St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-08-12
A VICTORY OF VIM.

CIdth CiHOTy Dakeman, or CHICAGO,
is whilon newspaper man, endowed
with an Inherent shrewdness that has
stood him in good stead. Some five
years since he abandoned the Faber and
took to railroad matters, and in his
newly chosen field he was not slow in
making the very best OF the conditions
that confronted him in the daily routine
OF toll. He soon discovered that the
virgin riches OF British Columbia held
out unwonted inducements for pluck,
energy and talent, and he devoIved a
colossal project. Now he is just about
to reap his reward. Frank is no stranger
IN the Twin Cities, for this used to be
his stamping ground. He was at the
Merchants yesterday. and conversed in
terestingly and learnedly upon the pro-
lectS that he has in hand.
A year ago Brakeman acquired title to
three precious metal-bearlug mines in
the Cariboo mountains. That there is
untold wealth in these mountains has
been known to the miners of the CONT
nent for long time. but they are so far
removed from transportation facilities
and so far from necessary water to
mine that little attention has been paid
to the same. MIR. Brakeman had no
sooner acquired the title mentioned
than he set on foot plan to tap the
region by railroad. and it is working
ike charm. 1t will require at least
$4,000, 000 to perfect the plan, but ne
has the unqualified backing of several
or the greatest financierS of the conti-'
nent and of Europe. He visited Lon
don, Paris, Berlin and other great finan-
cial centers and enlisted an almost
endless amount of capital i'll his project.
In San francisco, for illustration. he
found good deal of encouragement,
and the proposed line has been sur
veyed, and MIR. BaFeman Is now in the
Twin Cities comforting with railway
contractors concerning the mighty work
that he has i'll hand. Yesterday after
noon he went to Minneapolis to see one
of the biggest firms there.
The first move that he made was to
get the grant. And it is a matter of no
small moment, either. He has grant
OF 10000 acres of the richest lands i'll
British Columbia for every mile of road
that he will build. The road will start
at Victoria, at the foot of Vancouver
island. and, after running half the dis
lance of the island, will cross over into
the province, through the ChiJcothan
valley to the north bend of the Fraser
river. This covers the richest and most
fertile part OF the country. Then the
survey follows the Fraser river to yell
low Head pass, and thence to the
Rocky mountains. The distance sur
yeyed is 554 miles, which is from Wad-
dlngton harbor to Yellow Head pass.
The grade is most advantageous, and
the cost of construction cannot be
much, in comparative sense, per mile.
Then it is proposed 10 build branch
lines In different directions where there
are objective points OF sufficient conSe
quence. Already sS,0O0,0O0 in bonds
have been guaranteed.
The precious metals are only one of
the things that have inspired the pro-
| Ject. There are said to be thousands of
acres of the very best bitumirOuS coal
along the proposed route, and Mr.. Bake
man gives the assurance that 1900 men
are now mining coal there. Over
100000 tons of coal were shipped from
Nancouver'S island last year to San
Francisco. Then the finest timber on
the continent is found along the line of
! the proposed road, which the San Fran
cisco Examiner of recent date calls
the British Pacific railway.
II find it necessary wherever l CO."
said Dlr. Brakeman TO GLOBE reporter
yesterday, ito begin any proposed ref
erence to the proposed British Pacific
railway by an object lesson, or lesson
In geography. L am not surprised at
this, for before / went to the Pacific
Northwest to see for myself how great
acOuntry awaits development there, |
had only vague idea of what that part
of the continent is like. | was told that
there was good thing there, but little
imagined that the enterprise that | was
about to embark in would open up a
country rich aud extensive enough to
make an independent state. British
Columbia is larger than Great Britain
and Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Den
mark and Germany. l expect to return
to Victoria in a month or so, and will
reside there hereafter, and | have no
fear but that we will begin construction
at an early day. The construction COM
pany, indeed, is already organized and
capitalized, and there seems to be
smooth sailing ahead or u.s."