OUR CANADIAN LETTER.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14782, 27 September 1913, Page 14

OUR CANADIAN LETTER.

OCX OWV CORRESPONDENT.)

TOROXTO, August 21 COXGHESS OF {;EOLOGIi%TS.

Many nations were represented by the men and women who assembled in Toronto for the- twelfth session of tho International Congress of Geologists, which opened on August Oth in the University of Toronto. The president of the Congress was Professor Frank I). Adams, F.R.S., Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science, and Logan IVofpJsor of Geology in McGill UniMontreal. Sir Charles Fitzpatrick. Chief Justice and Administrator of the Government of Canada in th« absence oi the Governor-General, and Hon. G. IT. Perley, Acting-Prime Minister, welcomed the delegates thefollowing day on behalf of the Dominion. An address on "The Coal Resources of the "World" was the subject of a general discussion at the first iiK-eting. This is also the &übj(;ct of ;> monograph, which forms one of tho must important exhibits at tho OonKrosb. It consists of throe volumes and s>n atlas, and is a luonumental work, contributed to tho world's etock of knuwlodgo as the special feature marking the twelfth Congress, just as tho «if'ver.th, in Sweder., waa signalised by the apfwarance of a work upon tho irou rcfources of the world, consisting of two volumes. The preparation and publication of the present monograx>h, which consists of 1300 pages, was in tho hands of an Eiecutiro Committeo, ronsistiiiß of Messrs 0. G. S. Lindsey, V. D. Adams, K. W. Adams, K. W. Brock, I). B. Dowling, Charles Fergie, James McEvoy, .T. B. Porter, and Wm. Mclrmes, tho editors heing Messrs Dowling and \V. \V. ixaeh, of tho Geological Survey of Canada. In thf* mnin body of the work reports are gathered from sixty-four countries, *omo occupying a hundred pages or more; the greater number of. the roports are in English, but ten are in French and six in Gorman. The lanjziingo officially recognised as that .of the Congress is French. According to this report the total reserves of tho world amount to million tons of which nearlj- 4,000.000 millions aro bituminous coals, nearly 3,000,000 millions are brown roals of various grades, j and nearly 000,000 millions are anthra-

vAto coals. Of the anthracite coals, Asia, with the great. Chinese fields, hfis by far the largest supply of any of the groat continental divisJons. furnishing 407.(137 miliion tons. In bituminous coals America, with 271.050.000 million tons, leads by a Sreat margin, as -also in the various pxades of brown coals (sub-bituminous). I ho world's production of ooal for 1910 was about 1145 million tons. The production of Canada at the present time is in the neighbourhood of twelve raillion tons -annually. Ontario is shown njih only a email probable reserve, of &3.000.000 tons of inferior soft quality. To »ire an idea oP the. cosmopolitan - character of the Congress, which is tnus perhaps the mast truly international convention Toronto hiut ever entertained, it may do'stated that there fire present delegates from the follow- - ing countries, in the numbers given:— Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (J). Argentine IlopiiWic (6). Australia ((>). AustriaHungary (20), Belgium (16), British Isles (74). British West Africa (1), British West Indies (1), Bulgaria (2), Canada (217), Chile (1). China (.'}), Colombia (1), Denmark (3), Egypt (1/, France (47), Germany (88), Greece (3), Guatemala (1), Hawaiian Islands (1), India (3), Tndo-China (2), Italy (24). Japan (8), Manchuria (1), Mexico (11), Netherlands (5), India (1), Newfoundland (1), New Zealand (3— J. M. Bell, P. Marshall, R. Speight), Norway (3), Pern (1). Philippine"lslands '•(I), Portugal (2), Rumania (2), Finland (33), Spain (5), Sweden (1C), Switzerland (7), \ Tunis (1). Turkey (1), Union of South \Africa (6), United States of; America ! (202). Venezuela (1). "STAMPEDE" IN WINNIPEG. a week, starting August 11th, Winnipeg devoted itself to a reproduction of the range days, in what it called a "stampede." Cowboys and cowgirls rodo "mustangs, broke bronchos, roped steers, and shot with rifles, in the wild; freo manner of tho early days. Thousands of pooplo poured into tho city to witness the exhibitions and experience the thrills of spectators" at the daring, skilful performances. HAMILTON CENTENNIAL. -Boring the ■ same iroek the city of Hamilton celebrated tno hundredth year of its existence. An industrial exhibition was held of articles of all sorts manufactured in" Hamilton', which was an eye-opener to hundreds, even of tho eitirens themselves, as well as.to the visitors who thronged into tho city by the thousands. A five thousand dollar house, two and a half stories in height, of brick and stucco, witli nine rooms, was built completely inside; of twenty-four hours. BRITISH COMPANY BUYS,FARMS.

