The morning call., 1890-07-11
His Efforts at Developing the
United States.
A Practical Plan for the Construction of a
Railway From American Cities to
the French Capital.


those who have done yeoman service in
the development of the country. The at
tainment of his majority found him at st.
Louis Quitting with a few intrepid COM
panions for u journey of discovery to the
Pacific Coast. In 1913 he arrived in Oregon,
after hazardiug the intricate passes of the
great chains of mountains and successfully
running the gantlet of the scalp-hunting
aborigines who fiercely resented the in
YaSi0n Of their retreats.
Within two years he was again in st.
Louis. After taking a prominent part in
the troubles which resulted in the union of
Florida with the other States his desire
for conquest carried him once more to this
Coast, in time to lend his valuable assist
ance in the Mexican war. Imbued with the
wonderful climate and facilities Of the Pa
citic Coast he returned East and devoted
his energies Tor twenty years to awakening
an interest IN the necessity OF spanning the
continent with railway.
CONTINUED EFFORTS FOR DEVELOPMENT.
The cOnsummation Of his desire but ini-
PEELED him to continued efforts toward de-
velopng the resources of all parts OF the
West by sending iron horses shrieking upon
commercial pathways i'll every direction,
and it is great source of satisfaction to
him to-day to reflect that there are 167, 800
miles of railroad in the United States, as
against 1900 miles in the rest of the world.
The subject of railway building has an
absorbing charm for Governor Gilpin. Not
content with urging to completion the
great transcontlnental roads of the present
time, he is active in training his fellow
Americans TO the understanding that the
shipping interest must be consigned to
second place in the transportation and in
terchaDge oil the commercial commodities
of the world. He has conceived a plan
whereby the cities of the United States
and the beautiful capital of the French Re-
public can be Joined by railway. Ihls
has been Lifetime study with Mr.. Gilpin
and he is confident that the magnitude Of
the undertaking will disappear before the
progress of the science of engineering
in the nineteenth century. He has been
impressed with the struggle for
enlightenment and the desire for advance
ment among the thickly populated Countries
of the older portions of the globe, and in
presenting as remedy the construction OF
this proposed railway he intelligently
argues as follows:
BEGIRDLED BY A BOND OF SYMPATHY.
Thus begirdled, as it were, by bond of
sympathy, and thus united by the ties of
commercial interest, the industrial masses
of the world have reached that point IN
their progressive march which demands a
closer and more literal relationship. The
ships OF commerce, burdened with their
precious argosies for every need OF man,
come and go between the two great worlds
and they will come and SO forever. The
fleets OF commerce and of war can never
lose their dominion of the seas; but the
fullness of time has come when the ne
cessltles OF this age OF human progress de-
mand quicker and more universal carry
ing facilities. Responsive earth may pour
forth her treasures tenfold and the ships
may pow the foamy deep through the ages
with their precious burdens, carrying food
and ralment to the markets of the world,
and still through the centuries will come
back across the waters from the nations of
Europe and the empires of Asia the cry OF
oppression, poverty and want.
MISSION OF AMERICANS.
at is the mission Of the North American
people to heed this cry and go to their re-
lief, not with ships OF war nor with cargoes
Of supplies, but with well-organized plan
that will enable the people of the two
worlds to exchange product for product and
money for labor. America can feed and
clOthe the starvation millions in the lands
of the plutOcrats Of the Old World. America
Is continent concaye III its structure, tend
ing to homogeneity and harmonious unity;
a fallow continent, with land ana resources
of wealth to sustain hundreds of millions
OF industrial people; continent which dis
plays Infinite forces, characterized By order,
activity and progress, and possessing pop
ulatlon in whom agitation, creative energy
duu lUuuStIy IuIOD Will every movement.
THE IMPOSSIBLE VANISHED.
1.-The American, intelligent and self-re-
liant has baniShed forever the impossible
from his philosophy. He has surmounted
the greatest obstacles possible to commerce
upon his own continent He now looks to
other continents for conquest and his at
tention is directed to Alaska and to the
contemplation OF railway into Siberia
and thence down through the empires and
kingdoms of Europe and Asia. The key to
this gigantic railway system is Behring
Straits. That the passage of this channel
so near the Arctic seas would be difficult and
next to impossible is merely suppositional.
For many years the feasibility of bridging
or ferrying OF tunneling has been under
discussion and those who profess to be ia
miliar with the subject declare that the
work of bridging the straits would be less
difficult than the building of the great rail
way bridge at ST Louis.
THE PROPOSED ROUTE.
"Starting from New York or Boston, the
transcontnental lines now established and
reaching into Northern Oregon constitute
the first American division Of the proposed
Cosmopolitan Railway. The plateaus and
valleys along the base OF the Rocky Noun
tains offer natural route through Alaska
to Behring Straits. Bridging the straits,
the line would cross over into Siberia, and
thence, running in southwesterly direc-
ton. connect with the lines of railway now
under construction to give the Russian
Government an outlet to the sea at the
mouth OF the River AmoOr. From this
point of connection southwark and west
along the course of the iSothermal belt two
main lines would project into the interior,
thence south through the Chinese Empire,
India, Arabia, thence across the Straits of
Gibraltar into the Moroccos and coaStwise
around the continent of Africa. West
ward its course would be easy and natural
throughout Russia, Austria, Germany,
France, Italy and Spain.
PASSAGE OF BEHRING STRAITS.
1.-THE passage of Behring Straits is the
only apparent obstacle, and two objections
are offered First. that the straits are en-
braced in the Arctic circle; second, the
great distance with water intervening be-
tween the American and Siberian shores.
These objections present no impossible or
very difficult problems. The straits are
only As miles i'll width, with the Diomede
Island nearly midway. The island is large
enough to contain the cities of New York
and Brooklyn. A bridge of little more than
twenty miles on either side of this island
would make the connection. The water
has shallow, solid bottom, in no place OK
ceeding depth of forty feet. The warm
water current, or the Pacific gulf stream,
having a temperature of 75o, passes through
Behring Straits into Behring Sea, as
through the small mouth of tunnel. Thus
the passage has uniformly mild tempera-
ture all the year round; the straits are
always open and icebergs are unknown.
By reason Of the temperature of the gulf
stream the isothermal axis is DETECTED
northward at this point in exact CORE
spondence with its eccentric course i'm the
Atlantic. where the warm waters of the
gulf stream bring mildness to the climate of
the northern seas.
NATURE OFFERS ASSISTANCE.
THUS nature offers her assistance and
han oh, &c.
construction of the two bridges required.
The mountains of America and Siberia will
furnish the iron aud stone ana also the
precious metals as the means. Should the
two governments lend their aid to such an
enterprise 1t would be AN undertaking of