Ottawa On The River, 1941

the [Music] it is summer in Ottawa and the tourists have come to Parliament Hill they've come in their cars from homes across the Dominion and from the United States border barely 60 m to the South Joneses from Saskatchewan and Kelly's from Boston are putting the capital into their scrapbooks with Kodak and roller cords they take pictures of themselves under the great arch of the House of Commons pictures of the clock in the top of the peace Tower [Music] beneath the tower is the memorial chamber a National Shrine holding within it Canada's proud remembrance of those who served in the first Great War carved in stone brought from France Belgium and Britain simple bass reliefs tell the story of Canada's fighting forces the firm attack at the gates of Aris the dogged stand of the artillery at St Julian a nation's tribute to the 60,000 Canadians who gave their lives sunlight filtered through the warmth of English stained glass fills the chamber with mysterious light well befitting a place hallowed by the nation's dead in the floor paved with Stone from the battlefields of Flanders bronze name plates honor The Men Who Fell from balconies on the peace Tower visitors First Look Westward toward the Prairies here set on a Bluff High over the water stand the great blocks of government buildings the simple and dignified Supreme Court building whose Cornerstone was laid by the queen in 1939 the Bank of Canada a central Clearing House owned by the people the dep Department of Agriculture custodian of the greatest Granary in the world today to the north beyond the city of Hull lie the oldest Hills in the world the laurentians hull is the last big town on the way to the Arctic for the Wilderness stretches unbroken 4,000 m to the pole below the Ottawa river flows Eastward to Montreal in the sea the Indians called it adawe after the Traders and and Pioneers who used it as a path through the Wilderness Champlain Marquette and [Music] laau the river rushes down from the Northland and pours its energy over Cliffs of rock into the Basin called loder The Cauldron and here it boils with the fierce energy it has gathered on its 600m Journey from the Hills from those Hills came Timber White Pine and Spruce stood in the Northern Forest Maple Birch and popler covered the ancient land later rafts came down the river with Timber to build the ships for Canada's growing trade a harvest reaped in the hinterland floated down and gathered in booms below the falls it meant wood for Clippers to carry Canadian Commerce to Europe in the Far East [Music] today their sons still sort the logs in the lower reaches of the river with long Pike Poes they turn the glistening timber in the water to find the rough h mark designating the owner of each [Music] log when the company slips where the Ottawa meets the gattino they straighten out the logs and steer them onto the hooks of the jack [Music] ladder uise the spruce and popler Birch and white pine and the lumber piles grow men have built a dam to harness the river's power to their machines and the river now strains against the man-made peers that hold it back the strength of half a million horses suddenly checked after wearing away the rock since time was young great Lumber Mills now rise on the brink of the falls on one side is an English City bearing an Indian name Ottawa the other end of the dam drawing its power from the same Mighty Source stands a city entirely French but called by an English name Hull Twin Cities speaking being two languages but joined by many bridges and sprung from the same surging Union of Timber and the river more than a century has passed since locks were built in the village of Bown to transport soldiers down the redo River btown has now become Ottawa and Freighters move on the Big River bringing caros to the growing city French and English Scots and Irish have labored together building up Canada's vast trade under the towers that rise on the cliff towers of a city that has become the capital of a Dominion stretching from Atlantic to Pacific today Lumber still moves on the river hard woods for pit props and furniture and flooring soft Woods for pulp to feed the news presses of a continent behind her Industries and her huge Lumber trades stand the people of Ottawa for beneath her Majestic history Ottawa is still an ordinary Canadian town where 200,000 French and English-speaking people live together in harmony around the popcorn carts on the side streets children of both races crowd on the long summer evenings here as elsewhere they meet new Canadians Harry eluk came from the Ukraine and drives his wagon over the streets of the capital making hot buttered popcorn corn joking with the boys and enjoying the freedom he crossed the Seas to [Music] find for there is space for living in Ottawa grass and trees between the houses and vacant Lots where boys can play baseball after school [Music] for the mothers of these children there is the great Open Marketplace in the lower town here they can buy produce fresh from the rich farmlands of the Ottawa Valley butter and eggs and crisp green vegetables gathered before the sun was up of a Saturday as many as 15,000 people will pour into the marketplace from the hinterland of Ontario and Quebec women of every faith and calling meet here to bargain and buy and among the crowded stalls are phases which hark back across the centuries to The Villages of old France it might be a Marketplace in the Normandy from which many of their forefathers once came things are cheaper here and fresh