1,500 Men and a Steam Shovel: Newport Builds the Metaline Line

Things are beginning to hum along the route of the extension of the Idaho & Washington Northern between Newport and Ione. Up to the present time 11 sub-contractors have established camps at various places between here and the proposed terminus of the road. Material for the use of the contractors is arriving daily in large quantities. On Wednesday there were 16 cars of supplies, livestock and machinery unloaded at Newport. In the consignment there were 100 head of mules and a large number of horses.

One steam shovel also arrived on Wednesday, and will be used in Newport at the Aschenfelter bay. About three cars of dynamite are received each week and sent down the river on barges and on the Spokane, which boat is now kept busy handling the materials for the various camps.

The following is a list of the sub-contractors who have established camps up to date: Jones Onesrud, E. A. Morrissey, Nelson O'Brien, Chas. Johnson, Palm Co., Lang Carstens, J. W. Johnson, Wm. Driscoll, Agar Douglass, Gilbert Brandt, Ejoette McNamara, Patrick Tobin, H. A. Durkee and T. F. Callahan.

Grant Smith, the general contractor, came up from down the river on Wednesday after a tour of inspection of the various camps.

Most of the idle men who were shipped out here have been given employment and a new bunch is arriving daily. There will be no cessation in the arrival and departure of large gangs of men until the road is completed. Generally on this class of work there are three crews, one at work, one coming and one going.

Contractor Callahan has a large number of dump cars and rails at Newport, awaiting shipment to Babbitz' where he will operate a steam shovel. He is expecting the arrival of the shovel daily.

Grant Smith Co. will do the tunnel work at Blueslide, instead of letting it out to contractors. The tunnel will be 1,100 feet long.

A camp will be established at Blueslide for the accommodation of the men working on the tunnel as soon as the necessary supplies arrive. Preparations have been made for a camp for 60 men at this place.

Contracts have been let by Grant Smith for 51 miles of the extension. This is practically the entire mainline of the road.

When the work is running full blast about 1,500 men will be given employment.

The first consignment of culvert pipe for the down river railroad extension arrived Monday morning. About 10 carloads of the same are now on the road from Portland, Ore.

Dr. Dutton, of Spokane, is erecting a temporary hospital about one block north of the Newport hotel in Old Town. The location is handy to the steamboat docks and the Idaho Washington Northern depots on that side of the line. The building is of galvanized iron construction.

Several dinkey engines are among the materials that have arrived during the past week. These engines are used in connection with the steam shovels along the line of the road. The cars are also very small dump concerns. The use of the small cars and engines makes it possible to move the tracks easily and quickly, and also allows the contractor to work in smaller spaces than by other methods. As soon as the season opens up it is stated that Grant Smith will add several more steam shovels to the number that will be working during the winter months.

The first batch of workmen to arrive in Newport were largely of Swedish extraction. On Thursday a large consignment of the sons of sunny Italy arrived. There will probably be a conglomeration of nationalities here during the summer that will make the Tower of Babel wish that it had never posed as one of the wonders of the world.