VANCOUVER AND THE KLONDYKE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2320, 18 August 1898, Page 54

VANCOUVER AND THE KLONDYKE.

By W. liriluTciir<soN, Author of "Life in JFioirtlaH'l, I'C

Honolulu— Fogs on American Coast—Shipping Facilities of B.C.— Victoria (8.C.) and Vancouver island— Esquunault— Vancouver City and the Gold FeverDogs for Sleighing. Honolulu is full of interest to the traveller, and the Hawaiian Archipelago one of tho most remarkable groups in the Pacific Ocean. Endowed with a diy equable climate, which soldoio vanes lOdeg winter and biiniitier. and with a soil so prolific that a Islt square "taro" patch will pupport a family all the yen icund, it « \entably :i land of "perpetual summer and eternal spring.' wheio fruits hang by the wayside, and the oiauge ami the fig Iree, tho lemon and the citron tiee flourish like the wild row. while flowers and shiubs of eiery description liot in luxuriant, loneliness. Conspicuous among all else is the wonderful bougainvillia, a magnificent blaze of colour 15ft to 20fl high. Singular lo relale, however. " the exuberant floral wealth .of Hawaii is almost entirely due to importations from other lands ilie mdigenous flowers and bhrubs, like the natives themselves, are gradually being exterminated, while plants from other lands grow and flourub with amazing ugour. As a result of the div equable climate the population live mostly out of doors, and perhaps the most, striking feature of Honolulu is the abundance of life seen everywhere In the oveninug especially the suburban streets and lanes simply swarm with frolicking children, while groups of their elders sit by wide-open doors and windows or stream along the ioolpaths. Life bubbles up everywhere, and the friend who kindly Placed himself and his carnage Hi our disposal remarked as we drove thiough the suburbs that he lived m constant dread of driving over the swaimina juveniles who tumbled aerow our path at every turn. The run trom Honolulu to \icto ia, 8.0.. occupies about eight clays, and as the course lie, Almost due north, a couple of days sees . perceptible Ml in the thermometer; t*c days more and the light and airy coctumes of the tropics are being replaced by fins and overcoats, while the morning rush tor the bafh oon»; dwindles down to the cup am who somehow is impervious lo heat or cold, sloim or shine, always presenting the same cal m unruffled front, always equal to any and every omerßonev. The near approach to the coast i, henflded by fogs so dense that the foghorn is in constant requicition. Bowling iloiiK at 13 knots over a wintry *ea m a henv? fog .s an "eerie" sort, of business at btt Wkeu one begins to lose sight of the bowsprit m the mist, or watches Hie figures ot tlie "fo.N-1 ' grow dim and flit about Ike Bhadowy spectre, in the gloom, and speculates oi tho meeting of anothei vessel with his II is apt to conclude with the AmenSi philosopher, Mr Billings, that there are really no sre.it "pints" about a fog alto. perhaps what concerned us landsmen most was the dread lest m ihe fog oui gooo enptam should miss the American Continent Xgether Durins daylight or good moon light it is quite sufficient strain upon a Lands man's iaitli to trust implicitly to ihc isnloi finding his way acioss the pathless wa ers. but when it comes to impenetrable fogs which day after day shut out sky auci sea as with .v wall he feels that the whole thing is a risky business, and duly compels him to remon sirate with some one in authority— generally the cabin boy oi bedroom steward, nowcvei we not only found America, but. what seemed passing strange to us, we nrnt sa\> tho particular point of land and at the parlicu lar houi named by the captain on the pi-eviou. day Till then we had ne\cr realised tlu colossal ignorance of landsmen. r lhe true story of the finding of Anienca has already been written, it was contributed by a High School boy not very lon« ago, and ran thus : —

" Columbus was a man who could make an egg stand on end without breaking it Ihe King of Spain said to Columbus, Can you discover AmancaV ' Yes,' said Columbus, 'if you give mo a ship. 1 So lie had a ship, and sailed over the sea ill the direction vvheie he thought America ought to be found. Ihe sailor 3 quarrelled, aud said they believed there was no such place. But after many days the pilot came to hmi and said, ' Columbus, 1 see land.' ' Then that is America, 1 said Columbus. When the ship got near the land was hill of bl?«k men. Columbus said. ' Is tins America 'Yes, it is/ said they. Then he said, ' 1 suppose you are the ruggers?" ' Yes," they said, •we are.' The chief said, ' 1 suppose you Pie Columbus? 1 " You are right,' said he. Then the chief turned to his men and said. ' There is no help foi it — we are discovered at last.'

