East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-01-19

Victoria, b. c., Jan. 15.-(To the
East Oregonian.) "A very pleasant |
sail of four hours among the islands
and over the smooth waters of the |
Straits of Georgia brings the voyag- |
er to Victoria. the legislative capital |
OF British Columbia. and the chief !
town Of Vancouver Island, with a |
population of about $4,000 people. !
Victoria dates its existence back to |
about 90 years ago. when a benevo- |
/ lent corporation known as the Hud- |
son Bay company, established a trad |
ing post here, and added to their |
revenues materially with the proceeds |
of the abundance of game found in !
the woods of this island and the
mainland adjoining
The discovery of gold in the Carl !
boo district of British Columbia |
brought here the motley population !
which that metal is always able to
summon from all corners of the earth
and the trading post was suddenly
transformed into the populous city
or camp of 10000 people. A tenn ,
porary shifting population to be sure,
dwelling in tents mostly because
houses could not be built quickly
enough to meet the demands of the
tenants and the very temperate eli
mate found here did not call for very
( solid dwelling places anyway.
/ The collapse of the mining boom
I l,f
/ ing post, with however. a materially
/ increased population. because num-
/ bers of the people who came here
and invested their little capital i'm
holes in the ground from which the
elusive metal refused to be extracted,
were stranded, and remained here
for the very good reason that they
| could not get away, to eke out pre-
! carious existence hunting. trapping,
| fishing and farming, because it soon
! developed that the benevolent cor
poration before mentioned. the Hud-
son Bay company had been doing
their best to verify the assertion of
the psalmist when he said in his
wrath, "Al men are liars" To protect
| their own interests these worthless
had steadily fostered the idea that
the country was barren and useless
for anything but game. when in real
ity parts of it proved to be among
the garden spots of the earth grow
ing almost anything that was put in
the ground and in the museum here.
is found a collection of grains,
grasses, fruits and vegetables not to
be despised by the agriculturist from
any cline on earth.
Victoria has long been one of the
outposts of the British empire, one of
the places where the morning drum
beat" is heard, following the sun on
its march around the world. A gar
rison and naval station with usually
one or two men-of-war in the harbor
is maintained here, the latter is to be
abandoned in the near future; a fact
which the Victorians are inclined to
take as a personal grievance against
the empire. They are building their
/ hopes. however, on the Dominion gov
eminent taking up the burden which
the empire is laying down, and it
would seem likely that something of
the kind may be done, as there is
and immense sums have been spent
and still others planned to be spent
| in fortificatiops and defensive works.
and as Canada never has contributed
anything to the maintenance of the
British navy although claiming to be
her most important colony, and shar-
ing in its benefits, it seems reasona-
BILE that she should bear the expense
of her own stations.
Victoria has a railway running 100
! miles or so north to the coal mines
and into the woods, and Northern
| Pacific. Great Northern and Canadian
Pacific trains are ferried from the
mainland to unload in the city.
Quite large sealing fleet are in
winter quarters here. refitting for
their cruise in northern waters next
spring. At the ocean dock, sea-going
vessels find a safe anchorage and
make their last call on their departure
| for and their arrival from a trip
across the sea. On the waterfront.
at the shipyards. fishing vessels are
being built, and big sawmills are con-
vertng Vancouver island timber into
| lumber and big square timber for
shipment to various parts of the
| world.
On the James Bay flats, recently
reclaimed from tidewater, the c. p.
r. is building one of that company's
! famous tourist hotels. Just across the
way is the parliament building.
massive stone pile of impressive eff
| feet and architectural skill Beacon
| Hill park, and Oak Bay, with its two
miles of sandy beach, furnish pleas
ure grounds where the Victorians, or
4 the traveller who finds his way here,
can while away a very pleasant holi-
! day. All these prove that Victoria
/ has emerged very successfully from
her trading post and mining camp
days, and taken her place as one of
the pleasant abiding places of the
earth. C. f. MCCLELLAN.
Spoiled Her Beauty.
Harriet Howard, at one time had
her beauty spoiled with skin trouble.
C-t.. a1t mr.