The Portland daily press., 1869-06-08
GEN. GEORGE H. rHoMAs.

commissioner to examine the Pacific Railroad
From the last two letters we make the follow
ing interesting extracts. 't ~
GEN. GEORGE H. THOMAS.
Among our passengers was Gen. George II.
Thomas, en- route for his new 6eld-the entire
Pacific coast, with headquarters at San Fran
cisco. We of the East are hardly aware of
the admiration, the enthusiasm, the personal
affection felt for Thomas throughout the
West. Everywhere one hears him spoken OF
as ''Old Reliable, "GPop Thomas" !" "The Rock
of Chickamauga," J" g That splendid Old Man."
IN point OF fact, his age is only 52; but his
| grave, kindly demeanor does carry paternal
| suggestion. He is certainly one OF the finest
characters brought out by the war. Presi-
| dent Lincoln, when first desired to make him
a Major General, replied with distrust born
of many disappointments: mo; he is from
the South; l will wait till he earns it."
Thomas heard of this-and how gloriously
he did earn the Major Generalship and every
other honor he has received He was always
at his post, and for three years he did not
once see his wife. He never got whipped; he
never complained of anything he never ac-
cepted any promotion until it was fairly
thrust upon him; "he never committed an
act that had to be explained or apologized
for' ts r t-ssf een ,
Since the war his rare qualities have grown
steadily upon the people. When he declined
the honor offered to him by the Cincinnati
ans, he did il with perfect modesty and unos-
tentatiousness. "The Government" !" he said,
"has always paid me amply, and all my wants
are provided for. To accept such present
would not be consistent with my sense of du-
TYP A few weeks ago some of his old Off
GERS in Nashville-in token of their affection,
as he was about leaving for the West, proffer
ed him table-service of silver, He replied:
II am greatly touchee by this evidence OF
your regard, but L cannot accept 1t. In my
Judgment it would be Injurious to the disci-
niue OF the Army for officers to receive gifts
arau -. G, in nna e Har been tPaie sub
grsat deal Of fastidioasneysisaa that direction.
Gen. Thomas would attract notice in any
crowd. He is large, broad-shouldered, mas
sive, with hair aud beard brown, but now
turning to gray. mild, kindly eyes, and prom
inent nose--a strong, marked face. He in
berited no property, but. by careful, frugal
habits, he has saved competence from his
salary He has no children. This is his sec
| ond visit to California; fifteen years ago,
| when he was captain IN the Third Artillery,
4 he was stationed at Fort Yuma for IL months.
He and his staff are as delighted as school,
hcys. turned loose to escape from Kentucky
anu 49,. Sas;pessee into thoroughly loyal
EVERYTHING ON A L1RaE. ss,Ars. ~
1 lQc OuiOu dCiuC CaA3 AAo<AAthC1 A@aSHt--S1
and repair shops, supply houses, locomotive
houses, iron sheds, and lumber piles, near the
river bank at Omaha, give one more vivid
| ideas of this great work than months
/ reading. They appear to cover fully 30 acres,
perhaps so. Bere is single string of empty
freight-cars more than mile long. Here are
millions upon millions of feet of lumber; (;
acres upon acres of low sheds, filed up with
iron castings for cars and locomotives; ware
i 90 ,<.f
| terms, shoves, picks, axes, hammers, pows.
| bars of steel, rods of copper, pigs of lead and
| OF antimony, groceries and provisions, build
ing hardware, telegraph material, and so on,
4 ad i1tinitstxa. AaA.ln. ~ - eg rin. -,
Though there are shops at eight other
points along the line with farm 40 to 800
workmen to each, the Omaha shops emyloy
some 1900 men. These are supplied with
water from the Missouri, pumped up by q
windmill. The works are driven by an en-
/ CINE OF SO-horse power, which was drawn
from Des Moines, Iowa, $50 miles, by oxen,
i then, the nearest railway point. In those
early days lumber cost $275 per thousand
and the freight on some locomotives brought
here from the Erst was $1,000 each.
4 The purchaser tor the company, G. w. Frost,
expended almost six millions OF dollars in
1868 for miscellaneous supplies, though he
had nothing to do with buying heavy arti-
cles like track iron aud locomotives. Every
\ thing was done upon the jump; no foresight
/ could cover all contingencies Down from
the end of the line would fash telegram
sSend us thousand striking hammers-a
Thousand men are lying idle;' or I'VE want a
mile Of iron pipe;% and off Frost would post
to Chicago 10 gather up the articles and hur-
nv them out for twelve or fifteen hundred
miles. Once he telegraphed to New York
-maker: "Ship me instantly hundred
iron blows, aad three thousand steel plow-
points, The manufacturer telegraPhed back
10 friend here, asking ii the purchaser for
the Union Pacific had gone mad. Becoming
satisfied, he sent the articles, with message
TO Frost: III never was so proud of an order
In my lite; but in Heavens name what do
YOU want of three thousand plow points ?"
They were required ior loosening a quantity
of mountain gravel SO hard that it would
wear out dozen points day upon plow.
and one driven through it would leave mark
of steel grains in the furrow like q charcoal
tracing upon a table cloth. In estimating
the liberallty of the government endowment
it is but fair to consider the enormously la
creased expenditures which remoteness, rap
idity of construction, and carrying forward
everything from one end Of the line involved
4 The equipment is unquestionably good.
The locomotives, from the leading shops oi
the East, are the very best. The sleeping
cars are without exception the finest have
ever seen. The sils are OF Michican oak,
the sides of whitewood, the interior finish OF
ash and black walnut. A locomotive costs
! Sl45OO; a day passengers, $4,000; freight
car $500. There are 147 locomotives upon
/ the road, and 27 more are contracted ior;
SO passenger coaches, with "a building, and
4 I.enough arranged Tor TO swell the aggregate 10
120 before September; IL sleeping coacnes, res
With q large number under way, and z,'Uo
freight cars. tl.y.f ..,.-,
Forty-eis hit hundred men are regularly OPP
erdtiag the lne--an army commanueu oy
Wahster SNYDER the Superintendent, and from
i 'a0O 20 / 400 tor the time, with seven trains
and two steam shovels IN smoothing, ballast
4 inc and finishing the bed, and substituting
peTmanent bridges for temporary ones on the
western divisions. One passenger train and
three freight trains run each way daily, In
eluding sundays g The present receipts
amount to about S27 600 per day and are rap
idly increasing. The officers stationed here
are Gen. G. M. Dodge, late Member Of Con
gress from Council Bluffs District OnleI En-
yineer; w. Snyder, General SnPerintenuens
III. M. Hoxie, Assistant General oupern.enu-
ent III. Brownscn. General Freight Agent,
and j Budd, General Ticket Agent Oh 9g1li
SCENES ON BOARD. gaa
Tho ,,d;ss are sewing or crocheting, or
raad;ns ~Cldtown Folks" or "Gates AJar,
r-,.;la fbe lille black walnut tables In ffont OF
on.,' seat are Uttered with that confusion OF
s..ools worsted, worlk-boxes, and books IN
saRt,cb sR the feminine heart delights. Some are
writing letters to the friends at home-n
\ Boston. in Maue, in Philadelphia, In Maine,
4 in Ohio. Some are leaning back drowsily,
with their heads on pillows, reveling In the
prairie scenery. The gentlemen are playvo