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British Columbia History
British Columbia Historical Association
British Columbia Historical Quarterly: Vol. 04 (IV), No. 1
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THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY JANUARY, 1940 We BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with I British Columbia Historical Association. EDITOR. W. Kaye Lamb. ADVISORY BOARD. F. Robie L. Reh oria. W. N. Sai Editorial cor 1 to the Edit cia) it Buildi' B.C. juld be Builri ubers ■ the crly without further chl ica-1 :i assume igazine. THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY VOLUME IV. 1940 VICTORIA, B.C. Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association EDITOR. W. Kaye Lamb. ADVISORY BOARD. J. C. Goodfellow, Princeton. F. W. Howay, New Westminster. Robie L. Reid, Vancouver. T. A. Rickard, Victoria. W. N. Sage, Vancouver. All communications should be addressed to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. CONTENTS OF VOLUME IV. Articles: Page. Coal-mining on Burrard Inlet, 1865-66. By F. W. Howay 1 Why " Bits "f By Robie L. Reid 21 " Empress to the Orient." Part I. By W. Kaye Lamb 29 The Astronomy of the Explorers. By J. S. Plaskett 63 " Empress to the Orient." Part II. By W. Kaye Lamb 79 The Later Life of John R. Jewitt. By Edmond S. Meany, Jr 143 The Construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in British Columbia. By J. A. Lower 163 John Carmichael Haynes: Pioneer of the Okanagan and Kootenay. By Hester E. White 183 David Douglas in British Columbia. By A. G. Harvey 221 The Discovery of the Fraser River: the Second Phase. By F. W. Howay 245 The Pedigree and Prospects of Local History. By Sylvia L. Thrupp 253 Documents : The Census of Vancouver Island, 1855. With an introduction and notes 51 Helmcken's Diary of the Confederation Negotiations, 1870. With an introduction and notes by Willard E. Ireland 111 John Robson versus J. K. Suter. An exchange of articles regarding Robson's early career, originally printed in 1882 203 The Annexation Petition of 1869. With an introduction by Willard E. Ireland 267 Notes and Comments 59, 129, 217, 289 The Northwest Bookshelf: Waddington's The Necessity of Reform 137 A Second Checklist of Crown Colony Imprints 139 Index, 295 ERRATA. Page 137, line 11. For Amer read Amor. Page 180, line 22. The Prince Rupert and Prince George were originally designed to burn coal, and were not converted to burn oil until they had been in service for some years. Page 205, line 16. For hailed read haled. Page 218, lines 26-28. This sentence should read: " Following the early death of William Moresby, Sr., Mrs. Moresby opened what is believed to have been the first school in New Westminster." We BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY " Any country worthy of a future should be interested in its past." Vol. IV. Victoria, B.C., January, 1940. No. 1 CONTENTS. Articles : Page. Coal-mining on Burrard Inlet, 1865-66. By F. W. Howay. 1 Why " Bits "? By Robie L. Reid 21 " Empress to the Orient." Part I. By W. Kaye Lamb 29 Documents : The Census of Vancouver Island, 1855. With an introduction and notes 51 Notes and Comments : British Columbia Historical Association 59 -Kootenae House Memorial Cairn 62 GOAL-MINING ON BURRARD INLET, 1865-66. In the instructions given by Sir E. B. Lytton to Colonel R. C. Moody on his taking command of the detachment of Royal Engineers for service in British Columbia, in 1858, he was directed to " ascertain the real value of the coal for all purposes of steam communication, both in British Columbia and Vancouver [Island]."1 Early in 1859, after Colonel Moody had selected the site of New Westminster as the Capital and obtained Governor Douglas's approval, H.M.S. Plumper was sent to survey Burrard Inlet with, amongst other things, a view to the protection of the seat of Government. In the prosecution of this duty the existence of coal near the entrance and on the southern shore of that inlet was discovered. The official report shows that the Indians knew of the presence of coal and probably directed the explorers to the exposed seams, just as they had done at Beaver Harbour in 1835 and at Nanaimo in 1850. Thus on June 12, 1859, coal outcroppings were found " on the southern side of the inner harbour, about a mile and a half within the first narrows." This description places the site, probably, near Burrard Street. Following Vancouver's nomenclature the whole stretch from Point Grey and Point Atkinson to Port Moody was locally known as Burrard Inlet, even as it is to-day in the British Columbia Pilot. English Bay was the " outer harbour "; Coal Harbour, the " inner harbour "; and Port Moody, the " head of the south arm." Beneath a layer of sandstone at a depth of 7 or 8 feet, the first seam outcropped on the shore. It was 4 or 5 inches in thickness. Below it, and separated by layers of shale, was another seam which, in a distance of 7 feet, increased from 7 to 15 inches. The complete account is contained in the reports of Dr. C. B. Wood and Captain Richards which, by the courtesy of the Provincial Archives, are reproduced in the appendix hereto, together with Captain Richards's letter to Admiral Baynes announcing the discovery, and later documents dealing with the attempt to mine the coal. (1) Papers relative to the Affairs of British Columbia, Part I., presented to both Houses of Parliament, February 18,1859, p. 75. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. IV., No. 1. 1 2 F. W. HOWAY. January The late Hon. John Robson, who was in the Colony at the time, in referring to the existence of coal near Vancouver, wrote:— Admiral (then Captain) Richards picked up coal on the beach in quantity and quality sufficient to steam his ship across to Esquimalt, and it was from that coal the magnificent harbour took its name.2 But from Captain Richards's report it appears that about 2 tons were obtained from " a vein of apparently good coal." Much of it had, however, been so long exposed to salt water that, on testing, it proved unsatisfactory. Nevertheless a small portion " of very good coal" was secured, and he believed that at trifling expense large quantities of a superior description could be found.3 In a tracing, dated July 4, 1859, sent by Captain Richards to Colonel Moody, the words " Coal beds " are written on a part of Stanley Park, then or later a military reserve, and also at a point farther up the harbour. Writing on January 20, 1860, Colonel Moody mentions " the Coal District on the South side of Burrard Inlet," and in the same letter he refers to " the east side of the Naval Reserve at the Coal site."4 The late George Turner, R.E., in his evidence in the Dead- man's Island case, stated that some time prior to February, 1863 (probably in February, 1862), he, in company with Colonel Moody and Captain Parsons, of the Royal Engineers, made a trip from Port Moody " in a gun boat, either the Grappler or the Forward " to Coal Harbour, where they examined a seam of lignite. He does not condescend to the exact location; but it may, perhaps, be inferred from the fact that, when in February and March, 1863, he surveyed Stanley Park, he marked it on his map " Coal Peninsula." At the same time Turner surveyed Lot 185, immediately adjoining Stanley Park to the eastward. His field-notes show an outcrop of coal 10 inches in width, on the shore close to John Morton's cabin. The perti- (2) Editorial in Dominion Pacific Herald, June 29, 1881. (3) Richards to Baynes, June 24, 1859. (For the letter in full see appendix.) (4) Moody to W. R. Spalding, January 20, 1860, in Deadman's Island Case (Appeal Book before the Privy Council), p. 299. The naval reserve referred to lay east of Lot 185, and possibly included the Granville townsite of later days. 1940 COAL-MINING ON BURRARD INLET, 1865-66. nent portion of those notes is herewith reproduced from the original in the Provincial Archives. This was the situation of affairs when, in October, 1863, the detachment of Royal Engineers was disbanded and Colonel Moody returned to England. Lot 1 S 5 Group I Briakmakers Claim Burrard Inlet Coal Harbour Sketch based upon the original field-notes of the first survey of Burrard Inlet, by George Turner, R.E., 1863. The boundary-line of Lot 185 to the left (east) is the present Burrard Street. The outline of the sketch is reproduced in facsimile, but for convenience in printing the lettering has been changed. Lieutenant Mayne, who was on the Plumper, in speaking of Burrard Inlet says:— Two miles inside the first narrows is Coal Harbour where coal has been found in considerable quantities and of good quality, although the demand is not yet sufficient to induce speculators to work it in opposition to the already established mines at Nanaimo.5 Turning now from Coal Harbour to English Bay, we find Captain Richards in his letter to Admiral Baynes, dated June 14, 1859, reporting the existence of undeniable evidences of coal at the " outer harbour."6 Yet it does seem strange that the first proposals to undertake exploratory work to test the coal- (5) R. C. Mayne, Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island, London, 1862, p. 142. (6) See this letter in the appendix. 4 F. W. Howay. January measures should relate to English Bay where, so far as the record shows, only " evidences " had been found, rather than at Coal Harbour whose small seams of ascertained quality were known. Within a month of the discovery at Coal Harbour— that is, on July 21, 1859—an alleged syndicate, supposed to include well-known people of Victoria (J. J. Southgate, A. R. Green, Robert Burnaby, Dickson Campbell & Co., and A. F. Main), was applying to purchase 5,000 acres of supposed coal lands situated " on the range of hills between the North Arm of Fraser River and Burrard's Inlet," where they asserted they had " discovered a lead of good coal." Colonel Moody was in favour of the application and suggested that the price be fixed at 4s. 2d. an acre; the proposition likewise met the approval of that hard-headed business man, Governor Douglas. Neither of them called for any proof; and neither was alarmed by the vagueness of locality and description which in other circumstances might have suggested a mere bit of land-jobbery. Nothing, however, eventuated; an endorsement on the correspondence in the Provincial Archives laconically states: " Not carried out. Ascertained to be an imposture." Thus from 1859 downwards for the next five or six years coal was, so to speak, in the air of Burrard Inlet, using that expression in its wide geographical sense. The first genuine proposal to search for and mine it was made on November 24, 1864, by two men, prominent in the commercial life of the colony: George Dietz, then in the express business in partnership with Hugh Nelson (later, Senator Nelson), and Sewell P. Moody, then about to engage in the manufacture of lumber at Moodyville. They selected not Coal Harbour but English Bay as the scene of their effort. They did not allege that they had found coal. They applied for a grant of 640 acres at " English Bay, Burrard Inlet " for the purpose of prospecting and sinking for coal. The rough sketch attached to their application shows that the land applied for was in the neighbourhood of the Kitsi- lano Indian Reserve of later years. They asked for a period of six months in which to commence operations, and that after they had expended £500 in the venture they should be entitled to purchase the area at 4s. 2d. ($1) an acre. 1940 COAL-MINING ON BURRARD INLET, 1865-66. 5 The Governor, Frederick Seymour, in replying, emphasized his desire to aid the successful working of coal mines in the vicinity of the Capital (New Westminster) and promised to reserve for six months 600 acres, more or less, in the specified area with the provision that the applicants might purchase it at the price named by them, but on the understanding that in the grant a covenant should be inserted enabling the Government to impose a royalty of not more than y16 of all coal produced.7 This royalty clause was the snag on which the scheme later struck and went to pieces. In the Governor's view his promise to grant the land was conditional upon the discovery of a workable coal mine, on whose product royalty could be charged. While this was not definitely stated in the letter of December 30, 1864, it was claimed that it was a necessary inference from the reservation of the royalty. By a subsequent arrangement the six-months period was extended for a further term of six months, which would expire on December 30, 1865. The two promoters, Dietz and Moody, with whom was associated John Pickavent Cranford (of Cran- ford vs. Wright fame), discovered, it was alleged, a 15-inch seam on English Bay near deep water. The three now set about the incorporation of a company to prospect for and develop a coal mine at English Bay. In floating the concern they felt that a mine with a reserve of only 600 acres looked like a small affair; in consequence they applied to Governor Seymour for a reserve of greater extent, instancing the Nanaimo and Harewood companies with coal rights covering, as they alleged, 6,000 and 9,000 acres respectively. The Governor's reply, as was to be expected from him, was most gracious: he was fully alive to the importance of a producing mine in the district and while wishing to give every encouragement when satisfied that the work was proceeding bona fide, it was in his opinion premature to extend the 600-acre reserve.8 In the meantime the incorporation was completed and the British Columbia Coal Mining Company, Limited, came into being on July 22, 1865. It had a nominal (7) See letter December 30, 1864, Colonial Secretary to Messrs. Dietz and Moody, in the appendix. The original is in the Provincial Archives. (8) See the letter of application from Dietz, Moody, and Cranford, dated July 19, 1865, and the Colonial Secretary's reply, dated the following day, in the appendix hereto. 6 F. W. Howay. January capital of $100,000 divided into 2,000 shares of $50 each. Of these the promoters were allotted 300 for their services in securing the reserve of 600 acres, in discovering the 15-inch seam, and in securing incorporation. The remainder were for sale on the terms of $2 per share on allotment and the monthly calls of $1 a share; one thousand shares being, however, retained for the time being from subscription. The company's prospectus showed a strong directorate composed of some of the best-known men in the colony. The Chairman of the Board was Captain James Cooper; the Secretary was William Clarkson. The other directors were the Hon. J. A. R. Homer, M.L.A., John Robson, W. J. Armstrong, and J. P. Cranford, all of New Westminster; Sewell P. Moody, Josias Charles Hughes, George Dietz, and James Van Bramer, all of Burrard Inlet. It stated that the company had a reserve of 600 acres at English Bay and had the assurance of the Governor's support in every reasonable way. It went on to indicate that the company intended " to explore the vicinity of English Bay for coal by putting down a bore " and that in less than ninety days the ground would be prospected and the company ready to sink a shaft and open a mine.9 In an editorial in the British Columbian, John Robson, it- editor and one of the directors of the company, took occasion to stress the importance of the new undertaking and figured out a paper profit of $3.50 a ton at the point of delivery, or $700 a day on an estimated output of 200 tons. He urged the importance of the venture, pointing out that the mining of coal meant long- continued operations and a great benefit to the community, inasmuch as it involved a large outlay in wages, supplies, etc. In a later issue he reported that four directors of the coal company (of whom, from the detailed account that is given, he was probably one) went to English Bay, probably by the military trail to " Jericho," early in August, 1865, to " reconnoitre the coal grounds of the company, preparatory to inaugurating active operations." He continues:— How about coal? That's the question. We may say, in a word, that in the general formation of the country, the continuous range of sandstone, permeated for miles with cropping veins of lignite, anthracite, and fossilized (9) This prospectus appeared in the British Columbian, July 27, 1865, and subsequent issues. 1940 COAL-MINING ON BURRARD INLET, 1865-66. 