The New York herald., 1869-05-10
ACROSS THE CONTINENT.

ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
->~~N~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
On tho Central Pacific RaiIrsad-Its Csnstrue-
tion and Prospects-Indians On the Route--'
Miserable Set of Sayuges-Village Of Elk -
on for White Pine.
ELKo STATION, CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILr o,n,
NEVADA, Aprh Y, .sSa
FROM RENO
10 this place, three hundred and .,x vrp., vos
made IN twcnty-one hours, am a,,no,oh nass,po
through country the greater oar, ., .n,on 90 on
urely desert, and the rer .,n,ar noor, so ., wos
not without interest Ins fortuna,e,v with ,ollv
party, who did not o. .cow time 70 hano heavily ON
Que hanuS "nu a" .~e had the superintendent's car
tne u,p was n'" with all the comfort one have
=" ia" 0" "" .eNng, let 1t be in Nevada, or on the
oes. ,'".' the East or Europe or course, the
."n' w Not run now on high speed, but their
"io regularly made, and we arrived at all the
o" ms precisely on time, which is a comfort, even
thc time is slow. There was no detention, no
fraBs or the track, and not hall the delay that
have experienced on many OF our so-called admira-
bly, managed roads Of the East, and must say that
for u road six months old 1t was the easiest ride
ever had. have been unable TO discover thus far
any fault to find and have looked in vain for some
Of the weak points discovered by other correspond
ents who have passed over the road; true, | have
travelled under the most favorable circumstances,
but that is nothing; have seen all that was TO be
seen; examined everything with an impartial eye;
watched the construction, and, In TACT, l have
omitted nothing to find weak Joint, but have no
complaint to make not one word to say against q
road young in months, well equipped, consid-
ering all the disadvantages Of transportation, and
apparently well managed as this one. What may
turn up before / reach the END OF the track is an
other thing Matters may not go smoothly as they
have, but the HERALD readers may depend that
what l say will be true and / shall FUR
nish Information upon which they can depend.
We had three passenger the tram, full, the
greater portion being for White Pine and AUSTIN;
only five overland passengers were with us, for the
crowd rs waiting for the cOnnecton not wishing to
take any risk whatever Of staging, although the
break is only about twenty-five miles, There are no
sleeping cars yet this road, Will there be until
they can be sent through by rail- Quite number
ordered that Will be in readiness for the summer
passenger trafc; indeed, the road il very short Of
passenger cars Of all descriptions. much that
none used east Of this point, overland passen-
gers having to depend upon freight or caboose car
TO the end Of the track. This difflculty will be
done away with, however, for they are all ready to
come as soon as they can get through or lUcomo-
tives they have plenty-169 bciieve-and OF these
twenty-three were sent via Panama They are princi
pally from Paterson, N. j., and schenectady and
are all OF the heaviest class, well adapted for the
work they have to perform.
ROAD
from Reno to this point so far as I am able to
Judge, has been admirably located and is very well
out indeed 1t Is quite equal TO the first portion OF
II, and Is constructed In the same manner-that is,
and placed as close together and the road bed Is Of
the same width. In some respects the construction
1 better for the ends OF the rails on this side the
mountains are all fshed hence The and tear of
joints is much less than when chairs only are used
and the trains run with much greater steadness l
IN ha uvnIl hall sfaAr
snort space OF time. OF course, this work will
have to be done over again as the track settles. but
enough Is completed for the present. or until the
best material for the purpose be hauled to
It Is required. Gangs OF men are at work every few
fectiye piece Of track or one that has sunk to any
distance below the true line Keeping road In re-
pair Is comparatively easy In settled country and
one that furnishes all that Is required where
the work Is being carried on; but here, where for
miles upon miles scarcely human being can be
found except Indians, and where the country fur
nishes nothing why the task Is Herculean-One that
the majority OF our railroad men can scarcely appre
ciatc.
Until now It has not been possible to receive or
dtnary freight; all the transportation has been
quired to SEND material to the front but within a
few days, all the iron and ties to complete the track
having gone forward, the road has been opened, and
which ID for this place as the port OF delivery for the
new silver region. The freight business must con-
tnue 70 increase rapidly and It win be hard to keep
large number or side tracks have been con-
structed-indeed ali that are at present required
matter how small 1t may be, for the company have
their line Of Two wires from Sacramento to the
manner. This telegraph line VIII In short time
connect with that OF the Union Pacific Company,
which will give US new line across the Continent;
and it is pity II some arrangement cannot be made
whereby It can be used for ordinary commercial bu-
sness by putting additional wires II necessary, and
nopoly Of the Western Union Company.
THE COUNTRY
may say is q wtlderness-range upon range OF bar
rem mountains and alka plains, both being without
vegetation OF any kind but sage brush and the scrub
trees that border upon the edges the Truckee and
Humboldt rivers. The tops OF these mountains, or
rather OF the highest peaks Of the range, all snow
direction you viii see nothing but what describe,
except that occasionally the river appears In view,
winding It's way through the valley and looking as
1t ashamed that all the moisture 10 produces
can do nothing for the surrounding country.
A great scarcity Of water exists in this division.
forty miles there Is none that be used and the
engine besides tender, has to take platform car
water enough for the distances at other points waier
has TO be brought In pipes SIX. eight
places has to be Ssuea for The ane nse
OF the hands that work upon the road. Timber
also Is very scarce on this section and costs ten dol
when compared with the western Division. An ar
tesian well Is being bored about sixteen miles from
wadsworth that Is now down about six hundred
feet, but yet no water has been found that be
used: II Is warm and SALT and the deeper II goes the
win be overcome in time; the world was not made
in o minute and it cannot be expected that every
thing can made perfect In this desoate region in
q years time, when mucn other work had to be
carried on Enough has been done 10 meet the emer-
gency and that is all that can be required for the
present.
Numerous warm springs are to be seen along the
line OF the road; indeed, we passed to-day that
covered great many acres, from which hundreds
Of Jets Of steam were issuing; and there Is q very
singular one near this place that looks ike an old
CRATER IL Is used bathing place. for the water Ia
Of different temperature at different points. You can
have 1t quite cool or scaldng, lukewarm or boiling,
lust a. you please. What must we have under Us
that causes such springsS Certainly we cannot be
far above internal fires OF great magnitude that
mako almost the whole country the outlet for their
surplus steam.
Scarcely any animal life Is to he seen-a few ducks
on the rivers and few sage hens, but that is ALL you
may travel many miles In any direction and have
the most perfect solitude. trust that accident
will ever have get OF train hereabouts and be
left behind for the quietude would he great that
70 hear the sound Of my own voice would be sure to