THE REAL WINNIPEG.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 878, 26 July 1910, Page 11

THE REAL WINNIPEG.

A UNITED STATES WRITER'S

EULOCY

OHKAP ELECTRIC POWER,

The Winnipeg of fact and tho Winnipeg of tho imagination of somo peoplo who do not know it is tho subject of a remarkable article in tho Boston "Transcript," by Mr. E. W. Frentz. His views will bo read with interest in Great Britain, for they will no doubt correct many false impressions that may havo been created. "What Winnipeg standi for to the stranger to tho Canadian West," writes Mr. Fronts, "I do not know; but I imagine that it is something not very different from my own concejjlion of it; a placo which must always be reckoned with in tho competition for the cold weather championship pennant; a placo for fur caps and coats and felt boots; of bales of pelts brought from tho North, to ho bartered for ammunition and flour, by heavy-eyed men in flannel shirts, who como down tho Red River in canoes.

"When wo went fortli from our hotel wo stepped out upon one of the widest, best kept, and most attractive business streets in America; a street IGOlt. wide over all, and 133 ft. from kerb to kerb, asphalted, swept as clean as a paTlour floor, ana filled with electric cars and automobiles. Incidentally, it is the longest street in America, for it ex* tends for fourteen hundred miles, clear beyond Edmonton. It is the old Hudson Hay (company's trail,'developed to meet modern demands and conditions, i "The growth of this street from tho old ox-cart trail is typical of the growth of tho whole city. 'The Chicago of tho North' does not seem so much like a bit of Western bombast whon one lias spent a few days hero and studied it. I think that much of tho appearanco of solidarity which tho city presents is due to its Uritish origin. There- is nothing of the prairie town about it nor any of tho rawness which one associates with a young city. Tho streets are. not only wide and well kept, but they were made right, to begin with. Three hundred mile 3 are graded and paved, 1 and seventy-two miles asphalted. Tho city owns its own aaphalt plant, and does its own work. There is excellent street car service, over one hundred miles of track, and between soven and eight hundred motor-cars aro owned by residents of tho citv. Tho dead level of tho plain on which the city stands and the asphalt make it all ideal place for the cat. "If ono wcro in doubt as to the nationality of tho country,, ho would knowit by the names of the hotels and tho food they serve. Tho first thing that confronts tho visitor is tho magnificent new 'lloyal Alexandra' at the C.P.R. station. In size, beauty of architecture, equipment, and service, it is the equal of any hotel in Boston. And from that down—and out—clear to the coast, you meet 'Victorias' and 'Prince Ruperts' and IStratheonas 1 and . and 'Queens' and 'Kings.'"' It is not uncommon m a httlo frontier town to find a hotel the size of a dog-houso weighted down with the name of 'Tho King Edward' or "J'ho Queen's Own.' This is tlm Canadian phaso of that curious trait of character which, on tho United States sido of the line, produces 'The Grand ' 'The Palace,' and tho slab 'Delmoiiico s.'

Not only in Winnipeg but throughout tho whole of tlio Canadian NorthWest, oven tho smallest anj least pretentious of tho hotel" are clean; they havo good bed 3, electric lights, and modern plumbing, and, on tho whole, furnish better food than is obtainable at similar houses on the United States aide. Although Winnipeg owes its rise primarily to the development of tho Red River wheat country, and is still, and orobably always will be, a great wheat market, it has already passed far beyond the primary stage in which its direct relation to the wheat harvest is the only thing apparent. 'Having become a great wholesale and distributing centre, and looking forward to immeasurably greater advances in this field through tho extension of railroad facilities, it is now com-' " l t g nJ 10 front as a manufacturing oity. lo the north aro hundreds of thousands of acres of heavy poplar growth—tho best pulp wood in the world, yet no paper is made in Manitoba, and tho editor of tho leading Uaily paper m Winnipeg told mo that it cost him twenty-live thousand dollars a year more to publish thoro than it would to print tho samo paper in Montreal, merely because of tho added cost ot his white paper. The advent of cheap power is bound to change all this, and will, I am convinced, within the next few years give to Winnipeg such an industrial development as has rarely been seen anywhere in tho world. "-Thi? cheap power is to como from tho Winnipeg River, where there is a thirty-three foot fall, which tho city is already developing by tho erection of a hj'dro-electric plant which will cost three and a half million dollars, and afford more power than Toronto obtains from tho Niagara. The work is already about half done, and another year or two will see its completion, and the delivery of electric power in Winnipeg at prices much lower than prevail in tho East. _ There are many employment agencies, each with its bulletin board of attractive situations at excellent wages. I asked a young police officer if tho statements could be depended upon. Ho seemed almost indignant at tho question, and answered,' Certainly they can.' It's a very serious offence for one of those places to misrepresent anything. It n-ould be closed at once, and the proprietors would bo severely punished."