ALBERTA 



161 



ALBERTA 



Judicial Committee of the Imperial Privy 

 Council decided that the government could not 

 seize these funds. Thereupon the government 

 contracted with a private syndicate for the 

 completion of the railway, a course which was 

 severely criticised by the Liberal opposition as 

 being a complete reversal of the Premier's 

 policy. Premier Sifton also attempted to re- 

 verse the policy by which the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway was relieved of taxes on over $60,000,- 

 000 worth of property, but the Privy Council 

 again decided against the government. The 

 exemption, which dates from the organization 

 of the company, was still in force at the be- 

 ginning of the year 1917. 



A startling development in 1913 and 1914 

 was the great oil "boom" in the Calgary dis- 

 trict. Oil of excellent quality was first dis- 

 covered in the now famous Dingman Well at 

 Okotoks in October, 1913, and in the next year 

 other wells were bored. The suddenness of the 

 discovery was equalled by the enthusiasm of 

 investors and promoters. As usual under such 

 circumstances a few investors made large for- 

 tunes, and many others placed their money in 

 speculative companies. By August, 1914, there 

 had been incorporated over 400 companies, with 

 a total capitalization of $383,000,000. At the 

 height of the boom stocks rose over night from 

 a price of ten cents or twenty-five cents to 

 several dollars a share, and the stock of one 

 company was quoted at eighteen times its par 

 value. The inevitable reaction which set in 

 at the end of 1914 caused the failure of most 

 of the companies which had been formed on a 

 speculative basis. The undoubted fact, how- 

 ever, is the presence of petroleum of good 

 grade, and in time the field should be of great 

 commercial importance. 



In 1915 the people of Alberta were called 

 on to decide whether or not the province should 

 have prohibition. For months the issue was 

 debated in the public press, at public meetings 

 and in pulpits. By a vote of 50,000 to 30,000 

 voters decided for prohibition, and on June 

 30, 1916, every hotel bar in the province closed 

 doors. The sale of liquors is now conducted 

 government vendors under strict reg- 

 ulations. In 1916 an act of the legislature 

 women on an absolute equality with 

 with respect to political rights and privi- 

 i as well as penalties and disabilities, j .MC c. 



Additional Items of Interest. The Marquis 

 of Lome wrote this sonnet to his wife, Princess 

 Alberta, for whom the province was 

 named: 

 11 



In token of the love which thou has shown 

 For this wide land of freedom, I have named 

 A province vast, and for its beauty famed, 

 By thy dear name to be hereafter known. 

 Alberta shall It be! Her fountains thrown 

 From Alps unto three oceans, to all men 

 Shall vaunt her loveliness e'en now ; and when, 

 Each little hamlet to a city grown, 

 And numberless as blades of prairie grass, 

 Or the thick leaves in distant forest bower. 

 Great peoples hear the giant currents pass. 

 Still shall the waters, bringing wealth and 



power. 



Speak the loved name land of silver springs 

 Worthy the daughter of our English kings. 



Baseball games are called after supper in 

 Alberta. In the southern part from seven to 

 nine or nine-thirty o'clock is the regular time, 

 but at Edmonton the day is almost an hour 

 longer and the games may be correspondingly 

 later. 



The coulees constitute a noticeable feature 

 of the great prairie region of Alberta. These 

 are steep ravines which run into all the river 

 valleys at right angles. Of old, they were 

 stream beds. 



The Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve has an 

 area as great as that of New Hampshire and 

 Vermont combined. 



Lake Louise, in Rocky Mountains Park, is 

 one of the most famous beauty spots on the 

 continent, and is visited annually by thousands 

 of tourists. 



Fox-farming is one of the new industries 

 which is being developed in the neighborhood 

 of Edmonton. 



Four passes lead over the mountains in Al- 

 berta. They are picturesquely named Crow's 

 Nest Pass, Kicking Horse Pass, Yellow Head 

 Pass and Peace River Pass. 



Dry-farming is being extensively practised in 

 Southern Alberta, with excellent results. See 

 DRY-FARMING. 



Tens of thousands of bisons were killed be- 

 tween 1879 and 1882 on the prairies of Southern 

 Alberta, when the land was being prepared for 

 .the coming of the Canadian Pacific Railway. 



:nv in Alberta over 11,000 Indians, 

 largely Crees and Blackfoots. They live on res- 

 ervations scattered throughout the province. 



The Roman Catholics surpass in number any 

 other n humus denomination, except the Pres- 

 byterians. Methodists and the Church of 

 England rank next, in that order. 



There are over 3,000 Mormons in the 

 province, but they are not of the type that 

 preaches or practises polygamy. 



Throughout the country drained by the 



