covered with snow, and there being several large glaciers.

"During last year, before the line was opened for traffic, observations
were taken with the view of ascertaining what trouble might be
anticipated from avalanches, the avalanch paths through the Selkirks
being very numerous. Several large avalanches occurred, the largest
covering the track for a length of 1,300 feet, with a depth in one
place of 50 feet of snow, and containing, as was estimated, a quarter
of a million cubic yards of snow and earth. The result of these
observations caused the Company to construct during this season four-
and-a-half miles of snow sheds, at a cost of $900,000, or $200,000 a
mile.

"The sheds are constructed as follows:--On the high side of the
mountain slope a timber crib filled with stones is constructed. Along
the entire length of the shed, and on the opposite side of the track, a
timber trestle is erected, strong timber beams are laid from the top of
the cribwork to the top of the trestle, 4 feet apart and at an angle
representing the slope of the mountain, as nearly as possible. These
are covered over with 4-inch planking, and the beams are strutted on
either side from the trestle and from the crib. The covering is placed
at such a height as to give 21 feet headway from the under side of the
beam to the centre of the track. The longest of these sheds is 3,700
feet, and is near the Glacier Hotel.

"Over the Selkirk Range the schedule time for trains from Donald to
Revelstoke, that is, from the first to the second crossing of the
Columbia River, a distance of 79 miles, is only eleven miles an hour;
but this time table was made before there was much ballast on this
portion of the line, and better time can now be made. On the 21st