Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1880-01-14
30. 3.

Special Correspondence PUBLIC LEDGER'l
OTTAWA, Jan. l880.-The weather
here is, as a rule, bright, clear and
bracing. The days are sunny; yet SO
cold that the mercury rarely rises
above zero the nights are very little
colder, but
IAN the air a solemn stiffness holds"
and the noon pOurs a food Of light
over the whitened landscape. Sleigh
ing, in such weather, when all is
wrapped in furs and armed for an en-
counter with Jack Frost, is a luxury
which must be INDUCED in to be
appreciated. 1t is "a very common,
eyery-day-luxury here. Nearly every
family has its horse and cutter, and
the streets are alive with vehicles.
Racing inside the city is prOhib-
tied by law, but trotting is
not, and trotting horses are. therefore,
very popular and numerous. The
competition between rival "turn-outs'
on Rideau street on a fine, clear day, is
one of the most exciting scenes that
could be witnessed in this northern
capital. The horses seem to partake
of the restless activity of their owners,
and apparently enjoy the impromptu
brushes as much as their owners.
The winter season is exceedingly en-
ioyable, and would be hailed as a
blessing lift were not 50 long, but six
months of frost and snow chill the
ardor of the most enthusiastic admir-
ers of winter sports.
THE ICE-RoADs
are a feature of the country worthy Of
notice. The first cold SNAP late in
the fall imprisous the lakes and
rivers in Setters & ice. The
first sheet is thin, but is
very tough. If snowfalIs are light,
each succeeding frosty night thickens
their covering, until, in an incredibly
short time, it becomes strong enough
to bear the weight of men and horses.
Then the ice-roads are marked cut fol-
the winter by means of green boughs,
to indicate where teams should pass,
and winter travel on the rivers begins.
The first roads of this kind that are
opened up at this city are across the
Ottawa river to the city Of Hull and
the village of Gatineau, at the mouth
Of the river of that name. Both are
visible from Parliament Hall, From
early morning until late in the evening
there is a continuous stream of traveI
Upon the ice-bound surface of the
river, and the same scene may
be witnessed at almost any pop
ulous point on the Ottawa
and its tributaries. So strong is the
ice, and so safe is travel upon it, that
a railway company at Montreal is lay.
IND a track upon the st. Lawrence
which is two miles wide at hat point
to connect its line at Longueuil will
summer terminus at Hochelaga. With
in a very short time-before this letteI
reaches you-trains will be ruunin,
regularly upon the CONCEALED sUrfac,
of the mighty St. Lawrence. 1
sounds strangely to my Southern ears
but here the enterprise is looked upol
as a matter Of course, and the onl
comments thatI hear are III eondemna
ton Of the Grand Trunk railway com
pany, who control the great Yictori
bridge at Montreal, and whose rivalr
prevents the Southeastern compan
from using it. As the people q
Canada gave $l5,OOO,OO 0 to hel
the Grand Trunk Company to bull
the bridge, they think that the othe
companies should SO far benefit by th
work as to be allowed the use Of it
cross the river to Montreal.
H
NEW YEARS DAY
was observed here very much as it
in New York. There was much visit
lug, wishing the Compliments of th
season" and drinking healths in some
thing more inspiring than the all
pefyading ozone of tie Canadian al
mosuSere. The Marquis Of Lorn
and the members Of the Dominic
cabinet gave the usual New Year
reception at the Eastern Departments
block, where the ylsSs-resal bushes