Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1896-04-04
LETTER FROM ALBERTA.
r salemite Located at olds, on ii

.|..sner Salemite Located at Oids, on the
Canadian Pacific Railroad.
following interesting extracts are
I.Am private letter, written by a
A1.|cm gentleman who has recently
I11ated at Olds, Alberta, Canada:
I'VE had a pleasant trip here. Got
.0hy from Portland, Thursday night,
. IN M 80. in a rainstorm; was at Ia
Itan,a at daylight, and at Sumas, on
XIX boundary line. at p. m. We left
I,3 rain behind us in Washington,
f.. .A by noon of Friday we had bright
4nnshine, and have had no rain since.
u. does not rain here until summer
4hnnt the last of May-and on during
In.summer. About p. IN. we met
Iht Through train from Vancouver, at
sl|aslon Junction, and came on along
lid Fraser river, and then the Thomp-
t.r. As night came on we began to
tI||nb the Selkirk mountains. All day
&AeGrday we viewed the mountains
4nI valley, saw cattle ranches, saw
,nIlis and small towns. The thermom-
4itf was about 200 above zero, and
4l4He snow on the ground. During
SHfnrday night we were climbing up
l,f west slope of the Rockies. At day
li4ht Sunday we were at Pallister; 8
Il l,,., at Mt. Stephen; 9:15 at the great
d;tIde. At Calgary, 1880. the sun rose
A|4h and clear, and continued fine all
dAH The view was grand. We APP
ntafed TO be only few miles from the
sftat mountains, and the sun glist-
e.|ed on the ice-capped tops, making
All Enchanting view. The thermom-
e1ef at Calgary was 2Oo above zero.
1ont 10 inches of snow in the street:
|ne Sleeping; bright, beautiful day.
NE spent Sunday here, and next
N1Ining came on to .Olds, 55 miles
ht train. The country Is compara-
fI4tly prairie, but land rolls little.
We had snow squall here on the
19,h people said 1t was 10 degrees be-
IssN. but l did not think IL was colder
Ihan Is degrees above zero. All other
dats have been fine since then. They
<|l, not have a great quantity of snow
here during winter, not over foot
deep on the fields. That is about all
gone now. Another week of weather
such as we have had for the last week
and farmers will begin seeding. This
is wonderful country for stock.
Grass grows abundantly and very
nutritious. Horses get fat out all
uinter. Cattle are seldom housed for
tn0fe than n few nights. was out to
ste some young cows that had been
unuer shelter only three nights for
THE winter. They were rolling tat. l
never saw better cattle come out Of a
latmer's barn in the East that had
been fed on just hay and kept in the
barn for five months. A spring calf
IA Worth IS. In the fall $40 or the
sltond fall $40 and the third or when
about three years old $35 TO $40. 1t
1dsts very little TO keep them. 1t
ttsts SO per ton TO cut and stack hay,
aud summer pasture can be had for
in1 fencing, or you can allow stock to
INh by looking after them OCCASION
1'Ig. A man with some capital can
u,ake good money by going into cattle
nark from the settlements a bit. The
attic are bought up by dealers who
Ship to England via Montreal, and fat
kt0ck commands cash at all times,
1,afket unlimited. There are plenty
NI Quarter sections of land TO be had
within from TO 10 miles OF the rail-
road stations, and II one had the cash,
ss5 about 81 900, he can buy an inn
t|oged quarter section for about what
lNt improvements cost. This may
NNtln strange, but as you know there
aif always some people who dissatis-
Ntd and want TO change. Quite a
HNmber of young men came In here
I0IOre or with the railroad, took up
tIarter sections, built some buildings
aid fenced the land. They are un-
0,trried and some of them want to go
0Ick to the old home. Again some
t,dy's wife has got homesick or a man
01s got hurt and these want to sell,
Hut the satisfied man will not sell his
Ike for 5000. The country is
<1ltling up fast--in few years the
I..tle towns will be larger ones, brick
/trds will be started, brick houses
III replace logs, and the man that
4tts hold of the opportunity early
vi come out alright IL he has any
Apility."