The Daily state register. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1870-1872, 1872-02-11
THE SNOW BLOCKADE.

Stock in the Union Pacific Com
pany is said to have depreciatedt from
81 to - during the past two months.
In the place of dividends, e
ments are probable. The actual
business of the railroad is not the
only loss Of the company. 1t has
suffered a prospective loss inthe dis
appointment ofthe public respecting
its capacity as the channel for the
overland trade from this coast to the
Atlantic border. One of the objects
of the Japanese Embassy WAS to as
certain the value OF the railroad for
Oriental. OF rather Occidental, trade
and intercourse. The Embassy will
have ample leisure to study up the
subject while snOw-boundamong the
Mormons. The losses which the
business men Of San Francisco par
ticularlv have suffered have directed
attention to the value of a more
southern route. diverting favor from
the road completed, to the road
prospective.
As an illustration of the actual ex-
penses which the railroad company
is now mourning, the Corinne Re
porter of the Sth relates the particu-
lars of an interview had with Mr..
Sam. TLayer, who has been out on
the road twice and just returned
Mr.. Thayer says:
Probably 2,0sO men are employed IN
that region now shovelIng snow,
wages, per day - 10, per might 81 ~.
Often after men have worked without
cessation for II hours. and completely
exhausted. taken IL few hour>' sleep,
they have walked to find their cut
filled again while they slept. The
snow sheds have been found to be too
loose and slight. so that i'll some in
stances they have been completely
filled with snow from end to end.
The snow fences have apparently
served to collect the snow, having
been placed near the track. 1t has
filled up level between them, and
again between the second tier. and
even the third. Men would. on the
start. shovel three feet OF >nOw and
dirt, nearly as hard as ice, off the
track, making the banks six feet high.
This had to be done Over again and
again: the second tiIae there would be
six teet to throw OUt. and when done
the banks would be twelve feet high;
and 50 on until the SnOw-cuts i'll some
places are thirty TO forty feet deep.
Again. there are places where the
track Is on an emhankmeut and OBJ
structed as badly as in the cuts. This
is on account of rising land lear by on
II side or the other or both. which
acts the same as a fence in catching
and lodging the snow.
Mr.. Thayer believes that nothing
but sheds viii afford the requisite
protection. He is of the opinion
hat 80 miles of shedding over the
worst spots Of the 80 miles between
Green River and Cheyenne, would
keep the road open. As the snow is
not as heavy as on the Sierra Ne
vada, the covering need not be so
massive as on the Central Pacific.
probably costing from so, 900 to
SO, 600 per mile-in all about one
million and a half.
Mr.. Thayer says there is no pros
pect of the road being permanently
opened except by the warm sun of
the Spring. He severely censures
the policy of the company in not
keeping snow plows running day
and night, as the Central Pacific did
between Tecoma and Humboldt
Wells. He asserts that ''the policy
of the Union Pacific has been rather
to lie up during storms, and work
only between them" Perhaps he is
preiudiced, but certainly the contrast
between the management of the two
roads is very complimentary to the
Central Pacific.