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WILLAMETTE FARMER: PORTLAND, OEEGON, AUGUST 25, 1882.
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1
DUST- OH THE BUTTERFLY'S WIHO.
HULDAII STA.NTOX.
j ion-browned lassie, on a meadow at play,
Sang back to the birds one w arm spring day;
Dallies she gathered and violets sweet,
Jkliy ber dimpled hands, restless her feet.
X butterfly gay, like a winged blossom rare,
Flashed swooping down the rich scented air;
Scattered were the flowers, trodden in the
grass,
After the gaudy fly panted the lass.
Thorns tore her dress, from her eager hands
Fell down and crimsoned the brier's white loana11 b?ck " ScriPter' and ee't they was
bud;
atraw'n the' Isr'elites was for Pharo', and you
did'nt fetch mo no thread ycsterdayl' and
then he'd haw, haw, haw, right out; he was
real clever, but land! so shiftless. That's just
a case in p'int, so to speak, je know; just one
time, but you can tell by a little what a great
deal means, and as Mis' Peck sas, they're all
alike."
"Thee doesn't think nomen folks are all
perfect, does thee, Patty?" queried Aunt Mar
cia, in her calm voice.
"Well, I dono as they be; I dono as I said
they be, but you can gen'lly tell where most
of em'll fetch up, and you're kinder fit and
prepared for what they will do, and especially
for what they won't do. Sometimes they'll
disapp'int all your calculations, but then you
be grasped it and looked, tears gushed like a
spring;
"Ob, the gold is all over my butterfly's w iocsl"
A fair maiden strolled through the golden
wneai,
Idlt'ning words with first love's rapture re
plete; The lover's voice falter'd, as if ho did know
jSh sought strength to deal his hopo's death
blow,
Her lips curved with scorn, tho' the speaker
was dear,
JBter heart thrill'cd with pain, whilo suppress
ins a tear:
"Ob, hush! hushT'she cried; "there may well
bi for thee
A life such as this but ncvir for me;
I'm pledged to another. Do I love him ? No,
Respect him not even, yet look at tho glow
On yon cluster of lilies, like the gold ho can
bring,
To Biako my life bright as a butterfly's wine."
. . b
A world-weary woman twines 'mid her soft
wair
JBrlght diamonds that sparkle softly there;
Jewels ennrclo her white neck and armB, "
Rare laces and satins embellished hei charms.
Vet her heart was aweary, her brow dark with
care,
Her lips part and brcatho n wild sigh of dr.
spair.
Jn a vision boforo her, thro' a wheat field
alone,
Down tho pathway a loved ono, heart broken,
is gone.
Jn anguish sho cries, "Might I life retrace,
I'd not barter love, peace, to take in their
place
A bleeding hoart, shrinking from envy's keen
sting,
Ad ambition that'sdustonabutteifly'swiiig."
' Just Likea Man. "
"They do beat all I" sighed Mrs. Peek, as
she wiped her faco earnestly with a spotted
Cotton haiidkorchief, and set her spectacles
toft on top of her cap border. "I summered
n' wintered one on 'em nigh on tofiO vcais.
and tho things ho dono't I don't seo into up to
this day. Itesido, I had sons, and darters'
husbands as well, and thcy'ro all of a piece;
tarred with tho same stick, as Lias used to
ny."
"Well," spoko up Miss Patty Brinkly, a
' vivacious maiden lady, stopping to thread her
needle, with both elbows on tho quilt framo,
ad her thread and needlo Btabbing at cacli
Other noarly half nyaid away from her strain
ing eyes. "I ha'n't nevor had no such expert
enoe, thanks be to praise! Pa used to say if I
had im married anybody I'd havo killed 'cm
or ran away from 'em, and I diinno but what
J should."
"They had something to bo thankful for,
then, as well as thee, Patty," dryly remarked
Aunt Marcia Minn, tho only lady of tho
"Friends" persuasion, as sho called it, of
whom Oakley boasted.
