78 KOADS ANT) IfAIIAVAYS. 



asbestos mining will form a valuablf industry of tlie future,, 

 especially as facilities for its prosecution are noAv secured by the 

 new railway. On Sandy Bay, on the west coast, near the Strait's 

 of Belle Isle, discoveries have rL^^ently been made of crude 

 l^etroleum, and if found in any quantity it will prove a valuable 

 addition to the resources of the island. A company has recently 

 been formed to work this claim. 



In conclusion, it is difficult to over-rate tlie beneficial results- 

 likely to How to the counti-y from the new railway which has 

 been thus described in outline. The employment furnished du- 

 ring its construction and afterwards in its maintenance and ope- 

 ration, the large sums disti'ilniteil as wages among the working' 

 classes, will improve the condition of a large number. Many 

 of those working on the line will j^rolxably take np land and 

 become permanent settlers in tlu' interior. All aroiiu<l the shores- 

 are many hundreds of families living in uni'avouraVilc localities,, 

 often in tlu- depth of poverty from tlie failure of the fisheries,, 

 which along the coasts are becoming more and niore precarious. 

 These poverty-stricken j^eople will not continue to cling, to the- 

 naked rocks and starve •when they can find work, gfKnX wages,, 

 land for settlement, fuel for the gathering along the newly-opened 

 line of railway. In fact, there should be no poverty antong the 

 able-bodied. As their material condition improves higilier wants 

 will be experienced and civilizing iufiuences will e-xtenid. Edu- 

 cation will exert its benign intiuenct'. 



There is another aspect in whicli tliis great work ntay lie re'-- 

 garded. America is rapidly filling up. Tlie good lands of the 

 United States are j'retty well all taken up. Restrictions on ini' 

 migration are inci'easing each year. Tlie tide (.)f emigration 

 which has hitherto flowed past these shores may now send some 

 rills that will help to people these solitudes in the interior of 

 this island >\ hicli is now opened up, and whose natural re.-onrces- 

 are so abundant. Its proximity to Euro]>e will prove an attrac- 

 tion to emigrants when contrasted with the thousands of mile.s- 

 to be travelled in order to reach the fixr west of the United States- 

 and Canada. The healthful climate, in which neither the scorch-- 



