Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-18
new CANADIAN Line
Jas. ]. Hill to Extend the Great
Northern Railroad.
THE WORLDS WHEAT FIELD
Impossible Now to Transport the
Crop.
ENTERPRISE OF AMERICANS
OF AMERICANS
improvements Being introduced In
South American Countries--The
Electric Road In Manila.
By WILLIAM e. CURTIS.

| By WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald
NEW YORK, May H. 1903.
1 met James ]. HILL the empire builder of
St. Paul at the Gotham Hotel the other
! day and he told me that he was going to
start this summer a new trunk line or.
| rather an extension Of the Great Northern
| railroad from Winnipeg to Vancouver. and
| he declared that he would build the entire
distance without subsidy or bonds. A few
| months ago Mr.. Hill announced that he was
going to retire from active business life ana
| turn the management of the Great Northern
| railway over to his boys, two of whom are
now directors in that company. He has
made similar announcement several times
! In years past. and notice that on every oc-
casion 1t has been followed by some great
new enterprise. which engages all his talent
and most of his time. His present retire
ment from active business means the con-
struction of a new line parallel with his
present system on the other side of the Dor
der through the provinces OF Manitoba, Sas-
katchewan. Alberta and British CoiumDia.
When Mr. Hill announces his retirement
look out for big things. He has recently
disclosed his intentions to the Canadians.
He has written a letter to the winnipeg
board of trade. promising TO puiio UP
new system new transcontinenfal line.
through the Canadian northwest, whicn !
hone will serve to further develop your city
and the country from which Its prosperity
Is drawn. 100
Mr.. Hill tells me that he ordered 5000
tons of eighty-pound steel rails from the
Dorniufon Iron Company of Halifax and
25 600 tons from the 500 Iron Company OF
Sault Ste Marie which is enough to iron
250 miles of road.
The Wheat Field of the World.
When 1 asked him for the route of his new
Canadian road Mr.. Hill smiled and said ne
hadn't selected it. but believed that there Is
plenty of room for another track through
the wheat fields on the Canadian side OF the
border. He has great faith in the future of
Canada He said that within the next few
years there would be practically a single
wheat field $50 miles square UP yonder.
Welding an average of twenty bushels to the
acre and another road will then be needed
to carry the crops to market. He VIII haul
1t not only to Duluth. but will turn over a
part of his freight to the Grand Trunk al
Winnipeg. The Canadian roads are not apie
to handle the crop now. Even In January,
1896 they were still hauling the crop OF
1904-just clearing it UP. The wheat had
been stored for a year and a half In the
fields and in small elevators along the lines
The Canadian Pacific cannot take 1t away
from Georgian bay as fast as IL arrives
there. and sometimes the whole road, Is
blocked by loaded cars. Mr.. Hills new road
will furnish another outlet, and take a
share of the crop to Duluth, which has two
months more of navigation ana ABUNDANT
facilities to handle any amount of grain.
The wheat crop of Manitoba last year was
100000 bushels. and it was disposed of as
follows:
Kept for seed ............-... l9,0 oo ~,
Local mills. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 10o0o ,Co
Winnipeg mills ....-.....-..... 10 $1,000 $1,000
East Canada mills. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. a5,0ooooo
EXPORT --.-- - - o'Vo
Because of the enormous immigration.
chiefly from the United States, which has
gone into Manitoba. Saskatchewan and AL
berta during the last year this crop will be
nearly doubled in 1906. and it is estimated
that within five years a thousand million
bushels of grain viii be raised In the belt
between Winnipeg. on the east, and Cal
garry and Edmonton on the west, running
northward go miles from the border.
To carry away this crop the Grand Trunk
Pacific is being built from Winnipeg north
westward to the ocean. The Canadian North
ern is building up to Hudson bay, and
third road will parallel the Canadian Pacific.
wheat belt along the southern border OF
Canada.
II you viii observe a map of the Great
Northern railway you will notice that Mr.
Hill already has a line from Spokane to
Vancouver and another from Vancouver to
Everett and Seattle. These will be part
of the Canadian system. You win also no.
tice that the road has a lot OF spurs like the
teeth of comb running northward from the
main line to the Canadian border. 1t Is
proposed to extend these spurs to the Cana
dian line. and thus give plenty of cross-cuts
for handling freight.
Handling the Wheat.
Duluth and Superior City are looming up
1rrtc ,ff tln heu