The Red Bluff People's Cause reports progress in the work of extending the railroad beyond Redding. Trains will soon be running to Middle Creek, nine miles distant, where a depot for supplies for workmen will be established. Men are at work on both ends of four tunnels. The first is about 700, the second 500, the third 300 and the fourth 2,500 feet long, all within a distance of fifteen miles. Work on these tunnels is prosecuted day and night, and in order to do this effectively there are three shifts of men, so that picks, shovels, etc., never get cold or lie idle, and this thing is likely to be continued for many months to come. Owing to the size of the tunnels only about three feet is dug by each crew every twenty-four hours, making twenty-four feet in all in that time. There are nineteen tunnels to be made on the whole line of the road. Carpenters are paid from $3.25 to $3.50 per and board, Chinamen get $1.15 per day and are required to get all their provisions from Sisson & Wallace, who have four or five stores on the line of the survey.
Placer Argus, Auburn, California, June 28, 1883, page 2

    Monday a gang of about fifty Chinese ceased work. They complained very bitterly of the treatment they received from the company. They are compelled to work for low wages and to buy their supplies from Sisson & Crocker, paying in some instances double prices. The great monopoly steals everything it can get its hands upon. Talking with one Chinaman he said: "Sisse-Crockee no good; heap cheatee Chinaman. Charge four centee la pound lice, fifteen centee la pound hogee." The treatment is simply highway robbery, and nothing more. The Chinese intend to go to work in the harvest field. A case was related to me where a Chinaman purchased a straw hat in town, and happening to have it on while in Sisson & Crocker's store, a clerk reached over and grabbed it, exclaiming, "Where you get him?" and put it upon the shelf, compelling John to purchase it over again of them.
    Track-laying under the veteran Jack Higgins commenced Monday and has reached Middle Creek, a distance of three miles. Thus it can be said that the railroad has left Redding. In a few weeks the headquarters and commissary department will be moved to Spring Creek, about seven miles distant, where it will remain for some time.
    The telegraph gang is following along after the track layers putting up poles and lines so as to have constant communication from the front.
    Gen. Cadwallader and others are bargaining with Syd. McCoy for the use of the gravel pit at his place, the gravel to be used on the track which is now being laid. A section gang will be put on to take charge of the new road from Redding.
    Men are at work on both ends of four tunnels, and blasting is kept up continually. These tunnels are being prosecuted day and night. The wagon road to Sacramento Bridge is about completed.
    Two carloads of Chinese arrived Tuesday night, and while some are striking others are ready to take their places.
    Thursday 400 pounds of powder belonging to the company exploded about eight miles up the road, fortunately doing no damage. A man standing off a hundred yards had his hat blown off. The heat of the sun is supposed to have produced spontaneous combustion. This affair naturally suggested the query, Suppose the powder stored in the depot should explode from the same cause?
    The railroad company are engaged in erecting a large warehouse at the end of their track near the big tunnel, a mile or more beyond the town of Julia, says the Independent. Rumor has it that this will be the permanent station for that section of the country. Whether disagreement between certain officials of the company and the proprietors of the new town has anything to do with the proposed changes, we are not advised, and can only surmise.--Redding Free Press.
Chico Enterprise, June 29, 1883, page 4


    Byron Cole, from over the mountains, was in town several days this week and reports lively times on the Siskiyous.
    The contract for cutting the long tunnel through the Siskiyou Mountains, on the extension of the O.&C.R.R., has been let to Messrs. D. D. McBean and E. J. Jeffrey of Portland. The tunnel is 3100 feet in length and the price per foot paid for constructing it will be $69. It is to be completed by one year from October next.
    Riddle & Wolters have opened a saloon and boarding house near the north end of the Siskiyou tunnel. E. J. Curtis of this place has opened a similar establishment at the south end.
    The gentlemen who accompanied the pay train to the front report things in a rather demoralized condition on that end. Many men are dissatisfied and quitting work, and many are pulling up stakes and going further south, to the Siskiyou tunnel and other points.--Plaindealer.
    J. B. Harris, late superintendent of construction of the Oregon and California railroad, who resigned his position to enter the service of the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, sailed on the 15th for Guatemala to build a railroad from the port of San Jose to the capital.
    Engineer J. A. Hurlburt has received orders from Portland directing him to put the two gangs of Chinamen now in the Siskiyous at work on some heavy cuts near the summit as soon as they have finished the approaches to the tunnel, which will be within about ten days. Mr. Hurlburt, says the Tidings, has the superintendence of all the railroad work in progress in his engineering division.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, June 30, 1883, page 3