"Well, thoy'io queer, anyhow," resumed
the Widow Peek. "There's no 'oountiii' for
'em; they 11 up and do things you wouldn't no
rnoro expect of 'em than anything; and as for
bein' protectors for women folks and all that,
which folks toll about in books, my band!
bias reeK woum na- died nioio'u -10 times cf 1
hadn't ha' had dry things for to put onto him
when bo came in sonkin' wet out of tho crick
or after a pourin' rain. As 'twas, ho died o'
rheumatiz't ho took along o' floating saw lugs
down o tho mill in a spnng freshet ami never
Boming homo to dinner, but working all day
Jn them damp clothes, I give him pokeberry
ntm, au' ft hemlock sweat, and two hull hot-
ties of Gumption's Ginger Bittern, besides a
rabbin' of him povvei fill with camplnrc, beforo
I sent for tho dootor; but it struok to his
atomic and ho wut oil liko a snuff. But that
'n't hero nor there; as I was a-sayin', fur
nigh onto fiO) ears I'd put his flannel shirts
into tho front left-hand corner of tho bottom
drawer in the in'hog'ny buieau in tho bed
room, and ovory Sunday moruin' reg'lar, w hen
he was cleauin' up for mcetm', ho'd holler out
'Luraue-yl w hero's them flannel shirts o' mine!'
ftow that sol" concluded tho disconsolate, wid
OW, wiping lur tyes, and adding in a stage
tilde "Hut I'd givo cousidci 'hie to hear him
holler that agaiul"
"And they hain't got no memory," put in
Mill Patty, who had at last coaxed needle and
thread to an amioablo itiiderjtaiiding, and was
quilting away with real ami discretion, as
very good quilter knows how, "I netr see
the time when they wouldn't forget things.
IVe tailored round quite a number o' veara.
and I've heil an eyo on 'em, as j ou say. There
was Silas Bue'k, I used to tailor for his folks
iwyider blej tho' was him and three boja and
tile hired man. Well, I'd get out o' linen
thread, ay,aud ou eau't no moromaku oxer
hauls with sew in' cotton than j ou can with
spider webs, and Mis' Buck iho'd say, -Silas,'
aayt she, 'Mi.. Patty'a all out ' linen thread.
When ye go down to tho store after them
rake tail I wiih you'd fetch up a hank i.'
black and a hank o' brown. Xow don't ou
orglt it 1' and Silas he'd laugh, ho wat ju.t as
Clever as a basket o' chips, and he'd say 'I'll
fetcb It, mothers' but be wouldn't 1 "nd 1 set
au'aetawaltin'fnr't, and flu'lly put on my
bonnitand was a mite down to tho Comers for
to (etch it myself; then he'd say, 'Cousin
Patty ou see we called cou.ius because his
father's second wife was si.ter to my Aunt
fophrouy ' huiband 'Coiuiu Patty, hain't
jfOU pot them overhaul) deue yet' aud I'd
witvM ulumi uii mi say, -vuuiin Alias, l
Vt so more able to mako bricks without
made to be tho weaker sect; though, if t'aint
really lawful to say so, I own I always did
have a poor opinion ot Adam as ever was; to
be a tellin' how 'twas Eve made him eat the
apple, when he done it tho first time askin';
but 'twas jest like a man! They keep a doin'
of it to this day; it's forever an' always 'the
woman tempted me' "
"Thee remember, doesn't thee, the Scripture
says: 'The woman being deceived was in the
transgression.' It hath always seemed to me
kindly in Timothy so to speak of her as to lay
the blame on the enemy.'"
"uiai tunc neuner nero nor there, an
swered tho logical and undaunted Patty. "I
ain't tryin' to make light of Eve's disobey in',
but I do say Adam w as real moan to get be
hind her; ho was able to say ho wouldn't, I
gacss, jest as well as she was, but ho didn't
no more'n she did. I was areadin' somewheres
t'other day, about an old French feller, a
judge or somethin' judge of a p'lice court, I
oxpect by the tell and whensomever they
fetched a man beforo him that had been took
up for a misdeed, no matter what it 'twas, ho
always asked, 'Who is she?' lcttin' on, as
though a woman w as to tho bottom of every
wrongdoiu'. Clear Adaml Aud that's what I
fault 'em for. ''
"Well, they bo queer," Mia. Peek again
took up the fruitful thtino, "Sary, what was
that you was a telling about Thomas and
them letters t'other night?"
"Oh, ma!" said Sarah liters, deprecatingly,
but with a laugh that lit her palo face and sad
cyca. tor barah was a typical Now England
woman careful and troubled about every
thing; a coward physically, a hero mentally;
afiaid of her very shadow, but doing tho
bravest things, with her heart sinking and
her joints trembling all the tune, because
duty or affection called her to such ser ice.