7 vegetation, the most unquestionable and abundant evidences of the close proximity of coal beds is to be found, while, cropping out at low tide, there are to be found substantial seams of coal, detached pieces of which are picked up and used by the natives for fuel. There can be no doubt at all as to the existence of coal measures in abundance, and that all that would appear to be needed in order to open them up and turn them to profitable account is capital.10 To prosecute the work of drilling on its reserve at English Bay, the company, on August 5, 1865, applied to the Government for the loan of a boring-rod, winch, and the other necessary apparatus, chisels, etc. The request was granted upon the company's guarantee of their value and safe return, ordinary wear and tear excepted. This activity of the company brought trouble with Captain Edward Stamp, the manager of the British Columbia & Vancouver Island Spar, Lumber, and Sawmill Company, which was then commencing its mill on the southern side of Burrard Inlet. He claimed that the coal company's reserve was within the sawmill company's large timber limit, which covered a great part of the present Shaughnessy Heights. The timber at any rate, he said, was his company's, and in enforcement of its rights he placed a logging camp on the 600-acre coal reserve and began to fell the trees. The upshot of the dispute was that the coal company agreed to surrender all its claims to the reserve on English Bay, and to accept in lieu a reserve of 400 acres on the south shore of what is now Vancouver Harbour, lying east of Lot 185. This was to be supplemented by an adjoining tract of land extending to the shore of False Creek, and sufficiently wide to make up a reserve of 600 acres in all.11 The terms on which the new reserve was to be held required the bona-fide expenditure of £500 in exploring for coal. Thereafter, the company claimed that it was entitled to purchase the land at 4s. 2d. an acre; but the Governor's position, as later developed, was that such purchase could not be made unless the prospecting had actually disclosed a producing mine on whose output a royalty could be collected. What work, if any, had been done on the Kitsilano reserve before the exchange has not been ascertained. Probably noth- (10) British Columbian, August 1 and 3, 1865. (11) The letters of H. P. P. Crease, dated in August and September, 1865, upon which this paragraph is based, are in the Provincial Archives and are reproduced in the appendix. 8 F. W. HOWAY. January ing in the way of actual boring had been accomplished, as the company only obtained the loan of the drilling outfit on August 17, and by that time the trouble with Captain Stamp had commenced. At any rate, the scene is now shifted to the reserve on Coal Harbour. On September 11, 1865, the Colonial Secretary made a very poor attempt to crystallize the terms of the arrangement. The following quotation therefrom will show its remarkable looseness of thought and expression—not to say ignorance of the situation. I am directed by the Officer Administrating the Government to acquaint you that the surrender in question is accepted. The right to mine for coal only being reserved to the Company; and the grant in lieu thereof of 600 acres of the Reserve next to section 185, on the conditions heretofore arranged as to expenditure of capital by the Company, is hereby confirmed.12 It will be observed that the new reserve of 600 acres was in two parts: that next to Lot 185 was of 400 acres, more or less; the other 200 acres were on the opposite side of False Creek. Furthermore the Colonial Secretary only refers to the condition regarding capital expenditure; he is silent on the crucial point of the royalty of %6> mentioned in the letter of December 30, 1864, when the terms were being fixed for the original reserve on English Bay. The company secured the services of John Dick, of Nanaimo, a thoroughly experienced and practical miner, as their adviser and manager. On August 12, even before the exchange of reserves had been officially made, he and his party were busily engaged in examining and prospecting the area east of Lot 185 where operations were to commence. He had not then settled upon the exact spot for the " shaft"—meaning the bore-hole— that was to be sunk; but the result of his investigations was highly encouraging. His report was as follows:— To the Board of Directors of the British Columbia Coal Mining Company, Limited. GENTLEMEN,—After a careful examination of several square miles of the country lying to the southward of Burrard Inlet, I take pleasure in being able to state that, although owing to the general regularity and unbroken nature of the beds of strata there visible I have not been able to discover the outcroppings of any coal seam worthy of note, still there is every indica- (12) Letter from Charles Good, for the Colonial Secretary, to British Columbia Coal Mining Company, September 11, 1865 (see appendix). 1940 COAL-MINING ON BURRARD INLET, 1865-66. 9 tion of the existence of such a seam at no great depth—say from 40 to 60 fathoms. Should my surmise prove correct there is no doubt (judging from the very trifling angle of dip and its freedom from faults and other dislocations of strata) that the field will be quite equal in extent to any yet discovered on Vancouver Island. For the purpose of further proving the quality of Coal and its depth from the surface, I would recommend that a series of borings be commenced at such places as, after further deliberation, I shall be prepared to point out. I am, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, John Dick. The company appears to have had its drilling apparatus on the ground and to have commenced driving the bore some time in October. The site selected, says the Dominion Pacific Herald in its issue of June 29, 1881 (its editor, John Robson, had been interested as a shareholder and director in the venture), was " a little below the south-west boundary of Granville."13 Through the winter of 1865-66 the boring went on, and by February, 1866, the test-hole had been sunk to a distance of 380 feet, passing through " three seams of coal, five, nine, and sixteen inches respectively." The real nature of the coal seems to be in doubt; George Turner called it a lignite, but John Robson, in 1881, thought it to be Albertite. From month to month the calls were made on the stock; and on February 7, 1866, the first general meeting of the company was held in the old Hyack Hall, New Westminster. Despite the failure to find a workable seam the manager, Mr. Dick, " reported highly favorable indications." The old Board of Directors was re-elected, with the exception of James Van Bramer and J. P. Cranford, whose seats were taken by William Grieve and J. S. Clute. The prospects of the company were canvassed at length and it was resolved to continue the bore.14 The work was resumed, and by the following April the bore (or " shaft " as Robson calls it) had reached a depth of 500 feet. There the work stopped, after the company had spent $3,000 in the venture. As the money expended exceeded the £500 originally mentioned by the promoters, Dietz and Moody, in their letter of (13) Granville townsite did not come into being until 1870, but Robson is making an identification in the nomenclature of 1881, not of 1865. (14) British Columbian, February 10, 1866. 10 F. W. HOWAY. January November 24, 1864, the company applied for a Crown grant of the 600-acre reserve on Coal Harbour and False Creek. Then came up the question of royalties and the Governor's view that the grant was contingent upon the discovery of a workable coal mine. After much discussion, which dragged on for some two months, the Hon. Mr. Birch, who was administering the Government in the absence of Governor Seymour, refused to make the grant and the undertaking was abandoned.16 John Robson, in the Dominion Pacific Herald, June 29, 1881, expressed the views of the company:— The operations of that company were brought to a premature and abrupt termination through the bad faith of the Government in refusing to give a title to the land according to agreement. A shareholder in the company had in 1870 stated his view:— An expenditure of over £700 was made by the Company in a bona fide attempt to discover coal; they having failed to do so ought not to vitiate a contract entered into between the Government and the Company, and I for one claim an interest equivalent to $150 thus invested on the written engagement of the Government that the land should be granted to the Coal Company on condition that £500 was honestly expended in prospecting for coal.w So ended the first and only serious attempt to test the coal- measures that were supposed to underlie the City of Vancouver. But this does not end the story of coal on Burrard Inlet. In 1881 the late Dr. Thomas R. Mclnnes (afterwards Senator and, still later, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, but then the Member representing New Westminster in the House of Commons) took to Ottawa A quantity of coal apparently of very superior quality, obtained from the outcrop of a well-defined seam, showing a thickness of three feet, situated on the tongue of land dividing English Bay from Coal Harbour. Parenthetically, one may ask: Has any one, now living, any idea of the location of this seam? The coal is described as:— Unlike any coal yet discovered in Canada except the famous Albertite found at Hillsboro, N.B., which it closely resembles. Albertite, which is a bright, shining substance, sells for five to eight times the price of ordinary bituminous coal. (15) See letters, April 5 and 26, 1866, from Colonial Secretary to British Columbia Coal Mining Company, in the Provincial Archives, and reproduced in the appendix hereto. (16) British Colonist, April 7, 1870. 1940 COAL-MINING ON BURRARD INLET, 1865-66. 11 The editorial from which these quotations are taken goes on to say:— There can be little doubt that the coal seam from which Dr. Mclnnes took the specimens underlies all the land fronting on Coal Harbour, and it would indeed be difficult to over-estimate the value of such coal measures under the terminal city.*7 The last words in the above quotation, written in 1881, show John Robson's belief that the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway would not be at Port Moody, but at Coal Harbour—the Vancouver of to-day—a belief which he, as a member of the Smythe Government, aided, four years later, in bringing into a reality. F. W. HOWAY. New Westminster, B.C. (17) Dominion Pacific Herald, June 29, 1881. 12 F. W. HOWAY. January APPENDIX. CAPTAIN G. H. RICHARDS TO GOVERNOR DOUGLAS. H. M. Surveying Ship Plumper Burrard Inlet 14th day of June 1859. Sir, I have the honor to acquaint you that having reason to believe from Native report, as well as from the geological formation exhibited over certain portions of the Coast of this inlet, that coal existed, I desired the Senior Engineer—Mr. F. Brockton to direct his attention to the investigation of the subject, during the ships sojourn here on surveying duties, which resulted in Mr. Brockton acquainting me on the 12th instant that an apparently extensive vein occurred on the Southern side of the inner harbour, about a mile and a half within the first narrows. Having visited the spot and satisfied myself that sufficient could be procured with facility, to test practically in our furnaces under steam, I dispatched a boat and procured in the course of a few hours—over two tons; it has been used in the ships galley (Grant's patent distilling apparatus) with success, and I shall shortly take an opportunity of giving it a further trial in the steam furnaces. I have intimated the discovery to the Lieutenant Governor, Colonel Moody, R.E. and sent him specimens of the coal, and as it appears to me that it may exercise a considerable and possibly an immediate influence on the prosperity of the new town of Queenborough [New Westminster], on the Fraser, within such an easy distance both by land and sea of this fine Port; I have thought it right to apprise your Excellency of the facts without delay, and I send the Shark to Esquimalt for this purpose, she will also carry to you specimens of the coal, with the f ossilif erous sandstone in which it is embedded. I beg to enclose you also a report on the subject furnished me by Dr. Wood—the Surgeon of this ship, who made as full an investigation as time and circumstances would permit, I fully concur with him in the belief, that extensive coal measures exist here, not only in the single position already examined, but generally throughout this capacious Inlet; as I write I receive undeniable evidences of their existence in the outer harbour and I would add my belief that the working of the coal will be attended with but inconsiderable labour or expense. I have the honor to be Sir Your most Obedient Servant Geo. Henry Richards Captain His Excellency James Douglas. C.B. Governor of British Columbia. 1940 COAL-MINING ON BURRARD INLET, 1865-66. 13 DR. C. B. WOOD TO CAPTAIN RICHARDS. H. H. Surveying Ship Plumper Burrard Inlet, British Columbia, 14th day of June 1859. Sir, Having been requested by you to report upon a coal bed lately found by the Officers of H.M.S. Plumper on the South Shore .of Burrard Inlet, yesterday visited by me, I beg to submit the following short statement of my observations. Upon the beach at low water, coal is found cropping out for a distance embracing the two points of high and low water; these croppings proceed from a vein of coal some 4 or 5 inches in thickness, superficially covered by a thin layer of shale, and with an underlying stratum of the same character, grey sandstone rock forming the roof. Beneath the underlying or second layer of shale another vein of coal is seen, which commencing with a thickness of seven inches increases to fifteen inches, at a distance horizontally of seven feet, dipping at an angle of 15 _i degrees to the Southward, running with the super-adjacent layers of shale and sandstone North and South, this vein has an underlying layer of clay- stone; beneath this point; from the limited means at command—water from the surrounding slopes rapidly filling the pits made, investigation could not be directed, but I imagine sufficient evidences were thus far obtained as to prove the presence of the true coal measures and the probability of an extensive coal deposit. Selected samples of coal taken from the second seam presented all the outward characters of English Newcastle, it burns freely in a common furnace, and produces little smoke. In the overlying sandstone or roof a considerable number of beautiful vegetable fossils are found mostly leaves of Exogens belonging to the orders of Mastworts and Willow-worts. In conclusion I may observe that indications of coal are likewise observed about 100 yards from the line of cropping I have described in the sandstone cliffs, which are here 7 or 8 feet in thickness covered by a deep vegetable mould; in the shape of small seams of coal firmly embedded between layers of sandstone. I have the honor to be Sir Your most Obedient Servant Chas. B. Wood Surgeon Captain George H. Richards, R.N. H.M. Surveying Ship Plumper 14 F. W. Howay. January CAPTAIN RICHARDS TO REAR ADMIRAL BAYNES. H. M. Ship Plumper Esquimalt, 24th June 1859. Sir I have the honor to acquaint you that in the prosecution of the Survey of Burrard Inlet in the Strait of Georgia, a vein of apparently good Coal was discovered by the Officers of the Ship; about two Tons of which was procured and subjected to trial in the furnace. The quantity obtained however owing to long exposure to Salt Water, and from the shale which always surrounds surface Coal cannot be considered as a fair specimen, and did not produce sufficient heat to generate steam; a small portion however of very good Coal was obtained and I think there is no room to doubt but that at a small expense, Coal of a superior description and in large quantities will be obtained. I beg to enclose you a report from Dr. Wood, the Surgeon of this Ship who at my desire examined the locality. I have &c. G. H. Richards Captain Rear Admiral R. L. Baynes C.B. Commander in Chief MESSRS. DIETZ AND MOODY TO THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. New Westminster. 24th Novr. 1864. Sir. We being desirous of prospecting and sinking for Coal at English Bay, Burrards Inlet we beg leave to make application for a grant to be given to us of Six Hundred and Forty (640) acres of land more or less of which the annexed paper is a sketch and would also request that the privilege of commencing work at any time within Six months may be given to us and that after having expended the Sum of Five Hundred Pounds (£500.0.0.) that we may be allowed to purchase the said tract at the Government price of Wild Lands, viz: Four Shillings and Two Pence per acre. We have &c. George Dietz & S. P. Moody. The Hon: The Colonial Secretary. 