The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-28

Hot Time,'' ETC., and finally, turning
to the oldest inhabitant," who was
comfortably ensconced in one corner Of
the car, 1 said, where's the draft for
that stove"
oh, that amt one of them kind Of
stoves" was his reply, following his
answer by an explanation that it was
run by electricity.
The ordinary electric heating appara-
tus for street cars runs underneath the
seats, but this electric stove, was in
formed, is the invention Of one of the
officers of the Ottawa Street Car COM
pany, and is not in general USE The
contribution box passed by the con-
ductor differs from that at Montreal,
in that it is in the form Of a pitcher
(Which has not yet been broken at the
welD, with a covered top and the reg
! ulation slot for Canadian half dime.
If had not been enlightened at Mon
treal l should have thought the con-
ductor was going to ask the passen-
gers to take something (probably ma
pie syrup when he started on his tour
with the pitcher
EARLY OTTAWA.
Ottawa was first known as Bytown,
beng named after the English colonel
VINO mad charge Of the construction of
the Rldeau canal, which was begun in
1876, and finished six years later, at a
cost OF four and one-half millions OF
course it could not be town without
a newspaper, and in 1884 one was es-
tablished. The first census taken was
IN 1913, showing population of 6,275.
When it was incorporated in 1854 it had
population of 10000. This had come
from the development Of the lumber in
dCstry. The first large saw mill was
erected in 1858, and the Americans, as
usual, went over and took control Of
the lumber trade. 1t was in 1857 when
the queen selected Ottawa as the seat
OF government, the meetings. of parlia-
ment for Upper and Lower Canada hav-
ing previously alternated between Que
bee and Toronto. 1t took two years to
get the queens order enforced, the
parliament buildings being begun in
December, 1852 and the corner stone
was laid by the Prince Of Wales Sept.
l, 1860. The first session Of parliament
was in 1866.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
The parliament buildings are located
in park of thirty acres lying on a
high plateau, and, though the buildings
are but three stories high, they stand
100 feet above the Ottawa river The
Canadians showed the true American
plan in erecting these buildings. The
first appropriation was 100000 but
when completed they had cost $5,027,-
447.39. 1 have been unable to ascertain
where the 80 cents were expended, but
the ministry assure me it is somewhere
in the buildings
Their parliament consists Of senate
and house of commons. Their cham
bers are much more compact in the
space allotted to their occupants than
ours at Washington. The senate near
ly equals ours in numbers, having rs
members, but the house only 211. In
the senate there is throne chair
standing on a raised dais with a can
opy. The presiding officer sits In front
Of this chair which is supposed to be
the queens chair, but at her age she
does not care to occupy it in person,
and consequently when they meet they
wire her, and there is always one va
cant chair. When the senators and
officers Of the body enter or retire from
the chamber they render their obei-
sance to the empty chair by low bow,
and 1 thought could see abrasures in
the air by this continuous bowling to
emptiness.
When parliament convenes the SEN
ate and house meet in joint session in
the senate chamber to listen to the adj
dress of the governor general who
represents the queen, and then the
house goes back to Its own chamber,
where they have no vacant chair to
bow to, and some one introduces a bill
for buncombe declaring that they are
the people and that the sovereign rights
of the people are superior to the SOW
ereign herself This is just as empty
and nonsensical as party platform in
the United States, but they feel better
for going through the form, just as the
small boy derives some pleasure from
making faces at the boy who is too
large for him to thrash.
THE LIBRARY.
The parliament library is great in
stitution, comprising 10000 volumes,
and save when parliament is in session,
the public can draw books from it.
They have a complete set of our con-
gressional debates and claim that there
is not more than one, If one, as COM
plete~in the United States. And that re-
minds me of an excellent parliamentary
rule. They do not give leave to print"
neither do they allow members to read
speeches from manuscript or use copi-
Gus notes. 10 command ATTENTION Ine
senator and member must arise in his
place and make a speech apparently
off hand even if it may be committed to
memory. Only on rare occasions will a
man be permitted to speak other than
extemporaneously. Perhaps this is one
reason why members of parliament are
greater men in Canada than senator
and congressman in the United States.
Almost any stupid person can read
speech, especially if the man he has
employed to prepare 1T uses a type
writer, but it is another proposition to