from the brown Earth of the valley careful Housewives come to choose the best for their menfolk who work in the Mills or unload the caros that move along the river a man gets hungry rafting logs all day a man like Henry Davis who has worked for six years for the pulp company to support his family of five in the government offices French and English work together for the mechanics of running Canada is ottawa's business from Office boy to Deputy Minister over 20,000 Ottawa people help in the job of running their country beneath the arched Gothic roof of the House of Commons 245 members of parliament elected by Atlantic fishermen Prairie farmers and the city dwellers of Ontario and Quebec enact the nation's laws from the adjoining red chamber the Senate preserves the tradition of an upper house inherited from the parliament of Great Britain for Ottawa belongs to the nation and the federal district commission is making it a new planned town from the national War Memorial Plaza a series of parks and lagoons Runs Out along the banks of the redo canal through these Parks Treeline drives link the main highways with the city streets the commission has also reclaimed swamp land along the bottom of the redo River and turned it into playgrounds and Landscape parks [Music] when the steamy heat of July and August makes a pavement hot underfoot the people of Ottawa take to the hills and the [Music] river on Saturday afternoons and Sundays cars are thick along the federal Parkways leading from the city to the streams and forests nearby they make for the shores of the Ottawa River or the Shady Woods where the smell of spruce needles fills the air in the small lakes that lie 600 ft up in the hill with trees right down to the water's edge the long summer days become cool and carefree [Music] with the coming of October the landscape changes to colors of unbelievable Beauty The Elms turn to Gold the maples flame on hillsides and valleys barely 12 miles from the city in the heart of the gattino hills Canada has set aside a national park for the enjoyment of the people the slopes of the ancient laurentians are crisscrossed with Trails on which the fresh for fallen leaves make a carpet of gold and russet young people pack their meals and walk in the Hills finding the Steep trails that lead to the crest of King Mountain the woods are filled with the rustle of Summer's end and the distance is blue with Haze then cold November winds bear the branches and only the last brown leaves remain winter comes gently to the city with soft snow on the roofs and the naked trees a silencing cloth spreads over the busy Avenues of Center Town it whitens the streets and buildings of the old French lower town where the Basilica lifts twin spares to the winter Sky the swish of the sled replaces the rattle of the delivery wagon and sleigh bells tinkle along the streets by December the snow is heavy but Canadians with skill born of long practice soon dig themselves out on the morning after a snowfall hundreds of men are busy with plows and shovels the piles left at the roadside are carried away in deep box slays or in a special type of open truck and at noon the streets are clear for traffic by midwinter 2 ft of snowcovered ice makes a a solid Bridge connecting Ottawa and Hull but the river still runs [Music] beneath the canal is now frozen solid but gangers have CLE the railroad tracks and the life of the city goes on across the dazzling white Parks the people walk to their homes lying snug in the deep drifts of snow Canadians have learned to build strongly Against The gales that blow from the north for the children the deep snow right at their front door is sheer Delight Canada has learned to use its winter for pleasure to meet the cold days on their own terms on weekends skaters crowd The Rinks which spring up each year by the simple process of pouring water on the ground and letting it freeze there is music in the crunch of blades and the singing hum of the ice [Music] but the real professionals have no need to bother with a rink for in every Ottawa backyard there's enough ice to skate on and no rules against hoey [Music] sticks this is a men's game and girls must run its risks or stay off the ice many internationally famous hockey players have learned the fundamentals of the game on the corner lots of Ottawa the Swift passes the Nimble footwork the stuff of which Champions are [Music] made with the Bright Days of the New Year the great Exodus to the hills begins young people head for the gattino where the snow is crisp and powdery comfortable ski lodges lie among the hills and from each spreads a network of trails George's Trail the canyon the Highland Little Switzerland and the merar [Music] around the Ottawa Ski Club has the largest membership of any ski club in the world at Camp Fortune Lodge near kingsmere there are slopes for beginners and tricky Hills for expert skiers to enjoy the thrill of speed in the cold wind of and the sparkle of sun on the [Music] snow below the ski slopes the city lies blanketed in deep snow and while the traffic is silent on the river the cold water still flows seaward far beneath winter lies heavy on the roofs and the spires of the lumber town which has become the nation's capital behind the city lies the great Precambrian Shield stretching north and west to the Arctic tundra but even in the Stillness the Springs of Life are working under the frozen ground waiting for the sun to set them free that they may live once again the gorgeous pageantry of the Canadian autumn [Music] a [Music]