1940 COAL-MINING ON BURRARD INLET, 1865-66. 15 Facsimile of the sketch enclosed in the letter from Messrs. Dietz & Moody to the Colonial Secretary, dated November 24, 1864. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY TO MESSRS. DIETZ & MOODY. Colonial Secretary's Office. New Westminster. 30th Deer. 1864. Gentlemen. I am directed by The Governor to acquaint you, in reference to your application to be allowed to occupy a tract of land on Burrards Inlet for Coal Mining purposes that His Excellency is most desirous of facilitating, by every means in his power, the successful working of Coal Mines in the neighbourhood of New Westminster. His Excellency is therefore prepared to reserve a tract of land of 600. Acres, more or less, as applied for by you for a period of 6. months from the date of this letter, to enable you to thoroughly prospect for Coal. At the end of the above named period, should you have expended capital to the extent of (£500.) Five Hundred Pounds as promised in your letter of the 24th ultimo, The Government will be prepared to allow you to purchase the land at the upset price of 4s. 2d. per acre on the understanding that at the time of such purchase a Covenant be entered into by you to enable The Government at any time to impose a Royalty, not exceeding 1/16, on all the Coal produced. The terms of such Covenant to be previously agreed upon. I am to request you will have an accurate plan made of the reserve in question and that you will take care that such Reserve does not in any way interfere with the property of Mr. Southey which is supposed to be adjacent thereto. I have &c. Arthur N. Birch 16 F. W. Howay. January MESSRS. DIETZ, MOODY AND CRANFORD TO THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. New Westminster. 19th July, 1865. Sir. We have the honour to represent that we are about to register a Joint Stock Company—organized for the purpose of working the Coal Mine on English Bay, Burrard Inlet, in accordance with the terms of your communications of the 30th December 1864 and the 13th June 1865, which engage to reserve 600. acres of Land for the purposes of a Mining Company. We are organizing the Company in good faith, and, as we believe, with a due regard to the interests of the Colony as well as of the Shareholders and desire to secure such advantages that the Company may, should they deem it advisable, be able to place the Shares in the English Stock Market. At this distance from England it is obviously necessary that the Company should possess some real and striking advantages that would operate so as to overcome the reluctance of English Capital to go abroad. After proof of the quality and quantity of Coal we think nothing would be of more consequence than extent of territory, and we respectfully submit that as the first British Columbia Coal Company, it is very desirable that the prospectus of the Company should not compare unfavourably in this particular with the Nanaimo and Harewood Companies—already known in England—and owning respectively, if we are correctly informed, about 6,000 and 9,000 Acres. We therefore most respectfully beg that you will lay this matter before His Excellency, Governor Seymour for his consideration. We may further remark that if an additional Reserve be made in our favor it shall not be used to increase our private benefit beyond what is now arranged and stipulated for. We have the honor to be Your most obedient Servants Geo. Dietz. S. P. Moody. J. P. Cranford. To the Hon: Arthur N Birch Colonial Secretary. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY TO MESSRS. DIETZ, MOODY AND CRANFORD. Colonial Secretary's Office. New Westminster. 20th. July, 1865. Gentlemen. I have received and laid before The Governor your letter of the 19th instant, making application for an additional Reserve of Land beyond that already granted in my letters of the 30th December 1864 and 13th June 1865. 1940 COAL-MINING ON BURRARD INLET, 1865-66. 17 His Excellency desires me to assure you that he is fully alive to the importance of establishing, beyond a doubt, the existence of good Coal Seams within this District, and that he will be prepared to give every encouragement to the Company which you are about to form as soon as he is satisfied that the work is proceeding in a bona fide manner; but until such time His Excellency is of opinion that it would be premature to extend the present Reserve. I have the honor to be Gentlemen Your most obedient Servant. Arthur N Birch To G. Dietz. S. P. Moody & J. P. Cranford, Esquires H. P. P. CREASE, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, TO GOVERNOR SEYMOUR. Attorney] G[eneral's] 0[ffice] 17 Aug 1865 My dear Sir. I am negociating [_sic1 a settlement of Capt Stamps difficulty with the Coal Co. at this moment the Chairman for whose good offices I am indebted —and Messrs. Homer and Robson—are disposed to do all they can to avoid any difficulty. I do not acknowledge Capt. Stamps claim to the 600 acres of timber—at the same time I am doing all that is possible to meet his wishes as well as the objects of the Coal Co. With a little good temper on both sides the thing can be very easily settled without loss or injury to either of the Claimants I send a Copy of a Letter I had dispatched to the Co. In haste but vy faithfy yrs Henry P. Pellew Crease H. E. The Governor H. P. P. CREASE, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, TO THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COAL MINING COMPANY. Chambers Columbia Street 17. August 1865. The Chairman of The B. C. Coal Co. Sir In preparing to make out the drafts of Timber Licenses for Capt: Stamp's Co and Messrs Moody & Co. I find a difficulty or what seems to be one respecting the Timber on the Coal Mining Reserve—which I think your 18 F. W. Howay. January Company can set right without the necessity of referring the matter back to Head Quarters—so I bring it directly tho' somewhat informally before you to save time and correspondence. It is this:— On 24th last November Messrs Dietz & Moody applied for lease to prospect and sink for coal for 6 months in 600 acres more or less in English Bay with a subsequent right of purchase after expending on the work £500. On 30 Dec. last this was conditionally assented to for 6 months ending 30th June last. No work was done up to 8th May last. On that day Capt. Stamp applied to take up 15,000 acres of timber at such places as he should specify at Howe Sound Port Neville Burrard Inlet English Bay &c., subject to the Government approval. This was conditionally assented to. Capt. Stamp alleges that the Coal Reserve was among these 15,000 acres and I believe acting under this impression whether rightly or wrongly commenced building a Mill—set out a logging Camp on the very reserve in question and cut timber. And on the 8th June Messrs Dietz and Moody got a renewal of the Coal privileges for 6 months ending 31st December next. Can your Company suggest any means of setting this right? Yours Truly Henry P. Pellew Crease. H. P. P. CREASE, ATTORNEY-GENERAL, TO THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COAL MINING COMPANY. The Chairman British Columbia Coal Ming. Coy. Ld. A[ttorney] G[eneral's] Offfice] 4 Septr. 65. Sir I have Communicated to Go[verno]r [Seymour] your proposition of the 22nd August ulto. in reply to my informal letter of the 17th inst: and have the honor to inform you that upon receiving a surrender of all claim to the 600 acres forming the present Coal Company Reserve at English Bay, the Government are prepared to engage to reserve (under the existing conditions of expending £500 in bona fide Coal workings to the satisfaction of the Government on the ground and the subsequent payment of one dollar an acre)—that portion of the Burrard Inlet Crown Reserve (supposed to contain about 400 acres more or less) between Lot 185. and the Mill site and premises of Captain Stamp—together with sufficient Land on the other side of False Creek—adjacent and immediately opposite to such proposed new coal site—as shall with these estimated 400 acres make up in all 600 acres. Reserving to the Crown, and its assigns the Timber on such last mentioned piece of land. 1940 COAL-MINING ON BURRARD INLET, 1865-66. 19 The Company of course being regularly constituted with a reasonable amount of capital paid up for the purposes set forth. The Govr. at the Grantees expense to survey & fix the actual limits in accordance herewith whenever requisite. Your assent to this will enable the papers of the various Companies now in abeyance to be concluded and the works dependent thereon to proceed. I have the honor &c Henry P. Pellew Crease A.G. CHARLES GOOD TO THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COAL MINING CO. C[olonial] S [ecretary's] 0[ffice] 11th Sept. 1865. Sir, With reference to your letter of the 5th Instant to the Attorney General, and to previous correspondence on the subject of the surrender of the Reserve at English Bay by the British Columbia Coal Mining Co. I am directed by the Officer Ad[ministratin]g the Government to acquaint you that the surrender in question is accepted. The right to mine for coal only being reserved to the Company; and the grant in lieu thereof of 600 acres of the Reserve next to section 185, on the conditions heretofore arranged as to expenditure of capital by the Company, is hereby confirmed I have &c Charles Good for the Col. Secy. The Secretary of the B. Columbia Coal Mining Co. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY TO THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COAL MINING COMPANY. C[olonial] S [ecretary's] 0[ffice] 5th April 1866 Sir, I have the honor to ack: the receipt of your letter dated 17th Feby applying for a Deed for 600 acres of Land at Burrard's Inlet. I am directed by the 0[fficer] Administrating] the Government] to request you will inform him whether the Company you represent intend to prosecute further researches for Coal on the Land in question, as, according to Par: 3 of the letter dated 30th Deer. 1864, forwarded to you from this office, it is apparent that the grant of Land was to be conferred only on the supposition that the Compy were still prospecting for, or bona fide working, a Coal Seam, as, previous to any grant being conferred, a covenant 20 F. W. Howay. has to be entered into for the payment of a Royalty on all the Coal produced, & until His Honor has received your answer, no decision can be arrived at. I have &c H. M. Ball The Secy of the British Columbia Coal Mining Compy THE COLONIAL SECRETARY TO THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COAL MINING COMPANY. C[olonial] S [ecretary's] 0[ffice] 26th April 1866 Sir, In reply to your letter of the 12th Inst: respecting the purchase in Fee Simple of 600 acres of Land at Burrard Inlet, reserved for the purpose of enabling the Co. to prospect for a Coal Seam, I am directed by the 0 [fficer] Administrating] the Government] to inform you that the grant of this Land was intended by Govr. Seymour to be conferred, provided a Coal Seam had been discovered on the Land within the prescribed time of the reserve, with the view of enabling the Co. to continue their researches & works on a basis more secure than on a temporary lease; as must be evident from the general tenor of the letter of the 30th Deer. 1864, & also from the covenant contained in it binding the Co. to pay a Royalty on all Coal raised; but no Seam—which can be worked bona fide—having yet been developed, His Honor is unable to convey the Land in question to the Co. In order however to enable the Co. to prosecute further researches for a Coal Seam, according to the intentions stated in your letter of the 12th Inst:, H[is] H[onor] is willing to extend the reserve of the 600 acres for this purpose in favor of the Co. for 12 months from this date, & at the expiration of this period to confer a grant of Land to the Compy on payment of $1. per acre, provided a Coal Seam has been discovered capable of being worked, & that the Co. have made preparations to work the same in a bona fide manner; provided also that the Co. enter into a covenant to pay a Royalty on all Coal produced not exceeding He- I have &c H. M. Ball The Secretary of the B. C. Coal Coy New Westminster WHY " BITS "? Wherever you travel in British Columbia, and to some extent in the Pacific Coast States, you will hear people, in ordinary conversation, speaking of " two bits," " four bits," and " six bits," meaning thereby twenty-five cents, fifty cents, and seventy-five cents. Asked "Why bits?" they do not know. These expressions are in the category of other expressions relating to money which crop up from time to time. For example, there is " not worth a sou marquee," common in the Maritime Provinces, meaning something of trifling value. It dates back to the days when the French Government sent to their Colony of French Guiana, sous, which were eagerly appropriated by other West Indian settlements for use as small currency, counterstamped for use there, and carried north in the course of trade. Another example is the expression " not worth a continental," which has the same meaning as " not worth a sou marquee," and refers to the paper currency issued by the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War. It soon became worthless, although issued against the credit of the revolting colonies; hence its meaning. There was also the " York shilling," well known to the older generation in Ontario, to which reference will be made later. As to " bits," even the dictionaries which attempt to define it know little about it. The Century Dictionary, a standard authority in the United States, where, if anywhere, its meaning should be known, defines it as follows:— Any small coin; as, a fourpenny-fttt; a sixpenny bit. Specifically, the name of a small West Indian coin worth about 10 cents; also in parts of the United States, of a silver coin formerly current (in some states called a Mexican shilling) of the value of 12% cents; now chiefly in the west, the sum of 12% cents. A long bit [Western U.S.] 15 cents. A short bit, ten cents. As a definition this is unsatisfactory. It covers some of the various uses of the term, but gives no information as to its origin or history, although the word has been in common use for over two centuries. To give some general information on, and to tell the history of, its use in British Columbia is the purpose of this article. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. IV., No. 1. 21 22 Robie L. Redd. January To do this we must go back to the early history of the West Indies. There we find the term " bit" or " bitt " in common use as early as 1718, the first record of its use that has been found being of that date. We are told by Douglas C. McMurtrie, that indefatigable student of early printing in America, that in that year a new Governor, Governor Lawes, came to the Island of Jamaica, and the local Assembly presented to him a loyal address. This was printed by R. Caldwin, of Kingston, and sold to the good people of the Island at the price of " one bitt." Take a glance at the currency generally used in North America during the eighteenth century. " Dollars" were in use, but " cents " were unknown. Only in the waning years of that period do we hear of "cents." It was not until 1782 that Robert Morris recommended to the Congress of the United States that a dollar should be coined to contain 100 cents, and another ten years passed before Congress put his idea into effect. Not until the middle of the nineteenth century did Canada— meaning, at that time, the present Provinces of Ontario and Quebec—abolish pounds, shillings, and pence, and take up the decimal system. We, who have so long looked upon a dollar as 100 cents, must not forget that when the term " bits " came into use a dollar was merely a coin called by that name, and that " cents " did not exist. For while English money was to some extent current in America, the staple coin, not only in Mexico but also in the British Colonies and the West Indies, was the Spanish milled dollar coined in Mexico and other Spanish colonies, the " hard money " of the Revolutionary days. It is easy to see why this was so. Vast deposits of silver had been found in Mexico and other Spanish colonies, and was being mined and minted into dollars in immense quantities. The British Colonies in America, and, in a lesser degree, the rest of the world, looked to this source for a supply of silver money, which was not then the poor relation of gold which it has become in later years. We find it used in Australia in its early years and in African Sierra Leone. Even in Great Britain itself the Bank of England, when in need of currency, did not deem it beneath its dignity to take the Spanish dollar, counter- stamp it with the head of the reigning English King and use it as English currency. 