Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1912-09-05
CANADIAN NORTHWEST
F.W. Hooper Tells Of Impressions OF
New Country
AMERICAN INDUSTRY LEADS
Mr.. Hooper Visited SpragueS and flShbecks
and Reports They Have Fine Proposition

+. w. Hooper returned last Satur-
day evening from three weeks trip
in Alberta. Mr.. and Mrs. Hooper lett
Alma August 5th, going from here to
Detroit, then to Toronto, where they
took the Canadian Pacific to Edmon-
ton, Alberta. They visited Mr.. and
Mrs Roden Hooper, their son and his
wife, at Edmonton Mrs. Hooper
liked the country so we'll that she is
remaining a month longer with her
sons family. Roden c. Hooper, who
has been with the Marshall-Wells
Hardware Company for the past
seven years, is manager of the firms
large wholesale and retail store at
\ Edmonton. Though only twenty-five
years of age, Mr.. Hooper has worked
his way up in the firm until he is
manager of the large branch at Ed
monton and though he has one hun
dred and thirty-seven employees under
him but two of them are younger
than he.
When asked how he liked the coun-
try, Mr.. Hooper replied that there
was lots of it he liked and lots that
he did not like. He said that he did
not get a good drink of water until
he reached London on the return
trip. The water there is taken from
the rivers, filtered and then piped to
the houses. Where there are wells,
it is necessary to 90 down from two
hundred to four hundred ieet and the
water that is obtained tastes salty.
Another thing that impressed Mr..
Hooper very unfavOrable is the high
prices that prevail in the Northwest.
Following are a few prices given by
Mr.. Hooper from which some idea
may be obtained of the cost OF living
in Alberta. Glass of beer, Is cents,
round steak, % cents per pound ham
so cents per pound, eggs, 40 cents per
dozen, butter 40 cents per pound
On the other hand while oats are
selling at 60 cents per bushel in
Michigan, up there they are selling
for 80 cents and the new crop will
bring the price down to 20 cents.
There is also an abundance of coal
which can be obtained at the mines
for S15O per ton, and delivered it
costs from $3.50 to $500. A team OF
draft horses here selling for $500 will
bring from $7OO to 5000.
Mr.. Hooper arrived in Alberta at
the start of the harvest season. On
the smaller farms oxen are used a
great deal 1t was quite common to
see two oxen and one horse drawing
a binder. while on others three oxen
were used. The new farmers use
oxen to a great extent on the smaller
farms. On the larger farms traction
engines are used and it is a common
sight to see three binders hitched to
the engine. The breaking OF the new
land is done to a great extent on the
small farms by four oxen to a plow
while the gang plows hitched to the
traction engine is used on the larger
farms. Wheat is the most important
crop while oats are raised TO consid-
cradle extent. There is an abundance
OF potatoes and vegetables of all
kinds
The length of the day in Alberta
is little known to the people in this
country and it is peculiar thing to
know that the days in tile summer
are much longer than ours in Michi-
gan while in the winter they are
much shorter. Mr.. Hooper while he
was there saw men in the field plow
ing as late as eight and nine o'clock
at night. In June one can very com
fortably read a newspaper at late as
ten-thirty at night. At this time of
the year it is daylight as early as two
thirty in the morning. In December
it grows Ndark at four p. m. and be-
comes light at eight a. m. The long
days in the summer afford a very
rapid growth and maturity for the
crops The summer temperature is
much the same as in Michigan, while
in winter sixty degrees below zero
is very common and in fact some
times it grows so cold as to actually
drive people mad. There has been an
excess OF rain there this summer.
The country around Bruce and Ed
monton impressed Mr.. Hooper very
favorably. The push and enterprise of
the people Mr.. Hooper said equalled
that of Detroit as far as it went.
There have been more building per-
mits in dollars granted in Edmonton
during the past six months than in
any city in the United States of under
four hundred thousand population.
and Edmonton is city of only fifty
thousand The people of this new
country are from all the nations in
the world. While it draws a great
many of the ne'er-do-well class. it is
also drawing the richer class OF peo-
pie from all parts of the globe They
impressed Mr.. Hooper as being fine