Show elgi till conru PACIFIC RAILROAD the following has keon keen issued by the N 11 E R E R co it is official and indicates steady progress at this date october 1872 regular freight and passenger trains have been running for eight months on schedule timo time over the main line of the north pacific road from duluth to the eastern border of dakota miles the track is laid and construction trains now run a considerable distance westward across dakota all but a small portion of the 1 woo 12 miles between the lied red river and the crossing of tho the missouri is graded track laying is progressing at t the 0 rate of two miles per day and by the close of the present season the road is to be completed and in operation to the missouri river miles from the west line of minnesota and miles west of lake superior all material and equipment are purchased and ready for the completion and operation of this section of t the e road on the pacific coast in washington territory a finished section of 25 miles has been in regular operation for some months and an additional extent of 40 miles is now approaching completion making 65 miles at the western end that will be in running order the present season this will give a total of miles of road noad put in operation in a little more than twenty four months from the date of beginning work notwithstanding the necessary delay of the first year attendant upon tile the prosecution of thorough preliminary surveys and the selection of the best line through a densely wooded region A better idea of the real magnitude of the work accomplished will be con oon conveyed eyed oyed b by stating that the portion of the worthern northern pacific road now approaching completion is considerably longer than the new kork vork york central railroad and its connecting lines extending from albany new york to cleveland ohio nearly as long as the combined combined roads reaching from portland maine through boston providence new haven new york philadelphia phi Ph ladelphia adelphia and baltimore to washington and eind almost one and a half times the length of an air line from london to glasgow surveys in addition to this actual construction the tho work of surveying and locating the entire line acro across ss the continent has been pushed with system and vigor summer and winter careful engineering glue giue gi ering and the selection of the best several possible lines have in lauy instances reduced the cost of construction considerably below the the original estimates continuous surveys and examinations have been made from lake superior to puget sound with the exception of a short section on the yellow stone river which is now being surveyed the result of two years careful examinations more than justify the companas Comp anys expectations and statements regarding the favorable character of the valley route to the pacific both in respect to ease erse of railroad construction and operation and tho good quality of the country traver traversed sed by the line exclusive of the sections already completed or under construction there are miles now being finally located and prepared for contract co atrach this includes the section of miles exten extending extending din along the valley of heart river from ta the crossing of tho the missouri in central dakota to the crossing of the yellowstone tono in eastern montana and the section between the mouth of snake river and lake pen dorceille dO west of tho the range the rocky mountains traffic the section of the road now in operation across minnesota already a ift gr tramm traffic le lic ludIng the carrying trade of the british settlements in manitoba and of the hudson bay company three steamboats for the accommodation of this latter business ply on the red river of the north between the rall railroad road crossing and the winnipeg in british america the completion of this seasons contracts will give the road noad immediate and permanent control of the very large and profitable traffic of the upper missouri river including the government in the northwest northwest A short distance above the point where the road boad strikes the missouri bour sour the latter bends to the west carrying a navigable waterway water way 1000 miles from the railroad crossing to the foot of the rocky bocky mountain divide at fort benton in western montana As many as thirty three steamers have been em emi aloyed in a single season to accommodate the trade of these upper per pen waters thus on the opening IT 0 of navigation next spring there will be a direct east andrest and west line for travel and transportation part river and part rall rail from st paul and lake Superior in longitude 92 to the populous portion of western montana in longitude from fort benton westward across the summit itis less than miles to the head of reliable and constant stream navigation on the columbia which river carries this natural high way to ocean lands the portion of the road now nearing hearing completion will at once entitle the northern pacific railroad rali rail road company to and place in its possession about ten million acres of the land granted by the government an area twice the size of massachusetts the lands are adjacent to either side of the track in central Minnesota Eastern dakota and western vestern washington they are mainly prairie farming lands of excellent average quality the negla negia remainder inder being covered with valuable forests of timber they lie directly in the path of immigration and settlement have a sufficient rainfall a climate of unsurpassed healthfulness and in the main a sin aln productive soil boll before advertising its lands the company had already received applications chiefly from actual settlers for lor nearly a quarter of a million acres the land department of the company is fully organized and in active operation nearly two million acres of the companas Comp anys lands partly in minnesota and partly artly in washington territory have reen been surveyed examined plotted appraised and placed in marut market a at t a cost of about one cent per acre sales bales are now being made and the seven thirty first mortgage bonds of the com pany have already begun to be cancelled tany eany by y being received iu in payment for lands at a premium of ten per cent settlement in connection with the land department has been organized a bureau of immigration to promote and hasten the settlement of the country tributary to theroan the ther Road oad agencies are established in the older states of the union and in europe through which information is diffused and every reasonable facility furnished to organized colonies and intending settlers equally whether they desire to locate on free government homesteads or obtain railroads or both under mhd auspices of this department large and convenient reception houses have been built and furnished at each of the several principal points on the road boad to serve as temporary free homes for settlers and their families while engaged in selecting lands and preparing their own houses settlement and cultivation of the country keep pace with the steady and solid progress of the road |