The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1869-09-16

We know how long they are, Wnat altl-
tudes they attain, what sort Of ; ooun-
| try they pass through, what difdculhes
have been overcome in their ooustruc-
tion, What is to be encountered in their
loperaticn. H.
The construction Of that line his
made Chicago the great distributing
point Of the West, and no effort on the
part Of any other city will suffice to
wrench from her the prestige and pow
er she has already attained. Chicago
expects, and With reason, to receive her
teas direct from Japan and China; but
when the Northern Pacific Railroad is
completed she will have 400 miles less
Of land carnage from the PAci6c, by
the Northern line TO Puget Sound, than
by the Union to San Francisco.
The ships that sail from Shanghai to
Sao Francisco sail on the great circle
which carries them up to the latitude
Of Puget Sound, thence they make
southing to their destined point. That
Is the shortest route. The conve1ity
of the earth makes Chicago in fact 900
miles nearer shanghae by Puget Sound
than by San Francisco.
Nor is this Ill. The Union and Gen.
/ t-al lines Cross . series Of mountain
| submits. The Union, at the Black
Hills, is $3.50 feet above the sea. The
Central, at Donner Lake, is more than
1000 feet above Sacramento. The
general level, for more than one thou
sand miles, is at an altitude Of four
thousand feet
Not: 80 the line of the Northern Pa
ci6c. It has one elevation Of about
5000 feet, another Of 5000: These
are the only eummits. Its grades are
lighter and more even than those OF
the Union and Central.
,Ascssrs AID DEscExrs.
Nor is this all. Everybody know
bow hard it is to haul a carnage up hill
how it exhausts the strength Of horse.
It is just as hard for the iron horse
for the animal. =, In the one case wood
is required, ID the other oats. Both
cost money. Railroad men, practical
engineers, can tell us to cent what it
costs to take train up thousand feet,
how much to let it down again, for it
costs both ways, not only in wood and
COAL but in wear and tear Of machinery.
I The difference in ascenb and descents,
between the Northern line and the line
already constructed, has not been &C.
curately determined; bat enough is
already known to warrant the state
ment that in tho practical working Of
the road it Will be equivalent to several
hundred miles in favor of the Northern
route.
The practical result of all this will
be that for through freight the North
ern line will be able to transport tea
and other China goods at lower rates
than by the Union and Central lines.
Now ia all this l have no invidious
statement to make against the line al
ready constructed. That will be the
means of communication between the
West and California. twill have work
enough to do; but it never Can serve
the people o: the Northwest,
PROSPECTS OF THE 1NTERPRIsE.
J.; The Northern Pacific will be built;
it will have its own field, and will serve
the country as no other line ever can.
Fl will be the short line between the
lakes and the Pacific; will traverse
cbuntry capable Of sustaining dense
population: Ipred;ct that the people
of%the country will look apon the en-
terprise with favor. The men who are
engaged in it asked Congress to guar
antY the interest on its bouas; the re-
quest was refused. It was dishearten-
ing. But they had faith in their enter
prise. They had studied the question;
they saw that there was an empire in
the Northwest, awaiting only the con-
struction of a railway to insure its spec
dy development. They have come out
here to behold it with their own eyes,
aud having seen it, they can with cm-
phasis use the same language that the
Queen of the South employed when she
beheld the ivory throne and the golden
furniture and accumulated riches Of
Solomon:s ''The half has not, been
told me- r. ,.:....a -
The Northern Pacific Railrosd will
be built, and in time it will become the
great trunk road of the continent, for
the following reasons: 1t will be the
shortest liae between the millions that
are to occupy the country north Of the
Ohio river aud the Middle States on
the one hand, and the Pacific on the
other; it. will be the shortest line
for passenger travel between England
and China; it lies through the great
wheat field of the continent; it will
have it's western terminus in the future
New England Of the Pacific ycoast-s
region yet to be dotted al over; with
manufacturing towns !; it hes through
| region where the climate is milder In
| winter than along the central belt Of
the continent, and which for the
| entire distance is capable. Of sustaining
an agricultural or industrial communi-