120 THROUGH CANADA 



the Canadian Northern Railway, the youngest of 

 the great transit systems which marked the beginning 

 of a new era of commerical prosperity along the 

 shores of the great waterway. 



The largest grain elevator so far constructed is 

 a conspicuous object on the shore. It holds 7 million 

 bushels of grain. The two ports, between them, 

 have a capacity for storing 29 millions. Amongst 

 prospective enterprise are included the construction 

 of a large dry dock and ship-building yards at Port 

 Arthur. Fort William is the disembarking point of 

 the great lake trips, and a train stood in readiness to 

 take passengers to the main line station on the 

 Canadian Pacific. Time changes here from Eastern 

 to Western methods of chronology, which puts the 

 clock back an hour. The distinction between a.m. 

 and p.m. is abolished, and the dial of the clock makes 

 a consecutive rotation from 12 to 24. As a concession 

 to inbred conservatism and the belief that mortals are 

 slow to learn, the old and the new modes of reckoning 

 are inscribed on the railway clocks. For this, one 

 is profoundly grateful. One scarcely knows where 

 he is when, on asking the time of day, he is told 

 that it is twenty-three fifteen 1 



The railway journey to Winnipeg epitomizes all 

 that lies behind and before— a rocky region inter- 

 sected with rivers and lakes ; forests stretching away 

 out of sight ; mining industries locked in the great 

 mountains ; falls that rival Niagara in magnificence, 



