Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, July 11, 1919, Page 12

Though Prone Exploits “of to Forget the Our Northern Neighbors We Should Re- member That They Are Just As Keen As We Are. plain Donald Alexander Smith. He was born in the Scottish highlands and came to America at the age of 18 to seek his fortune. For 30 years he was a pioneer in the vast soli- tudes of Canada. As a trader employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company, he trav- eled on foot for thousands of miles in the dreary wastes that extend on either side of the Arctic Circle. Seldom did he see other white men than those em- ployed by the great fur company; his closest friends were the Indians and Esquimaux, with whom he bartered. The howl of the Arctic wolf was more familiar to his ears than the sound of English speech. After 10 years of this unceasing quest he was transferred to the ble: Labrador, a land even more forbidding. Women were few in t barren territory and the white men ) clergymen to solemn- ize their marriage Deonald Smith took as wife the half-breed daughter of one of the Hudson's Bay Company’s agents. When he wa en his title by the English government he was remarried with ‘the full ritu »f the Church of gland, so that his wife m'ght become Lady Strathcona. One terrible incident of those Labra- dor days can never be forgotten by Lord with snow blind- two Indians 2,000 1. When he resident gov- ernly demanded 2d left his post with- Told that there was no one 1,000 miles who cold grant him a vacatic t once ordered to re- turn or give post. He obeyed and r'hN! the Labrador settlement, ides had perished of cold miles back in the wil- L ORD STRATHCONA was born coasts of mith had risen to be s Bay Company, ong on that high f achievement. He g with James J of the northwest trader in St. Paul. g experience in that field naturally led m"into the construction of the Cana- 1 he first transcon- rth of the Isthmus ‘cars of discouragement = confidence of tne nonths at a time ptcy in the loan of $22,500,000 but he did not rung of the ladc btgan ra e e ————————————————————————————— e, ———r e . John R. Booth, the “Canadian Lumber King,” its place. “I felt rather lost withoutmy railroad. So I took up paper,” he once | explained. a3 Booth is a descendant of an Irish family who came to Waterloo in Que- bec province over a century ago. As a boy he labored on the farm, but at the age of 21 he left home to conquer the world. He had just $9 in his pocket when he crossed the line into the United States and found employment in bridge building. 2 He soon returned to. Canada, got vork in a factory, rose to be foreman, hired a factory of his own, made money and bought the property. Bankers who had watched his rise were willing to back him and for $45,000, most of which was borrowed, he purchased tim- ber land which yiclded an enormous reé- turn. He bought more territory untilhe owned more land in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec than anyone else, crossed the linc once more and acquired large holdings in some of the northerh states. And all the years while his in- terests were growing at such an astounding rate, he alone attended to all the details of his vast enterprise. His ability to grasp details is illustrated by an anecdote. About 500 horses are used at the Ottawa lumber yards. One of the animals died suddenly and the forcman at once replaced it. “Where did the new horse come from?” was the first question asked by Booth as he walked into the yard the next morning. The lumber king of Canada is more democratic than the majority of men who possess a few thousand dollars. He speaks to his acquaintances, and they range from day laborers to financiers, as though each were his cqual. A few ars ago a titled Englishman came to Canada to interest Booth in a large financial deal. He was shown into the office to await the Jumber king, and to his surprise was soon joined by an oid man clad in overalls which were plent: fully sprinkled with mortar. The mul- ti-millionaire had found himself with a few minutes to spare so he had been working with . some of his men who were laying bricks. When his 400-mile railroad had reach- ed the terminus on Georg'an Bay, he in- vited Sir Wilfrid Laurier to inspect the line. When they reached bay, Wilfrid looked about the barren shor and could not sec a single bu “Where is your trade to come fro asked. - “F shall have to create the prompt answer. “I shall have to col- he it,” ‘was and a Portion of His 85-Acre Plant at Ottawa, from the British government and the lect it from Port Arthur, from Duluth, ved. On Nov. 7, 1885, ve a golden spike into marked the joining east and west at railroad Donald Sm Few Americans have ever heard of John R. Booth, yet the name in Canada Is one to tonjure with. He owns in Ot- lawa the 1 lumber mill in the world, he t 100 tons of paper daily, and he ned a railroad so r systems that he was able to sell it for $14,000,000. « He s probably ‘worth today‘at least $20,000,- %00, and some of his. friends believe that he will leave an estaté of $30,000,- 200. He proved a few years ago that his fortune was not visionary by :pre- senting to each of his fonr children as a Christmas present $1,000,000. Almost more than any other multi- millionaire living, the secret of Booth's success seems to lic in the word “work.” Some men-retire from business at the 1ge of 50. J. R. Booth did not begin to make paper until he was 80. He had for many years been a lumber dealer but 2e knew so much about the business that it had ceased to interest him. Then he .uilt his railroad and that held his at- tention for several years. When he sold % he needed some other interest to take NS \ W[/// w@-fi*‘w/u =83 fl\” NS \\f’ Il on ‘K\\\ SD% from Chicago, and from both sides of the lakes. I shall have to build eleva- tors. I