, 1885-10-10


From Generaa Manager Oakes' re-
port to the directors Of the Northern
Pacific raj we extract the follow
fag elause that suggests the building
.of new feeders Tor the main hne,
calling the attepiiop Of the reader to
thtiarigra,5h faNOEing branca lines
from spokane Falls, while there Is
some doubt ~ to the directors i'm
mcdlaiely following out the advice
given BY Mr.. Oakes, yet It is ovl-
dent that in tins these branches
viii be constructed aud that the
building of the same would not enly
opep qDa Easf aud rich section Of
eouutry bot prove very profitable tn
she coWpapy. We ara ~ hopes tbat
at least one Of thesellnes, that TO the
souihward being the most lRport-
ant. may be CONSTRUCTED or u least
rfpfef peTt year. Mr.. Oakos says;
siNfiih tbe beeKcepiionof the Wickes
branch nope .of the tTanches oper-
ated by the Noribern Pacific have
get Fieided sufneient surplus over
operating expenses to pay interest
On Tie cast q construction. The to-
Gal dehcii on the fscsl year upon all
OF the branches was s2O7, ,55L6O, but
fhis will be moro than compensated
f1r By the revenue they give the
mails Ice froip i1ferchaase 81 BUSH
ness. This revcnue amounted In
the aggregate, during the fiscal year,
20 ss2i, ,e02iL The business OF the
branches Is steadily increasing with
the Development Of the country they
frayerae, and ihe time Is not far dis
tant when they wiz be shle 70 earn a
sufficient surplus over operating ex-
penscs to defray their iixed charges.
The question OF extending these
branches and constructing others TO
furnish additional feeders 10 the
main line and to protect our tribu-
fary territory from the invasions OF
oihrr foads, will soon become one Of
pressing importance. All recent ex-
perlelee % railroad operations shows
the advantage OF a well devised sys-
TEN OF branches to long trunk lines
Of road. The lending roads Of the
emntry are no longer single lines
between terminal points, but sys-
iems " lines occupying wide belts Of
country. Suggestions as to extern
sions and new lines are made as fol-
lows; Extensions-Fergus & Black
Hills, from Millinor to a junction
with the James River Valley road,
which road, when completed, will
be operated In harmony with the
Northern Pacific system; Fargo &
Southwestern, from La MouFse 10 a
eonneciian with The main line at
bismarck, OF to a junction with the
three Chicago companies which havo
built into central Dakota; James
town & Northern, from Mlnnewau-
kap Into the Mouse river country.
New llnes-Northward and north
westward from Bismarck through
the Missouri slope, following the
general direction Of the valley; from
Miles city up the Tongue river, pen
eirnting a dne grazing and agrieul-
iuril country, with possible eNten-
sion to the Union Pacific; from
Drummond 10 the mining district Of
phillipsburg, in western Montana;
from Spokane Falls to the Colville
mining district, should the district
turn out to be as rich as Is at present
dedicated, with ~ extension event
pally to the Columbia river, az a
point where there Is unObslructPd
navlgatl0n to the Canadian Pacific
crossing, in British Columbia, with I
q branch diverglng westward into
She Big Bend country; from Spokane
Fails southward up Hangman creek
80 Pennington and Moscow md the
palouse country, aud theaee to Lew
istnn and The junction Of Clearwater
pnd Snake rivera
-