WINNIPEG, Canada, city and capital of the province of Manitoba, situated at the con fluence of the Assiniboine and Red rivers, and on the Canadian Pacific, the Great Northern and the Canadian National railways, 1,425 miles west of Montreal and about equidistant from the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and the Arctic Sea.
Public Buildings, Parks, Of these the principal are the government build ings, corresponding somewhat to the State capitols in the United States. There are also the Court House, City Hall, with a fine open space in which is located a military monument, Union Bank, Merchants' Bank, post office, the great office buildings on Main street, Portage avenue, Broadway, etc., the railway stations, modern apartment buildings, Fort Garry Hotel, the Royal Alexander Hotel, the Eaton building, Y. M. C. A. building and the several school buildings throughout the city. Assiniboine, River and Elm parks are the chief recreation spots of the city. A fine zoological garden is maintained in River Park. There are numer ous small parks.
city has a good public school system with modern buildings and equip ment. There are also a number of private schools. There are several Catholic parochial schools, which the authorities recognize for at tendance only; otherwise they are classed as private. At the head of higher education is the University of Manitoba and its affiliated denominational colleges: Saint John's (Church of England), Wesley College (Methodist), Saint Boniface (Roman Catholic) and Mani toba College (Presbyterian). The Manitoba Medical College is now affiliated with the uni versity as is the Manitoba Agricultural College.
Religious and Charitable The most numerous denominations are the Presby terian, Church of England, Methodist and Roman Catholic. There are also Baptists and Congregationalists, together with several for eign churches in which the languages of Con tinental Europe are used. There are about 80 churches in the city. Among the institutions for helping the sick, poor and unfortunate are the Girls' Home of Welcome, House of the Friendless, Winnipeg's Children's Home, the Provincial Home of Detention, Jewish Orphan age and Children's Home of Western Canada, Knowles' Home for Boys, Manitoba School for the Deaf, Saint Joseph's Orphanage, Salvation Army Industrial Home, the General Hospital, Saint Boniface Hospital, Grace Hospital and Saint Roch's Hospital, the Children's Aid Society, the Manitoba Neglected Children's So ciety, the Old Folks Home, etc.
Libraries,—The Winnipeg city library was erected by the Carnegie Foundation and is maintained by the city council. It cares for the collections of the Manitoba Historical Society. There are several branches throughout the city in which fiction and books of popular circula tion are housed for the convenience of readers and borrowers. The Legislative Library is
housed in the Provincial Parliament Buildings and is large and complete in its special field. The University and several college libraries are ample and elaborate. There is a valuable law library in the new Courthouse.
Banks and The banking system is carried on by private companies but under strict supervision by both the provincial and Dominion governments. The Merchants' Bank of Canada began its business in 1872 in Win nipeg. Other banks now operating there are the Bank of Hamilton, the Bank of Nova Scotia, the Bank of Ottawa, the Bank of To ronto, La Banque de Hochelaga, Canadian Bank of Commerce, Credit Fonder Franco-Canadien, Union Bank of Canada, Home Bank of Can ada, Imperial Bank of Canada, Molson's Bank, Royal Bank of Canada and the Winnipeg Fi nancial Corporation.
Being the outlet of a vast agricultural area to the markets of the world, Winnipeg ranks as one of the great grain cen tres both of America and Europe. It is also a market centre for horses, cattle and swine from the vast prairie areas. There are large engine, machine and railroad car shops of the three great systems entering the city. There are in addition slaughter-houses, packing es tablishments, lumber mills, rolling mills, foun dries, flour mills, boiler and carriage works and a great number of minor manufacturing estab lishments. The value of its manufactured prod ucts is about $75,000,000 annually. Ample power facilities are afforded by the Winnipeg River, 60 miles distant. The water-supply sys tem, municipally owned, brings water through a great aqueduct about IOD miles long from Lake of the Woods, the latter being about 100 feet above the level of the city.
On the site of the present city in the days of the fur trade there was built Fort Rouge, in 1738, followed by Fort Gibraltar, Fidler's Fort, Fort Douglas and Fort Garry, the last named a post of the Hudson's Bay Company. The fort was dismantled in 1881. The modern city may be said to date from 1871, when there was a settled population of 215. The present city was incorporated in 1874, when the population was between 3,000 and 4.010.
Government and The city's affairs are vested in a mayor, four controllers and a board of 12 aldermen. The Parks Board is appointed by the city council and administers a fixed percentage of the city revenue. Since 1900 the population has increased rapidly. In 19114 it was 67.2t)2 and in 1916 was 163,000. V.ith the suburbs it is at present about 2110,000.
Gunton Author of '.'hurt History of the Canadian