Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1871-12-01
Equine Sagacity.

Equine Sagacity. '"'
The Lafayette (IndD Courier gives the
following Il >. >.-.8
s A well-known citizen hired a pair OF
horses and buggy from Nick Hank 5
livery stable and drove. them the sdirect
road to the vicinity of Stockweua "a dis
lance of twelve miles southeast of the
/ city. The horses were hitched to the
/ fence while the gentleman took supper
at the residence of a friend. After
supper, when ready to Estart home, it
was found that the horses had broken
their halters and disappeared. The
young man came to the city by the early
morning train from Stockwell, and, the
first thing, went to the stable. to Ereport
the loss of the tean1S. Imagine his sur
prise at learning that the horses had
come to the stable at three o'clock in
the morning without driver, and with
everything intact, the buggy not even
| being scratched in the least. They had
come alone and undirected, except by
instinct, twenty-eight miles, that being
| the distance from Stockwell by the
route they had taken. Between York
! town and Jefferson there is a bridge,
out of the floor of which two or three
boards had been taken. The horses,
instead of trying to cross the bridge,
went down one side of the road, crossed
| the stream and up the bank on the
other side, in track nobody had ever
taken before. Mr.. Hanks informs us
that to his knowledge the horses had
never passed over the road but once,
and that several years since, as they
have been in his possession quite long
time. - I'll ..
Progress of the Northern Pacific Rail-
road.
Messrs. JAY Cooke & Co., the financial
agents of the Northern Pacific Railroad,
furnish the following gratifying facts
regarding the prosperous progress Of
this enterprises:
The track is now about completed across
the State of Minnesota, $50 miles, the grade
being wholly finished, and the track-layers
| approaching the Red River at the rate of
three miles day. Regular trains are run
ming over the completed sections. - s@
In the latter part of September contracts
were let for the construction of the Dakota
| division, extending 200 miles westward,
| from the crossing of the Red River to the
crossing of the Missouri, in Central Dakota.
| This division is to be finished by the first
day of July next, and so miles are to be
graded before the beginning of winter. In
the meantime, a section of IS miles is under
construction between the Columbia River
and Puget Sound, in Washington Territory,
where track-laying is rapidly progressing.
| 1t will be remembered that the Northern
| Pacific Company last year purchased both
| the Main Line and branch of the st. Paul
and Pacific Road. Within the last three
months, the Main Line has been completed
through a noble country, to the Red River at
| Breckenridge. Contracts were last year let
| for the continuation of the branch, from its
present terminus, at Watab, on the Missis-
| sppi River, 20 miles northward, to Brain
erd, where it will join the trunk line of the
! Northern Pacific. Finally, contracts have
| BEEN let for the construction of a branch
road from st. Cloud (175 miles north of St.
Paul. to Pembina, on the British border, a
| distance Of 375 miles. This line is to be
completed within fifteen months of the
present time 1t will drain the richest por-
| ton of the Red River Valley, open direct
communication with the British settlements
| of Winnipeg and the rich Saskatchewan
| Basin. It will also serve as the southeast
! ern arm of the Northern Pacific Road,
reaching to st. Paul and Minneapolis, and
thus connecting with Chicago and the trunk
| lines to the east. =. IL
| o
! the Northern Pacific Company, at the close of
next year, 900 miles of road in the fertile and
| prosperous State of Minnesota; it will carry
| the trunk line of the great thoroughfare nearly
| One-third of its distance across the continent,
and will bring to the Northern Pacific Road
the large and profitable traffic of Montana,
and the Government transportation of the
upper Missouri. .-r .~
It is anticipated that this business alone,
! IL 40
the interest of the cost of the finished portion
of the Road. The Hudson's Bay*Conlpany
| has already leased docks and warehouses at
| Duluth, preparatory to doing the whole of its
immense business over the Northern Pacific
| line. ..-.t g..
Settlers are occupying the lands along the
route with surprising and gratifying rapldlty.
About the LIST of January next nearly Two
Million acres of the fnest1ands in Minnesota
will be placed in market by the Northern
Pacific Railroad Company, and the proceeds
of their sale will be used to purchase and
cancel the Company's 100 Bonds. The Com
pany's land in Minnesota will much more
than pay the cost of building the Minnesota
| Division of the Road, and their sale will be
rapid-indeed, many thousand acres have
| already been sold to actual settlers, in advance
of being offered. The Company's lands west
of Minnesota, through Dakota, prove to be of
! superb character, and will speedily come into
market.
Owing to the rigid economy and perfect in
! tegrity with which all departments Of the
! enterprise are managed, and the great reduc-
| ton in cost of material within the last few
wears, 1.-The cost of construction and equipment
proves to be considerably less per mile than
| the original estimates. For example, loco
motives which cost $4,000 each when the
| Union and Central Pacific Roads were built,
! are now sold at So 900 best American rails,
which during the war sold at about ST 90 per
| ton, now cost the Northern Pacific Company
only about $40 per ton; right of way, and
! stone and timber material, which are usually
! large items in the cost of a new road, are fur
nished to the Northern Pacific grat,iitously
! from the Government domain. The bearing
that this greatly diminished cost of construc-
| ton must have on the value and security of
| the Companys 7-30 Bonds will be apparent
| to any one. .-.-.
The money is being furnished for the early
| completion of the Northern Pacific Road by
the now rapid sale of its ffst Mortgage $50
| Bonds. Their absorption by investors has
been very rapid during the last three
months, and at the present rate of increase
of sales the Company will soon be enabled
| to reduce the rate of interest on the remain
der of its loan, or advance the price of the
| 7-30 bonds above par. These bonds have
established their character as a frst-class
| security, good evidence OF which Is the tact
| that they are being largely taken as an in
vestment by many of the Savings Banks of
New England, and conservative @nonied
institutions of other States. Since the sue
cess of the United States Five Per Cent.
Loan, very many holders of Five-Twenties
have taken advantage of the favorable OPP
portunity to exchange their Government
| Bonds for Northern Pacifcs, at a large
profit. These exchanges are increasing IN
| Il, Ill -. 81 &ha0 nf11afr Is
Steadily and with even greater rapidity
! than WAS anticinated by its protectors, this