The Weekly Arizonian., 1869-06-26
THE CHA ROUTE.

1hll JULIA hUU
 The Memphis Convention having strongly re- commended the thirty-second parallel route as that offering the greatest natural advantages
 to the construction of Southern Pacific rail- road, has, beyond doubt, destroyed the edifce of uncertainty within whi9 the hopes of the thirty-second parallel mepIlaye so long been
 confined This project backed by the New
 York IriJune in the east, and by the Sacra- mento Union in the west, is too strongly forti- fed byropular opinion to be furtncr spoken of
 n the subjunctve mood. Not only has it been proven that the route by the Gila valley is a great saving in distance, but, also, that the
 natural Instructions to be removed are of less
 formidable character, and the grades are not so heavy as those on the thirty-flth parallel. Already this road is built to Marshall, some fifty niles west of Shreveport, and very con- sidera5Ieportion ofthe route west from Marshall
 was graded before the late war. In the face of
 the many advantages of road on the thirty- second parallel, among which is its certain Ferennity of operation when constructed, many
 of the former advocates of the thirty~hfIh par alleI are losing confidence in this latter route, over portions of which, snow has been known
 to fall to the depths of thirty and forty feet In
 other respects, the following from the Sacra- mento Union very comprehensively sets forth
 the relative advantages of the two routs
 "There is no running water, and but four or five springs on the thirty-ffth parallel in one
 stretch of l50 miles and in another of 300
 miles; and only one,eighth of the whole dis tance lies along running streams; while hy the Gila route three fourths of the distance is along running streams, On the thirty-hfth, one-fGh of the line is over arid desert and two thirds over barren waste On the thirty second, about one>tenth is desertand one-tenth
 waste land. On the thirty-ffth, no popu-
 lation out Indians; on the thirty ], one third of the line is now inhabited Between
 the Colorado and the Pacific the comparison is; On the thirty fifth, 250 miles of desert to
 San Francisco, or I50 to San Diego; On the
 thirty second, only 5 mics. On the whole distance the total rise and fall is nearly double
 by the lhIrty-ffh parallel; and it has thirty to
 forty miles of grade reaching llG feet and 60
 miles of 90 feet and over; while on the thirty second there are but 5 miles over 90 feet
 grade, and none exceeding IO0
 following for exaggeraton of one and depre-
 citation of the other route, there is little doubt of the superior claims of the Gia route for road to San Diego, Its advocates appear 10 see that the other route may seem more durable to those who desire the terminus at San Fran cisco On this point, they argue that San Francisco will gain only ten miles distance over the Omaha road by building a road on the thirty filth parallel and that will not lower treights On the other hand, there will be gain of 300 miles of railroad by way of San Diego to New York (or 24O to Chicago) and this would save SIP to $l5 per ton freight, and allow three dollars per ton freight by steamer from San Francisco to San Diego, leaving a gain of So to SIP dollars, Again the road from San Diego to Fort Yuma would cost but 1000, UUU uO4ldlS anu NOuIu dL OHCS ldp tue COIOS rado valley 400 miles south of the point where the other road crosses it, and at the mouth of the Gila, thus affording at once a connection with the best part of the country On the other hand, the northern line would cost $20, 000 900 additional to branch to San Francisco, and as much more before 1t reached any region of value east of the Sierras. Eventually, it is suggested, a coast line down to San Diego will find rich valleys on its way and plenty of local support; and then will form with the Gila road, a shorter and cheaper route than any other to the Rio Grande and the Southern Atlantic, and, l in fact, to the whole country south of the Ohio"
 The Prescott Miner, complaining of an ar ticle regarding it, which appeared in the ARI- zoNAN. struck ile, by Jove! Yes, sir It found a typographical error in said article and didn't it give us fits though This is, We believe the very latest style of criticism it sounds like the last crOak of dying frog and