Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-23
WOOD PULP IN ABUNDANCE
Spruce Trees Cover Area More Than
400 Miles in Width.
RAILWAY TRACK EXTENSION
Grand Trunk Line Passes Through
Country Sparsely Inhabited, But
Rich in Natural Wealth.
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.


The Grand Trunk railway line from
Fort William on Lake Superior to Win
nipeg is finished. and freight trains have
been running over 1t for several months,
but passenger trains will not be put on
until spring. The track passes through
wild and wonderful country. For three
fourths of the distance it traverses a con-
tinuous spruce forest nearly 400 miles
wide. stretching from the great lakes to
the arctic circle. About sixty miles east
of Winnipeg the train energies from this
forest and enters a prairie similar to
those of northern Minnesota and North
Dakota
The newspapers of America, and those
of England also, which get a greater part
Of their paper supply on this side of the
Atlantic, need not worry about the fu-
ture. These forests of spruce trees, from
which wood pulp is made, are practically
exhaustless and can be the source of
perpetual wealth. because the trees grow
rapidly, and If the mature ones are cut
by selection, nature will replace them as
fast as they are needed. With methodical
cutting and care the supply of wood pulp
from the forests of Canada will last for
ever. Methodical and scientific selection
has already been adopted in Maine the
other sources of supply within the United
States, and the experiments in'reforestra-
ton here are entirely satisfactory. The
forests north and west of the great lakes
have never been touched. Not a cord of
wood pulp material has ever been ship
ped out of there; hence, when the owners
begin to draw upon 1t they can start
even and give the trees a chance to serve
them faithfully, as they will If permit
ted.
Tho ferrifory hot u-oon Eort yxy;ll;oo, ,,d
prairies east of Winnipeg. which is ap-
proximately 500 miles wide, is called 1.-The
bridge" by railway officials. because
heavy traffic from both ends, but not
freight, except railway construction ma
terial, is received or delivered within that
entire distance. Therefore, the through
traffic must maintain the road. and it is
very likely to do SO. A hundred million
bushels of wheat or more will have to be
hauled through these woods to Fort Will
liam. and corresponding quantity of
lumber, while coal and general merchan-
disc will fill the westbound cars.
Residents Are Few.
There are only few hundred perma-
nent residents in this territory, not
counting the prospectors and the en-
ployes of lumber camps. There are
traces Of minerals everywhere. but thus
far no deposits worth working have been
found. It should be remembered, how
ever, that the Cobalt silver Mines which
have paid $5O,OOOOOO in dividends during
the last five or six years, and the Porcu-
pine gold camps are in just such a
timber country as this, and there is no
telling what the prospectors may dis
cover =.
The only town is Graham. named after
the minister of railways in the Dominion
cabinet at Ottawa: 1t is situated about
ho l,nfyr Lob CIR nd
Winnipeg, and is the division headquar-
tiers of the Grand Trunk railway. The
population is between 100 and 800, almost
altogether railway men and their families,
with. few prospectors and timber
cruisers. who are coming and going.
There are two hotels. four poolrooms, a
public dance house, ten stores and a few
dwellings, all of fresh Imprinted pine
boards or logs. Until yesterday the
members of the community were compell-
ed to keep up their spirits by the use of
soft drinks. which do not create very
much excitement. There was not a bot
tie of liquor between the prairie Of Mani
toba and Lake Superior, distance Of
nearly 800 miles. Hence. there was no
disorder, no vice, no crime. and no
poverty. But In order to purchase his
influential support for the conservative
ticket, the government of Ontario grant
ed license to the proprietor of one OF
the hotels and it arrived yesterday.
To celebrate the event drinks were free
to everybody who called for them. The
consequence was that every man in town
was roaring drunk and pandemonium en-
sued. The women locked themselves up
in their homes and blew out the lights.
Even the poor creatures who allow them
selves to be used to allure men to the
dance hall fed and hid themselves-ali
except one half-breed. who sat sullenly
In the corner with her shawl over her
head The carousal lasted all night. In
the morning the bodies of drunken men
could be seen lying on the ground around
the entrances to the hotels and boarding
houses which they were unable to enter
The railway management will endeavor
to have the license revoked. because their
employees. with the exception of few
miners and lumbermen. are the only per-
sons affected.
This country will be a popular resort
one of these days. This entire forest.
which. as / have said. extends from the
great lakes to Hudsons bay. and for five
or six hundred miles east and west, is
full of lakes and ponds. and they are
filled with fish. Herds of moose and carl
bou are wandering through the wilder
ness. There were a few red deer. but
the moose have driven them out. Bears
and timber wolves are numerous and oc-
casionally wildcat is shot. There are
no shooting or fishing clubs. and the
only human habitations are few cot
tages owned by Canadians who come
here to spend the summer
Formerly Indian Hunting Ground.
The Ojibway Indians formerly owned
and occupied all this territory They
travelled about in canoes. making port
ages from lake to lake along dozen
fixed trails. They went as far north as
fHudson's bay, hunting and trapping, and
sold their furs to the Hudson's Bay Com
pany at Fort William, which was the
meeting point of the east and west trad
ers There is still a regular canoe route
from Lake Superior to Lake Winnipeg
the Lake OF the Woods and Hudson !
bay. and it follows the Saskatt hewan
river to the Rocky mountains, where an
easy portage leads to the Columbia river
which is open to Portland. Ore. Thou
sands have passed across the continen,
that way.
When the proposition for a second
transcontinental railroad was up before
the Canadian parliament those opposed
to the scheme argued that northern On
| tario was aworthless wilderness of
| muskeg. and that the road would never
| pay. About this time the Ontario gov
| eminent began building a colonization
| road from North bay, which was the
| northern terminus Of the Grand Trunk
| system and an important divisional point
on the Canadian Pacific. North Of this
was only silence and waving wilder
ness.
| Muskeg is the terror of Canadian rail-
way builders. 1t Is @ species of elastic
peat found through the forests between
Hudson bay and the great lakes and