OCR Text |
Show j ;;i THE SALT LAKE ROUTE DISASTER. . In the few short years of its existence, the Salt Lake Eoute has had to contend with a series of floods in the Meadow Valley wash which did considerable con-siderable damage to its tracks. This series cul- j minated last week in the greatest flood of all, in , which no less than 150 miles of the track was swept away. At this time the extent of the disaster has not been fully determined, but that it was more ex- : tensive than any that went before, and amounts to a calamity, is agreed. Seven times the railroad has 1 - been inundated in the Meadow Valley wash. Three years ago a great flood swept down from the mountains moun-tains and carried away the tracks, but this damage : was repaired and the track raised and rip-rapp put ' ' in that it was thought would withstand any flood which might occur. But the flood last week was . higher than any that had ever been known or even thought possible. It came after a season of heavy j " snow in the hills, a mild wind, accompanied by rain, and the rush of water which swept down upon . the tracks was too much, and the work of three : ! ; : years ago was destroyed. Thousands yes, mil- lion? of dollars' loss was sustained. '; To say that the people of Utah feel the disaster to the Salt Lake lioute as almost a personal loss is but stating a truth. During its brief career the railroad lias made many friends among the people i of the intcrmountain country. The people have felt that this railroad opened up a new era in the i. history of Salt Lake. It furnished a direct route t '. " to the summer climate and sunny skies of southern ' ' , California, and placed the semi-tropical fruits of 1 ; that region upon the markets of Utah. It extended '. branch lines into the mining camps of Nevada and '( thus opened up a source of wealth that could be . '. tapped in jio other way. The barrenness of much of the territory covered by the new line made the ' building of it much more venturesome than the m building of most railroads, and the people were glad - and rejoiced when evidence of prosperity made il f . plain lhat the road was a success. It earned the . ? : name of Utah's most popular railroad. ,i r But the flood has paralyzed the system. It has ( - i . virtually put Salt Lake's great artery of trade to the ' 1 j: ' i southwest out of business. Probably no other rail- 1 ' rotul has over suffered so creat a loss. And as a ;''' result, curtailment of expense has become necessary, j'nd all along the line reductions of the working forces are lxing made, not because the men are not j ' valuable men, but because the road lias been put out J , of business. In the opinion of some the present line 3 . will never be reopened, and the officials of the roud decide to build by another route, a year or ; more elapse before the Salt Lake Route will resume ; i ; through traffic to Los Angeles. It has been sug- j . 7 . j 1 gested that a relocation is manifestly necessary, j : i . and the Dixie land of southern Utah offers the best , l route. Just now nobody knows what will be done. "!,-' Wires are down and chaos exists. No doubt it will all work out pretty well in the end, for the men who ; ; : made the Salt Lake Route what it has been will not i . ' be content to quit because a hundred and fifty ;i miles of track have been washed away. But the dis- : J ', aster places a hardship upon the men who operated ; I the road and who have been laid off. Hundreds of j enginemcn, brakemen and conductors, freight rust- , . lers, baggagemen, station agents and heads of de- I - ' partments with their numerous clerks and stcnog- j : raphors have been affected by the necessary curtail- ; ment. Among those in Salt Lake who have worked ? ,' faithfully and well to build up the Salt Lake Route, i and whose services have done much to win for it the , ; ; : , title, "Utah's most popular railroad," who have j been displaced are Kenneth C. Kerr, district pas- t I senger agent and F. X. Jenkinson, city ticket agent. ' ; 1 Certainly no railroad ever had a more efficient 1 1 corps of agents or a more obliging set of gentle- ' i ' men than these. And it is hoped the necessity of ' t their displacement will be soon overcome. , The flood was a staggering blow to the railroad ' . . " and to Salt Lake and Utah. It .is hard for those r, who have never been over the line to realize its im- t mensity. But when it is stated that the track is g.one from Acoma to Moapa, 150 miles, about the ' same distance as the width of the state of Indiana, some idea of its extent may be gained. It is hard to find a consoling feature about the disaster, but : 'j there is one, at least. The railroad operated long f enough to prove its value, and having done that the C Kork of rebuildicff on another route can be taken up -i , : . u . with assurances of ultimate success and public appreciation. ap-preciation. The two ends of the road will continue in operation, oper-ation, from San Pedro to Moapa, and from Salt Lake to Acoma, although numerous minor washouts on the southern end will have to be repaired. The gap, with Caliente near its center, it may be, will never-be replaced. But the Salt Lake Route, we have no doubt, will be rebuilt, and this for two reasons: rea-sons: First, the owners of the road have proved themselves to be no quitters, and, second, a direct route to southern California has proved a necessity that we cannot get along without. In the meantime we extend our commiseration to the road and to the men whose means of livelihood has been thus suddenly sud-denly cut off, and wish for all that unbounded success suc-cess which their ability and industry and obligingness obliging-ness prove they merit. |