, 1883-01-27
The Short Line . Fact,

1t has been evident to even the slowest
and most obtuse Of the citizens OF this
vast and wealthy great interior for long
time past tha. the railroad magna,es OF
the East do not intend to allow any one
corporation TO get away with ITS trade
For months past the doings Of the Oregon
Short Line have been eagerly watched by
our merchants and producers, but what
the company intended to accomplish no
one has ever pretended to know. BY
many their work from Utah and through
Idaho has been looked upon a bluff, and
rumors Of the selling out and buying out
OF opposition on both sides have been
rife.
Facts and information have recently
come to the STATESMAN office that plainly
shows the Oregon short Line to be no
ephemiral scheme, but business propo-
sition in every sense of the word
Our readers we'll know that the Ore
gon Short Line and the o. K 4 n Co.
have been competing for precedence
through the Burnt River canyon, which
is generally supposed to be the only avail
able route bet txeen Snake river and this
point. As far back as 1879 the STATES
MAN planned route which, although sup
posed to be impracticable, We were aware
from personal experience in years gone by,
was far better adapted for railroad than
any, from our knowledge of the contour
of the Blue Mountains, could possibly be
found elsewhere This was down Snake
river to Lewiston, and from what We have
recently learned We have not a shadow of
doubt but that the Oregon Short Line
will be built down that stream at a no
distant date.
~ The advantages of this route are very
great, for not only will the road have the
advantage of stralghtness, but the great
difficulty and trouble of contendIng against
snow will altogether be avoided snow
seldom falls at the low altitude through
which the whole river runs, to a depth
exceeding one foot and seldom remains
over two weeks even in the hardest win
ters ever experienced. Besides this 1t is
to-day the richest undeveioped mineral
country in the United States, and with
the knowledge that a railroad will surely
be built the country will be overrun with
prospectors and mining men who will de-
velop a country before which Nevada IT.
SELF IN its palmicst days will pale. Mines
of silver, iron, galens, carbonates, Choir
ides and coal are already in course Of de-
velopment, and building material such as
limestone, granite, gypsum and marble
exist in such immense quantities that the
Pacific coast could easily be supplied.
Turning to the agriculture the possibil-
tiles are very fattering; the hills adjoin-
ing the river although very steep are yet
covered with . growth of the finest bunch
grass upon which stock can exist and grow
fat even in the hardest seasons For
fruit the country is unexceptionable, land
ft for cultivation is scarce but at the
mouths of streams and on nigh bars and
benches water in many places can easily
be brought for irrigation purposes, IN
which case the yield, as experience has
proven, is without parallel.
Another advantage, as proven by sur
yeys, is the down grade the whole dis
tance which is from FIVE to SIX feet per
mile. Commencing at Old's Ferry the
distance from thence TO Lewiston, which
must be terminal point, cannot be over
I.5 miles, and on reaching there the whole
OF northern Idaho with It's tremendnous
resources in grain. wool, timber and MN
erals must become tributary unto Il.
From Lewiston 10 this point with bridge
over Snake river very practicable route
can be built around the head Of the Pa.a-
ha and thence to Pomeroy and Pataha
down 20 n canyon known as Smiths Hol-
low to Dayton and this city; another
route wou.d be down the Snake to strike
the Eureka Flat country at any rate
tins city will of necessity be taken IN and
results Of the preliminary survey now
peing made hy the four parties, nov ex-
smining the Snake river canyon, viii be
eagerly watched by the country ST large.