The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-05-06

year round. It Is an enormous body OF
water. 1t is 1900 miles long and 16o0
miles WIDE and its area is one-slHth as
big as the whole United States. It mas
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
to the great lakes and the Gulf OF N1exI-
co. The basin includes about, three MIL
lion square miles.
Hudson Bay has icebergs and Ice foes,
but its waters are deep, and 1t has some
good harbors. One OF the best harbors
is Fort Churchill, and 1t has been picked
out as the port for the probable rail-
roads It will be the best place to
reach Winnipeg, the total distance be-
tween the two points being about as
great MS between New York and Pitts
burg railroad could easily be built
along the route, and it Is said that much
OF the land through which 1t would go
ia suitable for vegetable raising and
small farms.
The Hudson Strait Barrier.
Tho greatest dangers Of the Hudson buy
route lie in Hudson strait, which forms
the entrance to Hudson bay. 1t Is five
or six hundred miles long, and about
one hundred miles wide, opening out into
the Atlantic little below the end OF
Greenland It is right in the track OF
the great icehcrgs and Ice foes which
come,1own through Baffln bay and Da-
Wis strait from the Arctic ocean and
which are liable to be blown into Hud-
son straits by the winds
/ Just as tho shores of Ireland, England
ana the northern part OF the European
continent are warmed by the gull stream,
so the regions here are cooled BY the
cold arctic waters and these icebergs
and seas are floating Ice. They maze
TI,,dson strait colder than 1t would other
wise be, and this Is added to by the
winds from the Atlantic, which blow in
The icebergs broken of of tho shores OF
Greenland
From the middle of October until June
this strait Is sure to DO full Of Ice
Mt least It will not be safe to go through
1t Mt such times. Capt. Wakeman, who
was sent by the Dominion government
here to investisat Its navigation a few
years ago, reported That the strait was
blocked for about $50 miles from tho
e3d of June to the 2Sth OF July, The jam
consisted OF heavy Ice In sheets which
had drftcd one sheet on top OF another
and jnmmed up In such q way that q
heavily laden vessel could not possible
have gone through It. The sheets were
from three to thirty inches thick. Short
~ after this time tho Ice broke and
passed away. and the straits were open
for tho next three months, Capt. Wake
man estimated that the open season
would DO three and half or four
months.
Dr. Bell of the Canadian geological sur
yey says 1t Is not safe to rely upon liud-
son strait being open later than tho
first week in October and Cant. Gordon.
who commanded one Of the exploring
parties, says that vessels especially con-
structed for the purpose will have 10
+, be used and that they should not be OF
more than two thousand tons They
should DO fortified against the Ice and
have small propclcrs we'll 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 DO
used FOR the traffic, 1t would hardly pay
as II grain route.
One hope of those who advocate the
building If The railroads to Hudson, bay
lis that. some arrangements will be made
( by means of ice breakers or other meth
ods by which the ordinary tranp steamer