PROGRESSIVE CANADA.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12906, 21 February 1906, Page 6

PROGRESSIVE CANADA.

THE RUSHING NORTH-WEST. We are permitted to make the following extracts from a private letter received by Mr Battes from a friend who some time ago left Teinuka for Canada. The letter is dated Calgary, January 6th: Calgary is a most go-ahead place. Eive years ago its population was 4150; to-day it- exceeds 14,000, and within, a few years it' will probably be a city of 40,000 inhabitants. Since January, 1904 (24 mos.). 700 new buildings have been erected, and I am of opinion that another 700 will go up during the next two years. People. ■ mostly land-seekers, are pouring into the ; North-West Territories from all parts of ' the world. Last year the influx of settlers was phenomenal, this year it promises to eclipse all previous records. The quality" of the land I have seen, jthat is from Montana, U.S.A., to LacoTE.be, has exceeded "" my expectations by a long way. The country is not well wooded, neither is it well watered by rivers and streams—most ; of the farmers rdy on slough water—but ' by sinking 20 to 30 feet good water can be ! found. Timber is floated down the rivers ! from the Rockies, and considering the dis- 3 tance I do not think the prices excessive. ! You should have s*en the- country when ! jl arrived last Auguet; countless fields of jwheat and oats which up to a few years i : ago was the- ground of tM hunter* and ! iiapper and the roaming place of thous:mds of buffalo. The old ouffalo is Tunf gone, : but his are picked' up on the bound- ! less prairie and sold' by dirty-looking i squaws: Ther wheat tamed out well, and ' the total yield for the North-West Territories reached elr.se on 90,'000.C00 bushels, an .increase of -30,000.0K)'* Kus&eis osi the previews year. The average yield of vimin ! \ per aere in As.?ir.ilior»„ and Sas- , katchtwan' for s«ren year.t?ifp-to' X 905 is as | follows::—Wheat,- 19 foirahels,- aats. 34; ] barley. Coatral Alberta (Gaigary) | went 211 38. 23. and coirsidering- the <k?v , in which the lancf was cultivated* an<- the ] seed clrarked in. T think if pans out fairly ' well. The price* of ianiF here;, as- else- ■ where, gseatly depends on its quality and j situation,, but- wit-Sin say 30 miTes" of a , railway the figures Tan from £1 5s to £3. and nothing- done t» it. 3all'wheat h a ] comparatively ikw venture, but it- has , passed tie experim:sital stage- and' proved | ] a great success. Qats are: sown ih" the j! spring, and' it is not unusual to get a- yield ;.-; of 60 to 70 bushels on first plousrh "The ' winters are- not s-evra, that is; within the j influence of the Chinook: This is » warm '■ wind, and ao called because it" comes--from the region formerly inhabited" by the.- Chinook Indian* « n the-banks -of "the lower Columbia rree-r. When the-- Chinook airives it shoots *he rceremynip to 5iP and 60 deg. p.. causing the snow- to disappear ■ -as if by magic, TEe'-"influence- of" the p Chinook wind does not? extend' beyond* Tati- ' tude 52. North of this thenvioter is long- »" and cold,- and stock have to- be- Housed ' in -winter, bttt I believe the-land is muck ; better than that about here.' As an indr-'" cation of okt development;, w hW re- ! cently been elevated to- the dignity of a, ! province. ■ ATberta now- compriseV thetf former tenSSnry of nan*? a .narrow- ; strip of Saskatchewan*: thfer : -rest §slF of ' Athabasca, and a- port&m. of" Assihifccua. j' We have now an area of abbuif ieo.CfIOJOOGj acres. Canada has sat* immense, ffetere!: before her, and I really believe that t-hof time is not far distant -when she will be growing enough, wheat, to- sutgxly tii& re-1' quirements of the British Empire. | This is nov place for-a man wiihonS aj little capital'. Labour is c&eap, and in, winter there*-a not much': daing.-. Bank men are bacffly paid. This is what one of our leal papers says about them: " There is a certain bale? of' surrounding a bank clerk's- fob.- '■' He has always been received ih> tKe-liigjiasft social I circles, and his right to sport-a. largej headed walking cane, a-- Bnll' pupv and a single eye-glass, have always remained unquestioned. These privileges* liaro- in the past been considered as- a partial compensation for the lack of salary:"" Tru3 graph wa* the. means-, of getting a good! many bank hands a rises. Canada is a noted place for absconding;- bant teller*. The are broad gauge,, -watk commodious-But- cumbrous car- ' riages. Their stations coulds not be described as beautiful j most of them are squat and dirtyt • -What a' business that company is d«ingj ...to: .&& sp&.. The-to-lume'of freights «eir Eqrt Wil- , liain station durii^-thei-^a^ : J r eatinctaftaed 400 per oV» The pay sheet at-Calgtej'. cta^v£&£32 y QQo a. month, and tße- tiofcets for lona : month in i 1905; reached- £20;000. . What•/ a nice | ... thing they g»(r for putting ::tha l . railway t through to VanpouTer—every otlier section i (649* acres im a section) for 20 miles on • ea«h side o£ the line.

Pafcv Burns,, our local butcher, controls the meat trade- from Saskatchewan to Vancouver, and as far north as Alaska. Es;h--teen years, ago Pat was working on the : railway line for 10s a, day; now he's worth over £300,000. He gets through 5000 bullocks a month, and about 80,000 sheep per annum, besides a big bunch of pigs. Mutton is so scarce in British* Columbia that he is often obliged to import sheep , from New South Wales for his Vancouver requirements. Old Pat is also a big shipper of live stock to England. | Onr election took place or*, the 9th November, «nd it was- a fair knock-out for [thft

good deal of bribery and corruption in this country. : So old" King""* Dick "won again. I thought he would. The people here regard him as a reckless borrower, and they say that he is bound to land New Zealand in serious financial difficulties.

I forgot to mention that the cost of living in Alberta is considerable, hotels 10s to 12s 6d a day, and this does not include bath Is and shine Sd. Washing, too, is awfully expensive. I shuffled into a private place, 30s a week, and find it much nicer than the pub. We have whips of game in this country—wood buffalo, caribou, moese, bear, red-deer, wapiti, antelope, mountain sheep and mountain goat, and wolves. Within 10 miles of here I have seen coyotes (prairie wolves), gophers, porcupines, hares (almost white), snipe, prairie chicken, snipe, and wild duck by the million. Last August NeiU (since returned to Palmerston South) and I took a run down to Lethbridge, where we met the superintendent of the Lethbridge Bail way and Irrigation Company, and who gave us a couple of good outings at the company's expense. The country we went over was rot Al. too flat for sheep, no shelter and badly watered. The company, however, have started extensive irrigation works, and within a year will be able to throw (Canadian term) water over a large area. The company have already settled 15,000 people on the land, and they have yet something like 800,000 acres for disposal. We took a couple of greyhounds with us, and had some really good sport with the coyotes. Can't the devils run and fight. As a Tule they go in bands, and then the dogs have to look out.