    In an interview with Capt. S. L. Dolsen, chief of the engineer corps now working through this valley, who returned from the front last Thursday, we learned the following particulars of the progress of the work: On the 25th of June only twenty-one feet of the Grave Creek tunnel remained to be dug through, and it was expected to be finished today. On the same date there was 460 feet to go in the Cow Creek tunnel, and the 25th of August is the date set for its completion. Grading is progressing finely between the tunnels, and all the light work has been completed. Several gangs of Chinamen have been moved south of the Grave Creek tunnel, and they will be followed by all the grading force before the 20th of July. Within ten days a force will be put on near Dry Diggings, and in thirty days from this date men will be employed on the heavy work around Gold Hill. The bridging and trestle work is all finished to Grave Creek. The bridge crossing Grave Creek is the heaviest on the line, requiring 600,000 feet of lumber and is 130 feet high; will be completed in about three weeks. The heavy trestle work across Brimstone Canyon will also be done about the same time. Graders are so far advanced with their work that tracklayers will not catch up before reaching the Siskiyou tunnel, and Mr. Dolsen thinks the rails will be laid to Ashland by the first of next January. About 4,000 men are now employed--3,000 Chinamen and 1,000 whites. This immense force [is] in charge of M. Volk, Superintendent of Construction.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, June 30, 1883, page 3


    Grave Creek Tunnel No. 9, on the Oregon and California Railroad extension, is completed. The tunnel is 2,100 feet long. Work on Tunnel No. 8 is being crowded forward, and will be completed in about six weeks. There will be a clear track through from Roxbury to the Siskiyou Mountains on the completion of this tunnel.
"Pacific Slope," Sacramento Daily Union, July 2, 1883, page 4


    Mr. Hurlburt's party moved camp Wednesday from the Tolman place to their old "illahee" on Wrights Creek, near W. C. Myer's farm house.
"Railroad Notes," Willamette Farmer, Salem, July 6, 1883, page 6


    The strike of Chinese laborers on the California and Oregon Railroad has suspended all work except upon the culverts, upon which white men are employed.
    Grave Creek Tunnel, No. 9, on the Oregon and California railroad extension is completed. The tunnel is 2,100 feet long.
"Scissors and Pen," Grass Valley Daily Union, Grass Valley, California, July 6, 1883, page 2


    A new boarding house and barn has been built on the north side of the Siskiyou tunnel by E. J. Curtis, who is fully prepared to accommodate both man and beast. Call if you travel that way.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, July 7, 1883, page 3


    A gentleman who went up to Redding Saturday evening and returned Sunday morning says the Chinese strikers on the railroad extension show no signs of giving up, but on the contrary are defiant and independent, and are scattering through the mountains in small squads with the view of prospecting for mines. Others are coming to the valleys and going into harvest fields. He don't think think there will be any agreement entered into between the Chinamen and the railroad company. It is rumored that the company has telegraphed East for a number of white laborers. The track is laid about five miles beyond Redding, and that branch of the work goes on as heretofore. Work in the tunnel is being prosecuted vigorously.--Red Bluff Cause.
Grass Valley Daily Union, Grass Valley, California, July 12, 1883, page 2

    Having fitted up a comfortable and commodious house on the south side of the Siskiyou Mountain, I am prepared to furnish the best accommodations for man and beast at reasonable rates. A good road has been cut to the proposed tunnel, only a short distance off. I mean to give satisfaction and therefore invite everybody to give me a call.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, July 14, 1883, page 1


