The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-09-27
FAR NORTH BY RAIL.

FAR NORTH BY RAIL.
YoU CAV RIDE NOW TO THE sAs-
KATCILEWAN, IN LATITUDE 81 1-2'.
Some Highly Interesting Facts FROM . Pc
cullar Country-A Railroad without .
Teie8rnph-A Priests bother with the
Creo Language-A Powerful neer.
EDMONTON. Alberta. N. W. T.. Sept. I'LL
you want to 60 to the North Pole you can get a
lift on the Calgary and Edmonton Railroad.
Just completed. that will take you to the north
fork OF the Saskatchewan. in latitude 63k'.
This is the top notch OF railroading on this
continent, 800 miles north OF New York and at
least 800 miles higher UP In the world than the
line Of railroad that is in process Of construc-
ton across Newfoundland. or course. II you
compare II with railroads In western Europe.
It Is nothing to brag about, for Edinburgh Is
further north than Edmonton: still. this town
has. not the climate Of Edinburgh. and
when you have reached It you have got
to the edge Of civilization In North
America II tho original survey for tho
Canadian Pacific Railroad had been followed
1t would have passed through Edmonton and
reached the sea by way Of Yellow Head Pass.
but the discovery and use OF Kicking Horse
Valley. to the southwark. left Edmonton nearly
200 miles of the line. so to connect It with but
ter and lemons. and all those things. the now
branch was built, and trains are running twice
o week. It Is an interesting. but hardly an
exhilarating trip up here. The roadbed is NOT
we'll ballasted. and the train. composed Of ono
baggage car and one passenger coach. crawls
over 1t at the rate Of eighteen miles an hour.
There is siding about every ten miles. known
until q month ago merely by number. as Sid
ing No. g." but these turnouts have just been
named. 90 that on reaching Morningside, or
Ponoka. or Weetaskiwin. you fancy for an In
slant that you have got somewhere. but you
haven't for these places consist Of station
and o few gophers.
Calgary. the starting point Of the journey. is
known to fame chiefly as the place where they
charge twenty-five cents o glass for beer.
Leaving that town without regret. and CROSS
ing the cold flood Of Bow River. hurrylng down
from the mountains whose frosty polls loom in
the distance, you ride northward for fifty
miles across empty plains. following q dry
valley for an hour. and passing but half dozen
cabins and houses. Buffalo bones. and trails
the trails running north and south; q coyote
trots sulkily along the stony bed Of a dead
brook l,.. fox peeps from elumR Of sage brush:
VIE sppns sas 0y wSee Yst 'a ana
Ging" before their burrows but Of human
s aeM eers T Rh hea
until o'clock. when 1T viii grow
you put your overooa TSe rough aa forms aees
the Rockies. rose.Eray, blue. and white, melt
GT ssas sGnsht s p Esw
like. 1t Is noticed that little akali
In the soil and that The sage brush the pest Of
amounts to more than shrub. Now there is
g e. pond: then the grass gets higher. and turns
Deer. the only city on tie ine-it has fourteen ZEN
ii ii what Westerners call park coun-
Red Deer and the Saskatchewan you could
Of, New England. and they viii show them
selves before long, This promises to BE- the
PsE eapean ht T ESss snds q hs
River Valley are already taken up by sPecu-
M d so Ih S 5Gs eaSeT T9s
i {S5 iaf%iRRs Isss gSsr s6SS ss% S
district and there are others at cir heels this
year; It lis. Is rather surprising that q good
They seed and wter
szzssSs G nooa soy get
Rersh into rsssS Of the mii Hi Pacific % Sinds
The soil is thinner and less rich than that OF
N
long. warm days of brief summer hurry
the East: Small farms and small herds now
appear. the latter usually gathering. on the
s5eopo The od bu is ether oo
lected or scared enough to lead his COWS into
tsns msdG sEse aa6 oSse So 1nG
time lost on this road Is easily made
up. and cattle, cha chasing is ACCOUNTED as
sppiitsr y Solitary i than sta
James's heroes could be-. II they wished-be-
ment. like passing sail at sea- and On 1 reaching
o w GSs to es
the t
is trying to mediate on his breviary not far
est w9e the res Deepns at the
One strange thing about this read Is that Il
n9 VIE Ire to
the Saskatchewan to Prince Albert, about 400
miles then t9 Regime 2oQ more. then 70 Cal.
short ent, i your train Is wrecked NOBODY at
two But is not likely to BE- wrecked rec Sth
only one engine in service. and no obstacle |
worse than COWS on the track. SO YOU finish |
Wood. They arc building q house. and md
u
dlans and 9 surveyors tent. but no
town; no river in sight The surveyor tells you |
to follow the narrow road leading to the left,
and this you. you do; meeting only couple Of half
Of hair. but apparently OF wire.
until: after leg OF mile; you 90 down steep
The impression Of the place is |
strangely northern. A dense but low forest Of |
birch. poplar. spruce. and tamarnck extends In
every digestion and the silence Of 4 is ,un-
Of 2 cricket nor the rustic Of a snake or a iox |
IN tho brush, Tho low sun throws binding |
glare down the caflon of the river. along its
flushing current and lights tho white, walls Of |
perched at tho edge Of the opposite, bluff. with |
two old-fashioncd cannon aimed into space |
outside, Of its !stockade. The Saskatchewan |
does not flow through a canon proper. for the |
banks are Of clay and gravel, not OF rock. but |
level country and the fall Of these banks 10
that from little distance there Is nothing to |
show that there Is river In the neighborhood. |
has become SO clogged with sand bars that for |
TWO years the annual trips to York Factory. on |
Hudson Bay, have been discontinued tha If |