1940 Why "Bits"? 23 Little, if any, silver or gold was produced in the British Colonies in America. On the other hand, they produced from the farm, the forest, and the sea articles in demand by the inhabitants of the Spanish Colonies. The West Indies among other things produced large quantities of sugar and its secondary products, molasses and rum. The British Colonies sold their goods to the Spanish Colonies, receiving Spanish dollars therefor, and these they in turn paid to the West Indians for the goods received from them. Now, as has been said, the Spanish dollar did not, to the people of the time, contain 100 cents. It was but a coin which bore that name. It consisted of eight parts, called " reales." Hence it was called a " piece of eight," a term familiar to all readers of romances of the Spanish Main. Half reales, one reale, two reales, and four reales were coined in Mexico for local use, but not in large quantities, the bulk of the coinage being in Spanish dollars to be used in trade. Near to this land of silver dollars were the little settlements in the various West Indian Islands. They were separated by distances which made intercommunication difficult. There was no political organization which could enable them to act as a unit. They were village communities rather than states. None of them could afford a coinage of their own, and lack of political organization made impossible a common coinage. England, at one time, issued a common coinage for her West Indian Colonies, but it never got into general use. No doubt the people had become accustomed to the use of the Spanish money and had no desire to change their ways. These small colonies, of course, needed small coins for retail transactions. It was easier, however, to get dollars than the smaller pieces. To obtain small change it became the custom to cut the dollar into parts. There being eight reales in a dollar it could be cut into eight pieces, each of the value of a reale; each such part would be a " bit" of a dollar, hence the name. When the dollar became 100 cents, the " bit" would naturally be 12 V_ cents. But greed is the same in all ages. The dollar was often cut into nine, ten, or even eleven parts, and each part was a " bit" and had the value of a reale. In same cases this was done 24 Robie L. Redd. January deliberately by the Government of a colony, in order that the " bits " would have a greater value at home than abroad and would therefore remain in the colony and not be sent abroad. In Chalmer's Colonial Currency (London, 1893, p. 82) will be found a statute of Grenada, passed in 1787, which shows that the custom of cutting the dollar into parts had long been in vogue and had originated with private individuals. Its quaint verbiage, as well as the light it throws on our subject, makes it worthy of reproduction:— Whereas by reason of the great scarcity of British silver coin in this Colony, a certain foreign coin called a dollar, at a rate of 8s3d current money of Grenada, and a certain piece of silver called a " Bitt" (being the eleventh part of a dollar marked with the letter " G ") at the rate of 9 d. like current money, have for purposes of commerce and public convenience, been by general consent suffered to circulate and pass in payment; and whereas a practice hath lately prevailed amongst divers evil-disposed persons of cutting, for wicked gain's sake, dollars into a greater number of parts than eleven and marking each of such parts with a " G," and then imposing the same on the public for a Bitt, and also cutting, clipping, or filing such Bitts, as were originally equal in value to the eleventh part of a dollar, by which means the intrinsic average worth of the Bitt now circulating is diminished nearly one-third. The statute goes on to provide that no private person should thereafter cut dollars or stamp bits with the letter " G," and that no one was to be obliged to receive more than one-fifth of a payment in bits, whether by tale or weight. Why the dollar was allowed to be cut into eleven pieces instead of eight is explained by the fact that the value of the dollar was fixed by the Colony at 8s. 3d. in order to keep it in the Colony, its true exchange value with British coin being 4s. 2d. This statute was soon followed by legislation in St. Vincent in 1797, which recited:— Great Frauds have been practised under the pretence of cutting Dollars into Halves and Quarters for the purpose of facilitating the circulating of small money. It required such coins to be stamped in the " three angles " in order to make them lawful currency. The carving-up of the Spanish dollar continued. In some places a piece was cut out of the centre, either round—as in Prince Edward Island (the " holey" dollar), Dominica, and Australia—or heart-shaped, as in Martinique. Some divided 1940 Why "Bits"? 25 the dollar into three pieces by horizontal cuts; some counter- stamped it without cutting it at all. But at all times it was taken for granted that when the dollar was cut into eight parts, each should be a " bit," a reale, or, with the decimal system taken into account, 12i/_ cents. From the West Indies the term passed to Mexico and thence to California, then a Spanish possession. When the California miners came to British Columbia in 1858, they brought it with them. Even after the early mining excitement in British Columbia passed away and the Province settled down to a peaceful existence, the term " bit" remained in constant use as the denomination of the smallest unit of current money. In 1871 British Columbia became a part of the Dominion of Canada, which had as its small coins pieces of 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 cents, as to-day— the first in copper and the rest in silver. Of these, British Columbians refused to accept the first two, as they represented amounts which were considered too small for Western people to use. British Columbia would have nothing of less value than a " bit," and kept to that for years. Nothing was sold by the stores for less than a " bit." We translated the larger silver coins—25 cents, 50 cents—into " two bits " and " four bits "; 75 cents became " six bits," and these names still remain in the vernacular, no one knows why. It has long been forgotten that they are a legacy from the Spanish milled dollar of Spanish Mexico, cut in pieces to satisfy the need for small currency in the West Indies a century and a half ago. But how could a "bit," meaning 12V_ cents, be used when the nearest coin available was a 10-cent piece? It was done in this way: If an article or service was valued at a " bit," and one offered a 10-cent piece in payment, it was accepted. The purchaser was paying a " short bit." He paid less than the actual price. If, on the contrary, he offered a 25-cent piece, he only received 10 cents in change. He paid a " long bit." The losses on the one hand and the gains on the other were, in the long run, supposed to balance each other. If they did not, it was a matter too small to be considered. At the same time one was not supposed to offer a 10-cent piece for a " bit " too often. If he did, he soon got in bad odour 26 Robie L. Reid. January with the community. One prominent business man in New Westminster, a visitor to the bar several times daily, who made it a habit always to pay for his refreshment with 10-cent pieces, offering no quarters, was called the meanest man in the City. The old residents of the Province rather prided themselves on this peculiar method of dealing with small sums. It seemed to differentiate them from what they sneeringly called the people of the " Cent Belt." It took a newcomer some time to accustom himself to the use of the " bit," and also to the fact that he was not allowed to use 5-cent pieces or copper cents. People' took it as an insult to have these pieces of little value offered to them. A pilgrim from the " Cent Belt," otherwise a newcomer from the Eastern Provinces, went into Hall's bookstore in New Westminster one evening in 1886, and purchased 10 cents worth of postage stamps. Having received them he laid down two 5-cent pieces in payment. Hall swept them back across the counter with a gesture of disgust, saying, " We don't use that kind of rubbish in this country." The 5-cent piece first came into general use in British Columbia when daily newspapers were issued at that price per copy. The copper cents came into use with the establishment of department stores. A few instances of the use of the 12^_-cent " bit" in early British Columbian life may be gleaned from the press of that time. The Victoria Gazette, the senior paper of Vancouver Island, in 1858 sold for 25 cents per single copy. In July, 1859, the price was reduced to 12i/_ cents per copy (one bit). The weekly rate at the time was 62i/_ cents (five bits), but soon after it was reduced to 37i/_ cents (three bits). The British Colonist charged 12V_ cents per single copy during 1859, 1860, and until April 9, 1861, when the price was reduced to 10 cents. In New Westminster the price of single issues of the Dominion Pacific Herald was stated in its columns to be 12i/_ cents, and this continued until September 22, 1880, when the price per copy was dropped from its pages. The Mainland Guardian, also published in New Westminster, stated on the front page that the price of single copies was 12^ cents. This continued until May 2, 1883, when the single copy price was dropped from the paper but continued to be charged for some time afterwards. 1940 Why "Bits"? 27 On January 3, 1885, Louis Gold advertised in the Guardian that he was selling the best flour at $5.37V_ per barrel and lump sugar at 12% cents per pound. Some publishers confounded the English sixpence with the " bit" and charged 12 cents per copy. This was done by the North Pacific Times and Le Courrier at Victoria, and the British Columbian at New Westminster. As 5-cent pieces and copper cents were not in use, such payments could only be made in the same way as in the case of " bits." The use of " bits " continued in this way more or less generally till the last decade of the nineteenth century. During that period there was a mining boom in the Kootenays, and men from Eastern Canada and the United States poured into the Province, and especially into its south-eastern part. These men were used to dealing with small change in the ordinary way, and " bits," " long bits," and " short bits" annoyed them. What they bought they expected to pay for at the price fixed. At first an attempt was made to comply with their wishes by the issuance by private individuals of metal " checks " good for 51/4, cents and 121/. cents in trade, which they could use for purchases of the value of a half-bit or a bit. Similar checks were being issued on the Prairies and in Eastern Canada, but they were all for 5 cents or its multiples. The only ones issued in Canada for 6V_ cents and 12 V_ cents were those which appeared in British Columbia. One cannot enumerate all the firms and towns by whom and in which these peculiar tokens were issued, or all the towns where they were used, as no doubt many have completely disappeared. In Vancouver we know that they were issued by the Criterion Cigar Store, The Balmoral, Clarendon, Board of Trade, Arlington, and Merchants Exchange Hotels for 12L_ cents, and by the Strand for 6V4 cents. We find checks of one or both denominations in considerable quantities in Victoria and in Huntingdon; at Nelson and Rossland, the chief centres of the Kootenays; in Greenwood, Grand Forks, Sandon, Kaslo, Cranbrook, Silverton, Midway, and Moyie. Of course, as these checks were not dated, the exact period during which they were current can only be approximately determined, but as it was during the last years of the last century that many of these 28 Robie L. Reid. settlements flourished, we can not be far wrong in taking it for granted that they were used at that time. About the same time some " checks " were being issued for 5 and 10 cents each, showing that the influence of the newcomers was making itself felt. There is no evidence of the use of " bits " after the commencement of the twentieth century. The small currency of Canada came into general use and we found ourselves in the " Cent Belt" with the rest of Canada. The " York shilling" in Ontario is the Spanish reale in another form. New York counted the dollar as eight shillings, and when the dollar became 100 cents a shilling in New York became 12% cents. In the British Colonies to the North a Spanish dollar was counted as five shillings, of 20 cents each. This was called " Halifax currency." To distinguish the New York shilling of 12% cents from the Halifax shilling of 20 cents and the English shilling of 24% cents, it was called a " York shilling." Robie L. Reid. Vancouver, B.C. « E"1 ». S o » _ s ■ P i £ « ti « . ^ nM s ft. ea c >■ •- B g •2 „ s 5 5' . o , I fc-i ° __ 2 i ■* cj K J! CJ ' fcti V E -5 • _ _ ■= £ oj 3 " c s 3 .3 s 6 * £ £ * " EMPRESS TO THE ORIENT."* I. Just fifty years ago the hulls of three steamships destined to make history on the Pacific Ocean were taking shape amid the bustle and noise of a busy English shipyard. These vessels were the three original Empress liners, ordered by the Canadian Pacific Railway to take the place of the old chartered steamers which had opened the service between Vancouver and the Orient in 1887.1 Work had begun on the Empresses some two years later than the Canadian Pacific had hoped and intended. As early as July, 1887, the Company had submitted a tender for the carriage of mails from the Atlantic seaboard to Japan and China, the terms of which differed little from those later accepted by the Imperial Government. By December the details of the agreement were settled; and while these final discussions were in progress the Company had also made preliminary arrangements for the building of the steamers which would be required to fulfil the contract. Indeed, Mr. (later Sir William) Van Home announced in Vancouver that the Canadian Pacific had actually ordered "three grand new steamers for the trans-Pacific trade,"2 and later reports stated that they were to be built at the Fairfield yard on the Clyde.3 These announcements proved premature, however ; for, although it was true that agreement had been reached on the terms of the mail subsidy, no contract was signed for another eighteen months. Political considerations were responsible in part for this delay, but it was due primarily to the inadequacy of the existing steamship service between Great Britain and Canada, which was much too slow to form a satisfactory part (1) For the history of the chartered service see W. Kaye Lamb, " The Pioneer Days of the Trans-Pacific Service: 1887-1891," in British Columbia Historical Quarterly, I. (1937), pp. 143-164. (2) Vancouver News-Advertiser, December 1, 1887. (3) Ibid., December 23, 1887; Engineering (London), 44 (1887), pp. 512, 676. * The invaluable assistance received from many persons during the preparation of this history of the old Empress liners will be acknowledged in detail in the second article of the series. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. IV., No. 1. 