She married Tom liters, a bright, strong
young fellow, full of fun and reckless daring,
and devoteil to Sarah, but entirely ignorant of
her daily anxieties and terrors; for sho was as
reticent as sho was timid, if alio thought she
could save any ono much more any one sho
lovod by such reticence.
"Oh, tell on t, Sary; 'tatn't no harm. Wo
all know Tom sets by yo like his lifo. He
wouldn't do nothing to plaguo ye, if he
knowed it, no more'n ho'd cut his head off;
but that letter business wai so exactly like
men folks,"
A chorus of voices echoed tho requost.
lhcro were only about 10 people at the quilt
ing it was tho regular sen ing ciiclo meoting
of Oakloy so Sarah consented.
"Well, 'taiu't much to tell, but if ma wants
mo to. You know Tom's horso is real young,
and kind of skittish, and if there is ono thing
abovo another I'm afeared of, it's a horse."
"Hless your soul and body!" put in her
mother, "Pnovor soo tlio thing yet jou wa'n't
afeared of, Sary, horso or not."
"Oh, I know, ma, but I am awfully afeared
of a skittish horse; Tom, ho do'nt really sense
it, and ho says Jenny ain't ugly, she's just full
of play; and I B'poso elio is; she's knowing as a
do, aud I givo her a bito o somethin' cveiy
time he fetchos her round; and she knows mu
real well, but sho will jump and lash out and
shy sometimes, and it makes me just as weak
as water, so 1 don't uovcr dure her cf I can
help it."
"You don't mean to say you ever do drive
a crottir when you feel that kind o' way
toward tt 7 queued Miss Patty, sharply,
"Why, I have to somctin cs, you know;
there's oft-timed a day Tom can't lcavo tho
liayuv' or lmrvestin' or plantin' or something,
and there has to bo things fetched from tho
store, and no way to get 'em except I go for
cm, so lorn he jist tackles up aud I go for
ems he 'Ion t leally mistrust that I'm seared,
and I don't neer tell him that I be; what's
the use!"
"Well," said Miss Patty, with a snifT no
typo can oxpress, mid Sarah went oji s
"So week boforo last, Aunt Simons writ
and said she was coiuin' out to itay a day or
two beforo sho went back south, aud sho was
goin' to fetch Joe, that's her oldest, along
with her; sho wanted for to have us meet her
to tho station, but she said she shouldn't come
if it rained; she's got dreadful weak lung.;
but she'd telegraph if she wa'u't coiiiimr.
Will, Wednesday morning, the day sho set
to come, it did ram, sure enough, and sectui:
thero was tho donation jmrtv to ret im. I
sided my work away e.tly mid walked out
to tho Center, for I know I should find all tho
folks I'd got to sea to home. I'd ju.t got
ready to start for homo about noon time, aud
1 bethought myself to step into tho post
olliev. for 1 knew theie'd lw tho mail for the
creamery, so 1 got a double haudfull of letters
aud papers aud set my faco tow ards home,
w hen w ho should coino up but lout tit the
buggy,
'"Get itt,' ias lu, 'I'm goin' to the
station,'
" 'What for ' says I.
" 'Why,' savs he, 'they hain't icut no tele
graph, so they're coming.'
" 'Hut it raiui,' says I 'and Aunt Simoni
said she shouldn't come if it rained.'
J' 'Well,' saj s be, 'I obey order ami break
owners! lw aald they' telegraph if they
wa'n't rouiin'j aud how do you ktt:w but it
didu't ram there!'
"So I got in and put the mail dow u iuto the
seat, and he driv like Jehu, for "we heered the
train whistle, and says I, 'Oh Tom 1 don't
drivo up the hill to the station, I'm so afraid
Jenny'll bo scared.'
"He laughed a little. 'I'll bet she Touldn't
be half so scared as you,' says he, 'but 111
leave you to the foot of the hill, and jf they
come I'll holler down to you, and I'll get in
and go np to t'other station and put 'em into
the hack that waits there, for there can't four
get into this buggy; and you drive along up
to that station and then I'll put you into the
hack with Aunt Simons, and I'll take Joe
along 'o mo in the buggy.' So sajin' he
jumped out, for he was there, and run up just
in time to catch the train. I didn't have a
thought that they'd be there, but they w as,
and he called out, 'They're here, drive along.'
