The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1890-07-04

ZEN OF GOLFER DAN AND Mui.E9,
iibi,ed plans of the proposed railway. Tie
}nlls wrrc burned in the ssreur fire Of 1s,i,
and for ten wears the scheme WAS buried.
1t was rcs.,rrecte,l by Sir Charles Tupprl.
Mr. krlchurn made surveys al his own cN-
pensr, nndnppicdto parliamen, fora char.
ter and |, subsidy Tie application WAS r.z
fcrred to Chief Engineer Schriehcr. and he
reported
!. The project is one quite practicable nj exeeu-
. Tie ship railway Us proposed would e
good substitute for the raual originally contefh-
plated,
3 The advantage. In respect to cost compared
with that Of canal wsal he greatly in favor If
th.. ship railway the cost of half tide canal be
ing calculated by the government engineers ut
from S5hI,nDto SS,S!i-S'1, whereas the subsidy
asked for by til" company. namely "f S15+l@p for
twenty y-iirc wears il capitalized ut PER cent,
would he equal To thrsnm "f s2,at3.aa only.
While nna visit lo the Canadian prov
ircus recently was dnsirous of seeing lie
marine railway works for myself, and SO
proceeded to he bay oi l,nndy 1erminlis
Mt Port Lawrence, which IL passing ! may
say is famous in .Acahian history rs he
scene Of the first permanent settlement af
Europeans made by the French in the
early part OF lGoo There | found several
hundred men lalntrin2 upon tie rNcdvl:
tions and preliminary works. Sir i'enJh-
min Baker est in,&tcs that stearnrs passing
from the st. Lawrence to 81. John, y, B.,
via the straits Of E;tnSn, will s:lvcabo,tt 5nD
miles, and from 300 miles upward to Port
land, Boston. etc, so that in ';iany r,ts"s
steamers should to able iG rake two trips
where now only one can be nude Large
smiling vessels which are unable to pass
through the straits of Canso without wait
ing for favorable winds. and which have
in consequence to pass around Cape Bre-
ton, will save 100 miles.
Such II saving is of special Importance to
vessels with perisllable cargoes, such as
vegetables, fresh fish. etc, and it naturally
follows that there will lpa II saving IN ma
rine insurance premiums, rates from Bos-
ton to ports in the Gulf of st. Lawrence
being about double those to the Bay Of
F'undy, owing to increased risk of naviga-
tiun around Nova Scotia and Cape Breton;
Il longer navigation season by some three
weeks, owing to saving the passage of the
Straits of Cunso, and less demand for
strength. so that vessels which are adapt.
ed only for inland waters will be able 10
continue their course with safety from the
St Lawrence and even tue western Like,
TO St. John, y. b., Portland and Boston u
vice versa thus opening new channel Of
trade.
This marine railway company obtained
incorporation from parliament in 1857. and
the same year was granted subsidy Of
sl5A,GOU for twenty-five yaars in aid ni the
work. Nothing was done until 1885, wien
IN order in council was passed authorizing
entry into agreement with the company,
subject to the approval of parliament, and
such approval was obtained in March, 1886.
Under its terms the subsidy was to be
Sl10.ON0 Il year for twenty years, or such
portion of 1t as would bring the net earll-
| inss up to per cent. Oh the authorized
| share and bond capital Of the company.
Should the earnings exceed per cent.
| one-half of such surplus is to be paid the
| government until tho repayment of the
subsidy Is made. Surely this was tempt
ing enough to any capitalist-7 per cent.
guaranteed upon an ostensibla capital Of
| $500, 600, though up to this date no one
has been able to learn the exact or even
probable cost OF the undertaking.
| The novel part Of the scheme, Of course.
is not the mere lifting out of water and
moving for short distance of ships, but
tLe transporting of then, for miles at somo
tolerably high speed, say ten miles per
| hour, from Dne body of water to another.
| The possibility of such feat being success
fully accomplished has been much dis
puted, but it bids fair now to be put to q
practical test. Work has been progress
ing very favorably, and already the larger
portion of the excavations and grading>
has been completed. The two termina
basins are being worked on day and night
md work upon the masonry will be pushet
at once There are perhaps 500. men en-
ploycd in various capacities, and every ef
fort is being made to push tho task to [
finish.
Tho roadbed Is ballasted and ready fo
track laying, and the docks ut either ent
are In progress of construction. Ther'
will be double track, upon which th'
cradle containing the vessel under trans
port will be placed. The locomotives. tw'