The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1873-04-17
Winter Along the Northern Pa
tta asa cific Railroad.

Mr.. w. Minor Roberts, chief en-
gineer of the Northern Pacific Rail-
road, in letter dated February 81,
1873, makes the following authentic
statement: ~
On the finished line across Minnesota,
from Duluth to Fargo. the road has
been run all winter with remarkable
regularity and freedom from snow
difficulties. There has been less nee
essaIy delay on the Northern Pacific
road this winter thar the roads east
of it to Chicago and New York. Con-
siderable snow has fallen i'll eastern
Minnesota this winter, but there has
not been an unusual amount in the
western part of The State and across
Dakota. The occasional snow fences
opposite the excavations have served
their purpose well. q
In common with the rest of the
country and with Europe, Minnesota.
Wisconsin, Iowa and the entire North
west have had most unusual winter
season. There have been some days
of very severe weather, but it was
quite as cold during the same period
in most of the Eastern States.
In January, at Duluth the ther-
inometor ranged as follows, during
the middle OF the day: average. II
deg. above zero; lowest on the 9th,
when it was is deg. below zero; the
highest % deg. above, on the Goth.
Absolute lowest, early in the morn
ing of the 2Sth, 25 deg. below zero.
At Duluth, in February, to the 18th,
average, 20 deg. above lowest, deg.
below ;highest 81 deg. above zero ab-
solute lowest, early in the morning of
the End, II deg. below zero.
At Fargo, on the western border of
Minnesota, in the open prairie of Red
River valley, the range of the ther-
mometer was as follows: average, 6
deg. above; lowest, 16 deg. below !;
highest, 81 deg. above zero; absolute
| lowest, early in the morning Of the
9th, 80 deg. below zero. At Fargo,
in February, to the 18th, the average
was IL deg. above; lowest, 10 deg.
below; highest, 33 deg. above; abso-
lutte lowest, on the 1st 10 deg. below
zero.
In the Rocky Mountains, east ofthe
main divide at BoZeman, near sthe
highest elevation of the Northern Pa
cific route, from the 9Th to the. 25th
of January inclusive, the average tenn
perature was 35 degrees above zero: !:
lowest % deg. above highest, A deg.
above; absolute lowest. early in the
morning of the 23d, 16 degrees above
zero. 1t is noticeable how much
milder the weather has been at Boze-
man, near Fort Ellis, and about 5000.
feet above the sea, than in Minnesota
and Wisconsin. near the level of the
lakes. The farmers of western Mon
tana began their spring plough.ng in
the latter part of January. the winter
in that section being considered over,
and the roads were dry and dusty. il
On the western slope of the Rocky
Mountains, in eastern Washington
Territory, the local papers state that
the farmers of Walla Walla valley
were ploughing their fields on the
26th of January, though the early
part of the winter had been, as else
where, unusually cold for that region.
The winter climate along the Pa
cific Division of our road, between
the Columbia River and Puget Sound,
which is in regular daily operation.
may be inferred from the fact that at
Portland, Oregon, the average tenn
perature of January was 45 deg above
zero the highest was 5S degrees and
the lowest "a degrees above. Snow
fell on one day. the ID, to depth of
two and half inches. Grass has
been green throughout the winter
about Puget Sound, and several va
rieties of flowers were in bloom out
of doors in January and February.
Our experience on the finished line
and authentic reports from the re-
mainder of the ronte, satisfy me that
the Northern Pacific road, if compile
ted from Puget Sound, would have
been kept in regular operation the en-
tire distance the last winter without
difficulty.