    Chas. Wolters passed through town this week on his return to the railroad where he has charge of a China gang.
    Messrs. Fuller & McNulty have sublet a portion of their contract for getting out the heavy timbers for the Siskiyou tunnels.
    Wm. V. Jones came up from the Grave Creek tunnel this week and will go to the Siskiyous in a few days to commence work there.
    Mr. D. D. McBean of the firm of McBean & Jeffrey, who have the Siskiyou tunnel contract, arrived at Ashland last week, says the Tidings, and went up to the tunnel, where he will remain, in personal supervision of the work.
    The work on the Siskiyou Mountain is progressing rapidly, and the railroad route is alive with people, their houses and shanties being quite numerous and close together in the vicinity of the tunnels and their approaches. The heavy blasts can be plainly heard in this county at Cottonwood and along the Klamath, sounding like distant thunder. The railroad work on the Oregon road, just over the line, has improved business to a great extent at Cottonwood and also in this section, by resorting to our valleys and Yreka for many supplies needed. Three China teams and wagons are constantly employed in making regular trips from this section to the Oregon railroad works on the California side of the Siskiyou Mountain, one hauling hogs, for which 10 cts. per pound gross is paid, another hauling Chinese passengers, and others taking groceries needed. The railroad will come along the Klamath from Cottonwood, for about a mile and half over the road opposite the ferry, crossing to this side of the river at mouth of Willow Creek, thence following up Willow Creek and crossing Oregon Slough towards Shasta River, while at Cottonwood it is surveyed to pass through the old Brickhouse Ranch, and thence towards Cole's in reaching the locality of the 3,100-foot tunnel now being bored through Siskiyou Mountain.--Yreka Journal.
    The employees of the O.&C. railroad says the Oregonian had a big celebration on July 4, at Grave Creek tunnel. The day before, the monotony of the camp was enlivened by one Chinaman shooting another in the leg, the trouble arising over a gambling dispute. On the 4th, Mr. S. S. Cook, the well-known contractor was presented with a handsome gold-headed cane as a token of esteem by his men. Mr. Cook has taken a great interest in the workmen under him, and the cane was a slight testimonial of their appreciation of his kindness. A little pyrotechnic display, not on the bills, was the blowing up of a whiskey tent with giant powder. Some of the men were too liberally supplied with fusel oil by the owner of the concern, and the tent was blown up to ensure total abstinence for the time being.
    Chief Engineer Chas. A. F. Morris, of the O.&C.R.R., who is in Ashland this week, informs the Tidings that railroad work is progressing satisfactorily now along the line of extension, and good progress is being made. The strikes and annoyances which have been delaying the work at times heretofore are now past, and from this time on rapid progress may be expected in the extension of the track. The Grave Creek tunnel is completed (Mr. Morris and party drove through it in their coach on the way hither) and the long tunnel at Cow Creek will be finished, it is believed, by the 20th of August. The grading between these two points will be completed before that time, and the roadbed will be all ready for the laying of the track. In fact, the graders will be able to keep the track layers steadily at work from that time until the heavy cutting in the Siskiyou division is encountered. The company have on hand all the iron required, and Mr. Morris thinks the track will reach Ashland sometime in December. A thousand men are already at work this side the Grave Creek tunnel, and the other graders will be moved southward as soon as their work between the two long tunnels is ended. The crossing of Rogue River will be an expensive piece of work, and will require a large amount of timber.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, July 14, 1883, page 3


    Quite a large number of railroad hands passed through town this week on their way to the Siskiyou tunnels.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, July 21, 1883, page 3


    We glean the following railroad news from the Ashland Tidings and other sources:
    Thos. Fuller, of the firm of Fuller & McNulty, railroad contractors, was in town several days this week. He informs us that his company have submitted no contracts as yet--and they propose doing the work themselves, all reports to the contrary notwithstanding.
    On Tuesday last J. S. Howard finished sectionizing the located line of the railroad, which completes the surveying for the O.&C.R.R. extension (with the exception, of course, of cross sectioning) as far south as the Siskiyou. For side tracks there may be still a little more surveying to do, and it is possible that some unimportant changes may be made at some points of the line; but we can now say that the location of the road is completed to the summit of the Siskiyou. From that point to the junction with the California road, some ten or eleven miles remain to be located.
    The Hurlburt surveying party, having run the locating line to Wagner Creek and connected with Dolsen's line, moved up to the summit of the Siskiyou again yesterday, to begin the location down the southern slope from the tunnel to the junction with the California road. This will take them some six weeks to accomplish, after which they will most likely begin cross sectioning for the grading, and it is probable that Mr. Hurlburt will have another party at this work in his division if the graders begin to flock up this way from points further north, as the heavier portion of the work there are completed.
    As stated last week, three lines have been run by Mr. Hurlburt's party across the flat below Ashland. The upper one has depot grounds and side tracks laid off about the middle of Lindsay Applegate's field, and passes near Daley & Co's. planing mill. The middle line, which is fully surveyed for location, has depot and side tracks laid out at a point in B. F. Myer's field about 100 yards above his barn, and about half a mile from Main Street in the central part of town--the depot grounds on each line being within the town limits. The third line is still lower, being between B. F. Myer's house and Bear Creek and reaching the level of the stage road near the Eagle Mills.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, July 21, 1883, page 3

