St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-08-14
THE PASSING OF THE HABITANT.
Changed Appearance of the Country
Along the Lower VI. Lawrence,


Among Canada's 100000 of French
speaking people, there is still fair per-
centage lett to represent the old habitant
type. But here, as elsewhere, 1.-THE old
order changeth," and one OF the most in
teresting and picturesque races of the
Western continent will soon belong to
the things of the past. The leaven of
modernization is already at work. The
river and lake steamers have supplanted
the voyageur, and a railway could not
be run in eastern Canada which would
not bsect a few thousand habitant
farms.
1t is twenty-five years since my last
visit to Quebec. Unless am obliged to
come hope it may be twenty-five more
before | come again. Such statement
may puzzle some of those thousands OF
tourists who mark their days in Quebec
with large red letters. For mysel',
should change the name of the city to
Ichabod, for surely its glory gone Ithas
been modernizcd to death. visited the
city with delightful memories of its at
tractiveness. Today, the place might be
almost anywhere. Its antiquity is hid
den by a forest of poles and supports and
for tangle of overhead wires for all the
different purposes to which electrical
wires are now applied. The old gates
are gone, though one or two have been
replaced by new structures whose bridges
are effectively and harmoniously decor.
ated with the omnipresent wires, and
crowned with poles and are lamps.
Breakneck stairs, and their kindred, have
given place to modern stairways, and an
elevator runs from the lower city, near
the market, up the face OF the cliff to the
terrace above. prefer the memory of
Quebec as it was when last saw it. The
caleche is still here, but it is too distinc-
lively the vehicle OF the tourist, whose
trade alone has insured its continuance
up to the present time. 1t is even now
out of harmony with it's surroundings.
The appearance Of the country
throughout the eastern townships, as
the southern shore of the lower st. Law.
renee River country is called, is not ma
teriallv altered. The change there is
rather with the people. There are the
same endless miles of rail fences border
ING farms whose length is measured in
miles, and whose width is counted by
feet. Until one realizes the origin Of and
the reason for the remarkable shape OF
these tracts, they are both ridiculous
and puzzlng. But there Is ample cause
and reason for the arrangement.
In the old days of French possession
and control of this vast area, crown
grants were issued to favored subjects.
At that time the great river was the
principal, almost the only highway.
The northern shore is wild and noun
famous, the land of the Laurentian bills.
The southern shore, being far more favor
able for occupation and cultivation, was
the customary site of these grants. The
grantees subdivided their tracts for rent,
and later for sale, to their tenants, SO
that each might have an ample area Of
arabic land pasture, and forest land, and,
in addition, fishing rights in the river
In the early days, these subdivisions
were wont to be made Of about 1856 feet
frontage by 1850 feet in depth, running
inland. Further division has followed
in later days, usually by halving or
quartering the farm along the line OF its
length inland. Thus, many farms of to-
day have river frontage of some 200
feet, and an inland run of about one and
one third miles.
Later on, an alleged highway, follow
ing the general course of the river, open