The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-08-31
OGDEN COMPANY
GETS CONTRACT
VIII Build Large Slice of the West
ern Pacific.
MANY BIDDERS FOR PRIZE
w. II. WATTS FINALLY SECURED
THE WORK.

n GDEN. Aug 3O.-The Western Pa
II cific work has been let. and the
Utah Construction company of
Ogden has the larger part OF the con-
tract. A brief private telegram re-
ceived very late last night by an Of
ficer Of the contracting company con-
firms the report which was current du-
ring the day of the definite announce
ment of the letting of the work in New
YORK.
Details Are Few.
Few details are at hand. but the in
formation is that the Utah Construc-
ton company gets the contract for the
work from Salt Lake to the Nevada
line, distance of about ITO miles
More important still Is the further
fact that the work from Oroville in
California east to the other Nevada
state line goes TO the same company.
This latter part includes all the Sierra
Nevada mountain work and is some
OF the heaviest that has ever been
projected in the country. The con-
tract is regarded as the most import
ant let in the past decade and has
been the prize toward which several
OF the largest contracting firms in the
country have been striving for many
months No information is at hand in
Ogden at this hour as to whether the
POI LAOilS Oh NOLh llOl mentioned III lil@
letting of the contract Of the Utah COM
pany have been let or not.
Men Who Got the Contract.
The negotiations for the contract
have been engineered during the past
few weeks at the New York end by
w H Watts, vice president and gem
eral manager of the company. who has
also had the matter in hand for many
months on the western end
A. H Christensen and E. o. Watts.
directors of the company have also as
sisted in important work and amongst
them every mile of the proposed work
has been inspected David Eccles, who
was recently elected president of the
company to succeed the late Judge
Thomas D. Dee. and Mr.. Dee him
self, have also taken active personal
interest in the negotiations which have
just eliminated in success
Miles of Tunnels.
The Western Pacific as railroad
project has been watched for several
years, and for the past six months
o. more members of the Utah Con-
struction company have been active
in preparing for the bidding. The
Feather River country in the Sierra
Nevada work has been described by
engineers and contractors who have
traversed the route as almost coloas-
sal as to some of the heavy cuts. fills
and tunnels, but when completed the
route thus obtained will be of the
very finest and most permanent char
acter. It is known that there are
several miles OF tunnels in the pOr-
ton of the work let 70 the Utah Cen
struction company included in the
Sierra Nevada work
Ogden Company Solid
w H. Watts of the Construction
company went to New York about five
weeks ago TO be in at the bidding but
there was q pOstponement and he re-
turned to Utah. He went back 10
New York about two weeks ago. In
financial circles il has been surmiSed
that the Ogden company would get an
important part of the big contract from
the fact that a most thorough and
searching inquiry has been going on of
late as TO the cOmpany's standing. The
result of these inquiries was evidently
satisfactory. Among the others who
are interested in the company aside
from the directors above mentioned are
James Pingree, Joseph Clark and Adam
Patterson. directors; g. W. Nibley, II.
II. Spencer and the heirs Of the late
Thomas D. Dee