The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana · Page 54

CEhc dimes SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2000 featured reading continenta foai Lose 30 LBS. If you are 1 80 lbs. you can be 1 50 lbs If you are 190 lbs. you can be 160 lbs If you are 200 lbs. you can be 1 70 lbs If you are 210 lbs. you can be 180 lbs If you arc 220 lbs. you can be 190 lbs ic of nib rose book --III Trans M n rail IS 'cop best sellers Knight Rldder Tribune News Here are the best sellers for the week ending Nov. 3. Reprinted from Publishers Weekly. HARDCOVER FICTION 1. The Last Precinct. Patricia Cornwell. Putnam, $26.95 2. Merrick. Anne Rice. Knopf, $26.95 3. Prodigal Summer. Barbara Kingsolver. HarperCollins, $26 4. Drowning Ruth. Christina Schwarz. Doubleday, $23.95 5. Wish You Well. David Baldacci. Warner, $24.95 6. The Rescue. Nicholas Sparks. Warner, $22.95 7. The Bear and the Dragon. Tom Clancy. Putnam, $28.95 8. Deck the Halls. Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark. Simon & Schuster, $18 9. Shopgirl. Steve Martin. Hyperion, $17.95 10. The Sky Is Falling. Sidney Sheldon. Morrow, $26 HARDCOVER NONFICTION 1. Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson. Putnam, $19.95 2. The O'Reilly Factor: The Good, the Bad and The Completely Ridiculous In American Life. Bill O'Reilly. Broadway, $23.95 3. The Beatles Anthology. The Beatles. Chronicle, $60 4. Body for Life. Bill Phillips and Michael D'Orso. HarperCollins, $25 5. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Stephen King. Scribner, $25 6. Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life. Richard Ben Cramer. Simon & Schuster, $28 7. Tuesdays With Morrie. Mitch Albom. Doubleday, $19.95 8. Face Forward. Kevyn Aucoin. Little, Brown, $32.95 9. My Father's Daughter. Tina Sinatra with Jeff Coplon. Simon & Schuster, $26 10. America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Sarah Bradford. Viking, $29.95 TRADE 1. Talking Dirty With the Queen of Clean. Linda Cobb. Pocket, $8.99 2. The Seat of the Soul. Gary Zukav. S&SFireside, $12 3. Rich Dad Poor Dad. Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter. Warner, $15.95 4. The Polsonwood Bible. Barbara Kingsolver. HarperPerennial, $14 5. The Four Agreements. Don Miguel Ruiz. Amber-Allen, $12.95 6. Plainsong. Kent Haruf. Vintage, $13 7. The Red Tent. Anita Dlamant. Picador, $14 8. Life Strategies. Phillip C. McGraw. Hyperion, $11.95 9. A Child Called "It." Dave Pelzer. Health Communications, $9.95 10. Waiting. Ha Jin. Vintage, $13 I J SHREVE CITY I i (next to Burlington) : Birthday & Team , Parties 1 Pizza Pasta Games 369-3566 f hi .! Silky Rayon Long Gowns I I . A k . Calypso s EE Mon. - Sat. 10 - 6 v- I By Emilia Gay Griffith Means Special to The Times Next to winning the Civil War and abolishing slavery, building the first transcontinental railroad from Omaha, Neb., to Sacramento, Calif., was the greatest achievement of the American people in the 19th century. Not until the country built the Panama Canal in the early 20th century was it rivaled as an engineering feat. Without the teamwork of recently immigrated Irish, Chinese, German, English, Central American and African workers, the railroad could not have been built Most of the men who labored on the Great Plains and in the Rocky Mountains were Irish immigrants, young veterans of both the Union and Confederate armies, unmarried men who had few reasons to return home after Appomattox. Unceasing and dedicated to their work, Chinese immigrants worked together in teams and assumed some of the greatest risks to their lives. The construction of the railroad reflected American life: a multiplicity of different peoples came together to fulfill a common goal. Moreover, the transcontinental railroad was the last great building project constructed mostly by hand. Building across Nevada, the Central Pacific constructed half of the line, and the Union Pacific moving westward across the plains of Nebraska laid the other half. The two lines met at Promontory Point on Monday morning, May 10, 18(39. Finding information on individuals in the work force proved difficult. Workers rarely wrote letters home and even fewer kept diaries detailing their lives. Yet Stephen Ambrose, author