, 1873-04-03

IHANKS.-IO els, Fargo q " :.
Agents for late Victoria papers.
WINTER ALONG THE NORTHERN PACIFIC
R.uRoAD.-Mr. W. Minor Roberts,
Chief Engineer of the Northern Pacific
Railroad, in letter dated February 81,
1878. makes the following authentic
statement:
On the finished line across Mime
sofa. from Duluth to Fargo. the Road
has been run all winter With remarkable
regularity AMI freedom from snow diff
culties. There has been less necessary
DELAY on the Northern Pacific Road this
winter than upon the roads east OF it to
Chicago and New York. Considerable
snow has fallen in eastern Minnesota
this winter. bu. there has not been an
unusual amount in the western part of
the State and across Dacota. The oc-
casional snow fences opposite the exca-
vations baYe served their purpose well.
In common with the rest OF the country
and with Europe, Minnesota, Wiscon-
sin. Iowa, and the entire Northwest
have had n most unusual winter season.
There have been some days of very Sc
we're weather, but it was qulte as cold
about the same period in most OF the
Eastern States.
Ii January, at Duluth. the thermome-
| ter ranged rs follows during the middle
of the day; average. L 9 above zero;
lowest on the 9th when it Was s below
zero; the highest, go above, on the
20lh. Absolute lowest, early in the morn
ing OF the 2Sth, 25o below zero. 1t
Duluth, IN February, to the 18th, aver
age. 20o above; lowest, l : below; high
est, 81 above zero; absolute lowest,
early in the morning Of the ID, II ; be-
low.
At Fargo, OH the western border of
Minnesota, IN the open prairie OF Rsd
River Valley, the range Of the Their
mometer fin january was as follows; av-
erage, GO above; the lowest 160 be-
low; highest, 81 above zero; absolute
lowest, early in the morning of the 9th.
below zero. At Fargo, in Febru-
ary, to the 10Th, the average was IL
above; lowest, 10 > below; highest, SO
above; absolute lowest, ON the list, 100
below zero.
In the Rocky Mountains, east of the
main divide, at Bozeman, L ear the high
st elevation of the Northern Pacific
route, from TIE 5lh 10 the 25th Of JAN
uary inclusive, the average tempera :
tura was 30 . above zero; lowest, % :
above; highest, 4io above; absolute
! lowest, early in the morning OF the Esd
above zero. 1t is noticeable how
much iniider the weather has been at
Bozeman, near Fort Ellis, and about
5000 feet above the sea, than in Min
nesota and Wisconsin, near the level of
the lakes. The farmers of western Mon
tana began their spring ploughing in
the latter part of January, the winter in
that section being considered over, and
the roads we're dry and dusty.
On the western slope of the Rocky
Mountains, in eastern Washington Ter
ritory, the local papers state that the
farmers of Walla Walla valley were
ploughins their fields on the 2bth of
January, though the early part of the
| winter has been, as elsewhere, unusual
ly cold for the region
The winter climate along the Pacific
Division of our road, between the Co.
lumbia River and Puget Sound, which
is in regular daily operation, may be in
ferred from the fact that at Portland.
Oregon, the average temperature for
january was Is Q above zero; the high
est was IS Q and the lowest "A . above.
Snow fell on one day, the End, to a
depth of two and half inches. Grass
aas been green throughout the winter
at Puget Sound, and several varieties of
flowers were in bloom out of doors in
| january and February.
Our experience on the finished line,
aud authentic reports for the remainder
of the route, satisfy me that the North
ern Pacific Hoad, if completed from
Lake Superior TO Puget Sound, would
have been kept in regular operation the
entire distance the last winter without
difficulty.