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British Columbia Historical Books Collection
Vancouver Board of Trade. Annual report
Vancouver Board of Trade
"Contains lists of members, summaries of bank clearings, mineral production, business failures, descriptions of the northern interior and agriculture, shipping reports, summaries of city land values, and lists of churches and hospitals." -- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 95.
108 pages : photographs, tables (1 folded), map ; 23 cm
application/pdf
PRESSES OF PROVINCE PUBLISHING COMPANY VANCOUVER, B.C. VICTORIA, B.C. VM REPORT OF THE VANCOUVER Board of Trade FOR Th|E YEAR 1895-96. Vancouver, British Columbia. CANADA. / INDEX. PAGE PAGE Shipping Industry— Within the Lions' Gate .. F rontispiece Review of 48 Past Presidents / Average Port Expenses 49 Officers, 1895-6 / Towage 00 Officers, 1896-7 ' Copy Shipping Accounts 54 .. 8 Pilotage Dues 55 President's Address 11 Customs Returns .. 19 Revenues, Port of Vancouver .. 58 20 Shipping, 1895 59 Reciprocal Trade .. 22 Cargoes from sea-going vessels Lumber Industry— year ending 30th June, 1895 61 Review of 22 Imports into B.C. for 24 years .. 61 Shipments of .. 24 Exports from B.C. for 24 years 62 .. 26 Trade and Navigation Returns 63 Timber Area and Cut .. .. 28 Mining Industry- B.C. Timber Tests .. 29 I. Cariboo 64 .. .. 51 Table of Results in Cali C.P.R. Chart 30 fornia 72 Post Office Returns- 11. Kootenay III. Coal Mining 73 87 Comparison, 1894-45 .. .. .. 35 Trans-Pacific Mails 35 Agricultural Industry— Review of 90 Fishing Industry— Statistics 94 Review of Vancouver, 1886—After the Fire 103 Salmon Pack, 1894-5 37 Van couver, 1896 : 104 Annual Pack .. ..38 Description of 105 Columbia River Pack . . .. 40 Extracts from Records of 107 Fishing Boats Licensed .. .. 41 Customs of the Port 108 Hatcheries 42 Map ofB.C 111 OFFICERS, 1895-96. Past Presidents. 1887-8 ..D. Oppen iheimer. 1891-2.. John Hendry. 1888-9 ..D. Oppei heimer. 1892-3.. G. E. Berteaux (dec'sed.) 1889-90. .E. V. Bodwell (deceased). " W. F. Salsbury. " . R. H. Alexander. 1893-4. .J. 0. Keith. 1890-91..R. H. Al< i xander. 1894-5.. G. R. Major. OFFICERS, 1895-6. President—H. Bell-Irving. Vice-President- —Wm. Godfrey. Hon. Secretary—Wm. Skene. COUNCIL. Alexander, R. H. Johnson, C. G. Pyke, J. A. Cockburn, F. McFarland, J. W. Salsbury, W. F. Campion, J. W. McLagan. J. C. Tatlow, R. G. Evans, E. E. Major, G. R. Tisdall, C. E. Heaps, E. H. Oppenheimer, S. Wilson, G. I. BOARD OF ARBITRATION. Alexander, R. H. Johnson, C. G. Pyke, J. A. Cockburn, F. Major, G. R. Salsbury, W. F. Campion, J. W. McLagan, J. C, Tatlow, R. G. Evans, E. E. Oppenheimer. S. Tisdall, C. E. OFFICERS, 1896-7. President—H. Bell-Irving. Vice-President- -Wm. Godfrey. Hon. Secretary—Wm. Skene. COUNCIL. Alexander, R. H. Johnson, C. G. Oppenheimer, S. Buscombe, F. Marani, C. J. Paterson, R. H. Cockburn, F. Murray, W. Salsbury, W. F. Darling, H. McFarland, J. W. Skene, W. Evans, E. E. McLagan, J. C. Spicer, H. H. BOARD OF ARBITRATION. Alexander, R. H. Johnson, C. G. Oppenheimer, S. Bnscombe, F. Marani, C. J. Paterson, R. H. Cockburn, F. McFarland, J. W. Skene, W. Darling, H. McLagan, J. C. Spicer, H. H. MEMBERSHIP ROLL 3rd March, 1896. Entered. Name. 1887..Alexander, R. Firm. B.C. Mills T. & T. Co. Ld. Business. Lumber Merchant. 1896..Barker, Ernest. 1889..Bell-Irving, Hy. 1895. Boyd, John. 1895..Boak, A. A. 1895. Bowser, W. J. 1895.. Braid, Wm. 1893..Brown, Wm. 1895..Burns, F. F. 1895. Buscombe, F. Red Cross Brewery. H. Bell-Irving & Co. John Boyd & Co. Wm. Biaid&Co. Can. Pac. Ry. John Boyd & Co. R. Skinner & Co. Brewer. Merchant and Shipper. Wholesale Plumber. Insurance Agent. Solicitor. Wholesale Tea & Grocery. Local Freight Agent. Wholesale Hardware. China & Glassware. 1891..Campion, J. W. 1891..Cassady, Geo. 1891..Cockburn, F. 1896.. Col tart, Ian. 1887. .Cotton, F.C., M.P.P 1892..Crawford, J. B.C. Iron Works Co. Ld. G. Cassady & Co. R. G Dun & Co. The Province Publishing Co. News-Advertiser. Baker, Crawford & Co. Secretary. Lumber & Shingle Merchant. Manager. Manager. Editor. Merchant & Shipper. 1895. 1896. 1887. Darling'H. Drake, W. E. Dunn, Thomas 1890..Evans, E. E 1895. 1896. . Featherstone, R. D. .Fraser, J. A. 1892..Godfrey, Wm. Union SS. Co. McLary Manufacturing Co. T. Dunn & Co. Ld. E. Evans, Coleman & Evans. F. Vane. Sash & Door Factory. John Towers & Co. G. Bank of B.N.A. Manager. General Agent. Hardware. Coal Merchant and Shipper. Manager. Merchant. Manager. 1895. 1890. 1890. .Hach, ('has. . Heaps, E. 11. . Hendry, John. E. H. Heaps & Co. B.C. Mills T. & T. Co. J. 1887. 1896. .Johnson, C. G. .Jukes, Andrew Johnson & Burnet. Imperial Bank. K. 1895. .Ker, W.H. Brackman & Ker Milling C L. 1895. .Leckie, B. J. John Leckie. Furniture & Upholstery. Mach'y. Agt. & Shingle Mfr. Manager. Ship Broker. Manager. Miller. Cannery Supplies. < M. 1895 .Macaulay, Jas. Knowles & Macaulay. W'sale Provision Merchant. 1892 .McConnell, G. S. G> S. McConnell & Co; Wholesale Boots & Shoes. 1889 McDowell, H. McDowell, Atkins, & Co. Druggist. 1887 : McFarland, J. W. McFarland & Mahon. Mining & Insurance Agent. 1887 .McFeely, E. J. McLennan & McFeely, Ld. Hardware. 1890. McGillivray, D. McGillivray & Armstrong, Contractor. 1895. .McGregor, D. C. Insurance Agent. 1890. .Mcintosh, W. A. W. A. Mcintosh & Co. Meat & Cattle Merchant. 1889. .McLagan, J. C. The World. Editor. 1891. . McMillan, W. J. McMillan & Hamilton. Wholesale Fruit & Provisions. 1895. .McPherson, Wm. Lumberman. 1890. . Major, G. R. Major & Eldridge. Meat Packer & Prov. Mcht. 1895. . Marani, C. J. Can. Per. Loan & Sav'gs. Co. General Agent. 1890. Martin, Robt. Martin & Robertson. Grocery Agent. 1893. .Murray, Wm. Bank of British Columbia. 0. Manager. 1895. .Odium, Prof. E. Insurance Agent. 1887. . Oppenheimer, D. Oppenheimer Bros. & Co. Ld. Wholesale Grocer. 1891. . Oppenheimer, S. Oppenheimer Bros. & Co. Ld. P. Secretary. 1891. .Paterson, R. H. Commission & Shipping Agt. 1896. . Pelle w-Harvey, W. Cassell Gold Extracting Co. Assayer. 1895. .Plunkett, Osborne. Director of Mines. 1890. .Pyke, J. A. R. Boots & Shoes. 1895. .Ralph, Wm. Stoves & Hardware. 1895. .Ramsav, Jas. Ramsay Bros. & Co. Confectionery Manufacturer 1895. .Redmond, W. H. The Ames Holden Co. S. Boot & Shoe Manufacturer. 1889. .Salsbury, W. F. Can. Pac. Ry. Cashier. 1895. .Schooley, C. A. Canadian Oil Co. Agent. 1895. .Shaw, C. W. John Leckie. Canning Supplies. 1887. .Skene, Wm. S. Greenshields, Sons & Co. Wholesale Dry Goods. 1895. .Skrine, 0. P. Osmond P. Skrine & Co. Produce Merchant. 1895. .Spicer, H. H. Shingle Manufacturer. 1896. .Stein, W. T. Accountant. 1895. .Stewart, F. R. F. R. Stewart & Co. Produce Mcht. & Ham Curer. 1887. .Sweeny, Campbell. Bank of Montreal. T. Manager. 1891. .Taylor, Walter. B.C. Fruit Canning Co. Ld. Manager. 1891. . Templeton, Wm. Groceries and Provisions. 1895. .Thomson, Jas. Hudson's Bay Co. Local Manager. 1890. .Tisdall, C. E. Fire Arms & Fishing Tackle^ 1890. .Townley, J. D. Can. Pac. Ry. Assistant to General Supt 1896. .Twigge. John. W. Major-General. 1896. .Warren Falk Colonel, laieR.A. 1895. .Williams, A., M.P.P . McPhillips & Williams. Solicitor. 1891. .Wilson, Geo. J. Dry Goods Mcht. & Canner. 1889. .Winch, R. V. Winch & Bower. Fruit & Fish Dealer. 1887. .Wulffsohn, Johann Bewicke & Wulffsohn Banker & Insurance Agent. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Vancouver Board of Trade. March 3rd, 1896. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. Gentlemen,—At this the close of the year, it will not be out of place for me to review some of the work done by the Board during the past twelve months, and to touch upon various matters of more or less interest to the business community. Membership Many changes in the personnel of the Board have taken place during the year; the present number of effective members being seventy-two. This is far short of what the membership ought to be ; but it is pleasing to note that greater interest is being taken in the proceedings, and that the attendance at the meetings has become more and more satisfactory. Work Done During the year the following matters, among others, have been discussed and dealt with: Improvements to Vancouver harbour, light-house at Prospect point, and removal of Parthia shoal and Burnaby reef; opening of False Creek for navigation; improvement of channels of Fraser and Skeena rivers; improvement of mail communication with the north and the interior; revision of shipping charges for the port; amendments to the fishery regulations ; duties on riveted pipes for mining purposes; duties on component parts of fishing nets; remission of taxation on mortgages and the appointment of a supreme resident court judge for Vancouver. Resolutions have been passed on the / 12 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE questions of preferential trade within the Empire ; on the British Pacific railway and on the proposed local marine railway, while a committee has been formed to enquire into and report on the question of establishment of a smelter and refinery in' this city. An interesting interview was had with Sir Mackenzie Bowell and the Hon. Mr. Daly, on the 18th of August, when the Board brought various matters of importance to their notice, and on the 6th November a deputation from the Board waited on His Excellency the Governor-General on his arrival at Vancouver. Lumber The lumber business shows satis factory signs of improvement, while the recent combinations of interest on the Coast will tend to further advance prices. Fisheries There has been a marked extension of the salmon canning business during the past season. A good pack has been secured and fair prices have been maintained. The successful results of the Fraser River salmon hatcheries having been demonstrated, it is hoped the Government will lose no time in undertaking similar work on the Skeena. Shipments of halibut continue to be made in fair quantities, showing the value of our deep sea fisheries, which afford opportunity for great development. Prof. E. E. Prince, head of the Dominion fishery department, visited the fisheries of the Province during the season, and the result of his visit is likely to be beneficial. It is understood Mr. Prince is in favour of extending the operations of the hatcheries to northern waters. Mining The development of the mines in the upper country has been remarkable. The experimental stage has now passed and capital is being freely employed with successful results. Kootenay in particular appears destined to produce great wealth. The population in that country has largely increased and considerable activity is being shown by rival railway companies in pushing their lines into the heart of the mining districts to secure the trade. The hydraulic mines in Cariboo have shown encouraging results. The ANNUAL REPORT. 13 output of minerals, exclusive of coal, has increased in value from $785,000, in 1894, to about $3,000,000 in 1895. Goal The total output of coal for British Columbia for the twelve months ending December 31st, 1895, amounts to 939,654 tons, showing a decrease as against the previous year of 73,299 tons, attributed partially to the increasing importation of Welsh anthracite to the California market, and to the use of natural oil as fuel. The business has remained practically stationary during the past five j'ears. Agriculture For reasons it seems hard to explain agriculture is not as flourishing as it- should be, and large quantities of produce which could be grown in the country continue to be imported, though in a less degree than formerly. A growing desire is manifest among farmers to combine for their own protection and a number of branches of the Patrons of Industry have been established at various points in the Fraser valley, the result of which should be beneficial. The Dominion Government sent a travelling model dairy through the Province during last season to instruct dairymen in butter making, while the Government Experimental Farm at Agassiz has done and is doing excellent work. The cultivation of hops is comparatively a new industry, which is receiving increasing attention, and the favourable reports of shipments to Britain, and high prices obtained, give indication of great possibilities. Fmit Large quantities of fruit continue to be imported which could be grown in British Columbia, but as increasing attention is now being paid to fruit cultivation, and the best methods of marketing, it is to be hoped this will be remedied before long. Railways Beyond ordinary repairs and im provements, work on railways has been chiefly confined to the mining country of West Kootenay. Under the management of the C.P.R., in that section / o 14 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE there are now in operation the following lines : Revel- stoke to Arrow Lake, Nakusp & Slocan to Sandon, and the Robson and Nelson. The others are the Kaslo & Slocan and the Nelson & Fort Sheppard, the latter operated by the Spokane & Northern. The Trail and Rossland line, a narrow gauge road, is nearly completed. The principal lines projected are : The Crow's Nest Railway Nelson, which will open up Eastern Kootenay and bring coal to the smelters ; the line from Slocan crossing the Slocan lake to connect with the Nakusp & Slocan ; and the line from Rossland to Boundary Creek- and the Kettle River district, intended finally to be continued into Southern Okanagan. The permanent Canadian Pacific Railway station at Vancouver has not yet been commenced, and the temporary sheds doing duty at present are far from satisfactory. Daily through trains leave and arrive from and for Montreal, and also for Seattle and San Francisco via Mission Junction. While the Canadian Pacific is the only company actually having a railway into Vancouver, merchants have also the advantage of competing rates for through traffic by the Great Northern and Northern Pacific. The British Pacific In view of the present financial position of the Province, and of the pledges given in connection with the recent loan, the promise of any financial aid by the Province to the British Pacific Railway would be disastrous to the credit of the country. It is sincerely to be hoped that no such burden will be undertaken. The shipping of the port continues to increase in a satisfactory manner. The tonnage in port will average for the past twelve months in round numbers about four times that of Victoria, and twice that of Nanaimo. There has also been an increase in the shipping on the Fraser River ; a new feature being that of recent years a large number ANNUAL REPORT. 15 of vessels have loaded salmon direct at the canneries, thus avoiding expense and delay of lighterage. Steamship Lines The magnificent steamers of the Empress line of the C.P.R make Vancouver their home port and sail every three weeks in summer and every four weeks in winter, carrying Her Majesty's mails, and receive year by year the increased patronage they deserve. These swift boats were built under Admiralty supervision and form part of the Royal Naval reserve. The steamers of the Canadian and Australian steamship line make monthly sailings to Sydney via Honolulu" and Fiji. As regards local lines, the Union Steamship Co. and the Mainland and Nanaimo make Vancouver their headquarters ; the Canadian Pacific Navigation Co. run a daily boat from and to Victoria ; the boats of the Pacific Coast Steamship Co. of San Francisco call regularly every five days ; there is a steamer plying between Vancouver and Puget Sound ports and between Vancouver and Columbia River, while there is a regular steamship communication with the northern waters of British Columbia. Harbours The natural advantages of the har bour of Vancouver are so great that the Dominion Government has so far not thought it necessary to incur an3T expense in improving it, beyond the placing of a small lighthouse at Brockton Point. A light-house and fog-horn on Prospect Point are urgently needed, and it is to be hoped the Government will shortly take some definite action in this, as well as in the matter of removal of Parthia shoal, provision for the former having been made in the estimates. Of the 755 light-houses in the Dominion of Canada, it is noteworthy that only thirteen were in British Columbia at the close of 1894. The wharfage accommodation of Vancouver, though good, requires extension in the near future to meet the demands of increased business. The banks at the mouth of the Fraser River, on which the stream made serious encroachments, have been protected by mattresses to a considerable extent and apparently with good results. 16 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE Nicaraguan Canal and Siberian Railway The actual undertaking of the Nicaraguan Canal appears likely to be indefinitely postponed, owing to difficulties of construction, but the early completion of the Siberian Railway opens up great possibilities, and the port of Vancouver is likely to derive considerable benefit therefrom. Vancouver Besides the extensive lumber mills, Industries sash and door factories, the sugar refinery, B. C. Iron Works, C. P. R. repairing shops, pork packing establishments and creamery already in operation, a new cold storage warehouse was recently established, while the salmon canning business of the Fraser River and Northern waters and the halibut fisheries contribute to the welfare of the city. The question of the establishment of a marine railway for repairing ships has received the attention of the Board, and, provided a suitable site be found, this new industry will be welcomed by all. Ship-building has so far only been carried on on a small scale, and the question of how best to encourage this important industry is worthy of your consideration. Vancouver, By the establishment in Vancouver a Financial of the four powerful banks, the Banks Centre of British Columbia, Montreal, and British North America, and the Imperial, besides numerous wTell-known mortgage and investment companies, representing large capital, the city has become and is generally recognized as a financial centre for the Province. Smelter and A committee of the Board was Refinery recently appointed to confer with the City Council on the question of the establishment of a smelter and refinery at Vancouver. It is hoped the information obtained may assist in inducing one of the several firms now investigating the subject to locate their works here. ANNUAL REPORT. 