Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-05

goods direct to the United States. 1t would
be especially valuable in the shipping Of
live stock, as the climate is cool and the
sea voyage short.
Can Hudson Bay Be Navigated.
There has in the past been a strong op-
position to all schemes for the utilization
of Hudson bay. a great secrecy has been
preserved about the bay. and strangers
have been kept from exploring It. There
have been two corporations especially IN
terested in this matter; one was the Hud-
son Bay Company and the other the Cana
dian Pacific railway. The Hudson Bay
Company were anxious to keep matters
quiet because they were getting half
million dollars worth OF furs out of this
region, which they had monopoliZed for 200
years. The Canadian Pacific people knew
that If wheat and other freight could be
sent via Hudson bay to England their long
freight line across the continent would lack
traffic. And, therefore, both were interest
ed in keeping the conditions as they were.
As to the possibilities OF navigation, these
can only be tested by experiment. There Is
no doubt but that ships can go in and out
of this great inland waterway during
part of the year. The Hudson Bay Com
pany sailing vessels have been doing so for
PA years. In that time they have had in
operation $50 vessels, ranging In size from
seventy tons to small boats, and SO far
they have lost only two.
Hudson Bay Never Frozen.
The difficulty of navigating Hudson bay
lies not IN the bay itself. but in Hudson
strait, which leads into it. Hudson bay,
as l am told. is never frozen. 1t Is like
great ocean, and some short distance from
the shore is open all the year round. 1t is
an enormous body OF water. It Is 1900
miles long and 1000 miles wide. and its
area is one-sixth as big as the whole United
States. 1t has by far the largest drainage
basin Of all British America Some of its
waters come from the Rocky mountains,
some from Labrador and some from the
Height of Land on the other side OF which
the waters flow 10 the great lakes and the
Gulf of Mexico. The basin includes about
three million square miles
Hudson bay has lcebergs and ice foes.
but it's waters deep, and 1t has some
good harbOrs. One of the best harbors is
Fort Churchill. and it has been picked out
as the port for the probable railroads. 1t
viii be the best place to reach Winnipeg,
the total distance between the two points
being about great as between New York
and Pittsburg. \ railroad could easily be
built along the route and 1t is said that
much Of the land through which it would
go is suitable for vegetable raising and
small farms.
The Hudson Strait Barrier.
The greatest dangers Of the Hudson bay
route lie In Hudson strait, which forms the
entrance to Hudson bay. It is five or six
hundred miles long. and about one hundred
miles wide opening out into the Atlantic
a little below the end of Greenland. It is
right In the track Of the great icebergs and
ice foes which come down through Baffin
bay and Davis strait from the Arctic ocean.
and which are liable to be blown into Hud-
son strait by the winds. Just as the shores
of ireland. England and the northern part
Of the European continent are warmed by
-. .,-Tg Easras.4 .ZiFa hnr q 70
cooled by the cold arctic waters. and these
fccberRs and seas OF floating ice. They
make Hudson strait colder than It would
otherwise be and this is added to by the
winds from the Atlantic. which blow in
the icebergs broken off of the shores or
Greenland.
From the middle of October until June
this strait is sure 10 be full of ice. at least
it viii not be safe to go through 1t at such
times Capt Wakeman. who was sent by
the Dominion government here to tnveSt-
gate its navigation few years ago re-
ported that the strait was blocked for about
80 miles from the 23d of June to the Sth OF
July. The jam consisted of heavy ice in
sheets which had drifted one sheet on top
Of another and damned UP in such a way
that heavily laden vessel could not pos
sibly have gone through it. The sheets
were from three TO thirty inches thick.
Shortly after this time the ice broke and
passed away and the straits were open for
the next three months Capt. Wakeman
estimated that the open season would be
three and half or four months
Or. Bel OF the Canadian geological sur
Vey SAYS IL Is not safe 20 rely upon Hudson
strait being open later than the first week
in October, and Capt Gordon. who COM
manded one OF the exploring parties, says
that vessels especially constructed for the
purpose will have to be used and that they
should not be OF more than two thousand
tons. They should be fortified against the
ice and have small prope!lers wen down in
the water. II would take a vast number of
such steamers to handle the Canadian
wheat crop, and unless great whalebacks
or the modern grain steamers can be used
Tor the traIhc 1t would hardly pay as a
grain route.
One hope Of those who advocate the build
ing OF the railroads to Hudson bay Is that
some arrangements Will be made by means
of Ice breakers or other methods by which
the ordinary tramp steamer can go In and
out or hudson strait. If this is possible
the ships which are used for the grain
and freight traffic between Hudson bay
and England during the open season can
be turned to some other use for the rest
of the year. III this is not done the ships
will work at a dead loss for nine months
of each year. which WILL OF course. mate
rally Increase the freight charges. So far.
however, comparatively little Is known
about the bay and the strait and il is not
safe to risk prophesying as to the future.
A Great Summer Resort.
There Is no doubt, however but that some
of these railroads will be completed The
Crank Trunk Pacific. which is now build
Ing, viii run only two or three hundred
miles from James bay. and the Ontario
government road Will surely be pushed
northward to open the Clay Belt to