The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1925-11-21

Mount Wapta IN
~ WILD chaos of forest-clad
al snow capped mountains
LII covers nearly all of British
Columbia, the Sunset Gateway"
province of Canada. Through the
deep gorges and valleys between
the mountains flow many swift
turbulent rivers, turning and wind
ing with an abruptness unparalleled
in any other region of the world,
as they strive to find their way to
the sea. Here and there the
mountain walls draw apart, leaving
wide valleys and plateaus where
| fruit and cereals flourish.
on the side bordering the PACIFIC
the mountains have been partially
submerged in past ages, giving
British Columbia one Of the most re-
markable coast lines in the world,
everywhere deeply cut by sounds
and inlets and gloomy fiords walled
by stupendous precipices, like the
coast of Norway. Though the
province is only about 700 miles
from north to south, the coast line
with all it's indentations measures
1000 miles-long enough if straight
ened out. to reach to the southern
/ tip Of South America. The tops of
some of the submerged mountain
masses still stand above the surface
of the ocean, appearing as a host of
islands which thickly fringe the
entire length Of the coast. Van
couver Island, with its area of 20, 900
square miles and it's rich deposits of
coal, iron and copper. is an i'm
portant part Of the province. on
it is located the capital, Victoria
! 100000 population, and on the main
land across the straits are the other
chief cities, Vancouver Q17,000), and
New Westminster Q5,O00).
Two Mountain Systems
The two chief mountain systems
are the Coast Range, rising sharply
from the Pacific to heights Of 5000
to 5000 feet, and The Rocy Mountain
on the eastern side, where many of
the peaks tower II 600 and 1900
feet above the sea level forming
some Of the grandest scenery in the
world. Between these two systems
lie other less extensive ranges, no
tably the Selkirks, whose wooded
slopes and enormous glaciers attract
thousands Of tourists. Great
stretches have been set aside as ma
tional parks and reserves, which are
becoming the Alpine playground of
America.
To the west of the Rocky Noun
tains is a remarkable valley 500
miles long and from one to six miles
wide. In this rise seven Of the
great Pacific coast rivers, among
them the Kootenay, Columbia, Fra
ser and Finlay. The Columbia and
It's chief tributary, the Kootenay,
take a bewildering course through
the valleys between the eastern
ranges, running north and south in
great loops. Although they are so
close at Columbia Lake that a ca
nal a mile long connects them, they
flow on, playing hide-and-seek with
each other for hundreds of miles be-
fore they meet twenty miles from
the United States frontier.
Mineral Wealth Great
Untold mineral wealth-coal, gold,
silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron and
petroleum-lies locked in the depth
Of the mountains. Already produc-
ton has reached a total of nearly
three-quarters of a billion dollars,
/ 10 he ind 4@ T..
fancy. Three-quarters of the prov
ince is covered with valuable
timber, chiefly Douglas fir, red
cedar, spruce. yellow pine larch and
hemlock. The Douglas fir, which is
not found elsewhere in Canada,
makes the finest building timber of
America. It's gigantic size-often
800 feet high and fifteen feet in
diameter-makes it especially valu-
able for the great timbers needed
for trestle and wharves. Unlimited
water-power is provided by the net
work of streams and lakes.
In the value of it's fisheries, British
Columbia leads all the other pro-
vinces. On the Fraser River are to
be found some Of the largest salmon
canneries of the world, with an out
put some years exceeding 100000
900 in value. When the salmon
come up the river to spawn some
of the streams are almost literally
choked with fish.
Many Fertile Farms
Much fine farming and grazing
land is found in the valleys and riv-
er deltas and on the lower plateaus
and terraces of the interior. 1t is
estimated that there are about
5000. 900 acres suitable for cultiva-
ton, of which less than half a mil,
lion acres are being worked as yet.
Fruit of the finest quality is pro-
duced in the southern valleys, not
ably the Okanagan and Kootenay
districts in the southeast, while
grains thrive in the valleys farther
northu-,kTz1g azaR necessary in