. On the "White Pass" pay-roll . end where therewas comparative shelter in the timber andthe rest of the winter was more or less freefrom the awful hardships which attendedthe work in reaching the Summit. The nature of this work added immenselyto the difficulty of winter construction. Itwas necessary to blast the road-bed out ofthe solid granite of the precipitous mountainsides which in many places were so smoothand polished by the action of extinct glaciersthat there was no foothold for the men andthey had to build working platforms securedto crowbars drilled into the polished win
. On the "White Pass" pay-roll . end where therewas comparative shelter in the timber andthe rest of the winter was more or less freefrom the awful hardships which attendedthe work in reaching the Summit. The nature of this work added immenselyto the difficulty of winter construction. Itwas necessary to blast the road-bed out ofthe solid granite of the precipitous mountainsides which in many places were so smoothand polished by the action of extinct glaciersthat there was no foothold for the men andthey had to build working platforms securedto crowbars drilled into the polished wind was so strong that the men in ex-posed places had to be roped while atwork in order to prevent their being blown offthe mountain side. By October, 1898, thework had got above the timber line, so themen were exposed to the full fury of theArctic winter. Between Skaguay and Fraser, near Log Cabin, a distance of 28 miles, there was not a wheelbarrowful of gravel or loose earth, the line was entirely on solid rock or bridges. [60]. Cutting thk Grade ox Construction of First Section This will give an idea of the heavy nature ofthe work. The ballast for the track had tobe hauled from the bed of the Skaguay Riverat the one end and from the gravel pit atFraser at the other. Without going further into details, it willdoubtless be clear that the construction ofthe First Section was a remarkable perform-ance in railway building, and that the menwho did the work earned their money and areentitled in addition to be held in kindly re-membrance by the men who provided themoney. In spite of the hardships to which the menwere exposed, Heney took such good care ofthem, and fed and housed them so well, thattheir health was remarkably good. Therewas no serious sickness, and very few seriousaccidents. Our Hospital was chiefly occu-pied by cases of sprains, frostbite, hurt fin-gers or feet, and occasional sickness of a tem-porary nature. Heneys rule about liquor was strict andsim
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