Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-09-21


 mia, from Wickenburg, on the Ash ForkPhoenix line, westward to the Colorado river. This is at present an undeveloped territory, though mining development is under way. The Ari- zona X California is now finished to the Colorado river, and it's ultimate destination has been announced as Bengal, Cal, on the present Santa Fe main line, eighty-nine miles west of the Colorado river. Bengal is to be the western end of the new transcontinental cutoff
 On the east, the Santa Fe plans have not been made public. The map shows how theNsGila canyon line could be reached over existing Santa Fe lines and a short stretch of the present Southern Pacific main line This is roundabout route, but is marked out here in the absence of any official or semi-ofiicial information as to where a more direct connection with the new cutoff line is likely to eventually be built. A connection from Socorro, N. M., to the headwaters of the San Fran cisco river, thence down that river to it's junction with the Gila near Clifton looks feasible on paper, but this route, we are informed, is pore or less i'm practicable from an engineering stand point and therefore il not ever likely to be built. Some such through con nection, however, would seem to be a necessary part of the c, ,entual plans of | the Santa Fe as it is tC share most eff | ciently in the new cu.off line through | Arizona.
 The connection on tle east is shown as follows: A short connection will probably be built from the Belen cut off to the present Fl Paso line, which will be followed as far south as Rim con, N. M., from which Santa Fe branch now runs to Deming on the Southern Pacific. From here the route is over the Southern Pacific to Lords | burg, near the New Mexico Arizona | boundary, sixty miles. From Lords burg the route would be the same for both Santa Fe and Southern Pacific. Leaving the main line at Lordsburg, it would be either over the Arizona & | New Mexico road nearly as far as Cliff ton, thence down the Gila river to Solo monville, or by new line built direct | from Lofdsburg to Solomonville. From SOlomonville the route is over the Gila i Valley, Globe X Northern to San Car los, where it would meet the extension of the Phoenix X Eastern line through the Gila canyon at its eastern terminus. Over the Phoenix X Eastern the route would run to Phoenix. over the Santa Fe to Wickenburg and the Arizona & Clifton to Bengal.
 At Florence the Southern Pacific could swing southward again and con meet with its present main line west of Tucson by building a short branch line to point on the Marieopa & Phoenix and Salt River Valley line of the Southern Pacific near Maricopa. The more probable route, however, for the Southern Pacific through traffic is over the Santa Fe route already described via Phoenix, Wickenburg and the Ari zona & California to Bengal. Bengal is on that section of the present Santa Fe main line between Needles on the Ari zona- California boundary and Mojave, Cal, which is owned by the Southern Pacific, but leased to the Santa Fe Santa Fe main line join and run over a 1 joint piece of track to Bakersfield. By encouragement of the lease, the South ern Pacific could have running rights for traffic from the new cutoff over the Santa Fe line from Bengal to Mojave and at Mojave connect with it's present line.
 Adoption of these plans will result in changing the present transcontinental routes of both roads for many hundred miles. On the Santa Fe, from Rio Puerco, N. NJ, to Bengal, Cal, is 621 miles. Adding the approximate length of the connection from the new Belen cutoff to the present main line at Rio Puerco, the distance from Belen to Ben gal by exising lines is about $40 miles, i Of the projected route west of Belen already described there are three sec tions not yet built, so that it is impos- sible to get an exact estimate of the distance, but from Belen to Bengal the through route, which IS undoubtedly, as already explained, considerably longer than any which is likely to be eventu- ally adopted, would probably be about 800 miles.
 If the new through line of the Santa Fe east of Belen is counted in, the amount of new through line eventually to be used by that road is more than double this figure. From Newton, Kan, to Rio Puerco by the present through | line via the Hutchinson cutoff is 737 miles. By the line from Newton south east to Texico and Belen, it is ZIG miles; adding nineteen miles as before for the distance from Belen to Rio Puerco, the total is 735 miles, the saw ing by the new line being in grades rather than distance.
 For the Southern Pacific the distance