The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-03-15

from heavy grades While thus keeping as near
as possible to the level of tidewater, the road
also traverses a section which abounds in tim
Der and agricultural land aud hiss rich mineral
deposits which can be reached by short spurs
A number of causes combined to delay the
completion of this line far beyond tn lie time at
which it was expected to put il in operation,
which was the fall of 1890. 1t was built in &C.
cordance with an agreement between the Lake
Shore and Canadian Pacific companies, the lat
ter undertaking to bridge the Fraser river at
Mission and build branch of ten miles to meet
the Lake Shore at a point on the boundary
where the town OF Sumas now stands. The two
lines were to be built simultaneously, and twas
expected that as the Canadian Pacific
had only ten miles to build. its track
would reach the boundary by July, 1870. 1t was,
therefore, proposed to bring the rails over the
Canadian Pacific and begin laying track from
both ends of the line ct the same time. laying
thirty TO forty miles from the north. This ex-
peetation missed fulfllment through the slow
ness of the Canadian Pacific construction forces
IN doing their work. They did not begin grad
ing until July, 1890, and the Mission bridge was
not finally opened for traffic until February Z
1891. although construction trains had been
crossing on the unfinished structure before that
date. The Lake Shore had twenty miles OF
grading from the boundary southwark finished
by the latter part OF August and more could
have been done by that time, but when it be-
came,evident that the Canadian Pacific would
not be ready in time TO bring in the rails, work
from that end of the line was no longer pushed
As it turned out the Canadian Pacific did not
complete its ten miles until after the Lake
Shore had built its 'eighty-two miles. for its
track did not reach the boundary until April %,
1891.
Another great difficulty which had to be over
come was the lack of roads. There were roads
up tho stillaguamish valley from Marysville.
and up the Skagit from Mount Vernon, but in
winter the rains made them almost impossible,
so that a four-horse team could only haul half q
load. With this exception there was hardly
even trail over which supplies could be carried,
and this difficulty was particularly great be-
tween Big lake and the stillaguamish. In the
country between that river and Lake McMurray,
which is very heavily timbered and full of
swamps, there were absolutely no roads except
those the engineers made themselves.
Labor was also scarce, and consequently high
wages had to be paid, and the men, knowing
the difficulty of replacing them and the ease
with which new employment could be obtained,
did not work as faithfully as they otherwise
would, and did not stay at the work. The con-
sequence was that construction dragged The
lowest wages paid were 1925 day, and the la
borers were fed in such style as was luxury to
many of them.
The rains OF winter were prolonged far into
June, and the further north the construction
forces went the heavier and more continued
was the rainfall. Thus the laborers did not
work more than half time, and the amount of
work done was reduced by the wetness of the
material. In August rain set in again in the
Nooksack valley, and by September the roadbed
in that section was in very bad condition. In
October heavy storm caused a freshet in the
Sksgit, while the bridge was under construction,
and several million feet of heavy drift was
damned against the false work. Fortunately
law, hsafo
as the false work had been cut in the meantime
The Skagit is the most dangerous stream
on the line, the freshets often
raise the water twenty feet in
a few hours and bring down larger timber than
any other stream flowing into the Sound The
north fork of the Nooksack is also very
treacherous stream, for it has a swift current,
rises very suddenly, and brings vast masses of
heavy drift. pile driver was taken over the
Bellingham Bay d British Columbia road and
hauled by teams to this stream in the fall of
1890 to drive the piling for the false work and
approaches. This work had been finished,
when in December a sudden rise brought
down a log jam, which carried out one span of
the false work and thus caused some loss of
time.
A happy augury for the road is the small
number of accidents which were incidental to
its construction. Only one fatal accident oc-
cured the man whose life was lost being one
OF three DrotlerS VINO were WORKING on the
south fork of the Nooksack.
The Mission bridge across the Fraser river,
which WAS rendered necessary to establish the
connecting link between the Canadian Pacific
and the Lake Shore roads, is one of the greatest
works of engineering in the West, and its con-
structon was attended with great difficulty. 1t
is about 1,500 feet long, and has eight Howe
truss spans OF 100 feet each, and draw span of
about 200 feet over all AS the river is fed by
the melted snow from mountains far to the
north, the spring freshets continue until late in
the summer, while ice begins to float down in
the fall. Thus the only times when work could
be prosecuted were in midwinter, when the
upper river was frozen up, and in midsummer,
when the water is low. Work was
begun in the spring of 1889; and during
the following winter the foundations of the
piers were built in about thigty-two feet of
water. The piers consisted of piles surrounded
by cribwork filed with stone and were built to
a height OF about six feet above low water.
framed trestle bents were constructed above
them TO carry the trusses. The bridge was finally
opened on February 7, 1891. During this time
work on the road to the boundary carried
on with many Interruptions, but when the Lake
Shore was approaching completion was at last
pushed with some energy. The obstinate
swamps Of the Matisqua valley proved great
obstacle and for some time they stopped work
at distance of five miles from the boundary.
At last the swamp was corduroyed, and on April
% the connection was made.
EARLY in the year 1890 q number of changes
began among the Off cials of the road. Mr.. Nc
Donald. who had held the presidency from the
organization OF the Lake Shore company. re-
signed in April and was succeeded by A. s. Dun
ham as managing trustee. f. W. D. Holbrook,
the general manager shortly followed him, and
the duties OF his office were also performed by
A ~ ~ n