Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-05-03
~.rawwAJER AND BIG HOLE PASS
a. COMPARED WITH rEN
d'WREILLE.

An article in the Butte City Esso1
r,ttg;as. makes the following state
nent of facts, which are worth reading
Had the Northern Pacific Company
,,.stad their line from G4Iiatin City. ng
he Jefferson to the head OF tie Bag
is,.,a. thence down the Clearwater "a
ISu,ston: thence down the Snake "a
- month: thence up the Yakima TO Us
a,.d and on 10 Wha.com, on the ''In-
Ind sea'' of Ppget Sound, they .weuij
h.ve saved $50 miles with their trans
aontinental line. and would not nox
S.vs messengers starving 10 death in
.hair land slide blockades along ";he
dstour of the inl.nd sea" of the Pen
SOreil,e. Nor would they have TO ap-
COACH so near the glaciers Of Alasks
but would have utilized the easier
nasses of the short cut, as explored b.
Nr Beal of Lewiston, during the past
too seasons. Neither would they have
been under the necessity OF writing Dir.
Zanisr. that he would be discharged II
ne allowed any newspaper man ~ have
The information about the short cst,
shich he obtained while Mr.. Beai
showed him through last fall.
The Chicago, Milwaukee and -. Paul,
the Chicago and Northwestern. and the
Denver and Rio Grande will all find tie
sbo,t cut. while the Northern Paci5c
naLes "detours through inland sess to
avid 80 i-sickness, up uDfrequentsd
arms towards Pen d'Oreills. kootenai
Alaska. excurting in search of the
Land OF the Midnight sun"
Not oniy,is the route up Big Hole ami
nm the line We suggest $50 miles shorter
Sor a transcon,inentai line, bat it Is
through an immensely rich region, pro-
I;6e in minerals. farm products. and
snperior timber: and, moreover, the ia
hnIousIv ric:a wheat and fruit lands of
Idaho. Oregon. and Washington, are
out sauarely through whereas by the
circuitous line Of the Northern Pacific.
there in not single sp9t for good
farm from Missoula to Vancouver IN
siobt OF the track. distance OF GOO
milae. True, there are rica farm lands
at distance, between Spokane Falls
and the DaIles, bat none in sight. Tho
track is along a bed Of lava at some
points, and drifting sand hills mt
others and in the Ceur d Alene woods,
a distance of 250 miles, it rams along
vel 0llQtug InDuutdiiiS. Wueto cfou tto
trees are mostly uufit or timber, they
being infirm and hollow III tue butt.
The sand drifts SO b dly by the inces-
sant winds on the Columbia. that the
sand fences are constructed similar to
snow fences OH the Union Pacific, and
man are constantly employed With
uhoyels, yet in spite of this the trains
ass almost every day delayed by sand
drifts. I.
At the canyan through the Cascades,
passengers who arc conyersant with the
Danger from the slides on Shell Noun
tain Usually get off the cars and take
the steamer.
Tbs csving of Mullen tunnel and the
endless sliding Of Iron Butte on the
Yellowstone. would suggest the thought
that the inspiration which prompted the
location of .he road where it is cams
from the electric fishes that navigate the
Land Of tho Midnight SUM-" Certainly
any mountaineer never would have To-
Gated yrail along the north faces Ut
wet, aiding bluffs, whom there were
south faces of dry bluiis ON the oppo-
site side of the canyon. Nor would he
have gone all around Robin Holds
barn TO get to the ''unfrequented arms
Of glacial seas in the Land OF the Mid
NIGHT Sum-