MONTREAL 



3933 



MONTREAL 



Victoria Jubilee Bridge 



ONTREAL, the largest city of 

 Canada, said to have been founded on mysti- 

 cism and faith, is situated on the island of 

 Montreal in the province of Quebec, at the 

 meeting place of ocean and inland navigation 

 on America's greatest waterway, the Saint Law- 

 rence River and the Great Lakes. Montreal is 

 164 miles southwest of Quebec, 950 miles from 

 the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Strait of 

 Belle Isle, and 420 miles by rail north of New 

 York. Although Montreal is a thousand miles 

 from the Atlantic, it is 300 miles nearer Liver- 

 pool than is New York. 



General Description. The island of Montreal 

 is formed by the confluence of the Ottawa and 

 the Saint Lawrence rivers. The island is about 

 thirty miles long and ten miles wide at its 

 widest pint. Its most striking feature is 

 Mount Royal, whose summit is 753 feet above 

 sea level and from which the city takes its 

 name. The entire island is covered with farms, 

 towns, villas and the great city, which is located 

 on its southeast side. The site of Montreal 

 rises in a gentle slope from the river to the 

 base of the mountain, on which a part of the 

 city rises in a succession of beautiful terraces. 



Sprung from the hope of noble hearts, 



Brought into being through sacrifice 

 Of men and women who played their parts, 



And counted not their lives as price, 

 She has grown in her strength like a Northern 

 Queen 



'Neath crown of light and her robe of snow, 

 And stands in her beauty fair, between 



The Royal Mount and the River below. 



MCLENNAN. 



The river in front of the city is fully two 

 miles wide. Near the north bank and just 

 without the harbor lies a group of small islands. 

 The largest, Saint Helen's Island, was formerly 

 used as a military post, but it is now a park. 

 Greater Montreal extends along the river front 

 for about nine miles and from four to seven 

 miles back from it. The longest streets follow 

 approximately the direction of the river, but 



owing to the irregularities of the surface they 

 are not all parallel. The streets extending from 

 the river towards the mountain cross the longer 

 streets at right angles, and, with few exceptions, 

 are parallel. This plan was adopted in 1672 

 and has been rigidly followed. 



The river front is lined with great wharves 

 to accommodate the shipping. Here ample fa- 

 cilities are provided for handling cargoes in the 

 shortest possible time. Freight sheds, huge 

 cranes, railroad tracks, grain elevators and a 

 wilderness of masts and spars form the charac- 

 teristic features of this part of the city. The 

 wholesale district lies near the river, and be- 

 yond this is the retail district with its numer- 

 ous stores, shops, banks and skyscraper office 

 buildings. Notre Dame, Saint Paul, Saint 

 James, Craig, Saint Catherine, McGill, Bleury, 

 Ontario and Wellington are the principal busi- 

 ness streets. Saint Lawrence Street forms the 

 division between the east and west sections and 

 was formerly considered the dividing line be- 

 tween the French and the English parts of the 

 city. Some of these streets near the river are 

 very narrow. Sherbrooke Street and the streets 

 along the mountain side are noted for their fine 

 residences. 



Montreal, like Boston, shows in its architec- 

 ture the transition from the past to the present, 

 from the old to the new. Most of the buildings 

 are modern. They are constructed of gray 

 limestone which is quarried near by. These 

 structures give the city an appearance whose 

 chief characteristics might be expressed as' 

 beauty and stability. But in the older part of 

 the city are found now and then quaint struc- 

 tures of an earlier day, some of them dating 

 back nearly two centuries. Between Notre 

 Dame Street and the harbor is the oldest part 

 of the city, and here a number of these quaint 

 old houses may still be seen, the most perfect 

 example being the Hubert-Lacroix House on 

 Saint Jean Baptiste Street. The walls. of these 

 old houses are of small boulders cemented to- 



