The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1871-05-04
THE NORTHERN.
Vice-President Colfax. in the Ind


may expect from the construction Of the
Northern Pacific Railroad. Here is his
glowing exhibit:
midway across the continental the
head of twelve hunred miles of lake nav
igation-a thousand miles from Buffalo,
the western terminus of the Erie canal,
and as near to it by water as Chicago-a
hundred miles west of the longitude oe
St. Louis or Galena-is the city of Du-
luth, the initial point Of the Northern
Pacific railroad That great work. so
magnifcently endowed by the Cow
ernment, is already being rapidly
pushed westward. under its energetic
controllers; and before the snow flies
next Fall il will be completed to the
western line of Minnesota, where it cross
es the Red River of the North, which
runs northward to lake Winnipeg. and
one eight of its distance to the Pacific
Ocean will have keen accomplished.
Commencing too, this season on its west
ern line, the work viii be prosecuted
from both directions and long before
the nation celebrates its Centennial An
niversary of Independence the lakes will
be united by iron bands with that Medi-
terranean of our NORTHWEST, Puget's
Sound.
'Of the suspicious influence of this
enterprise, which but few years ago
would have been considered so daring,
the most sanguine of its friends have
scarcely yet full realization. Even
taking Chicago, as the starting point, it
will be (aaia St Paul, where an arm of
this railroad is reached) 200 miles less
distance to Puget's Sound than to San
Fransco. Besides this, vessels from the
Golden Gate to China sail on what is
called the grand circle, instead Of in a
strait line; and any one testing this by a
string on the globe will be surprised at
the result, if they have not previously
studied the effect of the rotundity of the
earth, and its diminished protubcrance
as you go northward toward the Pole.
Hence when they have sailed 500 miles
from San Francisco they are only 100
miles from the entrance to Puget S
Sound and this striking fact shows the
advantages this route will have in COM
mauding the through traffic Of Asia with
our Atlantic States, or that portion of it
which will pass over the soil Of this ma
ton on its road to Europe
''Nor is this all Development is the
great duty Of the Republic, after all It's
recent trials. Resources are the gift of
the Creator Developing them depends
upon the work of man. Along the line
Of the Northern Pacific Railroad, as it
follows up the water courses. the Mis-
souri, and the Yellowstone on this side,
and descends by the Valley of the CO.
lumbia on the other, vast body of agri-
cultural land is waiting for the plow,
with a climate almost exactly the same
as that Of New York, except that, with
less snow, cattle in the larger portion of
it can subsist upon the open range in
Winter Here, if the climate and fertili-
ty Of soil produce their natural result,
when railroad facilities open this now
isolated region to settlement, will soon
be seen waving grain fields, and happy
homes, and growing towns; while ultl-
mately a Gordon OF prosperous States,
teening with population, and rich in In
dustry and consequent wealth, will occu-
Ply that now undeveloped and almost in
accessible portion OF continental area.
But this road is fortunate also in
its pathway across the ranges of mount
aims which tested SO severely the Pacific
Railroad built on the central line, and
the overcoming of which reelected such
wel-deserved honor on their energetic
builders. at the Deer Lodge Pass, in
Montana where it crosses the Rocky
Mountains, in its altitude above the
sea is 5000 feet less than the Union Pa
cific Railroad at Sherman, which is said
to lie the highest point at which loco
motive can be found in the world. And
on the pacific side of the continent it is
even more fortunate. From Arizona up
to the Arctic circle the Columbia IS the
only river which has torn its way through
that mighty range the Andes of North
America which in California are called
the Sierras. Nature has thus provided
a pathway for the Northern Pacific Bail
road through these mountains, the seal
ing of which. on the other line, at an ele-
walton of over seven thousand feet Ia
most wonderful triumph of engineering},
cost the Central Pacific millions Of dol
lars, and compelled them for seventy
miles to maintain grade Of over one
hundred feet to the mile-twicc the
maximum of the Northern Pacific at
the most difficult points on its entire
route.
''Tt is fortunate, also, in its terminus
on the Pacific coast. No one who has
not been there can realize the beauty of
Puget's Sound and it's surroundings.
One hundred miles long, but so full of
inets and straits that its navigable shore
line measures |, 760 miles, dotted with
lovely isIets, with gigantic trees almost
to the waters edge, with safe anchorage
everywhere, and stretching southwark,
without shoals or bars. from the Straits
of Fuca to the capital and centre of
Washington territory. it will be mag
nifcent e,etrepot for the commerce of that
grandest ocean of the world, the Paci-
fic. r.
'Nor is it less fortunate in the pilot at
it's helm. There are some men who can
not afford, with the regulations already
earned by them, to link their names
with an enterprise that may possibly fail.
Once enlisted in it, success becomes a
duty. And [ need scarcely say that Jay
Cooke is one Of these men, Without
dwelling on his success in negotiating
the bonds of the Union at one of its
darkest hours, and after other agencies
had failed, which has passed into histo-
ry, ] can say that the same resist,ess en-
ergy and determination which overcame
ali obstacles then, and caused money to
flow into an exhausted treasury faster
than the nation, with its enormous ia
bilities. could use it, is enlisted now in
the pushing forward of this great work
as rapidly as possible consistent with
economy in it's construction. The land
grant of the Unsted States, exceeding
so, 600, 600 acres 10 the winter wheat re-
eion of our nation{ten times as large as
the area of Massachusetts,, is doubtless
sufficient for its completion; but, besides
this, Millions of the private means of
himself and friends are already invested
In it. The bonds, based on the land
grant. and mortgage on the road itself
in addition, are being sold as rapidiy-as
the money is needed. and, as an invest
ment, yielding about eight per cent per
yearin currency, rank already with the
best class of railroad Securities. And
thus the good work will go on with un-