The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1884-02-22
AN INTERESTING co1kMUNI-
II CATION.

ShoSS WIN hNu oPlSV Oue tAO HOW Aouus
Allowance was made for enthusiasm,
for exaggeration, for the false state.
ments of selfish men; and after that
we complacently concluded that the
there was nothing special in the case.
Despite our gratifying decisions, the
rqn,ors gained both currency and evi.
dence. The western fever ran high.
The vanguard Of advancing civilization
moved steadily on. Our friends and
neighbors went out and reported favor.
ably. hopefully, glowingly! We be-
came unsettled, and after q heroic re.
sistance finally succumbed to the spirit
of unrest, and to the ambition and the
adventure of the times. Not without
sacrifice we joined the crowd of those
whose faces were turned.
ITO the west! to the westl 70 the land Of the free
Where the muddy Red river rolls ON to the sea-"
Do We regret the change! I trow not.
True, we have not now the home com.
forts Of the land of our fathers. We
do not move in the familiar society OF
earlier days. But our prospects were
never brighter. We have faith in the
future of the land Of our adoption.
We are content to Labor and to
Watt" We are sustained in endur.
ance, comforted in loneliness, and
stimulated to activity by the "Pleas'
ures Of Hope"
Again our ears are greeted with
rumors, passing strange. Vague and
uncertain were they at first, but more
definite and more interesting they
grow as days multiply and testimony
increases. Railroad companies have
been hastily betting the continent with
bonds Of steel that the demand of the
East might be united to the supply OF
the West. Suddenly the discovery
is made that the Northwest
has u seaboard Of its own, at the
eastern limits of the Hudson Bay
OF course we have our misgivings.
The country between this and that il
in oil probability broken and noun
famous. The harbor at the bay il
northerly and may not be accessible
for a very large portion of the year.
The Hudson Straits, leading out into
the Atlantic Ocean may he intricate
and dangerous. It may be impossible
to find capitalists who will risk their
money in such a utopian like scheme.
Were the road constructed, could it be
made to pay! Would steamship com.
panies be likely to furnish the vessels
WREN they could not br employed the
whole year! Could the wheat supply
Of any one year be taken out between
the opening and closing Of navigation!
1t seems too problematical ever to be.
come more than pleasing fancy. 1t
is too great a scheme for our age. Its
promises are too good to be true.
Yet we may reasonably enquire,
what are the facts of the scheme.
Seven hundred miles from Winni.
peg is Churchill by the sea. The
lying between is not untavor.
able to railway construction. It is
for the most part timbered, but this
will be of advantage rather than other.
wise. 1t will supply fuel, FLOUR yards
with lumber. and be an inexpensive
'now.Dreak in the winter months.
There is good deal Of rock, but
nothing worse than has been overcome
in constructing the G. r. r. from Port
Arthur to Winnipeg; and nothing like
the Lake Superior section of the same
road appears throughout. Surely if
The Rockies can be scaled a half dozen
Times in the effort to secure the Pacific
trade. the little hills of the valley of
The Nelson need not brighten us.
There are riyers, some large ones
70 be crossed, Tut the banks are mostly
nigh and abrupt, and with the excep-
ion of the Saskatchewan and Brush.
wood rivers, no difficulty whatever
would be found. On the whole the
bridges will not increase the cost of
construction to any considerable ex.
;ent.
As to the harbor at Fort Churchill.
t may safely be said that few better
mes exist. 1t is available for vessels
lrawing thirty feet of water, and is
entered by means Of . passage, half a
nile wide and twelve fathoms deep.
Did sailors say that the roadstead is
'ood holding ground, and it is claimed
hat no harbor on the bay is more free
rom ice at all seasons than this. I'M
nense elevators can s.6e constructed
long the shore, and vessels can be
oaded in a few hours.
The question of the duration of
navigation is still under discussion.
This much, however. is established by |
IN experience reaching back to 1917:
hat from early May to late September,
wen sailing vessels may move with
afety. For fifty-two years the Hayes
liver at YORK Factory has had an |
'yerage Of six months Of open water. |
The Nelson, a larger stream, is open
or fully seven months. Standing
ipon the bold promontories one NAV
It any time in the winter see the open
water far out to sea. In fact it is vet
% be proved that properly constructed
steamers could not navigate the bay
lor As long q period as is possible in
The River st. Lawrence at Quebec.
1t is Q significant fact that during