17 Third Congress The third congress of Chamber of Of Chamber Of Commerce of the Empire will be held in Commerce Of the London in June next, to which the Empire Board has been invited to send a delegate by the London Chambers of Commerce, and the invitation has been accepted. Imperial The attention of the Board is called Institute to the desirability of better representa tion of Provincial products at the Imperial Institute. Mr. Harrison Watson, curator of the Canadian section, paid the Province a visit during the autumn and promised every assistance. Fast Atlantic Supported as they are by the Service vigorous Colonial policy of the Imperial and Government, the actual inauguration of Pacific Cable these all-important services is not likely to be much longer delayed. Trade OutlOOk The long term of commercial depression has been severely felt throughout the Province and on the whole Coast; but this has been more or less universal, and, considering its age, Vancouver appears to have suffered less than its neighbours. The depression has not been without its advantages. It has tended to make business men more conservative and cautious in their dealings, and has diverted men's attention from speculation in land to the more laudable object of development of the natural resources of the country. The conclusion of the war between China and Japan and the important treaties then made have given a great impetus to industrial advancement in both countries, which will not be without effect on us, while the revival of confidence and general advance of prices in Eastern Canada, the United States and Great Britain, and the increased activity in the rich mining country of the interior of the Province, all point to a time of greater prosperity. This feeling has been somewhat marred by the sudden and unfortunate tension between Great Britain and the United States over the Venezuela boundary, and 18 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE by complications in the Transvaal. With the strong Imperial Government now in power a peaceful settlement is to be expected, honourable to all. Preferential Trade The spontaneous and unanimous Within the Empire outburst of loyal and patriotic feeling from British possessions in all parts of the world during the recent crisis has served to draw closer the integral parts of the Empire. There are strong indications that the British public—slow to appreciate any new idea—no longer looks upon the doctrine of free trade with the same air of sanctity as of old. A British Minister recently stated that " he hoped the result of the present Government's tenure of office would make the British Empire not merely a figure of speech but a living reality. That he hoped the Government would be able to do something towards bringing all parts of this great Empire into closer connection by strengthening the ties of loyalty, of race, of self-interest, and thus succeed in making the British Empire not only more capable of self-maintenance in time of war, but more capable of self- preservation in time of peril." Nothing can bring about all these results so speedily or so surely as preferential trade within the Empire, and, comparatively insignificant though our efforts may be, it behooves us to do our utmost to further this great object, which means so much for the future welfare and prosperity of Canada and for the British Empire as a whole. H. BELL-IRVING, President. ANNUAL REPORT. 19 Secretary's Report for the year 1895-96. MEETINGS. General Meetings of the full Board 7 Special " " " 3 Meetings of the Council 11 MEMBERSHIP. Members on the Roll, March, 1895 69 1896 72 ALTERATION OF BY-LAWS. September 11th, Resolved .-—That By-law No. XII shall now read: " The entrance fee for any person desirous of joining the Board of Trade shall be $5.00 (five dollars) in addition to his annual subscription. TIME OF MEETING. December 3rd, Resolved :—That in future the meetings of the Board be held monthly, on the first Tuesday in each month, at 8 p.m. FINANCES. All liabilities of the Board paid to date : Credit Balance in Bank of Montreal $524 22 Cash on hand 17 00 Unpaid dues for current quarter 99 00 Arrears 00 00 Total $640 22 WM. SKENE, March 3rd, 1896. Hon. Sec.-Treasurer. / 20 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE EXTRACTS PROM MINUTES. [Copy of address presented to the Hon. Sir Mackenzie Bowell, at Hotel Vancouver, 18th August, 1895.) To the Ron. Sir Mackenzie Bowell, K.C.M.G., Premier of Canada. Sir,—We the members of the Vancouver Board of Trade, embrace the opportunity so kindly afforded us of extending to you a cordial welcome on this the occasion of your first visit to our Province as Premier of the Dominion, and of likewise welcoming to our city your colleague the Hon. T. M. Daly, Q.C., Minister of the Interior and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs. We venture to express our warm appreciation of your efforts towards the extension of Intercolonial Trade and to hope, now that the question is receiving that special attention from the Right Honourable the Minister for the Colonies which its importance demands, that even greater results will shortly ensue. We have followed with deep interest the proceedings of the Ottawa Conference, the inauguration of which was so largely due to your initiative and the Imperial significance of which cannot be over-estimated. We would respectfully call your attention to the desirability of the present Canadian-Australian steamship service being as soon as possible raised to the position of a first-class mail and passenger line. As a completion of the chain of communication, we look forward with interest to the early consummation of the Pacific cable, and of a fast Atlantic service, and feel confident that your Government will spare no effort towards bringing about those desired results, which are of such great importance to the Dominion and to the future welfare of our City. Recognizing the desirability of a general Insolvency Act for the Dominion, we trust the time is not far distant when such a measure may be brought to a practical and satisfactory issue. ANNUAL REPORT. 21 We are pleased to observe that your Government has seen fit to send an experienced commissioner to British Columbia to personally investigate the important Fishing Industries of this Province, and hope that his labours may result in placing the regulations in general, on a more permanent and satisfactory basis, and further that in view of the beneficial results of the existing hatcheries, these may be extended as well on the Fraser River as on the Northern and Interior waters. In view of the constantly increasing importance of our shipping interests, we would bring to your notice the desirability of the early removal from Vancouver harbour of the shoals known as Burnaby Reef and Parthia Shoal : of the erection of a light-house at the entrance to the harbour and of the re-opening of False Creek for navigation. In the interest alike of shipping and agriculture, we would impress upon you the urgency of steps being taken for the improvement and maintenance of the channels of the Fraser River. In consequence of the increasing importance of settlements on the Northern Coast, we consider that such merit an extension and improvement in the mail service of this district. In the interests of local industries, we would desire to call your attention to the manner in which, first, the present ruling of the Customs Department in regard to duties upon certain component parts of fishing nets and seines, and secondly, plates used for the manufacture of riveted pipes for mining and similar purposes, discriminate in favour of the completed articles when manufactured abroad, to the serious detriment of labour and enterprise. We think that the time has now come when the question of the foreshore rights within the municipality of Vancouver should be definitely settled—the present uncertainty of ownership being detrimental to the prosperity of the City. m / I 22 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE Trusting that these matters may receive the consideration of your Government, We are, your humble and obedient servants, WM. SKENE, H. BELL-IRVING, Hon. Secretary. President. Reciprocal Trade Within the Empire. Copy of resolution of the full Board at its meeting, 12th February, 1896 : Resolved: " That in view of recent unanimous expressions of loyal and united feeling from British possessions in all parts of the world, making towards a closer consolidation of the British Empire, the present is, in the opinion of this Board, an opportune time for initiating practical legislation towards securing closer commercial relations between the Mother Country and her Colonies, and between the Colonies themselves, by a svstem of interchange of products and manufactures on. preferred terms throughout the British Empire," and "That a copy of this resolution be sent to Sir Charles Tupper and to the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, London, Eng." LUMBER INDUSTRY. Vancouver is the principal seat of the timber trade of British Columbia, Burrard Inlet, on which the city is situated, having been the home of the industry for thirty years, and until it became the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway its waters were frequented only by vessels loading at the saw mills established on its shores. Although the forests of British Columbia comprise a considerable variety of the conifers, the export trade is confined to Douglas fir, cedar and spruce. The first- named is the principal article of export, the trade being one of the most important in the Province ; cargoes of it are sent all over the world, and in the different markets the wood is rapidly growing in favour. The Douglas Fir (abies Douglasii), sometimes called by commercial usage, though improperly, " Oregon ANNUAL REPORT. 23 pine," attains a great size, and its freedom from branches for the greatest portion of its height permits of its being furnished as spars or square timber of great length, and almost free from knots. For masts and spars its excellence has long been recognized, as its lightness, combined with great strength and elasticity, is a special recommendation for this purpose. As examples of its size, may be mentioned the shipment of masts 28 inches diameter and 120 feet in length, and of timber 36 inches square and 70 feet in length. This combination of lightness with strength has also attracted the attention of railway companies, and it is now largely used in car construction, whereby a great saving is effected in the tare of the cars. It is also highly esteemed for bridge construction on account of the great lengths in which it can be furnished, its high power of resistance, and the general uniformity of its breaking strain, as proved by a series of experiments lately made in London, Eng. British Columbia Red Cedar is also becoming much valued ; it takes a handsome polish, and is being extensively used in all kinds of interior finishing. It is also largely manufactured into doors, which, when finished in the natural colour of the wood, present a very elegant appearance. Large shipments are made of this wood in the shape of shingles, and in these quite an important trade has been developed. Spruce is principally manufactured into boxes, the canned salmon trade using the greater part of the present production. The timber trade is but in its infancy in British Columbia, and although general conditions are not favourable to a large expansion at present, the enormous forest wealth is certain to make this industry one of the chief factors in the future prosperity of the Province. Exclusive of shipments by the steamer lines to Japan and Australasia, the trade during 1895 employed 49 vessels, of an aggregate capacity of 48,560 tons, the total export capacity by sea from Vancouver having been 45,427\,772 feet board measure ; while for the same period the sendings by rail amounted to about 6,983,882, making a grand total of 52,411,654 feet. 24 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE ca > p! H> O o CO ft H co g > a o2 o tfi Cfi 03 1 CD 1 09 H >> B P ffl <D S5 P M g CO 3 s Ml H o © t-C- ipco© C6C--* g § CM t~ CO t- ■N jj co £3 3«M § CKt t- ON CM 1Q « IN CO ■* ©l> oo m lO -t (N <N i—l Q © © © o fi PI c3 wi?.'T' ^ ' ^. V .«-, CO CO 6 0' o CM CO © • • • cc S O © lO t- »o © L~- s »o ©00 ■ CO "*(N . I—1 ©CM . CO OO -* CM . w CO iH rH CO CSlOSMlOOOlO-^CMCOL— i—I ■**|'^<COID0O©©tHCOC-CO © © »a 00 © B l> OO i-H CM t- © © OO CO lrf~ -H CM © CM in ■* CO^COCOt>COlfil©0O©r-l iSt^-GO»O"^0O-rJ<lOT—(COCO ©IQ-^CNflri" CMi-Hi-T OO 00 CO CM © 5* CM cm" © © lO "3 CO s «s2M.S Son t> g S «HOO£> O«!Sfc[1<h? / 26 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE 05 CD s t—I o « s I s »2^SSS 2«»S2SS22SWS S3 2S 22 S3E2ES£l»i >'f-< — .^ »ih •■-( -r-t — t-i -tr* •r' T1 mi 'r"!-1 co < *r" bo "tr1 'r1 m m m m ££££££e£££Sfies££SofiS££S5!S§ 1 ■rtMM-i^T-'.H i^.ooid^" :~tj-dnji>''did.j Jus-dTJ-d-dTJ LMflfi W&9& 1 S«|||S?a.g«::g|SHg«g5g«-Sgf»gg«S:S?gairHga g •1-S.I-I1-E-E&I Hi rg-s-gu-s HBni i m § 1 mmmmmmmmmmmmmMm ® .oof rjf (N%*r^< oTlO irf o4 <» 00 £) <K j)Nm*M-»40ig^«500«H1i«3*rtfflO ft aS- .in«MboNo«iooo<o-»«moooor>c<io«)0«t.Oioc>Motnioc | 8^tS.|S.^8a8S.8|S|S|8SS.fi 8SSSSS8SSS |||S. 0 co *>me*or?xc£d w&l^fflS6MOHOOcX)0M^ocnwc»aNwgw»"flmaiOjDXC0MN^«) CD STO^^wSM^E-Sr^OlOt^COiOC^^OOcDU^T^^OO^^^CO^ia^OO-^NCO 1 U? <N rH t-T ,-T I jiiUi:: 1 ! g til £.*«,& I s 5 J 5i BE 5S5afplfe^-2a|g,5a .colcoIcoSco>colw>5MS5oSo5ogoSoOco>m5o54*SS •o : ! : i ; 1 r i; :g■:;; iMl I;i; ■ ■aid 1 o • o 00 O o ■ 0 0 eS ^d " ■!S * • | S ; jjgfl sssossgss.: : r .s s •*S ^^>_. t-i fn ^ t-i ■+j •»-> t. n w w r-i .hhp«pww*'^wMhni;h^i.whhHHh o;SSS-«iaic)<»(Bii»ci<uii>«!<«iot.co2!2™2<1>t»<B?®m<>>00o),i)S'II,') ^ > >■ > ^ G a > > > > > U > > gg a a a ggg > > > > > g > a > > > > > o3 o: c3 03.2.? ® 03 03 03 OS o3 o o3 oJ.?,?'.?.?.?.?.?'.? B oi o3 oS ci ® 03,? o3 03 o3 oS oS >»»ts?t>t>>>^ "OJO*- >gpg;gtggpp>->>>>ig>^>»» 10c-i ■ t-i0oir- ■ 001 — ira co g TfCBCBi-I^^COaojiNSlNi-KNINC-lOOr-IOOlNr-l ■ OO (N IN IN ■ OO -CO ■ (N <^ tH t£> <3> S 3 i-l 00 IN (NlN IN rf r4 ___ _ CO ,_, _ ,_ <D CN (N <N ■* S °> „ „ <N . . ..■ • _■ T-..H —<.-..... ...M .^'^ QJ.rt.rt. ^ .. .. .. .. ^OJO). g acaflfiaRPfi; ' a *• p,P<P.oi « oj 03 03 p."3 p,S p.p.03 03 oS 03 <J3 oS^ 2 5 OS w oS 03 03 oi 03 03 03 S> f> i : : c ;^> i • i 1 ■; ■: i-s i? | . | 1 ■ : * '.# 03 • 3 • ■ • : : o, ai : ix, : : : |MM::^ill : j :S : :g^^ 1 S&ftai • ^ ■ • • _ 03 . -M M : a : : ■ ■ 500 : .fe b ,:JlSl^iSli:Sj 3 MHmHHHMHP 1 § s--5il «s« s s 12-Sig g s sc s s g § §>£ s s « S'sb g-g § a s o°-g 8 ® Sig«^0« m S00 gaB gjaja^««jajari^f,ai gaO^jal S^gaa^SS's^S'as^aSgg^ggegp.ggg^gp^go.o.gg is § i 1 § §»=5 §■? g J» ggggggS'glggg.ag-ig g-s-i ge ■2 5 ST-sB S.2*ii = .2.2.2.2.2 3'.2.a.2.2.2 S.2^.2.2^3^.2 S H2w*'li:. rdl"flI?dll.M5fflht.t.fHt.^h»(il.hn(."lhh<flBIfHL 2a 2 2 2 2 2-3 SB £ 9 2BB £ 2 2 » » ° «» °S 2 2 "— "3 ® «S3 S « 9"C 99SS 9 o 2'C o3 %t drir S£ S § aj al cj d^ G G a!'3 a}*^ af al-^S d 2 H (. 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ANNUAL, REPORT. 27 <D CD Q) © CD © © i <D ' <§ © © eo 55 iQ eg ^ 55 Q-t P aj a> eg ey o £ o o 3q>CN a)£ a> q> . o a> o ■ a) a> 0 3 3 5 S p O - CD fi *- ;^fc-t(SMK ; • -f-i • t-i CN^CO CN^Tfi iH ■ "rAi-( i-C Hd ■ M-J ^^C^I^O^iO^O^r-^CO CO^O O OO © CO © US 35© CO ^ L- »C ©W CO H ' »»C^^T^CO%4,C>r<b~C^^^^c^"aCr»OC^COC^ SS^^^S^tfiSS^^o^^^wooeowt^QOQooipu; cocNiou3i>cotoeOcoco©cmco5^ t»(too^oc- mcot-<2>35-25 co■* t* r-i r-T cf"-T i-T oieJ -too aS ■ aj ■ 0Q •& w a3 i ; CO QQ :^-d :« ■©2S.5.S :& :g ^ o3 . m • c3 : d § 3 tyfi 5j :-S.So.2<!-«o aj - V — ®- t—l tf5 CO T t-U5 CM Tf >o> cc -f S>1 © — CM 1-H co© •M <N ^o — GO CM i-H CO OS -M Jfi "* co as ■^ lO TT_1 CO c a> CO p ; ' ; ; ; ' ; ; ; ! 3" ; ; ' ; : : ; : ; a? ; ; : ; ■ aT ■<U'C0- * ' ^ tl'TZ ' *^ J. & tL ** t* U& t* U t*l* U ' U tl ' ^T J o ^ p k p o y S o o o o a x i* p o i^ p _o p p o - o p S i ? \> IcjO o JoSotiooo- >>; 3 S ISG0 00tf3t~C3OCM -«5IN»C. 'Ji-lrHOli-lCMTHrHt-li-lOJi-i^ • OOt— O • O »C>-H Oi iH CO "■ -^ ~J ■ • Oi ^* ■* »-l OO 00 r-1 CM d Oil ON C3 SO t- r-i iH CQ r-1 2 2 cjJ>»j*»!a)oI)aDbi)oDbobOaO'£ bobo+i^J >+j_Jw>^J>>-dcicic;| r«te t.' . : • no . rl *- .5 ■ © : 5 '^ 3q <»Pli © n> a> S.S„^ fe-^J-^ iWO 3 in pp.e O a. o O •43 a O h _w o a s 03 03 -t_> *j o o © 00 © csT 03 O 03 O I Ct. w^oo oO(oeoaoeQr.(-)rH^SH^r.Mt- rien' Ipj-w 3o0Soc?:3Oc>aobotiDc3^o3Ooai€5ocg)oDo gaaassalgBaasaas^asoooS-SacSsaoooS O- / 28 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE I a 03 • H •d a H •d a O (0 H fl G U 03 B !0 g a I O - o 3 fcf 2 o <D rO a «H O -P a a o -d a 03 03 <B I oJ CD - dr-l O C9-S .S 03 S oj COCOCN © © ©1>CC cm cm cc CMC- uO-CC CM O CO .00 ©© $ TJ<<T ©© i>. CM CM rH lO © CO © CO © CO 1~- CM © © <© i-» r-< CM © © _"0 ™! flgS M W BJ -^ OO Cn 0+^ CD n C o MH"^COCft^O m cm ■* © i-1 ic © ■ r-r©vi©"—r©-co" °«3 - •©©CM©iHCO© IP Ol---^-*cn©coco CO ^ i—• CO CO CO 1— I— © as^l w-i>-oiTri©co©© CO © CO CM © T ^* CM CO © lOiC m tf ^OOWCM "iHr-ilO ©©© i> iO©© kHO0©"^CCl-^©CO ^©IXOtHiOCO© • CO^CMrH © © W^ P3 TP lo\-H ©' Co"cM*"vO „^ © iH © i—l OS CO -t-a I—i CO^CO CC ©.CO^ 5? i-^©"©"io u6%f i> ® 55©©r-ico ■ ^ © cm © © © i- io •HiCHc-liOiOOCM £cC©©^ CN .iHCOCO©©^?!-- — CMCO^©00r-i t-»C6 CO 00 00 CO CO CO Oi-tCMCO ©©Old COCOCCCO § ^ <N t^- CM © CC © ^ r-i CO I> t— o CO CM rH CM COCO© © "3 .Pi &r CO r-4 it; tH © iC 00 t-i cy r-1 CO "Sl< iC © t> CO CM Eg • • ■ -©c © 03 s ■OC © CD •OC © CO Q n w- • ©cf 25 CD O iCM'cN U5~ co ' s \A 03 J 1-5 'ri CO CO CO CO CO cc CO ._ ® CO © © CN © «C CO 35 o©-^ TPCOI> I> > rt &s- lO^CM^tO^^©! C- CJl^ o CD 3^co£ CM r-1 CM | cc £ ©COtH©t-IGC CO B t-A Q >0 CM I> © "TJ* <C l> m t^ t>- © co cc © P3 |£ a^- X>CMI>l>©0' ©^CM^^^o^Cs 0a o CM"VrH,oTtH*CM*'c tC Tj r-f CM CM £0 CO Cr 1 -t— M 03 g £ rci CD ^(NiOiOOC O >-. *-" COCMW3COCM C o 3 CO CM© ocTi-rr- CO00CC r-^ *co<£t> a 1 ©»OI>©COCC d COiOHHHS cS «H p S3 O* Pi r-(CM©COThc: « I CO -* O- 00 © <£ 1 © CO a 1 S^H o n 1 CD CO c3 CD CD ^t£^ ^ ^^ CD i—5 i—( © CM I> CO <S O i-l 'g* »-ICQiOCM©l> lOrf 03 H 1 " CD CM CM CO-^©t- ©^< cm" 1 CO 1 B [i, O tH £ 0 O .-. i '£. g I CD 1 tJl u CD 1^ x> 0Q © © i-)CM CO ^ CD o > CO op CO ©CI©© OC cc OC cc COOC 00 ANNUAL REPORT. 29 *ri OQ t-rt r*> t* >T« *-^A^Nh.11 ® wS K'E° CD CO t^i< 2 CD «'-j ■—i ?S3gr^|,B^g-§'3 2'g' o fj CO o >o ^ CD 3 0 llllflllgslfll tdd g3 x £ g2-» 3-03 c „ ™ t)3'3sogS^-o £.£- gg; act 3 X 0 £ f||||||||Sf|2. o . 1-3 K -'a^^iS w£: § CD to utm M P m IB J* « "*TO 0"J E. 3- -. JLto c*- oj t» TO 9 J° « St |U Oi (0 IO CJi 00 CO CO CO C7i to CO Oi CO Weight of a cubic foot C C CC M -1 i iS.. tO lO © Cji to l-» CJi rf*. CO © CO — r- i-'r-'CJi^j©© iii lbs. m x i4 ^ oe n ii !ii oi x it. c cc in OOHr'AIOfflOili.OOOOW- ©COCnC*©©C0£n©Cn©b5rfxcn Specific gravity. ii v' C -j .. o --1 i; fi ic r- ii ^i x • Mh-'O©©- ©• MO- © 200 lbs. CO - 10 a - • i-H-i- MO* * MO- ■ 250 »s. ■ en ■ en • ■ co ^i • • f-MtOHHOO' t-'*-'- "-1 300 lbs. © iO tC - CO • *.! to to co i-« t-» <-" — ■ WM- • i-1 ©i 00 )-> f-> • i-» • • 350 IDs. ■s s co to co «o j_l. . t0r-»- M r->- • y-i en 400 tbs. o • CO- '. 'i-i. '.'■'. to - en • ■ ■ 450 lbs. z ■ - >t-'to i_i|o: : to- to 500 lbs. • ■ CO a w GO *::$:: ' 550 lbs. tcto- • to- ■ ©i©i- * Oi • • 600 tbs. 650 lbs. ikCnCnSti^OiM' rf*- Os • © ailignesi DreuK-. o©oo 300- © ©• © a ing load. o©©- J*-©" en aLowest break- 1 toocjicji oc ©co> cncg. CO ©©©©©©©• ©o- © :« ing loaa. 1 A^i-i'jiiar.' 4*. o; • en aMein breaking. •<! W © © © CO CO • COO* -J SfS g| ■ COCOO&Ci>OOOcO' C/>©©Cn 1 ooooo©©©©- S222 i ooooo©©o©- ©©©© rt Pi «gg 1 3 aQ 1 ►OMH'MbS'-"- »(-*■ Mr-H-ii-i ^ CO . 1 ^©o©cjiOj©-j»^- Sy^3?£5S k3i -3b' 1 3" no. .1 (T> Q n> co a. a pf o CC n -r 3 ■-* "I [_ ■^ °° -d » H «-j CO tb » ® © » *i O oq 3 ~ B 3 H « co •* r* ff m . . rti «o i-1 3, 3" g; c; 0; CD CO rT j —: p CD (0 TJ ■d rt> ^0 O o "71 CD CO CD (0 3 ft cc CQ o M CD s*. CD 5' B a? a" TO 9 CO fcy* CD cr o CO CO 03 - CO w 2. d- 3 rt> QQ CD CD o s. tf CO b- CO Q ►d CO o o m O r—i ^- .r* 3* C ~ >- ca CKJ 2 P O o CD a H PL T3 Qt o 3 o P *"* A n1 p Q) cr 3 CD 4 p- S] CD CO CO ^ O / 1 ANN! REPORT. 35 Gross Postal Revenue $29,375.55 VANCOUVER POST OFFICE. EXTRACTS FROM REPORT OP POSTMASTER-GENERAL For year ending 30lh June, 1895. No. of Money Orders Amount. Issued. 10,868 $147,483.60 Mail matter passing between Vancouver, B.C. Japan: Amount of Money Orders Paid. $125,791.93 and China and Letters. Yokohama 95,390 Hong Kong 53,949 Shanghai 19,268 Tokio 10,827 Amoy 190 Way'letters 351 Newspapers. Miscellaneous. 43,410 30,087 14,149 11,382 7,744 3,294 12.137 15,774 39 511 9 1 Parcels 336 Totals 1895.179,993 Totals 1894.163,314 77,488 50,890 Increase... 16,679 26,598 61,049 43,178 17,871 336 252 84 Note.—In addition to above, through bags received from the places designated were forwarded to destination as follows: Yokohama, 1,123; Hong Kong, 160; Shanghai, 156; Tokio, 499; Kobe, 127; Hakodati, 53; Nagasaki, 70. Mail matter passing between Vancouver, B.C., and the following postoffices in Australasia and Sandwich Islands: Letters. Newspapers. Books and Samples. Sydney 56,219 91,217 69,021 Melbourne 32,212 64,526 38,349 Brisbane 10,456 34,756 22,483 Honolulu 31,747 53,169 29,857 Adelaide 7,702 33,707 14,665 New Zealand 8,763 33,770 32,196 Suva and Fiji 1,152 2,083 335 Auckland 298 257 10 Tasmania 131 40 Way mail 49 Totals 1895... 