of numerous works on World War II and the much acclaimed Undaunted Courage, depicts a compelling portrait In narrating this sweeping survey of the transcontinental railroad's history, Ambrose relies heavily on the works of such noted railroad historians such as Maury Klein, author of a two volume history of the Union Pacific. Most impressive is his skillful research into the labor history of the railroad. Using a memoir of a Chinese immigrant laborer, Ambrose reconstructs the arduous and dangerous life of blasting through mountains to build tunnels and laying the line that workers experienced. How the transcontinental railroad changed the country is another facet Ambrose unfolds. Together the transcontinental railroad and the telegraph wires that lined its tracks nurtured the American industrial revolution. It opened possibilities that few could scarcely imagine before the Civil War. The first through-car on the new railroad that carried a shipment of India tea foretold a proliferating trade and numerous imported goods that would eventually flood American markets and households. Among key areas in the world for new opportunities in trade, Asia caught the eye of American merchants. Even as entrepreneurs looked to Asia for new opportuni- 1950 E. 70th St. Shreveport J Tm. Mcx Who Bui.t iiu. . S3 , K Tkanncom LMiM.xi. RtiUm.M 1 863-1869 f Jp I 3.. ;.: Vw.' & r-. , U. ! A'-r VTZVJ fcUn.f. fi'JMJi. imi 1 null iTi Ilia Tin Bull n ir" -iilTnMrt Hi "Ti Mil TlllrTwr II TW II III ir T,0rW ft t Lose 3- 5 lbs. Per Week Increased Metabolism 1 No Calorie Counting ! No Pre - Packaged Food BY CHRISTMAS Call us today for your free Consultation Sale Pricies Good November 12th - 18th On the shelf BOOK: Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869. AUTHOR: Stephen E. Ambrose. PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster. COST: $28. ties for American economic growth, the expansion in trade within the United States following the railroad's completion proved to be even more path breaking. In the words of a 19th-century writer Ambrose quotes, expectations of trade with Asia "have fallen far short of fulfillment" But "the enormous development of local business has surpassed anything we could have ever dreamed of." Among the consequences of the transcontinental railroad, Ambrose demonstrates how the railroad launched one of the country's biggest sensational scandals of the 19th century. The New York Sun introduced news of corruption and the Union Pacific Railroad with the headlines, "The King of Frauds How the Credit Mobilier Bought Its Way Through Congress." Over a full six months the House of Representatives held hearings to inquire into the workings of the Credit Mobilier, a construction company the government financed Union Pacific organized to actually build the railroad. Chief target was Oakes Ames, who as a congressman distributed Credit Mobilier stock to garner the support among wavering colleagues to support the Union Pacific's interests. Following the hearings, Congress concluded Ames had not only distributed the stock to pay off fellow congressmen but that he had blatantly lied about it. Two meek resolutions Congress passed censured Ames and his confidant James Brooks. The intense shame that came with the scandal and the censure killed Ames or rather some speculated the incident contributed to his premature death on May 8, 1873. Brooks died a week earlier. Curious as to whether or not the Central PaciOc engaged in similar fraudulent practices, Congress investigated that company, but all its books and records mysteriously burned. Hence, nothing was pinned on its leaders, the Big Four, Charles Crocker, Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford and Mark Hopkins. Through every page history is unfolded and not just of a railroad, but of a country its flaws, its people and its achievements. B Emilia Gay Griffith Means of Shreveport Is a member of the Red River Railroad Historical Association. She has published many articles concerning the Texas and Pacific in Texas and Louisiana. www.ci.shreveport.la.us mmmm umw n.,nw J. J'l IW i inmui.,- it'll- (iLMU&WW- LET THE TRADITION CONTINUE FOR THE HOLIDAYS . . . 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