I knew 'twas the quickest way to take the
road alongside the track, but the 'Tuck train
was due, and Jen is skittish, but I thought
I d ouirht to, so I drove along. There wasn't
no train, but right in tho road, where I
couldn't turn nor back, I see two loose horses
and if there is a thing that puts lightniu'
into Jenny it's loose horses. I tell you the
shivers run down my back, but I knew the
only chance was to go so fast she wouldn't
think about side shows; so I just laid the
whip onto her, and sho sprung to and went
by them horses quicker ! Well, the hack was
going over tho bridge, but I catched up with
it, and Joe ho got out with Thomas and took
the buggy, and I got in with aunt. Tom had
got to go up street to get a can for the
creamery. I called out to him as he went off :
" 'Look out for your mail on the scat,' and
we uruvo aiung. out wo naan t got naif a
mile before Tom ho come tearing along and
stopped tho hack.
" 'Whero did you put the mail ? says he.
" 'Why on the scat of the buggy,' says I.
"'No you didn't,' says he, 'there wasn't
nothing thero but papers.' "
" "I guess I gave you the letters then. I
sort of thought I did,' says I.
" 'Well, I haven't trot them, anyway,' says
he. 'Look in all your pockefs, Sary, they
ain't in mine.' So I looked and looked, hut I
hadn't a letter. I knew I hadn't, but I looked
to suit him. Then I thought how I droo by
the side road, and I told him I guessed they'd
jolted out of the buggy when I driv so fast.
" 'Dear mo I' says he, 'I must have those
letters to-da.y. I've got to. I'll go back over
tho side road and sco if I can see or hear any
thing about 'cm.' So ho turned round. I
cell you, I felt real bad; I couldn't think any
way in tho world what I did with them let
ters, and I seo ho was worrieel to death.
After wo got to tho house and Aunt Simons
was fixin' herself upstairs, he drove up with
Joe. t
"'Sary,' says ho, 'do look over your pock
ets again for them letters; I expect there was
a, iiircu-uuneircu etonar cnccK in ono ol cm,
and wo can't afford to loso it.'
"I was just ready to cry, I tell you. but I
overlooked tho pockets again; they wa'n't
there, and ho said there wasn't any sign or
hearin' of 'cm on the road. I felt as though I
should givo up, when ho turned and went out
of tho door; but just as he swung the gate to,
ho hollered out :
" 'Sary ? Sarey !' and I run. 'I cae !' says
he, laughing, 'here they bo in my own pocket;
you did givo 'em to mo.'
"Suro enough I did, but ho put 'em into a
pocket ho didn't use for letters ordinarily, so
he never looked there; and thero wa'u't no
check at all in any one on 'cm."
"I guess you wero mad?" queried Miss
Patty.
"Well, I was a little stirred up, I don't
deny. I set right down and cried quite
spell."
"Wa'n't that reil man?" Mrs. Peek asked
of the audience, with a touo of fine scorn.
"Did theo wish, then, theo'd never seen
thy husband ?" asked Aunt Marcia of Sally.
1 lie anxious faco flushed aud the sad eyes
sparkled.
"Aunt Marcia, I shouldn't know how tn
livo without Tom, anyway, in this mortal
world!" And tho clear .voico broko down
as if tho thought of such contingency was too
much. '
Aunt Marcia smiled.
"I oxpect thero is faults in all human
creatures, 'Malo and female created He
thein,' though; and wo can't set out greatly
to better tho Lord s plans. Wo couldn't
really get along, thee knows, without men-
folks, aud they could not without us; but I
expect, if theo could hear them talk among
themselves, Miss Patty, thee would hear,
quite Irequout, 'Just liko a woman.'"
Mtas Patty could not deny it Hote Ttrty
Coolt.
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.
We compile from the answers of Mr. Vil
lard to the inquiries of Congress the following
statements, which we summarize as briefly as
possible, supposing that the interest felt in
the success of this great enterprise will create
a desire for such information. Mr. Villard
says :
The cost of 1203 miles of completed road
and of 170 miles of finished grade, including
rolling stock, motive power and other equip
ment, to the first of May, 18S2, were as
follow:
The road under construction and to be con
structed is as follows:
Yellowstone division, 340 mllci (177 completed).
