boiling
and spiking the rail, &C., is done meantime by
other gangs of men, each man having his pre-.
else place and miss ion, and the whole business
is accomplished with the precision and effec-
tiveness of a well-exccuted military maneuvre.
lie work of traok-laylng employs about five
hundred men, but it must be remembered that
the main railro1d army, some twelve thousand
strong are ut work miles ahead grading, max
ing cuts, raj stns embankm. nts, building cuI-
verts, laying the ties and preparing everything
IN advance tor the operations of the rail-laye ere
The track and road-bed thus rapidly laid is as
solid as that laid tor years other parts of the
country.
Nature has done wonders for This road. The
material of tSe road bed ia rough the mount aim,
affords an admirable natl raj ballast edua, 10
tie best broken stone; just the long used
wagon rogd through here, which ..lnilde ITSELF
l.
more than I'VE hundred miles from the Mis-
sonri river, and nearly tc tie highest point OF
the mountain uayeIsed by the road, the graz
ing ha- been dome by nature a perfectly as
railroad man could wish; and through the
mountains some OF the heaviest cuttings are of
natures own. And these advantage of nature
nave been improved AM made The most OF by
Il rare combination of men Of brains, energy,
and executive ab.lIty-the DuTants, Ames'
Dod2es, C'semeniS- and others, whose names
Will BE- linked with this great international
highway 80 long as it exists. These men have
made IL possible 10 build a railroad through
the desert astes Of The country aud over tha
hIghest mountain regions ever trayersed by a
railroad, at the rate Of tour or five miles 4 day
ard to do it well. They have catered royaIIy
.oT the worlds travel. Those who think the
:. - o; the company hes been to make the mo-.
Ci ID" Government subsidy and reurn The
iet>t c'. uIvaltnt pos sible, should come and see
Iol themselves. 1t Is easy TO that il has been
mater OF pride with the company to make
the road and equip 1t in the b st manper, and
they have dCre 1t on scale of liberality far be-
yohd their charter equirements. The Ii ish plate
isstenings, by which Ii. ends of tue rails are
kept III place, preventing the usual unpIeasant
Jarring, bave been provided at an additional
expense Of $500 per mile, the long raII used
Ties have been put down at the liberal rate O.,
1850 per mile, and in many other ways the
company have shown 4 disposition and y ur-
pose 10 go far beyond the mere letter Of ,heir
contract IN executing their great work
Didn't Save the Meat.
In going up the Pacific road we OCCASIONALLY
passed an antelope OF two, generally near the
hills some distance from the road On the
retnrn trIp they Were TO be seen IN hocks all
along the road, sufficiently near - enable the
passengers in the cars TO get very good shots at
them from the windows. The explanauou
given for their appearance in such numbers
was that the Indians were hunting them in
the hills, and had driven them down to the
plains. Messrs. Adams and Kerr, who are
very lair shots, killed several, but were unable
10 save the meat, owing to the rapid rate al
which We were .ivellng.
Omaha to s.St. Jo.'.
Having gone over the Union Pacids Rail-
road, We proposed 10 pay hurried visit - the
Kansas road-tne Pacific Railway, E.stern
Division" Within a month a railroad has
been completed between Council Buff, oppo-
lite Omaha, and ST. Joseph, "St. Jc,'' as 1t is
styled here; and by this means one can now
pass b. rail the whole distance from the Union
Pacific RJilroad TO the Kansas road our
81
down the valley OF the Missouri river For
mCst of the distance it was a rich black bottom
thirty feet deep, covered with grass or fine
corn. 1t is liable TO overiio ~ and subject to
chills. As our conductor said the chills are
'e-mense" and "lotS or en- The river is
fringed with trees, cotton wood, mainly, and
the barren looking bluffs some distance back
are sparsely sprinkled with trees. The Mis-
souri, River, wherever we encounter it presents
the same muddy unwholesOme appearance,
and seems scarcely any where TO confine itself
with cOnstancy TO any channel. All along this
valley the marks of Its freaks in seeking new
channels are to be seen; sometimes shortening
its course dozen miles, and at others increasing
it to the same extent. This capricious temper
OF the big river must make land titles rather
precarious in these bottoms, and doubtless ac-
counts for the cheapness OF the land conside =
ing the fertility of the soil.
ST. 10. surprises US by the extent ofIts business
and the character Of the improvements going
on. The city is well built with well paved
streetsstreet cars, gas &c. and every part OF the
city shows the work Of Improvement going on
at rate we have not seen since leav ing Chi.
cago. Il is built upon a series Of high bluffs
and the work Of grading the streets aud placing
the buildings on the new grade was not light
one, but it has been carried out with wonder.
full energy and success. s. 10. is certainly a
live city. The wholesale stores bore would do
oroa,r 70 tho first com m erci.I ci,ies In; tn oo