The Saint Paul globe., 1904-08-14
MINNIPEG is the pride of Western

MINNIPEG is the pride of Western
WV Canada.
1t is the metropolis of an empire, and
a worthy metropolis.
1t is one of the busiest, cleanest.
best administered, most progressive
cities on the continent. 1t is rich and
getting richer. 1t is growing fast, but
not SO fast as the population of its
tributary country. 1t has hopes of a
great future but it is so busy taking
care of magnificent present that 1t
has little time to dream dreams Of the
golden tomorrow
Three years ago Winnipeg had A.
600 people; today it has near $4,000.
The railroads are building thousands
of miles of railway in Western Canada
and every mile pays toll to Winnipeg;
people are coming into Western Can
ada at the rate of 10000 a month, and
every one of them must sooner or later
pay tribute to Winnipeg. 1t is the
commercial center of Western Canada
as we'll as for the vast regions of the
mysterious north. 1t is only sixty miles
north of the boundary line, but it Is
near 500 miles from st. Paul. On the
east Toronto and Montreal are more
than a thousand miles away. All the
meshes of the railway lines that give
commercial life to Western Canada are
gathered up and bound together at
Winnipeg.
= What Chicago Is to the American
West Winnipeg is to the Canadian
West, and just as the growth of it's
tributary country made Chicago great
1-i0I nd uoy.ftI1 will fho
development of Manitoba, Assiniboia
and Saskatchewan make Winnipeg one
of the great world cities. The Canadian
West will one day have population of
at least 25,0O0,000. Winnipeg should
then have population of more than a
million. Careful estimates give Winni-
peg 100000 people in twenty years.
Twenty years ago Winnipeg was a
cluster of shacks sheltering 10000 peo-
pie Today it is city, SO far as its
business portion is concerned, of solid
stone and brick buildings, assessed at
$43, 600, 900, and housing a population
of about rs 1000. No city of its class on
the continent is growing so rapidly as
Winnipeg today.
Development of Winnipeg
The first railway, the old st. Paul,
Minneapolis & Manitoba, now the
Great Northern, reached Winnipeg in
1879, and in 1881 and 1882 the city
went through boom and collapse
which left it almost forgotten for a
number of years. In 1884 the Canadian
Pacific railway completed its line from
Winnipeg to Port Arthur and began
building branch lines which made
Winnipeg an important railway CEN
ter. The Canadian Pacific was COM
pleted across the continent in 1887, and
since then Winnipeg has grown stead
lily, If the recent very rapid growth
may be so described. In 1901, when
the population of the city had reached
$4,000, the bank clearings were S134,-
900, ,000 The next year they were up to
$685. oct, 900, while last year they went
to $3.50, ,00O, 600. One of the wonders of
Winnipeg is the enormous massive bank
buildings of the chartered banks. The
total capital of the thirteen chartered
banks having branches al Winnipeg
exceeds $35, ,000, 600, and their assets are
more than $1,000, 900. AS financial
center Winnipeg is now the third city
in Canada, being outranked only by
Montreal and Toronto, passing such
old cities as Hamilton, Ottawa, Lon
don and Quebec.
Extensive Jobbine Center
One of the features of Winnipeg that
greatly impresses visitor is the large
number of wholesale buildings. There
is probably no city of its size in the
world that does such a large jobbing