The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-11
TUESDAY, MAY II, 1869.
THr p1oIFYo RAILROAD COMPLETED.


THE pACIFIO RAILROAD COMPLETED
THE last rail of the Pacific Railroad was laid
yesterday amid universal reJoicings in all parts
of the country, and the great work of the CEN
tury is now practically completed. The import
ance and necessity of such road were recog-
nized at an early PERIOD and 1t is impossible to
ascribe to any one person the honor of having
originated the idea. Thomas H. Benton, how
ever, was the first American statesman who took
a live interest in the matter, and a railroad from
the Atlantic to the Pacific was with him pet
project which he urged upon the Government
to undertake. When he retired from public life,
however, the time had not yet arrived when the
necessity for such work was generally felt but
within the last ten years the growth of the
Western States and Territories has been so rapid
that the great importance of a rapid means of
communication between the Eastern and West
ern boundaries of our empire has forced itself
upon the attention of the Government and people.
The work to be performed was of such magni-
tude that it was felt that aid from the Govern
ment would be necessary to complete it success
fully within reasonable time. Congress ac-
cOrdingly made an appropriation in 1853 for ex-
plorations and surveys, to be made under the
direction of the War Department, from the
Mississippi river to the Pacific Ocean. As many
as nine different routes were accordingly ex-
plored by the officers of the army between the
years 1858 and 1885, The selection of a route
was matter of much difficulty, especially as
both the North and the South wished to have the
control of the road. The breaking out of the
Rebellion settled the question so far as the voice
of the South was concerned, and dispassionate
and bipartisan consideration of the subject led
to the selection of a central line-What is known
as the Platte River route, which was explored in
1855 by General Grenville NJ. Dodge, now Chief
Engineer of the Union Pacific Road.
The Union Pacific Railroad Company was in
corporated by Congress- in July, 1869, but vari-
ous delays occurred which put off prepa-
rations for the commencement of the work
until September, 1865. The capital stock
of the company was fixed at 300, 900, ,000
the Government granted the right of way
over the public lands to the extent of
200 feet in width on each side of the road be-
sides grant of ten alternate sections of land to
the mile on each side of the railroad, together
with the right to use timber and other material
necessary for construction. The Government
also granted in six per cent bonds, interest
payable in gold, $4,000 per mile for the whole
road; but in the most mountainous parts, for $50
miles from the base of the Rocky Mountains,
termination of this section to the California line
the grant was $50, 900 per mile. These bonds
we're issued upon the completion of each section
of twenty miles, upon the certificate of three
United States commissioners. The land grants
were transferred in the same manner, and the
Government also granted the company the right
to issue its first mortgage bonds to an amount
equal to the bonds of the United States.
The first contract for the construction of the
Union Pacific Railroad was made in August,
1894 but the work was not actually begun until
January, 1856. The first forty miles were COM
pleted by May of that year, and by the first of
January, 1867, 305 miles were finished. The
California end was also rapidly pushed forward
and it was expected that the whole work would
be completed by 1870, the time fixed by the
charter being July l. 1876 1t will be seen,
therefore that the road has been built seven
years before the time fixed by the Government.
No important enterprise of modern times has
been advanced with the same rapidity, and this
is one of the most remarkable features of the
whole affair. The last rail, however, has now
been laid, and Thomas II, Benton's dream has
become reality. The results which will How
from this enterprise 1t is Impossible TO estl-
mate. 1t will become the highway for the com
merce of Asia, and scatter over our continent
the wealth of the Indies. In it's unfinished
state the earnings by the way business alone
during the year 1883 were over $4,000, 600, and
the traffic over the whole line must in few
years grow to immense proportions, which can
scarcely be calculated at the present time. The
completion of the Pacific Railroad is an occasion
for real rejoicing to every American citizen; our
Pacific States and Territories are no longer
foreign countries but the Eastern and Western
confines of the American Union are now bound
by link of iron which win, more than any
thing else convince them that their interests
ora Identical.