Marysville Daily Appeal, Marysville, California, October 21, 1883, page 4


    SHOT BY CHINAMEN.--James Morrissey, who has been herding a gang of Chinese in the Siskiyous, quit the business a few days ago, but unfortunately did not entirely end his relations with the Chinese. On Sunday afternoon, while coming down the mountain this side the toll house, he met a teamster whose wagon was loaded with goods belonging to a gang of Chinamen on their way to Tunnel No. 10. The wagon stuck, and Morrissey undertook to help the teamster lift a wheel out of a bad place. As the two men could not start the wagon, they called on the Chinese standing about to help them. The heathens refused to do so, when Morrissey, with the habits of his recent business still strong upon him, made a charge on the gang and knocked one or two of the Chinamen down with a club. The Chinese showed fight, pistols were drawn and shots exchanged between Morrissey and two of the heathens. Morrissey received a bullet in his thigh, but the Chinamen were not hurt. The wound, though painful, is not likely to prove serious, as the bone was not struck.--Tidings.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, October 27, 1883, page 3


    Colwell's livery stable done a rushing business this week in furnishing teams for passengers for the tunnels.
    David Loring, right-of-way agent for the railroad, has been at Ashland for a week past. His work is about completed, the right of way having nearly all been secured to the Siskiyou tunnel.
    Wanted at the Buck Rock Tunnel, 20 or 30 horses for cart use. The railroad company want to hire them and will pay 50 cts. per day for each horse. Owners of the horses may send teamsters with them if they choose--one man for two horses. The men are paid $2 per day, and board themselves.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, October 27, 1883, page 3


    John Young, who has just come in from the railroad, reports things lively in that section of country. Work is being pushed as though they were determined to have the cars running over the Siskiyou Mountains by the time winter is over. He further says that the party with whom Knight had the difficulty was entirely to blame, and says that he will prosecute no man for shooting him. Mr. Young also reports the shooting of a man by the name of Morrisey, by another party on the other side of the mountain the morning previous to his leaving. Morrisey, it will be remembered, was around the Fort last summer, and was stopping with Joe Connor. Our informant says that it is nothing to see from five to twenty-five pistols drawn at a time in that section. He says that there are some of the worst men out there that he ever saw.
Scott Valley News, Fort Jones, California, October 27, 1883, page 2  Young may have been the owner of "Young's Saloon," visible in the famous photo of the community at Tunnel 13.

    From Mr. W. I. Nichols, just returned from Oregon, we learn that the railroad work is progressing rapidly, and that the grading in the valleys is crowded with energy to get as much done as possible before the storms commence. The track is laid to Grants Pass, and it is confidently asserted that the track will be completed to the Siskiyou Mountain before spring. The tunnel work is also progressing rapidly, with three shifts working night and day. The big tunnel is in 375 feet on the north side and 275 feet on the south side, in which only 72 men can work, 12 men to each of the three shifts at both sides. It is supposed in Oregon that the Central Pacific managers have knocked off work on the California end, and that Villard will be obliged to run his road down Klamath River, and reach San Francisco via Humboldt and Mendocino counties. This is not the case, however, although the Central Pacific will not do much of the grading before next season, at which time they will rush it along rapidly, with the tunnels and masonry work ready to lay tracks clear to Strawberry Valley by next fall.
Marysville Daily Appeal, Marysville, California, October 31, 1883, page 2


    While drillers were at work Tuesday in the Siskiyou tunnel, on the Oregon and California Railroad extension, a rich vein of coal was struck. The lode is said to be nearly four feet wide, and the coal of a very superior quality.
Grass Valley Daily Union, Grass Valley, California, November 4, 1883, page 1


    Tunnel No. 1 on the California and Oregon Railroad is completed and trains are now running through it, a distance from Redding of fourteen miles.
"Scissors and Pen," Grass Valley Daily Union, Grass Valley, California, November 6, 1883, page 2


    A letter from the foreman of the Siskiyou tunnel, received here yesterday, says that on the 25th inst. the drills in the heading of the south end struck stone coal. A few days ago a vein three feet in thickness was cut through from the north end.
"Jacksonville Items," Corvallis Gazette, November 9, 1883, page 3


    The men at the Buck Rock tunnel approaches have been working day and night, but now work only in the daytime, since the rains began. The machinery for running Burleigh drills is being set up at the east end, where boring will be commenced in about ten days, it is expected. On the western end there is much more work to be done yet, and drilling cannot be begun for three weeks or more.--Tidings.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, November 10, 1883, page 3


