Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-03-07

iVpehd X SANTA re u tue southern
Pacific are To unite In the construc.
tioa OF a line ITO miles In length
from Shively, Cal the southern ter
minus of the San Francisco 4 North
western road. owned by the Atchison,
Topeka 4 Santa Fe, to Sherwood, the
northern terminus of the California
Northwestern, owned by the South
ern Pacific. is Of particular interest
for two reasons In the first place Il
indicates that the two companies are
following a policy directly opposite to
that Of the Hin and Hartman inter
ests by entering into an amicahle ar.
rangement 10 avoid the construction
of. competing lines through the terri
tory In which both are equally inter-
ested and the traffic OF which can he
handled by one line: and In the next
place because such a road will open
to the markets Of the world the great
redwood forests of Mendocino and
Humboldt counties.
Several years ago, when the Santa
Fee acquired the Eel River a. Eureka.
running from Eureka south a short
distance, II vas the intention Of ex.
tending It from the southern termin-
us through the forests to San Fran
cisco, or to n connection with some
line from San Francisco north which
might be acquired. The California
Northwestern. which now extends
from Tiburon, on San Francisco bay,
north to Sherwood. 152 miles, was
sought by the Santa Fe, but the
Southern Pacific had quietly secured
an option on the road. which is now
safely within the Southern Pacific
fold.
The avowed intention of the latter
was to extend the line from Willitts
north through Mendocino and Hum
boldt counties. and the Santa Fe had
surveys made for an extension OF the
Eel River railroad, now known as the
San Francisco & Northwestern, south
to San Francisco, for the acquired
road was of little value to the Santa
Fe until 1t could be connected with
the main line at San Francisco. This
would have necessitated the con-
struction of 260 miles Of line. With
the purchase of the road the Santa
Fee also acquired a large acreage of
redwood timber lands, and had it
been found necessary to build all the
way to San Francisco in order to OBJ
tain an outlet tor the large ship
ments of lumber available, it was
prepared to undertake the work.
Realizing that one company could
not occupy this territory to the ex-
clusion of the other, the two inter
ests wisely have entered into an ar
rangement for the organization Of a
new company to take over the San
Francisco & Northwestern and the
California Northwestern and to build
the 40 mile link necessary to con.
meet them, each company to WI q
half interest in the line from San
Francisco to Eureka, on Humboldt
bay, the only port on the California
coast north of San Francisco.
The redwood timber district ex-
tends from Sonoma county north to
the Oregon state line, about 225 miles,
and occupies a strip of land aleng
the coast ranging in width from five
to twenty-five miles, with an area Of
1000 square miles.
The last census report states that
the standing timber approximates 75,-
900, 0OO, 900 feet, but later ~inyestiga-
tions by timber experts. after q thor
ough exploration OF the territory.
show that the acreage had been
greatly over-estimated, and these au.
thorities take q conservative estimate
Of $4,000, 100000 feet Of standing tim
Der, the present annual consumption
being about 5OO.O 0 900 feet. Red.
wood Ia a strong and very durable
timber and It's chief value ia for in
STU lluISutuSt dttitOu6u ~ 10 uoCu CA'
tensively for shingles, and In CalifOr.
MIA for house building and conduits,
It's durability making 1t especially de-
sirable for the last named purpose.
The local consumption Is limited,
however, the larger portion Of the
product being shipped to foreign coun-
tries, including Australia, Japan and
South America; but 1t Is coming into
use In many Of the eastern markets.
and owing to the walnut famine and
the high price Of mahogany II Is an
ticipated that there will be a growing
demand for redwood in the east for
inside finishing. Careful investigation
shows that shipments can be made by
rail- to points east Of the Mississippi
river at a favorable rate and q large
movement In the commodity only
awaits the completion OF the Joint
line referred to.
Special Officer Killed
Special Officer Thomas Worden, Of
the Santa Fe. whose home was I'm