148,729 313,525 206,916 Totals 1894... 125,675 224,526 92,851 Increase 23,054 88,999 114,065 36 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE BRITISH COLUMBIA SALMON FISHERIES. Season, 1895. The result of the past season's salmon fishing has, on the whole, been satisfactory, so far as quantity is concerned. Four new canneries were built on Fraser River, one on Rivers' Inlet, one on Skeena River, and one on the West Coast, while one was destroyed by fire on Skeena and three on Fraser, only one of which was rebuilt in time for the season's operations. The season 1895 being the third or "off" year on Fraser River, only a moderate run was expected. The most noteworthy features were the large increase in price of fish on Fraser River, owing to competition and expectation of a short run, the unusually heavy run which actually took place, and the partial failure of the run on Skeena for the third season in succession. Fair prices for the pack have ruled throughout, and the market remains in a healthy condition. It is now generally conceded that the hatchery has largely contributed to the success of the past year. The total cost of the fishery service of British Columbia amounts to about $6,000, and the cost of operating the hatchery some $3,000 additional, while the first cost of building and fully equipping a hatchery with a capacity of 10,000,000 ova need not exceed $6,000 or $7,000. As the total value of the salmon pack for the past year amounted to some $3,000,000, of which ' about $1,800,000 was spent in the Province, it should be the duty of everyone to urge upon the Dominion Government the desirability of largely increasing the number of hatcheries, the cost of operating which is so insignificant in comparison to the benefits likely to result. From the tables following it will be noted that, including the " Fall " pack, the total pack for the Province during the past season is the largest on record. ANNUAL REPORT. 37 British Columbia Salmon Pack, Seasons 1894-95. FRASER RIVER. Name. Pack in Cases. 1894. 1895. [Estimated. Anglo British Columbia Packing Co., Britannia Cannery British Columbia Cannery Wadham's Cannery British America Victoria Canning Co., of B.C., L'td... Bon Accord Fishery Co Ewen & Co Canadian Pacific Packing Co Short & Squair F. Boutillier & Co Lulu Island Canning Co Terra Nova Canning Co Pacific Coast Packing Co Fisherman's- Canning Co Beaver Canning Co Richmond Canning Co British Columbia Canning Co., L'td.. Malcolm—Windsor Canning Co., L'td Brunswick Canning Co Federation Canning Co., L'td Dinsmore Island Canning Co., L'td... Oostello & McMorran Alliance Canning Co Atlas Canning Co Add for fall pack (estimated) L'td. NAAS RIVER. Federation Canning Co., L'td Naas Harbour Cannery Mill Bay Cannery 82,07 53,020 27,917 25,418 20,774 12,465 15,542 8,025 13,253 11,110 15,710 9,615 7,490 18,429 15,346 17,387 10,393 363,967 86,336 40,800 19,500 26,500 19,285 12,200 7,300 12,605 7,000 11,560 9,200 15,029 11,511 7,000 17,500 12,500 15,000 8,300 15,900 4,000 4,775 69,119 432,920 J 38 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE SKEENA RIVER. Name, Pack in Oases. 1894. 17,308 9,279 6,624 1895. Estimated. Anglo British Columbia Packing Co } British America Cannery >• British Columbia Canning Co., L'td 20,661 ' 7,059 Skeena Packing Co., R. Cunningham & Son... Balmoral Canning Co Royal Canadian Packing Co Carlisle Packing & Canning Co., L'td 6,988 6,591 7,650 6,711 7,500 9,500 8,168 7,883 6,928 61,151 67,699 RIVERS INLET. Victoria Canning Oo., of B.C., L'td 12,433 26,918 10,320 Anglo British Columbia Packing Co., L'td British Columbia Canning Co., L'td 19,038 29,207 39,351 58,565 OTHER NORTHERN POINTS. (N.B.—Four canneries destroyed by fire, 1895.) THE ANNUAL PACK. Alert Bav Canning Co. (Alert Bay) Namu Canning Co., R. Draney (Namu Harb'r.) Clayoquot Fishing and Trading Co., L'td 2,000 8,315 6,283 3,000 8,660 3,300 10,315 21,243 Grand Total... 494,371 600,968 CASES 1876 9,847 1877 67,387 1878 113 601 1879 61,093 1880 61,849 1881 177 276 1882 225.061 CASES 1883 196,292 1884 141,242 1885 108,517 1886 161,264 1887 204,083 1888 181,040 1889 414,294 CASES 1890 409,464 1891 314,893 1892 228,470 1893 590,229 1894 494,371 1895 600,968 ANNUAL, REPORT. 39 Estimate of Total Salmon Pack of Pacific Coast, 1895. (From Commercial News, Dec. 17th.) Date. 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 Pack. Date. Pack. 4,000 1881 956,375 18,000 1882 1,045,661 23,000 1883 1,106,400 100,000 1884 971,224 150,000 1885 886,495 200,000 1886 909.047 250,000 1887 997,890 250,000 1888 1,142,721 352,500 1889 1,714,981 378,000 1890 1,633,419 493,747 1891 1,576,737 575,687 1892 1,348,797 640,101 1893 1,787,131 598.394 1894 1,884,211 679,500 1895 2,128,369 / 40 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE Salmon Pack, Columbia River, (IT.S.A.) Date. No. of Cases Packed. 1866 4,000 1867 18,000 1868 28,000 1869 100,000 1870 150,000 1871 200,000 1872 i 250,000 1873 250,000 1874 350,000 1875 375,000 1876 450,000 1877 400,000 1878 400,000 1879...' 480,000 1880 530,000 1881 555,000 1882 550,000 1883 629,000 1884 600,000 1885 550,000 1886 | 448,000 1887 1889. 1890. 1891. 356,000 366,000 318,000 436,000 390,183 1892 481,900 1893 375,700 1894 511,000 1895 632,900 No. of Boats. 2 15 25 35 50 75- 100 125 250 300 400 450 550 750 900 1,200 1,500 1,700 1,800 1,800 1,900 1,900 1,900 2,000 2,000 Cost of each fish. Cents. 15 15 20 20 20 20 22 24 24 24 24 24 24 48 48 60 76 90 90 90 100 90 90 90 100 125 125 125 125 125 Price obtained 1? case of 48 lbs. Shillings. 64 52 48 40 36 38 32 28 28 22J 18 21 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 22 24 22 20 21 21/6 21/6 21 21/6 ANNUAL REPORT. 41 Estimate of Total Salmon Pack for the Pacific Coast, for 1895. Cases. British Columbia 600,968 Columbia River (Spring) 505,400 " (Fall) 127,500 Rogue River 14,000 Coast, Rivers and Bays (Fall) 52,000 Gray's Harbour and Shoal water (Fall) 34,000 Puget Sound (Fall, excepting 10,500 cases) 105,500 Point Roberts 52,000 Alaska 637,000 Total for Pacific Coast, 1895 2,128,368 N.B.—Although the largest pack in the history of the industry, the output has been so well handled, that most of it has been marketed at good prices, and stocks remaining on hand on tho Coast are' not more than sufficient for requirements, Gross Estimate of British Columbia Fisheries, Season, 1895. Total quantity of Salmon exported fresh in ice 1,795,892 lbs. salted, barrels 3,148 brls. " " Sturgeon (dressed) 375,000 lbs. Halibut (fresh) : 2,536,700 lbs. Value of Caviar and Isinglas from Sturgeon $ 2,250 00 " Fish oils manufactured 135,000 00 Total estimated value of fish and their products, including estimated home consumption, caught and handled during Season 1895 $4,426,000 00 Fishing Boats Licensed since 1890. Average cost Date. of each fish in Fraser River. 1890 9c. 1891 10c. 1892 15c. 1893 10c. 1894 10c. 1895 20c. Fishing Boats Fraser River and South. Fishing Boats North of Fraser River. Total Boats. 751 720 1,471 783 695 1,478 760 725 1,485 1,465 822 2,287 1/610 789 ' 2,399 1,770 830 2,600 I / 42 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE Fish Breeding. INTERESTING FACTS AND FIGURES. The following appeared in the Vancouver News- Advertiser of February 12th, 1896 : Fourteen years ago Mr. Samuel Wilmot, who only recently retired from the office of Superintendent-General of Fish Culture for the Dominion of Canada, in the course of a lengthy letter in reply to a request made by Messrs. B. Haigh & Sons, New Westminster, for information concerning the artificial propagation of salmon, made the statement that | our Dominion Government is quite in advance of almost any other on this Continent or in the Old "World with regard to the artificial propagation of fish. * * * Whilst France, Germany, England and the United States are being heralded by their institutions and Government organs as doing wonders in fish culture, Canada has been quietly, yet surely, outdoing them by all odds." Although a like distinction cannot now be claimed for the Dominion the assertion may be fearlessly made that Canada is at any rate doing t-o-day a great deal in the direction of meriting honourable estimation, if not of winning like pre-eminence. Everybody who takes the slightest interest in the fisheries of the Dominion is doubtless aware that the artificial propagation of fish continues under the care and at the expense of the Dominion Government, and that young fish are turned out at the proper times, but there knowledge stops with very many. Even to numbers whose information upon this subject is far from being so superficial, it may come as a surprise to be told that the total number of fry distributed from the Dominion Hatcheries from the year 1868 to the end of 1894, was 1,539,727,700, in the following proportions : Atlantic and Pacific salmon, salmon-trout of the Great Lakes, and speckled trout of the streams 275,176,300 White fish of the Great Lake region 670,230,000 Pickerel or dore 210,221,400 Lobster 384,100,000 1,539,727,700 ANNUAL REPORT. 43 But to grasp the increasing importance of this subject it is necessary to bear in mind the development of this endeavor to maintain an adequate supply of food- fish in Dominion waters. Let us take the figures for five years. The distribution of fry in the several years, 1890-4, was as under : .1890 90,213,000 1891 115,771,800 1892 135,959,500 1893 258,314,000 1894 254,919,000 These figures exhibit an enormous increase, which there is good reason to suppose will be well maintained. But as the intention of the writer is to notice the progress being made in this connection in British Columbia in particular rather than in the Dominion in general—the above official statistics having been quoted merely for the purpose of showing the magnitude of the fish-breeding operations of the Department of Fisheries, as a whole—attention will now be directed to Provincial results. The first batch of fry distributed from the Fraser River Hatchery was liberated in 1885. The official figures for that year and those succeeding it are as follows:— '1885 ■ 1,800,000 1886 2,625,000 1887 4,414,000 1888 5,807,000 1889 4,419,000 1890 6,640,000 1891 3,603,800 1892 6,000,000 1893 5,764,000 1894 7,800,000 1895 6,390,000 Total fry distributed 55,262,800 I J / 44 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE It may be remarked that during the four years, 1885-8, about half the young fish put out were spring- salmon, and that in 1894 1,500,000 white fish were included in the unusually large total of that year.' All the rest of the fry were salmon of the sockeye variety. The Fraser River Hatchery is at Bon Accord, within half a dozen miles of New Westminster. It is advantageously placed in one respect, viz., that an abundant supply of running water is obtainable from a permanent neighbouring stream. In two other important respects, however, its position is not a good one. First, all the fish eggs have to be brought a comparatively long distance down from where the ova is taken from the salmon ; and next, loss of young fish occurs in conveying them from the hatchery to the distant places ab which they are set free. In this latter connection, Inspector McNab, the officer in charge of the B.C. Hatchery, in his report for 1893 stated that, | More than half of the fry from the Fraser River Hatchery have always been planted in Harrison River, which is the most suitable place available, but at the season when it is necessary to put out the young fish the water is so low in the river that it is impossible to get up the rapids on the Harrison with the scows, and although there is not a question in regard to the great benefit which has resulted from planting the fry where, of necessity, it has to be done, still many persons believe that the benefits would be greater if the hatchery were situated above the rapids, in which case both the Harrison Lake and River and their numerous affluents would be more accessible." Further on the following statements occurred :— "The success of a hatchery, to be considered as a factor in keeping up a supply of fish, is not to be measured by the number of ova laid down or successfully hatched, but it is from the number of frj*- which may be successfully planted in suitable places for food and shelter and where there is an absence of predatory fishes. The facilities of appliances for planting the young fish are also very important considerations in connection with the prosperity of a hatchery." ANNUAL REPORT. 45 Again, in remarked:— his report for 1894, the same officer " Owing to the hatchery being situated more than seventy miles from where most of the fry are liberated, necessitating their being towed by steamboats, in scows, against the current of the Fraser River, a distance of sixty miles, to the mouth of the Harrison River, and then by row-boats for several miles up the latter river, considerable loss is met with; more, no doubt, than would be the case were the hatchery situated above the rapids of the Harrison River." Thus far, though, the Inspector's repeated recommendation that a new and more suitably located hatchery be provided, has not been acted upon, but it is not unlikely that increasing unfitness, by reason of decay and a too restricted capacity, will ere long compel either the extensive repair and enlargement* of the existing hatchery, or, what is evidently a far more desirable alternative, the construction, in a more favorable position, of a new hatchery more adequate, both as regards accommodation and equipment, to the growing needs of one of the most important industries contributing to the prosperity of this section of the Dominion. Although the object of this contribution is not so much to deal with details of fish breeding operations as to direct attention to the extent to which they have been, and continue to be, carried on, and to the results already achieved, a brief description of the procedure followed will no doubt prove of interest to those not acquainted with it. To quote again from the Inspector's 1894 report, he stated: " On 21st September I sent men with the necessary materials to Morris Creek, Harrison River, to build a trap and make the necessary preparations for capturing parent salmon and collecting ova. On 2nd October, the first lot of ova, 1,344,000, was received at the hatchery * * * and on the 25th the last lot of 944,000; making a total of 6,752,000 ova, all of the sockeye variety. The parent fish were all captured in a 46 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE trap constructed of pickets. The trap was 12 feet square, having a V-shaped entrance. Adjoining the upper end of this trap a pound or trap of similar size and construction was built. The salmon entered the trap several days before their ova was fully ripened, and in order to give them more room, and also to facilitate handling them 'for stripping, the males were lifted in dip-nets and transferred to the pound. Gill-nets were used formerly for capturing the parent fish, but I have dispensed with them altogether, and in my opinion the ova is in better condition and hatches with a smaller percentage of loss when obtained from fish which have entered the trap of their own accord ; and, too, there is no loss of parent fish, which is unavoidable when they are netted in gill or drift nets. The number of female salmon taken was 2,200, and they gave an average of 3,500 ova each. For fertilising these ova it took from 1,200 to 1,400 males. The parent fish—male and female —when liberated appeared to be but little affected by the operation and confinement in the pounds." After having been conveyed to the hatchery on trays, the fertilized ova is placed in oblong open-wire baskets about 15 inches long. 9 inches broad, and 4 or 5 deep. These are placed in wooden troughs set about 3 feet above the floor of the building, that at Bon Accord being a wooden construction 110 feet by 40. Nearly the whole of the ground floor is occupied by troughs placed across the building in parallel groups of five each, with room for the attendant to pass between the respective groups. The troughs, which number between 70 and 80, are each about 30 feet long, 10 inches wide, and 6 inches deep. A capacious flume runs the whole length of the building, and supplies each trough with a constant stream of water, the flow of which is regulated as required. The water passes through the baskets of ova, the fertilized eggs having the appearance of so many redish coloured small peas of almost uniform size. Within three months the young fish begin to hatch out. The present season's ova was placed in the hatchery between the 3rd and 15th of October last, both dates inclusive, and the little fish commenced to hatch about' ANNUAL REPORT. 47 Christmas time, and have continued to appear ever since, with a considerable number yet to come out. Myriads of little silver-eyed red fish are now to be seen at the bottom of the clear water passing through the troughs. Here they will remain until about the middle of March, or a week or two earlier or later, according to the favourableness or otherwise of the weather, when they will be turned adrift to do for themselves. By that time they will be from an inch to an inch and a quarter in length, and will then require more food than the water flowing in and out of the troughs could supply to such large numbers. Artificial feeding is not resorted to in the hatchery. Here control over the young fish is lost, and their acquaintance is not again made until a few years later—let us believe—those that have not previously lost the number of their mess are taken by the fishermen, or if they succeed in running the trap and net blockade of the lower river and adjacent waters, until they crowd the inland streams to continue the work of reproduction. And what is the result of all this effort ? Let the Inspector's 1893 report again speak for itself : " Numerous letters have been received from and visits have been made by gentlemen interested in the salmon fishing of Alaska and the Columbia River in the United States enquiring about the capacity and the general working of the Fraser River Hatchery, all of whom expressed the opinion that to the successful operations thereat is to be attributed the unusually successful catches of salmon on the Fraser River during the present and past seasons." Add to this the unexpectedly large run of 1895, which was confidently looked forward to as almost certain to prove an " off" year, and apparent confirmation of this opinion is found. Time and space will, not now permit of much being written of the 4,500,000 whitefish ova recently received from Selkirk and now in the hatchery. This ova is somewhat differently treated to that of the salmon, but an -equally successful result is looked for. 48 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE In addition to an expression of thanks to Inspector McNab for his courtesy in facilitating the recently paid visit to the hatchery, this contribution—which has far outrun the limits intended for it—will be concluded with the intimation that it is anticipated between 6,300,000 and 6,400,000 salmon fry will be liberated from the Fraser River Hatchery during March or April next. PERCY VERENS. SHIPPING. Vancouver possesses a magnificent and perfectly sheltered harbour, accessible for vessels of any draught, and with adequate wharfage facilities, the charges for wharfage being levied on the cargo and paid by the receivers. Although not yet possessing a dry dock, there is an excellent beach on the north side of the harbour, where iron vessels can be safely beached for the purpose of being scraped and painted, the rise and fall of the tide (13 to 15 ft.) being sufficient to pen nit this being done in a satisfactory manner. Shipmasters visiting the port all concur in praising the natural advantage which enables them to rid their vessels of marine growths in such an inexpensive manner and with perfect safety. For inwards business there are general cargoes from Europe, and cargoes of raw sugar from Java for the Refinery. For outwards business a charter for lumber can nearly always be obtained, and in the season (August to December) canned salmon for the United Kingdom. The " Empress " line of mail steamers, belonging to the Canadian Pacific Railway, leave for Japan and China, once a month during the winter, and once every twenty days in the summer (calling off Victoria, Vancouver Island, for local mail and passengers). The Canadian-Australian Mail Line leaves for Sydney once a month, touching at Victoria, Honolulu and the Fiji Islands. ANNUAL REPORT. 