The morning call., 1894-04-08

! have seen them, however, under dlnerent
| aspects, and one of the remarkable expert
| eDces of my life was a ride which l LOOK
this week on one of the engines or the
Canadian Pacific Railroad down the wild
est and toughest parts of the Rocky Noun
tains. Seated in the cab of the engine near
the grimy fireman, who was shnvellng
bushels Of coal into the furnaces. and on
the other side of the boiler from
the stern faced engineer. | rode for
miles and miles-it seemed almost an eter-
nifty to me - through vast snow-walled
gorges, under massive overhauging rocks,
in and out of tunnels and snowsheds, now
hanging above a raging river and now
shooting about curves into other canyons
equally grand. The cab of the engine
was walled with glass, and could see as
we'll as though l had been riding on the
iron snowplow fastened to its front in
place of cowcatrher. The great iron
horse throbbed like thing OF life. 1t
pulled out vast quantities of smoke in two
spiral columns, and as we neared one ni
the little mountain stations 1t cut the cold
air with a steam shrek which made me
think that all the souls in hadss were loose
In the Rockies and the pent-up agony OF
the damned was concentrated in the escap-
ing steam of that engine.
After riding a while, however. ones
nervousness goes off. You see the care of
toned at almost every mile of track. the
frequent snowsheds. where the danger is
the greatest, and you can then note the
wonders of nature about you. The scene
changes at every turn of the great wheels
of the locomotive. Now the mountains on
both sides of the track rise almost straight
inward in a snowy wall for hundreds
upon hundreds-it seems to me for thou
sands-of feet, shutting out the sun. and
their tops kissing the pure sky. Now you
shoot out into the open, and there is
long vista of ragged hills. which rise one
above the other till they fade away into
the glacier peaks of the horizon. Here
along the track. and you know you are
almost at the head waters of the Columbia,
through Washington and Oregon and
emptes into tine Pacific. Further
back you saw the Saskatchewan River
flowing toward Winnipeg and Hudson
Bay, and few miles furthor you will find
the rocky, blue Frazer. plowlng its wav
through great gorges and over the golden
sands which so excited the gold hunters in
the DAYS Of early California. and which,
by the use of modern dredging machinery,
L am told. bid fair to excite them again.
On through these waters into scenery
which almost takes away your breath.
You think of the Texas cowboy who made
his pile and awoke one morning amid the
finest Of the mountains Of Switzerland.
His life had been spent on the plains and
the grandeur filled his soul until he could
contain himself no longer. and he threw
up his hat and yelled. not irreverentlv but
honestly, these words, "Hurrah for God!'
The scene changes at every turn. and the
wonders of engineering in building great
road over the Rockies amaze you. This
road was completed in about five years.
1t made something like $4,000. 600 of profit,
| am told, two years ago, and 1t is one of
the few railroads In America which are
paying to-day. It's service is good, and the
intention is to double the number of trains
on the mountain division next year. You
note the difference between it and one of
our roads the moment you enter the cars.
The accent of the employees is English and
every official is either Canadian or an
Engishman. Even the negro porter of the
sleeper was of Canadian birth, and the
dning-car conductor. who wore brass but
tons and looked like Henry Irving. the
actor, said don't you know" and really
paid some attention to seeing that the
passengers were served.
Speaking of Frazer River and its gold
deposits, this was, you remember, one If
the richest placer rivers of the world along
late in the fifties, and something like
$50 0O0, 900 worth of gold has been washed
out of the sands of British Columbia. The
stream is very rough and rocky, however.
and much of it has been inaccessible to the
placer miners. 1t is known, however. 10
contain great quantities OF gold. and four
different American companies are now at
work here trying TO get this gold out. They
have had dredge-like pumps made which
are to suck UP the gold-bearing sand and
throw ii into sluice-bOx, which will ex-
tract the gold The experiment is a new
one, but il was tested only day or so ago
in the shallow water at the edge of the
river and some gold was the result. l
talked last night with the president OF one
of these companies-a Mr.. YOung-who
comes, think, from Minneapolis. Said he:
''There is no doubt but there are millions
upon millions of dollars of gold in these
rivers. and | think there is no doubt but
that we are going to get out a large part of
it. We lease certain strips of the river
from the Government at so much per mile
per year. We now have under lease fifty
seven miles. and we have men prospecting
and locating other tracts. Our machines
cost us frcm $4,000 to $1,000 apiece. and l
EXPECT to see some of them earning thou
sand dollars day. In month from now
/ can tell just what they will do. Each
machine ought to wash and reduce 100
cubic yards of gravel day, and we can get
out stuff from the very center OF the river,
where the most gold is supposed to be.
In the old days of placer mining man did
we'll to wash out three cable yards day,
and here he had to rely upon the banks
onlv."
"What will be the result if you succeed
as you ex peet?"
''It will make this whole country boom.
| don't think there is doubt Of our sue
cess, and l expect to see great deal of
placer mining done in this way In the
future. 1t is only applying to mining the
machinery that has been used for years in
dredging. If we succeed 1t will bring mil
lions of capital to Vancouver. and will
make good times again."
blow are the times here now ?"
"They are hard here and all over the
world. The only place | know where they
are at all good is in South Africa, and you
would be surprised TO know what an emf
grafton is taking place to that country.
Within the past few months at least 100
have sailed from mere alone, and others
are going. They expect to make fortunes
in the new gold mines there. AS for me,
would rather stay here"
Referring to tue hard times. | met with
curious evidence of them on my way
over the Can adiaD Pacific. At several of
the stations [ noted great piles of buffalo
bones which had been gathered upon the
plains and had been brought to the station
for sale. For some time there has been a
great demand for these bones from parts
of the United States. They are exported
and are bought at so much per carload.
tha usual price being 800 per car of seven