    I have interviewed Mr. Robinson, superintendent bridge construction, O.&C.R.R., in regard to the report that the railroad company intends soon to draw off the entire grading force for the winter, and even to shut down all work on the Siskiyou tunnels until spring. Mr. Robinson says, from what he has been able to learn, he thinks it is the intention of the company to draw off all the force of graders at present employed north of Gold Hill as fast as they finish their work and send them below, as the force at Gold Hill and south is amply sufficient to do all the grading through the valley and up to the tunnels long before the latter can possibly be completed. The tents, tools, and other material in use by the disbanded forces will be taken to Ashland and stored until needed. He thinks also that, should the weather turn off very bad, the entire force of graders may possibly be drawn off until spring, as there will be no necessity for rushing things through the bad weather at extraordinary expense to the company, when, as said above, there will be ample time next summer to do all this grading through the valley before the tunnels will be done.
    Mr. Robinson also thinks that, should there be much bad weather, accompanied by snow and other incidents of a bad winter, the company may shut down work on such of the tunnels as they are building themselves, since it will be very difficult under such circumstances to get out the timbers necessary for timbering the tunnels, etc., besides the difficulty and extra expense of transporting material and supplies over the heavy roads from the valley and from the end of the track.
    In such of the tunnels, however, as are being built by contract, he thinks there will be no interruption of work, as their contract may compel the contractors to push the work right along in order to complete the tunnels within the specified time.
    The carpenters are putting the lower chords, or stringers, of the Evans Creek bridge in place this afternoon.
    The bridge at Bloody Run is 125 feet from outside to outside of pier. The upper chords of the bridge are in place.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, November 10, 1883, page 3


    The Roseburg, Oregon, Plaindealer says: The number of Chinamen passing through here from the front during the past week has caused no little comment. We learn from good authority that when their jobs are done they are discharged and that preparations will soon be suspended. The O.&C.R.R. Co, will finish the road as far south as Ashland and will then discharge all their employees except those at work on the tunnels. It is expected that regular trains will run to Grants Pass by December the 1st. A large force of tracklayers will be organized in about a month under the supervision of Mr. Waite and will lay track to a point about four miles north of Ashland, where the supply station will be established. It will take some time, but the work will be pushed forward rapidly. From present appearances it would seem that Villard was running short of money and likely to suspend construction at any time. However, we hope that this is not the case and that we will have through communication by rail with San Francisco before 1885.
"News of the Northwest," Weekly Astorian, Astoria, Oregon, November 16, 1883, page 1


    PARKER--At Siskiyou tunnel, Nov. 1, 1883, to Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Parker, a daughter.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, November 17, 1883, page 3


    The Siskiyou tunnel is now in about 900 feet, and the time for its completion is set for August 1st, 1884.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, December 1, 1883, page 3


    The contractors on the Siskiyou tunnel advanced 384 feet during November. At the present rate the tunnel will be finished by next August.
"Miscellaneous News," Douglas Independent, Roseburg, December 22, 1883, page 3


    Hon. D. P. Thompson, who has just returned from a visit to the Siskiyou tunnel, says the Oregonian, reports that work is progressing rapidly, and is in a fair way of being completed by the first of next June. The tunnel is extended eight feet per day at each end, which is 112 feet per week. It has to be timbered all the way. The track is now laid to old Fort Lane, within eight miles of Medford, the new town at the nearest point on the line to Jacksonville, six miles distant. Graders are within three miles of Ashland and progressing at the rate of a mile a day. The long spell of fine weather has favored the progress of the work. The crops are looking fine all the way up the valley.
Corvallis Gazette, December 28, 1883, page 1


    A premature blast in the Siskiyou Mountain railroad tunnel yesterday fatally injured one man and dangerously hurt several others.
"This Morning's News," Sacramento Daily Union, December 31, 1883, page 2


    At the Siskiyou Mountain railroad tunnel one of the blasts failed to explode this morning until the men went in to clear away the debris, resulting in the fatal injury of John Mullen, of this county, and dangerously wounding others.
"Yreka, December 30th," Daily Alta California, San Francisco, December 31, 1883, page 5


    GOT CAUGHT.--A horse and saddle belonging to Cory Grieve and L. A. [illegible] was stolen at Phoenix one night last week and J. E. Giddis, a railroad employee whose family reside here, was arrested at the Buck Rock tunnel and charged with the crime. Upon preliminary examination before Justice Root of Ashland he was bound over in the sum of $1,000 and is now lodged in the Jackson County jail. The proof seems quite positive against him, as he sold the horse to J. A. Neal at Soda Springs for $20, giving a bill of sale. Geddis [sic] claims that he won the horse in gambling.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, January 5, 1884, page 3


