The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-10-18

. OSAAs
time to cons."
inRton the paps1 says: 1.-THE northern
route turned southwest after leaving tn,
Pend d'Oreille liver 90 q fokane. II va
possible 10 set = line ACROSS the countr'
d'Oreille at Newport 10 the mouth Of TIL
Spokane river. and thence down Tho Col
umbia to the mouth Of the Gethow or Il
Lake Chelnn. This line would have beer
tventr-six miles shorter than 10 &C
70 spsanps and sh'n run run down
for this shorter line would have been
o. per cont heavier. and the business OF
Spokane, a town Of %. 900 people, would have
been lost. This Now. ort cut-O6 was only
available in case some pass At the head OF
The SkaRit was found TO be favorable. II
lV miles along tho Columbia. much OF
the distance In canyon; and With a
diheEsnse of from forty to ffty between
high ana low water, the cost Of oonstruo-
zion would have been exte emely heavy. A
line down the spokane and Columbia rivers
would have been devoid of local business.
there being only q half dozen Chinamen's
%shansies In the whole distance Of about $50
miles. AZ compared with . line through
Spokane and crossing the plateau south Of
the Columbia (the Big Bend country. and
using any of the passes OF tho Cascade
range south Of the SkaRit waters. the New
port limo IL longer, being thirty-two miles
longer than The adopted line; via sseyens
adopted line shows the shortest distance.
the least rise and fall. the lowest summit at
the crossing of the cascades, the least
curvature. the shortest summlt tunnel and
tho cheapest construction. IL also gives
the most favorable place for the constrnc-
tion Of a temporary line 10 bo used during
the construction Of the summit tunnel.
which will require not less than two a a
half years. time. In crossing tho plateau
west OF Spokane the line follows the drain
ace Of Grab creek, thereby escaping the
Grand coulee. . chasm ons-half to three
Of q mile wide 900 feet bslow the
would have been compelled to cross this
chasm. requiring % Per cent grade TO
climb ont Of II and also the same grade to
make the descent to the Columbia river.
whereas the Crab oresk route uses n psr
cent in making = descent 900 feet less. and
the intervening summit"
The difficulties attending the work. and
ths rapid construction. are treated of in
Tho paper says: -Four hundred
md thirty miles out Of q total Of 81S miles
In heavy timber. Along no part OF
ths distance was there q road, and for nearly
200 miles no trail. The transportation for
Ill surveys was by no means Of vaok ami
ANI0s Al 60vOTot DtEosCU0o u tIALueNoI
tho accumulation OF fallen trees
a progress Of five miles a day on foot
exploration sufficient for the most sner-
1etio and strongest men. In making q re-
,ennRisance of thirty-fve miles near the
Rocky mountain summit An engineer start
Ing out with blankets and six days provi-
on his back was without food fous
lays, and, after recruiting. beoams lost in ,
T ying TO return over the same route. He
inally succeeded in making the round Tip
II the end OF thirty days. Although the
Pass was looked up in the United
States examinations OF 1854. the pass then
was twenty miles north Of tho ono
1sed by the Great Northern and was 2, 400 |
higher.
1.-THE first explorations started by me
in December, 1889. Some country on
he Dearborn route had been looked over
y Major Rogers in 1887. The hrst prelim- |
surveys on the adopted lins were
in March, 1890. and grading vas
tartsd in August of the same year. Track
was began Oat, 20. 1890, and COM
ian 6, 1898; 556 miles of track were
aid in 1892, and this %trscklsying force was
ale about three months of the year. The
rack gang was not stopped for unfinished
rade after March. 1892. The best days
'ork at tracklaying was four and q half
Tho Two Medicine bridge, . woodea
structure PIP feat high and 800 test long,
over t~nree-qaarters OF q million
set Of timber. was built Ia forty-fve days.
.bont 5000, 600 feet Of tint er vera put into
by one firm of contractors in
.6s than two months"