29 30 W. Kaye Lamb. January of a new fast route to the Orient. At last, in 1889, plans for an improved Atlantic service seemed so far advanced that the British Government deemed it prudent to proceed, and the trans- Pacific mail contract was awarded to the Canadian Pacific Railway on July 15. This contract called for a four-weekly service and covered the carriage of mails across Canada as well as across the Pacific. The time in transit from Halifax or Quebec to Hong Kong was not to exceed twenty-eight and one-half days in summer or thirty and one-half days in winter, and heavy cash penalties were imposed for late departures or arrivals.4 The steamers employed were to operate between Vancouver and Hong Kong, calling at Yokohama and Shanghai. They were to be designed as auxiliary cruisers, which meant that they were to be provided with gun platforms and built to specifications approved by the Admiralty. Their speed was to be at least 17% knots on the measured mile and 16 knots at sea. The terms upon which troops and supplies were to be carried, and the ships themselves requisitioned for war service, were also set forth in the contract. In return for meeting these numerous and exacting requirements the Canadian Pacific was to receive an annual subsidy of £60,000, of which the Canadian Government was to pay £15,000. The agreement was for a period of ten years, dating from the initial departure of the first of the new liners from Hong Kong. Three fast steamers would be required to maintain the new schedule from Vancouver to the Orient, and no time was lost in arranging for their construction. The chartered ships already in service—the famous old pioneer liners Abyssinia, Parthia, and Batavia—happened to be owned by the Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company. Both for this reason, and because, as we have seen, the contract had been all but awarded to the Fairfield yard in 1887, it was expected that the order would be placed with that firm. Instead, to the general surprise, the contract, which was signed on October 12, 1889, went to the Naval Con- (4) The exact terms may be of interest, as a matter of record. The time in transit was not to exceed 684 hours in April-November, or 732 hours in December-March; a penalty of £500 was imposed if a boat or train failed to start on time, and a further £100 was to be paid for each additional twenty-four hours of delay. The penalty for late arrival was £100 for each twelve hours. 1940 " Empress to the Orient." 31 struction and Armament Company, of Barrow-in-Furness. The Fairfield interests were much disappointed and threatened to withdraw the chartered steamers, as it happened that the current running agreement with the Canadian Pacific was about to expire; but tempers cooled rapidly and the service continued without interruption. Even at this late date the reason for giving the order to Barrow seems fairly clear. The great works at Fairfield, which had grown out of the famous shipyard of John Elder & Company, had owed much in recent years to two men—Sir William Pearce, the chief proprietor, and A. D. Bryce Douglas, the engineering superintendent. But Sir William had died in December, 1888, and some months before his death Bryce Douglas had been persuaded to accept the position of managing director of the yard at Barrow. Between 1879 and 1884 Pearce had built and Douglas had engined the Guion liners Arizona, Alaska, and Oregon, and the Cunarders Etruria and Umbria—the five fastest and most successful Atlantic express steamers of their day. It was an astonishing record, and there was no reason to suppose that Douglas had lost anything of his skill or inventive genius. In a word, everything suggests that the Canadian Pacific order simply migrated with him from the Clyde to Barrow-in-Furness. It is interesting to speculate upon the origin of the design of the original Empresses. We know that it differed radically from that in preparation in 1887, when considerably smaller vessels with a single screw were contemplated.6 The decision to build larger and more elaborate steamers was probably due to Van Home, who in the interval had succeeded Sir George Stephen as President of the Canadian Pacific and who took a very great interest personally in the service to the Orient. When the vessels were being planned, Van Home was represented in England by T. G. Shaughnessy (later Lord Shaughnessy), who understood fully the business requirements of the case, and by Henry Beatty, who could pass upon the design from the point of view of the practical steamship operator. Mr. Beatty, father of Sir Edward, had owned the line of Great Lakes steamers which the Canadian Pacific had purchased. (5) See the article in Engineering, 48 (1889), p. 497. 8 32 W. Kaye Lamb. January Turning next to technical matters, it is said that Professor J. H. Biles, the most celebrated naval architect of the day, helped to determine the underwater lines of the hulls of the Empresses. So far as appearance is concerned, we need look no further afield than the Inman liner City of Rome, the finest ship and greatest failure produced by the Barrow yard before Bryce Douglas assumed its management. She is known to history as one of the most beautiful steamers ever to sail the Atlantic, in spite of the fact that she failed to make her contract speed and was returned to her builders. She had the long clipper bow, the graceful overhanging counter stern, and the yacht-like lines which characterized the Empresses, and although she had three funnels and four masts, whereas they had but two funnels and three masts, even in a photograph the resemblance in general design is striking. So far as machinery was concerned, the Empresses were, of course, designed by Bryce Douglas. Construction of the machinery was superintended, on behalf of the Canadian Pacific, by James Fowler, who had been in the service of the Allan Line and who was said to have crossed the Atlantic 250 times without the slightest mishap to the machinery in his charge. Full particulars of the Empresses are given in an appendix to this article, and only a few of their principal dimensions need be repeated here. Their length between perpendiculars was 455.6 feet, but the clipper bow increased their length over all to 485 feet. Their width was 51.2 feet, and their gross tonnage 5,940. By contemporary standards they were large ships, for the largest vessel in regular service on the Atlantic in 1889 registered no more than 10,600 tons. It will be recalled that the mail contract with the British Government called for a trial speed of 17% knots and a sea speed of 16 knots. The Canadian Pacific decided to exceed these requirements, and asked the builders to guarantee a speed of 18 knots on trial and 16% knots at sea. The most important mechanical feature of the Empresses was the provision of two independent triple-expansion engines, each driving a separate propellor. Though a commonplace these many years, twin screws were still a novelty in 1889, and the pioneer twin-screw Atlantic liner had only been in service for a little more than a 1940 " Empress to the Orient." 33 year. On the Pacific, even the new Pacific Mail liner China, which had just been delivered by the Fairfield Company, had only a single screw, and the Empresses were the only twin-screw steamers in the trans-Pacific trade for eight or nine years. On the long run to the Orient, in relatively unfrequented waters and long before the days of wireless, the duplication of machinery was an important safeguard against disaster, for a disabled steamer might drift helplessly for weeks without sighting another vessel. The accommodation provided for first-class passengers compared well with that in the finest Atlantic liners of the day. During their early years in service the most advertised feature of the Empresses seems to have been the promenade-deck, which had a length of 220 feet. The contract called for a cargo capacity of 3,250 tons, in measurement tons of 40 cubic feet. A tradition persists that the Empresses caused a great stir when they were being built, but there is little or no evidence to support the story. A careful search through several technical journals has failed to reveal even a detailed description of the vessels. There is no avoiding the fact that the failure of the City of Rome had cast a shadow over the Barrow shipyard which it took Bryce Douglas and the Naval Construction Company some years to dispel, and in reality the Empresses caused a sensation, not by their construction, but by their outstanding and consistent performance in service. The cost of the three steamers, as given in the annual reports of the Canadian Pacific Railway, was $3,471,587, or slightly more than $1,157,000 each. According to reports current when she entered service, the cost of the Pacific Mail steamer China was only $826,000. As this comparison indicates, no reasonable expense was spared to make the Empresses fully capable of maintaining the service contemplated; and another of those intangible traditions, which are so difficult to prove or disprove, would have us believe that the Naval Construction Company was so anxious to deliver three ships of the first quality, and thereby enhance its reputation, that it lost money on the contract.6 (6) It is interesting to note that the finest coastal steamers now owned by the Canadian Pacific have a gross tonnage almost as great as that of the first Empresses, and exceeded them in cost. The 5,875-ton Princess Kathleen, for example, cost $1,258,000. (Report of the Royal Commission to inquire into Railways and Transportation in Canada, Ottawa, 1932, p. 26.) 34 W. Kaye Lamb. January The keel of the first of the steamers, the Empress of India, was laid in November, 1889, and she was launched only nine months later, on August 30, 1890. The christening ceremony was performed by Lady Louise Egerton.7 It was expected that she would be completed in record time, in another two months, but labour troubles intervened and she did not run her trials until January, 1891. Her fastest mean speed on the measured mile was 18.65 knots, which was comfortably in excess of the contract requirements. It is interesting to note that the trial trip of the Empress of India was the first occasion upon which the familiar red and white checker-board house-flag of the Canadian Pacific was ever hoisted. The flag was designed by Van Home, and its origin is described in an amusing letter to Mr. M. McD. Duff, now Assistant to the Chairman, Canadian Pacific Steamships. Van Home wrote:— Yes, I designed the house flag—partly to differ from any in use and partly that it might be easily recognized when hanging loose. It has no historical or heraldic significance. Somebody has suggested that it meant " three of a kind " but that would not be a big enough hand for the C.P.R. for which a " straight flush " only would be appropriate.8 Van Horne is also credited with having chosen the names of the vessels—Empress of India, Empress of Japan, and Empress of China. As they had clipper bows, the Empresses also had figureheads. That of the Empress of India was a bust of Queen Victoria, while the Empress of Japan and Empress of China carried a Japanese and Chinese dragon respectively. In view of the fame of the " white Empresses," a word may also be added about their colour scheme. Then as now, models of the ships were sent out for advertising purposes, and the earliest of these, which were completed before the vessels themselves,9 were painted black; but the Empresses themselves were never so painted. The photographs taken of the Empress of India, in January, 1891, show that she ran her trials with the white (7) The Times, London, September 1, 1890. (8) Mr. Duff wrote to Van Horne on April 26, 1913, and Sir William returned the letter after adding the marginal note quoted. Mr. Duff has kindly presented a photostat of the letter to the Provincial Archives. (9) One model was on display in New York in December, 1890. See the amusing account in the Vancouver News-Advertiser, December 24, 1890. 1940 " Empress to the Orient." 35 hull and yellow funnels which became so well known in later years. The models had therefore to be repainted, as Mr. Duff recalls, in a letter to the writer:— . . . One model was changed from black to white right behind the desk at which I worked during the Winter of 1892 and 1893. The original intention must have been to have them [the Empresses} painted black with green boottopping and bottom and when the change to white was made it was either too late to notify the model builders or else it was just overlooked by those in charge.1" The second of the three ships, the Empress of Japan, was launched on December 13, 1890, by Lady Alice of Stanley, daughter-in-law of Lord Stanley, then Governor-General of Canada.11 The Japan was ready for her trials in March and proved to be slightly faster than the Empress of India. Her speed on the measured mile was 18.91 knots, and on a 500-mile sea trial she made the very satisfactory average speed of 16.85 knots.12 Meanwhile the Empress of India had sailed for the Far East, by way of the Mediterranean, to take up her station in the trans-Pacific service. For some months the Canadian Pacific had been advertising world tours in connection with the maiden voyages of the Empresses, and undertook to carry passengers " around the world in 80 days for $600." This was the nearest approach to a world cruise which had yet been offered; and the Empress of India had more than a hundred saloon passengers on board when she left Liverpool on February 8, 1891. She sailed under the command of Captain O. P. Marshall, late of the P. & O. Line, who became an Elder Brother of Trinity in later years and who died recently at the age of 82. Her Chief Officer was Rupert Archibald, who later commanded the Empress of China for almost twenty years, and E. G. Montserrat sailed as Second Officer. The Chief Engineer was F. W. Wood, James Adamson was Second Engineer, and James E. Macrae, Purser. Mr. Macrae, who had been Purser of the old Abyssinia in 1888-1890, recalls the following details of the voyage of the Empress of India from Liverpool to Hong Kong:— We called at Gibraltar, where we spent the day, at Marseilles, where we spent three days, at Naples one day, then over to Port Said. I always (10) M. McD. Duff to W. Kaye Lamb, December 29, 1939. (11) The Times, London, December 15, 1890. (12) Engineering, 51 (1891), p. 433. 36 W. Kaye Lamb. January remember the distance from Naples to Port Said—1111 miles. We coaled at Port Said and our passengers were sent by train to Cairo and the Pyramids and rejoined us after we had made the passage of the canal, at Suez. From there we went direct to Colombo, Ceylon, passing near enough to Aden one forenoon to get a close-up view of the town and shipping. We were three days in Colombo, while some of the passengers went to Kandy, and I have recollections of a cricket match I attended, played by a team of our passengers, some of whom were members of the M.C.C., against Colombo. We lost, but a good time was enjoyed by all. After Colombo the next stop was Penang, where we spent a day, and then Singapore. We were specially favoured in the Straits for in one day we saw no less than four waterspouts at one time, and passed a fight between a killer and a whale. After two days at Singapore we sailed for Hong Kong. We were scheduled to arrive at Hong Kong on March 16th at 1 p.m. and with true C.P.R. punctuality we threw out our first line to the Kowloon Wharf exactly as the clock struck one. I was in the corner of the bridge with Captain Marshall all the way in as I was the only officer who had been in Hong Kong before. We picked up our Chinese pilot outside Green Island Passage and he was very proud to take our lovely great white ship across the harbour, at the highest speed Captain Marshall would allow, with all our flags flying. We had a great reception, every steam whistle in the harbour was blowing to welcome us. Before Macrae left the Abyssinia he had been waited upon by the entire Chinese crew, to whom he had become much attached, and they had exacted from him a promise that he would take them with him on " the big new ship." The sequel appears in a further passage from his description of the arrival of the Empress at Hong Kong:— On the Kowloon Wharf stood a long line of Chinese, drawn up like soldiers on parade, and as we came alongside they began waving to me, calling, " Maclae, Maclae!" Captain Marshall said to me, " Who are your friends?" To which I answered very happily, " That's your new crew." It was the entire crew of the Abyssinia, paid off two weeks earlier, and they had not forgotten my promise made nine months before in Vancouver.13 At Hong Kong the Empress was dry-docked and painted, and many of her passengers travelled on to Japan and rejoined her later at a port of call there. She sailed finally on April 7, 1891 —the date which marks both the commencement of the regular Empress line service, and the start of the ten-year mail contract with the Canadian and British Governments. After calling at Shanghai, Nagasaki, and Kobe, she left Yokohama on April 17, at 4.14 p.m., and at 6.30 a.m. on the 28th she dropped anchor (13) From a memorandum prepared by J. E. Macrae for the writer in 1938. 1940 " Empress to the Orient." 