The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-10-20
ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT.
Arkansas.


 issue, has this to say concerning Ar- kansas, her climate, her capital city and her railroads:
 Of railroads there are now in opera tion the St. Louis, Iron Mountain x Southern, the Little Rock & Fort Smith, the Little Rock, Mississippi River & Texas, and the Memphis and Little Rock railways. The St. Louis, Arkansas < Texas railroad will be built from Altheimer, in Jefferson county, to Little Rock, giving another outlet to the north, east and south- west. A road will be built at once from this city west on the south side of the Arkansas river to Fort Smith, passing through the coal fields of Yell, Logan, Scott and Sebastian counties, also through vast beds of iron ore and forests of timber. The Missouri Pa cific system now has a corps of en- gineers locating the line.
 There will also be line of road built from Little Rock north to Sa- lem, Mo-, and another from Chadwick, Mo, to this line, giving another through line to St. Louis, also making a line direct to Kansas City and the northwest. The Arkansas Midland railway, now in operation from Hel- ena, on the Mississippi, to the town of Clarendon, on the White river, will be extended to Little Rock; the right of way is now being procured. A charter has been laid and the road will be built from Little Rock to Alex andria, La. The Little Rock & Hot Springs railroad will also be built. The St. Louis & San Francisco rail- road is building from Fayetteville to Little Rock, about thirty miles of the road having been constructed.
 A MODERN CITY.
 Little Rock is now a city of over 3O,OOO inhabitants. Her public build ings cost over $2,5OO,000. There are more than $3, ,OOO, ,OO0 invested in va rious kinds of manu features. There are street railways, gas, electric light, telephones and all other conveniences found in other cities of it's size. There are twenty-seven churches. The pub- lie schools have enrolled over 5000 pupils. The commercial transactions of the city for the past year were $16,O0O ,00O, and an increase of twenty five per cent. has been shown this year over the same period last year. The population of the city has doubled in the past seven years. The public debt is small. The total taxation state, county, city and municipal amounts in the present year to less than twenty three mills on the dollar valuation. Arrangements are being made to pave with granite large portion of the streets of the city dur ing the present year. A feature of especial interest to manufacturers is the new water works, just completed. These are the largest water works in the southwest. Two large reservoirs, 660 feet long by POO feet wide, and 20 feet deep, are situated on an eleva- tion 2SO feet above the main business portion of the city. The cspscity is 20,000,O00 gallons-an abundant sup ply for city of 100000 inhabitants, Two large iron railroad bridges span the Arkansas, with draw span of $50 feet At no period heretofore has the development of the city and state been 80 rapid. The past six months have done more to develop the mineral re- sources of the state than had been done in all time before.
 Lumber can be procured in Little Rock in quantity at the following cost: Pine, from $8 to $9 per 1,00( feet cypress, from $9 to SIP; red gum from $7 to $9; ash, from $9 to $12 and oak from @10 to SIP. The coal fields of the state are estimated te cover 2,0O0 square miles, principally in the counties of Sebastian, Scott Logan, Yell, Franklin, Johnson and Pope. The veins are from three tC eight feet in thickness. The coal is ol good quality for all manufacturing purposes, and can now be obtained here in quantity at from $2 to @2 % per ton over the Little Rock and Fort Smith railroad.
 CLIMATE AND HEALTH. s.s'
 According to the report of tn. United States signal service officer ., Little Rock, the average annual rain. fall for the last six yeArs was 6x.1{ inches, and the monthly average tenn. perature for each month tor tho sams period of six years- 1881 81-86--was, fl January, 41.6; February, 47 1; March 53.6; April, 62.9; May, 6S.e; June 78; July, 80.o; Augnst, 76.S; Sep. tember, 72.6; October, 64.2; No4em. ber, 61.6 Decemher, 45.
 It appsars an tho repcrt of 1T Unitsd 6tAt61 Ehsd dicl dspartnent tha, the rake 1T 1noEtoltty at the Littl Rock milit1xy po6t n lem thah at anl other ui11tnxy 1ont IT Nthe Unfo1 whsES soldistS ate ql1dx xtsFed, and ft i sQggested that the hns average tsm'