Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-11-25

country. The crown and the s'V. r. over
the Fostofice door is likely to be the first
thing Of the sort to attract his notice, af-
ter he has recovered from his Indignation
at being obliged to open his trunk and
permit the customs officer to tumble in
his wearing apparel. The style of build
ings and all the street life, except the OK
teams of the half breeds, is decidedly
American. If one is closely observant,
however, he sees little peculiarities in the
goods and wares displayed in the stores.
All the dry goods come from Montreal,
and are "quite English, you know"
The agricultural implements are main
ly made in Chatham, Toronto and Hamil-
ton. But found one place to-day where
Moline wagons, Buford plows and other
American farm machinery were sold. The
merchant told me that the duty was 30
per cent, and that the Dominion Gus
toms officials tried hard to freeze him
out by raising ARBITRARILY invoices. The
settled policy of the Dominion govern
ment, he said, is to bar cut all manufact-
ured articles made in the United States.
Nevertheless | observe that the sewing
ing machines, pianos and billiard tables
are of American make, and also the to-
bacco and cigarettes; yes, and the litera-
ture too, for the numerous news-stands
display the Century, Harper's and Frank
Leslie's publications, Puck and The
Judge and the New York edition of cheap
popular novels. No people ever
produced literature while in, state
of political dependence. The provincial
or colonial condition is fatal to genius.
Where are the Canadian poets, novelists,
historians and artists? They are yet to
be born, Ealthough Canada is as old as
Massachusetts.
They eat our fruit here as we'll as smoke
our tobacco, and read our books and mag
azincs. [ notice Concord and Catawba
grapes at twice st. Paul prices, apples
from Michigan and sweet grapes from
California. They drink Milwaukee beer
and charge fifty cents a bottle for it at
the hotels. They copy our architecture
closely, and adorn their public square
with a soldiers monument, like those in
our American cities. The monument is
in memory of the Winnipeg soldiers who
fell in the Riel rebellion. As there were
only eight of these heroes, their names
are repeated to fill two panels on the base
of the tall shaft In the shop windows
are Autographs representing the battles
of Fish Greek and some other creek,
which appear to have been lively skirm-
ishes Of a magnitude no greater than
thousands in our civil war which never
had a name.
ManitOba's political parties are the
Liberals, usually called the Grits, for the
reason, perhaps, that they claim to have
more grit to advocate reforms than their
opponents, and the Tories or Conserva-
tlves. The latter are in power. The
Government House, where the Provincial
parliament meets, is a creditable building
and IN the same enclosure stands the big
mansion Of the Lieutenant Governor, who
is appointed by the Governor General at
Ottawa, and is paid by the Dominion
$4,000 year to do nothing but repre-
sent the dignity and authority of the
Queen. He is not allowed to have any
politics, and he must sign all appoint
ments and bills the Council of Ministers
present to him.
Winnipeg is exceedingly orderly and
no frontier laxity of morals is allowed
There is not even a variety theater or a
free concert hall, and no Iong-haired
German professors" thump pianos in
beer saloons. The rOIIer-skating rink
survives, however, and is the only form
of evening amusement. Hotels are sur
prisingly numerous. I should say that
there must be Twice as many as In st.
Paul, and don't include little whisky
selling taverns, but only houses of three
stories with accommodations for thirty
or forty guests. This indicates large
floating, or unmarried male population.
The Winnipeg people are friendly and
talkative with strangers, hopeful as to the
future of their city and province, and
disposed, like all people in new countries,
to eXawperatiOn. I think thew greatly
over estimate the resources of the I'M
settled regions west of Manitoba
as we'll as the advantages of their own
immediate section. The newspapers
print in the most conspicuous place the
trivial news from the Canadian pro-
vinces, next the European news and last
the news from the United States, much
condensed and abbreviated.