Show THE SALT LAKE FORT DOUGLAS Its Traffic and Its Relations With Salt Lake City Of the plans that have been laid for the development of Salt Lake city since the awakening of her people a couple of years ago says a writer in the Salt Lake Journal of Commerce there has been nothing noth-ing accomplished more directly to our benefit than the construction of the SaltY Salt-Y Lake Fort Douglas railway and that of the Salt Lake Eastern When the chamber of commerce first by its directory direc-tory and afterwards at a large meeting of its members passed its resolutions of support and confidence in Mr John W Young and his enterprises it was the first public acknowledgement acknowledge-ment he received that the benefits and advantages ad-vantages that would accrue from his labors lab-ors had been recognized Since then the wishes for his success and his assurances made in return have been abundantly realized rea-lized Although we made an early start on a recent trip it was nearly night when we returned to the depotwith much expanded ideas of the future certainties and possibilities possi-bilities of the roads The trains all start from the Utah Nevada Uth depot The course is thence south and along Eighth South as far as Liberty park where it curves south to the next street and continues con-tinues to the Salt Lake and Jordan canal on the edge of the east bench By this time it has already passed several concerns from which traffic of some importance has been received such as the Burton Gard nsr fence factory the ovens of Elias Morris Mor-ris where he works his firebrick sewer pipe and other of his specialties the shops of Mr E Cook the contractor Leflors flour mills now enlarged and supplied sup-plied with the roller system while the regular reg-ular trains have secured their passenger fares from tho several stations and platforms plat-forms at regular intervals On reaching the canal the Junction the choice is open northward to the Fort or southward to Parleys and Mill Creek We chose the Fort for the early morn so early that we felt no temptation to stop as the train passed the open doors of the Salt Lake brewing companys extensive works The beautiful city lay wrapped in morning mystery beneath us as we whirled around the edge of the plateau past Fullers gardens gar-dens and we wondered as many do who break thus from the life of away busy the I streets why we did not oftener spin out into the fresh air of the uplands for an hour or two I can be done so easily so cheaoly and with such comfort in this way A few hundred yards past Fullers hill we reach the city gravel banks where a number num-ber of cars were being loaded for the morning morn-ing gravel train morI Near here the Salt Lake Supply and Forwarding For-warding company have one of their many depots for the sale and distribution of coal rock and lumber A difficult climb is made to the summit of the hill via an ancient water course Then the whole Salt Lake valley spreads out to the view with the snowclad Wasatch uprising to the east and the western horizon bounded by the great salt sea with it islands faintly outlined out-lined in the purple distance At the turn in the road is another brick yard and limekilns lime-kilns and quarries close at hand are said contain from three to five per cent less silica than those to the northwest of the cityAt At this point also a spur leads to the old Popper ranch at the mouth of DRY CANTON a track of about a hundred and fifty acres now in the hands of a syndicate operating in Colorado and other eastern states with the intention of making here an elaborate residence suburb The tract covers the mouth of Dry canon up which a wagon road has been built for several miles to deposits of clays and stone Here was located many years ago the only soap and candle factory between San Francisco and Omaha it being operated Mr Charles Popper who afterwards obtained ob-tained title to the whole property by a special spec-ial act of Congress From the top of the hill to the station in Fort Douglas is a comparatively easy stretch though only those who had charge I of the construction can appreciate the difficulties dif-ficulties that had to be overcome before the track could be laid for this pleasant ride For the roadbed is solid and the heavy fifty two pound rails ring as the powerful locomotive slowly but steadily mounts the steepest grades and the panorama of the valley gradually unrolls beneath us We do not need to point out the importance import-ance to the road of TiE FonT DOCGLAS TRAFFIC I was the principal objective of the rail way and amounts to enormous figures A safe computation of the freights received under ordinary circumstances is six million pounds per annum a figure which is largely increased whenever any building or other improvements are going on The freight 1 however is nearly all one way as it is eB1 mated that there not over forty tons of stuff sent out In a year Just before reaching the station near the quartermasters offices at the Fort the road branches in twoother directions one up Red Butte canon and the other across country to Emigration canon and Wagners brewery After a brief stay at the Fort just long enough to witness the daily drill at 9 oclock we made for the quarries ii RED DUE COTYON a distance of a couple of miles This portion por-tion of the road is perhaps the heaviest grade of all and might offer some difficult ties in operation but for the happy feature that the cars invariably go up empty and descend loaded There is no thoroughfare through Red Butte canon but it leads by comparatively easy ways into the high mountains north of the duty giving access to a great variety of deposits of a mineral character In the short stretch from the hot springs to Red Butte canon there are valuable stores of pure silica iron ores ochres black gray and variegated marbles lithographic stone brick clays in great variety fire clay fire stone talc many kinds of valuable building stone thermal springs of great importance and many other matters of unknown value There I are indications of coal silver and lead and rumors of gold but there are such a number I num-ber of deposits of obvious value and extent that we can afford to leave out I of the category all that is uncertain The Salt Lake Fort Douglas road plunges right into the heart of these his and has already opened up several of these possibilities We believe Mr Young owns several sections of the land in Red Butte canon Salt Lake city and the Fort are supplied with nearly all their building stone from the Red Butte quarries and the Supply company connected with the line has already six or seven depots de-pots established for its delivery at various va-rious points The products of the quarries includes rubble footing and dimension rock of fine soft sandstone of a salmon hue very familiar to our citizens who have seen it in nearly all our structures since building began in the city