The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1876-12-01
A LOOK UPON VANCOUVER.

ped on DOarQ bQe SIancu anu SdliouO
steamer Vancouver bound for the de-
lightful little city whose name she
bears.
Quite unlike in the matter of luggage !
isthe woman who journeys for pleasure,
and the woman who journeys on busi-
ness, and consequently in lieu of the
traditional trunk, band-box, basket, dog
and bundle, we bore only the bills of
our delinquent subscribers and comb
and brush in our side pocket, and an
"ambril" (which should have been blue
cotton, but wasn'D in our hand.
Everybody goes to Vancouver, and
everybody exclaims with delight at its
beautiful, slightly and romantic location
on the banks of the swelling Columbia
blue in song and summer, but muddy
in reality, and winter-as augmented by
melting SHOWS and fast falling rains she
sweeps in grandeur and majesty from
beyond the Cascade Mountains to the
mighty Pacific.
We were met at the wharf by Mrs.
Coffee, the estimable wife of the sheriff
of Clarke county, who conducted US to
her pleasant and we'll ordered home,
where most delightful evening was
spent. Passed the night at the house
of a gentle and womanly friend of wom-
an upon whose face and form a life
Of sunshine and shadow have left many
traces, and in the early morning, despite
the fast falling rain, sailed out in COM
pany with Mrs. Coffee upon our errand.
Vancouver is quiet and homelike, de-
} void of hustle and unused to change.
At least it's most loyal and contented
= denizens tell us that it has long been
: stationary as regards Improvements,
and to us it seems to have a staid and
permanent appearance which suggests
no thought of recent growth. The dis,
trict school, under charge of Mr.. John
Dillon, who but recently returned from
the East, together with a competent
= corps of lady assistants, has just closed 6
Y prosperous term. The public fund be.
S ing exhausted for the present schoo
: year, the public school will be discon
; tinued; the children will not, however
] be left to run at large, in pursuit o
8 mischief which, we are told, is always
. furnished to idle hands by his Satani,
: Majesty, as Mr.. Dillon has opened pri
o vate school in the district schOol-houst
}, with promise of large attendance. Jus
r now the good and progressive people o
S the little city are agitated over, or ar
r agitating the question, of establishing
y public library and reading-rooms. Th
b city has been divided into sections AM
e is being thoroughly canvassed for sub
n scriptions to the fund for the purpose
;; We did not learn the degree Of success
II with which the project was meeting
n but are assured that so worthy a schem
n for the mental improvement and growt
ID of all classes of citizens will not fail be
T. cause of the parsimony or ill-directe
lie economy of Vancouverites.
ol A call at the office of the IndepenC
ie ent revealed Brother Daniels, busy as
- :, bee, and happy as working Republ
- can has a right to be in Washingto
- Territory las well as in Oregon ju!
= lT now. His paper is indispensable to til
q" people of Vancouver, and is, we believ
well sustained by them. Whether a
the people are sensible and propressiN
enough to value and speak kindly
the NEW NORTHWEST and the cause
human rights which it seeks to advanc
70. or whether our good friend, knowing
of a novice in the business of canvassiI
m and collecting, escorted us only to the G
ey fees and habitations of this class, v
lv, ~, know not; certain it is that we receiv,
nd words of encouragement wherever '
ley went and number of new subscriptio
zen and renewals. Under these circumsta
aro ces it is to be supposed that our remer
branees of Vancouver will be excee
an ingly pleasant. We found in our pt
,ra ambulations about the town some who
oh we remember as friends in the haley
an days "when we were young" and sat
he rude benches in a Yamhill school-hou
yes parsing and transpOsing and analyzi
law under the erudite instructions of 10
u departed pedagogue the sentences a
tb- paragraphs in "SandeTs Fourth Res
nee er''-old edition; others with whom
me the shadowy past we had met and CHI
ex- ted for brief time and parted, and !
etv others who knew us only in name, |
all still gave US cordial greeting. Th,
,te. meetings break in upon the humdrI
,er- of Office and home life, which, wh
uld pursued with unvarying sameness
but weeks and months, become monotone
the and give for time as pleasing an
ted feet as a sip from the fabled fountain
r TO youth could do.
rtv Everywhere after the first greetil
and were over we were interrogated as
ous the probable time of Mrs. Duniway's
Re- turn, and the length of time that wo
use probably elapse thereafter before
and would visit Vancouver to deliver
pro- course of lectures. Our answers to th
,ad- questions were as lucid and conclus
ing as uncertainty could make them. st
ph, ping on board the "Oneonta" in the af
to noon, we returned to our office, 6