Williams news., 1904-09-24
:, NEW ARIZONA ROAD
Work Being Pushed on Line from
 Wickenburg

The extensive and serious wash outs on the main line of the Santa Fe between Ash Fork and the Nee dles during the past six weeks have caused the Santa Fe people to de- eide upon pushing the building of the Arizona and California railroad as fast as money and men can put it through.
 The Arizona and California rail- road when completed will be part of the main line of the Santa Fe and as soon as it is completed the traffic will be switched from the present line of the Santa Fe, thus avoiding the heavy mountain grades of the present line, says the Wick enburg Miner.
 A number of preliminary sur veys of the Arizona and California have been made from the A. & c. junction, about three miles north of Wickenburg, to the Colorado, and thence to San Diego, Cal, and Mon day a surveying party of about twenty under s. F. Cochran, chief locating engineer, started from the junction to make the final survey locating the route of the main line of the Santa Fe.
 The party is camped about six teen miles out from the c. < A. junction, and will keep moving camp as they progress with the surveying, until they finally wind up at San Diego.
 For the past six months Grant Bros. have been working quite a force of men on the grade, and now have the roadbed constructed about six or seven miles out from the junction, and D. c. Mcdonald, who is in charge of the work for Grant Bros, returned this week from Phoe- nix with about forty head of stock that have been working on the rail- road to the Imperial mine at Red Rock, and will put them to work on the A. & c. road.
 l Considerable rock work has been done on the first six miles of the new road. but from now on to the Colorado river, about 125 miles, the road will be over a practically level country, with the exception of few miles where the road passes through the Granite mountains about sixty miles west of here.
 From where the road crosses the Colorado river, about twenty miles south of the mouth of the Bill Will jams, it is about 325 miles to the coast, the country for the most part being fairly level.
 This road when completed will open up some of the best mining districts in Arizona and California, which are at present practically in- accessible, owing to lack of water, and the difficulties of transporta- ton.
 There are already a number of very promising properties in the Harqua Hala and Harcuvar noun tains which are only awaiting the , completion of the railroad to be equipped with reduction plants. The country on the California side of the Colorado river has hard ly been prospected at all, owing to it being so inaccessible, but is thought to be very rich in mineral as the Indians at various times have brought in very rich float which they claimed to have found there
 With the Arizona and California and it's connections the Santa Fe will have the shortest line to the coast, and also one having the least 5 per cent grade of any of the trans, continental lines and the extremely Q heavy operating expenses of the 9 mountain divisions will be done 5 away with and the Santa Fe vii soon stand at the head of the trans 3 continental railroads, and will b, g an everlasting monument to thu 7 enterprise and management of Pres