49 The Pacific Coast SS. Company's steamers ply regularly between Vancouver and San Francisco every five days, calling also at Victoria. There is a daily service with Victoria and with Nanaimo, the steamers connecting with the*incoming and outgoing transcontinental express trains of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Provisions and supplies of all kinds are plentiful and at moderate prices, imported stores being allowed to be supplied from bonded warehouses. Annexed will be found a list of the usual disbursement expenses, together with copies of actual disbursement accounts : Ordinary Expenses of a Vessel at Vancouver. Hospital dues per register ton $ 02 Health Inspector's fee 4 00 Harbour dues 5 00 Bill of health, outwards 1 00 Pilotage, per foot (each way) 2 00 Pilotage, per foot (steamers) 1 50 Port agency (according to size) $25 00 to 100 00 Discharge of ballast (usually done by ship's crew) or per ton.' 10 00 to 25 00 Harbour towage 10 00 to 20 00 Stevedoring— General cargo or salmon, per ton. 45 Sugar, per ton z't Lumber and timber, per M ft. according to the style of cargo and facilities of the ship 80 to 1 00 Watering 15 00 to 20 00 I J / 50 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE Rates of Towage. PILOTAGE DISTRICT OF YALE AND NEW WESTMINSTER. The ports of the Pilotage District of„Yale and New Westminster shall be as follows : Port of Vancouver. Port of New Westminster. Port of Yale and the several landings on the Fraser River. (1) The limit of the Port of Vancouver shall be inside a line drawn from Point Atkinson to the red buoy on Spanish Bank. (2) The limit of the Port of New Westminster shall be inside a line drawn between the outer buoys and north and south sand heads, at entrance of Fraser River. DUES. For vessels entering or clearing from the Port of Vancouver the rates of pilotage shall be as follows : Vessels under sail $4 00 per foot I in tow of a steamer 2 00 " I under steam 1 50 " The pilotage from Cape Flattery or Royal Roads to a line drawn from Point Atkinson to the red buoy on Spanish Bank and vice versa is not compulsory, but if the services of a pilot are required, he shall be paid the following rates, viz.: From Cape Flattery $6 00 per foot I Callum Bay 5 00 1 " Beachy Head 4 00 I | Race Rocks or Royal Roads 3 00 I 1 ANNUAL REPORT. 51 And for vessels under steam or in tow of a steamer the following rates shall be paid : From Cape Flattery $3 00 per foot " Callum Bay 2 50 " " Beachy Head 2 00 " Race Rocks or Royal Roads, vessels under steam 2 00 " Race Rocks or Royal Roads, vessels in tow of a steamer 1 50 " NEW WESTMINSTER. From the lighthouse on Fraser sand heads to New Westminster : For vessels under sail $4 00 per foot " " in tow of a steamer 2 00 " " " under steam 1 50 " From the lighthouse to Cape Flattery or Royal Roads and vice versa the pilotage is not compulsory, but if the services of a pilot are required he shall be paid the following rates : For vessels under sail: From Cape Flattery $6 00 per foot " Callum Bay 5 00 " " Beachy Head 4 00 " " Race Rocks or Royal Roads 3 00 " For vessels under steam or in tow of a steamer, the following rates shall be paid : From Cape Flattery $3 00 per foot " Callum Bay' 2 50 " " Beachy Head 2 00 " " Race Rocks or Royal Roads, vessels under steam 1 00 " Race Rocks or Royal Roads, vessels in tow of a steamer 1 50 Any fraction of a foot not exceeding six inches shall be paid for as half a foot, and any fraction of a foot exceeding six inches shall be paid for as a foot. / 52 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE The following are copies of actual accounts : Disbursement account of British ship loading lumber at Vancouver ; 2,108 tons register ; cargo, 1,974,050. Hospital dues, 2c. per ton $ 42 16 Harbour dues 5 00 Customs fees, discharging and shipping crews, etc 13 50 Survey 25 00 Pilotage inwards and outwards 103 00 Stevedores' bill 2,135 15 Towage 750 00 Shipping crew and advances 520 00 Watering ship 20 00 Butcher's account 137 15 Lumber and wood 79 78 Stores 50 00 Telegrams 8 5,4 Cash to captain 95 52 $3,984 80 Commission on charter $ 914 02 Extra insurance on deck load 19 19 Commission and insurance on advances, £158 '. . . 37 48 970 69 $4,955 49 ANNUAL REPORT. 53 Disbursement account of Norwegian ship 1,476 tons register; loading lumber at Vancouver, 1895 ; cargo, 1,177,408. Cash advanced captain $ 695 00 Hospital dues, 2c. per ton 29 06 Harbour dues 5 00 Quarantine inspection 4 00 Norwegian consulate 47 40 Stevedores' bill 1,048 90 Docking and towage into stream .... 15 00 Telegrams and cables 4 30 Stores 441 80 Lumber and spars 53 55 Port agency 25 00 Postage stamps 3 00 Towage 450 00 $2,822 01 Extra insurance on deck load $ 86 05 Commission on charter '. 1,142 40 1,228 45 $4,050 46 54 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE Lumber Vessel's Expense Accounts. Pro forma disbursement accounts of a ship of 1,500 tons register, inwards with ballast, outwards with lumber, at Vancouver and Paget Sound, compared. Puget Sound (say Pt. Blakeley). Vancv'r. To Customs fees $ 6 80 $ 1 00 Harbour dues • • • • 5 00 British Consular fees 15 00 .... Tonnage dues 90 00 30 00 Health Officer's inspection. ... .... 4 00 Discharging part ballast, say 300 tons 120 00 75 00 Docking ship from the ballast ground 20 00 20 00 Stowing and shipping cargo, say 1,200,000 1,380 00 1,200 00 Surveyor's fee 20 00 25 00 Towage 650 00 650 00 Water 20 00 20 00 Stores, say 400 00 500 00 Sundries, say 100 00 100 00 Sailors' advances, say 300 00 300 00 Pilotage inwa-ds, say 14 ft. $2 . .... 28 00 Pilotage outwards, say 21 ft. $2 42 00 Port agency ." 25 00 25 00 Telegrams, postage, etc 25 00 25 00 $3,171 80 $3,050 00 Commission on charter and advances (if any) according to terms of charter party. Note—Port Blakely has been taken as a fair average for Puget Sound. At other mills the only difference would be in tonnage rates, which to some mills nearer sea are $50 less, and those further $50 more. ANNUAL REPORT. 55 PILOTAGE. The question of pilotage dues having engaged the attention of this Board, the matter was referred to C. Gardiner Johnson, Esq., for investigation, and his report, made after due investigation and correspondence with the proper authorities, was, by resolution, accepted in full meeting, viz.:— Vancouver, May 28th, 1895. Comparative statement of what a vessel, say 1,200 tons burden, and drawing 20 feet of water, would have to pay in and out of the ports of New York, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, B.C.: 1st. San Francisco, Cal.—A vessel entering that port would have to pay :— On 20 feet in, at $5.00 per foot $100 00 On 20 feet out, at $5.00 per foot 100 00 On 1,200 tons reg., at 4-100 per ton in 48 00 On 1,200 tons reg., at 4-100 per ton'out 48 00 $296 00 If the services of a Pilot were declined, half the above rate would be paid, i.e., $148.00. 2nd. Portland, Oregon—A vessel entering that port would have to pay :— bar pilotage. On 20 feet in, at $5.00 per foot $100 00 On 20 feet out, at $5.00 per foot 100 00. On 1,200 reg., at 2-100 per ton in 24 00 On 1,200 reg., at 2-100 per ton out 24 00 RIVER PILOTAGE. On 20 feet in, at $2.00 per foot 40 00 On 20 feet out, at $2.00 per foot 40 00 On 1,200 tons reg., at 2-100 per ton in 24 00 On 1,200 tons reg., at 2-100 per ton out 24 00 $376 00 So that a vessel of 1,200 tons from sea to Portland would pay the sum of $376.00. / 56 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE A captain has the right to pilot his ship over the bar to Astoria if he likes, but must pay the full pilotage for that privilege. 3rd. New York—This information has been kindly supplied me by the Collector of Customs of New York to whom I wrote since our last regular meeting. A vessel entering that port would pay :— On 20 feet in, at $4.13 $ 82 60 On 20 feet out, at $3.80 61 60 $144 20 The New. York pilotage is on a sliding scale ; for instance, a vessel drawing 21 feet would pay more in proportion than a vessel drawing 20 feet. We have now the three respective ports to guide us. Let us see what a vessel of the same burden and draught would pay entering and clearing from Vancouver. A vessel entering that port would pay :— On 20 feet in, at $2.00 $ 40 00 On 20 feet out, at $2.00 40 00 $ 80 00 As I have only dealt with compulsory Pilotage, I will consider that no Pilot was on the vessel entering San Francisco ; but there is no use looking at the matter this way " with Portland Bar Pilotage," for, as I have stated, the vessel must pay the same over the bar with or without a Pilot. Figures, therefore, stand thus :— San Francisco, without a Pilot, in and out $148 00 Portland, from the sea, in and out. . 376 00 New York, in and out 144 20 Vancouver, B.C.,in and out 80 00 I do not think after these figures are looked into— and I have used every endeavor to be correct—there should be any just cause for complaint. C. GARDINER JOHNSON, Secy. Yale and N. West. Pilotage Authority. ANNUAL, REPORT. 57 CUSTOMS RETURNS. Port of Vancouver. Statement showing number of vessels entered inwards from sea and outwards for sea during the twelve months ending 31st December, 1895. TONS TONS TOKS. INWARDS. NO. REGISTER. WEIGHT. MEASUREMENT. British 42 88,296 26,935 49,345 Canadian 27 3,489 389 324 Foreign 240 223,760 25,675 26,559 Total 309 315,545 52,999 76,228 TONS TONS TONS OUTWARDS. NO. REGISTER. WEIGHT. MEASUREMENT. British 40 88,042 51,157 62,418 Canadian.... 24 2,895 2,286 2,823 Foreign 239 221,833 67,867 82,196 Total 303 312,770 121,310 147,437 COASTWISE. NO. TONS REGISTER. Reported in 2,056 541,876 J. M. BOWELL, Collector. 1895 Port of New Westminster. Vessels entered and cleared for the year ending December 31st, inwards. no. tons register. Foreign 83 18,743 Coastwise 546 119,100 Total 629 137,843 outwards. no. tons register. Foreign 82 17,650 Coastwise 552 193,200 Total 634 210,850 J. M. OLUTE, Collector. 58 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE VANCOUVER CUSTOM HOUSE. Comparative Statement for 1894-1895: IMPORTS. Quarters ending March. June. Sept. Dec. Totals. 1894—Dutiable $160,304 $218,501 $199,223 $182,733 $760,761 1895— " 126,853 204,899 249,471 1894—Free 221,210 172,951 250,833 1895— " 36,167 144,065 44,024 1894. 1895. Total imports $1,440,544 $1,097,667 REVENUE. 253,490 834,713 34,789 679,783 38,698 262,954 Decrease. $342,877 1894—Duties...$51,615 68 $68,636 16 $65,594 02 $60,066 01 $245,911 87 1895— " ...47,047 94 63,610 30 66,507 13 77,143 27 254,309 66 1894—Otherrev. 9,441 68 17,763 43 5,271 90 8,052 70 40,529 71 1895— " 7,604 52 17,209 82 1894. Total revenue $286,441 58 17,737 49 8,942 16 51,493 94 1895. Increase. $305,803 63 $19,362 05 EXPORTS. 1894. Products of the mines $ 16,758 Fisheries 282,425 Forest 336,994 Animals and their produce 25,846 Agricultural produce 5,847 Manufactures 44,309 Bullion 17,651 Sundries 1,345 Totals $731,175 Increase TOTAL REVENUE. 1894. Customs $286,441 Inland 95,258 Totals $381,699 1895. $305,803 111,504 $417,307 Above figures by the courtesy of J. M. Bowell, Esq. 1895. $ 28,753 259,172 455,956 53,269 12,907 58,934 13,490 $882,481 $151,306 Increase. $19,362 16,246 $35,608 ANNUAL REPORT. Comparative Statement of Cargoes handled at the Ports of Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, For the year ending 30th June, 1895. (From the Official Returns.) 59 OUTWARDS. Port op Vancouver (Burrard Inlet). Vessels entered outwards (for Sea), with Cargo. Number. Tons Reg. Quantity of Freight. Tons Weight 64,037 134 46,835 Tons Measure. Canadian Foreign 42 2 163 93,655 52 192,780 76,928 233 56,702 Total 207 286,487 111,006 133,863 Average Cargo per Vessel 536.20 646.68 Port of Victoria (Vancouver Island). Number. Tons Reg. Quantity < Tons Weight. 8,232 123 20,101 )f Freight. Tons Measure. 25 3 705 46,278 338 491,106 1,104 Canadian 2,840 Total 733 537,722 28,456 38.82 3,944 Average Cargo per Vess 3l 5,38 "Include daily ferry services to and from Puget Sound ports. J / 60 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE INWARDS. Port of Vancouver (Burrard Inlet). Vessels entered inwards (from Sea) with Cargo. Number. Tons Reg. Quatity o Tons Weight. f Freight. Tons Measure. British Canadian 35 11 154 82,061 412 180,224 32,219 1,062 28,223 53,867 697 Foreign 33,949 Total 200 262,697 61,504 88,513 Average Carg o per Vesse 1 307.52 442 56 PoRt op Victoria (Vancouver Island). Number. Tons Reg. Quantity of Freight. Tons Weight. Tons Measure. British Canadian *Foreign 35 62,663 85 5,095 914 537,547 13,760 1,880 22,271 2,888 11 8,066 Total 1,034 605,305 37,911 10,965 1 Average Carg jo per Vessel 1 36.66 10.60 'Include daily ferry services to and from Puget Sound ports. ANNUAL REPORT. 61 Summary of Cargoes of Sea-going Vessels for the Year ending 30th June, 1895. Port of Vancouver : Outwards Inwards Total Port of Victoria : Outwards Inwards, Total Tons Weieht. Tons Measure. 111,006 61,504 28,456 37,911 172,510 66,367 133,863 88,513 3,944 10,965 222,376 14,909 Imports into the Province of British Columbia for 24 Years Ending 30th June, 1895. Value of Total Imports. From Canada.. 22,215 To 30th June, 1874 .. ... 2,085,560 From Canada... 66,104 To 30th June, 1875... ... 2,543,552 From Canada... ... 117,054 To 30th June, 1876... ... 2,997,597 From Canada... 129,735 To 30th June, 1877.. ... 2,220,968 From Canada... ... 163,142 To 30th June, 1878... ... 2,244,503 From Canada... ... 144,754 To 30th June, 1879... ... 2,440,781 From Canada.. ... 184,951 To 30th June, 1880... ... 1,689,394 From Canada.. ... 208,072 To 30th June, 1881... ... 2,489,643 From Canada.. ... 387,111 To 30th June, 1882... ... 2,899,223 From Canada.. ... 449,768 To 30th June, 1883... ... 3,937,536 From Canada.. ... 624,207 To 30th June, 1884.. ... 4,142,486 Prom Canada. . ... 789,287 To 30th June, 1885... ... 4,089,492 From Canada.. .. . 927,054 To 30th June, 1886... ... 3,953.299 To 30th June, 1887... ... 3,547,852 To 30th June, 1888.. ... 3.509,951 To 30th June, 1889... . . 3,763,127 To 30th June, 1890... ... 4,379,272 To 30th June, 1891... ... 5,478,883 To 30th June, 1892... ... 6,495,589 To 30th June, 1893... ... 3,934,066 To 30th June, 1894... ... 5,320,615 To 30th June, 1895.. ... 4,403,976 Goods Entered pok Home Consumption. Dutiable Free Duty Goods. Goods. Total. Collected. ?1,600,361 $ 166,707 $1,767,068 ? 342,400 48 ■ aa^is^s* ■ 22,215 1,569,112 507,364 2,076,476 302,147 65 75,604 75,604 1,676,792 371,544 2,048,336 336,494 47 66,104 66,104 1,924,482 -566,111 '2,490,593 413,92150 117,054 117,054 2,237,072 707,906 2,944,978 488,384 52 129,735 129,735 1,820,391 346,318 2,166,709 403,520 21 163,142 163,142 1,905,201 367,926 2,273,127 426,125 14 144,754 144,754 1,997,125 320,326 2,317,454 484,704 04 184,951 184,951 16,14,165 122,451 2,457,116 450,175 43 208,072 208,072 2,214,153 242,963 1,736,616 589,403 62 387,111 387,111 2,472,174 404,287 2,875,461 678,104 53 449,768 449,768 3,331,023 550,833 3,866,856 907,655 54 624,207 624,207 3,337,642 702,693 4,040,335 884,076 21 789,287 789,287 3,458,529 564,923 4,023,452 966,143 64 927,054 927,054 2,951,379 1,060,347 4,011,726 880,226 65 3,065,791 560,348 3,626,139 883,421 53 2,674,941 729,266 3,401,207 861,465 14 2,002,646 807,140 3,809,786 974,675 69 3,357,111 1,030,375 4,287,486 1,075,215 20 4 261,207 1,074,983 5,336,190 1,346,059 42 4',423,414 1,803,005 6,226,419 1,412,878 00 3 662,673 1,255,495 4,918,168 1,367,250 32 3,582.333 1,738,282 5,336,961 1,308,631 23 3,131,490 1,236,935 4,368,425 1,137,727 49 62 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE Exports, the Produce of Canada, from the Province of British Columbia, for 24 Years Ending June 30th, 1895. Animals and their Agric'l. Miscel Year. The Mine. Fisheries. Forest. Produce. Products. laneous. Total. 1872... ..$1,389,585 $ 37,707 $214,377 $214,700 $ 142 $ 1,540 $1,858,050 1873... .. 1,224,362 43,361 211,026 259,292 2,885 1,197 1,742,123 1874... .. 1,351,145 114,118 260,116 320,625 5,296 443 2,051,743 1875... .. 1,929,294 133,986 292,468 411,810 9,727 2,777,285 1876... .. 2,082,139 71,338 273,430 329,027 3,080 68 2,709,082 1877... .. 1,708,848 105,603 287,042 230,898 3,083 1,500 2,346,969 1878... .. 1,759,171 423,840 327,360 257,314 462 2,768,147 1879... .. 1,530,812 633,493 273,366 268,671 2,505 57 2,708,848 1880... .. 1,664,626 317,410 258,804 339,218 3,843 100 2,584,001 1881 .. .. 1,317,079 400,984 172,647 350,474 248 22 2,231,554 1882... .. 1,437,072 976,903 362,875 300,429 946 2,616 3,080,841 1,333,385 407,624 287,394 6,791 443 3,345,263 1884... .. 1,441,052 899,871 458,365 271,796 1,745 1,413 3,100,404 1885... .. 1,759.512 727,672 262,071 414,364 2,324 5,948 3,172,391 1886... .. 1,720,335 643,052 194,488 329,248 1,907 2,811 2,891,811 1887... .. 1,832,827 910,559 235,913 380,126 10,265 1,911 3,371,601 1888... .. 1,889,805 1,164,019 441,957 318,839 27,631 85,826 3,928,077 1889... .. 2,377,052 993,623 449,026 397,685 14,831 102,089 4,334,306 1890... .. 2,375,770 2,374,717 325,881 346,159 9,823 113,271 5,545,621 1891... .. 2.930,229 2,274,686 374,996 294,646 5,017 20,434 6,257,158 1892... .. 2,979,470 2,351,083 425,278 390,854 25,018 31,976 6,574,989 1893... .. 2,898,947 1,501,831 454,994 310,621 30,173 446,231 5,642,797 1894... .. 3,521,543 3,541,305 411,623 149,269 23,323 196,895 7,843,958 3,264,461 457,373 21,774 754,998 9,114.058 ANNUAL, REPORT. 63 CO HJ o <B u u o O 1 << m f-* oa on S 7-1 !