Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 167, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1914 — C. P. EXCURSION A DELIGHTFUL ONE [ARTICLE]

C. P. EXCURSION A DELIGHTFUL ONE

Theodore George Writes Entertainingly of Home-Seekers’ Trip • Through Canada. -—J

- A trip over the Canadian Pacific railroad to the great Canadian northwest at this particular season of the yCar is a very enjoyable one and' gives a person an insight into the great resources and possibilities of. the three great provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the greater portions of which are yet to be developed. • The Rensselaer party left on the 10; 46 train on the morning of the 7th and spent the afternoon in Chicago, visiting the Canadian Pacific offices and making preparations for their departure in the evening. ' 7"7 ’The special Pullman car, Calgary, was hooked on to a Soo Line train and at 6 o’clock we started on our first; jump northward to St, Paul and Minneapolis. The trip at night through a very beautiful portion of the state of Wisconsin was uneventful and at 7 o’clock on Wednesday morning *we found ourselves in St. Paul, where three hours were spent in sightseeing. Everyone went over totheststeeapitaramagnifieenT edifice costing the state $4,500,000, and recognized as one of the finest state houses in the United States. Some of the party took a street car ride across the beautiful Mississippi fiver to Minneapolis and at 11 o’clock were all back in the car for a day and a half ride across the prairies of -Minnesota and North Dakota. These two states looked very prosperous and all indications pointed to a bumper crop this year.

Meals were served in the car and Leslie Clark and Wiley Duvall amused themselves during meal time by throwing baked potatoes at each other. At 6 o’clock on Thursday morning we arrived at North Portal and here our baggage was examined by the Canadian officials. No smuggled goods were found and an O. K, was placed on each suit case. We all stood with one foot in the United States and the other in Canada. Some one started to sing America but this was too much for Uncle David Yeoman and Ed Duvall, who could not,, keep back the tears as they bid farewell to tiie States. For the next six hours we passed through one of the most beautiful farming regions of Canada. This southern Saskatchewan country is one of the oldest in that province and (the farms are? large and finely improved. This is some of the best farm land in the world, the crops are enormous, and failures are almost unknown.

At 1 o’clock we found ourselves in Moose Jaw, a prosperous city of 30,000, and a division point for the Canadian Pacific. Z7'?? s !*?-?: Moose Jaw is thoroughly up-to-date, fine streets ,and business buildings and a typical American city in dvery way. We all had the opportunity here to leave the train and get shaved, which we needed badly. During the afternoon and evening the train rushed through a rolling, hilly country that is practically a waste, owing to the fact that the soil is full of gravel and stone. Some of this land, however, is used for grazing purposes.

At 11 o’clock we all jumped from our berths, for we were told that our train had arrived in the famous city of Medicine Hat. This is a thriving place of 20,000 inhabitants, and is noted for a famous gas well that was struck some 20 years ago and which has furnished the lights for the entire city during that time. The street lights in Medcine Hat burn day and night, as it ds cheaper to let them burn than to hire

men to look after the lighting process. Thursday night was* spent in peaceful slumber and at 6 o’clock Friday morning 1 'we reached our destination, the famous city of Calgary, Alberta. This is one of the most progressive cities in Canada. It has a population of nearly 90,000, fine, wide streets, magnificent business blocks and beautiful resi: dence districts. Everyone in Calgary is crazy over the possibilities >of a rich oil strike. Two large producing wells have been struck and all available lands have been leased for drilling purposes. Qil stock is being sold in almost every business building, and many fortunes are hanging in the balance in the manipulation of stocks. .... The Canadian Pacific railroad has just completed the 'erection of a beautiful hotel costing nearly two millions of dollars, and their station and land offices are ntagnlficent structures. > - A sight seeing car takes you completely around the city for twentyfive cents and on the highest point in the residence district you can

