Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-11-14
The Northern Pacific Railroad

terprise was paralyzed by the hank
ruptcy of Jay Cooke x Co, its finan-
eial agents, on the 18th of September,
1873. The company's floating debt
on that day was four and half mil
ions of dollars. Its mortage bond
issue was tLirty-one and half millons.
The suspension of interest on these
bonds looked to be durable. Their
price fell in the open market by
rapid :umbles from par to 10. The
popular enterprise to build a second
trans. continental railway on the short
est, the northern, route, was felt to
be irrecoverably bankrupt. The
Northern Pacific was jeered, and its
bonds and Jay Cooke, their sanguine
seller, were alternately cursed and
laughed ut.
The gathering of the wreck under
the safeguard OF receivership, aud
the reorganization of the company
in 1875, are we'll known history.
To-day the condition and prospects
of the Northern Pacific are as fol-
lows:
Of it's chartered line there are COM
p!eted and in daily operation 1876
miles on the Pacific side of the con-
tinent and 424 miles in Minnesota
and Dakota, in all, $50 miles.
The company owns the undivided
half of and operates the St. Paul and
Duluth railroad from Thompson to
Duluth, Minnesota, twenty-four miles
long. 1t owns the controlling inter-
est in and operates the completed
road from Brainerd on its main line
to Sank Rapids, Minnesota, dis
tance of sixty and half miles. 1t
owns the perpetual right to use and
operate the complete road from Sank
Rapids to St. Paul, seventy-ive and
half miles long.
The length of completed road, ex-
elusive of sidings, now operated by
the company is 72O miles.
In November there will be one
hundred miles more of it's main line
in operation, west of the Missouri
iver. In the Autumn of 1880 the
entire Missouri division of the road,
210 miles long, from the Missouri to
tho Yellowstone, will be completed.
On the Pacific side work has begun
on thePen d d'Oreille division, from the
Columbia river at the mouth of the
Snake to Lake Pen d'Oreille, 200
miles long. The company will be its
own contractor on this division.
Twenty-Five hundred tons of steel
rails were shipped for it around Cape
Horn in May last, and $4,000 tons
more have contracted for, deliverable
at tide water in December, January,
aud February next. -Four hundred
Cinnamon will be grading on the
division in this month of October.
On the west side of the Red river
in Dakota, thirty miles of a spur road
have been put under a contract,
from Casselton on the man line
northward through the company's
land grant. The ultimate extension
of this spur will be Canadian road,
to run northward from the boundary
land through wheat fields of the
Saskatchewan valley. And here it
is germane to say that, under the
Northern Pacific plan of reorsani-
zation the right to extend spurs forty
miles either side of the main line in
the Territories and twenty miles in
the States (the limit of ite land granD
has been declared and will be eXer-
cised.
West of the Missouri division there
are four divisions to be constructed
before the Columbia river is reached.
When the westerly one of these the
Pen d'Oreille is completed, and the
Missouri divisi on is finished to the
Yellowstone, there will remain a gap
of about 500 miles. A line of six
horse coaches will operate this inter-
val; but the length of this mail route
will shorten weekly. 1t is the de-
clared purpose Of the directors of
the company to run trains through to
the Columbia river in good deal less
than five years. The best line of
steamers in the world operates that
,rraot ctroon, IN portlonl ~ Oraoop