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valuable agricultural and timber country in the valley of the Naas
River, and if the railway belongs to the company, there will be no
freight to pay to another railway, as there would be to the G. T. P.
if the connection were made at Hazelton.

The Syndicate have therefore obtained a charter from the
Legislature of British Columbia at the session of 1911, for the con-
struction of the Railway., This charter, which has also been ac-
quired by the British Columbia Skeena Coal Co., Ltd., is a very
valuable one, known as the Naas and Skeena Rivers Railway Com-
pany, and has been kept in force, in accordance with the conditions
of the Railway Act of the Provinee. iA reconaissance of the eoun-
try tributary to the coal basin ‘has confirmed our expectations that -
the alternative lines provided for in the charter are feasible. The
pass through Beirnes Creek or that through Carrier Creek is
the most feasible according to present knowledge. The route via
Naas Valley, although a little longer than that to Stewart on the
Portland Canal, or a line to Alice Arm, would cover a better coun-
try, from an agricultural standpoint, implying a substantial traffic
to the railway, besides the coal. In view of the feasibility of col-
onizing the main part of the Naas River Valley, the Provincial
Government has reserved a large area of suitable land, and this
would be traversed by our proposed railway. Large private in-
terests have secured land adjoining the Government Reservation
for settlement purposes.

Aldjoining the property of the Company there are two other
blocks of coal lands, belonging to Vancouver and Toronto Syn-
dicates, which will help to increase the traffic of the ‘proposed
railway.

These deposits form the only known deposits of anthracite
coal on the Pacific coast, and our engineer is of opinion that they
are destined to supply all the Pacific coast cities in North A’meriea,
and even South America, in competition with the Australian coal.

The coal is almost smokeless and should be very valuable for
naval purposes, and also for commercial steamers which are now
obliged to use bituminous coal, not nearly so clean.

If the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway’s proposed extension to
Dawson should be carried out, and the proposed line of the Cana-
dian Northern from Stewart to the Peace River, both railways
would pass through or near our property.