Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1875-06-09
NEWFOUNDLAND.
ITS INTERIOR AND INTERNAL RESOURCES

, ITS INTERIOR AND INTERNAL RESOURCES
The island of Newfoundland, whose
area is four times that OF Belgium, and
which contains13, ,000mor square miles
than Scotland, is to most men quite o
terra incognitd. 1t is generally known
that peculiar breed of dogs comes
from there, and some persons have an
indefinite idea of its cod and seal bust
ness otherwise information is very
limited, and but dim notions exist as
to its geography and natural resources
It seems remarkable fact that al
though 1t was the earliest discovered
land in America, and has ever since
been the resort of thousands Of fisher
+ men, It was only as recently as 1925
that the first roads were made from
st. Johns, the capital to the outlying
settlements. We had supposed until
now that the universal Ignorance that
prevailed as to its interior capacities
and topography was due to the apathy
Of its people that its lack of develop
ment arose from lack OF enterprise ;
that the adjacent waters offered such
Inducements of gain that no one would
20 inland in search of mineral or for
purposes of cultivation. Often have
we reasoned that little Yankee enter
prise was all that is needed to finctify
the waste places and make the wilder
ness to bloom and blossom as the rose.
Alas for human vanity and human
fallibilityl The mystery is all made
clear now, and the great problem Of
the terra incoqnitd is solved. The truth
is that the interior of Newfoundland is
naught but vast plutonic waste, where
no vegetation exists and where no
roads can run. Its mineral wealth Of
copper, nickel, lead, iron and ochres, is
great, it is said, and certain to be
developed at no distant day; but with
the exception OF n belt of land four or
\ five miles wide that encirlccs the island
and borders the sea, belt covered
with fair growth of spruce, pine,
juniper, fir and witch-hazel, all else is
desolation and barrenness. No lndi-
ans 1.-Two in the interior, nor is there
house north of Bonavesta Cape, any
where TO be found after one passes a
couple of miles inland from the shore.
All the land is rocky and rolling great
waves succeeding waves of granite,
with bogs and marshes interspersed,
which afford a living to reindeer, foxes,
wolves, bears, otters, beavers, martins,
and musk rats, and form the sources
of rivers that flow in all directions
Each one Of these rivers abounds in
salmon which can be caught with the
fly, though il is believed that angler
never tossed fly to them, and nearly
all these rivers, il seems, are indicated
in Hallock's "Fishing Tourist" They
are rapid, dashing streams, flowing
with impetuous current up which no
boat can push its way but in their
contracted channels the Indians spear
large quantities of salmon.
These are about all the facts that
can be told of the interior of Newound-
land, and we gather them from no loss
an authority than Michael Carroll, ESQ.,,
for fifty years resident of the country,
and tho only man who has written a
correct account Of the interior Of the
country. 1t was he who surveyed the
route for the overland telegraph wires,
and in the course of his explorations
traversed the cisland athwart and across.
1t is believed that bis surveying party
is the only one that has ever explored
the interior.
OF the other industrial resources of
the island there is more fattering
account Mr.. Carroll has furnished us
with the following statistics The
population of Newfoundland is 175, 200,
out of which number $4,000 are fisher
men. The average catch OF fish each
year is 1850, 900 quintals (ll2 pounds
to the quintal), and the yield of doll
three quarters Of an imperial gallon
for each quintal The French send
out $4,000 fishermen every spring to
prosecute cod fishing on the banks of
Newfoundland. All the fishing vessels
arrive at st. Peters before commencing
the fishing trips. Tho resident popu-
lation of st. Peters is about 5000
The French fishermen return, after
their fishing voyage, to France about
lst of October The French also pros
ecute their cod fishing on the north
and west parts of the island from Cape
John to Cape Ray. No French are al
lowed to reside ON that part of the
island OF Newfoundland known as the
French shore. This spring of 1874
twenty-five large steamships and 214
sailing vessels intend prosecuting the
seal fishing business, and their crews
will number no less than 10000 men.
The average catch will be about 550,-
900 old and young seals, and the value
of the seal oil and skins may be esti-
mated ut 100000. The voyage for
sailing vessels commences about the
5th of this month, steamships starting
some five days later. Messrs, John
Mum & Co., Harbor Grace, send out
the largest feet, and have the credit of
manufacturing the purest seal oil in
the country.
Mr. Carroll is the author Of a most
practical and comprehensive treatise
on the seal fishery, which contains
many facts unknown to naturalists, n
notice of which we trust shortly to
present TO our readers.-Forea and