The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1869-09-29
The Pacific Railroad.

posed lie great difficulty, the snow, had been provided
against When tie builders had at great cost covered
thirty miles of their road in the Sierra Nevada noun
tains with snowsheds constructed of heavy tmbers Sc
stannchlg put together resist the pressure of the
dtttss and ayaanches of that region, it thought
that the last difficulty On the California end Of the great
road had been obvated But an unexpected peril has
made its appearance. The very means of protection
against snow involve greater danger and difficulty
than the itself A few days sgo section, sew.
eral miles in length, of the Sierra Nevada snowshed
Ecaught fire aud destFoyed-he confagration
mnncatng to the road, burning the ties and warp
ing the rails as render the road unserviceahle for
two or three days
Of course, what occurs once, may occur again. Lo-
locomotives lahoriHg up the heavy grades belch ont
showers of sparks and even fragments of burning wood
from which .he comhustble shedsare III constant dan
ger of taking FIRE. This danger is constant and SO
great that when reflect about the matter il is Il
wonder The ssle4,sheds of the Central Pacific were
not burned long before this These structures cost
nearly ihuch per mile Ordinary railroad on
easy grades would and to rebuild them every six or
twelve months woud bankrupt any company in the
made trip to California over this road, aud gained
minute acquaintance with its features thus sums up
the embarrassments Of the Sierra Nevada crossing
The sheds essential in winter, but they are liza
| bic to burn up in summer They cost more to build
per mile than ordinary railways in the West. If they
are swept away by fire, the snow, for two or three
months III the winter, renders it impossible to operate
the road No force OF shovels -piows can keep
the track cta sEainst the drifts that swept in by
the sorms, from avalanches on the mountain Sides
which side down and bury the track beneath thirty
/ forty feet Of snow.
+ Sometimes these snow slides carry away not only
the sheds but bridges aud the track itself On the
4th Of March last slide six miles long occurred
Cisco sweeping away part of the track and train
with seven locomotives, and killing half a dozen men.
The weight OF the in the aforementioned slide
estimated at fifteen millions of tuns. The road near
the summit runs through deep canon, and on both
sides there high and steep mountain Slopes Oil
which s1ow slides every winter, of enormous
depth and IeSiSess momentum. Truckee Pass, by
which the road goes over the mountain, is of the
worst or sides well as for snow, the Sierra
NevaGas Heavy logs have been fixed the Central
Pacific where the slides are most common, to carry
the Suo over the sheds and throw into the gulfb
low; but they are insecure and inadequate, these
tremendous aeaanches laugh to scorn the puny might
Of man.
Do not all these difficulties point unmstakaby the
necessity Of more southern railway the Pacific?
CorToN REPoRrsAP. B. Ferguson of Manchester,
addresses the following to the editor of the Manchester
Guardian
Sir-In reference 10 the letters Of Mr. Malcolm
Ross and an annonyos correspondent which recently
appeared in your Journal the former complaining OF
the DISCREPANCIES in the report sent from Liver
pool aid that signed K" in reply to hr. Ross, at
tempting to set that gentleman down in huseroush
sort of way aud almost commanding us in Manchester
to place implicit faith in the reports OF Mr. studey
Martin and be meekIy thankful for the same, beg to
point to the daily reports of the cotton market fur
nished to the Manchester Exchange during the week
ending yesterday 26th inst, which sum up total OF
sales for six days Of 64, 600 bales, while the report re
ceived this morning shows that the actual sales
only oG0 difference of $4,000 bales of aa
sales Of the week.
From the above named figures the inevitable conclu.
sions
l. That there has been considerable I" bulling in
Liverpool aided by inaccurate reports, by which spin
ners manufacturers and merchants have been misled
and will suffer loss.
3 That Mr. Ross has been fully justified to his
complaints.
g. That the reports of Mr. Studley Martin, as exem
plitied above are not to be relied upon
PAYMENT OF q BACK (sTArE) TAXES. The question
of the payment of back taxes, due the State for the
years 1861 1862 1868 and 1864, also the payment of
the State taxes of 1866 1866 and 1867, is receiving
the earnest attention of of our interior exchanges
The Drapeau, of Ascension, which parish pays tax
of $4,000, warmly urges united action by the people
to test the legal right to collect these taxes On this
subject we reproduce the following extracts from
communication in the Iberve South: Pcayune.
In resisting the payment of these taxes many ques-
tons present themselves but will briefly state three
/. There was no legal assessment-the assessment
for these years. certainly for three of them, having
been made in the winter of 1864 and 1865, under the
direction of the military authorities, and taken
basis the assessment of 1852
q Prescription Two years having elapsed the
right against the property is lost and,
g. That the evyng, by the Legislature, of the one
per cent" tax is substitution of these taxes and the
payment of the debars the collection of the other
We are ground to the earth by taxation, aud will be
as long as we submit tamely the rapacity of pres
ent lawmakers The courts are open to u.s. and it is
to them that should go and depend upon it, if the
people who have to foot the bill " will combine to-
gether aud GO to the courts for the purpose Of testing
the many infamous enactments piled upon them, they
will soon see change for the better.
Yours truly. re. GRACE.
SW1sDLIyG THE PEoPLE.-Secretary Boutwell, has |
bought per month"; bonds to the amount of twelve mil
lions of dollars paying for them one hundred and
wentyfour cents on the dollar when he could under
the law, have paid them off dollar for dollar. Here is
clear loss of 81 $4,000 per month to the American
people, that is about three times the whole expense of
carrying on the Government during the administra |
ton Of John Quincy Adams Yes, although the ad-
ministration of Mr. Adams put down for alleged
"extravagance Mr. Boutwell, is allowed to give away,
to bestow as gratuty to donate outside Of any re-
quirement authority of law, nearly triple the amount