The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1901-1901, 1901-05-27
0MMENCE
THIS SUMMER
Work on the Crows Nest
Branch
WILL BE PUT THROUGH
Something About the Enormous Coal De
posts the New Road is Intended
to Reach.

| IL Is Slaleu On SOOO auCnOflLy LnaC
construction of branch railway
from the main line of the Great Nor
them to some point on the Crows
Nest railway, probably to Elko or
Wardner, has been decided upon, but
the management of the Great North
ern railway has not given out where
this branch is to start from. No one
outside of the railway company seems
to know. The people of Kalispell be-
lieve the point of divergence will be
at that place; others are equally sure
that Jennings, point further west,
will be selected, says the Seattle
| Times.
The charter to build the road from
the international boundary to the
Crows Nest line has been secured
from the Dominion and provincial
parliaments, and work will be com.
menced at once, it is said.
The building of this road will make
available the largest deposits Of coal
on the continent; SO large, indeed,
that their extent has not been fully
determined. One scientist who visit
ed that country last year stated that
$50 far as the geological survey had
| gone, there was coal enough in that
section to supply the world for 800
years, with it's present population, and
were the coal measures fully opened
up they would give employment to
every able-bodied man in Canada"
Thousands of acres in the vicinity of
Fernie and Michel are underlaid with
coal, and this has been determined by
prospecting on the lands controlled by
the Crows Nest Coal company One
report states that on Coal creek alone
there is the enormous amount of 49,
43,900,000 tons of coal available.
The coal is said to be superior to
the product of any of the mines west
of Pennsylvania, and the coke pro-
duced is second only to that of the
product Of the Welsh coal, analysis
showing it to contain: Water, 0.45;
volatile matter, 0.90; fixed carbon,
9455; ash, 40.
A comparison has been made, which
gives the following result: Pennsylva-
MIA coal contains volatile matter,
$3.50; fixed carbon GAO; ash 6.10; to-
tai fuel, $500. Crows Nest coal, ia
| 1ynv f,,nno1 Hoo1 Nrnn1/
shows the following: Volatile matter,
21.02; fixed carbon, 1925; ash, 2.73;
total fuel, 1927. The company has
now about 700 coke ovens, which num-
Der will be increased to 1000 in the
near future.
The British admiralty has reported
on the coal and pronounced it equal
to the best Welsh coal, and repre-
sentatives of the United States navy
have reported favorably upon it, and
were transportation direct to the
coast the product of these mines would
be used by both the United States and
English navies. In the past, to get
this coal to the coast, it had to be
sent either east over the Crows Nest
railway to Dunmore, Alberta, and
from there over the main line of the
Canadian Pacific to Vancouver, or
west to Kootenai Landing by barges
to Nelson, and then over the Nelson
and Robson railway to Robson on the
Columbia, and then to Arrowhead, a
branch of the Canadian Pacific to
Revelstoke, and thence on to the
coast, the frequent handling making
this route practically useless, al
though cars were taken through from
the mine to Vancouver.
Last fall, when the Great Northern
branch from Bonner's Ferry to Kuska-
noon (the Kootenai Valley railway,
was opened for traffic considerable
coal was diverted for use on the west.
ern divisions of the Great Northern,
and later, when James J. Hill bought
a large interest in the Crows Nest
Coal company, the building of line
direct to the coal fields became ne
cessity, with the result that the road
mentioned will be built this summer
While it will not be built to the mines
the charter of the Crows Nest rail
way provides that other roads being
built in the country shall have run
ming privileges over their lines.
There has been considerable oppo
sition to Mr.. Hill gaining foothold
; in that country, chiefly through the
agents of the Canadian Pacific. The
contention has been that the product
of the mines would be diverted to the
United States, to the neglect of the
home market. This is a silly argu
' ment in view of the fact that such 9
large amount of coal is available ani
that the supply will largely exceed
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