Evening star., 1923-07-28
VANCOUVER BOASTS
SECOND BEST PORT.
City Harding Visits on Re-
tlirn From Alaska Is Ameri-'
/ .!can in Mood and Design.

Vancouver, where President Hard
ing will be one of the few Presidents
tog,tpay a friendly visit beyond the
borders of the United States, has one
of the half dozen safest and most COM
modious harbors in the world, says
bulletin from the National Geographic
Society.
Indeed, the Vancouver citizen will
tell you that it is the second finest
harbor in the world" generously
leaving you to pick the first for your
self. Shipping news of Vancouver
often is shipping history as when.
recently. the Empress of Canada cut
down the trans-Pacif1c running time
to a new low record, and her crew
was feted by the city for their per-
The Vancouver enthusiast pro-
claims his city "American"-and 1t
is just that in respect to enterprise.
zest and civic spirit. In loyalty,
though, 1t is extremely Canadian and
1t typif1es the spirit of modern Can
ada as vividly as our own Kansas
City, St. Louis and Omaha represent
our vigorous Mississippi Missouri
valley.
X Rivalry of Two Cities.
Vancouver is five hours from Vic
toria by boat; but the two are hve
centuries apart In some of their GUS
toms. Their feeling toward each
are too different for that. Victoria re-
CARDS Vancouver as growing boy,
exuberant, spirited and bit too
flushed with his own achievements;
Vancouver looks upon Victoria with
the respect and tolerance one bestows
upon gentle maiden aunt who Is
bit. old fashioned. Victoria is frankly
Victorian; Vancouver is aggressively
modern.
Vancouver considers her CONNER
cial rival the third city of this un-
usual water-bound civic triangle,
which is Seattle. She tries to con-
vince the thousands of summer tour
lists, the great majority from the
States" that she has sights to offer as
well as Victoria: and she seeks to
show the business man that she af-
fords the best shipping facilities north
of San Francisco.
Vancouver has her troubles with
nomenclature. as has San Francisco.
when you say Vancouver you mean
the city, is the gist of the idea she
seeks to impart: II you speak of
have. you. as would the Victorians,
simply say the island" 1t troubles
Vancouver a bit to have the capital
city of British Columbia located on
the island" but occasional sngges-
tions of a change have never been
taken seriously.
Made by n Railroad.
A railroad made Vancouver. Any
one who spins across prairies and
mountains on an express from Mon
treal or Toronto to Vancouver must
marvel at the vision and skill of the
men who ''bridged two oceans and
linked four continents"
With all the comforts of your club,
you are whiSked among snow-capped
and unclimbed mountains. across
"a 6xya- mi Ia
tunnel, and If you would stop over
to see some world-famed natural
beauty spot, such as peak-dotted
Banff or azure and altitudinous Lake
hotel and even has thoughtfulIy pro-
Vded ponies for your children to ride.
At your continental trairs-end,
vancouver, as in other cities, you en-
counter another nation building cor
roration, the. Hudsons Bay Com
rany. For that historic company
" hich still trades supplies for furs
v ith the remote Esquimos at ice
bound ports now operates a chain Of
department. stores where tweeds. golf
balls. earrings and a thousand ultra
modern articles are stocked.
Park Is Renowned.
Vancouver's Stanley Park, with its
giant cedars and frs, is renowned
and its lure attracts the sea-borne
visitor he passes the 'hrst mar
rows" of the city's harbor. The city
has preserved it's trees and flowers.
though they occupy a peninsular
waterfront site where real estate is
1T a premium.
Its clean streets, new office build
ingS, modern apartments, brisk traf-
fic, all are a part of it's modernism
Its distinctive recreation facility is
its English bathing beach, where, un-
til few years ago, the women kept
pretty much to one end of the beach
and men to the other. That time has
passed. But the custom OF wearing
ones bathing robe to the edge Of the
water survives; and when 1t is re-
moved it would seem that the actual
swimming costume is meant, from its
brevity, for swimming. 1t Is not
voluminous enough to hamper the
swimmer There Is no parading the
beach in these costumes. One goes
to the English bathing beach to get
In the water.