It is probable also that the large deposits of brick caIn ca-in this canon will be utilized calon wi utlzed ere long as it is especially valuable on account of its fine red color The Salt Lake glass works purchased pur-chased several carloads of the fire stone as they had found by experiment that it was suitable for making the benches for their pots and for use in other ways The lithographic stone fouud close by in inexhaustible in-exhaustible quantities has the appearance of being equal io the finest Bavarian and it is quite possible may prove to be as satisfactory sat-isfactory the German 1 so it is more valuable than a silver mine as the demand for good lithographic stone in America is far greater than ever before while every pound that is used has to be imported from abroad Leaving this important district we spin down the canyon at a lively rate and in a few minutes are again at the branches of the road near the Fort We now take a pleasant run of a mile across the bench aud sweeping around a graceful grace-ful curve find ourselves stopped at the California Brewery near the mouth of EMIGRATION CANYON I was now high noonforwo had stopped to sketch or to take a photograph at nearly every turn in the road besides interviewing interview-ing every man woman and child we met which had so engrossed us that we had no idea how hungry we were until the brewery brew-ery came in sight While enjoying the beiming hospitality of the rcuial Wagener wo listened to a few statistics of the amount of traffic the road will find per annum with the brewery To begin with he requires a million and a half pounds of coal and two hundred tons of cuke a year for his furnaces then he brings in at least fifty carloads of barley bar-ley and as many more carloads of empty kegs and bottles Add to this his hops and miscellaneous freights and the total inward in-ward traffic foots up to some four and > half million pounds per annum Emigration canon is historical as being the pass from which emerged in 1S17 the first of the pioneers to gaze upon the valley and the site of the future city For some years it continued to be the entrance way t the valley until the more direct route through Parleys canon was opened THE MILL CREEK BRANCH This route winds for several miles along the badks of the Salt Lake and Jordan canal along which the road purchased a right of way from the city The character of the country coun-try hereabojts as pastoral and serene as the other branches are mountainous and wild For a couple of miles the way is through farms and meadows the first stoppage stop-page being at the old paper mill in SugarHouse Sugar-House ward now enlarged and remodeled into a round house for the Salt Lake Eastern whose line here branches off running past the penitentiary to Parleys canon Tho Salt Lake Fort Douglas continues southward south-ward as though to pass through all the thriving farming settlements on the eastern eas-tern side of the valley when it suddenly comes to an end at nowhere In this three and a half mile run however there are several telltale indications of the reason why the road went no farther at the time it was built Land owners along the route more than once compelled the builders build-ers to swerve for several rods from their line making awkward kinks in the road which tell to every passenger that at those points the ground is owned by a mossback who has not yet been overtaken by the spirit of progress and development In the neighborhood of this city there were not many who hindered the course of the road On the contrary many instances of generosity and hearty welcome marked the acquisition of rights of way But when some of the people of these settlements grew exorbitant in their price of passage they put so severe a check on the line that Mr Young thought he would give them time to think over whether that was true hospitality to an enterprise that was certainly cer-tainly calculated to do as much good to them as it would to himself From what we learn in conversation with some who reside along the proposed route the lesson has not been unheeded It seems there is a choice of routes and now the good folks along each are vieing with each other to see which can offer the greater induce I ment to have it come their way They see I more clearly the benefits which accrue to those along the passage of a friendly rail way and prize the chance now that it might slip through their fingers and go some other way Like many another town in this territory and elsewhere they run a risk of sighingovar what might have been and it Is in every way fortunate for them that the Salt Lake Fort Douglas railway stopped to give them time to think instead of cutting out their chance for over by ta ing another route I the many miles of fertile lands on the eastern side of the valley there are the settlements of Sugar House Mill Creek Brintons Holidayburg Big Cottonwood Little Cottonwood and Union Fort all of which might be linked together by this enterprising en-terprising system i they would meet it half way with a liberal spirit When that day comes this run down the valley will be one of the most charming rides in the te world Under the shadow of the mighty W wa ch through meadows of glowing green past thrifty farms and waving fields of grain along sparkling brooks through groves of native timber with cattle grazing ing in the fertile anI well fertlo el watered bottoms bot-toms and the gigantic mountain front pilIng Ing up to the east with the snow banks iaT full view all summer long there is no other scene so magnificent and beautiful 1 i along a line of railway anywhere It Is j not extravagant to say this Travelers and artists confess It who have wandered the whole world over in search of tho sublime sub-lime and beautiful They compare it to the valley of Castile in Spain to the valley of Tenochtitlan in Mexico to Chamouni to Cashmere all of which differ widely in characteristics but of characteristcs none them surpass our valley in beauty And it is on the rich and fertile eastern slope with the mountains looming up so grandly where the charms of tho vale are best realized and y appreciated A foretaste of theso pleas ures is to be had already by a trip on the Mill Creek branch of the Fort Douglas to to its present terminus at Nowhere but it only whets the appetite to a enjoyment en-joyment of a tour over the lines when Mr John W Youngs projects are fulfilled I has been repeatedly stated by its projectors jectors that the Salt Lake Fort Douglas railway is pnly local in its aims andwe have seen nothing to indicate any designs beyond this But it is just now dawning on the people that a local system of this sort can be made profitable and proftable they are beginning to rid themselves of the idea that ulterior designs are at its back Even now there are days when the regular reglar trains are taxed to promptly perform tho business that springs up at every turn |