Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-01-30

liable in New England and one that hse
{ come down through almost a century. T,
: him it was worse than death, and it wa
the blow which, followed by others, pu
him in his grave
TO EMPHASIZE THESE OBSERVATIONS.
Permit me to quote brace of paragraph,
! dressed to Hon. John Sherman, NJ. c., and
, made public through the National Intelli-
; genceT. 1t was from his brother, then IN.
known to fame, and is even yet one of the
most remarkable and instructive short
papers TO be found in the literature OF
trans continental railway construction He
gave many weighty reasons Why railway
to the Pacific should be built, but thcught
1t could not be done unless by the nation.
1t Is work of giants he seatentioasly
declares, land Uncle Sam is the only giant
| know who can or should grapple the sub
lect." That paper alone, in the light OF
later events, would stamp its author Us q
fsr-seeing statesman and an enlightened
: engineer, and shall ask his permission to
record IT as part of this paper. The fol-
flowing declarations taken from it show how
she projecr VAS viewed in 1859:
1t 50 happens that for the past ten years
the Sierra Nevada has been crossed at every
possible point by miners in search of gold
skiilful and scientific len. l, myself, have
been along great part of that range, and
have no hesitation in saying that there are no
passes by which railway, to be travelled
by the most powerful LOCOMOTIVES now in
use, can be carried through the Sierra Ne
| vada, unless at the extreme head of the
Sacramento, near the town of Shasta or
Fort Reading, or at the extreme head of
the San Joaquin, near the TETON.
i II. II
railroad will not receive enough net profits
to pay interest on its cost. Yet, will not
attempt an estimate of either the cost OF the
| road or its income. / believe the cost will
not fall much, If any, short of $500, COO, 600.
the interest on which Government bonds,
say per cent per annum, would be $l0,-
100000
THE WAR MADE BUILDING POSSIBLE
The experience of the war made possible
| the building of this trans-continental rail
road, not only physically but financially.
The Government, already burdened with
billions ofdebt, tioated fifty millions more,
and by this action it created a credit which
enabled the railroad company to float an
equal amount, and these two credits, when
handled by men of means and courage,
who also threw their own private fortunes
into the scale, accomplished the work.
! fit had been proposed before the war
| that the United States should lend its credit
and issue its bonds to build railroad 1900
miles long, across vast barren plain only
known to the red man, uninhabited, with
out one dollar of business to sustain it, the
proposition alone would have virtually
bankrupted the nation.
Possibilities of finance, as developed DUR
ing the war, made this problem not only
possible, but solved and carried it out, and
accomplished in three years feat which
no plan ever before suggested proposed to
| accomplish in ten years and while ii was
being accomplished the only persons who
had real, solid, undoubted faith in its COM
pletion were that portion of the nation who
| had taken active part in the war.
Necessity brought out during the war
| bold structures that in their rough were
| models of economy in material and
strength. In taking care of direct and lat
eral strains by position of posts and braces
they adopted principles that are used TO-
| day in the highest and boldest structures
! ana | undertake to say that no structure
| up to date has been built which has not
| followed those simple principles that were
evolved out of necessity, though reported
| against during the war by the most expert
enced and reliable engineers of the world.
FEW BOLD SPIRITS BACKED THE ENTER
PRISE.
| With their fortunes and independent credit
They were called fools and fanatics, and
| Cakes Ames-the real pluck of the work
said 10 me once: What makes me hang
| Oh is the faith of you soldiers" referring
at the time, to the support the army was
giving US, led by Grant, Sherman, Sheri-
dan, Pope, Thomas, Augur and Crook, and
all who had direct communication with us
on the plains. There was nothing we
could ask them for that they did not give
even when regulations did not authorize it.
and it took large stretch of authority to
satisfy all our demands.
The conmissary department was open to
us. Their troops guarded US, and we re-
| connoitered, surveyed, located and built
inside of their picket line. We marched
to work at the tap of the drum with our
men armed. They stacked their arms on
| the dump and were ready at a moments
warning to fall in and fight for their ter
ritory.
| GRADING A RAILROAD WITH BAYoNETs
| General Easements track train could arm
| 600 men at word and from him, as a
head, down to his chief spiker, it could be
commanded by experienced officers of
every rank, from General to a Captain.
They had served FIVE years at the front,
and over half the men had shouldered
musket in many battles. An illustration
passed Plum creek, 200 miles west of the
Missouri river. The Indians had captured
a freight train and were in possession of it
and its crews. 1t so happened that was
coming down from the front with my car,
which was a travelling arsenal. At Plum
creek station word came of this capture
and stopped US. On my train were per-
haps twenty men, some a portion of the
crew, some who had been discharged and
Loo rs,ls - H.
ment of the capture and the reports COM
ing by telegraph of the burning of the
train brought all men 10 the platform, and
| when | called upon them to fall in to go
| forward and retake the train, every man
on the train went into line and by his po-
sition showed that be was a soldier We
ran down slowly until we came in sight of
| the train. l gave the order to deploy as
skirmishers, and at the command they
went forward as steadily and in ss good
| order as we had seen the old soldiers climb
the face of kenesaw under fire.
Less than ten years before General Sher-
man had suggested different method of
disposing of the Indian. Writing 10 his
brother, he said
No particular danger need be appre-
bended from Indians. They will no doubt
pilfer and rob, and may occasionally attack
and kill strsgglers; but the grading of the
| lOau Will iequiic SlOus PAL tieS, CdpdDiS Vi
defending themselves, and the supplies for
the road and maintenance of the workmen
will be carried III large trains of wagons
such as went last year TO Salt Lake, none of
which were molested by Indians. So large
a number of workmen distributed along
the line will introduce enough whisky to
kill off all the Indians within 300 miles of
the road"
EARLY RAILROADS UNREMUNERATIvE.
Railroads first built in the United States
have been remunerasive only in small
way, and have grown and been supported
mostly by the vast development of new
territory. The advance lines are usually
bankrupt, but they feed trunk lines by
which they are financially supported, not
because of the amount they earn for them.
selves, but for what is paid to their connec-
ton as every pound of delivered freight
and every passenger carried to and from
the connection is additional and new bust
ness.
The unfriepdliness OF Congress since
1870, and of all the Western States since
1880. has been overcome by the world west
uf the Missouri river, newly conquered
and occupied. Now their hostile legisla-
tation will soon have It's reactionary effect