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BRITISH COLUMBIA—I.
THE HONGKONG WEEKIL PRESS AND
October 3, 100.
Seattle is one of the most curious pheno- | Government is putting up a mena of the place which the most careless | structure as a post office ; new La of travellers can scarcely atoid noticing; are also being built in the same ma almost everything in Vancouver, in fact, and some of the banks have recently depends directly or ultimately on the great substantial stone and brick buildings, » railway company, which of course has been of which bave pretentions to architectur the making of the place; dad for good or design. Fire-proof structures are also evil dominates the whole, from the City ing introduced to some extent, but on the, Council down to the conductor of the whole the city is but in its merely prepare tramcar. The power of the railway is, in tory stage, and will require entire rebuilding: fact, a more tangible affar than that of the within the next twenty-five years. What Government, who rather than risk a quarrel the share-broker is in Shanghai the real. will submit to almost any demand of the estate agent is in Vaucouver. Their name. Company, So far Vancouver could not have is legion; eved on the extreme verge of the got on without. the C. P R., but it is clearings, where the burning stampe have uncertain whether a little more self-reliance barely had time to cool, the Real Estate would not now prove advantageous for the man fixes up a few planks, and announces future growth of the place, which seems to properties for sale; everyone who has be kept somewhat unduly in leading strings. not learnt Some twenty years ago the city was only a pleasant little town of some eighteen thousand inhabitants. Curiously enough, the Railway had always given but that it was going to have its terminus at Port Moody, some twelve miles higher up the Inlet, and it seems the Government had actually sold much of the ground there on some such understanding; but Port Moody wanted some of the first essentials of a port; it was small and restricted, and the water shallow, and would have required constant dredging. Under the circumstances the Railway Company wisely decided to go but the Government had to further, reimburse some of the parchasers of land for the fall in value of their holdings. As a port Vancouver leaves little to be desired, but it may be a question from a sanitary of view whether it would not poiat
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(Daily Press, September 28th.) A Visit to British Columbia after an absence of some aighteen years affords much room for reflection. As was foreseen by those acquainted with the country, the province has turned out one of the richest, if not actually the richest in the Dominion, and this, whether we take into account its agricultural of its mineral wealth; the population, too, has steadily increased, and the towns, especially Victoria, the Provincial Capital, and Vancouver, the commercial metropolis, from being respectable quiet towns, of some eighteen and twenty-five thousand in- habitants, have already grown into great centres of population, Vancouver especially being now a great city, with a population approaching a hundred thousand. Bebind, in the Fraser River valley, where the ground is suitable for settlement, agriculture has made considerable strides, and the country with its well-laid-out roads, its fruit orobards, its dairy farms, and its hop gardens, is beginning to assume a settled aspect, reminding one distantly of a farming country at home. In the east, in the Kootenay districts and along the upper Columbia river, mining enterprise has made huge advances, and financially the Province is rich, and unencumbered. Great attention has of late years been paid to education, which is free, and absolute illiteracy can hardly be said to exist, all classes, as a rule supporting the State Schools, with little discrimination as to wealth or social status, which ostensibly are presumed to be able to take care of themselves. Very similar conditions prevail over Oregon and Wash ington State which do not fall behind
indication that with the further British Columbia in productiveness, so that with the increasing trans-oceanic trade of growth of the city there will be considerable the Pacific, which may be said to be one of difficulty in the disposal of its sewage, the the most conspicuous features of the newly idal currents in the completely land-locked. opened century, it is not wonderful that the Burrard's Inlet being extremely weak. Otherwise Vancouver may be said to be a Pacido Slope of America should provide a site for many great, and growing cities; model site for a great city. The ground is so that to the former "Western Gate" of gently undulating, no part rising more than San Francisco, we should now have to add, about fifty or sixty feet, and there being no Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, Vancouver, steep gradients t› overcome. It is curiously Victoria already out of their teens:- intersected by another shallow bay known besides many smaller, but yet important as False Creek, but in the course of events towwns already looming in the near future. this is already becoming filled up, and the Indeed one, which is certain in a few years upper part has recently been acquired as a terminus for the Great Northern Railway, to be amongst the greatest, if not as some of its sanguine promoters hope, the vary which will bring the city into direct railway greatest city on the entire Pacific coast, is communication with Seattle and the Ameri- as yet but a few months old, the infant can coast ports to the South. The City is city of Prince Rupert. With one of the fairly well policed, and the City Council seems finest harbours in the world, and, as to administer its part with judgment and in the course of the next few years
