Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-14
THE CITY OF WINNIPEG
Claimed to Be the Liveliest
Place on the Continent.
HAS GROWN RAPIDLY
REAL ESTATE VALUES EQUAL
THOSE OF THE DOOM" DAYS.
Buildings Put Up This Year Expected
to Reach Cost Of Twelve Million
Dollars-Scarcity of Labor.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS,

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
WINNIPEG, Canada, October G. 1905
The people of Winnipeg claim that 1t is
| "the liveliest city in America" and that no
| city of it's class the continent Is growing
so rapidly. 1 have not been able to COM
| pare its statistics Of growth with those of
Los Angeles, but am inclined to think that
it SHOULD have the first place on the list
allowing Winnipeg the second There is no
doubt that Winnipeg, being the center OF
all things and the focus of all affairs in
western Canada, receives some benefit from
every person and every dollar that comes
into this country. Like all frontier cities
Denver, Los Angeles, Kansas City. Dallas.
Minneapolis and other places in the states
that we might compare it to-Winnipeg has
| had Its ups and downs. It's booms and It's
depressions have probably been more radi-
| cal and extreme than those of any other
| city on this hemisphere; perhaps 1t would
| be safe to say the entire world. The last
| time j was here. In 1884. shortly after the
Canadian Pacific completed its line from
| the east and began building the branch
roads which have made Winnipeg a rail-
road center, it was the scene of the widest
speculation. City lots were selling at higher
| prices than in Chicago or New York; auc-
| tons were held every night on the street
| corners, and real estate changed hands like
railway shares on the stock market. A gen.
| tleman in our party bought residence
| lot for something over $4,000 as a flyer"
and sold 1t the next night for an advance
| sufficient to pay the auctioneers commits
| sion and leave cash profit of S21. The
greater part of the town site was tossed
about in that way, and the expectations
| of the future metropolis of Canada, as
they used to call 1t, and they call 1t yet
| were so great that business property on
| the main street was selling at a higher
| price per front foot than on Michigan ave-
nue. in Chicago.
At that time Winnipeg was q collection OF
shaoks scattered over a prairie, sheltering
| perhaps 10000 people. When the boom col
| lapsed more than half of the inhabitants
abandoned the town. They could not even
| give their property away because the as
sessments made upon it by the tax commits
sioners were more than the land was worth
A good story is told which illustrates the
situation:
A gentleman who owed some money sue
| ceeded in arranging settlement by which,
among other assets, he agreed to transfer to
his creditor one city lot. In making out the
| deed of transfer he put in twice as much
| land as he had agreed to give, and when the
| lawyer called his attention to it he turned
| pale and whispered: For heavens sake
don't say word! 1 didn't think any one
would notice it!''
On a Permanent Basis.
But after a few years. when the real
deVel-
oped and speculation subsidized. Winnipeg
got down to rational business basis and is
| now a city of 100000 inhabitants. with
| broad, well-paved streets, lined with hand
some residences, and business blocks of
stone and brick. AS an indication of its
growth, the assessments of real estate adj
vanced from S24, 195.540 In 1896 to $50 500 900
| in 1904, and probably will exceed SEQ 600 900
Tor the current year The clearing house re-
ff1ry
! 437 in 1904 and are expected to exceed $780,
0Oo,0oO for 1905. One of the most noticeable
| features of Winnipeg is the massiveness of
| It's pank buildings. and as financial center
| 1t now stands third In the dominion having
| passed such old cities as Halifax Hamilton
Ottawa and Quebec.
Last year the building permits were So
6oo,ooo. This year they have already passed
that mark and have three months more to
| go on; so that the total is expected to reach
twelve or more millions-almost as much as
Los Angeles. But the growth of Winnipeg is
even more rapid than that of its California
| rival, as will be seen by the following fig
| ures, which show the permits for buildings
granted during the past five years:
co. 81 .357 .430
lool. 171SO57
t.OS 1885, 325
I9o1 b,6S9 $50
no 1851, $50
1893 % months). Observation-Disclosures. 9.721 $50
Last year the permits were mostly for
| sive buildings; this year they are prin-
| cipally for dwellings and represent more
than 5000 structures, with an average val
ue OF $3.240 each, which is very high for
frontier town. Strangers are coming In
| from every direction and are compelled to
! build houses. because there are none for
rent large number are from the United
| States. Winnipeg is the most American of
| all Canadian Cities although its popula-
! ton is very much mixed and represents
every race and nation. The woman who
| runs the Bible Society Office says that last
| year she had applications for the Good
Book in thirty different languages and di-
| aIects.
| You can still see many of the original
| wooden shacks on the main street, but
most of them have been displaced by fine
new buildings of cream-colored brick and
new ones are being erected on almost every
block. The business part of Winnipeg looks
more like Portland. Ore, than any other
| city. The residence section is spread over
a large area, with plenty of room between
| the houses; but the electric street car sys-
tenn reaches every section and the best
class of houses are being erected on the
outskirts of the town.
Compared With Other Cities.
Mr.. A. L. Johnson, president of the board
of trade, says that after twenty years of
ups and downs Winnipeg has finally re-
covered the boom prices of 1884; but this
time they are permanent. Business prop
erty on Main street has sold as high as
| 5000 a front foot In his annual report
Mr. Johnson compares the building permits
of Winnipeg with those of Canadian and
American cities of larger size, as follows:
Winnipeg. 1861 100
Detroit 6,i37. los
Buffalo. 6,65S.3l3
Cincinnati 5.326,0o0
a., Tani. :. : 3's4S'9s;
", he let