Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-18
CANADIAN BORDER
AROUSES INTEREST
Hearings on St. Lawrence
and Great Lake Canal
System Find Response. -

Hearings now being held in dozen
cities of both countries by the United
States and Canadian joint commits
sion to consider connecting the ST,
Lawrence river and the great lakes
by canal system awaken a new In
terest in the nearly 1000 miles of
border that separates this country.
from its neighbor to the north" says
a bulletin issued by the National Geo
graphic Society
THE boundary between the two
great English-speaking countries of
America" continues the bulletin, Civ .
ing them joint ownership of some Of
the greatest lakes in the world as
wei! as a river OF prime Importance,
holds possibilities for development
overlooked by many of the citizen
stockholders on both sides of the line.
The single scheme now under discus
sion for the construction of canals to
handle oceangong ships foreshadows
work that would rival in magni-
tude ana Importance even the epoch
making engineering feats at Panama,
With huge canals connecting the wa
ters of the great lakes and the ST.
Lawrence, ships capable of negoti-.
ating any weather could sail with the
ore. coal and grain of the western
United States and Canada directly to
any port of the seven seas.
Border Line Once Tangled. -4
Discussion by the two countries of
the feasibility of engaging, Jointly in :.
the development of their border wa
ters is in contrast with some of the
stormy incidents in which the bound
airy mas figured. Known in recent r.
years as the border without forts,s-
and come at last to be regarded as q .
line OF amity and friendship. it isl
perhaps not generally realized now.
that. until the cumulative efforts Of.
settlement of some long standing dis =
putes. the United States Canadian
boundary was the source of almost,
continual misunderstanding. Many
times there were unpleasant incidents,
twice the countries We're on the verge
OF war, and for well over a hundred
years after the close of the reyolu-f
tionary war diplomats, commi ssioners
and even neutral kings and emperors.;
acting as arbitrators. were kept busy
trying to straighten out the many
snaris into which border line can
become tangled =
Much of the trouble in regard TO,
the boundary resulted from ignorance
OF the geography Of the country on
the part Of the early hegotiators. The,
ST. Croix river, which the earliest
treaty stated should form the eastern
line of Maine. at the very starting
pObhl VI tHt lulSTHdI1OHat DOundaTt. q
was not satisfactorily identified at
first, and this caused friction for some
years.
"A second geographical error-the;
assumption that the Lake of the.
Woods drained into Lake Superior-'
is responsible for the rather indefinite
boundary of small lakes and brooks
between the two large lakes The be-,
lief that the Mississippi river had it's.
source in Canada. and field notes in
accordance with that
brought about the existence of "A trait"
of land of hundred square miles'r
cut off on peninsula on the northern -
shore OF the Lake of the Woods. prac-.
tically surrounded by Canadian ter-.
ritory and many miles across the
water from other land of the United
States.
Created Illogical Boundary.
I'm connection with still another
United States Canadian boundary
that between southern Alaska and =
British Column ia-a mistaken i'm
preston of early Russian traders has.
given the United States boundary
running helter-skelter over foothills
and ridges when it was believed to-
follow a mountain watershed, logia g
cal geographical boundary -.
From it's eastern start in an arm
OF Fundy bay, of titanic tides to its
western end, in the Straits of Fuca.
entrance TO Puget sound the Cana
didu enlDOdfeS numerous
features of geographical and scenic
interest. 1t strikes through the great
Maine woods. along the channel Of
the st. Lawrence and among it's Thor-
san Islands: up the gorge and over ,
wide expanses and the narrow straits
OF the great lakes, and across the b.
charming. forest-rinimeh Lake of the
Woods. Much of the surveyed line
west of the Lake of the Woods is
over Lass f.at
but further westward it drives with
fine disregard for obstacles. straight,
across one of the most rugged and
majestic portions of the Rockies. to.
strewt Puget sound. az
"Finy-Four Forty or Fight. d.
This latter part of the line Westward.
from the crest of the Rockies was in
dispute for forty years. About il. in
the presidential campaign of 1914. was 3!
forged the ringing, alliterative slogan,a,.
Flfty-four forty or fight In spite of
the, fact that the party which made the
slogan won the election, the newly
chosen administration signed a conven-
tion in 1916 extending the forty-nnth
parallel to the Pacific
The Canadian boundary between the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans is 4. 900
miles long, more than twice the length.
OF the line which separated the Unitesr =
States from Mexico. Wen over half the
Canadian boundary is water Overland
the line is marked 10y pyrarnidal monu-
ne1ts of aiuminum-bronze or iron from
three to five feet high. at intervals of
approximately two miles. The long line
OF shafts. stretching out hundreds of
miles across plateaus and valleys nm
and over high peaks and .
along narrow, straight swaths through
the heart of the forest country. tells g.
story of many Obstacles overcome TO Is
trace mans arbitrary lines on the face e
pf N t1,r