The Russellville Democrat., 1881-05-12
RUssEIIvIE POPE COUNTY, ARKANSAS THURSDAY

most feasible route for the Northern Pacific l t. rough the Rocky mountains. On the ] 18th of April party of engineers was dis patched from Miles City, and another party l left there on the 18th Surveys have been made through five different passes and the examination now in progress will determine which of these presents the fewest engineer ing difficulties, and the permanent location of the mountain division will be made ac- cordingly.
 IN rendering his decision in case in which plaintiff sought to recover from the Ohio and Mississippi railroad the value of q package entrusted to it's express department and lost in transit, Judge Baxter of the United States circuit court at Cincinnati questioned the right of the railroad com pany to engage in express business. He said substantially that the express busi- ness embraces manifold functions, such as the collection and delivery of freight, the collection ofnotes and drafts and the trans mission of the proceeds, the conveyance of money and bullion, etc, which are beyond tke charter privileges of railroad. The Ohio and Mississippi Railroad company were conducting an express business with out legal authority and without the consent of the court, and could properly be restrain ed, he believed, from further continuance therein. This intimation from so high a judicial authority has created quite sensa- ton in express circles.
 E. o. STAEARp, of St. Louis, on the sub ieet of barge transportation for the Upper Mississippi, writes to Hon. Geo. w. McCrary, Keokuk, la., as follows: Yours of the 23d referring to barge transportation" from your city south to the sea is at hand and noted. Transportation of grain ill bulk down the river in barges is now attracting more attention than at any other period in the history of the country; 100000 bushels of grain have been sent out from St. Louis to foreign markets by way of New Orleans since the opening of navigation this spring, and it has had quick dispatch at New Or leans, as regular lines of steamers are now established between that port and the United Kingdom and Continental ports, and this route is nine cents cheaper to the mar kets of the Old World than any other, and deserves the encouragement of your people as well as of the people of the whole Missis- sippi valley, as it means millions of money to the producer and quickened industries among our people everywhere. The grain barges go alongside of the steamer at New Orleans, and the grain is transferred by float ing elevator to the steamer at trihing ex- pense. There has been plenty of water through the ietties all the season, and the largest steamers that go to sea are coming in and going out with as much or more free dom as in and out of the harbor of New York or Philadelphia I think tlere is sufficient encouragement ahead for your people 10 enter the trade with reasonable hope of success
 AN Elgin, H., dispatch says: An appal- ing disaster occurred here this morning which has brought sorrow into nearly every house in the city. The recent flood has done great pecuniary damage to this vicini- ty, but among other disasters that which has inflicted the most discomfort is the washing away of the bridges across the Fox river which have been daily traversed by great crowds of school children and op- eratives in the factories across the river from here. The council at once ordered a temporary ferry. small scow was rigged to a wire cable and made it's first trip last evening amid the jeers of the crowd, who suspected it's value from the start. On its second trip this morning, when overloaded and nearly dipping it's edges in the whirl- ing, eddying stream, still swelled by brooks and flooded from the meadows, it yielded to a strong way 6, and with it's living weight of thirty men and children was overturned in mid-streanl, and the whole number were in an instant precipitated into the mad cur rent and whirled away down stream utter ing piercing shrieks and making the wild outcres peculiar to drowning persons. Those on the banks who witnessed the hor- rible sight set about rescuing those who kept their heads above water, and there were some daring acts of bravery, and more per sons were picked up in small boats and drawn ashore by means of ropes than would seem possible The disaster does not now seem to be so bad as at first reported. Six teen persons are known to have been saved. Ten persons are missing and four are known to be drowned