The Washington herald., 1915-10-10

never put in a claim for IL or demanded
damages. and the recall does not apply.
So landholders in Iowa reed not worry.
Their titles are perfectly good. All Cana
dian rights were outlawed long ago.
That's sound law, but it's tough on
Canada all the same. 1t reeds that soil
and it needs it badly.
Any one who travels by rail from Win
nipeg to Ottawa can't help seeing Just
how badly Canada does need 1t. For the
most part of that more than one thou
sand miles old Mother Earth looks very
skinny The bones show. Rocks stick
out everywhere IN a sort of unclothed
way that is almost indecent. In addition
to the rocks, the rest of the scenery Is
composed of rather understood trees
whose roots And a precarious foothold
and lakes of all shapes and sizes There
seems to be no end to those lakes.
don't believe anybody ever had the time
to count them or name them. TIC Wholc
great territory of the Great Lakes is
simply one maze of smaller lakes cover
ing an area bigger than all Europe put
together They are all picturesquely
beautiful and apparently useless. Travel
ing through them is as great feast TO
the eyes as going through string of
hundred Lake Georges.
There is not enough soil on these rocks
to induce any farmer to settle, unless ne
wanted to farm simply FOR exercise. ana
the timber is too small and too hard OF
access to attract lumbermen The wnoie
region is probably the most diminished
part of the North American continent.
That glacier certainly did thorough Joo
when It carted the soil OF down to Iowa
Naturally the population Is very scanty.
Once in a while you will see a log shack
which is probably inhabited by ar In
dian. I should say that the average dis
lance between any and all signs OF
human habitation would be about 100
miles. and. Of course, you can go l.co
miles in many directions without comihs
upon the mark Of an AZ.
All these back yards of the United
states. however-for that's what they
practically are-would make perfect
snortsman's paradise. The forests are
fun of game Of all kinds. big. little and
middling. Moose. deer and bears are as
plentiful as office seekers In Washington;
while the lakes are alive with fish. Mos
ouitoes and black flies, as well as larger
game birds. are also common.
Despite the beauty Of the lakes and
The wooded hills, all this country Is de-
messing. 1t seems SO utterly hopeless.
About a quarter Of the trees seem to be
dead, and their bare and gaunt trunks
stick up from tne uHocI cISFo"tu Inc tcl-
erraph poles The whole place has an
air Of gloom and looks forbidding and in
hospitable. I was glad when we got
through It and could occasionally get
gJimpse Of cultivated fields again
through the car windows.
n was a close call. however, that /
wa. able to get on train to go through
II at all. Had circumstances been al
lowed to have their own way, I should
quite likely be still in my room in that
winnipeg hotel or wandering discon-
solateiy around the corridors of the NTH
floor. A little ingenuity and the fortu-
nate presence Of telephone in every
room saved me from practical imprison-
rnent, all on account Of an architects
ambition.
dra Hotel in Winnipeg II the biggest
thing In a thousand miles-probably the
biggest thing in all Canada except their
snowstorms. In shape 1t 10 q huge
square and inside this square are a lot
OF little courts to furnish light and air
to the inside rooms. On each floor there
are about q hundred rooms. and these
rooms are reached by corridors laid out
at right angles. sort OF like city streets
plotting on the rooms into square blocks.
This sounds all very simple and practi-
cal but It isn't A lot Of the streets
are not cut through owing to the inte-
rior courts. and the numbering 10 az
eccentric - modern dance. For tn
stance. my room was No. So. and right
across the hall was, No. sle. never
did succeed n finding Is or - which
should have been On sither $50 Of uae.
+ 3