Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-12
Immigrants on Their Way to
Northwest Canada.
THE OVERLAND TRIP
SOON ADAPT THEMSELVES TO
THE NEW COUNTRY.
Make Success Of Life and Rise
Rapidly in the
World.
Written for The Evening Star by cy warmau

Written for The Evening Star BY CT Warmau.
We who have had the great good for
tune to be born in America should have
care and endeavor always to soften the
shock felt by foreigners who seek asy-
lum in this favored land. It Is not neces
sary to speak the language OF the new
conner. A smile, q nod, a kindly glance
means much to the mute immigrant just
landed in q strange country. The good
opinion Of the humblest OF the earth Is
worth having, and there Is no better or
surer way Of obtaining 1t than by the use
Of q little human kindness to strangers.
There Is no time in the lives of men or
women when they are more susceptible
to kindness than when they are newly
arrived in America. the very geographic
cal greatness OF which must be awful to
them. Some of the sweetest of letters.
right from the hearts of the writer's. are
to be found in the archives Of the Cana
dian immigration department They are.
as rule. letters from settlers who have
been in the country for two or three
years. holding this gratitude in their
hearts until they could shape their
thoughts into crude. quaint English,
when they were committed to paper and
sent to the department at Ottawa
Probably no other country on earth pays
so much attention to immigrants as they
receive In Canada. AS nearly all the new
corners are bound for the far northwest
the journey from Europe to the promised
land is only half done when they arrive in
America.
The Overland Trip.
During the winter months, while the st.
Lawrence is icebound, all ships land at
Portland. Halifax or st. Johns. From these
seaports to Winnipeg is distance of about
1900 miles. and Notwithstanding that the
colonist and tourist cars afford the best ac-
commodation for immigrants for long dis
tances, the journey must necessarily be a
tedious one indeed. The immigration de-
partment has, with much consideration for
the welfare of the strangers appointed
men to accompany them, whose duty Is en-
tirely toward the comfort of the people.
While a moderate amount of food Is pur-
chased before the railroad journey Is be-
gum still 1t is necessary to make provision
for them en- route. At divisional points
where there are restaurants the accom-
panying agent Is expected to telegraph
ahead that so many are coming and to
make provision for them, also to wire for
washing and drinking water and Ice. Again,
If any are seriously i'll, physician Is sum
moned and in extreme cases the patent Is
removed to the nearest hospital SoneliIIeS
deaths occur on the train. then the painful
duty of wiring ahead for an undertaken
becomes necessary. l may here say there
are no assisted immigrants to Canada An
pay their own way and provide their own
H.,
unable to purchase food for the long jour
new is help afforded. The instructions are
to allow none to suffer. Probably above
all the duties mentioned Is the necessity VI
keeping the coaches in good sanitary con-
dition. This duty also falls upon the gov
eminent officer, who co-operates with the
railroad employees for this purpose.
Looking After the People.
still more important work is mingling
with the people, ascertaining their inten-
lions in the new country, giving all possible
advice which may tend to their material
good. To these agents many letters come
from parties who have been conducted by
them to the west, in which much gratituoe
is expressed for kindness shown on tneir
Journey and containing words OF hopetul-
ness for their future in this great country.
and assurances that nothing can induce
them to return to the countries beyond the
sea.
From Quebec and Montreal all trains
containing more than fifty persons are sup
piled with government officer. Realizing
the Importance Of this great work. fnstruc-
lions are given to these agents TO devote
themselves in every possible way to the In
terests of the people, to be patient ana
kind. On arrival at Winnipeg all immi-
grants are handed over to MIR. j. Obed
Smith, commissioner for the west who.
with his efficient staff, takes them in
charge. and, II necessary, places them In
positions
This work Is only in its infancy. The
time Is not far distant when 100000 will
come annually. The last great stretch of
agricultural land suitable for the Anglo
Saxon, affording free homes for the home
less. is in Canada.
In Marked Comparison.
1 know that these silent homeseekers have
done well to come to America and to come
to Canada. and yet 1t saddens me to see
them sitting about the great immigration
hall at Winnipeg. waiting for one of Oba-
diah Smiths linguists to come and tell
them what time it Is While there Is no
comparison between these immigrants and
the unhappy people who gather once a
week in Jaffa graveyard. bringing all
sorts of bodily Affections, to mingle their
melancholy prayers with the sobblng of the
sea that beats upon their burying ground,
my mind invariably goes back to that
wreck-strewn shore, with its weeping and
its woe.
No these citizens In the rough and their
are not SO bad as the in
habitants Of the Holy Land and their scar
and sapless country. Here the soil re-
spends to the lightest touch of the farmer
and gives abundance. There the semi-des-
ert lands lie dead. and up and down the
dusty highways beggars pass with their
the alleys Of squalid cities dwarfs and
cripples crowd into the choked streets to
block your way. One glimpse Of the old.
old east is enough to make one feel like
falling upon his knees and acknowledging
his obligation to God for the blessing of
having been born in the west.
There:
The dying glance of Christ, the King,
Seems to have stayed and stilled
The voice of every living thing