Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-05
CITY OF THE SHOWS
Ottawa Not Eager to Claim the
Distinction.
ANOTHER TITLE DESIRED
Ambitious to Be Called the Wash
ington of Canada.
VISIT TO PARLIAMENT HOUSES
Difficult to Say Which is Finer, tho
Site or the Buildings-compari-
son With the Capitol.
VISIT TO PARLIAMENT HOUSES
Special From Stan Correspondent.

| viii be a real grown-up city person. not
! only municipality clothed. but civicaliy
| adorned Even now 1t isn't by any means
| safe to pat her on the head and call her
''our little sister city Of the SHOWS"
| In fact every mention of snow is tabooed
| in the dominion. Canada suffered SO long
under the handicap of maligned and mis-
understood climate that nowadays the mere
mention of falling thermometer Is almost
| sufficient to start riot and for the visitor
| to inquire into the average snowfall Is to
/ insult his host and lay himself open to
| criticism as absolute ignoramus. OF
| course. his feeling doesn't come to the front
so much In Ottawa, city which nowadays
| derives its chief dignity and Importance
| from the fact that 1t Is the seat of the do
minion government, but out In the agricul-
| tural districts 1t Is far and away from
| joke. And even here there is decided dis
| position to sit down hard on arctic circle
conversation.
Rudyard Kipling isn't as popular he
| might be in Canada. and there's just one
| little reason for 1t. One night when the
muse was working overtime kipling sat
down and dashed off the following:
nation spoke to a nation
queen sent word to a throne
Daughter am | In my mothers ,ouse.
But mistress in my own.
For the gates are mine to Open
A, the gates ,a are mine nj to SS,e
Said Our Lady OF the Shows.
The last line of that little tinkiet is what
did the business. Canadians subscribe to
the political sentiments expressed, but they
can't stand for Our Lady of Shows"
They figure out that the timothy-haired ag-
riculturist from the old country the
states who read that fateful last line
wouldn't wilt his collar speeding for the
ticket office to secure passage for Canada.
And NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. y-ha1red and
otherwise-are looked upon as a tangible
asset by this nation to the north of us.
n,,4 ~ tI<Ry nI.aru Of fhn Noubf TOW,
correspondence party thought to make a
hit In Ottawa and at a little informal
gathering in honor Of the visitors from the
states he turned toose the small bundle of
poetry quoted above. There was frost all
over the scenery when he had finished and
1t was only by the extravagant use of ex-
plantations and quinine that harmony was
restored and the offender spared to con-
tinue the trip.
View From Parliament Hil1.
Ottawa Is fine city with the markings of
finer; pretty one, with the possibility
of one day being truly beautiful. Its site
Is certainly one OF the best and there is
scenery enough for q long time to come,
even with careless handling. The view
from Parliament Hill effects some people
very seriously. One of our modern histor-
ians-naming no names-had a fit the first
time he saw It, There is nothing on the
elusive proof Is furnished by what he
wrote in black and white when he got
out of the ward. This IL what he said:
Beneath, the glossy river slept in
shadow or spread far and wide In sheets
of FURNISHED bronze, and the white moon,
paling the face or day, hung like a disk of
silver in the western sky. Now. fervid
light touched the dead top of the hemlock
and creeping downward, bathed the messy
beard of the patriarchal cedar. unstrred
T. = IT, a
beamed from the east and now. half
arisen the sight. a dome of crimson
fire. the sun blazed with floods of radiance
across the awakened" but this typewriter
isn't Of the ''water-color'' type and that's
enough of the fit anyhow None of the
party was affected as seriously as the
fascinating historian in question. but they
were all stirred some.
Ottawa is only young town. having been
born in 1925 when Col. By. who came out
this way to take charge of the construc-
ton of the Rideau canal. pitched his tent
on the site Of the city and drank Scotch
and soda In honor of the event and his
thirst Later he built house and scotched
on the veranda, admiring the view through
pipe smoke and hardly dreaming OF the
lumber piles and unsghtly sawdust heaps
that were to mar his successors enjoyment
of the scenery. But all Is not lost. IT'S
said the Scotch is Just as good as It was
In the good old days.
Beginning the Lumber Industry.
When the future capital had not even
been dreamed of and this particular portion
of the river was unknown wilderness,
one Philemon Wright. a hardy pioneer
from the states-it Ia wonderful how our
folks turn up everywhere-made his way
up stream as far the Chaudiere. Landing
on the Hull side of the river, he Inspected
the neighborhood and found It suited his
idea of what the site of new settlement
and lumber headquarters should look like.
Returning to his New England home. he
nllad some of his neighbOrs with enthusiasm
and other things, and returned to Ottawa
with a sufficient number to form a sturdy
settlement Then that American gang be-
gan to wade into the virgin forest with
10th hands. and so began the far-reaching
lumber industry Of the upper Ottawa.
In these days when water power Is coming
to the front as an energy. producer 1t is
interesting to note ottawa's possessions
along this line. Some learned person re-
Gently estimated that there are available
within a few miles Of the city something
Ottawa way up front as dominion manu-
featuring center and with radius of for
ty-6lye miles. everywhere easily accessible
from the city, there Is total OF nearly
1 0fDO. 600 available horsepower. about suffi-
cient to produce electrical energy for all
the manufacturing. electric lighting and
street railways of four such cities as De-
troit. Rochester; toronto ana CT. cincinnati.
of parks and open squares. and the work
along this line Is going ahead every day.
The government helps along the game a
rood deal by an annual appropriation for
fhis purpose. practically all OF which is
expended In the extension OF a boulevard.
acme forty miles long. around the city.
The members of the correspondents party.
nnon their arrival in Ottawa were loaded
| into gasoline mankillers and taken all over
| these fine roads. The got a comprehensive
idea of what the journey to the electric
chair feels like. and collected q magnifi-
cent acreage of Ottawa dust. But the
scenery was somewhat merged during the
"TRIP The automobiles were driven by OF
tawa miIlionaires, and they seem to have
plenty of the latter up here. Jackson Booth.
who drove the machine in which I went
through Ottawa In dead faint, has a
daddy who Is worth more millions than /
care to mention this early In the day. and
| Is foolish on the subject of speedy trans
portation. According to report. he buys q
touring car every morning before breakfast
when in good health. Anyhow, he Is q
wonder and It Is his fault that my Inn
pressions OF Ottawa are not as sharp as
they might otherwise have been
Parliament buildings.
But did sea the parliament buildinSA