37 off Victoria, where she was welcomed officially by Mayor Grant. Her total steaming-time from Hong Kong was 416 hours 33 minutes, and her average speed 15.16 knots. Though it was soon lowered both by herself and by her sister ships, her passage of 11 days 7 hours and 27 minutes from Yokohama was a land-to- land record, and she therefore ended her maiden voyage Queen of the Pacific. The whole trip from Liverpool had been remarkably free from trouble. A heated low-pressure eccentric made it necessary to stop the port engine for a few hours between Hong Kong and Shanghai, but her twin screws enabled her to proceed at reduced speed and the main engines gave no further trouble. The refrigerator machinery failed in the heat between Suez and Singapore—a misfortune which befell each of the three Empresses in turn—but it proved equal to its task when the vessel reached the more temperate climate of her regular run. The most serious trouble experienced by the Empresses arose from their electric wiring, which proved to be insufficiently protected from wear and moisture. Electricity was still in its pioneer stage aboard ship in 1891, and this difficulty was to culminate, as we shall see, in a serious fire in the Empress of Japan.u The Empress of India remained three hours at Victoria and then proceeded to Vancouver, where an elaborate welcome awaited her. Van Horne and a party of Canadian Pacific directors were on the dock, as well as Mayor Oppenheimer and other civic dignitaries. A grand banquet and ball were held in the evening at Hotel Vancouver, but Van Horne, who heartily disliked functions of the kind, left for Montreal in the afternoon. Fortunately the Hon. Edward Blake was in the city, and could assume the role of guest of honour.16 On this maiden voyage the Empress brought 131 saloon passengers and 355 Chinese in the steerage. Her cargo totalled 1,810 tons measurement, and consisted mostly of tea, silk, rice, and opium.16 Many of the saloon passengers and the through (14) The details in this and the preceding paragraph are mostly from the reports made by Captain Marshall and the other officers to the Company. (15) A complete and amusing account of the banquet was contributed to the Vancouver Province some years ago by the late R. E. Gosnell. (16) Vancouver News-Advertiser, April 29, 1891. 38 W. Kaye Lamb. January mail from the Orient, which consisted of twenty-seven bags, left for the East on a special train at 6.10 p.m. Just fifteen days later, on May 13, part of this mail was distributed in London, having been in transit only twenty-six days from Yokohama and thirty-six days from Hong Kong. This fact was reported in the British House of Commons by the Postmaster-General, who added that the last mail received from the Far East via Suez had been forty-five days in transit from Yokohama, but only thirty-three days from Hong Kong.17 As this indicates, the new service brought about an important saving of time for mails from Japan, but not from points in China beyond Shanghai. The Empress of India arrived in Vancouver with a double crew in certain departments, as Chinese stewards and firemen had been signed on at Hong Kong to replace the temporary English staff engaged at Liverpool for the voyage to the Far East. J. E. Macrae recalls that one of his first jobs when the vessel docked was to send this English staff off to Montreal, on their way home. He adds:— The firemen were about the roughest crowd that ever sailed out of Liverpool. Two Colonist cars were reserved for them on the train. Before they left the station in Vancouver they had smashed every piece of glass in the windows, and I heard later that when the cars reached Montreal their fittings had been entirely demolished by this tough gang. The Empress of India sailed from Vancouver on her first outward voyage on May 9, 1891, and arrived at Hong Kong on the 28th. Her average speed on the entire passage was 15.55 knots. She remained at Hong Kong for more than a month, partly to allow numerous small adjustments and alterations to be made and partly to let the Empress of Japan take her place in the trans-Pacific schedule. The Japan had left Liverpool on April 11, and although her main engines gave great satisfaction minor troubles made part of the voyage to Hong Kong anything but enjoyable for J. N. L. Roberts, her harassed Purser. Between Suez and Colombo her refrigerator machinery failed, and to make matters worse her electric fans were continually breaking down. Finally, Roberts had to struggle with a staff which he considered incompetent. His report states that complaints were numerous, and that for (17) Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, III., 353 (1891), p. 690. 1940 " Empress to the Orient." 39 a time " the grumbling was horrible "; but when the ship reached her station, and secured her experienced Chinese crew, things smoothed out rapidly. Her maiden trip across the Pacific proved to be both fast and pleasant, and she arrived at Victoria late in the evening on June 22, after a passage of 10 days 21 hours and 23 minutes from Yokohama. She brought 145 saloon, 4 second class, and 352 steerage passengers, or a total of 501 passengers in all, and her cargo totalled 2,318 tons measurement.18 The Empress of Japan was under the command of Captain George A. Lee, who was already well known on the Pacific as captain of the Parthia. The other interesting name in the list of officers is that of Edward Beetham, her Fourth Officer, of whom more will be heard later. Thomas Tod was Chief Engineer. The Empress of India and Empress of Japan completed two round trips between Hong Kong and Vancouver before they were joined by the Empress of China. The last of the three pioneers was launched by Lady Northcote on March 25, 1891, and ran her trials early in July. For no apparent reason, for she was identical in design, she developed about 600 more horsepower than her sisters, and worked up to a full 19 knots on the measured mile.19 Oddly enough, this initial performance was the best of her career, for on the regular run to the Orient she proved to be neither the fastest nor the most economical of the three ships. The Empress of China sailed from Liverpool on July 15. In 1891 a world cruise still seemed to be a venturesome proposal, and the maiden voyages of the two other Empresses apparently exhausted its appeal. Only twenty-one saloon passengers sailed in the China, but they appear to have had a thoroughly good time. Each was berthed in a separate cabin, and the Empress of China News, a four-page paper, was printed on board each week for their amusement. At the end of the voyage H. L. Coulson, the Purser, was able to report that he had received no complaints whatsoever. Unfortunately, the trip was marred towards the end by very rough weather between Yokohama and Victoria, and 12 days 9 hours were spent on the passage. It (18) Details from the reports of the officers to the Company; also Vancouver News-Advertiser, June 24, 1891. (19) Engineering, 52 (1891), p. 67. 40 W. Kaye Lamb. January was not until the morning of September 23 that she finally docked in Vancouver. For purposes of record it may be added that the Empress of China brought 67 saloon, 4 second class, and 104 steerage passengers; and her cargo, which consisted mostly of tea, measured 2,525 tons. Her list of officers contains several names of interest. Her commander, Captain A. Tillett, made only two round trips in her, as he was then promoted to the post of Marine Superintendent for the Canadian Pacific at Hong Kong. Her Chief Officer was Henry Pybus, and her Chief Engineer James Fowler, who, it will be remembered, had watched the construction of the engines of all three of the steamers at the shipyard.20 With the arrival of the Empress of China the last of the old chartered steamers was retired, and the three new sister ships began to shuttle back and forth across the Pacific with a regularity which was to become proverbial. In the course of years they established a record for adherence to schedule which has probably never been equalled on the seven seas. Though the mail contract called for only a twenty-eight-day service, the Canadian Pacific increased this to a departure every twenty-one days between April and September, which raised the number of sailings to fifteen per year. Yet for no less than fifteen years —from 1891 to 1906—no Empress ever missed a sailing or was ever penalized for the late arrival of her mails. There is no doubt that the foresight of the Canadian Pacific in ordering steamers which could exceed the trial speeds called for in the mail contract made this astonishing record possible. Upon innumerable occasions the task of getting the mails to Hong Kong on time resembled nothing so much as an obstacle race. Forty years ago the Atlantic steamer service to Canada left much to be desired, and the railway service across the Continent was both relatively slow and subject to delays of many kinds. It was quite usual for the English mails to reach Vancouver at least one day late, and of course an Empress could not sail until they arrived. Delays of two and even three days were not infrequent. In 1899 matters were improved greatly when the first " Imperial Limited " was put on the run in summer, and (20) This paragraph is based on the reports to the Company. 1940 " Empress to the Orient." 41 reduced the train journey from Montreal to 100 hours. But as late as July, 1902—to quote only a single example—the Empress of China sailed from Vancouver more than 3 days and 2 hours behind schedule. Two days of this time was made up on the voyage to Yokohama, and another day was gained during a fast run from Shanghai to Hong Kong, where the China arrived just 7 hours and 37 minutes within her contract time. The late arrival of the mails at Vancouver was only one of many difficulties which had to be overcome in the never-ending endeavour to keep the Empresses on schedule. They were both carefully run and lucky ships, but nevertheless they had their share of small accidents. For example, the Empress of Japan bumped a rock when leaving Vancouver on her sixth voyage in 1892. A diver found that she had suffered only very slight damage to a propellor, but it had been necessary to hold her overnight at Victoria for examination.21 Homeward bound, early in August, she found herself in much greater peril. When 800 miles from Yokohama her lights flickered and then went out, and it was discovered that the electric cables had fused in the after-hold and caused a fire there. Efforts to check the flames proved unavailing, so with hatches battened down she turned about and headed at full speed for Hakodate. When the fire had been extinguished and the damage repaired she set sail once more for Vancouver. Though she arrived laden to the hatches and found a large outward cargo awaiting her, she was prepared for sea in only six days and left for the Orient on time.22 Some two years later, in August, 1894, the Empress of China suffered a serious delay from another cause, when the incompetence of a pretended pilot stranded her on the Woosung spit, and she remained ashore for nine days.23 All three Empresses collided with junks at various times, but it remained for the Empress of Japan to ram a whale with such violence that she had to go hard astern to get clear.24 Storms played their part in the lives of the Empresses. The Empress of India was the first of the trio to encounter a typhoon, (21) See Victoria Colonist, June 28, 1892. (22) For a full account of the fire by Sir Edwin Arnold, who was a passenger, see Vancouver News-Advertiser, August 26, 1892. (23) Ibid., September 7, 1894. (24) Ibid., August 18, 1894. 42 W. Kaye Lamb. January but it scarcely matched in violence the tempestuous weather encountered by the Empress of China on her second passage from Yokohama to Vancouver. The gale persisted for seven days; and at the height of the storm the hurricane-deck shipped water, which poured through the fiddle-gratings and fell into the stoke-hole. Movables on deck were carried away and a steel lifeboat stove in. This second round voyage had been a trying time for the officers of the China, for on the outward passage she met headwinds so continuously that she was compelled to put in at Hakodate for coal; one of her seamen was killed in a fall at Hong Kong, and when she finally reached Vancouver a case of smallpox was found aboard and she had to raise steam hastily and return to the quarantine station at Albert Head.26 But through all these misfortunes the Empress ploughed her way, and succeeded in keeping herself approximately on schedule and her mails on time. The Empress of China enjoyed no monopoly of bad weather. In 1895 the Empress of India had her bridge disabled in a storm, and in March, 1898, it was in great part carried away in what was perhaps the most severe gale she ever encountered. The Empress of Japan came through a typhoon in October, 1899, when two days out of Yokohama, which not only stove in several of her boats but smashed the smoking-room skylight and flooded the room and a number of cabins. Mention has been made of smallpox, and it should be added that both smallpox and, upon occasion, the plague broke out amongst the steerage passengers and threatened to delay the liners. Every care was taken to keep the steerage isolated, and the consequence was that saloon passengers very rarely suffered much inconvenience or detention at quarantine. Much the most serious delay was caused in June, 1901, when the Empress of China—which deserves to rank as the unlucky one amongst the three pioneers—was held at Nagasaki for ten days following an outbreak of plague in the steerage. An epidemic was raging in the Orient at the time, and as a precautionary measure the Empresses ceased to carry Asiatic passengers for several months. It should be added that, following her experience at Nagasaki, the Empress of China averaged 16.6 knots on the passage to (25) Ibid., December 3, 1891. 1940 " Empress to the Orient." 43 Vancouver, managed to arrive only eight days late, contrived to prepare for sea in only five days, and sailed on the return passage on time. Lastly, the Empresses managed to keep to schedule despite wars and rumours of wars. The impression that the years previous to 1914 were peaceful is largely illusory; and it is interesting to recall that during the years 1891-1906, when the Empresses were setting up their record, no less than four major conflicts troubled the Far East—the Sino-Japanese War, which broke out in 1894; the Spanish-American War, which commenced in 1898; the Boxer Rebellion of 1900; and the Russo- Japanese War, which was declared early in 1904. From the first the Empress of Japan proved to be a little faster than her sisters, and her maiden passage from Yokohama to Victoria, which she made in 10 days 21 hours and 23 minutes, took the trans-Pacific record from the Empress of India by a margin of more than ten hours. When she returned to Hong Kong she was dry-docked, and on August 11, fresh from overhaul, she sailed for Vancouver on what was to prove a memorable voyage. Though no document has come to light which so states, there is every reason to believe that she sailed with orders to make the best time she could, consistent with safety and reasonable economy. She responded by travelling from Hong Kong to Vancouver in a total steaming-time of only 380 hours, at an average speed of 16.31 knots. Trans-Pacific records are timed between Yokohama and the Pacific Coast, and the Empress made her best time on this leg of the journey. Clipping more than eight hours off her previous run, she arrived in the Royal Roads only 10 days 13 hours and 10 minutes from Yokohama, with an average speed of 16.59 knots to her credit. This record run gave the Canadian Pacific an opportunity which it seized with alacrity. The Empress of Japan reached the Royal Roads early on the morning of August 29, 1891. She hurried on to Vancouver, and a special train left for the East with her mails at 1 p.m. The 2,803 miles to Brockville, Ontario, were covered at an average speed of 36.3 miles per hour, and with the co-operation of Canadian and United States postal officials the mails were quickly transferred across the river to Morristown and rushed on to New York. The end of the story 44 W. Kaye Lamb. January contains the most dramatic touch of all, for the train bearing the mails reached the Grand Central Station on September 2, at 4.43 a.m., just seventeen minutes before the express steamer City of New York was due to sail for Liverpool. She obligingly waited a few minutes, and at 5.10 cast off her lines with letters on board which had left Yokohama only fifteen days before. Rising to the occasion, she made a fast passage across the Atlantic, and the mails reached London at 10.12 a.m. on September 9, only twenty-two days from Yokohama. Their arrival aroused great interest on both sides of the Atlantic, and did much to establish the reputation of the new Empress line.26 Some years later the Empress of Japan further reduced her time for the passage from Yokohama to Victoria to 10 days 10 hours, and this record stood until the arrival of the new Empress of Russia in 1913. Meanwhile, in 1897, she had set up a westbound record which was never approached by either of her sisters. This fast run was occasioned by a delay in the arrival of the English mails, which reached Vancouver no less than five days late. Instead of sailing on schedule on June 21, the Empress did not get away from Victoria until 4.10 p.m. on the 26th. Captain Lee was on leave at the time and she sailed under the command of Captain Henry Pybus, who was instructed to make every effort to reach Hong Kong within the contract time. The engine- and boiler- room staffs, under Chief Engineer E. O. Murphy, responded magnificently, and the Japan arrived at Yokohama at 1.35 p.m. on July 7, after a passage of only 10 days 3 hours and 39 minutes. Her average speed was 17.14 knots, and on July 1 she had set up a record run for a single day of 441 miles, at an average speed of 18.4 knots.27 In addition to lowering the record, this phenomenal run enabled the Empress to catch up on her schedule and deliver her mails in Hong Kong on time. (26) For a detailed account see the column-length article in the New York Herald, September 3, 1891; also ibid., September 9, and The Times, London, September 12, 1891. (27) Further details of this run are given in the appendix. In 1936 Captain Pybus, in conversation with the writer, paid a warm tribute to Chief Engineer Murphy: " I sent for him and asked him what he could do, and he said he would do his best. Then I sent for the chief stoker, Chinese, and told him, too. They did their best, certainly." 