The Hawaiian gazette., 1893-09-26
FROM VICTORIA.
LETTER FROM MR. b. VI.
WHITNEY.
Description Of the Route and OF the
City of Victoria, b. c.
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS.


The Australian and Canadian Pacifi,
steamship Warrimoo arrived at Vie
toria, B. c., on Friday morning, Sep
tember Sth, at 6 O'Clock, seven day
and eight hours from Honolulu. Tht
distance between the two ports, ac
cording to the ships reckoning, i:
1852 miles, and the average speed OF
this trip was thirteen and one-thirC
miles an hour. The voyage was 8
smooth and pleasant one, as is gener
ally the case on this route in Septem.
Der, the weather mild for the first five
days, with light breezes from every
/ point of the compass, then northerly
winds and cold. AS a sea boat the
! Warrimoo possesses good qualities,
with very little pitch or rolling, but
/ she was evidently not built for service
! in the tropics, as some of her state
rooms amidships are uncomfortably
warm and noisy, and not suited for
invalids. Her staterooms are all be-
tween decks. The agents in Homo
. luAu a R4<Ah vi IA4C
so that intending passengers may
knowingly examine the rooms where
| they are to be located.
The vessels of this line touch
first at Victoria, B. c., where they
land passengers and freight des-
tined for this place, which
causes a detention of from six
to ten hours, as most of the freight
600 tons on this trips, for Victoria.
She then proceeds on to Burrard's in
let, where the town of Vancouver is
located, eighty miles distant, to the
northward and on the mainland,
while Victoria is on the large island
of Vancouver. Nanaimo, the coaling
port, which supplies part of the coal
sent to Honolulu, is on the north side
of this island. The town of Van
couver was selected as the most eligi-
BILE location for the western terminus
of the Canadian Pacific railroad, and
is destined to become an important
rival to Victoria, on account of its
being a railroad terminus and the
starting point of the various trans
Pacific steamship lines of the Cana
dian railroad company.
Victoria is city of about 5000 in
habitants, and is located on the south
eastern end of Vancouver Island. 1t
possesses a capacious land-locked har-
Dor, with ample wharves, at which
large vessels can load and discharge.
1t was formerly fort and the station
of the Hudson Bay Company, but
during the gold excitement of 1S50-6O,
a considerable population was at
tracted to it, and it became a center
for supplying the wants of the miners
and other adventures who fiocked
there. During the past few years,
very extensive wharves have been
built in the outer harbor by Mr.. r.
p. Rithet, who is the head of the we'll
known firms of Welch d Co. of San
Francisco, and r. P. Rithet & Co. of
Victoria, aud for whom the fine bark
of the same name is called, now ply
ing between San Francisco and Homo
lulu. SIr. r. is also Hawaiian con-
sui at Victoria, and is evidently
ranked among the foremost of its
enterprising citizens.
Its streets are broad and handsome,
and were laid out at the date of its
origin for beauty as we'll as conve-
nience of trade. They are lined with
fine brick and stone buildings, which
give the city look of permanancy as
also of wealth. Among these are the
board of trade building, Williams
book establishment, Priors hardware,
the banks OF Montreal and British
Columbia, Land and Investment Co.,
the Jewell block, Wilson block, Vic
torian theatre, Dried hotel, City hall,
court house and others.
Many of the residences, too, are
very attractive, being built on spaei-
Gus grounds and in the latest style of
modern architecture. Dwellings are
always taken as the truest evidences
of the taste and prosperity of the |
citizens, and in this respect Victoria |
will compare with any city of its size |
in America. One of the best evidences
OF the wealth of the city is the fact |
that nine tenths of the dwellings are |
said to be owned by their occupants. |
The assessed valuation of the personal |
and real property of Victoria is over |
$50, 100000, making it, as has been
claimed, the wealthiest city of its size |
on the American continent.
The city possesses an admirable |
electric tramway, with about twenty /
cars, which run through all the prin- /
cipal streets to a distance of five or six
miles from the water front. Tt is also
lighted with electricity from over 1000
incandeseent and arc lights.
The weather, however, is decidedly
cold, the thermometer dropping some
winters as low as 100 above zero, while
the mean average for summer is given
at from 70S to S0'. The average rain
fall is stated as % to 80 inches, very
little of this falling in the summer
months.
| have not seen the commercial
of British Columbia for 1892.
but it is evident that there has been a
steady and rapid increase since the
opening of the China trade via Van
couver, and the returns for the current
year will probably be a surprise to
everyone, as showing how much trade
has been diverted from the San Fran
cisco route.
II. II. w.
Victoria, B. c., September, 1898.
1