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surate witli their business requirements. This road, which is now par- 

 tially completed, and its construction along the entire length rapidlj 

 prosecuted, will soon supply their great deficiency and pour their pro- 

 ducts and that of the valleys of the Shiawassee, the Maple and Grand 

 rivers into the city of Detroit, which is their natural depot and market, 

 at once giving the road a local traffic equal to that of the most favored 

 road in the western States. 



The population of that section of the State tributary to this road, in 

 1854 was 241,164. The number of acres of improved land was 620,- 

 004, and the products of the district were as follows: 2,329,389 bush- 

 els of wheat, 2,081,695 bushels of corn, 872,881 bushels of grain, 1,- 

 140,418 bushels of potatoes, and 350,00(1,000 feet of lumber. There 

 were at that time 99 flour mills and 352 saw mills in the district. 



At Corunna, in Shiawassee county, the road crosses the bituminous 

 coal beds, which have now been tested for four years and found to be 

 of the best quality, and which will be extensively opened vfh^^n the 

 means of transporting the coal to a market is afforded, which the con- 

 struction of this road will do. 



At Grand Rapids the line passes the gypsum beds, which are exten- 

 sively worked now, and will form a large item of freight on this road, 

 to supply the wheat growing counties contiguous to it. 



This road when finished, will be a complete work in itself, extending 

 across the entire State, from the straits which connect Lakes Erie and 

 St. Clair, at the city of Detroit, the commercial capital of the State, to 

 Lake Michigan, and might rely solely upon the resources of the contig- 

 uous territory along tiie line for support, but its position as part of the 

 great northern trunk line, from Boston, New York and Montreal, to the 

 Mississi^-ipi River, and finally from thence to the Pacific Ocean, gives it 

 in a measure a national character, and secures a large amount of thro' 

 traffic between the country west of Lake Michigan and the east. The 

 distance by this road, between New York and Milwaukee, is 106 miles 

 shorter than by any other route. 



At Detroit the road forms a connection with the Great Western Rail- 

 way from Detroit to Niagara Falls through Canada West, and from 

 thence by several different routes to the cities on the seaboard, both in 

 the Stales and Canada. 



At Grand Haven on Lake Michigan a connection is formed by st«am 

 43 



