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Show I SIERRA DIVISION TROLUfiEl Some of the Inspiring Sights Enjoyed by Western Pacific Party. FEATHER RIVER SCENERY HAS NEVER BEEN EXCELLED Visitors En Routi to the Golden Gate Are Having a Glorious Glori-ous Trip. BY KENNETH C. KERR. Speclnl to Tho Tribune. ' OROVILLE, Aug 21. It has bceii ii dny of celebrations. Tlio whole populace of this part of California, for htilf a contnr' closeted in tho ric.li canyon can-yon of tho Feather and without transportation trans-portation facilities, is welcoming tho Western Pacific. At Ulairsden, a siding on tho slopo of the Sierras, was scon the most unique celebration. The people peo-ple of Johnsville, six miles away, had come to the stution with a brass band. Tho crowd numbered 2000, and a speech of welcome was nrndo by Mayor Ajjnew of that place. Hnrtwcll is tho stntion for Quincy, Plumas county, and v tho old home of John S. Bransford. It 8 is four miles from the railroad, but autos and wagons brought tho crowd over, and tho sunll was there, too. Many asked after M'or Bransford. Speochos at Hartwell were made by Congressman Kalin and E. L. Lomax. Orovillo's Wolcomc. Oroville, the gateway to the Pacific, was reached on timo at 5 o'clock. Twenty Twen-ty Chinese stnrtcd the welcome by setting set-ting off 50,000 firecrackers, and then the brass band played a lively air as Mayor JCusel headed the welcoming delegation. Automobiles driven by the fair daughters or hospitable sons of California wore in waiting, and all the visitors woro whirled away ou a sightseeing sight-seeing trin through a crowd of 10,000 people cheering wildly. The drivo led through citrus and olive groves, with :i visti of the pine-clad Sierras beyond. . . At the Odd Fellows' homo refreshments wore served, and Major A. V. .Tones, tho pi one r of. Oroville, made tho address of welcome in a splendid snrcch to tho . railroad and newspaper visitors. At-y At-y tonic v Max Thclcn of tho U'estorn Pa-. Pa-. cifie responded brilliantly for the new railroad, and. the correspondent of The Salt Lake Tribune was asked to respond re-spond for the newspaper crowd. Among those welcoming the train was .1. l IS vans, formerly of the lVo Grande at "alt Lake and now general auditor of the Western Pacific. Another, Sam Norris of Springvillc, who located the Park City loop and who was a locating MAYOR O. E. KUSEL, of Oroville. " WESTERN PACIFIC D EPOT AT OROVTLUI. i Oroville's Welcome in Song to the jjj i Western Pacific f Thundering down the grand old can- Now In cul-de-sac no longer, ? ' yon, Gould hes pierced the Rockies' y T Waking echoes far and near, door; y v Comes tho friend wo long Iiavc Pacific Western road Is open, y r waited; ' Oicn wide from shoro to shore! 4 f Comes the sound we've longed to r r hear. And we give you hearty welcome, n Friend of tills rich virgin soil. rr Y Through the heart of the Sierras, You, the world's wide marts have f Down the Feather river grand: opened; p Scenes no other clime can equal. Now wo see reward for toll. r Y Even far-famed Switzerland. Y Y Then a-down tho Sacramento, Y Y Through pine forests, where the red Leagues and leagues of this gnmd Y Y men state, Y Y Tracked the Hon. stalked tho deer, To the fairest, greatest city, Y Y Past the roaring falls and cascades, Oakland, at the Golden Gate Y Y Waters sparkling crystal clear Y Y Where the stately ships are lying, Y To the lovely fertile valley, On tho broad Pacific's breast, Y T To the homo of grains and fruit. To complete the world-wide Journey. Y Y To the land of golden plenty, TIiuh you've Joined the East and T Oroville tho Gem of Butte, West. T. Welcome'. Welcome! Yes, thrlco wcl- "X, J come t T. To this land of fruit and flowers: T, 3. You have cut the chain that hound X. ll3 JL T And your interest shall be ours! T T Mary Cameron Benjamin. T I ? engineer through the Feather Kiver canyon. He is now a candidate for Biir'vovor of Butto county and suro of election. lonight the river dredges were irspcctcQ bv electric light, and the town is giving a reception to tho visitors. SIGHT-SEERS ARE UP WITH THE MORNING SUN Special to Tho Tribune. OROVILLE. Cal., Aug. 21. The crowd of Western Pacific sight-seers was up with tbo sun, although the night had been a trying one, with everyone in Winnemucca ondeavoring to entertain tho visitors. The train left the Nevada town nt :1 a. m. for tho daylight trip across the state and to afford ample time during the day to enjoy tho magnificent scenery in crossing the Sierra Nevada range. The day has been full of wonders of man's combat with nature, for that is what it means, the construction of this low-grade low-grade line over tho mighty mountains 1 made famous bv Bret Harte. Talk about the hot pols of Wasatch county, tho natural bridges of San Juan, tho Rio Grando's hanging bridge in the Royal Gorge or the Canyon of tho Grand they are all hore and to Bpare. Nature has painted the rooks in rainbow rain-bow colors; it has hung great ledges in the canyon upon which Bogue and Mc-Cartne- were enabled to build their track; her artisans of a prehistoric ago have thrown in waterfalls, gulches, cascades, rippling streams, above which tho glorious piuen of the well-known region gracefully bend and bow a welcome wel-come to the" traveler from the far cast. The route traversed today covered the balance of the Humboldt division from Winnemucca to Gorlach. tho time chnnging at tho last named point from mountain" to Pacific time, tho Sierra division di-vision from Gorlach to Spanish creek crossing and the North Pork division form Spanish creok crossing to Oroville. The North Fork division presents throo distinct features. It takes in the best of the scencr-, it has the majority of the fino