Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-24

| AA~S' the eyes and ears. ne CO.. -
/ DEVELOPMENT of both cities was striKlhs'y
similar: their growth in wealth. anu uoue
| and industries has been almost paraiei'
although Winnipeg has mad the peheh.
| Of many advantages that did not eAis.
| when Chicago was young. and that nave
FASTENED things along, and have made the
| building up of a city much easier IMAM
4 II was ffty or sixty years ago-such as
| electricity for light and power, and MOD
| ern4deyices for the construction OF build
ings and railroads and streets. the null
| +in,ication Of methods to save labor
and promote economy has been in IA
yor of Winnipeg, and the eagerness OF
the leaders here to utilize every faclilty
| for saving labor and doubling values has
| been quite as great as was ever shown in
| Chicago.
| Winnipeg, however. is no longer mush-
| room, town. The mushroom town that
| sprang up here twenty-five years ago mas
practically disappeared. and has been re-
| nlaced by blocks of solid buildings OF ex-
ceIent architectural taste. and handsome
| residences surrounded by lawns and
! flowers and foliage and plants. equal TO
| the homes of any of our cities OF similar
| size In churches. schools. libraries, the
Alters and all other signs by which the
| culture of city may be measured VIM
nipeg is abreast of Los Angeles. Min
neapolis, Portland. Seattle and other fast
growing cities in the United States
Winnipes claims to be the fastest grow
ing city in the world. and one reads that
assertion in many forms
Rapid and many places. She
claims population of 49,
ulo"Ih. 600 in the city proper ana
%, 900 more in the immediate suburbs, al
though the exact figures have not peen
announced The census was taken in Au-
gust and the results will be known very
| shortly Last year it is estimated that
II GOO people were added to the total ana
39l6 new buildings were erected at
cost of S15,l16.3sO. which is equivalent to
more than $1,000 per capita OF the popu-
lation The bank clearings jumped from
/ S1O6 $50. 72O in 1901 to 1888, 4lo,2s1 IN I9lo;
and the total for the first six months OF
the year 1911 was S4S7, $50. which In
dictates that the total for the twelve
months of 1911 will be nearly thousand
million dollars.
The assessed valuation of the real es-
tate in Winnipeg has been advanced from
S25.O77, 400 to $172,67f.2D in ten years,
and the tax rate for 1911 is 1874 mills on
the dollar.
The population of Winnipeg forty
years ago lin 1S7D was 215 souls, nearly
all of whom We're trappers, hunters ana
employees at Fort Garry, one of the i'm
portant posts of the Hudson Bay COM
pany.
In 1874. when the town was Incorporated,
there were 1,StE people within Its limits.
In 1885 these had Increased to so'ss4.
Progress was slow for the next few
years, and until 1901 Winnipeg Ian
uuished. but then the great boom COM
| menced and the population jumped from
Al 40 In 1901 to 1O1,O3I In l96. lol, 400
in 1910. and according to the estimates
of those who know best there are now
10000 souls within the city limits
A large part of this increase is due TO
immigration from our western states.
During the year 1910 there
| American were 2OS, 794 arrivals in
western Canada, of whom
AAHo". 1U3, 79S came from the United
States and 80, 100 from Great Britain and
| Ireland OF these 1t is believed at least
10000 settled in Winnipeg. During the
| month of July last 29.291 aliens arrived,
| and for the first six months of 1911 the
total was 1872 739, showing a more rapid
increase this year than ever before. ana
g. So were Americans
| My first Visit TO winnipeg was III 4ct /,
the wear that the railroad from St. Paul
was opened, and the town was half tents
and half shanties; but it was already Sc
lected by fate as one of the future
great cities of the world, and the price
of town lots was elevated accordingly.
| Nearly as much area as is occupied by
| the city at present had already been
| plated and additions were being filed
at the recorders office every day or two.
Streets led from prairie to prairie for
4 Ant nf
| sight. Town lots were sold at auction
| In big tent every night to excited bid
| ders. with scenes like those witnessed on
| the board of trade in Chicago or the
stock exchange in New York when some
| thing has hit the market. Ii a new
| building was projected, no matter how
insignificant, the prices of land In its vi
cinity would go up several points. Ru-
| mors of future building operations and
other enterprises would stimulate the
demand for real estate in that neighbor-
| hood beyond credulity. Lots were sold
| by numbers. squares and subdivisions.
| Before the auction began each evening
| those who had proposition to offer
handed a written description OF property
| to the auctioneer. The same lot would
| be bought and sold often several times
| during the week, at prices fluctuating
according to the rumors and reports con-
corning improvements. Sometimes the
! lists of property offered at auction would
| until after midnight. and the buyers and
sellers in most of the transactions never
saw the land that they bought and sold.
| A venerable gentleman from an eastern
| city, an elder in a Presbyterian church.
| of very high standards of
Unholy morality and business scru-
prof4 pies. became SO excited with
| 1Aon'' the spirit Of speculation that
he bid in a lot one night and offered it
for sale the night following making a
profit of SAG We had good deal of
fun with him about his gambling pro-
pensities, and his Presbyterian conscience
was actually uneasy over his fall from
grace. although he pretended to regard
the transaction as an innocent joke. The
next day being Sunday, we all went to
church. and, to our surprise. the old gen.
tleman dropped Dominion bank bills of
an amount equal to the profit of his real
estate gambling in the plate as it was
hi