COMPLETION OF THE PACIFIC RAILWAY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 371, 22 July 1869, Page 3

COMPLETION OF THE PACIFIC RAILWAY.

.». {From the Times, May 11.) A telegram from our American Correspondent has informed the world that last Saturday (May 8) witnessed the actual completion of one of the most marvellous undertakings of modern times. Ttie people of the United States have now carried a railway across the entire breadth of their continent, from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific. The length of this line, or combination of lines, exceeds the distance between the Old World and the New. Steamers from Liverpool to New York make but 2800 miles of their run, whereas from New York to Sacramento it must be a journey of at least 3000. That journey, however, may now be made, though even in so saying we tell but half the wonders of the story. Roughly speaking, a line dropped from north to south bo as to divide the territory of the United States into two equal portions, would divide also the settled from the unsettled regions of the Union. East of the line lie the several States of the Republic with which we are familiar, while to the west the country is one enormous tract of unoccupied land. That description, however, as it happens, does not apply to the seaboard of the Pacific itself. On that coast lies the important State of California, separated from the rest of the Union by about 1700 miles of desert, and here is the key to the exploit now before us. The Americans, accustomed to railway communication everywhere, could not endure to be thus parted from one of their own States. Years ago they resolved on bridging this immense desert, and years ago, bad it not been for the Civil War, they would probably have achieved the work on which they had set their minds ; hut iv tbat

tremendous struggle all tbe energies of the Republic were for the time absorbed, nor was it till the beginning of 1866 that money or hands could be spared for this work of peace. As soon, however, as the contest was finished, the Pacific Railroad was again taken up by the Government and the people, and a survey made at their conjuncture gave the following results. A railroad running from east to west would as will be seen from what we have premised, first traverse the settled and then the unsettled territories of the Union. In the former portion the work was already done. A series of lines or links carried the traveller from New "York to Omaha city, a town on the Missouri river, to tbe exh.\-me west, of the State so called. Here, however, civilisation, and with it railway communication, abruptly ceased. All beyond waa desert. Vast plains 9tretthing away to the far west, broken by mountain ranges or solitary lakes, formed the prospect before the eye. Afc one spot only in this pathless vaste was there a settlement. The Mormons had penetrated the wilderness and established themselves ou the banks of the Great Salt Lake, beyond ria-.li, as they imagined, of visitation or disturbance. Such was the country over which a railroad had now to be carried, and the engineers reported the length of their line as somewhat in excess of 1700 miles, from Omaha city on the east to Sacramento, the State capital of California, on the west. That, in American language, was the " gap " between one terminus and the other which had to be filled up. The work was commenced at both ends, and by two companies. Starting from Sacramento, tbe Central Pacific Company pushed their line eastwards towards Omaha city, while from Omaha city the l.'niou Pacific Company westwards in the direction of Sacramento. In January, 1866, ihe progress reported was very small, representing, in short, only 40 miles finished at one end and 31 at the other. But soon the work grew apace, and in October last upwards of 1000 miles — 800 on the eastern and 2^o on the western side — had been added to tbe projected line. This left about 700 miles to be made, but over nearly half that distance the works were considerably advanced, and it was calculated that only some 400 miles would remain to be laid in the present year, 1869. The eugineers, as our correspondence then stated, " said they would do it," and they have done it with half the lime to spare. The last bit of the gap has been filled in, and the communication is complete. From Omaha city to Sacramento there is now a railroad all the way, and the citizsns of New York, instead of being condemned to a tedious circuit by land and water, can traverse the continent to San Francisco just as we go from London to Perth. The rapidiiy with which this gigautic work has been executed amazes even the Atneriricans themselves, and we are told, indeed, that railway rivalry lias had its share in brihging the achievement so rapidly to pass. But, whatever the motives at work, the result is equally wonderful. On the plains and for long distances, the mere engineering was comparatively easy, but then the savage Indians, with an instinctive dread of the undertaking, were constantly attacking the labourers and wrecking ths trains, until it was as much as 10,000 workmen, supported by a large body of troops, could do to preserve the works from destruction. Midway, too, the prodigious chain of the Rocky j Mountains crossed the track at right angles ; while, on the borders of California, the Sierra Nevada, a parallel range, gave the Central Pacific Company an infinity of trouble. Nevertheless, the entire line is now completed — roughly, no doubt, but still without a break — and a region about as wild as the interior of Africa or Arabia is traversed by a railway from end to end. If we inquire into the probable results of this achievement, we shall be led into many curious speculations. The effects, indeed, will be felt throughout the whole Union. California, as our readers know, is a State of exceptional character and importance. It is the gold-bearing Stite— the country which supplies the Americans with the precious metal. General Grant, in his inaugural speech, referred to it as the national " strongbox " — the safe in which those treasures were hoarded which would one day enable the Union to pay off its public debt, and he spoke of the opening of this Pacific Railway as an event tending to accelerate the consummation in view. Then, it cannot be doubted that the Pacific States will receive an impulse from the new line, and be rapidly developed in political as well as commercial importance. All the territory, too, now traversed will be brought more within the reach and under the dominion of man ; new settlements will be facilitated, and new States more quickly formed. A t the same time the Indians will be more severely pushed, and the Mormons will be brought into a contact with their fellow-citizens which may not impossibly end in a collision. Probably nothing but the remoteness and isolation of their settlement haa hitherto preserved them and their institutions from interference, and now that isolation is lost. In whatever light, however, we choose to regard the work, we must recognize it not only as a monument of national enterprise, but as a proof of public wisdom. All that the Government has spent in subventions was well bestowed. It was worth many a vote of money and many a grant cf land to connect by an easy internal communication the two great sections of the republic, and to bring territories os large as those of all the settled States together within reach of the Government and the people. If the present year should also witness the completion of the Suez Canal, it will indeed be a singular coincidence, but even the cutting of the Isthmus is a less wonderful < xploit than this Pacific Railroad. M. de Lesseps will deserve infinite credit for his perseverance and success, but the American engineers who : bridged with iron rails a desert as broad as the .a tlantic at the rate of six miles a day may certainly advance their own claims to the surprise and admiration of mankind.