Evening star., 1905-10-15
LINE TO HUDSON'S BAY
Canadian Wheat Fields
Brought Nearer to England.
SHORT RAILWAY HAUL
SAVING LOOKED FOR IN TRANS
PoRTATIoN OF CATTLE.
Canadian Northern Company Aided by
Government Land Grants-Route
From Liverpool to Yokohama.
SHORT RAILWAY HAUL
BY WILLIAM Z. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald,

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
WINNIPEG, Canada, October T. 1905.
Canadians have an epigram that while
| the nineteenth century was the century of
| the United States, the twentieth century
| will be the century of Canada, and there
| Is something in it more than a boast. They
| mean perhaps. that the territory of the
| United States has been thoroughly ex-
| plored and the development of its re-
| sources already undertaken, while Canada
! is practically unknown and remains to be
| exploited. But this is a misapprehension.
| Canada is not unknown. The British pos
| sessions stretching from the northern
| boundary of the United States to the Arctic
| ocean and from the Atlantic to the Pacific
| have been thoroughly explored since the
| early part of the seventeenth century, and
| their resources are well understood. The
| statisticians at Ottawa can give you al
most the exact amount of timber and the
| acreage of the ranges and agricultural
/ lands they can tell you where the minerals
| are located, where vast beds of coal (more
| valuable than gold or silver) lie, and the
| various approaches to the Klondike are
| known. Some of them have even been sur
yeyed There will be railroad to the
| klondike within the next few years, and al
| ready the Canadian Northern company Is
| laying its tracks to Hudsons bay. This may
seem incredible to people who have not
watched the progress of our northern
neighbors
| Take map of the British possessions for
| a moment and see how the land lies. Be-
tween Winnipeg and Hudson's bay, dis
tance of about 800 miles, lies one of the
| finest countries in the world. 1t is chiefly
| a prairie with fertile soil and capable of
raising any amount of wheat and oats. The
season Is short, however; the winters are
4 ND thnr lie. Iixv
| fall, but the temperature, as recorded for
| generations at the various northern posts
| of the Hudsons Bay Company, is not lower
| than at Winnipeg, Regina. Calgary or 9TH
| er prairie cities, and actually averages
| higher than that of Montreal There are
also vast ranges for cattle on a thousand
| hills covered with nutritious grass. If the
land is plowed and planted with timothy
seed 1t will produce heavy crops of hay,
which are necessary to feed the cattle
through the winter. The ranges are open
about seven months in the year
There are more rivers and lakes than
you can count, and they are filled with fish
the same whitefish and trout that live in
Lake Superior-and the farther north you
go the sweeter and firmer is the flesh. The
value OF the fish resources of the north
west territories and the district lying be-
tween Lake Superior and Hudsons bay is
fncalculable. AS l told you in a recent
letter. people are already beginning to ship
fish by refrigerator cars to ST. Paul and
Chicago. The fisheries are not organized as
yet, but every one of the thousand little
lakes you see on the map is full of fish-a
source of wealth that does not usually en-
ter into the calculations of the political
economists. The attention of the Cana
dams, as well as outsiders, has thus far
been absorbed by the wheat lands and the
timber, and the fisheries have not received
consideration.
The Line to Hudson's Bay.
You can go almost from Winnipeg to
Hudsonos bay by boat already via Winnipeg
lake and Nelson river, and the Canadian
Northern Railroad Company is building
line along the valley of the Nelson which
is of the greatest significance and impor-
tance. not only to Canadians, but to the
farmers and railroad men of the United
States. When that line is completed, ac-
cording to the present surveys. it will
shorten the distance from the wheat fields
and cattle ranges of Canada to Liverpool
more than thousand miles and reduce
the rail haul to few hundred miles.
Between 10000 and 80, 900 head of cattle
are now shipped from Canada to England
every year and they are hauled by rail
three-fourths of the way across the conti-
nent to Quebec, Portland, Me-, Boston and
other Atlantic ports, losing more than 20
per cent in weight and 80 per cent in value
during the nine days journey. When they
arrive at Liverpool, particularly If the
ocean voyage has been stormy the steers
are not only greatly reduced but many of
them are in a feverish condition, which
makes them unfit for food, and they are
Immediately condemned and slaughtered by
the British inspectors Thus according to
Mr.. Sunderland of the Canadian Northern
railroad, the value of the $4,000 head of
cattle Is reduced on an average Of 80 per
cent.
By the proposed route at least one-half
of this wastage should be saved Instead
of nine days journey by rail, the cattle
can be shipped from the ranges of western
Canada to Port Nelson In twenty or
thirty-Six hours-so short a Journey that
they will not have to be taken off the cars
to be rested. The maximum haul is only
about $50 miles, and the road is already
constructed for half that distance From
Port Nelson, on Hudson bay, TO Liverpool
is 2,926 miles by waterloo miles shorter
than from New York and 100 miles shorter
than from Montreal. From Port Nelson
to Vancouver by land is 400 miles and
the distance from Liverpool to Yokohama
Shanghai and other Asiatic ports is 2OOO
miles less than by any other route This
is consideration of Importance in connec-
ton with the transportation of mails as
well as passengers and freight, because 1t
leaves only 1.4o0 miles Of rail between
Europe and Asia
Shipment of Grain to Europe.
In the shipment of grain to Europe the
new route offers several advantages NOT
only shorter distances and lower rates, but
economy of handling. The railway haul
from the wheat fields will not be more than
650 miles and the time will soon come
when all of the vast area along the tracks
of the new road will be planted to wheat
and other breadstuffs. which viii require
only two handlings-from the wagon to the
car and. from the ear to the ship. Even
this distance may be considerably short
ened by placing line of steamers upon
the Nelson river, which is as large as the
81; Lawrence and is the outlet of Lake
Winnipeg, Lake Manitoba. Lake of the
Woods and other large bodies OF fresh
water.
Hudson bay is large as the Mediter-
ranean--a great inland sea-and its fisher
les, which have never been developed are
as valuable those of Labrador 1t Is NOT
in the frozen zone. The winters are cold
but not so cold or stormy as along the At
lanttc coast of upper Canada and the
| United States On it's shores are immense
bodies of timber which have never even hean