-> ►-I r. o 03 o a 7> co Eh « Ph K a h o O 60 o S5 03 O Ph * d CO 9> T3 a! h H X w z X p H R Q OQ 3 $ cts. 67,598 22 146,318 02 236,518 47 603.256 42 c ■uorjdnmsuoo JOJ P8I-T)U5[ «• i's'sgis CN IDr-tCQ^ 35 r-Tef -* Imports. $ 219,155 634,001 1,165,645 2,360,810 4,379,611 00 Pi $ 2,907^95 2,233,857 839,769 3,140 277 OS © oT OO w ! o Q O EG 3 P $ cts. 56,668 84 168,150 61 263,254 97 701,339 71 1,189,414 13 •tiondnrnsuoo' JOJ 09- ««2& O ©OOOCJS , OS CNOOCOIO iH r-T e<r ] iS Imports. $ 197,788 875,627 1,504,485 2,691,717 rH CO os CO CN QO o a W $ 2,690,945 1,548,162 637,574 3,265,883 "HH CO rH OO CO CT> CO i-H K 2 P i-s K f H a 55 p- > 3 3 P $ Cts. 49,343 15 102,178 77 280,323 53 788,676 07 1,220,521 52 •uoijdumgnoo JOJ poia^ng; $ 177,211 383,449 1,116,421 3,133,228 OS © CO © 00 •Hi" DO O ft I hH $ 177,234 377,379 1,180,822 3,182,733 00 CO CO* OS "cr*" DO o ft M W <©Q<NlO rHOS^Q **" of OOStS 25 CO CO ©_ ■Hi m Eh Ph Nanaimo N. Westminster. Vancouver c E- Eh>. oS Eh et) g Eh Ph O Eh CO 64 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE . MINING. I. CABIBOO. The Board is indebted to the courtesy of John B. Hobson, Esq., manager of the Horsefly and Cariboo Hydraulic Mines for the following copy of a paper read before the General" Mining Association of Quebec, at Montreal, in January, 1895: THE AURIFEROUS GRAVELS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. By John B. Hobson, of California, who appeared in support of the Laws to Eegulate Hydraulic Mining in the State of California before the House Committee on Mines and Mining, Washingion, D.C., March 18th, 1892. The auriferous gravels of British Columbia, like those of Central California, may be divided into two classes : first, the shallow or modern placers ; second, deep or ancient river placers. These terms indicate the characteristic difference that exists between the two classes of placers. SHALLOW OR MODERN PLACERS. These placers are superficial deposits of auriferous gravel and alluvium, formed by the modern streams that drain an auriferous region, and are designated by river, bar, bench, gulch, creek or ravine diggings, according to their topographical position. The placers of the modern rivers of California are practically exhausted. Those of British Columbia are not by any means exhaused. The shallow placers known as bar, creek and gulch diggings, have been, so far as known, extensively worked since the Fraser Rh^er and Cariboo gold excitements about 1857. The most accessible of the above-named placers have been pretty well worked out in the districts I have examined. But the vast accumulations of auriferous gravel on the benches along the Fraser, Quesnelle, Horsefly and other modern streams examined are practically unexplored. These can be worked by hydraulic process wherever water can be secured and all other necessary conditions are reasonably favourable-. ANNUAL REPORT. 65 The deep placers of the modern streams, that is to say, the auriferous gravels lying below the water level of the modern streams, have been worked to some extent in the vicinity of Barkerville, but immense areas remain to be explored, and will in all probability be profitably worked in the future by aid of modern appliances. The deep modern placers can be exploited either by shaft, and worked by what is known in California as the drifting process, or by the hydraulic elevator process. In other words a shaft is sunk to bedrock, and the bottom stratum of auriferous gravel is breasted out, hoisted to the surface, washed in ordinary sluices and the gold recovered. Wherever an abundant supply of water can be obtained and delivered at the mine under sufficient head or pressure, as it is called by California miners, the auriferous gravels lying below drainage can be successfully and profitably worked by the hydraulic elevator. THE DEEP PLACERS OF THE ANCIENT RIVERS. The deep placers of the ancient river system of the tertiary as seen in British Columbia, are similar in character, but so far as I have been able to determine, far more extensive and richer in their gold tenure than those of the most favoured districts in Central California, where gravel deposits which contain from three to five cents per cubic yard in gold are considered rich and yield as profit from twenty to fifty per cent, of the gross output when worked by the hydraulic process. Water is abundant in all the districts I have examined, and can be brought on to the deposits in shorter canals and at much less expense than is possible in California. In California there are invested one hundred millions of dollars in hydraulic mining enterprises, and prior to the inhibition of that industry, on account of damage done by debris to agricultural lands and navigable streams, the annual product in gold amounted to about twelve millions of dollars, about one half of which resulted in profits. 66 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE remaining The The auriferous deposits of California unworked are estimated at 2,108,875,000 cubic yards, gold tenure of these gravels varies from one to thirty cents per cubic yard, and the total gold content estimated at about $500,000,000.00 I have seen in British Columbia, included in the Yale> Lillooet and Cariboo districts, three times the area of auriferous deposits that are known to exist in the whole of the State of California. The British Columbia gravels that I have examined, and that may be considered available for hydraulic working, yielded results varying from one cent to $1.50 per cubic yard, and as a whole average richer than any I have seen in California. In some properties examined, I sampled streaks, some of which were on bedrock and others 150 feet above the bedrock, that yielded prospects varying from $2 to $36 per cubic yard. We have no such rich deposits in California. The exploitation and equipment of hydraulic mines is expensive, and large sums of money are required to provide water supply and hydraulic plant, to get the mines opened and placed on a paying basis. For this reason great care should be exercised by those intending to engage in such enterprises. Competent engineers should be employed to investigate the source of water supply, determine the available gradient for sluices, dump for debris and the gold tenure of the gravel. The absence or insufficiency of either of the first three of these conditions -means the failure of the enterprise to prove remunerative. A company of gentlemen in Montreal have undertaken the equipment of two large hydraulic mines in Cariboo, the Horsefly Hydraulic Mine and the Cariboo Hydraulic Mine, which will soon be on a basis for profitable production. I do not hesitate to predict that the day is not far distant when the gold output from the auriferous placers ANNUAL REPORT. 87 of British Columbia will not only surprise Canadians, but will astonish the civilized world. I will refer briefly to some of the principles involved in the working of hydraulic mines, and to the origin of the hydraulic process in California. The exhaustion of the shallow placers led to the discovery of the deeper deposits of the ancient river system. The shallow placers were, of course, rich like those of Cariboo, and, as they were exhausted, the miners attacked the deeper deposits to work their shallow edges. Only a small supply of water was required, and the great richness of the bedrock stratum and concentrated edges or rims made the work profitable to individual labor, with the easily obtained and limited supply of water; but as the depth of the superincumbent mass of poorer top gravel increased the results decreased, and the individual miner was forced to abandon his effort and depart for shallower and richer fields. This was the condition of California in 1857. This is the condition of the auriferous regions of British Columbia to-day—the shallow placers exhausted—the deep placers unexplored. Vast areas of the best auriferous earth in the world awaiting the energy of the prospector to explore and locate, and the courage of capital to develop and place on a basis for gold production. The gravel banks or deposits of debris and alluvium of the ancient rivers are the most favourable form of deposit for the operation of hydraulic mining, owing to the even distribution of the gold throughout the mass of gravel and the great depth of material. As the early or pioneer miners exhausted the rich shallow places in the ravines and gulches, they turned their attention to the deposits of the ancient rivers, working off their thin edges with the limited supply of water, but sooner or later abandoned the attempt, as the amount of the material which they could remove in a day with a small quantity of water, without pressure, would not pay; •they had, however, discovered two important facts, viz: That their want of success was mainly due to the want of / 68 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE a large supply of water delivered under pressure to enable them to remove large quantities of material. As before stated, miners also discovered that as the quantity or volume of water employed was increased, as also the pressure under which it left the delivery pipes, they accomplished better results, and that under favorable circumstances, gravel which contained only a few cents per cubic yard could be made to pay handsomely, and therefore every effort was made to secure these conditions. Out of these efforts has arisen the modern system of hydraulic mining which I will briefly endeavour to explain. HYDRAULIC MINING. Hydraulic mining is accomplished by utilizing the power of water, and the gradient afforded by the fall or difference of level between the auriferous deposits and the dumps into which the debris resulting from the mining operations must be deposited. The power of the water depending on its volume and the head or pressure under which it can be delivered at the working floor of the hydraulic excavation, it is therefore most essential that the water ditch or canal should be at a high elevation above and as near as possible to the deposit of gravel to be mined. The first condition insures a great hydrostatic pressure, and the second a reduction in the length and cost of the sheet iron or steel conveying pipes. It has been demonstrated that one thousand miner's inches of water can be discharged under a head or pressure of 300 feet through a six-inch nozzle, with a velocity of about 140 feet per second, and in a volume of about 1,650 pounds during the same period of time. Such a volume of water, in the form of a jet uninterruptedly impinging upon a bank of auriferous earth or gravel, having, as it does, about one-tenth of the velocity of a projected cannon ball, must necessarily do great execution, and produces the caving of an ordinary gravel bank without the aid of explosive blasting. ANNUAL REPORT. 69 The greater the gradient given to the conveying or mining sluices, the greater-will be the duty of the water employed to remove the auriferous material from the excavation to the dumps. The separated gold is caught between the riffles placed in the mining sluice bottoms, and held there by the use of mercury until it becomes desirable or necessary to recover it therefrom. When the amalgamated gold is cleaned up from the sluices, it is retorted to distil over and recover the mercury and the remaining gold retort, as it is called, is melted into bars and sent to the mints for coinage. Gold-saving appliances, called under-currents, are now in general use in California for recovering fine flour gold that could not be recovered in the ordinary riffled sluice. As it is proposed to remove immense masses or quantities of gravel, only utilizing an infinitesimal portion of the same, it is first necessary to see that there is abundant room to dump below the mine the vast quantities of debris to result from the entire working of the mine, for if this debris were permitted to accumulate near the end of the sluices, it would soon choke and cover the gold-saving appliances. It next becomes necessary to ascertain the quantity of water available, and the head or pressure under which it can be delivered at the mine. The amount of work that can be accomplished depends greatly on these two contingencies; it is self- evident that to remove a large amount of material composed of sand, gravel, cobbles and rock, a considerable quantity of water is necessary, and if it is not obtainable, the operations of hydraulic mining cannot be carried on successfully. The amount of water used for operating an hydraulic mine varies greatly in different localities, viz., from 200 inches to several thousand inches daily, 500 to 1,500 inches being considered a fair volume to be discharged through one machine or giant, while the work accomplished by the quantity of water used is greater as the pressure under / i 70 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE which it is discharged in the mine, and the grade of the sluices for conveying away the gravel increases. As water used by miners is always measured by the inch, and all calculations of the value of gravel are best estimated by the duty of an inch of water, it becomes necessary to fully understand what an inch of water is, as well as its power to remove gravel under different conditions. The standard of measurement varies slightly in different mining districts, but the usual method of measuring water now in use in California is to discharge the water through a four-inch opening while the water in the measuring box stands four inches above the top of the discharge opening; thus an opening 125 inches long and four inches high will discharge 500 miner's inches, one inch being equal to a discharge of about 2,230 cubic feet in 24 hours. As an illustration of the advantage of estimating the value of a bank of gravel by its yield in gold per cubic yard,- and the number of yards of gravel removed in 24 hours per inch of water used, where the water was used under different heads and the sluices under different grades, see the annexed table showing the results of the working of a few well- managed hydraulic mines in California. By reference to the table, it will be seen that the mine yielding the least amount of gold per cubic yard gives the largest returns to its owners, for the reason, as the table shows, that the water was delivered at the mine under the greatest head, and the sluices for running away the gravel have the heaviest grade. It is evident that the value of the gravel per cubic yard is not a good standard, and for this reason the power of a definite quantity of water and a heav}r grade in the sluices have been substituted to accomplish the desired result. If grade for sluices, dump for debris, and a sufficient quantity of water are available, it is then worth while to ascertain whether the gravel will pay to wash, and under this head it will be easy to show, by reference to many operations on a large scale, that the cost of mining and washing a cubic yard of gravel may be brought to exceedingly low figures, but it is almost impossible to ANNUAL REPORT. 71 say what it should contain to be remunerative, as so many elements and conditions enter into the calculations. The price of water sold to miners in California for hydraulic mining varies from ten to twenty cents per inch per twenty-four hours, and this item must always influence the result, as it is the main one, but at the same time the actual cost of water to the ditch owner is not more than from two to five cents per inch, so that the ditch owners can afford to work gravel on their own account that would not yield more than one or two cents per cubic yard, considering other conditions, such as grade for sluices and dump "for debris being reasonably favourable. VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE a =2 a O CD ID a O 61) cj fl eS 61) O o m « 60 o .4 to ■s 1 eg « 0 I E-i o m P, o a> a « 3 8 o t^ G > 03.S This Company owns water which costs 3 cents per inch. Both these Companies purchase water at 10 cents per miner's iirtsii per 24 hours. •sunoq ^2 ut past jajuAi 'ui sj,nim jac •S}0 JO UOHOBJI PUB sjuao ut ?boj<i ia.N HO CO COO CM CO CO CO •sjuao jo uorjOBj: puB sjuao tti pjbjI otqno jad juoid }8£ HO 5>S co* iO o rH rH CM •sao jo uobobjj put •sio tit -pX -qno Jad SuiAoin jo isoo ibjoj <3iO OSQ CO io o rH 1—1 IOO CM •sjuao jo uojjobjj pun sjuao uj •pA -quo jad Su.xii jo isoo HO ' lOO ■^*o cm1 ao 1—1 g8 H 1—1 »s l§ hO •sjnon vz ut pasti jaiBM. jo qoni ja<I 'sjo jo uofiobjj prtB •g}0 ui pfaii aa^Av- I CO i—i CM O 1> •pJBA- ojqno Jad s%o jo uoijobjj puB -sjo ut prajA aSBJaAV CM rH CDQ CD CO lO 'SJnoq fZ U{ pastl JC9JBA1 JO tfout jad paAotn jsa -bjS jo spxgS. otqno ■*o 3 -rH I> o wo I—1 SB CM 1-1 •qaaj a oj satrottt ut saornis jo apBjg CO iH|«N CO CM i—l °o . •(taaj ut ja^BAi jo ajnsseJd jo iqStajj O o' O CO CO o o CO •jaaj ut jfUBg jo jqSjajjt o CO o CO CM 150 Top Gravel 250 "saqout s,jauitn ut pasn ja}BA Aqju'uBn?) o T-I CM o Q CO o o o o rH •jfjlrBOOl ■00 3nBJStUBjg 1 •oo BpBAa^J 1 oo JaoBT.1 • oo JaoBij ci a S o a to Pi c a <6 a o o s O Independence Hill Big Bonanza ANNUAL REPORT. 73 ii. kootenay. account of the mining district of west kootenay (south) fob, 1895. In order to make an account of Kootenay for the year 1895 intelligible it may be advantageous shortly to outline its previous history. The.wandering miner and prospector found his way into the country many years ago, coming in by wav of the Columbia River. His sole object was placer gold. His enterprise was scarcely rewarded, except perhaps at Forty-nine Creek. Tradition tells of large winnings from the gravel of that creek, which to-day is in the hands of a modern hydraulic company. The story of the Indians and trappers making bullets from the outcrop of what is now the Blue Bell mine is tattered with much telling. It was not until within the last decade that the gloomy fastnesses of the Slocan were penetrated and the rich veins of silver discovered. Nine years ago (in 1886) the famous Silver King and its adjoining claim, the Kootenay Bonanza (now the property of the Hall Mines Ltd.) were discovered. Public attention was very slowly attracted to the district. This was owing largely to its inaccessibility, and ten, even five, years ago the prospector could hardly get in himself, much less could he induce the capitalist to follow him into those terrible mountains, high up upon whose sides, amid eternal snows and glaciers, and in the very path of avalanches, he claimed to have discovered veins of silver ore of almost fabulous wealth. Even if these stories were true, it seemed impracticable to mine those ledges. Yet they were so true that to-day almost impossible feats of transport have been accomplished and the miner has his choice of three trans-continental routes. Slowly the intrinsic value and shear wealth of the country pushed it ahead. Prospects became mines, in a small way. Little shipments of ore were made, giving remarkable returns; towns and villages began to spring up, steamboats were built on the lakes, everything looked well, and me-n who knew prophesied a great future for the country. Then, in 1893, came the blow. Silver fell to I 74 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE nothing, and, in the expressive language of the West, the bottom fell out of Kootenay. But only for a time. With the beginning of 1894 the first train on the Nelson & Fort Sheppard line reached Kootenay Lake. Its promoters deserve credit for pushing on their enterprise through the black days of 1893, and now they seem likely to be rewarded for their pluck. As soon as the first shock occasioned by the | slump " in silver was over and people began to recover themselves they made calculations and found that many of the mines would pay to work with silver below 65 cents per ounce. The question was one almost entirely of transport. While there were rich veins that would stand the enormous cost of being hauled out to the distant smelters of the United States, there were large deposits of lower grade ore that could not possibly be made to pay with so much handling. The solution of the difficulty began as soon as its nature was understood. While Mr. Corbin pierced the country with his railway from the south, the C.P.R. made a pull in the other direction with the Nakusp & Slocan, which commenced work in the fall of 1894. Meanwhile the Columbia & Kootenay Railway had been built to connect Nelson and all the towns on the Kootenay Lake with the Columbia River, which affords navigation from Revel- stoke, on the C.P.R. to the north, for 200 miles down to Northport in Washington, connection between all those apparently disjointed bits of railway being made by the excellent steamers of the Columbia & Kootenay Steam Navigation Company. In 1893 a company had been formed to acquire the Blue Bell mine, a vast deposit of low grade- galena lying actually on the shore of Kootenay Lake, just opposite the town of Ainsworth. This company proceeded with the erection of a large concentrator and smelter to treat their own ore at Pilot Bay, a suitable spot some nine miles from the mine, and also on the lake. When nearly completed the whole scheme was abandoned and the partly finished buildings left just as they were. Early in 1894 rumours of are organization of the company began to get about, and in July Mr. A. B. Hendryx, one of the principal shareholders, came in and energetically set to 1 ANNUAL REPORT. 