Agriculture -- Prairie Provinces; Northwest, Canadian -- Economic conditions
=Calgary= tells its own story in public buildings and in over one hundred
wholesale establishments, 300 retail stores, 15 chartered banks, half a
hundred manufacturing establishments, and a $150,000 normal school
building. The principal streets are paved. There is municipal ownership
of sewer system, waterworks and electric light and street railway.
Directly bearing upon the future of Calgary is the irrigation project of
the Bow River Valley, where 3 million acres are being colonized. One
thousand two hundred miles of canals and laterals are completed.
Population in 1911 was 43,736; now claimed 75,000. There are 36 schools,
146 teachers, and 7,000 pupils. The Canadian Pacific car shops here
employ 3,000 men. It has the Canadian Pacific, Canadian Northern, and
Grand Trunk Pacific.
=Lethbridge=, with a population of about 13,000, the centre of a splendid
agricultural district, is also a prosperous coal-mining and commercial
city. The output of the mines, which in 1912 was about 4,300 tons daily
and necessitated a monthly pay roll of $145,000, finds a ready market in
British Columbia, in Montana, and as far east as Winnipeg. A Government
Experimental Farm is nearby. The several branches of railway diverging
here make it an important railway centre. It will shortly have the Grand
Trunk Pacific, and direct Canadian Pacific and Canadian Northern lines
eastward. The municipally-owned street car system affords excellent
service.
=Medicine Hat=, in the valley of the South Saskatchewan and the centre of
a magnificent ranching and mixed-farming district, is a division point
of the Canadian Pacific Railway, with extensive railway shops operated
with natural gas for fuel. The light, heat, and power, derived from this
gas are sold to manufacturers at 5 cents per thousand cubic feet, and
for domestic purposes at 1 cent. The factories and industries now using
natural gas pay out about 2-1/2 million dollars annually, which will be
considerably augmented by factories in course of construction, and to be
erected. When the new flouring mills are completed, Medicine Hat will be
the largest milling centre on the continent. Population over 6,000.
=Macleod= is one of the oldest towns in the Province. With the rapid
settlement of the surrounding agricultural land, this town is showing
wonderful progress; during 1913 a large amount was spent in new
buildings.
=Wetaskiwin= is a railway division point from which farms stretch in all
directions. The city is beautifully located, and owns its electric light
plant, waterworks, and sewerage system.
=Red Deer= is situated on the Canadian Pacific, half way between Calgary
and Edmonton. It has a large sawmill, two brick-yards, concrete works,
creameries, wheat elevators, and a sash-and-door factory. Coal and wood
are plentiful and cheap. The district has never had a crop failure. It
showed considerable business activity in 1913. Lines of railway extend
westward.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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