The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-03-28
sTAUNTON, VIRGINIA. MARCH %. 1878.

could have done in the quiet room of my
own home. Car wheels might chatter and
whistles screech, am too practical to pay
two dollars for chance to sleep and then lie
awake to see il there won't be all accident
time enough to attend to it when it comes.
In the morning found myself in Illinois,
and for once must say the prospect was not
inviting. There was mud to the right of us
and mud to the left of us; mud, mud, mud
"a sea Of mud everywhere. Even the large
city of Peoria seemed to have sunk its pave
ments in the unadulterated Western mud.
l beheld the beauties thereof anc thanked
my stars for guiding me over, not into that
sickness, and re-resolved not to stop in
Illinois.
Our read lays through tile bi.uminous coal
regions and observed many small mines
being worked; so many, in fact, that it
struck me that every man must have one
on his farm. This would be nice provision
of nature, for timber is scarce, and in the
years when grasshoppers eat up the corn
fields, fuel might be very IA difficult thing to
procure were coal not plenty.
There lis an appearance of thrift and go
a-!leadativeness in the Western railway
towns which, to use Western slang phrase,
sis good for sore eyes, l like the hurry
and push and drive which the pioneers man
ifest, and nothing less could ever have
brought the towns and cities to their present
standpoint in the short life they have had.
One thing is noticeable: the large number of
school buildings, and right there is the key
note of much of the Western prosperity.
| Emigrants prefer to 60 where their children,
| whether rich or poor, can be educated.
My first halt was at Burlington, Iowa, in
| size the third city in the State, and of a very
considerable commercial importance, as it
is situated upon the western bank of the
broad Mississippi, with regular steamboat
communication with all points on the river,
and is also quite railroad centre. The
business portion of the town lies principally
upon the low grounds along the river, but
the bluffs are covered with fine, and in many
instances, elegant esidences. In 1860 this
city had 6, 7O6 inhabitants now she has at
least thirty thousand.
From Burlington the road runs nearly
| west across the State to Council Bluffs, and
and passes through the county-seat of eight
counties, one of them being Mt. Pleasant,
where several Virginlans have settled. Mt.
Pleasant is situated upon an elevation hard
| iy high enough to permit me to say it is a
city set upon hill, yet sufficiently elevated
to rescue it from being Pleasant Hollow.
The Big Creek forms a horseshoe here, and
the town is built within the bend, and a
busy, stirring town it is ; with good hotels,
stores, large number of fine residences,
two colleges. and the State Insane Asylum.
All mainline trains for Council Bluffs
run hotel dining cars, which, in connection
with the sleeping coaches, make travelling
almost a luxury. l wonder physicians
throughout the length and breadth of our
land do not undertake to write them down,
for the doctors have Nfeaped rich harvests
from travellers who have joined the brigade
which responds to the conductors cry
ssFifteen minutes for refreshments ~ Usu-
ally it takes half that time to get waited
upon, which leaves one seven and a hall
minutes to CUP down a hot meal, pay for it
and get aboard the train. No wonder Ameri-
cans are a race Of dyspeptics. commenced
my breakfast at Red Oaks, 45 miles east OF
Council Bluffs, and had just finished my
last buckwheat cake when the train ap-
preached the Bluffs. l enjoyed my forty
five miles breakfast very much, and was
as we'll served as l could have been at any
hotel in Chicago.
At Council Bluffs all westward bound pas
seEgers are transferred to miserable cars
which take them across to Omaha, a dis
lance of eleven miles. 1t is very disagree
able transfer and seems wholly unnecessary
but what can we do about it? Congress hal
decided that the terminus of the Unior
Pacific railroad is on the east bank of thu
Missouri, but Congress may ''resolute til
the COWS come home,'' and it will never sue
coed in making said Union Pacific do any
thing different from what it now does, un
less it is for the financial interest of the roat
to have change.
While we are slowly crossing the Missouri
let's look up little statistical information
concerning this great road across the CONT
. nent Statistics are dry but there is
, straight forwardness about them which
very refreshing in this degenerate age.
The first charter was granted in July
) 1862, limiting the time for building the roa
, to fourteen years. It must be remembers
] that at that date there were comparatiyel
, few railroads in the west ar d all materis
e for building had to be brought by team
. hundreds of miles. For 500 miles westwar
f from Omaha there was no timber, and tie
1 had to be cut in Michigan, Pennsylvania
a Ohio-anywhere, and brought across til
t prairies at an enormous expense. Even tn
1 engines for the shops were hauled in wac
!. ons from Des Moines, Iowa, distance {
{: l40 miles. Provisions, clothing. timber fe
v building purposes. all came in the sam
/. slow way, and not until Jan. 1867 was
}, road completed from the east to Omaha
It In the meantime the energetic men VIII
f had undertaken the gigantic work OF buildin
r the road across the Rocky Mountains ha
e not been sleeping. Chartered in 1862, II
d 4 first grading was done in 1864 and the fir
d rail laid in 1865, years after obtaining tt
" charter. During the year 1865 40 miles
v track was laid by Jan. LIST, 1868, $40 mill
d had been completed, and on May 10th, 1856
" 1895 miles were completed, finishing TIL
h portion Of the road belonging to the Unie
At Pacific. There had been used In the
r. 1905 miles OF road. 100000 tons of ire
lie rails. 100000 fish-plates, 6,soO.O0O bolt
r, 6,126,375 cross-ties, 23,505, 500 spikes, ar
il best Of all, the work was completed seve
" years in advance of its chartered Limitation
a While the Union Pacific was progressir
" from east to west across the Rocky Mou