. The making of a great Canadian railway; the story of the search for and discovery of the search for and discovery of the route, and the constru ction of the nearly completed Grand trunk Pacific railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with some account of the hardships and stirring adventures of its constructors in unexplored country . hose that exist are merely lanes forthe egress of boiling, tempestuous waterways, lashing thesides of the gorge. When a rushing river occupies the wholeof the ravine the task of the railway-builder becomesHerculean in the truest sense of the word. Consequentl
. The making of a great Canadian railway; the story of the search for and discovery of the search for and discovery of the route, and the constru ction of the nearly completed Grand trunk Pacific railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with some account of the hardships and stirring adventures of its constructors in unexplored country . hose that exist are merely lanes forthe egress of boiling, tempestuous waterways, lashing thesides of the gorge. When a rushing river occupies the wholeof the ravine the task of the railway-builder becomesHerculean in the truest sense of the word. Consequently, when a small band of picked men expertwith the transit and level, with constitutions as hard asnails, who from long experience in selecting paths for arailway through the most difficult stretches of countrycould discover such almost by instinct, were merely toldby their chief that they were not to exceed a four-tenths grade, it is not surprising that they were somewhatamazed. Argument was useless. It was of no avail to saythat such an undertaking would cost millions to accom-plish. That was a question for the controlling spirit tosettle. Their instructions were explicit. The surveyors set out. Many wiseacres who knew theRockies described their expedition as the forlorn they had been entrusted with one of the most. 2;2 U J3 3 O j; C rt 8—.Ho «, J: A MAN OF FEW WORDS 163 exacting tasks that has ever been imposed upon a railway-building spy. The party was in charge of one of the mostaccomplished railway surveyors in the west, Mr. C. C. VanArsdoll, who has been associated with railway engineeringall his life among the Western American it in the wilds appears to have rendered himimmune to the many ills to which flesh is heir, and he isprepared for any emergency. His tall, gaunt figure stridingthrough the dense bush is familiar up and down the banksof the Skeena River and throughout Northern BritishColumbia to-day, for as divisional engineer he
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectrailroa, bookyear1912
