The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-11
APPEAL TO MILITARY
Dominion Authorities Will Have
Thousands of Tents for Use
Of Immigrants.
These With Certain Public Build
ings Will Relieve Most
Strenuous Situation.
Special to The Journal.

Special to The Journal.
Winnipeg, Man., April 1.-THE tremend-
Gus rush Of immigration from the States,
Europe and eastern Canada to the Cana
dian west has taken the Dominion immi-
grafton authorities by surprise. and while
preparations had been made to meet what
was considered a large Increase, these
were not by any means sufficient to meet
the demands AS a result at many points
in the west the accommodation Is entirely
Inadequate. E @f 80 .E t-,~. 3. ss-...
Neither immigraticn buildings, hotels
nor private houses can in any way furnish
shelter for the numerous arrivals. AS the
time proceeds things are becoming more
congested. AS it is out Of the question
| to think of erecting buildings to be Of any
service in the present emergency, the only
way out of the difficulty is to supply tents
but even this is no easy task and when
Inquiries were made, as to the number
that could be used to advantage 1t was
found that the local supply would be of
little use in meeting the situation. ..
The only way out Of the difficulty was
to appeal to the military authorities, who
have thousands of tents in stock for their
requirements in case of a sudden demand.
The minister of militia at once acquiesced
| to the application Of the immigration au-
| thorities and offered to furnish all the
tents necessary. He wired the district
officer in command at Winnipeg to hand
| from the local headquarters to the imni-
grafton commissioner and he found 270
available. These have been distributed as
! follows:
| Saskatoon, rs; Regina, so; Prince Albert
40; Rossthorn, 35; Q'Appelle, 20; Greenfell.
| 20; Broadview, 10; Dundurn, 10; Red Deer,
10. These tents will accommodate eight
people each, but larger tents are also being
sent west. Two of these, one 16X24 feet,
and the other 16x16 feet, were sent to
| Whitewood for the use Of the large bodies
of Hungarians who are arriving there.
Another, 16x24 foot tent has been sent to
Broadview. The largest that could be Sc
| cured, 30x36 feet, was forwarded to Nut
ana Siding, about two miles south of Sas-
katoon, where the crossing of the Saska-
tooewan is effected.
But these will not by any means meet
| the demands for accommodations even at
the points which have asked for tents. A
dozen other places thruout the west are
seeking relief and the militia department
has been asked to furnish not less than
1000 more Of the ordinary sized Bell mill
| tary tents and these will at once be for
| Quebec and Halifax and distributed to the
points where they are likely to be most
needed. "
The immigration authorities have been
advised that the militia department will
at once replace the tents forwarded for
lluIllSldCiOI PURPOSES Win new OleS anu
the officers are authorized to dispose of
the tents they receive at $40 EACH but
they will only do this to bona fide settlers
who are actually in need OF them.
| The immigration department has re-
served a large building at Leduc Alberta,
which is being used for 1mm mgration pur-
poses and they have also taken possession
| of the skating rink at Rossthorn, which
will accommodate 1000 people. s
! The immigration building in Winnipeg
and also the building recently opened for
a hospital for immigrants are crowded
and immigrants Of the lower class from
y Europe are beingieft at SelkfflSa where THE
department has p ssldrgeR building at its
| disposal The citizens e skating rink
which is just one block north of the Win
nipeg station, has been rented by the gov
ernment for the summer months, and is
being put in shape for the reception OF
immigrants. With all these arrangements
1T is likely that the trouble experienced
in furnishing accommodations for the new
arrivals will shortly disappear, especially
as the fine weather is approaching E