    Locating Engineer John A. Hurlburt, who has charge of the railroad work on the Siskiyous, informs us that everything is progressing finely at the long tunnel, getting along eight feet further at each and every twenty-four hours. The first of August is the time set for its completion. At the Buck Rock tunnel work is not going on so fast.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, January 5, 1884, page 3


    ANOTHER ACCIDENT.--Last Saturday evening news reached here says, the Yreka Journal, of a fatal accident to Mr. Johnnie Neilon, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Neilon, of Etna, while at work in the railroad tunnel at south side of Siskiyou Mountain, near the California boundary. He was at work tamping the powder for a blast, with a hickory stick, when the powder exploded, driving the stick through his body, at the side, and coming out just above his kidneys near the back. Two doctors were summoned immediately from Ashland, who removed pieces of the stick, and it is believed the young man is fatally injured, with very poor chances of recovery. It was reported that another man had all but one finger of his left hand blown off, but the man working below him and others close around sustained no injury whatever. Johnnie was at work on a scaffold, where several others were also at work above and below, tamping, and it was a miraculous escape of all from being killed in such close quarters. The young man's mother, accompanied by her oldest son Andrew and Dr. Nutting, passed through town Sunday from Etna for the tunnel, to render every assistance possible towards the recovery of the young man, who was very popular among all the workman and managers of the O.&C.R.R. Co., and also in this county, everybody expressing sincere sorrow for his misfortune. His mother was the recipient from him of a present of $100 on Christmas, and the blow falls heavily on her, as she idolized him as one of her most faithful, industrious and exemplary sons, being only about 22 years of age.
    Telegraphic advices received here yesterday stated that he died on Thursday morning.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, January 5, 1884, page 3




    Trains on the Oregon & California road now run to Medford, the new town in Rogue River Valley, and the line will soon be completed to Ashland. How long the latter place will remain the terminus will depend upon the progress made in the Siskiyou tunnel. The contractors were ordered to suspend work on the tunnel February 7, and the time when it will be resumed is not announced, though officials say the delay is only temporary.
"Railroad Notes," West Shore, Portland, February 1, 1884, page 35


    The California end of the railroad is now being pushed forward with the greatest energy, work being carried on in grading every day the weather will permit, while the tunnel work is never suspended day or night. All the Chinamen that can be secured are hired, as the company wants to accumulate a force of 10,000 men by the time spring opens, towards rushing the road right through to the Oregon boundary. The road is as good as completed to Sacramento bridge as soon as the big tunnel is finished, and piers are built for bridges at and above that point, with grading in progress several miles above the Sacramento River stage road crossing. On reaching Shasta Valley in this county, about six weeks is the estimated time it will take to run the road to Klamath River. There are no indications yet of the land grant forfeiture stopping the road at either end, nor do we think anything will stop the completion now, since there is so much business to be gained, and so little work comparatively to complete the road.--Journal.
    Chief Engineer C. A. F. Morris made a trip up to the Siskiyou and Buck Rock tunnels last week. He says the progress of work at the long tunnel is very satisfactory--about as good time being made as on any similar piece of work ever done on this coast. At the Buck Rock tunnel the working force is light, and no effort is being made by the company to hurry the tunnel through. Mr. Morris informed us that it was the purpose of the company to begin shipping freight to Phoenix just as soon as shelter could be provided for the freight and accommodations for the depot agents and telegraph operator, even though the gravelling and the ballasting of the track be not entirely completed by that time. The trains will be run at a low rate of speed until the ballasting is finished. All the gravel for this part of the valley has to be brought from the banks near Rogue River. Regarding the iron for the road, Mr. Morris said he thought the ship that was missing with her cargo for Portland was not loaded for the O.&C.R.R.; but if she were it would make no difference in the extension of the track, as arrangements had been made with the O.R.&N. Co., to secure all the iron needed on this road.--Tidings.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, February 2, 1884, page 3


    Work at the Buck Rock tunnel has been suspended. At the Siskiyou tunnel work is still going on, but the report now is that it will be discontinued this week and all operations south of Ashland cease. With some the opinion prevails that the road will continue no further south than where the rails are laid to now, but at all events it is not likely to be built further south than Ashland for some time to come.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, February 9, 1884, page 3


    Wm. V. Jones, James Burns, Con Kane and several others from this section have returned from the Siskiyou tunnel since work was suspended there.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, February 16, 1884, page 3