75 work to complete the buildings and put the mine into working order. This was done by the end of the year and in the early part of 1895 the first working smelter in British Columbia was blown in. Meanwhile affairs in the Slocan became more hopeful. The further the mines were developed the more valuable they became, or at least they proved that their ledges fully carried out, at considerable depths, the promise of their previous development. Of all these Slocan mines the Slocan Star is and always has been the first. In September, 1894, its owners had proved their vein by means of three tunnels to a considerable depth and were then driving in another which was intended to cut their vein at a depth of 500 feet from its outcrop. The calculations were realized, and the ledge was found where it was expected to be. A syndicate of Duluth capitalists under the guidance of Mr. A. E. Humphries acquired, during 1894, a group of claims near Three Forks of which the Idaho and the Alamo are the chief, and proceeded with their development. Far away on the other side of the same range the Alpha mine was shipping valuable ore, and to the south of this discoveries of mineral had been made on the shores of the Slocan Lake as far south as the Fisher Maiden, some ten miles from New Denver. Fresh discoveries of mineral were continually being made not only in the neighbourhood of the older finds but in entirely new directions. The copper ores of the White Grouse Mountain began to attract attention. This is a camp situated about fifteen miles from Kootenay Lake and to the east of it. With Crawford Creek to the north and Goat River to the south it seems to be on the line of a copper belt of considerable value. Cariboo Creek, draining into the Columbia below Nakusp, attracted a small rush during the summer of 1894, and a town known as Burton City was located near its mouth. Although discovered as long ago as the later eighties the claims on Trail Creek had entirely failed to attract 76 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE notice. Their ores contained gold, but in small quantities and they were of an extremely refractory character. Late in 1894 affairs in Trail Creek began to show signs of activity and the townsite of Rossland was established. The value of ore actually shipped up to this date (the end of 1894) is officially given in the report of the Minister of Mines as $784,965. Such was the condition of affairs at the beginning of 1895. A very few mines, not more than could be counted on the fingers of one hand ; several fairly developed prospects of great promise, and thousands of discoveries of mineral of all sorts in every direction, gold, silver, copper, lead, in abundance everywhere. It was truthfully said of Kootenay that when its miners found it did not pay to dig out silver they went across the hill and dug out gold. With the advent of 1895 a new era commenced. Apart altogether from its material advances Kootenay may be said, during 1895, to have become known far and wide and to have attracted the attention of men whose notice was worth having. This became more and more evident as the year advanced by the number of people who visited the country both from the United States and Great Britain. Among the latter were Mr. Leo Norman, Mr. Hamilton Smith, Mr. J. H. Clemes and Lord Swansea, who although he did not actually come in to Kootenay visited British Columbia on Kootenay business and was only prevented from coming to Nelson by a mischance. His lordship's death shortly afterwards was felt by many who did not even know him, because it was understood that he took a great interest in and believed in the field which men were struggling to bring out. The American visitors of note were altogether too numerous to mention, but Mr. Sussman, of the Kansas City Smelting Company, and Mr. Heinze, of the Parrot Company, were two men whose visits meant smelting more than idle curiosity. It is an open secret that Mr. Sussman strongly urged his principals to come in and build smelters, while Mr. Heinze has actually built the large smelting plant at Trail Creek which will commence work this spring (1896). ANNUAL REPORT. 77 The year opened with the blowing in of the Pilot Bay smelter under the general management of Mr. A. B. Hendryx. The plant from first to last, including the purchase of the Blue Bell mine, cost about $750,000. At Pilot Bay the buildings consist of a 200-ton concentrator, five large roasting furnaces and a 100-ton water-jacket furnace with the usual assay and sampling offices and other adjuncts of a smelting plant. Work was actually commenced on 9th March, 1895, and up to the end of the year 3,220 tons of silver lead bullion have been sent to the refinery at Aurora, Illinois. The value of a smelter to its district may be gauged by the following figures : SPENT DURING THE YEAR 1895. On labour • $170,000 On supplies 85,000 Freight 92,500 Duty 70,000 The establishment of the smelter led to increased activity at Ainsworth, which is opposite Pilot Bay on the west shore of the Lake. The famous Number One mine was leased to some Nova Scotian people who began at once to put out ore, but the amount shipped from this mine has been disappointing. Late in the summer the Skyline, a mine a mile or so higher up than Number One, was opened up and has been putting out some 300 tons a month ever since. The material from these two mines is known as dry ore, that is to say it has little or no lead with it. The Black Diamond, Little Phil, Mile Point, and Highland have also shipped ore mostly to the Pilot Bay smelter, which purchased during the year 2,500 tons of the value of $156,464. Early in the summer it became known that the Kaslo Railway was really to be built and shortly afterwards Messrs. Foley Bros. & Guthrie, the well-known contractors of St. Paul, took the matter in hand and pushed it through. The line was open for traffic in the fall, and is bringing down ore at the rate of about 150 tons a day. A temporary stoppage occurred during De- ( II 78 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE cember, owing to the unusually heavy snow fall. The line follows the main fork of Kaslo Creek up to Bear Lake, which is situated on the divide between the Kootenay and Slocan Lake watersheds. Thence it continues almost on a level to Sandon, on the South Fork of Carpenter. Creek. From Sandon, an extension runs to Cody, some two miles farther on. Nearly all the Slocan mines are thus tributary to it. The rival line, the Nakusp & Slocan, which was brought in 1894 to Three Forks, found itself virtually cut out of all the traffic. It was therefore extended to Sandon, at which point mine owners have their choice of either route. The railway extension has flattened out Three Forks and the centre of population has moved on to Sandon, which has suddenly grown into a considerable village with about eighty houses. In the Slocan proper there were not any new discoveries of note during the year, but the development of the mines there in every case proved that previous indications were not false. This justified mine owners in spending money on development. The owners of the Alamo and Idaho groups built a concentrator about a mile below Three Forks on the Nakusp & Slocan Railway. It is connected with the mines, which are high above it, by a gravity tramway, the material for which was supplied by the B. C. Iron Works Co., of Vancouver, and it has been eminently successful. The concentrator turns out about 20 tons of concentrates, representing 100 tons of ore, a day. These concentrates are worth $100 a ton. Both the Idaho and the Alamo have paid dividends during the year ; the Idaho has paid $34,500 and the Alamo $35,000. At the Slocan Star a large concentrator has been built, and another also at the Washington. The Slocan Star paid a dividend of 10 per cent, in August, amounting to $50,000. During the fall and up to the end of December, 1895, the Slocan shipped 4,000 tons of ore; 2,500 tons via Nakusp and 1,500 tons via Kaslo. This must not be taken as any criterion of the season's work, because shipments did not begin until very late owing to the absence of snow, which is necessary to make the trails good for sleighs and raw- ANNUAL REPORT. 77 hiding. During January over 1,200 tons have gone out, and from now on until May the shipments will be very large. Although no new discoveries of any importance were made during the year in the Slocan proper, very rich finds were made in the region to the south of it in the district drained by the Ten-mile, Twelve-mile and Springer Creeks, all of which flow into the south-eastern part of Slocan Lake, and on Lemon Creek, which empties into the Slocan River a few miles after it leaves the lake. Mention has already been made of the Fisher Maiden and other discoveries south of Silverton, and these later ones are due to the energies of prospectors who pushed still farther south. It is yet too early to speak with confidence of the nature of the new finds, beyond saying that they are dry ores carrying large quantities of native silver and also assaying away up into the hundreds of dollars in gold. The country is difficult of access, the claims lying mostly some seven or eight miles from the lake and high up on the divides between the creeks. The hills are very rough and densely bushed. In spite of this many men were in the field in the fall and the town of Slocan City situated at the foot of the lake began a little boom which may mature this year. Among those who visited these claims and acquired interests was Mr. R. C. Campbell-Johnston, the well-known mining engineer, of Vancouver. Mr. John A. Finch has bonded two of the claims, the Arlington and Burlington, for $50,000, paying $5,000 down in cash, and also another group for $25,000. Only a very few men are at work here now, perhaps twenty in all, but as soon as the snow clears off there is sure to be a rush. The discoveries of mineral have been brought over the divide on to the Kootenay side, and rich gold-bearing quartz was found at the head waters of a creek which flows into the outlet about nine miles above Nelson. Cariboo Creek flows into the Columbia River some fifteen miles below Nakusp from the eastward. From discoveries made here in 1894 a good deal of development was looked for this year, but has not taken place. The claims are a long way in from the river, which may f 80 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE account for this, and owners are sanguine as to the value of their properties. Discoveries were made at several points on the lower Arrow Lake, and valuable specimens Drought in, but it was late in the autumn when this took place and nothing further was done. While the Slocan and the rest of Kootenay has made what may be called an ordinary advance, the great Trail Creek Camp has jumped! suddenly into a prominence that has attracted mining men from all over the world. The War Eagle claim was only acquired by its present proprietors late in 1894, and it may be said to have commenced active work .at the beginning of 1895. About the same time the Le Roi was also put into good working order. At that time only some 1,200 tons- had been shipped from Trail. During 1895 23,400 tons went out. In the same period Rossland grew from a village with half-a-dozen houses to a town of 3,000 inhabitants, with waterworks and electric light. At the mouth of Trail Creek on the Columbia River the end of the year saw a large smelter all but completed with the new town of Trail spread out at its feet. The ore is still brought down by wagons in the summer and by sleighs in the winter, a mode of conveyance which necessarily curtails the output, but a tramway is now under construction for the transport of the mineral from the mines to the smelter. Both the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Nelson & Fort Sheppard Railway have routes surveyed for railroads into this busy camp. The former has laid out a route to Robson while the latter intends to pull the other way and has a line surveyed, which under the name of the Red Mountain Railway, goes across the International line to the south and joins the Spokane line at Northport. The War Eagle Company is awaiting something definite in the way of railway construction before erecting a smelter for its own use. These companies are almost entirely owned in Spokane, and the tendency of their owners is naturally to make them as beneficial to that city as possible. American capital has found good reason already for erecting the smelter at Trail Creek, and if the B.C. Southern is built during 1896 (of which there appears to be some probability), ! ANNUAL REPORT. 81 the advantage of cheap coke being brought from the Crow's Nest Pass would turn the balance entirely in favour of British Columbia. During the year no less than 1,997 claims have been recorded in the Rossland Camp, which, if they were all of the full size allowed by law, would cover over 160 square miles. During the summer the existence of valuable mineral, extending over a very large area, has certainly been proved. In the immediate neighbourhood of Rossland, the whole of the Red Mountain has been found to be highly mineralized. On its lower benches are the War Eagle, Le Roi, Nickel Plate, Centre Star and Josie, while on its summit are the Mountain View, St. Elmo, Consolidated St. Elmo and Cliff. The latter has lately commenced shipping. To the east of the Red Mountain is the Monte Cristo Hill with the celebrated claims . of that name, and the Iron Horse, while further to the east again on the Columbia Hill are the Columbia and Kootenay claims, under heavy bond to Duluth capitalists. To the south of the town is the Homestake recently bonded to a Vancouver syndicate, while still farthei south are the Lily May and Zilor. To the west are the O.K. and I.X.L., two claims with rich free milling gold quartz. While ore of nearly every kind is found within the limits of the camp the typical kind is undoubtedly that produced by the Le Roi and War Eagle. This is a pyritic iron carrying gold and copper. The gold is from two ounces per ton up to five or six ounces, and the copper varies from three to five per cent. The latest values as declared to Her Majesty's Customs are : LE ROI. Gold 2 ounces. Silver 6 Copper 5 per cent. Total value per ton $46.80. fi 82 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE WAR EAGLE. Gold 2.5 ounces. Silver 4 Copper 5 per cent. Total value per ton $57.40. For the sake of comparison a table is submitted, showing the quantitative analysis of ores from the principal shipping mines in the Slocan : LEAD, SILVER, APPRO X. MINE. / i PER CENT. (OUNCES). VALUE. Deadman 20 100 $ 71 00 Noble Five 33 120 96 30 Black Fox 65 100 104 00 Last Chance 30 100 83 00 R. E. Lee 65 120 126 30 Goodenough 15 265 181 25 * 65 700 494 00 Washington 60 120 114 00 Northern Belle 70 80 94 00 Whitewater 20 100 77 00 Mountain Chief (Payne) 40 100 89 00 Slocan Star 60 85 91 25 Ruth 73 112 115 80 Lucky Jim 60 70 81 50 *830 bags of this high grade ore were shipped. Omitting the exceptionally rich stuff from the Good- enough, these returns give an average value of nearly $102.00 per ton to the Slocan ore. As the two great mines at Trail get deeper the ore increases in value, and in the Le Roi pay chutes of very valuable stuff, giving six and seven ounces in gold, have been struck. The vein also is widening out, and there is every evidence that the mines are as yet but in their infancy. The War Eagle in the early part of the year paid its shareholders the sum of $32,000.00, which represented its cost price together with all improvements up to that ANNUAL REPORT. 83 time. It paid back to them every cent they had put into it. Since then it has paid them $100,000 more in dividends, besides paying for a great deal of development work and putting in large air compressing and other machinery. The Le Roi is a much more expensive mine to work than its neighbour, and required a greater initial expense, but it paid a dividend of five cents per share, amounting to $25,000 in September last, and has since paid (1st February, 1896,) another of $50,000. Work is being pushed ahead on at least twenty claims and shipments from this camp during the year should be very large. Discoveries of ore similar to that obtained at Rossland have been made on Champion and Bear Creeks, which flow into the Columbia on the opposite side to Trail Creek and a little higher up. No work has been done there yet. Following the same trend, through the very roughest country, we come to the basin of the Salmon River, which empties into the Pend d'Oreille. On the North Fork and on Sheep Creek, another fork coming in from the east, valuable prospects have been reported. The line of the Nelson & Fort Sheppard Railway runs up the main branch of the Salmon, and a wagon road will probably be built in to Sheep Creek during 1896. The whole of the country lying in the block bounded by the Kootenay River on the north, the Columbia on the west and the Pend d'Oreille on the south, appears to be highly mineralized, and culminates in the group of hills surrounding Toad Mountain, on which the Silver King is situated. On Forty-Nine Creek, which flows northward from this range, the Nelson Hydraulic Mining Co. has put up extensive works. In 1894 their plant was destroyed by the unusual floods. Last year the water barely sufficed to enable them to remove the boulders and debris of previous workings. With what little was left $4,000 worth of gold was taken out. Everything is in good shape for the commencement of work this year. There is plenty of snow on the hills, and there should be no scarcity of water. 84 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE A little to the eastward is the Poorman, a rich quartz mine on Eagle Creek. This mine is private property, and its returns are unknown, but it keeps a ten- stamp battery busy all the summer, and the familiar figure of one of the owners on an old gray horse is often seen outside one of the Nelson banks, when a handsome gold brick makes its appearance in the teller's box. The upper part of the Poorman vein is worked out, and the owners are now sinking in order to tap it at a lower level. Between Eagle Creek and Forty-Nine Creek, and on the hills above them, where they have their sources, there are many claims having ledges of free milling quartz ; of these the Royal Canadian is probably the best known. At the Silver King the year has been noticeable for the inauguration of a policy of activity. A change of management took place in the summer and active measures at once commenced. The building of a smelter was commenced under the charge of an experienced man. A wire tramway was built from the mine to the smelter. This tramway, which is the largest of its kind in the world, is four and a half miles long. Its upper end is 4,100 feet above the smelter site, and was designed to transport ten tons of ore per hour. The smelter was finished by the end of the year, and was blown in during the first week of January, 1896. Its capacity was intended to be 100 tons per day, but it was found capable of dealing with about 115. It is an ordinary water- jacket furnace, and concentrates the ore now being used in the proportion of 10 to 1, producing a matte containing 300 ounces of silver, 48 per cent of copper and about $12 in gold to the ton. The shares in the Hall Mines Company, which had been difficult of sale at $2.25 to $2.40, rose at once and were unobtainable at $3. The town of Nelson has grown from a village to a place of some importance, though it is still second in size to Rossland. Its central position, its banks and its Court House make it the capital of the country. Recognizing this, wholesale firms from' the Coast, from Winnipeg and from Spokane have established themselves ANNUAL REPORT. here ; every store and every dwelling house is occupied, and new buildings are going up as fast as lumber can be obtained to build them. In August Nelson was created a Dominion port of entry, with outports at Kaslo, Rossland, Waneta and Rykerts. Previously these places, together with Nelson, had been outports of New Westminster. The returns for the last five months of the year convey some idea of the amount of trade handled in West Kootenay. TABLE SHOWING CUSTOMS RETURNS AT THE PORT OF NELSON FOR THE FIVE MONTHS AUG.