Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1891-03-12
ACROSS BRITISH AMERICA.
PORT TOWNSEND, WASH.

PORT TOWNSEND. WASH.
Editor Chronicle We send you fey
notes, gathered by the way, on our re
cent trip from Ohio to Washington, owe
, the Canadian Pacific Railway, as w
have never seen that country written VI
in your paper. and it may be of interes
to your readers. We left Fairpoint, o.
on the morning of Wednesday, Novem
Der 26, and left Bridgeport the same day
at noon over the C. and p for Chicago
arriving there Thursday morning at
o'clock, and leaving at s for St. Pau
over the Chicago, Milwaukee and St
Paul R'y. No doubt this route is ia.
miliar to great many of your readers
so we will not take time to mention the
many places of interest along the route
We arrived at st. Paul Thursday night
at 11:4O. Here we found we could not
make connection with the through train
over the Canadian Pacific until Friday
evening, I'd, at $40. So after a good
nights rest, we had day before us to
see the Twin Cities" 1t would take
too long to describe the many places we
visited, 80 we will only mention a few.
The first, and believe the best place
to get good view of the city, was the
st. Paul Pioneer Press building. We
went by elevator to the observatory, and
as it is sixteen stories high with base
ment) the view obtained of the city, the
Mississippi, with the many bridges span
ming it, and the surrounding country,
was grand one. We next visited the
Court House and City Hall, then the
New York Fire and Life Insurance
building, and many other places too
numerous to mention. We enjoyed it
much, and the time passed quickly; be-
fore we were aware of it the clock warn
ed us that it was time to retrace our
steps to our hotel and to equip ourselves
for journey across the plains and
mountains of
BRITISH AMERICA.
We replenished our lunch baskets and
provided ourselves with everything nee
essary to board ourselves on the train
for five or six days. A party of friends
from Milwaukee rejoined US here, and
at 6 o'clock we took possession of our
berths in the family apartment or tour
ist sleeper, on the Great Northern R'y.
These cars are just simply Pullman
sleepers, with more conveniences; they
are completely equipped with bedding,
linen, curtains, &c.-and run in charge
of regular porter--and are special
features of the Manitoba line. There
are also cooking range and lavatory in
connection with these cars, that enables
family to travel in comfort and at
great deal less expense than to go to
the dining car. The first hundred and
fifty miles northwest from ST. Paul is
known as,and very well named, the "Park
region" 1t abouDds in beautiful lakes
skirted with natural groves and undu-
lating prairies. The lakes have pretty,
gently sloping banks, shores of gravel,
and water clear as crystal. This part
of Minnesota is becoming quite highly
cultivated, and abounds in pretty towns
and farms. We passed through some
very pretty towns, among which are
Breckenridge, Moorehead, Fargo, Hills
boro and others. We stopped at Grand
Forks, Oak, for breakfast Saturday
morning. 1t is not long ago that the
domain of these new States was mapped
out as part of the "Great American
Desert day it is the home of 100000
people, with room for millions. The
Great Northern Railway reaches many
principal points in both South and n North
Dakota.
About noon on Saturday, November
20, we arrived at Gretna, Manitoba, on
the line between the United States and
Canada. The first intimation we had
of nearing the line was when the Gus
toms officer came aboard the train and
requested us all to open our baggage for
inspection, to which we had to comply;
but one glance at our baggage was
enough to convince him that our party
at least was not trying to smuggle any
thing into the dominion, for he did not
spend much time in going through it.
There is very little to be seen along the
line but rolling prairie country for
miles and miles, with here and there a
farm house at long intervals, until we
reach
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA,
at 1920 o'clock, annotated time-the "a
hour system bsing in use on the West
ern and Pacific Division of the Canadi-
an Pacific R'y. By this system the A.
NJ. and P. NJ. are abolished, and the hours
from noon to midnight are from II to
"a o'clock. Winnipeg, the capital of
the Province of Manitoba, has popula-
tion of $4,000. 1t was formerly known
as Fort Garry. 1t is situated at the
iuncture of the Red and Assniboin Riv-
ers, both navigable for steamboats,; it |
has been for many years the chief post
of the Hudson Bay Company, which has |
here very extensive establishments.-|
Winnipeg commands the trade of the
vast region to the North and West. The
city is handsomely built, superior brick
and stone being available, and has street |
railways, electric lights, great Touring
mills and elevators, and many notable |
public buildings. The chief workshops
of the C. p. R'y between Montreal and
the Pacific are here, and the train yard
contains more than twenty miles of sid
ings. The company also have fine
passenger station and excellent refresh
ment rooms. The company own the
odd numbered sections in the belt of
land extending "A miles on each side of
the track between Winnipeg and the
Rocky Mountains.
Though the country here is apparent
ly as level as billiard table, there is
really an ascent of several hundred feet
from Winnipeg to Portage la Prairie, a
distance of so or 60 miles$ A belt of
almost unoccupied land surrounds Win
nipeg for many miles, due to the fact
that it is mostly held by spectators.