FLOATING TOWNS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22820, 30 August 1937, Page 6

FLOATING TOWNS

PACIFIC COAST families of loggers ANCHORED TO THE SHORE [FROM OUB OWN COHItESPOXDEXTI VANCOUVER, August 4 On the Pacific Coast, in British Columbia, a score of small towns and settlements are built on floating logs. Such a settlement is Simoon Sound, comprising post office, general store and school, besides the dwellings. The problem of the safety of children is solved by themselves. From their infancy they are taught to realise the danger aurronnding their daily lives. They learn to swim at an early age. Should a child fall into the waters of the sound, his comrades do not run for assistance; the older ones take to the water and support him, while the clamour set up by the. others quickly brings help. No lives have been lost in many years of log-boom settlement. A pioneer settler, Airs. H. J. Mann, wife of a logging contractor, has three children, and boards three others. All six have fallon into this arm of the Pacific when they were small. Self-reliant Children In some "floathouse" settlements lifebelts are issued to all children. Mrs. Mann does not believe in the practice, because children will not become so selfreliant if they know that such aids to safety are at hand. The homes are modern, with hot and cold water and sewerage. The floating settlement is always anchored to the shore in the vicinity of a river, creek or spring. Houses are not of the lo« cabin type nowadays. Some are built of "shakes," split from cedar logs and attractively painted, the interiors finished with dressed and polished timber Brightened by Gardens Surrounded by nature's flawless beauty, in snow-capped fjords, the.v are brightened by gardens, ablaze with rhododendron, hydrangea, sweet p«»a and lily. All spare "land" on the log boom -is given over to flowers, vegetables and a playground for children. One can get a permanent wave on a floathouse. A hairdresser travels on the store boat from Vancouver, which calls four times a year, bringing a full stock of women's apparel of the latest fashions. Prices compare favourably with city shopping. Dances are held regularly. Guests come from a distance of 30 miles by water. They hold their dances in thp bunkhouse, accommodating 125 dancers. At one dance recently the children raised £lO for the Queen Mary solarium. The Church does not neglect them. Anglicans attend service on the Columbia Coast mission ship, which calls every fortnight. Catholic and United Church pastors hold regular services. No One on Belief "We drift to the city periodically for the advantages of civilisation, but we are glad to return to our floating homes," said Mrs. Manu. "We get mail.once a week from the regular coastwise steamer service. We are within six miles of .telephone and wireless station. There is a radio-telephone 12 miles distant.

"I hare a busy life, cooking for 15 persons and caring for six children, but I find time for bridge and other social diversions. I have lived 14 years in floathouses. We did not feel the effects of the depression. We have no one 011 relief, no crime, 110 locks on our doors."