The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1882-01-13
THE MULLAN TUNNEL.
Formal Beginning OF the Work january D,
1850.

1889.
The preparations for the driving OF the
Mullan Tunnel in progress for several weeks
were completed and formal commencement
Of the work with alr-compressor drills was
made Thursday, January 9th, in presence Of
the engineers, contractors, and some two
hundred citizens OF Helena. Governor Potts
and Mayor Kinna had charge Of the two In
gersoll drills when the power was turned on
and the first blow was Officially" struck
The drills made three hundred strokes per
minute, with weight of seven hundred and
fifty pounds nj each blow, and made six feet
In twenty minutes. The party were hospita-
bly, entertained by the Company at the Nor
rison House. and toasts and speeches were
the order of the day. The principal toasts
were:
The Territory of Montana. Responded to
by Governor Potts.
The Northern Pacific Railroad its mana
gers, Willard and Cakes. Responded to by
Colonel J. r. Dodge.
The City of Helena. Responded to by
Mayor KInna.
The Mullan Tunnel Responded 10 by SUI
perintendent Garner, for James Muir
The West Side. Responded to by Judge
Galbraith.
Colonel Dodge's response was so delightful
an effort that we reproduce portion of 1t.
He said
IT liz very fitting that we should assemble
here to-day TO celebrate the beginning of our
great step in one of the great enterprises of
h.. In uaaLipu n rant. a,rnss III. m nj m
range of the Rocky Mountains, we came here
to the lowest of all the available passes. We
find Deer Lodge pass 5.s6S feet; Little Pipe
stone, 6,455; Mullan Pass, 1862.
Ascending from Ten Mile creek by grade
a. steep as the steepest on the Baltimore and
Ohio, great representative steep grade road,
we still fall two hundred and eighty feet
short Of attaining this summit. Although
the line is developed along these hills to the
utmost practical limit, crossing two immense
ravines at the height of nearly ninety feet,
and making a way through the projecting
spurs by heavy rock cutting, still we find our
selves In this narrow valley, shut in by rocky
cliffs too high to be surmounted or to be over
come by an open cut.
The grade on this line a. now run passes 1863
feet below the surface and energies in a beau
tiful, broad, and fertile basin on the other
side. Our only escape from this environment
il by tunnel $3.50 feet in length, or nearly
three-fourths of mile. 1t IL to be made six
teen feet wide and twenty feet high to the
crown of the arch
The material bids fair to be solid granite
from end to end, and Of uniform quality. The
able and experienced contractor to whom the
company entrtists the work, expects to adj
vance five feet per day from this end, and
continue work night and day from this time
on until its completion.
We are here to initiate one of the grand
steps in the march of human progress. In
spired by the spirit of the age, a body of men
have been organized into the corporation
known a. the Northern Pacific Railroad
Company Its grand purpose IL TO make
highway across the continent. To effect this
1t has, among other things. drawn together
by the organizing power of money small
army of engineers, each working in an APP
propriaie sphere and with due subordInation,
all tending to one grand result. We who be-
long to that class, while working according
to the wishes of our employers, are conscious
of being only the instruments Of a spirit
which pervades all modern civilized life, and
which aspires to meet the ever-increasing
wants of man. We seek here a highway for
nations. We have come over plains. we have
to cross great rivers, we are to span deep
chasms, we now confront this mountain, and
giving voice to the spirit now moving the
world. we say unto 1t:
THOU EVERLASTING HILL. Which hast
stood here for countless ages of the past
Which hast withstood the heats and colds,
the storms and tempests OF centuries, the
Iightnings and thunderbolts of heaven! Thou
symbol of the immutable and the eternali In
the name of that sublime faculty ia man
which laughs Mt impossibilities and aspires
to overcome all physical obstacles, We CON-
mand thee to open befor. W. for this highway
of nations Give thou up the secrets which
thou hast kept since the foundation Of the
world. Let the iron bands which bind peo-
pies and nations together pass through thee.
We will tear thy side with pick and spade.
We will rain upon thy rocks blows of steel
heavier than thunderbolts, will rend them
with mghtiest explosives, will drain thy bid
den veins by new channels, and will let day
light penetrate where only darkness has
brooded forever. Thenceforward shall we
behold that grand procession which in the
dim distance Is even now approaching. Daily
will it move forward with the speed of the
whirlwind and breath of fire. Here shall
ebb and flow the tide of human life. Here
our kinsmen of the East, our friends from
Europe, and strangers from far-of continents
shall daily pass through. Here the devotees
of art, of science, of poetry, Of learning, of
business, and of pleasure shall come in
ceaseiess tide. Here shall come agriculture
with her hands filed with plenty, CON-
merce with the wealth and wares of all ma
tions, invention with Its beneficent and I'M
dreamed of devices Here the fruits of Cali
fornia, the teas, the spices, and the silks of
China shall meet the products of mines that
have lain hidden in these mountains for un-
| counted ages. s.... 81
We whose thoughts are now to be engraved
upon these hills may hope to see them
wrought out to a complete and happy realiza-
| ton. Those younger In years to whom will
be entrusted the labor of carrying ont these
plans will come prepared to fill places which
| are soon to be vacated and fill them with
honor to themselves and profit to their en-
| plovers When these ideas are realized we
shall one by one 90 10 other scenes and la
bors but we may well hope that while the
breezes play about these mountains, while
the pines and frs are green upon their sum
mits and the crystal waters flow down their
furrowed sides, the work We this day begin
| may endure and may bless those who come
after us until the latest syllable Of recorded
/ time.
/ PERSONAL