Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. 265 When, however, as in the case of these mus- kegs, most of the earth disappeared almost im- mediately, the loss may be easily Remunera- understood. Many of the men, tion. . „ . ,r . , especially in Manitoba, were settlers who were glad to find remunerative employment for themselves, and, in many cases, for their teams, during the months be- tween seeding time and harvest. Sometimes those who had had experience of similar work undertook small jobs, contracting for short distances of a few stations each from the sub- contractors, who, of course, made a profit on the work they thus sublet. It was naturally impossible to avoid cuttings entirely, as the prairie is in many places not entirely level but rolling. As a precaution against drifting snow, the earth Protection faken frOm each cut was scraped into a long heap on either side Snow. ° r of the cutting, and perhaps 100 feet away from it, so that the snowdrifts might form between the fence thus effected and the cutting itself. Since then these “ snow- fences ” have in many cases been supplemented with strong board palisades ; and now the experiment is being tried of planting rows of perhaps the foreman, were generally in the centre. All round stood orderly lines of small two-man tents, and at one side the big horse tents and the rows of wagons. The food pre- pared by the cook and his “ cookees ” was, though rough, generally good and plentiful. Beef and pork, beans and potatoes, bread and hot biscuits, syrup, tea, and coffee, were the mainstays, heartily consumed three times a day. Early dawn brought the cry of “ Roll out, teamsters ” from the “ corral boss,” and by the time the men had shaken themselves out of their blankets the horses—herded during the night by “ horse-wranglers ”—had been driven in ready to be caught and given their feed of oats and water. Then breakfast, followed by the cry of “ Hook up ” from the foreman, and the whole force would commence its first five- hour stretch of work. “ Unhook ” at noon, and dinner ; another five hours’ work before supper ; and then—the blankets, till the morn- ing of a new day. The horses knew as well as the foreman when “ unhook ” should be called, while each mule was a foreman unto itself in that respect. A minute or two before the expiration of each five-hour period of work one wise old mule would bray, and from that trees, which, if they take root and thrive, will undoubtedly do much to remove one of the most expensive items of the winter operation of prairie sections. The camp of each consider- able outfit presented an almost military ap- pearance. One or two large dining - tents, with the cooks’ quarters and the office tent, where dwelt the sub-contractor, his book- keeper—who also kept the men’s time and ran the store Scenes in Camp. A C.P.R. CONSTRUCTION CAMP. (Photo, C.P.R. Company.) of clothes, tobacco, etc.—and