Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1869-01-29
English Wonder at
American ESrlterp1.is q

The London Times, which bears Ia
England the same relation that the
/ Tribune of New York does to Ameri.
ca, commenting upon our go ahead.
ativeness says:
The close of the civil war in the
! United States has been signalized by
u feat OF railway enterprise unparal-
leled, ami indeed hardly admitting
of parallel in any other country.
Few empires contain room enough
for line of ai,way soon miles long
fewer still would find the means of
bridging such an enormous distance
with iron rails. The difficulty of the
work, too, was much enhanced by
the nature of TIE ground. five sup.
pose the territory of the United
States to he some 5000 miles across
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, it
may be- roughly stated that about
one half of this represents settled
country. A modern town on tie
Missouri River called Omaha City
marks the limit Of civilization tow
ards the West. TO the East this new
city is already connected with the
system of American railways, but at
this point the lines stop; and well
they may. for the d stance from New
York TO Omaha is in itself nearly IA
, gtcat rs TINT from Calcutta TO Pesh-
awur-in other words US the whole
breadth of the Indian Empire. Nor
would ii, indeed, except for certain
condition., he necessary to extend
these lines any further at present, for
beyond Omaha lies an immense des-
ert. We use the term not as imply
ing that Tire entire tract is n barren
or unproductive waste. but simply to
express a region not yet brought un-
der the dominion of man. The object
therefore, Of the present enterprise
liz, in fact. To connect the State of
California with the State of Iowa, on
the western border of which Omaha
City is situated. At present an
American Wishing to go from New
York to San Francisco would have to
take ship, run down to The Isthmus of
Panama, cross this neck of land. and
then go up to Caiifurnia-a Journey
OF twenty days 1T least. This is by
no means satisfactory to a people of
whom il was said Ivy one of their own
c0untrymen that any man would
readily risk his life fer the chance of
arriving anywhere five minutes he
fore any body else. 80 they have de-
termined TO carry q railroad across
the great desert at once, and enable
any traveller to brook through from
one ocean to another. The distance
To be thus traveTsed il actually not
nuch less than the distance between
tie Ola World and the New. TIE
additional length of line required to
connect Omaha with Sacramento,
and thus bridge the continent, H.
nearly 1000 miles, The engineers
calculation gives just l.72l miles rs
the breadth of the gap" and the
country along the whole route is Az
wild and untenanted as Patagonia.
1t is not exactly uuinhabited, but the
inhabitants, such IN they are. only
add to the perils of the ENTERPRISE.
The vast plains aud mountain ranges
over which the railway is to he carr
ed are haunted by fierce and treach.
erous Indians. These regions are the
last resort of the red men in their Is-
treat to the West before the ever
moving settlers, and we have recent.
instance
OF their attack upon the line and up
on the workmen. General Sherman 5
duty at this moment consists in pro-
| tectirg the track, as far as possible,
/ with United States troops; but the
distance to he guarded Is so enormous
and the Indians are Sd wary that
trains are 'wrecked' in spite of all
hIs efforts. The country itself. with
the exception of sOu.e formidable
| mountain ranges, is i'm many parts
not ill-suited Tor railway work. For
some hundreds of mites the line can
be- carried along valleys and over
plains without much difficulty, and
! the eXpertness of the Americans is
such that the progress made seems in
credible. We should mention. per-
haps, that the project itself was con.
ceived long before the civil war aud
was, indeed, so favOrite a scheme
Tint the inevitable suspension of the
works during the all absorbing con.
test is occasionally spoken of as not
the least among the evil conseuuen.
ces of the rebellion. No sooner, how
ever, WAS peace restored than the en-
terprise VAS vigorously resumed.
4 few months after the surrender
Of the Confederate armies-that is 10
say, at the close of the year lSGj-the
gap of l,72l miles between Sacra.
mento and Omaha City existed al.
most entire, since only seventy. one
miles of the intended railroad had
heen laid dOwn-thirty one on the
Sacramento and forty on the Omaha
side. AT this moment these seventy
one miles have been prolonged into
| ,323, leaving only 400 To be added in
completion of the whole work
From Omaha the line has been car
ried on for a distance of nearly 900
miles, so ~ almost to reach that half
fabulous city in which the Mormon~
thought To exclude Themselves EN-
tirely from the world. From Sarra-
mento ii length of nearly 400 miles
las been laid, and the engineers are
confident that before the close of the
year 1869 the entire line from one
ocean To the other will be open to
traffic. When it is RENE ibered
that this line, besides being carried
through desert regions aud over lofty
hills, crosses the tremendous range
of the Rocky Mountains, some idea
may he formed of the magnitude of
the work aud with the astonishing
expedition with which il has been
accomplished. Next year an Amer.
ican may crafty himself by taking
the longest railway journey in the
world, and crossing vast continent
in stretch reckoned 10y hour.