IiockrM't " 193 "
Clark's Fork " 232 " (13 completed).
SiO miles.
Columbia river division 233 "
Cascade branch " .... 210 "
Wisconsin " 100 "
Pacific " "
Construction $51,010,402 90
Equipment ... 6,034 030 09
Improvement .lid betterments 2,402,605 27
Construction material on hand, say . 4,000,000 00
4
$03,450,033 li
It appears from the books of the company
that tho net receipts from tho sale of 3.0S3,
053 acres of land, to May 1st, 1S82, were as
follows:
Incash
In the company 'a bonds
In the company's preferred stock-
I 684,477 23
1,340,104 67
9,031,334 70
?U,565,4G0 65
Bonds are received in payment for lands in
compliance with the terms of the several
mortgages under which they w ere issued.
Payment for lands in preferred stock was
specially authorized under the terms of the
company's reorganization, which was effected
in 1875.
It is hardly necessary to explain that the
disposal of lands for bonds and preferred
stock, which two securities represent ninety-
four per cent, ot the total proceeds of land
sales, does not result in any actual income
available for construction or other purposes;
but simply operates as reductions of the com
pany's indebtedness and of its capital stock at
the expense of the diminution of the com
pany's properties.
The art of incorporation prohibited tho
company from ever issuing any "mortgage or
construction bonds," or "mortgago or lien in
any way," except by the consent of the Con
gress of tho United States.
It was not until Mav 31, 1S70, that Con
gress fully gave its consent to the issue of a
mortgage and bonds; and thus was occasioned
six joats of unavoidable delay. The financial
depression following the panic of 1873, was
another cause ot unavoidable delay of several
years. Until after the year 1876 tho line of
the road fiotn the Missouri river, in Dakota
Territory (tho terminus of constructed road
when tho disaster of 1S73 befell), to the head
waters of the Yellowstone, in Montana Terri
tory, was occupied by hostile Indians, who
repeatedly drove the company's engineering
patties Irom the field, and rendered a thor
ough survey and definite location of tho lino
impossible.
Of tho lands originally granted to tho com
pany in Wisconsin, to-wit, 850,000 acres, all,
except a very small ftaction, wero previously
covered -by grants to other railroads.
In Minnesota tho grant includes 1,500,000
acres, of which only 400,000 acres are fit for
agricultural use.
ui tno launs granted to the company in
Dakota, all that portion included within the
Coteaux in tho eastern part of tho territory,
and the so-called "Bad Lands" in tho western
part, and estimated at about one-third of tho
lands granted, is believed to be good only for
grazing purposes.
In Montana the grant to the compiny is es
timated to include 20,000,000 acres; but not
moro than onc-siub of this acreage is at all
susceptible of cultivation, and at least one-
half of the cultivable area will require irriga
tion. Of the other five-Bixths, about one
thitd can bo utilized for grazing purposes,
while the whole of the remainder of tho lands
is valueless.
Total 1421 miles.
Of the 820 miles in course of construction,
177 miles are completed and in operation on
the eastern end; 38 miles on the western end;
and between the two termini some 170 miles
graded ready for the tiack. The work in
this section of the country is of an expensive
character, principally through the mountain
ous reoion of Montana, involving the piercing
of the main range of the Rocky mountains at
two points, viz: at Bozcman, where the tunnel
will be 3500 feet long, and at the Mullan pass,
near Helena, where the tunnel will be about
3600 feet long. Tho aggregate cost of these
tunnels with the approaches will reach SI, -500,000.
The engineer's estimate of the cost of com
pleting the gap amounts to $24,676,520, or
830,093 per mile.
Up to the first of June last tho company
had expended $9,030,254 13 in the construc
tion of its road along the 820 miles above re
ferred to.
The remainder of the Wisconsin division,
from Superior Ci.y eastward, runs principally
through a timbered section for a distance of
100 miles, and is estimated to cost $3,000,000
or $30,000 per mile.
On tho Pacific side the estimated cost of
the Columbia river division, viz: 250 miles, is
$9,339,000, or $37,350 per mile, exclusive of
the cost of the bridge over the Snake river at
Ainsworth, estimated at $350,000.
