Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-03
I'm WESTERN CANADA
Where Summer Follows Win
ter Without a Spring.
EXTREME HOT AND COLD
Mercury Ranges From Fifty Below
to One Hundred Above Zero.
LONG HOURS OF DAYLIGHT
Tendency Toward Paternalism in
Observation-Disclosures Held
Out to the Settler.
LONG HOURS OF DAYLIGHT
BY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.
Speciai correspondence Of Tho star and the
chicago Record Herald.

Speciai correspondence Of Tho Star and the
lineage Record Herald.
SASKATOON, September 10. 1911.
Winnipeg is 767 feet. above the sea;
"V miles west the Grand Trunk Pacific
railway station at Goodive is 2.1Oc feet
ABOVE the sea. and the track continues
10 rise at about the same rate until 1t
reaches Edmonton, which is 2179 feet
oo~ miles from Winnipeg. The westward
grade toward the mountains is very gen.
tie up to the summit in Yellowhead Pass,
| through which 1t crosses the Rocky
mountains, 3,712 feet above the sea. The
| grace Is imperceptible the entire distance
ana the curves are slight. There would
De very Few curves were 1t not for the
| nnumerable lakes scattered all over the
SURFACE OF Canada on both sides of the
| track. l believe / explained in a previous
| letter that 1900 lakes Of an area OF
more than ten square miles are charted
on the maps of Canada. Any one who
crosses the country on the Grand Trunk
| Pacific will be easily convinced of that
1act and will also confirm the superstition
that there are ten times many more
OF smaller size. The passenger is scarce
| ly ever out of sight of a lake and many
of them are picturesque. The scenery is
| all of the gentler sort until the mountain
| division is reached-vast prairies as level
| as a ballroom floor, vast forests, vast
ranges. dotted with glistening gems of
water like mirrors set into frame Of
green and divided by crooked swift flow
| ing tawny rivers with high mud banks
and fringes of stumps and snags and
driftwood that have been left stranded
| during the annual floods.
| In one place the train runs over
straight track for nearly sixty miles
there is another straight piece of nearly
| fifty miles. and as you look down the
| right of way the rails seem to come to-
gether and narrow down to a point
| sharp as a needle.
! The right of way is Enclosed on both
| sides by wire mesh fences the entire dis
| lance. This is required by law and the
fences are inspected every three months
| by order of the railway department of
Ottawa
Slightest Grade Utilized.
| One Of the objects sought by the en-
gineers who laid out the Grand Trunk
Pacific line was to secure the slightest
grade possible in crossing the great back
| bone of the continent, because the SCI
ence of transportation has long since de-
| termined that curves and grades are
money eaters and cut down dividends
| more than anything else In the operating
branch of railway. Thorough explora
| tions of the Rocky mountains from Puget
| sound to Alaska resulted In the adoption
| of the Yellowhead pass which was long
| ago used by the Hudson Bay Company In
| transporting it's furs to the Columbia
river and carrying back merchandise to
trade with the Indians. The Yellowhead
pass was originally adopted by the Cana
dian Pacific railroad, but was rejected
| because 1t is SO far north. 1t came just
right for the Grand Trunk Pacific. how
ever. being almost of the same latitude
as Prince Rupert. the port selected as the
Pacific terminal of the road
| In approaching the Yellowhead pass
| from Winnipeg the rise is gradual and
| almost regular with maximum Of only
| One-half of l per cent or twenty-six feet
| G hor hot of
| any road that crosses the continent. and
| no greater than the ordinary grade on the
| prairies westbound in the United States
There is only one summit the entire
distance. only one watershed. and the
| maximum altitude is only 3,712 feet. This
is due to the fact that the several ranges
or mountains that run parallel to the Pa
| cif1c along the western portion of the
| American continent reach their maximum
| altitude in the fortieth parallel and grad
| ually recede both north and south until
the minimum altitude is found on the
| Isthmus of Panama and in the northern
part Of British Columbia.
Town Lots for Sale.
Between Winnipeg and Edmonston, a
little less than 500 niles. are eighty-six
stations and town sites which have been
divided UP into lots and placed on the
market for sale. 1t has been the custom
on some railways for the officials per-
| sonally to enjoy the profits of town site
enterprises. but in the case of the Grand
| Trunk Pacific that branch of the bust
ness was intrusted to a corporation or
ganized for the purpose and called the
| Grand Trunk Pac fic Town and Develop
ment Company. The Grand trunk Pa
cific Railway Company is the principal
shareholder SO that whatever profits
have been derived from this source have
gone to the stockholders of the railway
| and not to its employees.
There are two elevators at every sta
ton, and sometimes three. belonging 70
| Independent companies, so that the farm
| ers cannot complain of monopoly. but
| the rates are the same, and there is an
| impress on that the companies have the
same stockholders. although they are
under separate management. The pro-