Souvenir of welcome

i
A
SHE STORY- OF WINNIPEG is one of
'
,
,
the . most marvellous and impressive records of ,growth on - the continent: Thirty-five years
ago Winnipeg's population, was less than .1,000, and the school attendance was only
35
pupils; it was ,but 'a, post of the. Hud
-
son's. Bay Company, without churches, streets or railroads, and,but a few,,years previously the ,Indians chased herds of buffalo, across
the prairie where the city now stands.., It is now the railroad and business centre
;
of the Canadian West�
,
� Twenty-two railway tracks radiate
from it, and the C.P.R: yard, here, with,its 185 miles of sidings, is the largest in the world controlled by
'a
si
ng
le corporation. ,Winnipeg is
the chief central point of the Canadian Northern and. Grand Trunk Pacific railway, systems-- these roads having just. built a Union Station,
at A. cost of $1,500000. Four � thousand railway employees reside in the city. ' It is' in the ,famous Red
,
.River' Valley
,
and surrounded by
good farming, timber and mining districts with extensive, lake fisheries._ The streets of the city are generally,-wide, the principal avenues
being 132 feet,.`155 miles of streets are, paved with asphalt, block and macadam. The area of 13,990 acres has been covered by 201 miles of
sewers, 345' miles, of
,
,paved and graaed,
,
streets=100 m les`o# which are boulevarded and 450 miles of sidewalks. ,Approximately 220 miles f
,
,
of water` mains, have been laid down since the city's incorporation L36 years ago. In 1890 the proportionate, assessment value of the city
Was
.
,
,
1900
, $
25,077,460; .in
s
1902
, $
28,615,810
;
in 1905
, $
62,727
,
630; in
,.
1906
$
80,511
,
727; in 1909, $131,402
,
800 and
in 1911, $172;667,250. Winnipeg is the, wholesale and jobbing centre of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. It has 23 chartered banks..
Bank
,
-
clearings
:
190,0
, $
106;956,720; 1905
, .,$
360,868
,
179, ,1906
;, $
504,585
,
914; ,1
`
907a $599,667
,
376; 1908, $614,111
,
801; 1909�
$
776,- _
649,332; 1910, $953,,415,281,, and in, 1911 'reached a' total of $1,172,762,142. The city contains 122 churches `and missions, 33 public schools,
with. an enrolment exceeding 19,500; . also six parochial schools with,1,200 pupils, six
{
colleges, a
,
University, provincial agricultural college, ,
academies, ladies' schools, the Provincial, ,Government, buildings, Court house, gaols, chief, offices of, the Dominion. Government
4
in the
West, ,fine ' city hall, a, free librar"osting $140,000--''two railway depots, costing over,'.,$1,000,000 each-up-to-date fire, police and water
systems. The electric ,street railway operates 250 cars on 66 miles of city tracks and 44 miles of suburban lines.
New
buildings erected in 1900-1-
7
2,
amounted to $5,558,545; in years 1903-4-5, $26,187,350;
;
in years 1906-7-8,, $24,562,200; in J909, $9,226,325;,in 1910, $15,116,450, and in
1911, $17,550,000. These facts give , some idea of` the, progress being made. . The grain businessA
OfL
the Canadian West centres in Winnipeg,
and. for the last year the inspections exceeded 100,000
,
000 bushels, placing Winnipeg as the greatest grain market on the American continent.
This "
I
s evidence enough of the nature of the ,soil, tributary to Winnipeg. In addition'
,
to agriculture', ,a considerable fishing business is
done in the large Northern Lakes, and timber and mining enterprizes are being developed on its shores. Winnipeg city owns and operates
its ' own asphalt paving plant, its own quarry, street lighting, water works-­-including high pressure. fire system of 300 lbs. pressure ;for
,
fire 4
protection. Winnipeg is now in; a position to encourage manufacturers, by affording cheap power. On the Winnipeg
;
River a total. of 60,000
h. p. is developed by the city, which is to be sold to consumers at. cost of production. ,The value of the factory output is now estimated at'
$36,000,000 annually, which is an increase of over 400 per cent. in the, past. 10 years.,; Over 15,000 factory hands-now find employment
<F in the 300 , successful plants` operating. Take this record in industrial growth and add to it the wholesale turnover of '$120,000,000, and
the enormous grain trade, handledin, the city,
,
makes' Winnipeg the central market and capital city of ,commerce of Western. Canada.,
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