The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-08-14

I OCCupItloU Tor the remainder OF MS udA =,
! HIM had already done good deal to-
! ward expanding his s.. Paul and Pacific
| line into the present Great Northern sys-
tenn. and was ready TO push operations
/ with greater viGor than ever. Hitherto
/ his construction work had been in the
! hands of "A number OF contractors Shep-
ard and his firm being among them. From
/ ina time on Hjl wanted all his railroad
/ building 20 he done by one firm. IL want
/ ed to build railroads faster than they had
/ ever been built before yet he wanted
! them built economically and thoroughly.
| He knew that his requirements could be
/ met only by q railroad builder who had
unusual executive ability and courage,
| who was progressive enough to make use
! of all he latest railroad building devices
! aud had sufficient ingenuity to invent
stl newer devices should occasion de-
maud them Hill selected Shepard as the
man he wanted, and after some hesitation,
Shepard firm took the job. From April
9 1857. to Jan. g. 1893, when the last spike
OF the Great Northern line was driven a
point deep down in the Skyomish val
10y, thirteen miles west of the stevens
| Pass summit in the state of Washington,
Shcpard's firm butt all the Great North
orn extensions.
No other similar period Of railroad build
| ing has CGUaled in achievement that brief
stretch of less than six years. In the win
tor of 1sS-T the system. then known rs
iNc -. tduL minneapolis ana Manitoba
Railroad. hal practically reached Mnpt
$50 miles from 81. Paul. Al the beginning
of 1893 the system was completed 70
Puget Sound. total distance of 1853
miles, or more than three miles day
SIS an average. Had Shcpards entire pc
ROD Of railroad building been done at that
rate he would have built between % 900 ana
$500 mites i'm all, or nearly enough to sir
die TIE globe
Varied Forms of Construction.
In accomplishing This stupendous task
Shcpard's men encountered every variety
of construction known. Hundreds OF
miles were LAID over mOnotonous fiat
Stretches of pr1irie. where the grades
amounted 10 nothing more than casting the
earth up high enough for the track to
clear itself of ordinary snowfals. Other
reaches were alongside the mighty water
courses of the West, where long embank-
meuts and deep cuts were in order. In
some places extensive trestles were need
cd. In the mountain divisions there were
tunnels and other difficult rock work TO
be built Until the construction near the
Pacific coast, an the materials and sup
plies had to be got from the eastern end
of the line. over and over again new
problems arose which had 10 be solved on
the minute, SO to speak. Much of the ter
ritory swarmed with Indians though for
tunately they displayed no great hostility.
Through 1t an Mr.. Shepard's was the
guiding spirit. Like military invader he
planned each years campaign in advance
ana kept himself in close touch with his
forces They We're almost as numerous as
an invading army would be. II would
make this article read 100 much like an
extract from a statistical work to go into
complete details but some idea of the mag
ntude of SheDard's operations may DC
briefly given by the statement that on the
average in 1887, 5000 men and $500 teams
$500 horses were employed on the grad
ing while $50 men and 225 teams were
employed laying track, sur1acng ballast
ng), piiing and doing the timber work
The total average force directly employ
ed upon the work then was $500 men and
1850 horses, but the entire number of per
sons deriving support from the work was
much larger. All hands had 10 be fed and
cared for, and this occupied the energies
of large number; besides there was a
big contingent OF "camp followers" as
there always is when such an enterprise
is being pushed forward.
star Achievements.
In some respects 1887 was Shepard's star
year The work went on from April to
Nov II without break, excepting the
weekly Sunday rests, and in that time
6l3 miles of track were built laid and I'm
ished, the average progress being 3l miles
day The biggest days work at track
laying was Aug. s. when eight miles ana
sixty feet were laid. July IS was the
next biggest days work, the distance be
ing seven miles and l,040 feet. The work
on both days was done by the regular
track layers between daylight and dark.
No extra men were put on because there
was no room for them, and all the rails
were fed to the men who actually laid
them from one end" Bearing this in
mind, Mr.. Shepard's forces must be ac-
corded the worlds record for a single
days track-laying, as he must be accord
ed the record of railroad building. The
days record has been claimed for the
| forces of the Union Pacific, working years
before but not quite fairly, since on the
day of their greatest track laying the
| rails We're hauled ahead of the rail men
| and dumped alongside the track. They
! had only to put the rails in place and
| spike them down, whereas Shepard's men
were not so helped. having facilities for
| the rapid handling of the iron that were
not invented In the days of the Union
| Pacifcs construction. In that seasons
| work the employees of Shepard's firm ham
! died $4,000 cubic yards of earth. 1900
cubic yards of loose rock and II 500 yards
| of solid rock. while 100000 feet of tim
! Der, board measure and $4,000 lineal feet
! of piling were hauled ahead OF the track
! laying. In a certain seven months later
! than 1887 about 800 miles of track We're
| laid, but the force of men was then larger
/
| We're employed.
! The feeling of these large forces of men
| and animals was no insignificant task
and any number of figures relative to this
| feature of the work that would interest
the statistician might be dug out The
i statement that the horses employed the
| first year of the work consumed $4,000
bushels Of oats is a sufficient sample To
| accommodate the men with lodging and
food Shepard had lot of two and three
| story boarding cars built. They were
odd looking structures, so high and so mar
row chat they had to be fitted with guy
! ropes to preVcni being upset whenever the
wind blew hard, and the life within an 4
about them, tineed as il was with the ia
vor OF the frontier and influenced by the
| frequent presence of the Northwestern In
dams, you'd undoubtedly have furnished
a kipUng or Il Harte with abundant ma
| terials for literature of the raciest. most
/ chardC teristic sort. The "reminiscences of
Shopard himself could thpV he collected n,