Fifty farma in. Canada are to be acquired by tbo St. George's Land Investment Company, of London, England, and the first of theso properties has just been purchased in the Niagara Peninsula. The Company, of which tbo Hon. Reginald Borthwiek is President, and which has a capital of j twenty-five million dollars, will allow tho present owners of any farms thoy may purchaso to remain as tenants if. they so desire, by paying a rental rqiial to six per cent, of tne pnrchaso price. And it" has made arrangements for tho bringing out from EngJrtrid of a good supply of experienced farm labourers to insure their tenants against a labour shortage.

IMPERIAL NATURALISATION. ''Under the new Imperial Naturalisation Act. which tho British Governmont will introduce at tho coming •easipn _ of the Imperial Parliament, naturalised British citizens in each Oversea Dominion whero a similar Naturalisation Act is passed, may on going to Britain obtain their status as naturalised citizens of the British Isles withont first having; to fulfil the residence requirement there. The Government here will pass next session a isimijar law with.regard to Canada, admitting to Canadian naturalisation persons naturalised in Great Britain. This is the principal new feature of the rcdra"ftea Act, as agTced to recently by both the British and the Oversea Governments. COLUMBUS'S FLEET. Duplicates of tho three tiny caravefo I in which Columbus voyaged to America in 1492; the Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina, are to sail down tho Great Lakos and by way of the St. Lawrence, xho Atlantic Ocean, the Panama Canal and the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco, in time for the PanAmerican Pacific Exposition there in 191-5. They si-art from Chicago this week, and will likely stay over at Detroit for tho Perry Centennial celebration, September 12th and 13th. They will probably leave the St. Lawrence next summer, touching at the coast towns of Canada and the principal American cities, and before reaching tho Panama Canal tho little fleet will «ail io San Salvador. Columbus's first landing place. The vessels were built in Spain and exhibited at the World's Fair in Chicago and have been lyliift there since 1892. Carpenters have put copper bottoms on, and made the ships ready for their long voyage, tho project of which was inaugurated by Cha-s. Stephenson, assistant coach of the' Harvard University crews, who was appointed comipandor of the fleet. A. J. Kaul, a Boston millionaire, agreed to finance the expedition. Much ol

tho eauipment, and practically all the armaments of the ships are the originals used by Columbus, including his compass and* his bed. BREVITIES.

Ontario holds the premier position on the North American Continent as an apple-producing country, having won tho President's Cup, a swecpstako for the entiro show, at the International Apple-Shippers' ' Association. Exhibition at Cleveland. Ohio. Tho Ontario exhibit was collected, on. Monday, shipped on Tuesday, and won the fust prize on Wednesday. Thirty varieties were shown —fifteen of winter apples, five summer and ten fall. Ontario was competing with Nova Scotia, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Islaud, New \ork, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. .Two special trains bringing six hundred and fifty farmers from tho United Statee arrived in Western Canada on the morning of tiie 21st August. These men hnve no intention of going homesteading merely, but have left their homes with the idea of purchasing farms and settling down in tho Canadian West. One of these trains came in at North Portal, bringing 270 persons from Illinois, lowa, Kansas, and Wisconsin. Some of them possess from 3000 dollars to 40.000 dollars, nveragiug about 10,000 dollars apiece. Tho second came through Emerson, with 37/> homeseokers, hailing from Wisconsin, lowa, nnd Indiana, averaging from 7000 dollnrs to 8000 dollars each. A typical report also of what is going on weojv after week in the West is this: it is from Calgary, dated 23rd August:—"A special train over the Canadian Pacific earryns more than two hundred Amcrean arrived here this morning in charge of the C.P.R. Land [Department. Tho immigrants represent' nil sections of States, but mainly tho Middlo West, and include the owners of large farms there. Special efforts have been made 1» selecting this party to secure the cream of American farmers to settle on the fertile lands. Each individual was selected after personal conversation «nrl observation. Tho nnrty includes farmers from Knnsns, N?br.iFka. lowa, Illinois." Indiana. Ohio. Pennsylvania. Michigan. - South Carolina, and N>w Mexico. All dispersed to-day to different sections of Alberta to mahe personal selections of tnoir future farms."