As may be Been ti-om the map. along th entire coast-line of B. C. lies a network ol splendid sounds and channels. These sheltered waterways, extending from Puget Sound tc Alaska, 1000 miles or more, afford unsurpas ued facilities for shipping of all kinds. The trade hitherto has been principally lumber, but evneo the Klonclyke rush set in, an^ im mense transport trade has sprung up. Fron. San Francisco in the south to Port Wrange. in the north, where the overland trail to the goldfields begins, there is hardly a craft that can sail or steam not under charter. So groat is the demand foi sea bottoms thai while we lay at Vancouver an old battered ana dismantled hiuk. used for many years foi mere storage purposes at the wharf, wa? chartered at a high figure and towed off ful to the brim of Klondyke goods and chattels. Steamers for the Klondyke leave or call at Victoria nearly every clay, those from Seattle and 'Frisco being often r'o full no additional papsengerp can be taken in. At the time oi mv vi .'., between 2000 and 3000 were leaving every week, and later on I suppose the living, Ptieani must have nearly doubled. A 'Friscc boat came alongside as we lay at the Victoria wharf, and the crowd of " Klondykers " was something to remember. All classes were re presented, not a few adventurous femalet helping to swell the crowd; and. as everybodj was certain of his or her "pile," spirits were high, not to nay boisterous. The whole scene wti- very interesting, and reminded one oi ihf palmy days of a New Zealand "rush." Our first port of call in Canada. Victoria (pop. 20,000^ is the large«t, and, indeed, the only town of any sizo on Vancouver Island. The island, however, is of respectable prop or tions, even in this land of big thing*, being <no less than 300 miles in length, but as it is mostly heavily timbered and rough, no great settlement has taken place.

The names "Vancouver Wand" am' '"Vancouver City" arc .somewhat confusing, and the good folk of Victoria .still Ice) a little sorethat tho world-known name "Vancou ver "—till then their own peculiar properly— ahouid have been ooollv aDuropnated by the

Canadian-Pacific Railway Company for the name of their terminal town on the mainland, 75 miles distant. As the new town sprang up and competed with the old for pride of place, a keen rivalry was naturally developed and when tho Provincial Legislature oi B.C. wru. set up, both cities put in strong claims foi tho seat of Government. No doubt Van couver City on the mainland had the stronger geom-aphical position, but Victoria, as tlu okl-establif-hed centre, still held the balance of political power, and when in duo course declared the capital, a&tutcly set to workto make hay while the sun shone by erecting ono of the finest blocks of Government build ings lo bo found anywhere on the Pacific const. This block took five years to erect, and was just being thrown open with great eclat on the clay we passed through. Caustic critics of Vancouver City call tho stiuctuio "the anchor." and complain of the cost— one million five hundred thousand dollars— but be this as it may. the building is a noble one o. pohd granite with marble staircases endlc. corridors, and tesselated halls ol pnneely ■proportions, which put to shame almost. an.\ public building in New Zealand. All round and about the vicinity of Vie toria the rocky wooded coast lino is deeply indented with sheltered bays and winding channels, which run back amonir the lulls: and into the woods in all directions, thus pi o viding the city with unrivalled iacililics fo: boating of all kinds. A run of two miles "^ electric tram took us out to E^quimault. il. naval station for the British Pacific Le«*r Esquimalt is a finely situated, peifectb sheltered land-locked harbour, and at the time of our visit several large men-of war la 1 * at anchor.with two lst : class torpedo destroyers in dock, each capable, it was said, of run ning M knots an hour. Our first call at Vie toria was limited to three Hours, but as w> stayed over a whole clay on return, 1 was abk to bee a good deal of the city and neighbour hood. Mid could well believe that in summo it woukl be difficult to find anywhere a towi. with more picturesque and attractive sur roundings. Victoria is largely an English settlement, and is more British in tone anc manner than ony other town I saw in America

