Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-10
CANADIAN BOOM TOWN
Visit and Entertainment at
Saskatoon
THE WESTERN WHEAT BELT
An Unhroken Monotony of Prairie
Country.
A GOOD REAL ESTATE DEAL
Lots Where the Only Way to Desig-
nate Them Were Stakes
in the Ground.
GOOD REAL ESTATE DEAL
Special From Staff Correspondent.

special FROM q Stan correspondent.
SASKATOON, Province of Saskatchewan,
- August Q.
This story might we'll be dated ANY
where, privince of Saskatchewan" So far
as frst-hand information is concerned
there's no town in the province officially
labeled Anywhere" but wouldn't swear
there wasn't, even at that, for the domin-
ion is full of surprises and they have a
habit of appearing at most unexpected times
and places. But Anywhere gives pretty
fair idea of almost any spot in this plains
and prairie country and is a good deal cas-
Ter to write and to read than the average
town name in this vicinity. The last sta
ton we passed, a good many hours down
the line of the Canadian Northern, had
name like foolish Pullman car and the
one we're going to rush upon pretty soon at
the frightfu1 speed of eight miles an hour
sounds like a disinherited Russian prince.
And Canada from a car window SO far
as this province is concerned, means a
moving picture that moves but does not
change, succession of flying views that do
not vary, of duplicate autographed scenes
that might have been turned out long, long
ago from the great color press of the gods.
A Flat, Green Country.
For hundreds of miles it is the samoa
fiat, green country, extending, without break
or hazard, to the far-away blue of the sky
line--and the tourist, after hours and hours
Of staring, wrinkle-eyed and weary, across
the stretch of grass and clover and rich
black loan, begins to long for the sight of
tree. l know, of course, that tbs possible
to get used to 1t. In fact the folks around
here all tell me that once a man has lived
out here and goes back to the crowded
places again to him the call of the plains
a 1Qd
distance, strengthened by time, insistent
and unsatisfied. 'Tis thing rather hard
to understand-that is, for the tourist and
the transient to understand 1t would seem
to me that the unbroken monotony of this
prairie country would drive an Esquimaux
silly, for in his own country the Esqu-
maux may at least romp with the seals and
things in his leisure moments and lean up
against an iceberg when he feels tired.
But up here on the fiat romping is lost
art and there isn't even anything to lean
against, for barb-wire fences don't really
count.
This city of Saskatoon-for the articles
| of incorporation arrived recently and city
| II now is in name-is a fair sample of the
boom town of the dominion. From the
car window 1t is not impressive. Back o:
the long, low railroad sheds the town strig-
giles up and down the main street and
off into 1.-The suburbs" where the unbroken
prairie stretches away to the jumping of
place, and the streets and avenues are
tagged to keep them straight in the human
mind, for there's no other way of dis
tinguishing them from the surrounding
country.
But there's more than this to Saskatoon.
You feel the spirit of the place long before
1t Is reached. There are SO many people
on the long train-and that means the train
OF yesterday today and tomorrow-who are
getting off at Saskatoon" / found this
out very promptly in stroll through the
frst-class, tourist and colonist cars-the
three grades Of travel on these Cana 1ian
Northwest roads. And 1t Is easy to make
friends with these folks bound for the new
city of Saskatoon, called by its enthusiasts
1.-The gem of the Saskatchewan the hub
Of the hard wheat belt" Either their home
Is here, they have been here, or they
are coming here to make a home, and
whether from experience or from expec,d-
ton they are all eager to talk of the town
that they confidently assert will some lime
be metropolis of the Canadian north
west.
Growth in Three Years.
In 1903 Saskatoon was a city of tents
Today the roof tree has to a large extent
replaced the tent pole, and there are not
nearly sufficient accommodation for the
people who flock here by every train. I've
already said that INTELLECTUALLY Saskatoon
is not an attractive town. What munich
pal youngsters of it's age could possibly be?
Most Of the houses are thrown together,
for time was and is the great essential,
necessary. But the people are here and
more are coming. not the decorative sort
of folk, but the hustling, bustling boom
town kind.
There are very few of these Canadian
towns that like to hear the word 'boom
in connection with their growth But to
my mind town that grows In population
from $50 to $500 in three years is certainly
deserving of the name. And that Is what
Saskatoon has done in little Dit short OF
that time. And there are other infaiiible
signs of the boom spirit. The folks are
land mad absolutely and entirely lend
nad-but I'm frank to confess that 1t may
be the kind of madness that pays. The men,
beers of the Washington correspondents
party had some hours to spend In the city.
and they were driven first over TIE city
site and then out into the hard wheat coun-
try. When the town was almost null down
on the horizon one of the distinguished
citizens of Saskatoon turned to me ard
said in self-satisfied tone that ne had
made good investment that morning OF
course, L asked him all aboutit
Why, he remarked proudly, II bought
couple, of lots on 21st street for mere
hand over the boundless prairie.
! looked. but couldn't see any street,
let alone 2lst. There was nothing but
grass and clover and the untouched sod.
Where is 21st street?" I inquired after a
long look = :
The Saskatooner looked at me reproach-
fully. We're on 1t now" he replied.
or SO back?' e.-1
That human person beside me thought
that he had made good investment I
came very near laughing in his face at the
time, but wisdom is slowly filtering into
my system. 1 shouldn't be at all sur
prised to learn some day in the not far
distant future that he had sold those lots
on 2lst street for-for an uncomfortable
lot of money.
That should be sufficient evidence of the
faith that the average Saskatooner-heaven
forgive me for calling him that-has in
his city on the north branch of the Sas-
katchewan. 1t Is a faith shared by the
young and the old. the settled citizen and
the new arrival, a faith that takes fence
and ditch. river and stream in its stride.
rewarded. And the average citizen of
Saskatoon is merely a duplicate of the
average citizen of any other Of the many,
many boom towns throughout the dominion.
Each town Is the best, the most progress