West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1900-12-06
UNDER TWO FLAGS.
Notes and Comments on Visit to
the Queens Land.
A Few Incidents Connected With n
usTrip 10 'Aunt Peggy's Domain"

~ FEW months ago, after due considera-
~ tion. much deliberaiion and stern
- contemplation on the great reputa-
,ion possessed in the nation, l made the
calculation that owed it to said nation to
take long vacation. So, feeling that toll
IS honorable but also exhausting. and tha,
unless soon took a sojurn to some different
earthly cline. my name ere long would be
cut into an epitaph and my briilian, career
ended, and given through ticket to the
Great Beyond, of which we know so little.
and are no, wildly anxious to discover more
by personal exploration therefore, packing
my goods, chattels and effects, the appur-
tances and hereditaments ,hereunto apper-
tanning irto bandboS snd filing the
places with pork sandwiches, in the pale
gray of Juue morning, when the moon was
waning asd the stars fading out Of the sky,
| boarded car aud rolled northward. Two
days later, for the frs, time since my infant
feet had first trod tAe sacred soil of the Re
public, was back in my native land, the
land of The .'Maple Leaf, where floats the
bars aud crosses Of the Union Jack
The end of my journey was Nelson, one
of the preitiesi, most progressive towns in
West Kootenny. more picturesque loca-
tion than this socaled 'sZeuith City Of the
Unsettled Seas, would be hard to find.
There are mountains to the right of /, !;
mountains TO eft of il mountains in front
OF it mountains behind il. These are not
| hills, but f,ill-grown adult mountains and
as my unaccustomed eyes followed this
awful activity far away up into the remote
skies, 1t seemed that all l had ever seen of
sublmiiy and magnitude paled into signih-
| cance. Nelson needs no artificial adorn-
men,. As the poet sings, Touched with
light that hath no name, glory never sung,
| alof, on sky and mountain wall are Gods
great pictures hung" Occasional puds of
smoke far up on these heights, marking the
location of many mines as the "Veniee," >"
"Athabasca," "Molly Gibson" 'Silver
King" ETC., give proof that these mountains
are useful as well as ornamental, they
aboundd in gold, silver, lead and copper ore
the Northwest.
One thing about the town which FIRST inn
pressed my presumably vacant brain. was
the artistic houses and beautiful dooryards.
This is, | think, a characteristic of most
British Columbia towns However small
the house, whether .owned or rented, the
house and the place in front was utilized to
the very best advantage. No cows paradcd
the streets, the pigs also languished in soli-
tary confinement; flowers bloomed every
where, vines clambered over the windows,
and beauty reigned supreme. This is food
for philosophical reflection. bu, no, being a
philosopher, will simply chronicle and not
reflect.
The Canadians admire all Americans
worthy of the name. On Dominion Day
there was liberal sprinkling Of American
flags among the Canadian, English, Scotch,
IRISH and Welch ones with which the city
was literally covered and everywhere the
Union Jack and the Stars aud Stripes fu,-
tered side by side. In the opera house is a
continual decoration of alternate American
and Canadian flags around the stage and
everywhere is expressed an eztreme frendli.
ness for Yanks and Yankeedom.
They are intensely loyal to the "Land of
the Maple Leaf" and also to the mother
country. Their bands play "God Save the
Queen" ''God Bless the Prince of Wales"
and "Soldiers Of the .tuees," etc, oftener
than ours play 'The S,Ar Spangled Banner, .
and they certainly say '1Ier Majesty, the
| Queen, God Bless Herr ofiener than we
allude TO our president in that kindly
manner.
An amusing incident amusing to me at
leasl--occnrred one morning in the Presby-
terian church. The pastors Of their Presby
terian churches are generally Seotchmen,
and this particular one was Scot straight
from the old sod. bni who lately son Scot
lands sunny hills bad stood mid the
swecibrier and the heather" aud his
brogue was considerably broader than his
religious views. Ills sermon was longer
than jobs iribulations and about as inter
es,ing as the multiplication table set to
music. AZ last he commenced on the closing
exhoItation he prayed, "God save our
soldiers who are fighting the Empires bat.
ties in foreign lands; God save our pro-
yncia authorities and our legislature God
save Parliament and Joe Chamberlain God
save our homes. our free institutions, etc,
and electra, until he had asked God to ssye
everything his vocabulary contained, but
he recklessly started oyt with "God save
God save" and to save his sweet existence,
he couldn't think Of another thing to ask
God 10 save then a brilliant inspiration
struck him foreibly and he tnumphantly
shouted, "God save the Queen - Her
Majesty was providenhal being to him
that time, for # il hadn't been for her he
would have had to quit or said, "God save
any other old thing that strikes your fancy. -
Canadians pay no more attention to rauk.
station and descent than We Americans no,
as much as some Of our country women.
But once in a while you run across some Of
the supcrsquiriical aristocracy from England
who have ''Onoe in afiuencc, nov reduced, %
written sll over them, and with them birth
and lineage is religion. They trace their
ancestry back to the first tadpols who loafed
his life away on The tropical forests Of old.
and 50 consider themselves decoration 10
the earth. In The Office adjoining the office
where was for time employed, was an
English Choiiy, who sported cane con.
siderably larger than bis arm, wore a single
| eyeglass, and in all manners and ways vas