    From the following extracts from Southern Oregon papers, it would seem that railroad communication between Portland and Sacramento by way of the Oregon and California route is not likely soon to be realized:
    There is a rumor about town that the railroad company is trying to buy up the Siskiyou tunnel contract from McBean & Jeffrey, in order to stop the work there, and that the tunnel contractors asked $50,000 in addition to all the expense they had incurred to date as a consideration for giving it up. We have no authentic information on the subject, however, and merely give this as a rumor. At the present rate of progress, the tunnel will be finished by the 20th of May, it is said.--Tidings.
    Since the above was written, orders were received at the Siskiyou tunnel to quit the work, which was done last Thursday night at 12 o'clock, and all the hands discharged. The report is also current that every kind of work pertaining to the construction has been ordered stopped, thereby making Phoenix the terminal station till such time when a change in management takes place. If such is the case, and appearances so indicate, our neighbors will surely have a boom that may last for an indefinite period--might possibly run into years. The cause of this is said to be the action of Congress on the land question and the collapse of the Villard dynasty. The lack of energy on the part of the Central Pacific in trying to form a junction with this road is accounted for on the ground that that company wants the whole road or nothing, and unless they succeed in this, the road will remain as it is, as no inducement is now offered by land grants. Time will tell.--Jacksonville Times.
    As it must be an exceedingly ill wind that blows nobody any good, the following note to the Portland Standard, written from Ashland, Oregon, shows the silver lining to the cloud:
    "All the railroad force south of here were discharged Monday, and came to Ashland en masse and drew their pay, and have been spending it as fast as possible ever since. The first night was sufficient for a great many, losing their little sums of from $25 to $250 at the card table and stud poker, making a rich harvest for the professionals. Some of the more considerate are making their means go a little farther by spending it for 'tanglefoot,' so the sidewalk is a little too narrow for them. The saloon men have found it profitable to keep open doors all night the last two nights."
Idaho Statesman, Boise, February 19, 1884, page 2




    The suspension of work on the Siskiyou and Buck Rock tunnels is exciting much comment, and everyone is speculating as to the cause of the abrupt termination of the work so ably commenced. Some believe that the action of Congress on land grants to railroads has something to do with it, while others are of the opinion that the property will change hands at an early date, and there are still others who advance the idea that the funds of the present owners have been exhausted. We believe the most probable cause to be an unsatisfactory survey. The line at present crosses the wagon road about half a mile below the Toll House, and then doubles and then runs back several miles to obtain a grade, passes through the Buck Rock tunnels, five in number, and then turns again and follows a ridge back past the Toll House, and thence along the mountainside to the Siskiyou Tunnel, making the road eleven miles in length from the Toll House to the Siskiyou Tunnel, whereas the actual air line distance does not exceed one and a half miles. The road almost crosses itself in its crazy efforts to secure a grade to reach the Siskiyou Tunnel, which is located well up on the mountainside. At this late day the company makes the discovery that, by putting through a tunnel 7,000 feet in length, they can save ten miles of road, besides the construction of the five Buck Rock tunnels, which would always require one or two watchmen at each tunnel. One thousand two hundred feet remain to be finished at the Siskiyou Tunnel, and the aggregate number of feet yet to be completed at the Buck Rock tunnels is 3340, making a total of 4540 feet unfinished in the six tunnels. If the proposed big tunnel is put through, which will start near the Toll House, it will require only 2460 feet more than the completion of the present tunnels, and the saving of the construction of ten miles of road would more than offset the additional cost of tunneling, besides saving the wear and tear of rolling stock over the extra ten miles, and the cost of keeping the track in repairs in after years.--Yreka Union.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, February 23, 1884, page 4


    THE LATEST.--A report is again in circulation that the railroad authorities here have given D. P. Thompson of Portland the entire contract for digging the tunnels and building the road to the junction where this road is to connect the Central Pacific and that the route is to be the same as the one on which work has just been stopped. Several hundred Chinamen went north on the train yesterday, but whether they were going to work on this end or the other remains to be seen. We hope the report is true, and if Mr. Thompson undertakes the work it will be finished on time and in good shape.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, March 1, 1884, page 3


