Milford chronicle., 1906-05-04
GA 9ToEHA.
Bears the The Kind You Have Always Bought
Signature at IrMHzZzx
TRIUMPH OF ENGINEERING.
Dream of "a Road Across Great salt
Lake at Last Realized.

Dream of "a Road Across Great Sal
Lake at Last Realized.
When the first survey of the Uniol
p Pacific railroad came out of the moutl
Of Weber canyon, a little southeast o
the present city of Ogden, it found th'
Great Salt lake lying across its patl
westward to a junction with the Cen
tral Pacific Even at that early date
some idea of the possibilities of the
later day triumphs of railroad con
struction seems to have occurred to the
engineers OF the survey, for they dis
cussed a little, though perhaps more
jOcularly than seriously, Che feasibility
of driving straight across the lake OF
at least across its eastern arm. OF
course they gave it up. The idea then
was almost chimerical. There was
neither the genius in finance bold
/ enough to undertake such Il stupendOus
work nor the traffic to warrant such
an expenditure. 1t may be doubted,
too, if there was engineering faith
equal to the task. So the line was
built up through the hills around the
north end Of the lake.
But that light talk of the early six
ties was not without its fruit The
idea remained the dream, the hope
the faith. of one of the young n.S. en-
ployed in building the Central Pacific
William Hood was Of that company
of across the isthmus" pioneers who
have made their mark and their fame
in the development of California aud
the Pacific slope As he worked his
way up TO the responsible post of chief
engineer of the Southern Pacific sys-
TEN, owner of the old Central Pacific,
he never lost sight of the possibility of
that line across Salt lake. Coils p. /
Huntington, the master of the Pacific |
railroads, was inclined to think that |
it might be done, but the time was not |
vet ripe, the traffic was not heavy |
enough to justify the expense and such |
were not easy to finance. |
But after Mr.. HuntingtOn's death there
came to the head of Southern Pacific
affairs a man whose financial ability
and bOldness matched the engineering
skill and pluck of Hr. Hood. In Ed
l.
a man who sympathized with and be-
ieved in his plans and who was able
and willing to provide the money.
The times had changed. The day of
great and bold enterprises had come.
The old era of pinching and often false
economy that let rOadbed and rolling
itock run down In order to squeeze out
in unjustifed dividend was ended.
The condition had been reached where
t was only necessary for the engineer
O show how the interest on the invest
nent could be made to be told to go
head. Traffic had increased to such a
,Oint that operation over the steep and
rocked old line was becoming con- :
family more and more vexatious and
ificult Relief must be had. Finan- ,
ier agreed with engineer as to how it
ould be obtained, and the result is the
Lucin cutoff" as it is called, the line
hat runs from Ogden straight over
treat Salt lake, which it crosses on a o.
restle nearly twelve miles long and on
wenty miles of "fill," and over the
esert fats, 1O2 miles in all, to Lucin,
here it rejOins the old road. 1t is
1toff indeed. Forty-three miles in
istance are Topped off. heartbreaking
rades avoided, curves eliminated,
ours of time in transit saved and un-
I'D worry and vexation prevented, at
le same time that expenses of opera
on are reduced more than enough to
ny interest on the whole cost twice
King Davis in Century.