1940 " Empress to the Orient." 45 Though the Empress of Japan never lost the blue ribbon, her sisters both exceeded an average speed of 16.5 knots on the trans-Pacific run, and they, too, had their moments in the limelight. One of these came the way of the Empress of India in 1896, when she was popularly credited with having won a race with the United States cruiser Olympia. It is difficult at this late date to get to the bottom of the story, but the facts appear to be as follows:— The Olympia was a cruiser of 5,870 tons displacement, and when completed in 1894 she attained a speed of 21.69 knots on trial. In January, 1896, she was in Japanese waters, supposedly with the object of demonstrating her speed and efficiency, with a view to securing orders for warships from Japan for American shipyards. Late in the month she arrived at Kobe, and a story went the rounds that she had recently maintained a speed of 22 knots through a heavy gale and was about to attempt a record passage from Kobe to Nagasaki in order to prove her capabilities. At this point the Empress of India entered the picture. She was engaged in the familiar task of making up time with her English mails, and was therefore running on a faster schedule than usual. About 5 p.m. on January 22 the Olympia left Kobe, bound for Nagasaki. At 9.25 p.m. the Empress of India, which had been in port most of the day, left for the same destination. The next day, in beautiful weather, the Empress slowly overhauled and passed the cruiser, and her log was endorsed: " Passed United States Warship Olympia at Simonesaki." Her log shows further that her average speed on the whole 390 miles from Kobe to Nagasaki was 16.64 knots. It seems perfectly clear that nothing in the nature of a race really took place. It is possible that in view of the excitement amongst his passengers, which contemporary accounts show was intense, Captain Pybus, who happened to be in command of the India that trip, kept the Empress up to her comfortable full speed, but there is no reason to suppose that the Olympia could not have outdistanced her if she had tried. Be that as it may, the wide publicity given to the incident certainly added to the prestige of the Empress liners.28 (28) Based on the records of the Empress of India and on an account by the correspondent of the San Francisco Daily Report, reprinted in the Vancouver World, March 16, 1896. 46 W. Kaye Lamb. January It should be understood that the voyages with which we have been dealing were quite exceptional. They were made at relatively high speeds, either to establish the reputation of the line or to fulfil the requirements of the mail contract. The average trans-Pacific crossing was made at a much more modest rate. In 1899 an attempt was made in certain quarters to discredit the northern route to the Orient from British Columbia, as compared with that from San Francisco. It was contended that the route to the north was so beset by fog and smoke that the vessels plying upon it derived no advantage from the fact that it was many miles shorter. T. G. Shaughnessy considered that this criticism merited serious consideration, and therefore released the following very interesting table giving the average length of the voyages of the Empresses over a period of four years:— Average Length op Passage, Yokohama to Victoria. Year. Westbound. Eastbound. Hours. Minutes. Hours. Minutes. 1895 303 303 298 302 41 30 36 32 285 289 287 287 16 1896 1897_ 32 44 1898 16 Shaughnessy added that these figures covered an average of fifteen round voyages per annum, and stated that the Empress schedule called for an average speed of 14.5 knots westbound and 15 knots eastbound. He next examined the sailing lists of the three trans-Pacific lines operating out of San Francisco, and showed that their scheduled time on the voyage to Yokohama, via Honolulu, was 439 hours westbound and 363 hours east- bound. The equivalent time on a direct run from San Francisco to Yokohama would be 425 hours and 351 hours respectively. A simple calculation revealed that to cover the distance in the time stated a vessel would only have to average 12.5 knots on the passage to Yokohama and 12.9 knots on the return voyage.29 In a word, Shaughnessy was able to prove, beyond any doubt, that the Empresses were not only scheduled to run at a higher (29) Shaughnessy's statement is quoted at length in the Vancouver Province, July 31, 1899. 1940 " Empress to the Orient." 47 speed on their shorter route than the San Francisco steamers, but had maintained their scheduled speed with unfailing regularity for the previous four years. W. Kaye Lamb. Provincial Library and Archives, Victoria, B.C. (A second article, completing the history of the old Empresses, will appear in the April number of the Quarterly.) 48 W. Kaye Lamb. January APPENDIX. Specifications, etc., op the Original Empress Liners. Dimensions and Tonnage. Length between perpendiculars, 455.6 feet; over all, 485 feet. Width, 61.2 feet; depth, 33.1 feet; depth moulded, 36 feet. Tons Gross. Tons Net. Empress of India 5,943 3,032 Empress of Japan 5,940 3,039 Empress of China 5,947 3,046 Deadweight carrying capacity, 4,000 tons at a draught of 24 feet 6 inches. Loaded displacement, 11,750 tons. Construction. The hulls were built of Siemens-Martin steel and had cellular double bottoms. Tanks were fitted in the double bottom for 755 tons of water- ballast, and an additional 36 tons could be carried in an after-peak tank. The vessels had thirteen transverse bulkheads, which divided the hulls into fourteen water-tight compartments. Six of these bulkheads had no openings of any kind; the others were equipped with rapid-closing water-tight doors. The ships could remain afloat with any two of the compartments flooded. Added protection was given by a longitudinal bulkhead in the engine-room. The Empresses were amongst the earliest vessels to be built with " spectacle " framing at their sterns, instead of "A" brackets, to support their twin propellor-shafts. Boilers. Each Empress had four double-ended Scotch cylindrical boilers, 19 feet long and 16 feet in diameter. The steam-pressure was 160 lb. Each boiler had eight furnaces, making thirty-two in all. The grate area was 710 square feet; the heating surface 20,193 square feet. Engines. The Empresses had two sets of triple-expansion reciprocating engines, driving twin screws. The cylinders had a diameter of 32, 51, and 82 inches; the length of stroke was 54 inches. The diameter of the crank-shafts was 16% inches; of the propellor-shafts, 15% inches; of the propellors themselves, 16 % feet. The nominal horse-power was 1,167; the indicated horsepower, 10,000. Power and Speed on Trials. Though the Empresses were rated at 10,000 horse-power, only the Empress of China ever actually developed that power. During her trials she developed 10,068 horse-power on the measured mile, the maximum being 10,128 horse-power. This was stated by Engineering (July 17, 1891, p. 67) to be about 600 horse-power in excess of the power developed by the Empress of India and Empress of Japan. In view of this, the following comparative 1940 " Empress to the Orient.' 49 figures relating to the 500-mile sea trials of the Japan and China are interesting:— Empress of Empress of Japan. China. Average speed . . 16.85 16.6 Average i.h.p. 7,400 7,949 Coal consumption 1.56 1.594 (pounds of coal burned per i.h.p. per hour) As this table suggests, the Empress of China never seemed able to use her superior power to advantage. The Empress of Japan proved the faster ship in service, and on her sea trial it will be seen that she sustained a higher speed with less power and a lower fuel consumption. On the other hand, the Empress of China reached a speed of 19 knots on the measured mile, where she proved fractionally faster than her sisters. Fuel Consumption in Service. On an average passage, operating at a speed of from 14 to 15 knots, the Empresses burned about 110 to 120 tons of coal a day. The following data, covering six winter voyages of the Empress of India between Vancouver and Yokohama, in 1895-1896, are of interest:— Voyage. 9.A outward Average Speed. 13.90 Coal Consumptic 1,378 1,495 1,714 1,300 1,325 1,245 in. 24 homeward . 13.75 (A rough voyage; ar 25 outward 15.23 rived 24 hours late.) (Sailed a day late with 25 homeward 14.96 delayed mails.) 26 outward _ ._ 13.88 26 homeward . . . 14.42 As these figures indicate, from 1,350 to 1,500 tons of coal were burned during an average passage from Vancouver to Yokohama, depending upon weather conditions. This total increased sharply, of course, if it were necessary to make faster time than usual. Peak consumption was reached on the record passage of the Empress of Japan, in 1897, when she burned 1,953 tons to maintain an average speed of over 17 knots. It is interesting to know that the Empress of India reached Vancouver at the conclusion of her maiden voyage with only 32 tons of coal left in her bunkers. This was much too close a margin for comfort, and on her next eastbound passage she left Yokohama with extra coal on deck, as a precaution. In regular service, however, the bunker capacity of the Empresses proved to be quite sufficient, but coal was occasionally carried on deck between Oriental ports in order that the vessels might start the long trans- Pacific passage with a good margin in hand. Coal consumption on the round trip from Vancouver to Hong Kong usually totalled about 5,500 tons. To be exact, on her first round trip from Vancouver the Empress of India burned 5,496 tons; the Empress of Japan, 5,536 tons. 50 W. Kaye Lamb. Record Passage of the " Empress of Japan," 1897. On this famous voyage the Empress left Vancouver on June 26, at 10 a.m., sailed from Victoria at 4.10 p.m., and passed Cape Flattery at 7.45 p.m. She dropped anchor in Yokohama Harbour at 1.35 p.m. on July 7. The abstract log states that the total distance was 4,270 miles; the actual steaming-time 249 hours 4 minutes, and the average speed 17.144 knots. Coal consumed, 1,953 tons; average r.p.m. of the engines, 79.91. The best day's run was made on July 1, when the Empress travelled 441 miles at an average speed of 18.4 knots. On this record day the average r.p.m. rose to 80.4. For purposes of the trans-Pacific record, the passage was timed from Victoria, and the run was made to Yokohama in 10 days 3 hours and 39 minutes. All the details above are taken from the abstract log. In 1936 the writer was permitted to copy certain entries from the notes of the late Captain Henry Pybus, who was in command of the Empress on this voyage. These differ slightly from the log, and give the total distance run (from Victoria) as 4,237 miles, and the successive daily runs as follows: June 27, 396; June 28, 413; June 29, 414; June 30, 421; July 1 [record day's run], 441; July 3, 433; July 4, 432; July 5, 429; July 6, 417; July 7, 415; July 7, p.m., 26 miles; total, 4,237 miles. THE CENSUS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND, 1855. The four tables which follow add very materially to our knowledge of the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island in its early days. Except for the actual fur trade of the Hudson's Bay Company and the coal-mining operations at Nanaimo and Fort Rupert, they touch upon practically every activity of the community. In particular, they give an exact tabulation of the population as of December 31, 1854, and an amazingly complete and detailed account of the agricultural industry as carried on in the season of 1854. The census was prepared by James Douglas, in his dual capacity of Governor of the Colony and Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company. It was forwarded to Archibald Barclay, Secretary to the Governor and Committee of the Company, on July 19, 1855. Two paragraphs from the accompanying letter are of interest:— I have been at much trouble [Douglas wrote] in compiling those Tables, which are still less complete than I could have desired, they nevertheless exhibit a pretty correct view of the statistics of the Colony. The valuations of Farms and implements given . . . are taken from the estimates of the Proprietors themselves but no valuation is made of Town property. Hitherto practically the only statistics relating to the population of Vancouver Island in early days which have been available are those given by Captain W. C. Grant, in the paper he read before the Royal Geographical Society, in London, in June, 1857. In this paper Grant stated that The population of the Island in the end of the year 1853 was about 450 souls, men, women, and children; of these, 300 are at Victoria, and between it and Soke; about 125 at Nanaimo; and the remainder at Fort Rupert.1 In October, 1853, Douglas had reported to Archibald Barclay that the white population of the town of Victoria consisted of 111 men, 50 women, and 93 children, or a total of 254 persons.2 If Grant's figures are correct, it would appear that there were no more than 50 additional persons then residing in Esquimalt, Metchosin, and Sooke. (1) W. Colquhoun Grant, " Description of Vancouver Island," Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, XXVII. (1857), p. 273. (2) Douglas to Barclay, October 10,1853. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. IV., No. 1. 51 52 The Census of Vancouver Island, 1855. January It will be seen that the population of Victoria decreased slightly and totalled only 232 at the end of 1854, but the population of the Island as a whole had increased to as much as 774 by that date. Both the distribution and composition of this population are interesting. The figure for Nanaimo had increased from 125 to 151, and the four farms operated in the Esquimalt region by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company had a population of no less than 154. Of these 76 were at Maple Point (Craigflower), where Kenneth McKenzie was in charge; 34 at Constance Cove (T. J. Skinner), 30 at Esquimalt Farm (Captain Langford), and 14 at Viewpoint (Donald Macaulay). Of the total population of 774, almost half were children under 20 years of age—180 girls and 178 boys, or a total of 358. Of these no less than 240 were under the age of 10. Of the 416 persons 20 years old or older, 307 were men and 109 women. There were only 15 persons on the Island who were 50 years of age or over, and no one had yet attained the age of 60. The tables as here reproduced are taken from James Douglas's own copy, which was amongst the papers belonging to the late Dr. J. S. Helmcken, Douglas's son-in-law, which have been transferred to the Provincial Archives by the heirs of Dr. Helmcken's daughter, Mrs. Edith L. Higgins. They require no elaborate introduction, but the following notes on some of the proper names and places listed may be of assistance to students. Soke [Sooke] Residence of the Muir family, who had taken over the property of Captain W. C. Grant. Fairfield The Fairfield estate of James Douglas; now the Fair field district of the city of Victoria. Beckley Beckley Farm, owned by the Hudson's Bay Company; now part of the city of Victoria. Foul Bay Presumably the reference is to the estate of Isabella Ross, widow of Charles Ross, the first Hudson's Bay officer in charge of Fort Victoria. Staines Property of the Rev. R. J. Staines. Cloverdale Estate of Dr. William Fraser Tolmie. Oak Bay Presumably the estate of John Tod. North Dairy The North Dairy Farm of the Hudson's Bay Company. Uplands The Uplands Farm of the Hudson's Bay Company. Mr. Work The property of John Work. Gonzalo The property of J. D. Pemberton, Surveyor-General. McPhail's Dairy The farm owned by Angus McPhail. 