Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-08-05
A CANADIAN PROJECT.
A Gigantic RailrO0d Ac1seare of Interest ia
Minnesota on Foot.

Gigantic Railroad Ac1te3lte of Interest to
Minnesota on Foot.
The Toronto Globe has the following in re-
gard to the building of new route from the
Northwest through Canada to the Atlantic
coast:
We showed some weeks since strong rea-
sons for the belief that the St. Lawrence
route will ultimately beat the present rail-
roads in the competition for freight from
Chicago or Duluth to Liverpool, but it is
questionable whether the st. Lawrence route
could more than get its share of the grain
traffic If the rail route were shortened by
$50 or 400 miles. Such shortening would
be effected by the construction of line
from Thomson Junction, near Duluth, to
the Sault Ste. Marie to meet
the Canada Pacific. Taking Moorhead,
which is 2G2 miles west of Duluth, as the
point at which freights would diverge to
New York by present lines, or to Montreal
by the proposed line, we find that the dis
lance from that point to New York is 1850
miles, and from that point to Montreal only
1870, difference in favor of the line by the
Sault of 38G miles. This represents saving
in freight of nearly 40 per cent. of the
whole sum which is charged from Chicago
to New York, and if the line were built it
would unquestionably gain great through
traffic, abstract from Chicago the
freights of q large part of
WISCONSIN, the whole of Minnesota, Dako-
ia, and all the Territories to the west. Bar
ring the st. Lawrence water route, its great
est competitor would be the Canadian Pacific
railway, and not the lines which make long
detour around the south end of Lake Michi-
gan in order to reach New York. II is Ger
%oSv, hot go L,
Pacific will not only carry all the grain of
the Canadian Northwest which refuses to
seek an outlet by the lake route, but will also
carry the grain of the Northwestern States of
the American Union. Winnipeg is almost in
the centre of the continent, and is a favora-
bic point from which to institute comparison
between the Canadian Pacific and the lines
passing through Chicago to New York. We
find that the distance from Winnipeg to New
York, via Chicago, is 1872 miles, and by the
projected Canadian Pacific only 1925 miles.
Selecting point on the Canadian Pacific.
due north of Moorhead on the Mort ern
Pacific, we find that the distances to Montreal
are nearly the same by the two projected
lines. When both are built each will draw
its share of freight from the country be-
tween the respective lines, while the Canadian
Pacific will be fed by the great fertile country
to the north, and the line through the
Sault by the wealthy agricultural country
of tho States to its immediate south.
The notable circumstance is that the short
est route to the seaboard terminates in both
cases at Montreal, which, lying by the Belle
Isle route $50 miles nearer to Liverpool than
New York, must ultimately become the EN-.
porium of the grain trade, whether it is
convey ed by either of the projected lines or
by the lake and river route, which will be
their only formidable competitor. The pro-
ject of line from Duluth to Sault Ste.
Marie is understood to be now occupying
the attention of prominent American capital
lists, and there is some probability that it's
construction may be entered on at an early
date.