    Jake Wise of Ashland was in town several days this week. He says the store on the Siskiyou Mountains has been closed for the present and the stock removed to Ashland.
    The Red Bluff Cause says the following is the length of six of the tunnels on the railroad north of Redding: Tunnel 1, about 340 feet; Tunnel 2, 535 feet; Tunnel 3, about 320 feet; Tunnel 4, 1,900 feet; Tunnel 5, 572 feet; Tunnel 7, 260 feet. We have not been able to obtain the figures giving the length of tunnels 7, 8 and 9.
    For the past three months the O.&C.R.R. Company have had three construction trains at work between Glendale and Grants Pass ballasting and attending generally to the work of placing the road upon a safe basis. It is new thought that the part of the road the other side of Glendale is perfectly safe for from 15 to 20 miles an hour night or day.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, March 1, 1884, page 3


    We interviewed Mr. Loring, the right of way locator of the Oregon railroad, who passed through here Sunday for the California railroad, accompanied by Mr. Morrison, an eminent surveyor from the East. They came from Cottonwood by the Anderson grade, and viewed that route with great interest, concerning the advantage of whether it would be a good way to build, in securing a high grade and direct road. Mr. Loring says there is no truth in the report that a contract has been made with Mr. Thompson to go ahead and complete the road from Ashland to the California line, nor does he know when work will be resumed. Work is still in progress between Phoenix and Ashland, towards finishing road to latter place, and the company can finish to the line within six months, as soon as the California company are near enough to meet within that time, though it is probable work on the tunnels will be resumed during the coming summer when the weather is more favorable. Siphons are used in the Buck Rock and Siskiyou tunnels, to keep the water out so that no damage may occur to the work already accomplished, and the talk against the surveys is supposed to result from prejudice towards Hurlburt, because he was strict and honest, working for the interests of the company as he would his own.--Journal.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, March 15, 1884, page 3


    A friend who has just arrived at the R.R. front, at Phoenix, Oregon, sends us the following:
    The construction train is now running within two miles of Ashland, and the grading is completed to that place. As soon as numerous small trestles are completed, the cars will run down to Ashland. There is all the force on that can work to advantage, as it is of such a nature that it cannot be pushed very rapidly. One trestle has to be completed before the construction train can deliver timber for the succeeding one. Rumor says the work will be completed to Ashland within five weeks. There is a party of surveyors laying out a new route up the north side of the Siskiyou to the north end of the Siskiyou tunnel. They call it a "Zig Zag," which is intended to reach the Siskiyou tunnel and avoid the black rocks.
Scott Valley News, Fort Jones, California, March 22, 1884, page 3


    By parties from Oregon we learn that surveying parties are busily engaged surveying the Siskiyou Mountain on the north side, towards endeavoring to get a straighter road and avoiding the necessity of the Buck Rock tunnels. There is a nine-mile zigzag route by the survey located, which gains only a mile and a half straight course, and many think it probable unless the Buck Rock tunnel can be avoided, that the survey with a 7,000-foot tunnel may yet be adopted. No one seems to know when work will be resumed on the Siskiyou, and it is more than likely nothing in the way of road building will be started again until the surveyors get through with their new surveys now in progress.--Yreka Journal.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, April 5, 1884, page 3


    D. P. Thompson while in Ashland last week stated that bids had been submitted by himself and others for the contract to complete the O.&C.R.R. to the junction with the California road. The bids were sent to London, where Mr. Villard, President of the O.&C., now is, and were to be opened on Wednesday of last week. Mr. Thompson is not expecting to hear for several weeks, however, what action the officers of the road may save taken in the matter, as instructions for the resumption of work, if they come at all, will most likely be transmitted by mail, not by cable. Being asked how it is that the O. and C. Company are contemplating this early extension, while there seems to be no move on the part of the Central Pacific toward the same end, Mr. Thompson replied that a company of English contractors and capitalists are bidding for the contract to complete both roads and fill up the whole gap between Ashland and Delta, offering to accept a portion of their pay in bonds of the two companies. He thinks it probable that they will receive the contract from the California company, if not for both roads. If they are given the whole work, the Oregon end will most likely be turned over by them to the company of which Mr. Thompson is the head, the Oregon Construction Company. This company, having just completed the building of the Baker City branch of the O.R.&N. Co.'s road, has a complete outfit of all the machinery and implements needed in the rock work and grading, and will begin the shipment of the outfit to Ashland immediately upon the awarding of the contract to them, if it should be so awarded. If the orders come from London to resume work, the boring of the tunnels and some of the rock cutting will be prosecuted through the winter, although the long tunnels are far enough along to allow of their completion before the grading and other work could be finished even if all could be begun and carried on together without interruption. The long Siskiyou tunnel is over half done, and the Buck Rock tunnel presents less than 1500 feet of excavation yet to be made.--Telegraph.
The Columbian, St. Helens, Oregon, October 24, 1884, page 2