plainly see the Rtocky Mountain range and its snow-capped peaks, sixty miles away. F On arriving here we found many customs that seem rather peculiar. The jewelry stores, for instance, issue marriage licenses. You can secure your girl a diamond ring and a marriage certificate at the same time. The Canadian government does not allow any saloons or bars unless they are run in connection with a hotel. The law requires that each hotel cannot contain leas than 36 rooms for guests, also extra rooms for the help and proprietor. This means that in every small town you see a good hotel of forty to fortyfive rooms. The liquor business is a flourishing one for the hotel manager, for he gets twenty-five to thirty-five cents for each drink he serves. Beer in some places is sold two for a quarter. - Sixty miles west from Calgary, at Banff In the heart of the Canadian Rockies, the railroad has completed a million dollar hotel,' and this is considered one of the greatest summer resorts in the world. The scenery at Banff is said to equal anything in Switzerland. Our party divided at Calgary and Ed and Wile Duvall left for a week or ten days’ visit with Sam Duvall, after which they intend looking over the land with prospects of buying. -J David Yeoman left for Spokane, Wash., for a visit, and on his way . back expected •to look over the Canadian Pacific -irrigated lands. This irrigation dam cost the railroad twenty millions of dollars and is one of the greatest engineering projects ever attempted. Land <in the irrigation block sells at $35 to $75 per acre. The rest of our party left at 11:40 Friday night for Edmonton, »the capital of Alberta, 200 miles north of Calgary. We arrived there on Saturday morning at 8 o’clock, and spent the day taking in the sights? Edmonton has, a = population of pearly 80,000, and is a beautiful city. This is about as fer north as you can possibly go on a railroad. The Grand Trunk Pacific railroad is- just completing a magnificent hotel on the banks of the Saskatchewan river, which flows through the heart of the city. This hotel will cost nearly two million dollars and to our surprise we found that the stone came from the quarries at Bedford, Ind. The building is being erected, along the lines of the old French Chateau style of architecture, and will be one of the finest hotels in Canada. We took the train at 4:05 in the afternoon and at 8:30 arrived at Segewick, where the Canadian Pacific has some excellent land. All day Sunday was spent in looking at improved farms, for in this particular locality the railroad has about twenty good farms for sale. The improvements on these farms consist of a gpod four-room house, substantially . built, a good barn and well, and fenced with a good wire fencing. 7 > ' The Canadian Pacific has been unusually liberal in their efforts to secure good settlers on their lands, but have had hard work to secure experienced farmers. About a year ago several ex-Eng-lish army officers settled in this district and none of them had ever had farming experience. One of them bought three sacks of oat meal for seed and wondered why he did not get an oats crop. Another one of these officers took advantage of the SI,OOO stock loan and started to drive his cows across the country, a trip of two days. When one of the men on the experimental farm asked him if he would milk the cows that night his remark was “Milk be damned, I will not milk them until I get them home.” The company naturally took the stock from him and are now confining their stock loans to men who are thoroughly experienced in handling stock. . ' i

The crops all over Canada last year were unusually large and ' In most sections the outlook is good this year. Several prosperous farmers told us how their oats run 80 tq 90 bushels per acre and their wheat 60 to 70 bushels. The land is rich and productive in most sections and all they need is the right kind of fanners. The men that come back from Canada with hard luck stories are those who land in that country with practically nothing to start with. Loan sharks with their high rate of interest and the harvesting machinery companies soon foreclose on these fellows and put them out of business. To farm successfully in Canada you should own your own stock, farm implements and have enough money to tide you over in case you should have a bad year. The land is there and will produce the greatest crops in the world, >ut a man must have something to start with. The Canadian Pacific sells their unimproved, lands at 111 to S3O an acre, extends a loan of $2,000 for improvements, and a stock loan of SI,OOO to the right kind of men, but it Is necessary for you to see the

land and make your selection. We arrived back in Segewick at 8 o’clock in the evening and Leslie Clark stated to go to bed but was compelled to walk the streets until ■nearly 11 o’clock before ft was dark enough for him to sleep. The sun rises about 3 o’clock in the morning and it is not dark at 10:3fi so that a man can easily get tn a full day’s work of 18 to 20 hours. ‘JWe took the train from Segewick at 2:30 in the morning and started east to Winnipeg. At noon we stopped at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, a splendid city of nearly 30,000 population. The country around Saskatoon needed rain badly and was the only dry region we encountered on the entire trip. We traveled all afternoon through Saskatchewan and ih the evening entered the province of Manitoba. At 7 o’clock Tuesday morning the train pulled into Winnipeg, one of the finest cities of Canada, with a population of nearly 250,000.

Leslie Clark and myself spent a very enjoyable day in Winnipeg. The fair, similar to our state fair at Indianapolis, was in full swing and we were astonished at the fine showing of horses, cattle, hogs and sheep from many of our states, as well as the Canadian provinces. The race track was in splendid condition and several good races were being run. Beachy and his flying machine was also much in evidence. People who have moved to Canada from the states tell us that the ■winters are no more severe than tn our own country. The altitude is much higher, the air lighter and nearly every day is blessed with sunshine Prices on goods are practically the same as in the central states. The duty on tobacco is high, making cigars Very costlf. The cheapest cigars sell two for twenty-five cents. The barbers also reap a harvest in changing twentyfive cents for a shave. IWe left Winnipeg at 6 o’clock Tuesday evening, for home, carrying with us some very pleasant memories of our Canadian trip and thanking o z ur stars that our conduct was so good that we escaped being pinched by the Canadian mounted police. r We have the descriptions of several excellent farms that are being offered by the Canadian Pacific railroad, and if interested you should let us know at once. Also make your arrangements to make this, trip in August or either the first or last Tuesday in the month.

THEODORE GEORGE.