Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1881 — Bigger Than Our Army. [ARTICLE]

Bigger Than Our Army.

Denver Tribune. •'The force of men now at work on the Denver and Rio Grande railway’s extensions is larger than the United States armv!’ r The speaker was exGovernor Hunt, who has just returned from old Mexico. *.*Hqw many men are there?” asked a Tribune reporter, a little awed by the statement. “More than 32,000,” returned the Governor, laconically. “Nearly 19,000. of this number are at work in old Mexico. There are 3,000 or 4,000 in New Mexico, 5,00 p or 6,000 in this state, and the remainder are scattered through Utah and the other localities where we are doing work.” “Do you find any hinderance to your work from the people of old Mexico?” asked the reporter, remembering that several correspondents from that old country had recently said that the the natives were suspicious of all new railroad enterprises. “The only hinderances we find are in not getting the supplies we need. Toe people are all right, but timber is so scarce that we have to transport all. our ties from Louisiana or Florida. There is a lack <»f all kinds of railroad material down there except men to do the work; we can get all of them we want. There is no troth at all in the statements that the Mexicans regard railroad enterprises with suspicion, or that theyopenly or otherwise oppose them. Why. we are giving bread and butter to 10,000 of their people—sometkiog they never had before. They haven’t got any very good reason' to complain, and they don’t seem disposed to. I wish the people of other regions we have gone through had treated us as well as they do in Mexico. The leading and influential men do all they can to aid the enterprise, and no difficulty has been experienced in getting all the depot laud we want donated—and the best kind of title at that. We found it harder.to go through Colorado than any where else. Even in Leadville we had to nav SIOO,OOO for our depot land.” /

“It has been said by one of the correspondents who was with Grant that the people ofMexfco were HfiMltbraWe to the,Unitad Rtatra railroad ion?”sugg|rf|e<lth| werSGoJ! Hu Sj^j^y ‘‘ most Hkelyaaid to hurt out Xoad. As I said JteforeAhe leading * men want the rOSa. theff government is glad that M is coming, and why should the people who are making bread and butter by it eomptainT” '-'JRPB •Rh FW “We wfli soon have a good deal of road inccndltiofi for travel in Mexico,” continued the governor. “We will have 2,400 miiee of road in old Mexico •nd this added to that in the states and territories will make a total of over 4,000 miles of nfiL The work it progressing rapidly, and it is being pushed with great energy. Yes*” concluded Gov- Hunt, “old Mexico is going to be a great railroad country, and it has treated us better tbaa Colorado did.”