concrete and steel ' span bridges and it has twenty-eight one of the total of forty-three tunnels on i.ho road. Sierra Division a Wonder. However, the Sierra division is distinctive dis-tinctive from the fact that it includes five tunnels, two of which nro very long; tho Spring Garden tunnel, at mile post 300, is 7300 feet long, and in its construction tho company encountered en-countered some difficulty. The excavators excava-tors ran into a fissure 700 feet wide and filled with mud and water. Next they came acroBR a bod of finely broken up black basalt, and then they encountered an old river bed, where thov had to contend with boulders, sand and gravel. Tho Bockwith pass tunnel is at mile post 313. at the summit of tho Sierras, and is G006 feet in length. Most of the bridge work is to .be found on tho North Fork and Sierra divisions. di-visions. On the North Fork division there are thirteen structures. Bridgo No. IS, over the Middle Fork of tho Feather river, near its junction with the main stream, has two 125-foot dock-truss dock-truss spans and three 65-foot deck girder spans on high coucrctc piers and abutmonts. The west span or the truss .structures was erected on false work and tho other spun cantilever fashion, with a derrick car. Several of the bridges consist of a span of plate girdors at tho middle, or over the stream, supported upon framed piers or towers, with a wooden trestle on either side. Feather River Scenery. Tho most scenic part of the lino from the tourist's point of . view is perhaps the Feather Itiver ennj-on, down which tho road pusses through the Siorra Nevada Ne-vada mountains. This canyon begins at Portola, Cal., on the Middle Fork of the Feather river, and extends to Oroville, Cal., a distanco of 110 miles. Over most of this distanco tho canyon is a narrow defile with stoop rocky slopes, whero the river, during ages past, has chiseled its way through tho mountain. This being on tho western slope of the Sierra Nevadas, whore rainfall rain-fall and snowfall are plentiful, much water passes off through this stroam, and during high water the Feather river, at some of tho narrow passes in the canyon, has been known to riso forty-five feet above its normal level. To avoid danger from these floods the rond has been located well above the stream, at 100 feet to 200 feet or higher. At many points tho sides of j the caip'on are so precipitous that in-J ' BENO(EEE TRESTLE. '-' J SURVEYING IN W f FEATHER RIVER CANYON. f sufficient room was found for the roadbed, road-bed, without very deep cuttings, so that, in theso places, tho roadbed is supported partly or altogether upon high masonry walls built up from solid foundation. At Sulphur, Nev., there is a large do-posit do-posit of sulphur, of commercial quality, which is being minod and shipped out over tho Western Pacific railway. At a pointy threo miles north of Gerlach is a spouting geyser. In Humboldt valley stock raising is already a considerable industry;, and agriculture is expected to develop later on, through irrigation, so that there is promise of no little traffic hi this region, which years ago was considered but a worthless desert. With the completion of tho lino and the inauguration of passenger service by tho Western Pacific on Monday, Salt Lake City and San Francisco .become .be-come the torminnl of a new and most important transcontinental Hue, this being tho third to enter the Golden Gate City. By reason of this new and direct extension of the Rio Grande Donvor, all Colorado and Utah become nearer and more intimately connected than over before in all social and trade relations with tho Pacific const, and tho important systems of the Burlington, Burling-ton, Rock Island & Missouri Pacific are furnished a direct and independent outlet through the transmouutain coun try to the Pacific coast. Something Atout Oroville. Oroville, tho city of gold and soon to bo tho vnlley ot aolden fruit. Whilo the mammoth dredges are working tho gold out of the river, the farmers have been demonstrating that this climate is equal to that of the Riversido valley, and behold, the ornnge. the lemon and tho olive on thousands of acres. And they are making a success of it. The Orovillo committco, composed of live wires, met tho .train at Portola and over since tho visitors have been flood-ed- with fruit, literature and Oroville talk. It is a protty place, with tho river, the vast orchards, tho wcll-kopt streets and substantial business blocks, all croato at once a lasting impression, and tho coming of tho "Western Pacific adds to the picture of the future. Tho Western. Pacific has a line Mission Mis-sion stylo station and here tho train was met by the entire population, with the band, and tho girls and boys all drcsBed as for n Sunday school picnic. These people appreciate the new road. and they are already on the map and' realize it. fl: Sightseeing was in order, aud some B of the things vicwea wero the Great Western Power company's hydro-elec- jfl trie plant, one of the largest in tho fl United States; groves of citrus fruits and olives, orchards of all other vane- IS ties of small fruits; the eastward view H; of tho Sierra range and tho westward H view of the wonderful Sacramento yal- jfli ley; tho gold dredges and olive mills; Hi the famous steel bridge over tho H Feather; scenery of every description; B the concrete levee to protect tho town ' ml' from high water; a trip to beautiful. 'Mf; Thermalito and everything that a pros- j'lk perous valley can produce or a lively "I? citv exhibit. Is Orovillo is all right and it has a fu- ( turc. Its mayor is C. S. Kusel, who( , warmlv wolcomed the visitors and ex-i A plained in a fino speech tho wonders W and attractions of the valley and city. i M |