Arizona miner., 1868-03-28
Southern Pacific Railroad.

ing to divert thr location of the Southern Pacific Railroad from ihc 3ath tn that Of the . 32l parallel. by every species of sophis,ry, it !. will be Q source of satisfaction Co the people . living on or near the line of the 25th parallel l to know that General Palmer and. the em- rloyr, Of the company are more than plgascd, :. in fact, delighted. w,a the route recently paced over. from Albuquerque. New Mexico, through thi- Territory and Southern Califor- uia t. san Francisco. Itwould be Che height of folly fora companv,--uo matter bow rich they might h., to undertake the construction of a great national highway from the Atlantic t9 the Pacific over the &2I parallel route. when nature offer. shorter and better route r.1 the Both parallel General Rosec7ans, who is largely interested in san Diego, under take. to show tha. san Diego is e better har- bnr than San Frlnci-c0. and that the route ria Tucson, k the cheapest and best route over which Co construct tue southern Rail! road ln hi, zeal for the building of the road upon his iayorte route, and the conse- qucnt increase in the value of his property, he oyerlo3lSs the fac. that scarcely any i'm. her, for fuel or ties. is to be found loe nearly a thousand mil-s Of the route rin the 32i par allel, in this Territory, New Mexico and Southern California, besides the well known scarcity of water on the deserts oyer which it would pass
 To show thc falllcy Of the reasoning of the people, who. from interested motives, oppose the construction of national railroad over the'oniy route in this southern country lit for settlement and capable of adding wealth and trade to the nation. we herewith produce the ideas of the Company's correspondent. Major \. R. Calhoun, gentleman fully qualified 70 speak of our route te-having travelled over it, and noted is advantages In q comuunica- ton written by him. and published in the San Francis 70 iha, of February 29th, speak ing of the route and country from Aibuquer- que to San Francisco, through Arizona and California, he says:
 ''Ip to this point (Albuquer- que) no difficulty was found 10 exist on the line examined. Fears however were enter taincd for the success Of line ri0iho thirty
 
 must necessarily pass across conspicuous mountain ranges, which until recently had been tetla i,.oga0a t wa- well known that a iiae Oi easy gradients could be brought through by the Gia route, but the object oi the Company was to obtain as short line al possible Co SaH FrauCiscO, therefore two di visions under Mr-sr, EichOlZ and kunk were sent Go maze a careful instrumental ex animation Of the country between tue Ric GTandc and tine Pacific, near tbe line of tht thirty second parallel, while three divisions under Colonel Greenwood. pushed west iron Albuquerque co examine the country on ths line Of the thirty-iith parallel All thes' parties were undeT the direction of Genera Wm. J. Palmer, Treasurer of the Company gentleman well qualified bs long FaslFosG experience for the duties deyolying upon him
 As the route by the thiFty-iifth paralle was a success beyond our most sanguine ex peciatons, it k not necessary to speak of th excellent surveys Of the divisions of inc Gil route.
 From the Rio Grande to Campbclrs Pas no grades were found exceeding jO feet pe mile, and the Grand Continental Water Shed or Sierra Madrc, is crossed through the pas named, r0l g,dde ef GO feet Down th smooth valley of inc Rio Puerco of the Yves Co the Flax River, or Colorado Chiquto. th line was continued with light grades, and th southern spurs of thc San Francisco mOun ta.us crossed without any necessity of usn the maximum Or Congressional gradient { | i feet. The descent from San Francisco noun tains to the Great Colorado will require a ie' miles of heavy work. which would not be con sidercd at all difficult on a line such as th Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The lin crosses the Colorado at the excellent brdgin point known the Needles: thence acros the desert Co the Iuhaye River aboSe Cam tldy, by line requiring no heavy worh thence lt Is continued tO Taheechay pah Pas; The eastern approach to this pass Is as eas A any portion of the plains the descent in Co Iulare Valley, however, is more difficult but Mr Bunk, who Is now making an instru mental examination of tie pass, says the lin can bc brought iufo the valley with grad not exceeding i0J feet
 We believe that, ere long, branch roa will be built from the Rio Grande 10 San D ego, but, at present, it is scarcely wort while to talk about it, TAe press of th country, the Railroad Company, in fact, ever person interested in the building of a South ern Railroad, by the best and shortest route are in favor of our route, indeed # is th only one talked about, and should Congrcs grant the necessary aid, work will soon b commenced upop it ou the Colorado River 70 tb' i7rtpv