Daily Kennebec journal., 1893-08-29
MANITOBA EXHIBIT.
III Is Located Outside the
Worlds Fair Grounds.
The Concern Also Runs Itself---Few
Know Where II Is.
caaada's iatessst Ia EdseaiiaS tAe ladiaA and
Aeriesltsrai Pursuits.

| ting neH name In late she lost her site IN
the fair grounds, and by desiring TO get as
near As possible on the outside she located
| her exhibit in the widest part Of that
tangled wilderness Of pine hotels, cheap
stores and Scent restaurants which have
often compared TO an unholy combination
Of Coney Island, circus show and . new
railroad town in the pineries. The result
is that not one visitor in fifty knows
where it Is, and when asked u policeman
but two blocks away to direct me he
stared and replied: ''Manitoby buildin', is
it, Sure an there's none out here: but the
Manitoby hotel is just there beyant on
Stony Island avenoo."
This Is altogether too heavy q joke for
q serious letter and should he put under
the head Of police Intelligence" There
Is a Manitoba hotel In one end Of the
building, and as wide doors open from 1t
directly into the exhibition hall the mis-
take was natural Another trouble is that
the first commissioner, Hon. James
Smart, was suddenly removed; the new
one Is generally busy inside the grounds,
and SO the concern runs itself, as it were.
Nevertheless the exhibit is very credit
able, showing 800 samples Of grain, a great
variety Of grasses, some elegant fish, more
kinds Of good hard timber than thought
could be found in that prairie country,
and lovely collection Of birds and beasts,
including some i've cranes, apparently de
signed to wade In mighty deep water and
pick up fish from the bottom of the same.
By happy coincidence the provincial
department of agriculture has just sent
In its bulletin which declares that Mani
toba has unsurpassed harvest weather
and is reaping the finest crop in her his
tory. The official estimate with half the
crop secured and samples threshed out) is
of wheat 81, oats 40 and barley 81 bushels
per acre. Total of wheat 81, 76s, 600 bush
els, as owing to the low prices only 1,003,-
$40 acres were sown last spring. As the
population in 1891 was l52, sos and had In
creased IA % per cent. in ten years, and
as the area of land brought under cultiva-
ton has since increased % per cent, it is
now estimated at l15, 900 or more, and so
the surplus wheat for export will certain
ly reach 10, ,000, 900 bushels. And herein is
q hint at facts the American farmer
should study The day Of high priced
wheat Is passed, as it is now grown in
every zone but the frigid, and on almost
every degree of latitude from 90 degrees
north to So degrees south, and let the sea
sons go as they may the grain in one belt
supplies the deficiency of another. Wheat
is sown somewhere every week In the
year, aud the sickle is never idle in the
fields from which England draws her sup
ply As her morning drum beat follows
the sun around the world, SO as the sun
sweeps through all the signs of the zodiac,
successive millions of farmers take the
place OF the millions month before and
pour their surplus into her storehouses.
Early in 1887 l passed five weeks in
Manitoba, and during that time the
mercury never rose to zero. Only twice
did it sink below 40 degrees, but that was
a ''mild winter" as it usually goes below
- degrees at least once in each January.
For ten days at a time there was not
cloud in the sky, and only once in the five
weeks was the wind strong enough to
make the snow fly. 1t should be noted
that the province is beyond the region of
blizzar,ls as they come from the Chinook
winds" region and sweep to the southeast
down the great Missouri valley. The gem
aral comfort and abundance struck me as
remarkable, and away up on Lake Winni-
peg / found the pec...Q wing almost In
iffluence. with a generous diet OF white
dsh, meat Of various kinds, potatoes, good
bread and the common luxuries,
Be it noted also that the name of the
province is now accented on the third
,yIlable-by authority. AT first they
called it Manito bah, because such is the
rule in the Indian languages, especially in
names beginning with that of the Mani
tou or Great Spirit; but as custom had
fixed it otherwise in Manitowoc, Manitou-
line, etc, the educational authorities de-
,ided it for Manitow-ba. And the educa-
.ional exhibit of Canada il one of the very
iuest in the fair. Ideal school classes are
shown in part of the Manitoba building;
there is religious service every Sunday
md on various nights in the week, and
lltogether the religious and intellectual
characteristics Of the people are very
prominent. Among the Indians especially
has Canada done wonders in education,
and in the liberal arts department Is an
exhibit in that line well worth seeing.
Long before the United States tried it
Canada had esta blished industrial schools
imong the Indians and made them highly
successful, but to show the system in its
sarly stages seven boys and girls were Sc
lected from the Crees, Satteus and Muske-
gons of the northwest territory, those be
ing the most prominent of the few
blanket Indians" remaining. These
,even represent the newest classes in st.
Albert's school, Edmonton, San Boniface,
near Winnipeg, and the school at Battle
ford, on the Saskatchewan The children
,it with their Indian gravity working
away at their trades. as If the staring
visitors were ten thousand miles away,
and making a very creditable showing at
mantau making, harness making, boot
and shoe making, and tJpesetting. All
around them are samples OF pure Indian
work in barbaric magnihcenee, and the
whole is an admirable exposition Of what
Canada ia doing with the $500 Indian
children in her schools.
-.
1t was wearisome tas k to follow the
ietails of Canada's e1hi bits in all the
Buildings through which | have recently
| walked and noted the work of our north
srn neigh bors. Suffice to say that while she
is represented in every de partment Of the
fair Canada is especially and honorably
prominent In the agricultural. manufac-
| ,urers, fisheries and fine arts departments.
In the last named lf6 oil paintings and
seventy pictures in water colors at
| Test her progress in art, and among these
are many of the noted pics sures. That one
| entitled 1.-The Foreclosure of the Mort
| gage" which attracts so much attention
| and is so often is dicussed. is by Mr.. G. A
| Reid Of Toronto, who has three others.
| entitled, THE Visit of the Ciockmaker," 4"
| Lullaby" and "A Mountain Village"
Several other paintings By Canadian
artists are highly praised. but my educa-
tim in art is not yet up ID standard pitch
SO that / can poiut out why they are beau
| tiful.
| In agriculture, owever, I am right
where live, and Canad4's portion is al
most IL not quite the best in the A0ricul-
tural building Every province is well
represented there and grains, grasses and
fruits are arranged in eVer varying and
| effective designs of art On the top are
| deer, wild geese. the black bear, polai
bear, antelope, wild turkey, and many
| creatures | do not recognize, all stuffed
mounted and glass-eyed, as natural as
life. Ontario has sent b little temple in
which every kind Of grain grown in the
L ptoSiuct Is ftpfestnte1s aisu tis6 otitcidi
statistics just received show that away ur
100 miles or more north Of the Montreal
line the wheat fields have this year yielded
abundautly and the hay crop averages q
fraction over two tons per acre In ths
i Horticultural building Canada has the
only complete exhibit Of vegetables in ths
fair and an array Of fruits that is surpris
ing, and in the manufactures department
1 she actually seems to have outdone Eng
HanS