The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-09-05
JUST BEYOND OUR
NORTHERN B0kA
Mr.. RchmOud's Third Paper on North
American Travel.

American Travel.
INCIDENTS OF THE HOMEWARD TRIP
Sketch of Manners and Customs Of
the People Of Victoria--Citizens
Noted for Hospitality and Sociabil-
ity-.A Glimpse of Other Cities OF
Note Along the Pacific Coast.
Written for The Tribune.
Vancouver, h. c.. Aug. 22-Ne one
should leave the western shores of cur
continent until they visit and become
thoroughly acquainted with Victoria
by the sea. While Vancouver is re-
sarded as the starting point OF tourists
eastward over the Canadian Pacific
railway Victoria is the chief city and
also capital of the province British
Columbia, being located some eighty
miles distant or six to seven hours sail
across the Strait of Georgia. Both Vic.
toria and Vancouver, named by Her
Majesty. have distinctive characteris-
tics. Victoria is thoroughly English
city and ancient in All IT'S manners
and customs, while Vancouver is the
active, progressive rival quite remind
full of New England. We visited Vic
torla the second time to learn more OF
its people and their customs. Life in
this city by the western ocean, with
itt, lit toll. F,,1I
easy. It's citizens are noted for their
sOciability and hospitality. There IS
much tea and tennis, beating and pic
niCking, dining and dancing, and mil
itary and naval uniforms brighten
such scenes and maintain the official
flavor" of society at this old provincial
capital. 1t is interesting to hear OF
the good old days wnen British Col
umbia was an independent colony and
Sir James Douglass (whose memory
they revere and whose monumental
magnificent granite shaft-stands
among the prominent attractions of
the city, who, together with the early
governors, reigned undisturbcd on this
remote coast. Victorians had great
pride in their city then but since the
province Joined the Dominion. its for
tunes have grown apace and the senti-
ment of the older residents has given
away to great satisfaction with its
wonderful later development and pros
perity since the completion of the Can
adan Pacific railway.
The city is almost hidden far with
in its rock trimmed and intricate har-
hot 4 bn ctotinn n ESnlifnl If
only declares itself by the mast heads
towering above the tree tops. Every
brave Briton feels pride in the war
ships, the ship yards, the dry dock,
foundries, work shops, store houses and
magazine supply at Esquimalt, the
naval station, that looks after British
interests on the Pacific Ocean from the
Dominion to Chill. While the harbor
at Esquimalt is commodious enough to
receive the largest vessels in the world,
the harbor of Victoria is not nor as
spacious as that of Vancouver. The
real harbor upon which the city fronts
| is broad basin, reached by such
narrow passage between tree-covered
points that larger steamers do not at
| tempt to enter it, but stop at the out
side wharf, at the extreme eastern
end of the city. SO intricate is this
inside harbor. with its many smaller
bays and arms that no tide table
has ever been made OFT for 1t, and
| that mystery of the moon and the sea
remains q riddle to scientist and marin
| er. On one arm of the harbor stands
| the old Hudson Bay company's store
houses, reminders OF the day when
| the earliest pioneers erected Their
| block houses and traded with the In
dians for pelts.
CLIMATE.
! The climate here is superb. The
warm Japan current, whose breath
melts the SHOWS along the faclfic
coast all the way from Southern AL
aska, makes the temperature here mia
all the year round. Southern Cal
| ifornia hardly shows more or
| beauty in city door yards than one
sees in both Victoria and Vancouver,
| where the rose, the honeysuckle and
the fuchsia in particular, astonlsh the
visitor by their wild iuXurianca. Even
ferns measuring eight to twelve fee'
| from root to tip, entangle themselves
along the roadside, affording every
drive a scene of wild beauty and Won
| der. The sportsman and the angler,
| foo find as much of delight in the sur
rounding country here as the botan-
| ist.
Southwark eight miles from Vancou-
Yer, along the north bank of the fras-
| or river. fifteen miles from its mouth
is the city of New Westminster. 1t
| has a population of S,00O 1t was the
former capitol of the province, large
commercial center and a rival of VAN
couver in many ways. 1t is the head
quarters of the salmon cannery indus
try where are a dozen of extensive es-
Establishments. Here too are numerous
saw mills the products being largely
shipped to China and Australia. The
city has many fine public buildings,
among them the Provincial peniten-
tiary and Insane asylum, conspicuous
| ly located.
1t is a fact worthy of note that in
our long trarscontipental journey
over the Canadian Pacific Railway.
we shall traverse the four largest
provinces of the Dominion, and in
addition, the districts of Assiniboria.
and Alberta, which are divisional
parts of this great northwest territory
all before reaching the maritime
provinces.
There is probably no country in the
world that can excel or that can vie
with the Dominion of Canada in the
attractions that 1t offers to the tour
list and traveller. 1t has been well de-
scribed ac a country of magnificent
| distances" and those distances sup
ply varieties of scenery and climate
almost sufficient to warrant enthusi-
astic Canadians. (ard the Canadians
are an enthusiastic peoplc) in de-
claring that we have all within our
selves. what more cen we want" and
the longer we travel over this great