The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-17

East do not reach this city; but the
extra distance to Seattle on account OF
the large detour made by the present
line around by Buckley and Orting
makes Seattle half an hour farther
from Eastern points than Tacoma. The
City Of Destiny has therefore held that
It was the terminus of the Northern
Pacific, and has had the Justification
of shorter distance to substantiate
its claim.
Twenty-Five Miles Shorter.
With the completion Of the extern
sion from Palmer a shortening Of the
line to Seattle by twenty-five miles will
result. and instead OF being at the end
of . local track from Meeker, the
Queen City will be at the terminus of
the main line. and will have the ad-
vantage Of being the point for making
up the through trains, with all the
yards and sheds necessary to the ter.
minal of a great system Of railroads.
Tacoma will have the benefit of being
three or four miles nearer the East
than at present
The Palmer cutoff has been the sub
ject of railroad gossip for years, and
time and again rumors have been in
circulation that the Northern Pacific
was about to commence its construc-
ton. It was not, however, until year
ago that the directors authorized the
expenditure of the money necessary,
and from that time until the beginning
of August was devoted to perfecting
various arrangements concerning right
of-way, letting contracts, hiring men
and getting ready to 60 on with the
work. H. G. Henry, of Seattle, and
Nelson Bennett, Of Tacoma, both veter-
an railroad contractors, were awarded
the contract for building the road, un.
der the general direction of G. s. Bib
Ter, chief engineer of the western part
Of the system, and G. A. Kyle, in inn
mediate charge Of the work. Many
subcontracts were let, SO that work
could be done along the entire length
Of the proposed line at once. One hun
dred teams were secured, two NAM
moth steam shovels we're gotten, and
the building of the cut-off was formally
and actively commenced.
Plenty of Workmen Now.
There was ,dearth Of laboring men
in the West early in the fall, and the
highest wages offered we're not tempta-
ton enough to fill the lists; so opera
lions proceeded slowly at first. Then
the heavy rains and storms of August
retarded process. But later in the sea-
son plenty of men were hired and the
elements favored the contractors. Since
then there has been no delay, except by
an occasional rainstorm.
All the clearing for the line is done.
and the gangs of laborers are now
grading and putting in the culverts
and bridges. BY the end of the winter
the work of laying the rails will be
commenced, and the first whistle of
through train will be heard by May
day.
This will be one of the finest pieces
of trackage on the line of the Northern
Pacific, as it is intended to make the
Palmer cutoff so solid in material aud
workmanship that it will be as good as
other improvements to be made in the
future on the main line East. The
rails will be steel, and weigh close to
eighty pounds to the yard, on solidly
ballasted grade. All the heavy Gull
vel .s are to be of concrete, and with
vitrified pipe for the smaller culverts.
The bridges will have stone piers and
abutments, and will be of steel. There
will be three of these bridges, two
crossing the Green river, one near
Palmer and one three miles from Au-
burn, and another over the White
river
Some heavy work is being done on
the new line, in one place it being nee
essary to make cut 5000 feet long,
and in another to move 10000 yards
of earth in a mile. The maximum
grade Of the cutoff is 1 per cent.
To Haul the Leary Coal.
One of the principal results Of the
finishing of this road will be that it
will enable the Seattle & San Francisco
ID o;luoy a. NAVIGATION Comranv RI