in the
seventies, that it was pushed to completion. On the south shore the
Eastern Townships triangle was interlaced by a series of smaller roads.
From Levis, opposite Quebec, the Levis and Kennebec ran south to the
Maine border, and the Quebec Central to Sherbrooke. From Sherbrooke
and Lennoxville the Massawappi Valley gave connection with the
Connecticut and Passumpsic, to which it was leased for 999 years, while
branches of the Central Vermont and minor roads opened up new sections
and gave further connection with Montreal.

An interesting experiment, motived by the same desire for cheap pioneer
construction which in Ontario brought in the narrow gauge, was the
wooden railway built in 1870 from {102} Quebec to Gosford. The rails
were simply strips of seasoned maple, 14'x7"x4", notched into the
sleepers and wedged in without the use of a single iron spike. The
engine and car wheels were made wide to fit the rail. In spite of its
cheap construction the road did not pay, and the hope of extending it
as far as Lake St John was deferred for a generation. A similar wooden
railway was built from Drummondville to L'Avenir.

In Nova Scotia the chief local development was the opening in 1869 of a
road through the Annapolis Valley, the Windsor and Annapolis. This
formed an extension of the government road from Halifax to Windsor, but
the province preferred to entrust it to a private company, giving a
liberal bonus. In New Brunswick there was much activity, all by
private companies. The western section of the European and North
American, from St John to the Maine boundary, was completed in 1869,
though it was not until 1871 that the road was opened through to
Portland--by a more circuitous route than Poor had originally planned.
From Fredericton a branch was built to meet this road, and a line to
Woodstock, which in turn was connected with the old New Brunswick and
Canada, still {103} pushing slowly north. In the meantime Prince
Edward Island was building a narrow-gauge railway nearly two hundred
miles long; in 1873 she was forced into Confederation to find aid in
paying for it.

All this varied activity was made possible by a revival of the policy
of provincial and municipal assistance. Whether from reasoned
conviction as to the indirect benefits of more roads, or because of the
log-rolling activities of rival towns and wily promoters, a systematic
and generous policy of aid was adopted. This aid came chiefly fr