Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-10-29
= Across the Plains. ;
Correspondenceo of the Belmont Chronicle.
END OF THE TRACK,
$50 MILES WEST OF OMAHA,

September 18th, 1858.
Night before last, just as the shades o
evening fell over the landscape, our. lit
tie party left Benton for the end of tn,
track. Our numbers were augmented a
Laramie by the addition of geologis
and an artist, both of whom were. sen
out by the government at the instance o
the railway officials. One of them i
searching the mountains over for fossil
lied specimens of fish and shell, and thu
other is transferring TO canvass the mos
interesting bits of scenery along the lint
of the road. He Psychological antecedent!
has been this far quite successful. III
has found on the very summit OF th'
loftiest peaks and crags the petrified re
mains of fishes, and shells and reptile!
ofthe sea, left there. when, through some
terrible convultion of nature ages ane
ages ago, the ocean waves rolled baci
and left the heads of these rocky heights
miles above the level OF. the tide. "A
hundred different specimens OF the hnny
tribe have been discovered in the Rocky
Mountains, and so many yet remain tt
reward the patient search of some future
devotee to science. The learned Profes'
sor saws that he would not be astonished
at finding the petrified remains of 9
for there is nothing to dispute the theory
that thew there exist. What commo
tion there must have been among the in
habitants of that vastly deep when that
great upheaval left them high and dry Q
thousand miles from tffeir native ele-
ment! Their sensations were not SO
agreeable as those of Jonah when he was
thrown I'D on dry land. This morning,
in a ramble over the bluffs We found al
oyster led in an excellent state of preser-
walton. The biyalves are indigestible OF
course, but in their palmy days they ri.
vailed in size and appearance, at least,
Maltby's best. One of our crowd face
tiously ordered a dozen raw, but after
wards concluded to fOrego the sumptuous
repast. What swapping for salt water
there was for twenty hourse after this
great bed Of oysters was transported
bodily to the middle of a continent!
Everything in the mountain district
goes to prove that the ocean once rolled
resistly over the mighty chain that now
range from the Polar sea to the Rio
Grande. The alkali deposits, the char
acter of the soil and surface, the shape
and appearance of the rocks Themselves,
to say nothing of the fossilized remains
scattered broadcast over the surface,
show conclusiveiy that what is now the
highest plateau on the continent was
once the bottom of the boundless sea-
The gigantic peaks that now rear their
heads above the clouds, the crests that
are covered with eternal snow, were once
the sunksn reefs of broad ocean, whose
bosom was ploughed by unknown ships
under the guidance of an extinct race of
ancient mariners. Who knows what
wrecks may have strewn the waters boil
ing and surgiug around these sunken
crags! Can you not picture the despair
of the drowning crews struggling like
madmen with the seething flood And
vet last night we crossed the high lands
that divide the waters of a hemisphere! !!
Forty three miles West of Benton there
stands a little station house, from the
dripping caves OF which the waters flow
into either ocean. Look to the east, and
your eye follows a little streamlet that
joins the Mississippi's rolling feedi to-
the west and il follows the brook that
grows into river, as it meanders on to
join its current with the restless tide. of
the great Pacific! This interesting spot,
the highest over whicn the iron train
way crosses, has been appropriately
marked by station called Creston.l t'5y
at a place called Point of Rocky -S45
to briefly describe the mOdIs opera1edi
of railroad building in the far off region,
first promising the grade to have been
and the graders out of sight.
The contract for laying the track is
held by two brothes-OhiO men-named
Easement. Thew are men OF wonderful
energy, as their everyday work attests.
The material is brought up by regular
trains to the side track last putin, where
it is turned over to the contractors.-
Three engines are on hand which hook
OH fifty cars OF ties, spikes and iron, and
proceed with them to the very end of
the track. The cars are partially un-
way. 4 truck caris placed oil the track,
loaded with iron and pulled to the end
Of the last rail. A dozen pairs of stout
hands seize a rail and put it in its proper
place. The ties have been hauled ahead
by hundred pairs of mules, and are al.
ready laid down On the road--bed far in
advance of the iron. One gang of men
lay the rails, and the gaugers ndspikers
follow. Another gang with picks, show
els and crowbars level@up the ties, and
ill in between the ties and rails with
ballast from the roadside The bridges,
which are very numerous, are all framed
1t Omaha, and are brought up with the
,ther material, as needed. The engin-
GERS, from the, prsfiles in their offices,
know the dimensions and location of
every bridge and culvert. A squad of
accompany the track
ayers, and in an hour or tive will throw.
\ stout structure across, an ordinary
stream. The bridges are
nearly all temporary affairs, however,
and are to be replaced with better ones
IS soon as the road is opened though
As the rails are laid the train is again
pushed up, and the same process Of un-
loading and pulling back is gone through
With. The load of one locomotive con-
lists of shops and boarding cars,-verily,
town on wheels. Two platform cars
,ne with temporary shed ON the end
ire devoted to the use of the blacksmiths,
md ON another the carpenters ply their
rade. All the picks and crowbars are
and all the broken wagons
nended here. Two more cars, of tremen-
ious length, are fitted up as sleeping
:ars for the laborers; another long car
erves as a dining room, another is devo-
ed to culinary purposes and still another |
o the officers and foremen, A box car
erves as q suffers store, and fiat car
coupled on to that is used by the laun-
lresses. An "old lumber" car follows,
md Easements private car brings up the
ear. Thus a regular moving town keeps
,ace with the end of the. track. The
oOd furnished to the men is of excellent |
Iuality. A drove of cattle follows the
rain, and two are slaughtered daily, so |
hat the five hundred track layers have |
regular supply of fresh beef. Canned
vegetables are furnished with unsparing
land, and tea and coffee of excellent |
uality are served with every meal. The |
men are charged but $50 per month for
heir food, while they earn from three to !
hree and half per day. The telegraph /
inc has been constructed through, and |
N operator accompanies the corps of
uilders. His head quarters, like Gen.
'ope's, are in the saddle, aud he moves
lis office three or four times daily; cut
Ia = L: - l.