Mexico weekly ledger., 1892-08-18
. TRIP TO CANADA, WHERE ALL
TOWNS ARE DEAD AND THE
sTILLsEss IS AWFUL.
Reminds One Of Fulton, Over IN CAL
Iaway. Where Weeds In the Streets
Grow Taller Than the Germ In
the FIeIds-Thr6ugh
Great Tunnel.

Editorial Correspondence OF the Ledger.
On GRAND Trunk TRAIN, NEAR
TORONTO, August 15.-We are in
Canada. You can feel it in the air
and see il everywhere. An American
can tell by intuition when he is away
from home. We entered Canada
through the st. Clair Tunnel at Port
Huron.
The st. Clair Tunnel is ''the link
that binds two great nations, = and is
the greatest submarine tunnel in the
world. 1t extends from Port Huron,
Michigan, under the st. Clair River
to Sarnia, in the Canadian Province
of Ontario, and connects the Grand
Trunk Railway System of Canada
with the Chicago and Grand Trunk
Railway and its connecting and as
sociate lines.
The tunnel proper is a contin-
uous iron tube, nineteen feet and
ten inches in diameter, and 6025
feet in length Tor a trife over a mile).
The approaches, in addition to the
tunnel proper, are 1908 feet in
length, making all told a little over
two miles.
This grea. international under
taking was completed at a cost of
50, 700, 900 and opened for freight
traffic October 81, and for passenger
traffic December Z, 1891.
The tunnel is lighted by mean
descent electric lamps placed at
suitable intervals.
By reason of the method of con-
struction employed, and the material
(iron) used therein, the tunnel is
absolutely water tight.
AS illustrating the accuracy of
engineering skill, and without enter
ing into lengthy details, suffice it to
say that the construction of the tun-
mel was begun and carried on from
both the American and Canadian
sides of the river simultaneously,
and when the edges of the tunnel
shields met midway under the river
bed, the total errors in line were
found to be too small for measure
ment.
Trains of the Chicago & Grand
Trunk Railway are hauled through
this tunnel bycoke-burning engines,
specially constructed for the purpose.
They are said to be the largest. en-
gines in the world. The entire weight
of the engine and tender rests upon
ten drive wheels. The weightof one
of these monster engines in actual
service is found to be approximately
one hundred tons.
Our trip to Canada has been very
pleasant and we visited many live
little cities, but none to equal Mex
leo for enterprise and get-up-and-get,
except in paved streets and sewerage
and nice depots. The cities of Can
ada all appear to be dead. You
can look out of your car window at
any station and imagine you are in
Fulton, Mo. 1t is the stiffness of
death and the people do not appear
to be alive. The quiet is vast and
oppressive. We are to visit Niagara
and take an excursion on the st.
Lawrence in a day or so and will
likely return via New York and
Washington and get home Saturday
afternoon in time to vote. An Au-
drain man don't get time to take
much of an excursion these times
without losing a chance to exercise
his suffrage. Ii we had fewer cleo
tons and less politics we would all
be better off except those who bleed
the candidates and those who enjoy
bad feeling, bad faith and bad blood
in the community. But here is the
customs officer, who wants to know
more about my money than does the
tax collector. He is fully as inquis-
tive in this direction as S. O. Ora
ham, chairman of the F. & L. u
investigating committee. By the
way, what has become of Graham,
anyway? He is nj of the best ma
tured fellows | ever met, and ! be-
lieve lie is figuring on making a
pretty good race for some county of
fee some day. Better keep on rum
ming his farm. 1t pays better to run
a farm than it does to run politics.
1t pays better to run any legitimate
business. Let them who don't be-
lieve this go up against the buzz-saw
to their sorrow, but don't say we
never warned them.
1t is good and cool up here. tits
a splendid country to sleep in, which
again reminds me of Fulton, Mis-
souri,. l like to be reminded of
Fulton. l escaped from there in
1876. l went to school there at
Westminster College for four years.
1t is one of the best colleges in the
whole country for you have to study.
There is nothing else to do. No
young man is so dull but what he
can learn enough to enable him to
make up his mind to locate some
where else when he starts in life. II
have not heard, but of course the
Fulton fair was killed. It would not