The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-02-18

tlon. Ifo meets you as you step from
the cars. You see his Sign In the sam
| pies of wheat, oats, potatoes and other
products III his office windows, and you
may find farm exhibits even ut tho
depots.
Take, for instance, Moose Jaw, ut the
Junction OF the 500 Pacific and the Ca
madam Pacific Railroads. 1t is lively
city of 1000 souls. and the liveiest part
of It Is the railroad depot. Just outside
tho station buildings a pyramid has been
erected of sheaves of oats, wheat and
barley. with Canadian flag floating
over it. The pyramid is made Zip of
samples of the grain grown in the vicin-
ity. and they arc so displayed that they
can be seen from the cars We had II i
walt of twenty minutes mt Moose Jaw,
and stepped Off and walked about AS
j stood before this pyramid II fine look
ing American woman of forty, with II
buxom rosy checked girl Of sixteet drove
UP in a buggy. Both ladies Were clad in
furs and the checks of the girl shone
like Jacaueminot roses. The lady nc
costed me. asking If 1 were about to
settle in Canada, and If so, did not
want some choice lands. ] replied that
had not fully decided whereupon che
continued:
well. can tell YOU, sir. that there ls
no better soil than right about Moose
Jaw and that have the best of all left
in the neighborhood. have few choice
pieces that want TO sell, and If you care
to look, / will drive you out into the
country. That is my sign!' And she
thereupon pointed to billboard tackled
up beside the straw stack saying that
Mary Jane bought and sold lands.
asked her where her lands were and
she told me, saying that they were worth
from SIS to $50 and TINT they would pro-
duce 40 bushels of wheat. ninety bushels
OF barley or 100 bushels of oats to the
acre.
But" said /, "I ain afraid It will be
too cold. understand you people freeze
to death In the winter
''As to that" said the woman, II am
an American woman who came here for |
my health from Colorado a good many |
years ago. suppose you take a look at !
my daughter, who sits here beside me.
She is sixteen years old and I have never
paid n cent for doctor bills on her ac- !
count. De either of us look like freez-
ing to death? No, sir, we have a few
cold days In tho winter, but as a rule /
our climate is better than that Of the I
northern parts of the Uniter States.
i then told the madam that ] was n
newspaper correspondent and not land
whereupon she handed me
her card, saying: well, would like
to interest you in our lands, and If you /
see any one who wants to buy, send him
to mel mean any man with good hard /
cash. Send your card along with him, |
and If he buys you will get your COM
mission With that she drove quickly
away to accost another stranger who
had come ont of the station.
"A ~,,a~;oo, Ca++1a,,,.o,+. -, C,,,J,
During my travels here / have visited
many of the localities where Americans
have settled. They have come to Canada ]
in all sorts of ways Some were brought
by the trainload, by the real estate agents
and the government. almost depopulatng
the little farm communities of our country
from whence they came. Iowa, for In
stance. has fallen off 10000 or more
through this and other emigration. Some
of the settlers had crossed the boundary
IN canvas-covered wagons, and others had
driven into Canada in all sorts of vehicles.
I have photographs of men who came in
using oxen and horses to pull their effects.
and of some who plodded along for days
with OK teams on the way.
The first Americans to arrive squatted
lown close to our boundary. getting home
steads and buying farms along the 500
Pacific Railroad. Soon afterward they be-
gan to take up the lands farther west. and
now fully 40 per cent OF all the settlers be-
tween Moose Jaw and the international
are Americans. They own n line
Of wheat farms extending on each side
from the railroad back far into the coun-
try. Their homes remind me of the set
tied portions of North Dakota, and they
have many good little towns such as
Weyburn, which has 1900; Milestone, 600.
9TH In Ctrnb hn h,,ef
men are chiefly Americans.
Another line of American settlements
has grown up along the Prince Albert