St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-07-03
SAINT PAUL.
AN UNTRoDDEN REGION.

Senator John Macdonald, of Toronto,
Canada, is staying at the Ryan. being
accompanied by his daughter. They are
on their way west, and after taking in
st. Paul and Minneapolis, will visit the
Yellowstone Park, from there they will
make tour of the Pacific coast and
take a steamer for Alaska. returning by
way of the Canadian Pacific. The Sena-
tor is one of Canada'S leading men, not
only as statesman, but as business
man and philanthropiSt. He was recog-
niZed as one of the dominlon'S men OF
light and leading for many years be-
fore his appointment as senator. Sen
atorS in Canada are not elected by the
people, as in this country, but are ap-
pointed for life by the governor gen
eral; hence they are men of even more
prominence in their own country than
the members of the United States SEN
ate are here.
~
Senator Macdonald is the head of the
largest dry goods house in Canada, that
of John Macdonald Il Co.. Toronto. lie
is also one of the leading men in the
Y. NJ. C. A., pillar of the Methodist
church, and widely known and beloved
by many thousands who have been the
recipients of his munificent charity.
Self-made and self-educated, he is a
manof great acumen and a deep thinker.
His letters from Labrador and the West
Indies to the Toronto Globe showed his
ability as a descriptive writer. and were
widely commented on. especially by the
London (Eng.) Standard, which copied
many of them in eXtenSO. In the do
minion senate last year he made a
lengthy speech descriptive OF the re-
sources of the Mackenzie river country
in the far northwest of Canada, a region
made doubly interesting to st. Paul IN
view of the proposed extension OF the
Northern Pacific railroad, which Will
bring large portion of it directly trlb-
utary to this city.
Senator Macdonald was asked yester-
day for some information about this re-
giOn. He said in reply: Every little is
known of it except to those who have
been there. Much of my knowledge OF
priest who had lived among the natives
there for thirty OF forty years. The
valley of the. Mackenzie river is very
fertile, and wheat can be grown to per
lection along almost its entire length.
1t is destined to become one OF the rich
est wheat countries Oh the continent.
Besides wheat there are many other
possibilities for that hitherto almost
unknown region. There is a bed of
asphaltum four feet thick, and of such
an area that the whole American CONT
nent could be supplied from it for ages.
The largest deposit of petroleum in the
world is away up near the northwestern
end of the river-almost up to the Arc
tic circle. 1t extends for miles, and is
apparently very rich"
Senator Macdonald has never been in
st. Paul before. and expressed great
surprise at the vastness and apparent
wealth of the city. Back in the sixties
he was at Duluth and Moorhead on his
way to Winnipeg via the Red river.
"Glyndon," said he, was then a little
village of paper houses. Moorhead and
Fargo had not more than half a dozen
houses each. Duluth seemed to have
just relapsed into quieScent state after
experiencing the throes of a lively
boom. / expect to see some Of these
places as | pass through looking very
different from what they were then"