University and Normal School are also similarly endowed. The enterprise that called forth numerous "colleges" and "universities" before the territory was two years old has finally resulted in a splendid plan of education. RAIL- It should not be forgotten that one of the means of settling and developing a state is the railroad. The history of the plans to make a railroad across the plains is especially interesting to Nebraskans. It is claimed that John Wilgus, who later lived at Brownville, was the first to propose definitely the plan of a railroad across the country connecting the Pacific Coast with the East. The matter was mentioned by Rev. Samuel Parker in 1835, and John Plumbe, of Dubuque, actually began in 1836 the survey of a road which he planned to have built from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean. There was much talking and writing of this subject immediately following that time. In 1853-54 there were nine routes surveyed across the western country to the Pacific Ocean, at different latitudes between British Columbia and Mexico. The road which interests Nebraska first is the Union Pacific. The company which built that railroad was organized during 1862 and 1863, and the actual making of the road began in 1865. By the summer of 1866, 100 miles of the track were completed and three years afterward the entire distance between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean had been covered. After that enterprise was well begun, other companies began to build shorter lines within the state, but these, after running for a time, were for the most part bought by the larger companies. The largest amount of railroad thus brought together in Nebraska by one company is 2 253 miles, which is owned and controlled by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. In Nebraska. the road is known as the Burlington and Missouri River railroad. There are 1,255 miles belonging to the Union Pacific system, and 1,036 to the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley. Other companies have as follows: Missouri Pacific, 357; Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha, 275; Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific, 248; Sioux City, O'Neill, and Western, 128; Kansas City, Wyandotte, and Northwestern, 20; and Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe, 2. It will be seen that our State has much more than 5,000 miles of railway. amount of school and other taxes paid by these roads in the year 1897 was more than $1,105,000. IRRIGA The Of recent years, perhaps no one thing deserves as much mention as the irrigation canals. The plan of irrigating, of course, grows out of experi ences with dry weather, and in those parts of the state where drouth has most often affected TION the crops, there has been most interest in irrigation. Reports during the years 1895, 1896, and 1897 show that there is irrigation in fifty-two counties and that 1,430 miles of irrigation ditches had been constructed before the year 1898. The number of acres of ground that could be irrigated by the ditches constructed and in process of construction is supposed to be very much more than a million acres. It is very certain that the soil all over the state is exceedingly rich, and all that is needed to raise very fine crops is plenty of water. Of the miles actually constructed, the greatest number was in Cheyenne County, which reported 161 miles. Other counties had: Lincoln, 158; Dawson, 128; Holt, 125; Scott's Bluff, 91; and Dawes, 90. The cost of ditches has been thus far about a million and a half of dollars, but this amount is small compared with the benefit that the water thus obtained will be to the crops in the counties where the ditches are. REVIEW. Can you explain the increase in the population in Ne.braska? Does population increase faster in the country or in the cities? How does Nebraska compare with other states in population? What is the principal occupation of people in our State? How does the production of wheat and corn compare? the principal crops. What is the attitude of Nebraska in educational matters? When were railroads first built in the State? How much mileage has the State now (1898)? What road has the most? To what extent do railroads help taxation? In what parts of the State has irrigation been tried? |