THE NORTH-WEST

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 205, 18 May 1918, Page 9

THE NORTH-WEST

GLIMPSES OF CANADA \

A COUNTRY OF EXTREMES

[By A. W. Packard. 1

North-Western Canada as a field' for observation is so vast that it is not tho purport of this article to attempt to doal with more than a few of its features. What strikes tho newcomer \iirst of all is its immensity and its comploto departure from Eastern standaids. Saskatchewan is the most typical prairie province, and it is to her countless plains that immigration has been attracted within recent years. It is a melting pot of nations out of which is being evolved a type of civilisation peculiar to tho West, albeit » hardy and prosperous one. Quito apart from its climate and its topographical features, Saskatchewan ha's much with, which to attract interest for years to como. Sido by side with tho complex problems which confront any country which has but recently entered tho lists of civilisation, there is a tremendous racial issue to ho fought out within her borders. Again, sho is up against tho no mean task of successfully demonstrating to tho outside world that her intense cold is no drawback to maximum productiveness, and that vigorous though it be, her climato is one lof .the healthiest on record. Cold las it is—and 40 and 50 degrees bejow Ecro aro by no means uncommon—Saskatchewan is bathed in sunshino from ono year's end to the other. It is an intensely dry country, winter and summer, and it is of high altitude. Tho weather is subject to remarkably sudden changes, and to he caught in a blizzard is a serious predicament, and unless one is "trail-wise" thero is great danger to life. Only last winter, 'in the district in which tho writer was residing during a terrific blizzard which 1 swept Southern Saskatchewan, five per-' i sons were frozen to death. In each case the victims were endeavouring to make their way from tho liouso to outbuildings—the matter of only a few seconds' walk. On tho whole, however, fatalities are comparatively few, for the reason that the seasoned Westener has too much respect for a blizzard to venture out in it. There is a saying current among the initiated that only the' Royal North-west Mounted Police and the Angel of Death traverse the trails when the prairie is in the grip of a storm. Everybody else adopts tho lino of least resistance, allowing themselves to bo "snowed in."

influcnoo of Climate. In one way and another the severity of the climate has a lot to do with tho moulding of the character and habits 01 tho people. We in New Zealand work steadily all tho year round. Our cousins in Western Canada toil feverishly in the spring, summer, and fall, and then, like so many, bears, hibernate through tho long winter. Once the crop is harvested' the plainsmen test. All those who can afford it go "dowp east" for tho winter or hie themselves thousands of miles to California or some other warmer clime ( in order to thaw out. Others move into the cities and towns, and partake of the luxury of steam-heated Tiotels and apartments.

This condition of tilings makes for a vast army of casual labourers, which to a certain extent presents' a serious problem at times. Throughout the ivhole West at stated seasons there are legions of workers who in the winter are forced into the towns through lack ol employment. When tho crop is good they are able to make a "stnke" Dig enough to carry them through tho winter of enforced idleness. Should • the" reverse happen to be the caso, as m tho summer of 1914, the cities are llooded with penniless unemployed. To a certain extent the situation is relieved': by the fact that much-of the labour utilised in the harvest fields is imported from Eastern Canada and the northern provinces of U.S.A. Every year the railways run big harvest excursion specials at greatly reduced rates from these points. . University students, lawyers, tradesmen, daylabourers, and, what-not avail themselves of these, and rub shouMore'cii route and in the harvest- fields with all sorts and conditions of men garnered originally from all four corners of the world. The majority travel thousands of miles to the sceno of their labours and return to more civilised parts beforo the winter sets in. If there is-a crop of any size, tho supply oi labour is invariably exceeded by the demand., Tho wagds run exceptionally high,' Last fall the farmers wero paying 17s. to 21s. a day and "found" during the harvest. Once the crop is thrashed this vast army is turned adrift. Sooial Conditions. Tho set . of social, conditions thus produced differs materially from those

wliich obtain clsowhero. Tho average Westerner rides roughshod over many of the conventionalities of his Eastern cousins. In Western parlanco, "it doos not cut much ice" where a man hails from or who his ancestors were 'so long as he shoots "square." The stranger might bo shocked at tho morals of the West in so far as "open vice" is concerned, but he cannot fail to bo impressed with tho -universal respect accordcd to women entitled to tho same. In a country which is practically devoid of artificial amusement tho peoplo have more or loss to make their own enjoyment, This tends to throw them on each other's society, and social barriers are 6asily scaled. If Nick Dodunski finds himself left "out in tho cold" at some social barnraising, ten chances to ono it is because of his own prejudices or backwardness. His nationality is not figured in the social scalo of things so long as he lives up to tho traditions of the West. The average Wosterner is a prodigious spender, and when around tho towns an extravagant liver. Ho is an inveterate gamblor. The very climate makes him so. The inconsistencies of the elements make his chance of a crop a gamble, and sometimes make odds with his life. Ho is a poker player of the first wator, and noedloss to say he lias all kinds of opportunities to indulgo in tliis his favourite _ pastime. Strange to say, horse-racing is praotically an unknown quantity, and of or- j ganised meetings there aro none. In j placo of theso great "stampedes" are : periodically held. These are "trying- j out" contests, -usually organised on a i very large scalo, for cowboys and cow- | girls, as the feminine followers of the j "Roundups" are picturesquely styled. I Those present the passing of tho old ! West, and the degreo of proficionoy and j daring attained by the competitors is j "hair-raising." Incidentally a stam- j pedo is ono of the few features of the "lost West" not overdono in moving pictures, and thoy attract riders from rancheß all over America.

i As a general rule the plainsman does not indulge much in outdoor recreation and sports. His sporting proclivities are mostly confined to baseball. Tlio players aro few, however (many of them semi-profes-sionals), and the "fans" aro many. A little hockey is played in the winter. One of the troubles is that baseball occurs in the busy season, and t-ho same may be raid ot track sports, of wliicb there is almost an entire absenoe. One result of all this is that, while the true-to-typo Westerner has much to admire in point of physical prowess and ability for roughing it ho is not built, on the same graceful lines of the New_ Zealander. He is not so clean-limbed and fleet of foot. . Walking is universally dislilcftd and rclngated to "cranks," and cycling is not cultivated. In fact pedestrianism is a lost art on the prairie. Horses and, to a certain extent in. latter' days, light automobiles are doubtless largely 'responsible for , this, togother. with flying ajits and mosquitoes (and_ their number is legion), and general climatio conditions.

Tho Quest Eternal. file Westerner does not strike one as a deep thinker along intellectual lines. ' In the never-ilaggk'g chase of tlio eternal dollar there is almost an ontire absence of what goes tu make lip the finer susceptibilities of life. All classep aro ardent materialists. Educational facilities in and around the cities and towns aro good, but the whole system is- seemingly materialised.

Tho Canadian West is essentially a .voqng mail's country, and for those who aro prepared, to saorifice something in tho way of pleasure and jettison a few ideals such as "keep your country white" and tho like it offers very reasonable chances of succoss. The writer spent four years in different parts of the North-lYost, and the only real cause for alarm one finds for the welfare of the people as a whole is tho wholesale corruption of politics. "Graft" is a hydra-headed monster, and throughout the national municipal and commercial activities the trail of the beast is plainly discernible, [This is the first of a series of articles by the writer, descriptive of the Canadian North-West- over a large part of which he patrolled as a trooper in the Hoyal North-West Mounted Police.!