Show TIES SCARCE IN WEST CANADA This Is Due to the Rapid Construction of New Lines The rapid construction of new lines of railway In the west and tho large amount of repair work which must I constantly be done has necessitated the use of vast quantities of railway ties during the present summer and the fear has been expressed that there might soon bo n shortage In this essential es-sential of railroad building nays the Winnipeg Free Press The nature of the demand for railway rail-way ties Is strikingly Instanced In the gradual disappearance of the vast piles of ties accumulated during the previous year by the Canadian Pacific lallway at Vermilion on the main line east between the city and Port Arthur Ar-thur At the beginning of tho year hundreds hun-dreds of thousands of ties were stored In the pits at Vermilion awaiting the time when they would ho needed In connection with tho development of the various lines In the central west At the present time of all these ties very few remain and It has become necessary to turn to other sources for the largo number required Fortunately Fortu-nately there Is no lack of tics of the quality required and tho work of construction con-struction and Improvement goes fn uninterruptedly At the present time tho dividing line for the supply of railway ties la at Moose Jaw The ties needed on all lines east of that point come from tho territory between Hat Portage and Fort William The ties for the territory terri-tory west of Moose Jaw come chiefly from the Crows Nest branch tho points of supply being chiefly between Elko and Kootcndy Next year It Is hoped that tho ties for the Edmonton branch may bo secured at lied Deer the material being rafted down the flyer to that point froni the lUem tains At tho present time all ties used on tho branch Including those I used on the Lacombe and Wcstaskl win extension must be brought all tho way from the mills on the Crows I Nest branch part of the haul being through the mountains where the I cost of transportation Is excessive In addition to the mills between Elko and Kootenay Landing there nrc others oth-ers In the far west where ties in largo numbers are produced notably tho mills of the Columbia River Lumber company which at Golden sometimes manufactures as many as 600000 In a single season The ties needed for the railway of Vancouver Island are of course produced pro-duced on the Island and those of the Prince Albert branch are manufactured manufac-tured at Prince Albert The price of good ties has risen steadily during the past 20 year and Is still rising The price Is now 60 percent per-cent higher In the eastern portion of western lines than In the western portion por-tion varying from 32 to 10 cents per I tie between Winnipeg and Port Arthur Ar-thur and from 22 to 20 cents In the mountains The lumber used In production pro-duction Is much the same east or west Spruce tamarack and Jack pine are the trees chiefly used In addition to which cedar Is employed In British Columbia |