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Show VANCOUVER, 1. C, IS MECCA il HILWB Hill Lets Contract for Second Entrance and Harriman Lines Reach North. The contract for construction of fifty miles of the Victoria, Vancouver & Eastern, East-ern, between Abbottsford and Hope, has boon awarded to P. Welch of Spokane. Tho Victoria, Vancouver & Eastern Is a subsidiary company of tho Great Northern. Mr. Welch Is a momhor of tho contracting firm of Foley, Welch & Stewart, which built tho lino of the Victoria. Vic-toria. Vancouver & Eastern from Marcus. Mar-cus. Wash., to Prlncoton. 200 miles. Nothing has yot been made public by tho Great Northern as to when construction con-struction will bo undertaken from Hope up tho Coquahalla river and over the pass to Coldwator. This section of the road Is tho most difficult In tho entire route, and will be tho most costly, owing ow-ing to tho rugged nature of valleys leading lead-ing to tho pass and the heavy expenditure expendi-ture which will bo Involved In securing oven a maximum grade of 2S per cent. When this connection is dono, the Great Northern will have two lines entering en-tering Vancouver, JB. C. One goes north through Princeton, and down tho Frascr river in C.madu, and tho other to Seattle Se-attle and then north along the sound to Vancouver. It Is commonly thought that Seattle Is the end of tho Great Northern, but this Is a mistake. The end Is In Vancouver, Van-couver, B. C , so that Hill can compete with one of his two gerat rivals, the Canadian Pacific. The Harriman lines aro already Into Seattle und will soon push on to Vancouvor- This concentration of transcontinental railroads in Vancouver promises to mnke It the greatest railroad point on tho Pacific Pa-cific coast, und rivaled In railroad accommodation ac-commodation only by Now York City. It has been officially announced that plans havo been completed for groat railroad rail-road yards and extensive car shops for the Pugot Sound and Gray's Harbor linos of the Harriman system at South Taco-ma, Taco-ma, adjoining tho $2,000,000 car shops-plant shops-plant of the Northern Pacific, whoro 1400 men arc now employed, Tho work will be started at once. Tho yards will bo considerably over a mllo long, and have a storage capacity for more than L'200 freight cars. A feature fea-ture will be the 11 rat gravity switching yard of the Pacific coast. The shops and yard will cost nearly ?1, 000,000. |