The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1873-08-21

of the United States without even chang
ing cars.
The following description of an ex-
cursion last week on the Central we copy
fromth Eceniag Wisconsin,. Those that
went on it from here can hardly express
the excellence and solidity of the road
and its rolling stock, of the rich lands it
opens for cultivation and the thorough
ness, ability and gentlemanly conduct of
its officers
On Tuesday last we had an opportuni-
~, tor the first time, to pass over that
portion Of the Wisconsin Central Rail-
road which is completed from Menasha
to Chelsea. distance of 134 miles. The
Governor was invited to inspect the
road, for the purpose of showing to him
that it has been well and honestly built;
that it was entitled to the land grant
which is to be conferred for the construc-
ton of a road from Stevens Point TO
Bayfield,. Vice President Reed thought
this desirable occasion to give other
citizens of the State an opportunity to
see the road and the country. So he also
invited members Of Congress, State Off
GERS, members of the Legislature, editors
and gentlemen in leading positions in
different parts of the State. The whole
number ON the train was not less than
eighty, and every arrangement was taken
by Vice President Reed to render the
excursion agreeable and satisfactory, as
he said to his friends, he wanted to show
the contrast between N odern civilization
and the primeval wilderness through
which this road is steadily pointing its
way to Lake Superior.
The road crosses three great rivers, the
Fox at Menasha, the Wolf at ellis
Landing, and the Wisconsin at Stevens
Point. In 1874 miles already ironed it
passes through the counties of Winneba-
go, Outagamie, Waupaca, Portage. Wood,
Clark and Marathon. Regular trains are
already running to Salem, ia miles
from Menasha and fifty miles beyond
Stevens Point, but the excursion train
passed twenty miles beyond Salem, to
show the Governor how we'll the track
was being laid and how seryiceable were
the bridges and culverts on what was in
tended to be first class road. The track
is not balaested beyond Salem. At pres
ent the track-layers are laying about one
mile per day, and the road is graded six
miles beyond Chelsea. We were inform
ed by MIR. Phillips, President of the
Construction Company. that there is only
the whole line of two hundred and fifty
miles from Menasha to Ashland, and he
says that if the Governor will grant the
requisite certificate to the company in
order to seoare the land to which they
are entitled for the number of miles al
ready constructed beyond Stevens Point,
that the whole line between Menasha
and Ashland will be in running order by
June 1874, and thus will be completed q
railroad Of $50 miles which will do as
much to develop the resources ofthe State
as any road constructed since the settle
ment of Wisconsin.
1t is really wonderful enterprise it
cuts through the heart Of the prmeval
forest. opening the most valuable timber
thard and soft) to commercial and manu-
featuring uses, and offering to the people
as good wheat land as can be found with
in the State. Most of the timber which
1t reaches is not on the rivers, but in
what may be called the up country, and
this land would not be prepared foT cu
tIvatlon In century unless this road had
been projected through this wilderness.
In some respects, in the difficulties of its
construction, It is like the Union Pacific;
the supplies have to be carried along as
the railroad advances. There is as vet
no producing country, but the railroad
will. as 1t we're, smite this rock of barren
ness and water will flow therefrom 1t
requires not only large capital, but also
large faith, to go on with such an under
taking, because its cost is greater than it
would be through a populated country.
Its profits must depend upon building up
local business, where, as yet, none exists.
Ofcourse, when it is finished to Duluth
it will have large through business, but
III the meanwhile the projectors should
be treated by the Governor with that
large measure Of hberality which is
due from an executive who has the in
terests of the whole people at heart
The Wisconsin Central will be very
valuable feeder to the Northern Road; it
has also route of its own to Milwaukee
rita Manitowoc and Sheboygan. so that
the chief commercial city of Wisconsin
has deep interest in the completion of
the gap OF IS miles on the line from Ash
land to Menasha.
The road is now sixty miles distant
from the great mineral deposits forty
expectation of Mr. Phillips is that before
the winter sets in the road will be within
twenty miles of this immense deposit of
valuable ore, and probably in the spring
of 1874 it will reach those iron beds: and
then the furnaces of Milwaukee will reap
the advantages of this new and exhaust
less supply of a superior ore
1t would not be difficult to recognize
that New England men were engaged in
the bailding of this road. The thorough
ness of the work which is done is one
evidence ot that fact, and the names of
such stations as Salem. Marsh6eld, Wal
than, Medfor6, Dorchester, and Chelsea,
clearly shows the stamp of the New Eng
ander on the Wisconsin Central Road.
: INCIDENTS OF THE EXCURSION.
When we reached the end of the track
Vice President Reed invited some of the
company to show their skill Ia dri. inc
spikes. Major Baetz our estimabIe State
Treasurer, hit the nail every time OF, the |
head, proving that he knows how to strike |
home when he desires.
At Chelsea, the present terminus,
there is little village of tents to accom- |
modate the workmen. The largest one |
is Brooks Hotel, and is the place where !
they take their meals; everything is very /
neat, and they are provided with a good I
table. The tents remind one OF soldier /
camp life. and during the dry and hot /
weather of July and August the men
enjoy themselves more than they would /
in HOUSE made Of boards.
We learn that the construction com |
pany are now employing 1000 nen as |