shall, perhaps, have to buy wheat in order to furnish trade for my rail- road” He did all that he said he would and made the line so important that he sold it for $14,000,000 to the Grand Trunk. T Leather Fertilizer. Leather scrap is now used for fer- tilizer. With the present-day methods of utilizing leather there is not a great deal of waste, but the tiny odds ana ends of cuttings, rich with nitrogen, are now ground up to do their bit in enrich- ing the soil for crop growing. Rl s P e Illuminating Autos. It is not desired that the spotlight on the automobile should be sending its beams ahead all the time. It is to be called into action only as occasion war- rants it, and in order that greater serv- ice may be obtained from it a new in- vention contemplates that it shall be “used for the illumination of the interjor of the car. This is accomplished without making any change whatever in its location on the windshield. It is simply turned to the rear and upward so that its rays are shot into a reflecting device, which is hung from the top of the car, and thus a gentle radiance is shed all over the in- terior, and yet none of the passengers is inconvenienced by the strong bcam from the spotlight. When its illumination is needed in the front of the car the lamp has simply to be turned over on its universal joint. Saves Time. The cloth . clippings for filling the fracture pillows for the army hospitals are now cut by machines in one-eighth the time formerly required by the wom- enof the country who have undertaken the work. SRt e Coal Consumption. Fifteen million tons of coal are used annually in operating American artifi- cial- ice factories and refrigerating plants. Bl BEEar W5 5 To Drain Zuyder Zee. The scheme for draining the Zuyder Zec, which is now being considered by the Second Chamber of The Nether- lands Parliament, contemplates the erec- tion of a 19 mile dam. The construction will extend across the upper part of the Zuyder Zee, ex- tending from the province of North Holland to the island of Wieringen, and thence to Piaam on the Friesland coast. B BT LR The total distance is 24 miles, but the dam, excluding the island, will be 19 miles long. It is estimated that.it will require 15 years to execute the project. it il Locomotives. Oil-burning locomotives are now used on 53 railroads in 21 states, and on 32,000 miles of track. They consume 42,000,000 barrels of oil annually. e Puncture-Proof Tires. It is now proposed to use rubber There are people so nifty that they would *rather be an up-to-date =~rim- inal than a back-number millionaire. sponge moulded to fit the inside of the tire casing, and in this manner produce a puncture-proof tire. The car still rides on air, but this air is confined in innumerable little sacks. e T iy Life Belt. A new life-saving belt may be worn as an ordinary garment, and is such that it attracts no attention, but in a moment it may be inflated to such an extent that it will support a heavy man for an in- definite period. ;“\\\ / of Oregon 1 relation to st for gold, vorld-wide ably would be f: 1ad favored us w ent if chance raphic and ditiful recorders of the romantic 1s those other d P regons posses California and Ne vada had their . Bre ;, and Mark Twain, and Dan De Quille, amos other he Arctic circle its Robert Servics, and Jack Landon, and Rex Beach. These men not osly lived the found it 1<t ounce of gold wash- life; but wrotc Long aiter the ed from thos s has been forgott i its cconomic influence has become ¢ dimmest of memories, the days of c great stampedes will be cherished by who read of the stirring perform- t t ances of men. For, far-reaching as was uence of the discovery of gold or that g nterest. ( the itself, it was the human fa those times their endurin; gon, Washington, Idaho and the Fr River country north of the border had no romantic writers to perpetuate the memories of cvents nearly in point of actual production of precious nd almost as momentous in the me developm nt of the cotntry Yet the Oregon country is peeuliarfy associated with the carly labors of the interesting article on argonauts. In “The Ploncer hed originally in the Oregon His- torical Quarterly, and now reprinted in pamphlet form, Leslic M. Scott points out that the discoverers of gold in Cali- fcrnia, who laid the foundation for the greatest “rush” in the world's history, were Oregon pioneers of 1844. * They were, as every student of the history of the West knows, John W. Marshall and Charles W. Bennett. But it is not so well knowr that nearly three years prior to the California discovery gold had been found in the Malheur country, on the route of the “Meek cut-off party,” in Oregon. .But the gold was not then recognized;, and subscquent cfforts to find the spot failed. News of the Cali- fornia find reached Portland in August, mulus of Gold,” pub Q\"/ /\\‘,Ax‘fl V22§ S .7/ 184 mining bia pre y under $161,000,000. led in prodt and Idaho ware of Ore 000,000, and it I } at of British ( efiect upon local industr however,. never s appraised by Tistorians. M tt points out I of whole Pze lumber. Tl everywhere ‘and pfic area says: the author; “grew in 1 fulness and’ productivity * w developments 1g was more profi mining”’ To the gold rush we owe the cstablishment ofi woolen mancfacture at Salem in*1857, at Oregon City and at Broywnsy result, b made in “Osy sons farm: ings of irc g0 in 1806 We do arot mow of that port, * r r ons and pack-anim led the intcrior.”’ Many fi of pioneer fortimes were laid then. M business wis ¢fferdfl in the rush of 1861-63 than. the boa the Cc and 1854 the pumber of pa ried up and down the fiver wa 0. Boats for Portland upriver in 186 carried more -than 200 ) In April and cvenuc at Th Dalles from steamboats, plying river, was . more than steamer took i rhore ti freight and pasgengars in a single tr.p.* [} VIR