The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-11-04
THE HUDSON BAY ROUTE.
The Revival OF the Project OF = Far North
Grain-earrytne Railroad.

WASHiNUTONs NOV. 80 Europe via HUI
son straits has n queer sound, but English and
Canadian capital seems to be at last Interested TO
make such n route familiar. A company just
now has It's representatives at Ottawa for the
purpose Of getting q charter TO construct a rail-
road from Winnipeg TO the Saskatchewan. and
thence TO Fort Churchill, on Hudson Bay, a dis
lance of 700 miles in all.
The project is fully a dozen years old, and as
early as 1884 the Dominion Parliament, In re-
Spouse TO solicitations for q subsidy for the pro-
posed new railroad, sent out observation parties
20 report upon the navlgability Of Hudson Bay
and Straits. A section Of railroad has even been
built north from Winnipeg for many miles,
but the Idle rails have gathered rust and the ties
are overgrOwn with the grass Of the prairie. It
was the first practical step taken in the earlier
days of the Hudson Bay project, but its advo-
Gates have never quite lost heart, in spite of the
difficulties Of interesting capitalists in II, and
now are pushing IL In earnest once more.
The central fact on which the project depends
is that the Hudson Bay route to Europe Is the
shortest for the grain and other food products
not only Of Manitoba but OF our own north
western border. The distance from Winnipeg
to Montreal is about 1,4O0 miles, while from
Winnipeg to Fort Churchill It is only half rs
great; and as the remaining distance to Liver
pool from each Is about the same, there is evil
WV " boN Ahk VA wv AhAhNb ~ N"C Y Obh
From Pembina in North Dakota the distance Is
about l 1000 miles shorter to Liverpool by way Of
Hudson Bay than by way Of New York.
Winnipeg, too, IL only the beginning
of a large wheat area in Canada's north
west territory. Settlements are found
scattered nearly q thousand miles west
to Calgary, on the Canadian Pacific road,
and through the North Saskatchewan region to
or beyond Edmonton. The saving in distance
from Edmonton by the Fort Churchill route
over the Montreal, with proper rail and river
facilities, would be, 1t Is said. about 1900
miles. For grain could come down by river to
Lake Winnipeg, and only 400 miles Of rail
would then be required to reach Fort Churchill,
the point Of shipment 10 Europe. All along the
valley of the Saskatchewan River this same
double advantage would prevail. In some parts
Of North Dakota and Montana, by connecting
with the Canadian Pacific Railway to Winnipeg
and thence TO Hudson Bay. the gain in distance
over the New York route is reckoned at nearly
1000 miles.
There are really two clements. however. in the
new undertaking.. One 10 the railroad. for the
construction of which the money is chiefly re-
qulred, while the other Is the water route. on
which, after ali, the question OF success may
chiefly turn, Beginning with the former. two
Son pnn Bay terminus. one Of them being Port HNSdi
is at the mouth OF the Nelson River, in latitude
Winnipeg. or $50 from Winnipeg. This is the
nearer of the two termini, and the route would
to the Sea River Falls, on the east branch
OF the Nelson River. Nine years ago a party
Mr.. Money, an engineer sent out by English
capitalists. surveyed this route. They found
that there were no engineering difficulties In the
way of easy construction. The route, as u whole,
from Winnipeg was undulating and sandy. with
a sandy. clay. and gravel formation. a small por-
tion being rocky and broken. Little land suita.
BILE for farming was found, and for a hundred
miles this side Of the bay the country was COW
was plenty OF deer and other game. There we're
no heavy grades, and, except for n single rock
cutting, the country was comparatively Level.
twelve feet above high water level, was selected
"a the terminus. The party, left, Winnipeg in
AIRY, travelling the whole way on foot. but found
little snow, the weather being favorable.
Nevertheless. Fort Churchill though consider
ably north Of Port Nelson. would probably be
chosen for the terminus, because, although IL
Winnipegs. il has a good har6or. we'll sSeitered'
ships, whereas at Port Nelson the hsrbcr is, not
Bay Company has been sending vessels in sum-
mer both to Fort Churchill and Port Nelson.
and its CAPTAINS have found that the former
in May to the end, Of October, This is all that
but the real question Of practicabiiity for the
new grain-carrying route IL the transportation
by water rather than by land. AS las been
seen, the railroad can be- easily constructed,
and although it is in a rather high latitude for
Inexpensive maintenance, and also along more
than half the route, or from the mouth of the
Saskatchewan to Fort Churchill. IL passes
through a Wilderness, yet betweep Winning
and the rapids of the saskatchewan some of the
land might be cultivated. and the railroad would
help settlement there. Hudson Bay, which is
about half a million square niles or 81 hall as
great as that OF the Mediterranean, is too extern
siyS to a be entirely frozen oyer ihr1ughont the
lively narrow Hudson Straits, Repeated observa-
tons show that at utmost the straits. which at
some points are less than seventy miles wide,
IA nd are more than 800 miles long from Cape
Chudleigh TO the hay, are nayigable for three or
four months each year. Reference has been
made TO the observation parties sent out by the
dominion Government In the Neptune in 1884.
but the following summer the Alert, being sent
TO relieve them, was caught in an ice pack near
the entrance to the straits by the, middle OF
June and was held for three weeks. being then
forced to put back to Newfoundland for repairs.
In August she tried again, and. in spite OF ice
passage, ran from the straits to York Factory
in Ave days, reached all the stations, and brought
the straits as navigable by suitably built steam
ers for four months in the year by following
winding, courses or by drifting with the ice, as
Can the shorter distance. with the admitted
lack of Local traffic along most OF the land route,
Canadian Pacific on the Montreal route and Of
American railroads, lake steamships, and canals
great disadvantages attending reliance upon
getting through Hudson Straits2 Certainly the
Hudson Bay Company have for two centuries
used the straits In July, August. and September,
AS also do the whaling vessels. But the question
Of time OF transit, provided they are not held
fast for a year. Is OF minor importance To them,
whereas time amounts to distance for a new
old ones. The danger OF detention. which
would involve more wages for crews and in
creased cost OF provisions, and the rate OF
insurance on vessels and caTgoes from the
greater risk of injury through ice and other
causes, must be taken into consideration. A very
important element, too, Is the short time during
which the routes can he opened compared with
that of the other railroads. The entrance Tn the
straits from tho bay Is over roo miles north OF
Cape Farewell, in Greenland.
Still, as the opening OF the Hudson Ray region
To railroad communication would be an event Of
importance in the onward march Of civilization.
the progress Of the new scheme will be observed
with much interest.