The San Francisco call., 1897-12-19

the north, to COulterVille in the south,
covering a distance of about forty
| three miles of an exceedingly rich min
| ing country. Tuolumne and Mariposa
counties entirely and the greater part
! of CalaVeraS County are tributary to
this road. This means not only the
| development of the rich agricultural
and mining interests of those counties
but a constantly increasing freight and
| passenger business for the railway.
In this connection a few facts rela-
tive to Tuolumne County will be of in
terest. In addition to it's mines, it pos
sesses a belt of the most magnificent
sugar pines in the State. These pines
cut $4,000 feet to the acre, worth in this
| market from $40 to $50 a thousand. In
| the South Grove about 800 giant Sc
| quotas rear their proud tops into the
| sky. Vegetables and alfalfa grow in
abundance. The county contains near
! ly 400 miles of water bitches and
| fumes. These were originally built to
facilitate mining operations, but in the
past five years they have been found
very useful in irrigation. The county
has an area of 1,949, ,920 acres; unentered
| Government land, 100000 acres; assess
ed value of property, nearly $5,OOO,00O;
| population GS90), COPS.
Mariposa County is devoted to min
! ing, stock raising and the exhibition of
| beautiful scenery, which is the de-
| light of tourists from all parts of the
world. The Sierra Railway will be
| found useful to visitors to Yosemite
| Valley, which is located in this coun-
| ty. Mariposa has excellent prospects
as to fruit culture, she having a IA
nous fruit belt along the western
| nf ia a
Sierra Railway has solved the question
of transportation to market, her fruit
| and nuts will win a name for them
selves in quantity and quality. The
timber supply of this county is almost
| ineXhauStible, some of the trees being
the largest in the State.
| The development of the agricultural
resources of Calaveras County is no
| longer shrouded in uncertainty, now
that the Sierra Railway has placed the
county within easy communication of
trade centerS. She has orange trees,
bearing heavily, over thirty years of
age, and as for peaches, plums, prunes,
apples, grapes, figs, olives, nuts, april
cots and small fruits, they grow with
marvellous fruition in almost all parts
! of the county. Like all the foothilI
counties Calaveras has a soil and cli-
mate varying with the elevation. Old
mining fumes have been turned into
irrigation canals till the county has
over 600 miles of storage reservoirs and
| canals. The county raises grain sole
~ for home consumption, but in cattle,
lumber and gold it ships heavily each
year. That these shipments will be
doubled within short time there can
| be no question. Calaveras has an area
| of 66S,000 acres, of which about 150 900
| is unentered Government land. It's
population is 10000.
The invigorating effect of the con-
! struction of the Sierra Railway
upon the industries of the counties
mentioned is already quite apparent in
the increased activity in all branches
| of business. Many mine owners who
| were forced in the past to haul their
ores and supplies for forty or fifty
miles are now, in consequence of the
| great reduction in distances duplicat-
| ing both their mining and milling ca
pacities. The railway taps the cen
| ter Of the mother lode, which, of course,
is the scene of the greatest activity.
| Dozens of mines, using in the aggre-
gate 500 stamps, are situated within a
radius of ten miles from jamestown,
| the terminus of the road. The coun-
ties mentioned herein have been great
ly benefited by the road, Angels Camp
and Coulterville having their distances
shortened from railroads, the first
named place being now only fourteen
miles from Jamestown, instead of
| twenty-three miles from Milton, and
the latter only seventeen miles from
Chinese Camp on this road, instead of
| forty-three miles from Merced
| Since the construction of the road
the necessity of large grain ware
| houses in the towns along the line has
| become apparent. Warehouses have
| been erected at Occidental, Paulseils
and WarnerVille. Plans are now pro-
crossing for similar improvements at
all stations along the route of the new
line.
Now that Jamestown is the terminus
of the road, the village has undergone
a magical change. Formerly prosaic
| town to the citizens, of which the ar
| rival and departures of stages were
great events, it has now thrown off
| its Swaddling clothes and assumed a
| metropolitan appearance, to which the
shrieking locomotive gives due i'm
pressment. In fact, jamestown will be
| converted into a modern town with
! avenues and streets properly laid out,
| anu Will water, electric ana sewer SyS-
| TENS, plans of which are now under
| consideration. A large hotel with
every convenience is now being erect
ed. local bank, through which will
be conducted all of the business of that
section, has been organized. 1t is ex-
pected that this institution will do an
| immense business, as the bullion pro-
duced in the vicinity of Jamestown
amounts to over $500, 600 a month. A
| number of real estate agents and con-
tractors are already in the field and
assisting in the development of the sec
ton. The Sierra Railway Company is
prosecuting many permanent improve
| ments in the town, as jamestown will,
in all probability, be the terminus Of
| the line for some time to come.
The main offices of the Sierra Rail-
way are located in the Crocker build
| ing, while those of the operating de-
partment are quartered at Oakdale. e.
I. Albert is superintendent and B. T.
Booze general freight agent While
| the road is well equipped with rolling
| StOcE additional apCipaS opd