The 44 miles of road from Portland to
Kalama being part of tho Pacific division, is
estimated to cost $1,672,000, being at the rate
of $38,000 per mile, in addition to the cost of
the bridge over the Columbia river, opposite
Kalama, estimated at $1,500,000.
The Cascade branch division, about 225
miles in length, is estimated to cost $10,
000,000. In all, the cost of construction on tho
I'acincolde will amount to $22,801,000 00
whole of the principal, together with the un
paid interest, makes up the sum total of the
unparalleled sacrifice of those bondholders
the bulk of whom are still the preferred stock
holders of the company.
For nearly six years from 1873, the enter
prise lay entirely dormant. In 1879, means
were raised to build the sections of the main
line known as the Missouri and Pend
J d'Oreille divisions, the former extending from
the west bank of the Missouri river to the
Yellowstone river, a distance of two hundred
and sixteen miles, and the latter from the
confluence of the Columbia and Snake rivers
in Eastern Washington Territory to lake
Pend d'Oreille in Idaho Territory, a distance
of two hundred and tvvonty-eight miles,
Both of these divisions have since been in
spected and accepted by the government.
In 18S0, means were raised for the con
struction of tho Yellowstone division, of
which one hundred and seventy-two miles are
completed and ready for inspection, and one
hundred miles more graded, with the ties
rails and fastenings bought and paid for.
The cost of tho Missouri division was $5,400,000 00
The cost of the l'end d'Oreille division
was 5,700,000 00
Tho cost of tho Y ellow stone dh ision as far
as constructed, Is 5,121,709 oo
The interest and sinking fund charges on
the cost of the Missouri division, at six per
cent, and one per cent, respectively per an
num, are $37,000.
The earning rropcr of that division from
the timo ot its completion to May 1,
1882, have been $ 405,902 23
The operating expenses during the same
period have been , 393,050 72
Net camlnirs In nine ninritha
The total receipts from the sale of lands
pertaining to that division to May 1,
1832, have been ....$
Add tho not earnings
The following Is the Income of this divi
sion $
Airainst Interest and nlnklno- ftiml
chargcH 378;000 00
Deficiency 9
-8 7,041 61
29,869 02
7,941 51
37,811 20
Add estimate cost of the gtp betncei the
iwo enus, ana cost OI the msniarck
image....
25,070,520 00
Maklmi a total of 848,537,520 00
From which there should be deducted tho
amount aireau) expended 89,030,254 13
Lcavi' g to be expended by tho company,
cxelusho of tho Wisconsin division... 839,507,205 87
Cost ot Wisconsin dlv Ision 3,000.000 00
The small area granted to tho company
within the northwestern portion of Idaho.
with tho exception of limited stretches of
timber lauds along the water courses, has
hardly nny piactical valuo.
NEW EVERY WEEK.
Oregon Kidney Tea.
From tho multttudo of certificates received
from well known citizens who have beeu ben
efitted by the uso of this roinedy, the proprie
tors, Messrs. Hodge, Davis A Co,, have con.
traded to publisli two new ones each we-ek
for tho ear ending April 1, lbS.1, that all our
readers may see tho great benefits it has cou-
ictrcu on tno aiiue'teni.
Sa hKTON, March 27, 1SS0.
I havo been afflicted with a kidney trouble
fin- twelve years, during whith time I have
used almost every kidney reu.edy I could hear
of btttobtained 110 relief until 1 tried the Ore
Kim Kidney Tea. I ant now ustug the second
box aud am free to say that I am much lwtter
and have no hesitancy in recommending it as
a pleasant and safe kidney rvmedy,
W. 11. Co.
OoutMULK, W. T March 31, ISO.
I have bad tho diabetes for thtrtt- -...
avo had many ph stctaus presonbo for me,
but failed to get relief. 1 tried the Oregon
Kidney Tea, aud tho first iloso i-iin m re
lief. I am now almost well, and would re
commend it to any one suffering from this dis
ease. Mosi.', Pike.
Ik Hr want the cheapest photograph iu
Oregou, go to Thwaitcs, on Yamhill street,
betw een Fourth and Fifth (sign of the Little
Oal'ery liouud the Corner), w here you can jret
cabinets for ft uid cards for $2 per dozen.
In Washington Territory about one-third of
the lands granted aro fit for agricultural pur
poses. The icmainder consists cither of
sterile plateaus along tho Columbia river and
its tributaries, or of a mountainous wilder
ness of timber within the Cascade range.
