The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1898-08-18
The Republican Journal, Thursday, August 10, 1898

! P"'e'' oeieetS OF Slue"aihS, anu a. tHC
street corners old cannon were planted,
muzzle up, another sight that greatly in
terested me- When the time came for de-
parture | took passage on the propeller
Eastern State, which had formerly been
on the Boston and Bangor route, and had
she not been an excellent sea boat that
would have been my last as well as my
hTst visit t. Halifax. 1t is not worth
Whlle to tell the story now. No one on
board expected to see land again, but we
weathered the gale, and, leaking and dis
eventually reached Boston.
Halifax has changed since then, of
course. Fires have swept away many of
the old wooden buildings and they have
been replaced by substantial structures of
brick and stone The suburbs have grown
up; but to a certain extent at the ex-
pense of the older parts of the city, where
signs of ''For Sale and ''To Lett are
frequent. Modern dwellings are sand
wiched in with those of earlier days; and
as to the latter the casual visitor should
not make the mistake of Judging by the
| outward appearance. Many of these IN
pretentious, dingy looking dwellings are
inhabited by people of wealth and taste,
and the interiors are richly furnished and
finely adorned. There are good paint
lngs on the walls, fine libraries, and we'll
stocked wine cellars.
Sam Slick was pretty hard on the peo-
| pie of Halifax. aud said of them, half a
century ago, in 1.-The Clockmaker'
These critters feel no interest in any
thing but cent, per cent: they deaden
public spirit; they han't got none them
selves, and they larf at it in others; and
when you ada their numbers to the timid
ones, the stingy ones, the ignorant ones.
and the poor ones that are to be found in
every place, why the few smart spirited
ones that's left are too few to do any
thing, and 50 nothn' is done"
That is severe: but whether true OF not
as to Halifax then, it would apply in a
certain degree to many places day
| That the Halligonians take life easier
| than do Americans is undoubtedly true
and in the sense OF not wasting their ener-
gies in directions that often prove fruit
less they may be accused of want of en-
terprise. Yet great fortunes have been
made here, and people have lived in com
fort on what would seem to us pittance
| The modern conveniences introduced in
these later Years are mainly due to Amer
lean capital add enterprise; but many Of
the great railroads ID this country were
built by English capital, and there is a
tendency everywhere among capitalists to
seek foreign investments rather than
those at home. Thus while the habits
and customs Of our cousins are different
| from our own we can hardly accuse them
of lack of enterprise, even if the material
for their first stone buildings was brought
from Scotland and they imported brick
from Bangor with an abundance of brick
clay at the waters edge i'll Halifax har-
| Dor.
As the principal sea port of the Prov
ince Nova Scotia formerly had large
trade with the West Indies and South
America. The vessels which went to the
| West Indies We're mainly brigantineS of
about two hundred tons, very service
able craft. These vessels We're all built at
the outports, but fitted out from Halifax
| The ships We're mainly built at Hantsport,
| kingsport and Yarmouth, the two former
ports on the Bay of Fundy: and the small
er craft, including fishermen, at Shell
/ fleet was employed in the Grand Banks
and other fisheries. But the Nova Scotia
shipping interests have suffered as have
our own with the changed conditions
/ Our Democratic friends tell US that the
Republican protective tariffs have reduc-
ed our shipping; but we found Just the
same situation over the border. There as
/ here steam has taken the place of sail, and
one tramp steamer does the work Of half
a dozen Of the old-tme sailing craft
But truce to "reminiscences, while we
say a good word for the Halifax Hotel
i and let it be understood that this is not a
mere perfunctory return for courtesies
| The Halifax has all the modern convent =
ences, and is up-to-date in its appoint
ments; but that may be said of many
hotels. Further than that, everybody
connected with the Halifax, from the pro
! prietor to the elevator boy, seemed to take
personal interest in our party and to
strive to make our sojourn pleasant
Whether this was due to the handsome
badges worn by most of the excursionists.
on which the Stars and Stripes and the
British ensign were emblazoned side By
side, or merely the usual courtesy ex :
tended to all tourists, we cannot say: but
it was very pleasant to the men and
women from Maine, and they will ever
hold the Halifax in grateful remembrance
/ Our first meal in the hotel was partalSen
of at p. M, standard time, p IN. Hal
flax time, and it proved to be dinner, the
second for the party that day. But moth