-DEC, 1895. IMPORTS. Dutiable Goods $291,242 Free 995,16 $390,758 REVENUE. Duty and other Revenue $ 88,551 EXPORTS. Produce of Mines $728,191 " Forest 215 " Animals 3,221 Manufactures 5,212 $736,839 Revelstoke still remains an outport of New Westminster and consequently this return takes no cognisance of the enormous mass of freight that comes into the country by that route, nor does it include that part of the Slocan ore Avhich goes out that way. This latter amounted to over 2,600 tons of a value at least of $260,000, which brings the exports of Kootenay for the latter half of 1895 close upon the sum of one million dollars. The following table gives an idea of the amount of work done during 1895 : ) i 86 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE MINING RECORDS FOR WEST KOOTENAY (SOUTH) FOR 1895. NEW CLAIMS ASSESSMENTS DIVISION. RECORDED. RECORDED. Nelson 403 110 Rossland 1,997 213 Ainsworth 410 363 Slocan 630 500 Nakusp 210 25 3,650 1,211 (Owing to the illness of the Recorder at Goat River the returns from that division are not yet available). TABLE SHOWING AMOUNT OF ORE MINED, IN TONS, 1895, Nelson 1,871 Ainsworth 2,327 Trail Creek (gold ore) 23,361 Slocan 9,264 Blue Bell Mine 41,767 78,590 Charles St. Barbe, Nelson, B.C., Feb., 1896. WEST KOOTENAY. Ores exported year ending June 30th, 1895, 18,038 tons valued at $1,491,811 DESCRIPTION OF ORES SHIPPED FROM WEST KOOTENAY FOR SIX MONTHS ENDING 31ST DEC, 1895. Gold value $603,901 Silver | 535,905 Lead " 181,922 Copper I 53,662 $1,375,390 From Pilot Bay smelter, bullion estimated 200,000 Grand total $1,575,390 ANNUAL REPORT. 87 SUMMARY. ESTIMATED VALUE OF OUTPUT OF ORES FOR B.C., YEAR ENDING 31ST DEC. 1895. West Kootenay $2,260,000 East | 100,000 Cariboo and Lillooet 350,000 Remainder of the province 50,000 m Total value $2,760,000 The above figures have been obtained from the most reliable sources and may be taken as approximately correct. The construction of a further line of railway the Columbia Western, from Trail through the Kettle River district to Penticton on Okanagan Lake is likely to be commenced at an early date. III. COAL MINING. ( Copy of letter by the courtesy of S. M. Robins, Esq.) Total output for British Columbia for the year ending 31st December, 1895 939,654 8-20 tons. Total amount exported 756,333 16-20 | Local Sales (including dross used as fuel by collieries) 188,349 " Balance on hand 31 st December, 1894. . 38,579 1-20 " Balance on hand 31st December, 1895. . 33,550 ] 3-20 " The coal productions of the collieries of Vancouver Island culminated in 1891 when the output reached 1,029,027 tons, falling to 826,335 tons in 1892, increasing to 978,294 tons in 1893, and to 1,012,953 tons in 1894, falling again during 1895 to 938,654 tons. These figures shew that the business has been almost at a stand-still during the past five years, whilst for the previous seventeen years (1874 to 1890) there was a gradual increase from 81,000 tons in 1874 to 678,140 tons in 1890. r 88 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE The above figures not only record the output of the collieries but are a fair measure of the growth of consumption in San Francisco and Southern California ports, which may be said to comprise the coal market of the Northern Pacific. The Vancouver Island Collieries supplied in 1894 forty-two per cent, of the total consumption in the California market, which may be taken as a fair average for the last twenty years. From now onwards, owing to the importation of Welsh anthracite coal, the Vancouver Island mines are not likely to hold so prominent a position in the California market, and it will follow as a matter of course (there being but a limited market in B.C. for home product) that the coal mining industry will remain at a standstill until new markets are opened up, or there be decreased deportations from Great Britain and Australia, owing to a hardening of freights inwards or an advance of rates at the above export centres. This market outlook has had its effect in checking development of the coal areas of Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Islands. The three coal companies, the New Vancouver- Coal Company, Messrs. R. Dunsmuir & Sons and the Union Coal Company, are all carrying on developments to keep pace with market requirements. The New Vancouver Coal Co. are making a minute examination of their Harewood Estate to the west and south of Nanaimo, where large areas of coal are known to exist, but where little exploratory work has hitherto been carried out. The Wellington Colliery Co. have been recently opening up a new district near Departure Bay as well as extending their works to the south-west towards Mount Benson. The Union Colliery Co. have recently completed a new shaft at Comox and are opening out their works in two of the seams pierced in the sinking. This company also owns the Alexandria Mine on. the E. & N. Railway, ANNUAL REPORT. 89 where slope sinking is now going forward. They are also sinking a slope near Nanaimo River, south of the New Vancouver Coal Company's Harewood Estate, where an excellent seam of coal has recently been found. Some work has been done at an outcrop of coal on what is known as the Jordan Estate, lying to the West of, and adjacent to the Wellington Estate. The coal area at this place is necessarily limited, but the quality of the seam is excellent, and considerable expense has been incurred in building a tramway to Nanoose Bay where shipments have already been made for the local markets. In Queen Charlotte Islands, where for many years past surface explorations have been made by Victoria capitalists who own a large tract of land in the centre of Graham Island, coal has been found at several points, and drifts have been driven during last summer in two or three localities which, it is understood, proved seams of excellent coal of workable thickness. During the present lull in the coal trade it is not probable that any active operations will be undertaken, but on the first indication of improvement it is probable energetic measures will be taken to develop both the bituminous and anthracite seams found on this Island. 90 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE AGRICULTURE. The agricultural interests of the province, during the year 1895, suffered considerably owing to the low prices obtainable for nearly all farm produce, and also from the scarcity of ready cash among the farmers, in numerous cases the inability to finance the products of the farm causing serious loss to the producer. It is, however, satisfactory to notice that steps are being taken in several localities tending towards co-operation among farmers. This will prove largely instrumental in assisting them to secure for themselves a greater share of the advantages of the home markets, as heretofore they have been entirely at the mercy of middle-men, who have been large importers of American produce, one of the most plausible reasons given by produce men for their large foreign importations being that they cannot depend on either the grade or the uniformity of home productions, and do not care to jeopardise their own interests in attempting to force inferior goods on their customers. They have also contended that the home supply could not be relied on for filling their orders as required, and that, therefore, their interests and sympathies have been with the maintenance of an active foreign connection. In this respect their self-interested actions have been but natural, as of course, curtailment of imports to any large extent might soon cripple the carrying trade, and its demoralization would at once force them to depend entirely on local supplies. No doubt this explains some of the reasons why preference has so often been shown to the imported article, and in cases, not a few, where both grade and price have slightly favoured the home product. This problem has its solution in the natural increase of production and the attendant improvements as to grade and uniformity that are bound to come with the further development of the province. It has been the common and popular belief that the amount of land in British Columbia, fit for cultivation, is very limited, but it has now been demonstrated beyond question that such a supposition is erroneous, and that the quantity of first-class farming land throughout the country is very considerable. ANNUAL REPORT. 91 The following is a rough approximation tQ the total acreage of agricultural lands owned and cultivated in the Province during the year 1894 :— VANCOUVER LOWER UPPER ISLAND. MAINLAND. MAINLAND. TOTAL. ACRES. ACRES ACRES. ACRES. Owned 233,000 294,000 720,000 1,247,0Q0 Cultivated 19,000 43,000 49,000 111,000 During last year a considerable quantity of farm land, principally on the Mainland, passed from the Crown to the settler, so that the Government report for the year 1895 (not yet issued) will show an increase over the above figures, notwithstanding which the actual acreage under cultivation and yielding returns to the owners last year was small, and certainly smaller than the figures that will appear in the Government report. In this connection attention may be drawn to the fact that allowance should be made for the methods employed by the Department of Agriculture at Victoria in the collection of their data, which are as yet crude and imperfect; however, when one considers how the small white population of the Province is scattered throughout the different.districts, and the difficulties of communication, the Department is to be commended for the volume of useful and fairly reliable information issued annually. The acreage under cultivation in the Province last year may be estimated not to exceed 130,000 acres, from which it will be seen that the proportion of cultivated land to the total amount of arable land owned by individuals is very small, while the proportion of cultivated lands to the whole agricultural area of the Province is again much smaller. At present the imports of agricultural products are, in round figures, about $2,500,000.00 yearly. On these facts some have argued that as the areas of cultivated lands increase that the existing present advantages of an importing home market will gradually disappear, and as the supplies furnished within the Province grow to meet the demand, that prices will fall to nothing. To this it may be answered that, on the contrary, all agricultural interests will improve by virtue of a general 92 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE adoption of better and more scientific methods of farming, as also by inaugurating throughout the rural districts such industries as creameries, cheese factories, fruit packing establishments, etc. British Columbia has been and is paying high prices for creamery butter, etc., imported from the North West and elsewhere at considerable inconvenience and expense, when as a matter of fact, it is estimated that even the present small percentage of agricultural lands .under cultivation and favourable to dairying, if cultivated in a proper and methodical manner, would prove .quite sufficient to supply the present wants of the Province in that respect. Again, the introduction of agricultural organizations and movements for co-operation among the farmers and fruit growers of the Province, as well as the introduction of bMter methods of farming, would have the tendency of reducing both the quantity of land held on an average by each individual, as well as the yearly increment of new ground brought into a state of cultivation, thereby materially lessening the cost of public improvements per capita and increasing the average yield per acre. The Provincial land policy of the past has proved erroneous and it is pleasing to note that the Government now recognizes the advisability of encouraging small holdings, a policy which wThile less enticing to the speculator offers greater opportunities to the bona fide settler. It must be apparent to all who have studied the agricultural problem of the Province that apart from other considerations, we are now suffering from a condition peculiar to all new countries during the earlier periods of their development. The high prices of the past and the ease with which a living could be made by cultivating a small patch of land, and this in the crudest possible manner, had the effect of inducing all sorts of people to take up farming. We find that miners, soldiers, sailors, railway men, prospectors and a host of artisans, mechanics and tradesmen of all descriptions from the densely populated cities of the Old World, whose former mode of life, physical training, education, etc., could only ANNUAL REPORT. 93 "be expected to prove so many handicaps, were among the first to locate and secure large tracts of land in this Province. Notwithstanding the favourable conditions then existing, a large percentage of these pioneers gradually melted away, and for a time the agricultural interests of the country remained in the hands of a class who eventually became known as | old timers " and | moss-backs." These farmers of the past only studied to grow that which would give them the greatest return for the least expenditure of thought and labour; we, therefore, find that a large majority grew hay exclusively, a state of things which had a very demoralizing effect on the majority of subsequent settlers, mostly farmers from Ontario, the Eastern Provinces, Manitoba and elsewhere, who drifted into the most careless and make-shift habits imaginable. It is not long since one might travel through some of the agricultural districts and stockraising valleys of the Province without being able to obtain a pint of fresh milk or seeing a pound of home-made butter, condensed milk being used very generally and in numerous cases without the slightest excuse. Within the last five or six years the increased facilities of transportation, the general financial- depression and stagnation in many avenues of trade have so materially altered the situation that, notwithstanding the fact that the Province is still a large importer of farm products, it has been possible to glut the local market in a few articles, as for instance, hay and potatoes. In consequence a large proportion of the earlier settlers are now being forced by inevitable circumstances, either to abandon their primitive farming or are being supplanted by a better and more thrifty class. When one considers the importance of this industry and how the pulse of our internal commerce responds to its activity, it is to be sincerely hoped that both the Dominion and Provincial Governments will devote more attention and expend more money with a view of protecting the farming districts of the Province. The farming and fruit growing industries should be encouraged and assisted in every possible way, for has not the 9JI VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE country % most salubrious and favourable climate, together with a variety of rich soils admirably adapted for the successful cultivation of all kinds of farm and orchard products ? As has been stated, reduced holdings, improved methods of farming and increased facilities of transportation, together with co-operation and the introduction of creameries, cheese factories, etc., would all tend to improve the agricultural interests of this Province, and in combination with the development of the country's great mineral wealth and the expansion of our lumber business would attract immigration, and thereby most . readily inaugurate an era of agricultural prosperity. Statistics for 1895 not yet published. Imports and Exports. The imports of agricultural products show a slight increase, viz.:— Value of imports to 30th June, 1894 $2,422,374 Duty paid 213,286 $2,635,660 For the same period ending 30th June, 1893. . 2,630,217 Increase $ 5,44 o This increase appears altogether in the amount of duty paid, showing that either there was a larger quantity of products imported from foreign ports, or that a large quantity remaining in bond from the previous year paid duty during the last fiscal year ; probably both causes contributed to the increase. The figures are: *&' Duty paid to June, 1894 $ 213,286 " 1893 146,827 Increase $ 66,459 ANNUAL REPORT. 95 The actual value of imports show a decrease, viz.: Imports to 30th June, 1894 $2,-122,374 1893 2,483,390 Decrease $ 61,016 Difference 5,443 The exports to other countries again show a large falling off, viz.: Exports to 30th June, 1894 $ 82,049 1893 112,219 Decrease $ 30,170 The exports by the Can. Pac. Ry. to the other Provinces are not shown, it being impossible to obtain the data. This would doubtless.show a material increase. nn Some of the principal imports as were fojjows: Butter, 1894 2,390,685 lbs. 1893 2,065,435 lbs. Increase 325,250 lbs. This increase is almost entirely from foreign ports, that from the other Provinces being only about 2,000 lbs. Cheese, 1894 389,631 lbs. 1893 : 346,749 lbs. Increase 42,882 lbs. This increase is entirely from foreign ports, the imports from the other Provinces having decreased. Bacon, hams and lard, 1894 2,732,433 lbs. « 1893 3,370,129 lbs. Decrease 637,696 lbs. This decrease occurs altogether in the imports from jhe other Provinces, the imports from foreign ports showing an increase. '96 VANCOUVER BOARD OP TRADE Cattle, 1894 2,106 head. 1893 3,561 I Decrease 1,455 head. This item stands in the same position as the last. Sheep, 1894 42,735 head. " 1893 34,860 " Increase 8,075 head. This increase is altogether from foreign ports, the imports from the other Provinces having decreased. ANNUAL REPORT. 97 Exports from British. Columbia to Countries outside of Canada of products of Agriculture and its branches for the three years ending 30th June, 1894. Year ending 30th June, 1891. big Coo ~ ,H ^3 .. G « O) £ . 2 3^ m IP C OO Bri. G 2 CJ G 3 8g| ffisi OX) 31 .5 °° •a &> G 0 Q> G 3 ffis 55 G 3§ gaHKg 5 a ■ ■3 | S * 1 <§ o5 3 ■3 > si a os a a 5 3 ■3 i 8 3 Of 1 Live Stock:— Horses head Horned cattle.. " 31 5 f 4,230 705 24$ 8,781 23 10 531 4 13 115 1 $ 2,955 200 10 8,568 282 2 $ 16,250 35 Poultry & other animals " 303 Meats, Etc. Poultry 597 70,248 10 183 97 Hides, horses, and skins [not fur 72.276 49.383 35,995 Bacon tbs. Beef " 64 1,648 403 55 3,813 90 425 58 ... .... 655 2,343 7 625 214 393 51 34 Mutton " Pork.. " 104 13 360 .1' 16 Sheep pelts ... No. Wool . tbs. 20,102 37,390 205 11,055 3,739 82 43,596 18,566 45,110 493 21,613 64 503 15,833 . 4,566 Grain, Seeds, &c, Breadstufps and Pro ducts of Bran cwt. 1 1,687 2 648 1,323 1,762 2 449 1 4 145 900 10 105 729 Oats " Peas, split " Wheat... . " 271 183 180 & 4 2 6,501 2,450 7,801 10,967 3 4,946 CWt. 30 E 21,279 IC 35 48 CWt. 8 18 Flour bhls. 4 556 2 10 25 21 1,945 15 32 85 25 45 18 795 805 978 173 66 1 Fruits & Vegetables. Apples, green..bbls 61 ! 