As the construction of the road progresses,
the company's lands, where suitable and not
too distant, are being occupied by settlers
making ficd homes and engaging in agricul
ture, In some cases settlements in advance
ot construction are made along and near the
line, 111 anticipation of its early completion.
Tho settlers are principally from the eastern
and middle States. The compiny has estab
lished ait emigration agency in Europe,
through whose instrumentality a large num
ber of Scandinavians aro brought into the
country traversed by the road. The character
of the development of the country is that
effected by an industrious agricultural perma
nent population.
Tho want of surveys of the public lands ad
jacent to the road has been a great obstacle
tn settlement. But in order to remove the
difficulty as iar as pooiblo, the company has.
for some years, been offering to actual settlers
tho unsnrvcyed agricultural lands embraced
in its grant at a price not exceeding two dol
lar and sixty cents per acre; so that, if", when
tho land 9 are surveyed, a settler is found on
an odd section, he is sure of obstaining title
to his land and improvements for about the
same price as he could purchase adjoining
laud from the government.
The western terminus of the portion of the
road under construction in the Yellowstone
valley is 10 miles bevond the mouth of the
Big Horn river. Wing S10J miles from Lake
!uperior, aud SC3 miles from St. Paul,
The eastern terminus of the western section
of the road, iu course of construction from the
Pacific coast it 2.1S utile from the confluence
of the Snake and Columbia rivers, leaving a
gap of CM miles to be constructed to form a
continuous railroad line from Lake Superior
to Portland, Oregon, and Puget Sound. 1
Total to bo expended 842,507,265 87
'1 he bridge over tho Missouri river is ap
proaching completion and the cost of it alone
will bo about S1,000,000.
There has been no construction company,
or any other similar combination among the
directors or stockholders of the comnanv.
Or, in other w ords, no profits have been made
by anyone connected with tho management
out of the construction of any portion of tho
company's road. All the construction work
has been either dono by the company for its
own account, or let to the lowest bidder for
contracts under public competition. In the
same way all the construction material, motive
power and rolling stock has been purchased,
directly by the company in tho open market
ou tho lowest possible terms for cash.
It is but a few years since the name of tho
Northern Pacific railroad bore the stigma of a
visionary, bankrupt, and worthless enterprise.
The contrast between the sanguine promises
tnado regarding it previous to 1873 and the
complete collapse that overtook it in that
year, was so striking that tho wreck became
the object of universal reproach, ridicule and
distrust. Then the completed portion of the
main line was represented as having been
built from an all but an arctio inland sea, in,
part through a w ildcrness of tamarack swamps,
and in part through an unproductive prairie
desert, and hence as altogether unlikely to
obtain a paying traffic. The value of the com
pany's land grant was then pronounced to be
wholly chimerical. The first mortgage seven
thirty bonds issued by Jay Cooke & Co., fell
to less than one-tenth of their par value, al
though they represented about 500 miles of
finished road, with many millions of acres of
land. This picture of utter discredit disap
peared, and another, epaally untrue, has
taken its place before the public gaze. It is
now suddenly found that evry acre of the
once despised land grant has a fixed money
valuo. Tho discovery has indeed been made
during the present session of Congress that
tho value of the grant, as a whole, is in the
neighborhood of a hundred millions of dollars,
sufficient, it is claimed, not only to pay the
entire cost of the road, but to leave a very
large supplus for distribution among the
stockholders.
As usual, the real truth lie between the
two extremes. Whilo pronouncing as utterly
without foundation the extravagant estimates
of this value of our land grant, we do fully
admit and gratefully acknowledge that it has
been a most valuable aid in the fulfillment of
the national task imposed upon the company,
w hich it has been struggling for long years to
fulfill. But we contend that the aid our tin.
dertaking derives from 'its land grant lies in
the future, rather than in the past or present;
aud that such aid must at any time appear as
trifliug in comparison with the enormous sac
rifice and losses undergone in the past, ai.d
tho burdens and liabilities more recently as
sumed in commencing and carrying through
this great national enterprise.
