Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-16
RAILROAD
Canadian Government Build
ing It to Hudson Bay.
FOR BENEFIT OF FARMERS
Purpose Is to Cheaper Wheat Rate
to Great Britain.
MANY OBSTACLES IN WAY
Construction Problems Among the
Most Serious Ever Tackled by
Railroad Engineers.
MANY OBSTACLES IN WAY

1sdAAAOdO GLS lUecIS.
BY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
OTTAWA. September IL. 1911.
A few days ago the minister of rail-
ways let the contract for the construction
of 30 miles of Hudson Bay railway to
j. d. Macarthur & Co. of Chicago and
Winnipeg. who have Just completed the
Grand Trunk line between Lake Superior
and Winnipeg. There were six bidders
from different parts of the country. Nc
Arthur agrees to get his Italian terri
ers' and wheelbarrows on the ground and
start In to make the dirt fly before the
election. as the railroad is very largely
political project and has been urgently
demanded by the wheat farmers of the
western provinces for several years.
The Hudson Bay railroad is an under
taking of the Canadian government and
the estimated length is about 4o0 miles.
Surveys have been made of the entire
distance. and the route has been def
nitely located from the Pas Mission on
the Saskatchewan river. about 100 miles
northwest of Winnipeg-tne present ter
minus of the Canadian Northern rail
way-and Pipe Stone lake. a distance of
about 30 miles. The estimated cost UNI
der the contract Is $4,000 mile, and an
appropriation of s5.GO0,GG0 has already
been made by parliament toward the
construction. The estimated cost Of the
entire line, with equipment, is SJO,0W,05t,
hut there is good deal of doubt and
controversy on that point.
Muskeg Big Problem.
While the surveyors have made no such
report. it is understood that there is
great deal of muskeg along the right of
way. and that will not only be very eN-
pensive. but difficult to overcome. Mus
key is form of swamp or morass formed
by successive layers of uecaying vegeta-
ton in the lakes and ponds which are
scattered over northern Canada. During
the summer months these lakes and ponds
are filled with coarse, heavy reeds, which
grow rank and sometimes conceal the
surface of the water. When frost comes
they wither and fail, and lie.-rotting on
the bottom OF the pond. This has been
going on for ages until many of the shall
low lakes have been converted into
swamps. and, as may be readily under
stood. such formations are a terror to
railway builders
Several lines that have been surveyed
make the distance from Winnipeg to Por.
Nelson or Fort Churchill about $40 miles,
which will leave distance of 400 miles
to be built, as the tracks of the Cana
dian Northern will not be paralleled. The
exact terminus of the road on Hudson
bay has not been determined, but it will
be one or the other of the places named.
This will shorten the distance from the
heart of the Prairie provinces of western
Canada by LOCO miles, and it is estimated
that % per cent of the transportation
distance and . cents a buShel to the
freight rates will be saved. But the Hud-
son bay route cannot possibly be opened
for navigation more than four months in
the year, and in many years not more
than three months, while the mouth of
the bay. called Hudson strait, Is apt to
be blocked at any time during the sum
mer by floating ice fields The currents
from Baffins bay enter Hudson bay, and
are assisted by the northeast winds to
blockade the channel with masses of
broken ice from twenty to fifty feet
thick The straits are never entirely
lem will not be discussed by the advo-
Gates of the enterprise. This road is being
built to satisfy a public clamor for COM
petition with the lake and railroad routes,
and. as no private firm or syndicate has
been willing to undertake the risk, it is a
government affair
No Passenger Traffic.
There will be practically no local traf-
fic and no passenger traffic, for the fogs.
the cold and the frequent storms could
not be encountered by any rational hui
man being who could pay his fare any
other way. The marine insurance rates
will be practically prohibitory and will
alone offset all the saving in freight
charges. There are many other argu-
ments against the project, but, as | I'M
derstand it, nobody will listen to the
objections. Both the liberal and con-
servative parties are committed to the
enterprise. and the present administra-
ton has to take 1t up or lose the wheat
vote.
The third plank in the conservative
platform pledges that party, if returned
to power. to construct the Hudson Bay
railway and operate it by an Independent
commission. to construct and operate ele-
vators at the terminal on Hudson bay for
handling and storing wheat and also to
provide means for carrying on the Chill
ed meat industry" The latter PROPOSE
ton has also been advanced by the farm
ers of the western provinces. who are I'M
able to compete with the Argentine re-
public in the shipment of beef and NUT
ton to Europe In refrigerator ships A
considerable portion of western Canada is
untitled for grain, but is admirably adapt
ed for pasturage. and the herds of cattle
and sheep are increasing very rapidly
To get the votes of the western farm
ers both parties have been trying to out
bid each other over the Hudson bay
project but at the same time neither one
of them was anxious to assume the re-
spons.bility Of carrying 1t into effect The
conservatives started the movement In
the campaign of 1885. but dropped ii
after the election. The next campaign
they sent inspectors to Fort Churchill to
watch the Ice and make a report to allay
public clamor, and In advance OF every
political campaign ever since surveying
parties have been sent out to make the
people think that the government was
doing something to carry out the great
scheme. which Is to shorten the wheat
route to England. reduce freight charges
and increase the profits of the honest
farmer.
Farmers Demand Railroad.
The Grain Growers Association of
Western Canada. which has membership
Of more than forty thousand has been
sending committees to Ottawa every ses-
sion of parliament to demand immediate
action. Its members wan the government
n build and operate the road. to pro-
vida and maintain elevators for storage
and to give them certificates for their
grain which will be accepted as cash at
the banks They want the government to
build and operate slaughter houses and
cold storage warehouses and provide
aeets of ships which will carry their
~rain beef and mutton to the British
markets. at rates lower than those
charged by existing lines.
The farmers discuss these subjects dur
inc the long, cold winter evenings. In
ths,r debating societies and political clubs,
nd comnel the politicians to embody