fair economy. Many of the streets are not it will be, connected by the shortest and yet graded, hut work is progressing fairly most easily traversed line of railway possible satisfactorily. The streets are wide, are well with the great cities of Eastern Canada and laid out, and those that are completed are the great wheat lands of Saskatchewan well macadamised and in a few cases con- and Manitoba, as well as the eastern ship-creted or paved with plocks. The tram- ping ports, Prince Rupert starts with an roads are laid on wood sleepers, but are well assured fature, and from the recent acti on ¦ laid, of standard guage, and the cars are of the Canadian Government there is no
room for doubt that everything will be done that is possible to help it to get over those difficulties that are incidental to the youth, as well of cities as of individuals." This however, is for the immediate future; more immediately interesting and instructive as a thing already well in progress is the advance made by the twin cities on Puge Sound, Vancouver and Seattle. In many respects one is a counterpart of the other Vancouver the direct outcome of the great Canadian Pacific Railway, and Seattle the rling of the Great United States lines of forthern Pacific and the Great Northern ilways
have heen wiser to have gone further out sea. At all events there is already to
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trade, or has proved a failure thinks himself good enough as an estate agent, and custom encourages gambling in such securities. It is a necessary calling doubtless, and there are many Real Estate agents who do a good business, and bear a high character; for the majority it is only other name for chuckstones, and it is a pity that the lives of so many should be so utterly wasted, for large numbers of the are really withdrawn from inhabitants wholesome pursuits to become little better than wasters, without a prospect of ever becoming us ful citizens. But we have said bough to tax the patience of our readers for a single day.
THE CRISIS IN LANCASHIRE.
(Daily Press, September 29th.) The extract quoted by our London corres- pondent from a Birmingham paper with regard to recent Japanes purchases of co ton mill machinery, and to the progress which the Japanese are making in textile manufactures, sounda strangely at a time when we are hearing of the grave trade crisis in Lucashire which has been brought about by
the generally unsatisfactory state of the The reason given trade for months past. by the Lancashire mill owners for reducing the wages of the operatives was that little business is doing, and even when orders are booked "they do not yield anything ap- prosching a reasonable proft." The attempt to improve matters by organising short time working and the consequent curtailment of yarn production had proved insufficent and some reduction in wages was considered by the millowners as inevitable
if mills were not to shut down for a time or While all this continue working at a loss. was being said and written about the statea of the cotton trade in England, the British machinery makers were, apparently.busy fill- inglarge orders for mills in Japan. Yet we do not gather from Japan that the cotton spinu. ing industry there is in a flourishing con dition. On the contrary, the mills controlled by the Cotton Spinners' Union are working short time in order to avoid overproduction, well constructed, well kept, and are open
and although the output is being reduced and comfortable. Practically it may be by something like 150,000 bales a year, they said they monopolise the whole of the street
are still experiencing so much difficulty in traffic, for cibs of any sort can hardly be getting the restricted output taken off the & suggestion is already said to exist, so that there is no alternative market that beyond walking, and carrying one's own made that the agreement restricting the baggage, or going by tram. With regard output, which has been in force since April to buildings, the city is still in its initiatory shall, when it expires in November, be redowed for another six months. The stage, and nearly all the buildings are wood or mere flimsies. This is, of course, a con- complaints of the millowners in Japan hay tinual source of danger, though the fire elicited recently some interesting commen brigade is efficient, and, considering the by independent critics. A Bank Presiden extremely dangerous conditions, fires are for example, says that the mills ind rare and seldom do much damage. Still, as
are not run with 143 regard to econom yet there has been no whole-hearted attempt an 1 if the present depression servei t made to introduce better conditions. The their attention to this fact-it will first beginnings of belter things are only says, a blessing in disguise.50
The speaker had in mind
aw the enormous influence exercised by these two railways respectively in Vancouver and I just commencing to be noticeable.
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