5 295 3,181 3 3 ■172 567 1,001 1,17' 92( 39i 75 ! 6 472 6,301 Other fruit " All other vegetables Dairy Products. Butter H>s Cheese g " 37 2,984 6 21 3,18c 6,214 5,050 440 1,475 53 1 7,507 6,851 2,24( 96' > 3,320 I 4,655 34 984 695 11 H ay tons 1 254 2,701 ip'e 62 585 81 I > 44,907 ) 22 12,201 1 $112,21 $ 99,265 '$125,791 $ 82,049 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE Imports into British Columbia from other Countries and Prov be produced in the Province, for Live Stock - Horned Cattle, Horses, " Sheep, " Swine, ft u " All other, MEATS,&c-Bacon and hams " Lard, " Bacon, hams and lard '' Beef (fresh or salt) I BeeE and mutton, " S Mutton, Other Countries, head " Provinces, " '' Countries, " " Provinces, " " Countries, " " Provinces, " •' Countries, lbs. " Provinces, head " Countries, " " lbs. Pork, tc Poultry, <[ Canned and other, Tallow, Grain, 1 Biscuit, Seeds Etc., Bread- stuffs and Prod'cts OF— Buckwheat meal, 1 Cornmeal, ^Oatmeal, ' Rye flour, Wheat flour, " " and meal of all kinds, Bran and mill feed, <( <( Other breadstuffs, Barley, Beans, Indian corn, Buckwheat, Oats, Peas, Eye, Wheat, Flaxseed, Beet, carrot, turnip,etc.. Other, Provinces, 1 j Countries, '' Provinces, " Countries, " Provinces, " Countries, " Provinces " Countries, " Provinces, " Countries, Other Countries, bbls. lbs. bbls. Year ending 30th June, 1892. Duty. Quant'y. Value. Provinces, Countries Provinces, Countries, tt Provinces, Countries, lbs. bush, Provinces, Countries, Provinces, Countries, lbs. Fruit and Vegetables—Apples, dried, " " " " and other, dried " Provinces, " Plums and Prunes, " Countries, 1,2031 3,062 520 437 44,554 471 10,429 2,691 342,'500 157,635 2,964,000 134,591 732,000 10,796 ilnclud'd| 68,800 26,000 i68,000 516,250 50,627 222,370 30,328 793 399,288 105 20,562 55,870 4,798,'0O0 "i,'502l 9,760 6,816 5,730 U 21,054 224,672 434 168 28,184 59,933 102 964 91,9' 240,000 150,148 30,141'$ 91,860 j 22,351 27,094 97,688| 1,177 592 26,910 6,518 38,407 14,339 340,860 8,580 51,240 767 with ( 6,0591 2,0801 4,995 16,800 51,504 2,254 9,880 1,047 2,990 12,934 524 92,793 307,285 34,001 31,1871 15,412 926 33,904 9,467 4,383 19 9,906 78,635 580 152 22,736 47,946 177 228 7,708 9,042 30 4,470 20 29,306 40 208 58 1,303 60 9,980 91 4,366 35 592 74 323 88 beef. 186 00 934 19 11,599 14 506 27 2,594 60 75 75 319 93 1,996 43 52 25 14,648 33 6,800 30 3,080 20 225 35 1,017 17 429 71 1 10 350 80 "40 00 16 85 3,440 49 10 23 Free. 920 75 6,353 1,826 51 19,200 8,9611 1,405 66 ANNUAL REPORT. 99 inces of such products of Agriculture and its branches as can three years ending 30th June, 1894. Year ending 30th June, 1893. Year ending 30th June, 1894. Quantity. Value. 3,489 634 212 29,931 4,929 5,188 2,680 269,473 36,656 3,064,000 286,391 336,000 1,731 Included 76,526 48,000 156,000 512,573 6,494 232,300 30,944 1,036 120,341 152 20,526 69,980 6,262,666 1,558 23,120 6,427 7,916 6 25,853 184,788 655 297 14,627 66,400 42 1,151 14,557 152,000 118,227 i 1,583 104,670 30,438 13,144 71,662 12,322 465 26,800 4,571 35,518 3,831 352,360 19,615 23,520 113 with 8,160 3,840 4,483 15,600 46,807 221 8,329 1,076 2,863 3,763 628 74,060 384,890 26,096 40,703 14,216 878 9,248 9,766 4,902 11 10,635 64,675 819 216 11,533 53,120 74 282 9,756 1,192 12,160 9,595 474 90 6,087 60 21,498 60 103 76 914 50 7,614 95 1,414 68 3,949 76 51 93 beef. 112 89 712 80 61 28 29 75 698 79 10,218 00 64 94 2,069 20 77 36 414 76 601 71 76 25 14,767 54 5,217 60 2,798"i6 233 77 "943'37 594 72 63 4,339 97 Free. 1,051 66 297 14 i",i89 26 194 1,912 740 232 ' 40,044 2,691 2,355 3,363 319,343 115,090 2,298,000 207,852 194,000 79,711 Included 51,789 526,000 194,000 906,840 13,185 89,135 24,319 904 59,950 ■ 160 59,800 3,232,000 3,035 4,560 8,011 9,620 22 212,773 54,634 1,051 252 60,642 15,866 67 2,864 162,882 94,000 169,509 ; 5,124 57,360 31,487 14,384 73,388 6,727 150 33,630 5,863 40,337 11,255 258,525 12,262 13,580 2,906 ■with 5,786 42,080 4,478 19.400 71,847 368 3,957 865 2,510 1,764 621 64,430 328,900 56,631 21,008 13,009 1,164 1,824 10,079 5,375 32 70,459 19,121 1,220 174 25,159 12,692 96 675 9,435 36 13,018 7,520 12,327 Duty. 1,137 80 6,297'40 20,475'90 '26 35 1,172 50 7,727 00 2,57J= 44 "344 88 i',393'89 beef. 38 03 794 95 24,568 86 124 85 1,075 05 60 81 350 56 306 21 80 13 16,03448 11.326 20 2,600 20 455 38 i',22i 06 721 62 2 20 17,127 29 "'93'si 25 30 6,096 32 7 15 Free. 1,071 55 Free. 2,970 30 i',6i5S6 100 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE Imports into British Columbia from ibles ' Fruit and Vegetables —Almonds, filberts and walnuts, " Apples, green, " Small fruits, " Cherries, " Cranberries, " Currants, " Peaches, "' Plums, " Quinces, " Canned fruits, " "fruits* veget; Jams, jellies, etc, " Melons, •' Tomatoes, '* Potatoes, " Other vegetables, Trees and Bushes—Apple, " Cherry, " Peach, " Pear, Plum, " Quince, Other, ': Not specified, Oils— Lard, " Neatsfoot, " Linseed, Other Countries, tbs. bbls. " Provinces, " " Countries, lbs. " U quarts, " " bush " " quarts " •' lbs. " " bush Year ending.30th June, 1892. Provinces, Countries, lbs. Provinces, Countries, No. bush No. Dairy Pro DUCE— Chicory, Cider, Hay, Hops, Honey Malt, tt Mustard, Eggs, Butter, Cheese, Condensed milk, Provinces, tons. Countries, gals. lbs. Provinces, " Countries, " Provinces, " Countries, " Provinces, " Countries, cases. Provinces, Countries, Provinces, Countries, lbs. " tons. " lbs. (. y " bush. Provinces, " Countries, lbs. " doz. Provinces, " Countries, cwt. " gals. Oil Cake and Meal, Pickles, Add to above the following animals imported from other countries for breeding purposes, and therefore entered duty free : Horses head Cattle ■ " Sheep " ■ Fowls " Swine " 60,354$ 7,701 1,624! 18,565 38,754 690 255,402 4,713 -55 248,352 1,294,000 57,525 1,160 1,142 68,866 150 93,188 24,322 3,3771 2,707 4,128 11,933 161 "36 1,381 532 397,172 184,000 245,970 1,432,000 37,470 350,000 1,136 7,120 23,761 Omitted 2,361 827 18,888 24,386 28,053 16,040 16,756 151,301 545,904 5,297 15,609 4,140 26,126 6,4% 1,923 8,309 2,424 9,275 8,983 92 11,816 43,133 5,403 66 2,444 22,259 23 4,624 2,154 436 302 602 1,649 31 4,919 9,000 708] 249 20,951 12,880 51.372 358,000 6,043 35,000 6,816 35,600 917 >revkras 1,673 7,707 4,275 3,186 24,212 14,035 4,689 1,6U 45 3,080 32 556 95 387 54 207 07 2,554 02 1,414 15 16 50 6,431 20 2,'308 35 16 50 587 00 10,198 10 1,770 14 729 66 135 08 81 21 123 84 358 00 4 05 986 84 141 60 49 80 4,225 68 9,260 1,146 2,360 670 years. 234 1,541 1,133 731 4,207 910 35 17,995 Free. 84,615 7,111 Free. 16,108 3,915 13 19,472 870 400 476 ! $2,483,540 $176,158 ' ANNUAL REPORT. other Countries and Provinces—Continued. 101 1'ear ending 30th June, 1893 Quantity. Value. 39,696 3,696 2,353 21,308 36,878 991 215 169,517 2,178 69 155,054 1,218,000 54,333 1,648 842 35,389 36,900 65,755 21,720 3,342 2,017 5,076 18,504 156 ""ii 454 306 538,426 78,000 245,435 1,820,000 28,749 318,000 815 8,900 ' 8,326 Omitted 1,212 I 1,399 22,948 13,009 46,856 6,880 16,387 53,612 I 563,472 1,193 7,700 $ 3,315 14,310 9,412 1,642 6,883 2,584 17 7,632 5,303 113 6,923 40,600 5,008 211 1,628 22,630 12,177 4,206 1,601 379 237 614 1,707 20 899 2,800 267 236 22,603 5,460 49/694 455,000 4,703 31,800 5,558 44,500 321 previous 848 13,490 5,678 1,814 34,955 6,020 4,016 9,052 87,337 2,145 8,334 905 75 120 349 50 Duty. 1,464 79 1,478 42 639 24 368 291 1,695 17 653 28 20 75 5,114 05 1,809 50 52 75 415 70 5,255 62 1,20816 651 60 133 68 60 51 152 28 555 12 3 92 285 97 "53 50 47 20 5,830 79 8,634 77 "857' 68 1,734'10 426 57 vears. 124 37 2,698 00 1,376 84 369 27 7,028 47 Year ending 30th June, 1894. 1,075 75 2,631 38 Free. 3,033 48 Quantity. 46,794 9,938 858 104,363 54,543 550 (tbs.) 228 223,026 3,708 94 147,811 1,458,000 30,159 4,070 1,144 78,236 $ 2,483,390 1 $ 146,827 57 59,610 14,398 1,916 861 3,497 13,862 101 " "25 480 116 163,531 114,000 568,685 1,822,000 73,631 316,000 8,333 6,146 32,000 1,576 1812 18,353 22,896 48,172 3,840 6,106 78,853 57,692 486,468 801 3,904 15 7 3 Value. 3,797 35,722 3,432 6,028 4,763 1,559 12 7,280 Duty. $ 1,485 88 3,975 32 2,542 39 922 27 169 40 3 88 2,230 26 6,541 1,148 95 99 28 45 6,558 3,513 56 48,600 2,703 1,551 14 368 92 00 1,896 525 91 33,781 11,661 25 2,782 1,032 37 1,319 431 94 244 73 74 114 25 83 411 104 91 1,151 415 86 17 2 54 2,473 540 07 . 5,000 258 51 60 81 16 20 8,429 1,146 46 7,980 1U.252 21,001 59 455,500 9,237 2,145 26 31,600 10,589 3,601 90 41,665 321 442 46 2,240 1,150 156 80 18,156 3,670 64 3,861 1,101 17 2,162 597 30 33,669 7,255 80 3,360 1,798 601 25 12,742 3,942 71 7,307 Free. 72,970 1,431 Free. 3,010 2,188 75 7,917 Free. 1,400 " 165 " 401 " 45 " | $2,422,374 $ 213,286 34 I 1 1 1 Q O i 1 cd b CO oo L_ J 00 CD OS o S o d F I co I t Q O I W b w i> 6J a o I CO H ►»■ o Annual report. 105 VANCOUVER, B.C. When it is considered that Vancouver has still to celebrate the tenth anniversary of her incorporation, and when further the fact is recalled that until the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway the entire province of British Columbia was to a great extent practically inaccessible and unknown, a brief notice of the city and surroundings may at the present time not unfittingly accompany this report. Geographically situated 49 ° 17 N. Vancouver's latitude is midway between that of London and Paris, to which section of the European coast its mean temperature and climatic conditions are by no means dissimilar, while its longitude of 123 ° E is within 100 miles of mid distance between London and Hong Kong on the great circle of the earth. Vancouver is built on the south shore of Burrard Inlet, one of the finest and best sheltered harbours in the world. The approach from the Gulf of Georgia, which separates the mainland from Vancouver Island, known as the Lions' Gate, has at all states of the tide sufficient depth of water for the largest vessels afloat; the Narrows extend about a mile by the grandly wooded shore of Stanley Park, when the harbour opens out to a width of three miles, capable of affording anchorage room for the entire British Navy. Five miles from the Lions' Gate the shores again-contract, forming the second narrows beyond which the Inlet divides into two branches—the South Arm extending to Port Moody (twelve.miles), while the North Arm, a favourite resort of pleasure seekers, penetrates the land between lofty mountains to a total distance of 23 miles, the soundings in the upper reaches exceeding in some places one hundred fathoms. The city proper occupies a peninsula whose ridge has an elevation of 230 feet, and this combined with a subsoil of hard blue clay, affords a splendid natural drainage, while the Southern portions of Fairview and Mount Pleasant are built on rising ground of a similar nature. On the north shore of the Inlet, behind the township of North Vancouver, the mountains rise ridge upon " 106 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE ridge attaining within a distance of ten miles an altitude of nearly 5,000 feet; on the west the lofty range on Vancouver Island, distant about thirty miles, forms a screen from the storms of the Pacific Ocean, while to the south and east the snow-capped peaks of the Olympians and the Coast Ranges deck the horizon—a prominent feature being Mount Baker,Washington, 10,680 feet. The entire country is clothed with dense evergreen forests of pine and cedar right up to the snow line, so that for picturesque scenery and surroundings Vancouver has few rivals among the commercial cities of the world. The city has an unlimited supply of the purest water for all purposes, and an efficient and well-appointed Fire Brigade ; the lighting is by electricity, and there is also an excellent supply of gas ; it has well paved and macadamized streets and an efficient electric tramcar service. Vancouver, having in its vicinity excellent quarries of granite and sandstone, can already boast of many handsome buildings, prominent among which may be mentioned the Post Office, Custom House, the Banks of Montreal, British North America, and British Columbia, Inns of Court Building, occupied by the Imperial Bank ; the Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver Opera House, Hudson's Bay Stores, Sir Donald A. Smith and Lefevre Blocks. The Court House occupies a prominent and central position. There are four well-built and commodious public schools and a large central school. The places of public worship are : Episcopalian, 4 ; Presbyterian, 3 ; Methodist, 3 ; Congregational, 1; Reformed Episcopal, 1 ; Roman Catholic, 1 ; Jewish, 1. Stanley Park, with its drive of eight miles through the primaeval forest, is now attaining a world-wide fame, while the electric tramway to New Westminster (twelve miles), again through the forest, affords a speedy connection to the Fraser Valley. Vancouver is steadily but surely becoming the chief distributing centre for the Province, and as population and demand increase so may industries and manufactures be expected to follow. ANNUAL REPOBT. 107 The following figures speak for themselves : Local freight forwarded by rail— tons. From Vancouver Station in 1895 36,798 " " " in 1890 16,451 Increase in five years 20,347 EXTRACT FROM POSTMASTER-GENERAL'S REPORTS. Gross revenue of Vancouver Post Office : Year ending 30th June, 1895 $29,375 55 1890 16,665 90 Increase in five years $12,709 65 From, the City Records. June 13th, 1886, Vancouver destroyed building only left. Jan. 1,1890. Streets graded 50.33 miles. gravelled 8.35 " Macadamized with broken rock " Paved with bituminous rock " " " woodblocks " Planked 6.30 " Water mains, cast iron 10.14 " Sewers 7 " Number of houses 1,462 Hydrants 65 Assessed value real property $8,077,505.00 $ " improvem'ts. $1,326,940.00 $ 1891. 1896. Population, Dominion Census . 14,000 Estimated 20,000 by fire one Jan.1, 1896. 75.19 miles. 10.95 t( 19.85 tt 1.82 H .05 a 3.30 a 40 a 22 a 3,200 210 13,432,884.00 4,328,180.00 **f 108 VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE CUSTOMS OF THE PORT. RATES OP COMMISSION. Amended Schedule recommended by Special Committees and adopted by the Board. XV. When no special agreement exists, the follow- tfk. ing shall be collectable :— 1. On purchase of stocks, bonds, and all kinds of securities, including the drawing of bills for payment of the same 2£ per cent. ' 2. On sale of stocks, bonds, and all kinds of securities, including remittances in bills and guarantee - 2-J- per cent. 3. On purchase and sale of specie, gold-dust, and bullion ] per cent. 4. On sale of bills of exchange, with endorse ment 2-|- per cent. 5. On sale of bills of exchange, without en dorsement | per cent. 6. For endorsing bills of exchange, when desired 2i per cent. 7. On sale of produce and merchandise, with guarantee 7\ per cent. 8. On goods received on consignment, and afterwards withdrawn 2£ per cent. 9. On purchase and shipment of merchandise, on cost and charges 5 per cent. 10. For collecting and remitting delayed or litigated account 10 per cent. 11. For collecting freight money, on amount collected- 2£ per cent. 12. For collecting general claims 5 per cent. 13. For collecting general average,—on the first $20,000 or any smaller amount 5 per cent. 14. For collecting general average,—on any excess over $20,000 2£ per cent. 15. On purchase or sale of vessels 5 per cent. 16. For entering and clearing vessels and at tending to the Customs business of the ship $ 25.00 VANCOUVER ROARD OK TRADE ANNUAL REPORT. RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS TO ASCERTAIN THE RESISTANCE TO DEFLECTION AND RUPTURE UNDER A GRADUALLY INCREASED BENDING STRESS OF FIVE LOGS OF BRITISH COLUMBIAN PINE RECEIVED PROM MESSRS. FOY, MORGAN & CO. LOAD APPLIED AT CENTRE. DISTANCE BETWEEN SUPPORTS, TWELVE FEET. Test No. D D 3,178 3,180 3,182 3,184 3,186 Description. All received 22 ft. long. British Columbian f Pine (Douglas Fir) (Jo out of one log. do do do. do Mean Dimensions. B D inches 12.00 x 15.00 12.00 x 15.15 12.00 x 15.00 12.00 x 16.06 12.04 x 16.02 12.01 X I5.45 Length Total Stress in Pounds. Deflection—Inch, at the following Loads. Weight 10,000 ft. ins. 13„6>£ 13„7M 13„7 13„7 13„6Ji '3„6% lbs. 704K 664 621 628 639 65 *K .073 .072 .058 .058 .063 .065 14,000 18,000 22,000 .127 .180 .230 .130 .185 .232 .114 .168 .225 .110 .157 .206 .113 .159 .203 ...» .170 .219 20,000 ] 30,000 .282 .332 .284 j .332 .277 .330 .255 .300 .247 j .292 .269 1 .317 34,000 38,000 42,000 46,000 50,000 54,000 58,000 62,000 .380 .430 .482 .537 .585 .640 .690 .747 .380 .432 .482 .528 .580 .628 .677" .728 .380 .437 .486 .541 .596 .650 .705 .763 .348 .392 .437 .483 .530 .585 .627 .710 .335 .380 .420 .466 .512 .561 .618 .684 365 .414 .461 .511 .56. .613 .663 »726 66,000 ■ 70,000 .805 .782 .840 .803 .789 .804 .870 .842 .940 .980 .918 .911 74,000 78,000 82,000 0.98 1.23 0.94 I 1.10 1.10 1.28 1.19 1.14 ",°7 86,000 90,000 94,000 98,000 . 102,000 Ultimate Stress. Equivalent upon Beam. B D 15 ins. x 15 ins Remarks. lbs.. tons lbs. tons 80,390 =35.9 100,487 = 44.glBent to 5ins. and remov'd 80,590 =36.0 80,210 = 35.8 98,762 = 44.1 100,262 = 44.8 .76,240=34.01 83,137=37.1 .(76,140 = 34.0 83,163= 37.1 78.7'4 = 35-' 93,l62= 41.6 do do do do do do do do RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS TO ASCERTAIN THE RESISTANCE TO DEPRESSION AND RUPTURE UNDER A GRADUALLY INCREASED THRUSTING STRESS. Test No. DD 3,179 3,181 3,183 3,185 3,187 Description. British Columbian Pine (J0 out of . one log do do do. do LENGTH FOR TESTING ONE HUNDRED INCHES. ENDS FACED ACCURATELY TRUE IN LATHE. Dimensions. inches 12.05 x 12.00 11.97 x 12.00 12.00 x 12.00 12.10 x 12.00 12.10 x 12.00 Test No. , under area. Bend. ing I Stress. sq. ins. D D 144.60 3,178 i43.64'3,180 i44.oo: 3,182 145.20 3,184 145.20 3,186 Mean Total Stress in Pounds. Depression—Inch, at the following Loads. I 1'er Actual. Cubic 40,000 foot. lbs. tbs. 332^ 39-73 -021 315>£|37.95 -021 304J4 36.5' -027 2913^ 34-69 .030 299^ 35-6i .034 308^)36.90 .027 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 .032 .043 .052 .063 .072 .032 .042 .051 .060 .'69 .043 .053 .063 .073 .081 .040 .050 .061 .070 .080 .044 .054 .066 .078 .088 .038 .048 .059 .069 .078 160,000 180,000 200,000 220,000 240,000 | 260,000 280,000 .082 .090 .100 .107 .080 .090 .100 .106 .090 .099 .108 : .117 .090 .098 .108 .115 .097 ' .108 .114 : .125 .088 .097 .106 .M4 .114 .114 .126 .123 .132 .122 .132 .122 .130 .135 .144 .130 I .141 .142 .150 .I22 .I30 .I39 300,000 320,000 340,000 I 360,000 I 380,000 400,000 .142 .148 .154 .163 .172 .182 .140 .146 I .155 .164 .171 .182 .153 .151 .161 • 149 .161 .169 .159 .168 .170 .180 •157 .I65 420,000 440,000 460,000 —j—— .191 .199 .209 .190 I .200 .210 .178 ' .188 .198 .208 .218 .228 .179 .189 : .200 .209 .218 .230 .191 . .201 j .213 .225 .237 .250 .I75 .I84 .I95 .205 .2I4 .225 480,000 500,000 .219 .230 .220 j .230 .240 .255 .247 .290 • 243 520,000 540,000 .242 .250 .241 .250 .275 .... 560,000 .269 .264 580,000 600,000 DRAWINGS OF THE VARIOUS FRACTURES ACCOMPANIED THE MANUSCRIPT REPORTS. Ultimate Stress. Total Per square inch. rbs. lbs. 578,500 4,001 576,000 4,010 531,480 3,691 492,2003,390 480,100 3,306 531,6563,680 Remarks. Crushed, do do do do Messrs. FOY. MORGAN & CO., 104 and 105 Bishopsgate Street Within, London, E.C. DAVID KIRKALDY & SON, 99 Southwark Street, London, S.E. 11th November, 1895.
Includes index. Pages 30-34 missing in original. Page 79 printed as 77. Other Copies: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/269230121
Annual reports
HF298 .V2
English
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Vancouver : Province Publishing Co.
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Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. HF298 .V2
Vancouver (B.C.)--Commerce
Boards of trade--Canada
Vancouver (B.C.)
Report of the Vancouver Board of Trade for the year 1895-96
Text