, 1874-04-13
RAILROAD NEWS.
Annual Report Of Tho Burlington h
Missouri River Road.
The Railroad Companies and the iowa
LaW--.Suits in Illinois.
Examination of Missouri Roads.


THE BURLINGTON q MISSOURI n1v-
11H ROAD.
Tho annuul report OF President John ".
Bronks. Of the burlington d Missouri niver Rail-
road, III Nobraskn, for tho yoar 1873. contains
aomo very valuable information.
THE ROAD.
Tho road Is completed from plnttsmouth to
Fort Koarpoy. With tho exception Of ono grade
east and ono gralo west out Of tho wiley Of tho
Dig Dlne. near 'Croto, md ono rising west, be-
twcon Lincoln mud Croto, which nro little feBa
than " foet to tho milo, there
,'e are ,;, nono pon tho line ,s eboye e feet to
no controlling influence above tile lower grades
Of tue liuo, which aro about 10 foot to tho milo,
and gonoarally tallng eastward with tho course
Ct ,t the heavier traffic. Fort Koarney Dolng about
the full Of tho platto River, whose currout IL
nearly uniform botweon these points. THO limo
IL Without sharp curvos, aud is, with its light
grades, worry easy to opoFato.
Unlike most new railroads In the Far West. 1t
Is III atl raBpoots tlrst-olass. and quito equal to
tho ayerayo Of tho railroads Of New England,
mud we'll entitled to tho reputation it has Of be-
ing thoroughly built. Whi!e considerable money
constructing it less substantially, and still mora
by adopting heavier grades, tho annoyance and
otpouso Of half reoonHtructnK it during tho ilrat
fow years OF its operation will bo ayoiaod, "a
fate tlat hns proved 10 disastrous to many liew
roads III tho West: while the Just demands Of
tho public, which, in view Of tho large land
grant. had right to expect q woll-built, fist
class rairoad, we're fully met.
THE LAND CHANT.
building road (as was dono IN tllls caso) en-
with no business already in oxistonco to support
1t, would have boon impractcable, oxcopt througl,
lilo Inducements Of lboral grant Of la',d, ntong
its line, to be made valuable by the road itself.
Iho grant to this Company was something ovor
years hanging undevQopod upon the market, at
ST. as I'll acre, of no practical uso to tho mutton,
Or State Of Nebraska, on which it was sinnp|y an
incubus. forming tho hunting grounds Of hostile
Indians. and keeping aottlors out of still widor
contiguous area. 80 annoying wore these Iu-
danB ttiat tho carly Hurveys OF Tho lino could bo
but very tmporioctly accomplished; aud tho
Government. aftor moro accurate surveys could
be safely nade, allowed tho Company to rolocato
tho western portion.
As soon ns 1t bocamo certain that tho road
would 10 built, the altcrnato Heo1ions remaining
In tue Government were tnkon up, eyon before
its actual construction, and as inst Us tho road
progressed in. its construction, began to be oc-
cupiod by desirable cass of GottlorH, all appro-
honsions from Indians having passed away.
CONNECTIONS.
To furnish to tho country trnvoraod BY this
liuo aal needed facilities for reaching such places
n,, as aIe eoaneyo to its prospority
has baon obtained. It connects tho road with
Omaha, tito chief commercial town in tho State,
forming direct connection with the three great
Enatern lines to Chicago and with tho Northern
ltneB running into tho lumbar regions OF Alinne-
sofa and Wisconsin. Tho communication thus
established hotwocn tho road a,ld ail tho Eastorl
lines, places tho Company iu..quito I'll hldopond-
ont position.
THO thirty mics Of this road which lie in tho
valley uf tho Big Blue, between Croto and Dea-
trico, is in n positon to form n connection with
tho lines from, the South. which have i,een cou-
Htructiug nortAward, and arc completed within
about 10 nilos Of Boatrico.
THE LENGTH OF THE ROAD
from Plattgmouth, it's enstern terminus, to its
junction with tho Union lacitic Railroad ut Tort
Kcnrney in 100 miles; tho longth Of tho Omaha
nnd Southwestern Railroads ID abol1ty forty-ine
miles, about eiglltoen and a half mics OF which
form tho Omaha Brunch, leaving tho n,ain limo
four miles west Of Plattsinouth; and thirty miles
constitute branch on tho south. extending from
Crcto to the Town Of beatrice. Tho whole 1onEch
of the line owned aud worked by tho Company Ia
239}5 milos.
THE EARNINGS AND EXPENSES
during the year Of 1878 have been as follows
FROM freigak. .$39u 0iu It
FROM pafhenBcfH 1oddta..o
From mail aud miscellaneous. s.......+.... 38,5G310
Ihtal ..SHS, ~
0perauB expenses for tho year. 113,ala.k
Not earnings. ,41s ia