St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1901-01-19
OUR FOREIGN LETTER
Dealing with Commercial and In
dustrial Conditions Abroad.

BuiIding Railway from the Greal
Lakes to Hudson Bay-The Ri-
cycle Industry in GER
many-Ofher Items.
Great Lakes-Hudson Bay Railway
The talk and plans of decades have
finally taken form, and railway
connecting the great lakes with Hud-
son bay is now actually under con
struction. The railway plunges hun.
dreds of miles through an unbroken
| wilderness. with NO cities, towns, OF
even villages to afford traffic. Intact
! only Indian guides and hunters have
ever attempted to penetrate the great
wilderness 10 the north. Neverthe-
less, the railroad, which is known as
the Algoma Central, is being built in
| the most thorough manner possible,
with the best equipment available,
able to stand almost any strain upon
It andl capable of good service for
years to come. Elghty-hve pound
steel rails are used, and the loco
motives are of enormous size, weigh
ing 135 tons when equipped for traf-
fie. The engines are so massive that
railway companies were afraid of the
strain on bridges, and they were de-
ivered from Chicago to Sault Ste.
Marie by the lake route on steam fer
ries.
The new railway starts at Sault
tie. Marie. Ground was broken less
than 80 days ago, but already 25 miles
Of road are completed and in use,
and the railway is pushing forward
at the rate of half a mile day. TT
is expected that it win require three
years to complete the road
The millions of capital involved
came mostly from the United States,
but the builders have made careful
computations as to traffic and are
confident that the road viii realize
all that is promised as an investment.
It had its origin in the necessity of
bringing supplies of pulp wood from
the far north to the Sau1t mills, but
it opens up as well region that is
fabulously rich in minerals and tim
Der. The mineral wealth is said to
be practically inexhaustib1e, con-
sisting of mountains of iron, copper
and other valuable ores. Among
other discoveries is that of a solid
bed of gypsum eight miles in length.
In timber, the supplies are equally
valuable. For hundreds of miles, it
is claimed, the railway viii run
through dense forests of big trees,
including birch, maple. hard elm. tam
arack, spruce, balsam, poplar and
white pine. Curly birch. which can
now be bought along the railway. for
40 cents a cord, commands $40 q
thousand feet in the United States.
Elm wood that can be cut at ten cents
a cord sells at s25 thousand feet
at Minneapolis and other points in
the northwest that are within easy
shipping distance.
The Ontario government is greatly
interested IN the opening up of this
rich territory, and has aided in the
construction of the railway by big
grant of land. AT the end of the first
Is miles, the railway commenced to
haul heavy consignmenfs of timber,
and traffic is following closely upon
construction.
It is announced that particular at
tenfion viii be given to transit traf-
fie, and at every stopping place a
frst-class hotel will be built by the
railway. At Hudson bay, it is pro-
posed to establish a modern seaside
hotel. Game is plentiful, and scores
of lakes and rivers that are teemfng
with fish will be reached by the rail-
way. The. scenery, braeing climate,
hunting and fishing are expected to
attract thousands of tourists. The
railway also intends to handle Hud-
son bay fish products on a large scale
If the plans of the officials are all
carried out, the new railway to the
north, reaching as it does to the very
slopes of the Arctic ocean. viii be one
of the most daring and picturesque
to snbjugate a wilderness
known to railway annals.
Development OF Zurich Tramsvays.
Most of the street railways of
Zurich are owned by the municipality.
and it is only a question of time when
the few private lines still holding
franchises will be under the control
of the city officials. Municipal own
srship of street railways is gaining
ground greatly in Europe.
The fare in Zurich is to-day 1875 I
,entimes (2.5 eents) when buying the
tickets in block books, but will with
II the course of a few years be low
cred to ten centimes e cents). It is
remarkable that the city can run the
street railways so cheaply. consider
ng the expensive and solid way in
which the tram lines are constructed
md the high price of soft coal, which
,osts from SO to 40 francs 1851 to
;7.721 per ton delivered at the power
,tation.
During the years fs98-f90o, the city
# Zurich has changed its horse car
ines into electric lines with the over
lead trolley system, and also largely
.xtended the mileage The total
ength of track is now 40 kiloneters
25 miIes) and the number of cars
so, of which 10 are traiIers. The
lectrie lines have all been construct
d By Mr.. j. sigfrid Edstrom,
swedish engineer, who received his
eehnieal education in the United
'tates. Mr.. Edstrom, upon his ar
ival in Switzerland, found the elee-
ric car lines il a very bad state. in