CALGARY, Canada. The city of Calgary is situated in the province of Alberta, at the junction of the Bow and Elbow rivers, 840 miles west of Winnipeg, and 2,262 miles west of Montreal. The site is picturesque., as the city lies in a species of natural bowl. From Calgary, the Rocky Mountains 80 miles away are clearly visible. Before the advent of the Canadian Pacific Railway 30 years ago, Cal gary was an important trading post and head quarters for the ranching country of southern Alberta. With the establishment of through transcontinental communication, Calgary as sumed a place on the map and rapidly began to develop commercially.
Situated as it is at the entrance of two great passes through the mountains and surrounded by both a fine agricultural and ranching coun try, Calgary has naturally become an unport ant railway centre. Lines belonging to the Canadian Pacific run north to Edmonton and south via Lethridge through the Crow's Nest Pass. The city is also served by the lines of the Grand Trunk Pacific and the Canadian Northern.
The city has an altitude of 3,410 feet above sea-level, and enjoys a bracing and healthful climate. The average temperature is 352 and the rainfall 19 inches. While low temperatures are of regular occurrence in the winter, the climate is agreeably modified by the warm Chinook winds which frequently bring a cold spell to a sudden and welcome dose.
Calgary is a very substantially built city, and is fortunate in having nearby extensive quarries of excellent sandstone. Cal gary stone, as it is called, has been used with excellent effect in the Provincial Parliament Buildings at Edmonton. Handsome public and office buildings and business blocks line the downtown streets. Knox Presbyterian Church, built of Calgary stone, is one of the finest speci mens of ecclesiastical architecture in western Canada.
Government.-- Calgary was founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1894. Its municipal government Consists of an elective mayor and council and an elective board of commissioners. Calgary employs a slightly modified form of the single tax. The city owns its own electric street railway, with 60 miles of trackage in operation. It operates its own gravity water
system and sewerage system, and owns its own asphalt paving plant. Natural gas sells for 35 cents per 1,000 cubic feet, and at 15 cents for power. Water power has also been brought in and of this 31,100 horse power is already available.
Religion and Calgary is the seat of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishop rics, and all the leading religious denomina tions are well established. Educational facili ties are amply and generously provided. There are 32 public and high schools, four Roman Catholic separate schools and a Normal School. The provincial government opened in 1916 an Institute of Technology and Manual Arts.
Industrial Western Canada is substantially an agricultural country, but Cal gary has had a considerable industrial develop ment, and is the chief distributing centre be tween Winnipeg and the Pacific. Though coal is not mined in the immediate vicinity, it is worked on an extensive scale at Lethbridge and Bankhead, both of them points within 100 miles. Natural gas has been piped into the city from Bow Island, 100 miles distant. Oil was dis covered in 1914 a short distance south of Cal gary, and the indications are promising. The foothills of the Rockies to the west form an admirable grazing country and large herds of stock are raised. These contribute the raw material for the successful stockyards and ex tensive packing plants which are amongst Cal gary's most important industries. Excellent clays for exist. Calgary is the site of one of the Dominion government's great interior storage elevators and has become an important centre in the grain trade. Large milling establishments flourish. Manufactures include biscuits, boxes and breakfast foods. A large business is carried on in building mate rials, harness and leather goods, iron and metals, aerated waters, beer, etc. The Canadian Paci fic has erected at Calgary car shops costing over $3,500,000, with an annual wage bill of $3,400,000. Pop. (1911) 43,704; special Dominion census of 1916, 55,000.