The main line from within twenty-four
miles of lake Superior to Bismarck, on the
Missouri, and what is known as the Pacific
division, the lino connecting the Columbia
river w ith the Tuget Sound, was completed
before the failure of the company in conse
quence of the crisis of 1873. The cost of
these two sections of road represented the
proceeds of about $32,000,000 of seven-thirty
bonds sold by Jay Cooke & Co to more than
7,000 different firms and individuals, and a
floating debt of $5,000,000, in all $37,000,000.
No income has ever been derived from this
enormous investment since 173, and tho
340.183 80
Tho interest and slllkinL-flltid rhnrfrna nr ti.a ,.,. Af
the Fend d'Oreile division oro $399,000.
The earnings proper of that division from
tno umo it wus turned over to the ope
rating department, to May 1, 18S2,
havobeen g 59 C00 95
The operating expenses during thesamo '
period have been 4080172
Net earnings c 1 803 23
The receipts from tho sale of lands per- "'
talningto this division are $ 170,707 26
Total net earnings and proceeds of sales
of land g .00 515 tn
Against Interest and sinking-" fund '
cll"?es 399,000 00
Deficiency S 209,484 51
I'he Yellowstone division being at present
under construction the earnings on completed
portion are credited to "construction ac
count." The net receipts to Mav 1, 1SS2, from the
sales of lands In this division covered
bj the general first mortgage amount
w.h"VV'.'ii.j";i".i.'.,i:"'A, : s ,'W M.
charVes "'teres ana sinning luntl
Summarizing the foregoing figures relative to the
three divisions, it thus appears :
1. That tho capital sum ot 816,221.709 00
'' ;" expended on their construction.
Tl ,,' "," total '"come from the operation of the
three divisions and from the sale of lands pertaining
to them up to May 1, 1S81. has been
3. W hilo tho Interest and
slnkine; fund chat-irei pre.
ated on their account hav e
been
777,000 00
Makings tctal deficiency of..
8549,6:3 31
$16,771,382 31
This is a striking illustration of our saying
that the value of the land grant lies in the
future rather than in the past or present.
The facts and figures given in the foregoing
lead inevitably to the conclusion that as an
unfinished losal line, the Northern Pacific can
never fulfill tho expectations of its originators
and their successors, and that it can only be
come a paying enterprise as far as the stock
nolders are concerned, upon its completion as
a through line from Lake Superior to the Pa
cific ocean. We are glad to say that the se
curity which we were in a position to offer in
the form of constructed line, and nf th lnn.la
granted to the company, has enabled us to
negotiate a mortgage loan, the proceeds of
Which Will Hermit of the nnmnlntinn nf ,
main line, as contemplated by the charter of
the company beforo the close of 18S3. But
our success in this respect is largely depend
ent upon our ability to keep good that part of
the seourity underlying the general consoli
dated mortgage, represented by tho land
grant, and we have such firm faith in the
justice of Congress and in the merits of our
cause, that we feel no apprehension as to the
result.
'iES.
THE NEW SILENT, NO. 8.
-aLft No Shuttle to Thread!
Makes the Lock Stitcht
Embroiders, Darns,
Mends, Letters,
and
makes Insertion.
Sews on Buttons with
out any attachment.
Lightest running and most durable Machines
in tho World.
One of these will Outwear any-two Shuttle
iuacutnes, anu a cniia can manage it.
EVERY ONE WHO TRIES IT IS DELIGHTED.
Husbands who wish to save doctor's bills and
their wives' health, buy it
Tbe best or all kinds of fteedlr and Oils
Alwars ou band
MACHINES REPAIRED AND WORK WARRANTED
Wheeler & Wikon Mauuf g Co.,
88 Morrison St., Portland.
E. C. NEWELL, Manager.
Orders for the country filled promptly,
nov4-lv
DR. WITUYCOMBE, V. S.
VETERINARY SURGEON,
Portland, Orrsoa.
Writes Prescriptions 'or Disewetof all classes of stock
rice, tl for each prescription written. Bute sjnnpj
Lotus and age of animals as near as possible.
Osaee C. V. Bacon's Bltdthatl. Stables. S3 Second
SL, bet. Stark and Oak.
stesldmre t Thirteenth and Taylor fits.
E. O. CLARK, D.D.S. C. R. TEMFLETON, D.D.
CLARK TEHPLETO
DENTISTS
CorncrpTrst aadgAldw Sua, over FUbel, & Felsr
FOKTLAMD, OREGON.
NgjragSS