The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-12-27
ANOTHER CANADIAN ENTERPRISE.

People who ten or fifteen years ago sneered
at the idea of a Canadian railroad to the Pa
cific and line of Canadian steamers to Asia
are now crawling into such exceedingly
small holes that they will hardly be able to
get out in shape to laugh at the new Winni-
peg and Hudson Bay Railroad. Up 10 the
present time that enterprise has been classed
with the scheme Of the sanguine Arctic ex-
plorer, who proposes to reach the North Pole
by balloon from Franz josef Land. But it
has been seriously taken up by the Dominion
Parliament, and grants of millions of square
miles of land, which becomes visible in July
and disappears under the snow in August,
are to be voted i'll its aid.
The road is to start from Winnipeg, in
Manitoba, and skirting Lake Winnipeg ard
the Nelson River, to terminate at or near
York factory, on Hudson Bay. Its length is
estimated at 700 miles. 1t runs through a
country which has hitherto been regarded
rs too bleak for tilage, but the soil, like
parts of the Yukon Valley, is said to be fer
tile. Where it can be cultivated it is report
ed as capable OF yielding fifty bushels of
wheat TO the acre. There are at present no
settlements north of the Winnipeg district,
and the terminus on the bay consists of the
old Hudson Bay Company's buildings and
few Esquimaux huts. 1t can hardly be
called a village. But the projectors of the
enterprise see in it the germ of future me-
tropoiis. 1t is in so north latitude, like
Sitka, the capital of Alaska.
But the object of the railroad is not so
much 10 open up the country north OF Win
nlpeg as 10 afford, in the language of the pro-
JectoIs "a new ana short outlet for the
wheat and cattle of Manitoba, Minnesota,
the DakotaS and Wyoming to Europe" The
distance from tie terminus at York, or Port
Nelson, to Liverpool is stated to be 1866
miles, the sailing course is up Hudson Bay
to Hudson Straits. through the straits and
through the south end of Davis Strait into
the Atlantic-a course which will commend
itself to shippers of cattle, as no refrigerat-
ing process will BE- required to preserve the
meat. 1t appears, from report which was
made few years ago to the Canadian Gov
eminent by an exploring expedition sent out
for the purpose, that there are few icebergs
IN Hudson Bay, though there is a good sup
ply of field ice; but fleets of bergs come
down the Fox Channel which ends at the
mouth of Hudson Straits, and vessels have
to be pretty lively to dodge them. BY keep
ing bright lookout however, they can be
eluded, and the explorers reported that be-
tween July and the end of September yes
W
ice can fairly entertain hopes of getting
through the straits without shipwreck.
Once off the coast of Labrador, they would
have the usual trials Of Arctic navigators to
encounter and pothing more.
In case wheat or cattle laden ships are de-
layed on their voyage by bergs or ice-fields
the crew can turn the delay to good ac-
count by fishing for walrus, porpoise and
white whales, which are quite abundant in
hudson Straits. Walrus tusks are prop
erty which can be converted into money
anywhere, and the skin of the porpoise
makes leather which is excellent for heavy
boots. From all three animals fair quail
ity Of oil can be extracted. judicious cap
tain can thus add something to his freight
money, and the excitement of the chase will
serve to while away the tedium of forced
delays.
Altogether, the scheme seems promising
Every enterprise which opens up new and
UNEMPLOYED country is 10 be commended,
and though we hardly agree with the pro-
jectors of the Hudson Bay Railroad, that
teeming masses of Europeans will hasten to
locate farms in region which resembles
the tundra of Siberia and where a man has
to bestir himself every morning to dig his
way out of his house, the project has a
noble aspect. 1t seems unlikely that the
wheat-growers of Dakota, or even OF Mani
toba, will forsake the familiar channelsGf
transportation, via New York or Montreal,
to pa;ronize railroad which will be blocked
by snowdrlftS for half the time, and ships
which Will have to pick their way through
drift ice ana ice mountains. But there is
something lOftier than mere utility, and
in this instance the Canadians seem to be
after il.