Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-01-12
THE RAILROADS.
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! Ira II. Lewis of the Rio Grande West
ern has loaned the Salt Lake Tribune a
copy of the New York Tribune of Oc-
tober %, 1859. Editor Horace Greeley
mad finished his tour to the Pacific
and in addition to his last letter, there
appears two-column editorial on IA
Railroad to the Pacific.'
This was ten years before the driving
of the last spike at Promontory. Even
in those days Greeley was for the rail-
road, nd Furthermore, was an expan-
sionst, for his arguments about the west
and the Orient as relate to railroad
traffic, We're the same as those now form
ing the chief features of American trans
continental railroad talk.
The article begins with statements
| showing the ocean travel to and from
| San Francisco, the great cost of troops
| transportation across the plains, the mail
contracts and general traffic. Every
| eXigency is modestly anticipated, how
modestly is best told in this paragraph:
IF there were good railroad through
| Utah we believe the Saints would patron
ize it to the amount of at least Half a
Million per annum, and that this amount
would rapidly grow to One Million. It
would, of course, not stop there. The
Rocky Mountain Gold Mines are no
longer a matter of specula ton. They
just as surely exist as we live, and we
believe they are destined to increase in
Importance and productiveness."
How little the writer thought in 1859
that the people of Utah would pay in 1900
something like $l00OOOOOO for a years
railroad traffic. He little thought that
one firm in Salt Lake would bring in
solid train or twenty cars Of soap, an
other a train of twenty cars of stoves
and still another forty cars of agricul-
tural implements, and each shipment
only being for half a years supply in
each line.
Going further, the writer inserted a
table to show that 's17,OOO,0OO could be
annually earned by the Pacific road. Last
year the Union and Central Pacific to-
gether had nearly $5O.000O0O in gross, to
say nothing of the other Pacific roads;
and yet the estimates given We're prob
ably based on careful figures and con-
ditions of forty years ago.
From a railroad standpoint the ar
tcle teens with interest from beginning
to end.
Joseph A. West, chief engineer and
superintendent of construction of the
Sumpter Valley railway, and formerly
of the Utah and Pacific, gives some very
interesting facts about the extension of
the Sumpter Valley road, and his ex-
PLANTATION shows that the small road is
going to gradually develop into an inn
portant and paying link.
Already the road has been extended
to make a total length of about fifty
miles, and the work will not be stopped
until 100 miles are completed. The road
will be pushed southwest into the rich
Harvey valley and lake region of Oregon,
section without railroad facilities.
The Sumpter Valley road will be ex-
tended southwest to meet the NJ C. & O.,
which is building northwest, and the two
will form very short route from Idaho
and Oregon to San Francisco via Reno.
They are both narrow-gauge lines
and are being built economically. The
Sumpter line is owned by David Eccles,
c. w. Nibley and others Of Utah, and
they have had the foresight to greatly
add to their equipment by purchasing at
a reasonable figure all the rolling stock
of the Sanpete Valley and Utah Central
roads as soon as they were broad-gauged.
This has given the road large amount
of extra rolling stock. and 1t now has
several hundred cars with which to meet
traffic emergencies.
Taking Harvey valley as the center,
the nearest railroad points are as fol-
lows: North, Sumpter Valley terminus:
south, n. c. O. terminus: west, Rose
burg, Ore. on the Shasta route: east,
Parma or Nampa on the Oregon Short
Line. The new line, therefore. would
enter an open field, with no fear of any
competition. and traffic results would
amply pay the promoters. The country
will quickly fill up with settlers. for it is
now but sparsely settled owing to it's
remote location. The two roads are ex-
tending quietly in the direction of Har.