Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-05-13
THE RUTLAND HERALD.
FRIDAY, kAY 7, 1869.
Tna un,on Pacific Railroad Fin.
iShed.

The last rail in the connecting link Of our
trans-continental highway has been laid.
To-day the Central and the Union Pacific
form by government direction zone con-
tinuous road" from Omaha to Sacramento.
With marveloas and magic-like rapidity
have the two powerful companies brought
section after section of their roads to COM
pletion, until to-day they reach the goal
for which both have SO vigorously con-
tended
Within the brief period of three years
and fraction the Union Pacific railroad
company have crossed the prairies of Ne
braska, scaled the Rocky Mountains,
pushed over the great mountain plateau,
crossed the cugged range of the Wasatch
pierced and tunneled the cliffs they could
not climb, wormed their way through and
across the most terrific canyons, passed
northward of the Great Salt Lake, until
they have met the Central Pacific at their
coming, nearly eleven hundred miles west
of them initial point at Omaha.
Such achievements in so short time may
justly exotic the wonder and the admira-
ton of the world. But the building of
so long a stretch of railroad through
country Astounding in the most formida-
BILE obstacles is not the only point that
challenges attention. The Company's
field of operation was an isolated desert.
Rich it may be in alluvial soil, rich in the
elements of mineral wealth which Ma
sure had locked up in her " mountain
chests" it is for the purposes of such a
work practically desert. 1t was totally
devoid of settlement, and destitute Of all
requisites for supporting population. But
more than this, the Company's army of
road-builders was always operating at an
average distance of two thousand miles
from their base of supplies All the re-
quisite materials for the work, save tim
Der, were procured in the Atlantic States,
transported by any and every available
means to Omaha, and thence over the road
as it progressed to the point of employ
ment. A hundred and ten thous and tons
of iron rails, a million fsh-plates, two
million bolts, and fifteen million spikes,
are among the items thus brought from
the East and consumed upon the road
The great engines that move the Compa-
nys works at Omaha, together with the
varied and vast amounts of machinery,
implements and tools used in stocking
and fitting up their manufactures were
4 4.
over the country hundred and fifty
miles to Omaha
Some three and a half million cross
ties, and timber in unencumbered mil
lions of feet, have been consumed in the
construction of the read, its culverts and
bridges. Much of this material was
found at Chicago, and its transportation
therefore was comparatively inexpensive,
after railroad communication with that
city was established. All the materials,
except brick, required for building foun-
dries, machine shops, construction shops
of all grades, station houses, round
houses, store houses, telegraph line and
Offices, water stations, supply stations,
and the thousand minor things that enter
into the outfit of 50 great work being
likewise obtained at a distance, add
largely to the cumulative account of
transportation. Subsistence and stores
for AN army of five to twenty thousand
skilled and unskilled workmen, and for-
age for six to eight thousand teams of
mules and horses, are items quite too
large to be left ont of account. A large
amount of the rolling stock on the road,
including locomotives, was al FIRST, and is
yet procured at the E4s5. because the
company's works have not the capacity to
build as fast az it is required.
The enormous outlay required to move
forward such 8. mighty accumulation of
matter, and to get it into position on time,
shows, besides the difficulty of its ac-
complishment the dissd vantage the
company would be at in comparing the
cost of their road mile for mile, with the
principal railroads of the East. Every
body knows that it costs twice as much
now IL bnill house m other structure as
it did ten years ago. Labor. lumber and
other materials are douLS the price they
then were. As a currsAary of this propo-
sition. it costs twico as much now ~ it
did then To- build a railroad.
Now the cost OF building the following
great Eastern roads Is historical and
probably indisputable, viz: the New
4. Il. H.. 1 l. Il
Fort Wayne, Pennsylvania Central, and
rhe Baltimore and Ohio. 1t averaged
S66,000 per mile ten years ago. To-day
the average would he Sl32, 600 per mile
Bat they are partially double track
roads. Deduct 33i per cent. for second
track, and there is left SIS, 900 as their
equitable average cost per mile for their
entire length. Add to this sum moder-
ate allowance, say 20 per cent, for extra
transportation and loss to the company by
rapid building, and the equitable cost of
pc Union Pacific railroad, including its
rolling stock and all appurtenances what
ever, Is thus demonstrated to be $l05, 600
per mile; and of the whole line, eleven
hundred miles, SIG, 100000
Now, what are the company's re-
sources? They consist of capital stock,
bonds loaned by the government, lands
granted by the government, which are
now represented by Land Grant Bonds,
and the Companys First Mortgage
Bonds
What are these assets worth 1t is as
sumed the following figures are nearly
correct:
Capital stock, s2450o, OoC
Government Loan, 30 10000
First Mortgage Bonds, 26,2i5,0Ot
Land Grant Bonds convertible for i'm
mediate location and sale of landsj 10000, oOC
Total, $685. 90,
This amount, which is saving upon the