The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-12-27
THROUGH THE SNOW.
Great Northern Laying Track
Under Difficulties.
FORTY STATIONS EACH DAY.
The Snow shovelers Strike for Higher
Wsges-Work on the Tunnels
Railroad Notes.

A gentleman just down from the end of
the Great Northern track says that the
through connections will not be made be-
fore January 10. He left last Wednesday,
when the end of the track was two miles
this side of Stevens City, located q. the
foot of the switchback over the divide.
The grading is now completed along the
whole line" said he, land the tracklayers
are advancing at the rate of about forty
stations day. There is gang OF 2O0
snow-shovelers working ahead Of the
trackiayers, but on the day l left this
gang struck tor higher wages. The grad
ing contractors have been paying the men
$3.50 day, but the railroad
company only paid the men 81
a day. The snow il about five
feet deep and the weather very cold, with
keen winds constantly blowing. The
wind keeps the snow flying in the faces of
the men. and their work is anything but
picnic. The men came to the conclusion
that if the work was worth $3.50 a day to
the grading contractors, it WAS worth fully
that much TO the big contractors. l don't
know whether the difficulty was settled or
not, but if 1t was, then the interval be-
tween the tracks is now about eleven and
. half miles.
.'The grading contractors are now all
bringing In their outfits, the last firm to
complete their work being Strohm, Hoyt
4 Hull. who had six-mile job on one OF
the heaviest parts OF the line. Contractor
Stewart. however, has a slide of about
&c, 900 yards on his job, about three miles
the other side OF Martin creek. which it
will take him till after New Years to re-
move, as the earth keeps coming
uown as fast as it is removed
from below. 4 shoo-fy, however. has
been built around the slide, SO that it will
not delay the trackiaying gang, who are
now almost at this place A temporary
switchback has also been built over the
hill just the other side of Martin creek,
which Gibbons g. Weisner are piercing
with 400-foot tunnel. This work was
begun in March and will not be com pleted
until along in February. Coming on down
this way, all the bridges which were
washed out by the big flood several weeks
ago have been replaced, and four work
trains are engaged in repairing the dam
aged grades.
''At siding No. 8. twenty-four miles this
side of Stevens City. on the foot of the
switchback and fourteen miles beyond
Rocky Point, yards have been laid out and
spurs built, and roundhouse will be To-
Gated there for the helper engines over the
hill. At this point the grade changes to 3
per cent. and the steel changes from sixty
pound on this side to eighty pound up the
mountain.
at will not be until late in the spring
and perhaps as late as May before the road
j, in good running shape for through traf-
fic. The contract for building the 14,OO0-
foot tunnel through the divide has not
been let yet, az far as know. but even If
il has been let the specifications as to how
the work shall be done have not vet been
decided upon by the engineers and officers
of the road. They want to avoid the
trouble the Northern Pacific is having
with the Stampede tunnel, where masses
of rock keep coming down all the time,
necessitating constant watch and more
or less repairing all the time. This tun-
mel was driven with power drills and i'm
mense charges OF powder exploded in the
deep holes drilled. These heavy explo-
s.ons seem to have shaken the whole in
terror of the mountain and loosened the
rock in all directions. The Great North
ern engineers are DESTROYS of having the
drilling done by hand, with short holes
and small charges of powder, but the ex-
ira cost of this method is very serious
item which will have TO be considered"