On leaving Victoria, a run of 70 or 30 mile, among inlands and up a winding channel brought us to Vancouver City, the tennimi: of the great overland railway route, and a town of 20,000 inhabitants. Although onlj of some 10 years' growth. Vancouver is welequipped with electric trams, electric lights, and the usual comforts of a modem city It boasts of not a few substantial stone build ings, but the great majority are of wood. Owing to some peculiarity of the humid at mosphere, tho wooden buildings have, with out exception, a decidedly clingy appearance At, first sight a New Zealander would con elude none of the houses had evei peen a paint brush, although many had but recently come from the painters' hands

On landing at "Vancouver we found as at Victoria that the universal— l had almost said the only, topic of conversation was the Klondyke. AVhen by chance the time-honoured subject of the weather was introduced, it. was merely to compare the sample then on hand with the atmospheric conditions of the Upper. Yukon and Klondyke goldfiekls. We knew, of course, there would be considerable interest manifested, and expected to find some little excitement even, but we were not prepared for the delirious craze, the all-consuming f>oid fever prevalent, everywhere and among all classes of the community. The excitement had reached that acute stage when, unless one talked Klonclyke or gold-mining, people aim ply turned their back or endured the speaker -with a yawn. On the train or in tLe street, or* the -wharf, and at all places of resort the one word to conjure with was " Klondyke." and in the whole of Victoria or Vancouver City it would have been difficult, if not. actually impossible, to have found one single business establishment, which had not the talismanic name incorporated on ngnboard or displayed more or Jess conspicuously about the windows. Drapers, bootmakers-, and grocers seemed to have little else than Klondyke goods for sale, while one and all professed to have the one article needful for a complete Klondyke outfit. To a stranger the craze was sometimes highly entertaining. At one establishment where the owner had patent concentrated Klondyke eggs frizzling on a Klonclyke portable stove, I was invited to sample eggs six months old, and my plea of constitutional inability to assimilate any (gg over the age of six weeks was only accepted upon condition that I purchased the Klondyko table outfit of knife, fork, and spoon, ingeniously fitted into a handle that folded up for the pocket. Klonclyke snow shoes and Klondyke sleighs were in evidence everywhere, generally piled up high upon the footpath. Occasionally a party of intending Klondykers could be seen trying their team of dogs with a loaded sleigh, but these were the capitalists : the ordinary Klondyker draws his own sleigh, and is compelled to make a double journey over all the worst parts of the road — i.e.. he draws half his load a few miles and then returns for the rest, an appalling undertaking, surely. Dogs ior sleighing were, of course . in great demand everywhere. New Zealanders of the " sixties" will remember the fancy prices paid for cats in the early clays of the West Coast rush, and the enterprising trader who actually took a shipment of ''tabbies" round to Hokitika. Similarly the New York speculator who shipped 500 dogs for the Klondyke realised a huge profit. Almost any mongrel of decent size would sell readily at 20 to 50 dollars, and I myself saw one very sorry specimen sold at Victoria for 25doJ. Good train dogs were worth anywhere from 70 to 100 dollars, and a really first-class animal could not be purchased under £20. As one journeyed across the continent Klondykers and their dogs were found in every train, and the music (?) of a score or more of hungry dogs usually relieved the tedium of our wayside halting places.

(To ie continued.)

Serious damage was done to the breakwater road wall and footpath at Napier during last week by the heavy weather. Parts of the wall were undermined, and some places washed away.

Some boys in the New Brighton School (Canterbury), who sent to President M'KmJey a letter hoping that the United States would be successful in the war with Spain, have re ceivetl acknowledgment from th© President's secretary.

Valuable Discovery j?or tiie Hair.— lf your haii is turning grey oi white, oi hilling oft, use the " Mexican Hair Renewer," lor it will positively restore in everj* case Grey cr White Hair to its original colour without leaving tlie disagreeable smell of most " restorers." It makes the hair charmingly beautiful, as well as piomoiing the growth of the hair on bald spots where the glands are not decay jcl. Ask your chemist for " The Mexican Haiti Tlenewm?." Sold by chemists and perfumers every wheie i.t 3s Gd ] ex bottle Wholesale depot; 33 FanißKdoa roadi London;— Adyt,