1940 The Census of Vancouver Island, 1855. 53 Bishop Demers The establishment of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Vancouver Island. Mr. Yates The property of James Yates. Albert Head The sawmill of the Vancouver Island Steam Sawing Mill Company was at Albert Head. Constance Cove Puget Sound Company's farm, managed by T. J. Skinner. Esquimalt Farm Puget Sound Company's farm, managed by E. E. Langford. Maple Point Better known as Craigflower; Puget Sound Company's farm, managed by Kenneth McKenzie. Viewpoint Puget Sound Company's farm, managed by Donald Macaulay. Belmont Estate of David Cameron, Chief Justice of Vancouver Island, at Esquimalt. Mr. Cooper's Presumably the farm of James Cooper, at Metchosin. HBC Sawmill Situated on Millstream, at the head of Esquimalt Harbour. San Juan San Juan Island. Hawkin's Property of George F. Hawkins. Sangster's Property of James Sangster. . Halcro's Property of Gideon Halcro. Greig Property of John Greig. The exact property referred to in the census under the headings Cordova, Coulcouts [Colquitz], Bumside, and Strawberry Vale cannot be identified at the moment, nor can any other reference to " Mr. Thorne " be found. The location of the property listed as " George McKenzie's " is also in doubt. W. K. L. SCHOOLS. Academies. District.. 1 e 9 55 i u cd QJ E-i '3 9 Pk Public Funds. Other Sources. Annual Income. 1 1 1 1 1 1 26 26 29 Teacher's salary and board charged to Trust Fund do. do. do. do. 54 The Census of Vancouver Island, 1855. January POPULATION BY DISTRICTS. Whites. Districts. Under 1. land under 6. 5 and under 10. 10 and under 15. 15 and under 20. M. F. M. F. M. F. M. F. M. F. Snlro 5 1 1 2 6 5 1 10 1 S 1 1 1 1 9 1 2 1 1 1 2 5 2 1 1 20 1 2 7 2 1 1 1 24 1 8 1 1 9 4 1 6 8 2 2 2 1 14 1 1 1 5 12 3 1 4 2 7 1 1 1 2 2 11 8 2 8 1 3 1 4 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 2 2 1 6 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 8 1 1 1 8 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 18 1 1 2 1 2 FairflolH FnnI Buy- 1 2 Ont Rny 2 8 Mr. WnrV 1 1 Mr. ThnriKi 1 MxPhniVx Hairy 1 Mr V»fe» 17 4 3 Mr. Cooper's . . . fT R n R„w—.ill 21 18 61 58 45 87 20 26 31 41 1940 The Census of Vancouver Island, 1855. classification of ages. 55 Whites. Districts. 20 and under 30. 80 and under 40. 40 and under 50. 50 and under 60. M. F. M. F. M. F. M. F. fSnlro 9 58 1 8 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 42 5 5 8 10 16 2 2 8 8 1 1 2 27 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 7 2 8 8 1 1 1 1 1 36 1 1 2 1 2 1 8 1 1 6 5 7 2 9 1 1 1 4 1 12 4 1 5 2 6 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 9 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 8 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 17 3 232 FnirfieM 7 4 4 4 2 0»lr TUy 7 6 5 8 9 15 26 3 Mr, W"rV 17 6 6 M<.Phnir« Hairy 8 8 Mr. V«t«i 1 161 12 Alhprt. TTpnri 10 84 30 76 Viewfleld 14 7 6 TT P. P.. Sawmill 7 29 4 1 4 3 188 61 86 87 28 6 10 5 774 56 The Census of Vancouver Island, 1855. January agriculture farms, implements, stock, and products. Acres of Land in Farms. Value op Farms & Implements. Live Stock. 1 o u a | 1 2 a B I •3- >i Oo ,2 s.s £11 (0 E o K va * o U •s a s S o 64 S 0 V S a O u V o 1 a 1 _ ■3 o 60 60 70 12 90 60 20 120 20 60 65 10 20 60 30 60 40 16 60 40 20 30 70 60 190 35 2 40 1 3 5 940 340 89% 328 43 184 280 79 396 302 190 621 140 70 1070 360 6 282 543 180 82 100 830 540 410 565 ' 19 17 60 £4000 1600 1000 3500 3300 1400 1900 1000 1000 1200 300 1700 800 200 2500 1200 60 1600 1800 800 500 4300 11200 2600 5213 1557 50 800 50 £2000 120 100 200 50 50 20 60 10 30 10 60 8 100 30 24 3300 210 189 65 5 10 10 16 10 10 5 10 7 2 10 16 2 10 5 3 2 15 13 9 7 13 18 12 4 2 5 14 8 13 24 1 6 3 1 8 15 6 11 4 4 8 8 18 6 14 2 8 8 7 12 7 5 12 7 6 8 15 9 9 7 2 6 6 4 2 5 14 5 8 12 7 7 8 4 2 10 4 8 6 6 9 9 12 9 6 6 12 10 8 7 9 6 2 6 4 26 8 30 14 6 6 17 42 14 1 33 3 13 15 10 50 10 14 23 20 9 9 83 43 14 21 3 6 7 6 5 160 327 1000 2 1126 200 623 676 2200 29 20 30 15 44 30 40 25 17 30 80 6 18 13 25 60 42 30 59 85 35 150 27 12 97 12 10 10 9 100 100 20 James* Bay 26 26 Mr, Vntpo 50 8 Staines. Cloverdale 12 24 20 20 Coulcouts George McKenzie Uplands 23 50 Lemon & JoHibois_ Strawberry Vale M»*, Wo**V 12 12 4 14 Bishop Demers Albert Head Saw Mill 12 200 80 Constance Cove. Esquimalt Farm—. 12 80 150 Mr. Cooper's San Juan „ 40 Halcro's . 12 H.B. Co. SawmilL. 20 1418 9005% 66630 6651 284 240 216 560 6214 1010 1121 1940 The Census of Vancouver Island, 1855. 57 agriculture farms, implements, stock, and products. Produce for Year ending 81st December, 1854. 4*i 4 9 on i -2 si V 9 p4ta u n a a mm GO II u O 9 fern "a % 9 8& A V X s m S9 0) fH eg H 200 100 120 580 442 395 148 288 100 80 29 60 500 138 50 130 500 84 80 300 315 86 40 220 50 300 80 30 350 60 112 48 12 10 50 78 22 89 200 14 25 30 20 70 40 150 50 40 242 100 150 10 35 18 40 100 80 390 12 20 40 8 30 15 40 8 10 64 6 100 60 300 600 600 1000 400 200 300 650 350 75 40 140 110 240 200 1200 110 70 300 40 100 100 100 490 700 400 360 300 250 216 120 120 50 180 78 200 140 800 150 230 150 150 Fnfrfiplri Mr. v^tAfl Fnnl Ray Cloverdale ..._ Burnside -____- — Mr. Work Albert Head Saw Mill . —. — 100 Tons 1000 Constance Cove __— 16 H.B. Co. Sawmill —— — 4715 1730 1567 381 900 6125 690 4544 100 Tons 1000 Bus. 16 58 The Census of Vancouver Island, 1855. CENSUS OF VANCOUVER ISLAND, 1855. HOUSES. Districts. be II "0 § !„ cam 8 CO g 1 o ! 1 •s =3 CO to 1 RnVp 4 4 79 52 2 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 6 8 2 2 2 1 2 5 21 9 12 3 2 2 9 1 1 1 1 7 2 12 8 1 1 1 2 4 3 1 1 1 18 11 21 6 1 5 8 5 4 3 3 1 2 4 1 8 8 1 4 2 2 1 8 7 9 8 8 6 1 l l l 1 1 1 mining steam engine 2 1 1 1 1 1 i fVlvifo (TnWT1) Albert H^nd FnlTfipl^ Mr. YnW Fmil Bf^y Lemon & Jollibois —. - Mr. W^rk H.B. Coy. Saw Mill - Esquimalt Farm _— - 248 89 144 1 3 6&1 mining steam engine 8 i NOTES AND COMMENTS. British Columbia Historical Association. Victoria Section. The annual meeting of the Section was held in the Empress Hotel on the evening of November 13, 1939. The Princess Louise Room was filled with interested members, who listened to eight reports submitted by officers and convenors of the different committees. The Secretary's report reviewed the activities of the year. All meetings held had been well attended, and the sustained interest which the members took in the Society's doings was most gratifying. The paid-up membership of the Section was 148 when the books were closed for the year, and the Treasurer was able to report a substantial balance on hand. The result of the election for the new Council was as follows: Mrs. M. R. Cree, Miss M. Gait, Mr. F. C. Green, Mr. B. A. McKelvie, Mr. E. W. McMullen, Dr. W. Kaye Lamb, Major Harold Nation, Dr. J. S. Plaskett, Dr. T. A. Rickard, Miss Alma Russell, Mrs. Curtis Sampson, and Miss Madge Wolfenden. Mr. John Goldie, retiring President, will be a member of the new Council ex officio. Mr. Goldie chose as the subject of his presidential address Flour-milling in Canada. The subject was handled in a manner that was both comprehensive and illuminating, and with a knowledge of its technical intricacies which made a deep impression on the attentive audience. As no complete history of flour-milling in the Dominion has yet been written, it is to be hoped that Mr. Goldie may be persuaded to continue his researches. The first flour-mill in Canada, Mr. Goldie stated, was started at Port Royal, in what is now Nova Scotia, in 1604. By 1665 the number of mills in operation had increased to nine, and by 1724 there were no less than 118 mills in the country. The subsequent history of the industry through more than two centuries was traced from Eastern Canada to the Pacific Coast. The speaker had much to say of interest regarding the beginnings of grist- and flour-milling in British Columbia, and it is hoped that this part of his paper at least may be printed later in this Quarterly. At a meeting of the new Council held shortly after the annual meeting the following officers were elected for the year 1939-40:— President B. A. McKelvie. Vice-President Mrs. Curtis Sampson. Honorary Secretary Mrs. M. R. Cree. Honorary Treasurer Miss Madge Wolfenden. Convenors of Standing Committees: Necrology Mrs. George Phillips. Mining Major H. Nation. Historic Features C. C. Pemberton. Marine History Major F. V. Longstaff. Publications Dr. W. Kaye Lamb. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. IV., No. 1. 59 60 Notes and Comments. January A meeting of the Section was held in the Provincial Library on the evening of December 11, 1939. Mr. B. A. McKelvie, the new President, was in the chair. About 125 members and friends were present, and the Reading Room was filled to capacity. The first part of the programme consisted of magnificent coloured moving pictures of the visit of Their Majesties the King and Queen in British Columbia, which were shown by Mr. Douglas Scott. The arrival of the King and Queen and the ceremonies connected with their visit were preceded by lovely views of spring flowers and gardens which, as the caption explained, showed " Nature donning her spring attire to greet the King and Queen." Following this Mr. Hubert Lethaby described and displayed pages from his unique collection of stamps, autographs, photographs, and other souvenirs of the Royal visit which he has mounted and preserved in a remarkable series of loose-leaf albums. Mr. Lethaby's hobby involves a vast amount of enterprise and labour, but it has resulted in a collection which will become more and more valuable as the years slip by. The programme concluded with two more reels of moving pictures, one of which was devoted to flower studies taken by Mr. Scott and the other to a tour of the Lillooet and Bridge River area. The Secretary reported that the Society for the Preservation of Native Plants had utilized a war-time message from Prime Minister Mackenzie King, addressed to the people of Canada through the Canadian Forestry Association. Copies of the message, suitably decorated with a sketch of a British Columbia fir-tree, had been sent to many societies, clubs, and schools. As the Secretary knew the Prime Minister personally, she had been asked to forward a copy to him, in order that he might learn how much his message had been appreciated in this Province, where the conservation of forest wealth is so essential. Vancouver Section. Mr. D. A. McGregor, Vice-President, presided at the third annual meeting of the Section, which was held in the Aztec Room, Hotel Georgia, on November 7, 1939. The gathering was the largest in the Section's history, approximately 165 members and friends being present. In his opening remarks the Chairman expressed the regret of the President, Mr. J. R. V. Dunlop, that business duties made it impossible for him to attend. Reports submitted by the Secretary and the Treasurer recorded a successful year, and were favourably received. A report of the annual meeting of the Provincial body, which was held in Victoria, was presented by Mr. K. A. Waites, who had attended as delegate of the Vancouver Section. The paid-up membership of the Section was reported to be 185. This was below the corresponding total for the previous year, but allowance must be made for the fact that a number of former members now belong to the New Westminster and Fraser Valley Section, which was organized early in 1939. 1940 Notes and Comments. 61 The officers and councillors for 1940 are as follows:— President J. R. V. Dunlop. Vice-President E. S. Robinson. Secretary Miss Helen R. Boutilier. Treasurer , Kenneth A. Waites. Past President Dr. Robie L. Reid. Members of the Council: E. G. Baynes. J. M. Coady. Judge J. A. Forin. J. E. Gibbard. A. G. Harvey. Miss E. B. Mercer. D. A. McGregor. Miss T. Nevard. Dr. W. N. Sage. George White. Dr. M. Y. Williams. The speaker of the evening was His Honour Judge Howay, who took as his subject Golden Days in the Cariboo. Judge Howay set out " to show the circumstances surrounding the discovery of gold in the Cariboo, and to make it clear that Cariboo was a continuation of the Fraser River rush, and in a sense the second chapter of the story." He sketched the activities of the men who sought wealth and found either an Eldorado or a grave in the Fraser Canyon or in the shadow of Bald Mountain, and found fault with the writers who insisted that there was something mysterious about how and why the earliest miners penetrated to Cariboo. In actual fact, in their search for the "Mother Lode" they simply followed the river; there was nothing else to do if they wanted gold. Later in his address Judge Howay told how many of the best-known characters of Cariboo received their names, including Ned Stout, " Twelve-foot" Davis, and, most picturesque of all, John " Cariboo " Cameron. Mr. Louis LeBourdais, M.L.A. for Cariboo, was the guest speaker at the meeting of the Section held in the York Room, Hotel Georgia, on December 1,1939. Taking as his subject Bedrock Men of Barkerville, Mr. LeBourdais, who has an amazing knowledge of the lore and legend of the Cariboo, told many interesting and amusing anecdotes of early days. Races in money spending as well as in money making were apparently popular in the days of old and days of gold, and Mr. LeBourdais told how Tinker Brown, who owned a claim jointly with Henry Beatty, father of Sir Edward Beatty, made a wager that he could spend his money faster than any one else in town. He won—and died broke. The speaker recalled in detail the strange story of the camel trains to Cariboo, which packed all manner of goods, including pianos, before they were banished from the road. What became- of all the animals is not quite certain, but it is known that one of them ultimately provided steaks for the tables of 180-Mile House, and these were considered very tasty until their identity became known. When referring to the diaries kept by many of the early prospectors, Mr. LeBourdais told the strange story of one which was found in the coat of a miner who had been drowned in the Grand Canyon. It recorded that its owner had attempted to cross the Canyon " and was drowned." 62 Notes and Comments. Kootenae House Memorial Cairn. Attention has been called to the fact that in the October issue of the Quarterly (p. 295) it was stated that the money to build the cairn marking the location of Kootenae House was contributed by the residents of the Windermere Valley, whereas in actual fact the cost was borne by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. The Editor regrets very much that this mistake occurred. VICTOKIA, B.C.: Printed by Ch__,es _. Banfield, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. 1940. 600-240-8779 We BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Organized October 31st, 1922. PATRON. Kric W. Hamber, I >ia. OFFICERS, 1939^0. Honorary Preside T. A. Ri President Kenneth A. Wai - - 1st Vice-Presid' B. A. McKelvie 2nd Vice-President. Honorary Treasu- MURrEL R. Cree Honorary Secretary. Reid Archivist MEMBERS ; COUNC F. W H. T. Nation Helen R. Boutilier B. A Section). n). OBJECTS. mlate public interest in history; marking of historic sites, buildi: natii: nd to iudies, and documents. MEMBERSHIP. nnually in advance. The fiscal year ceive vithout further charge. Ali ad in care of the Secretary, Provincial Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C.
Titled "British Columbia Historical Association Report and Proceedings" from 1923-1929; "British Columbia Historical Quarterly" from 1937-1957; "BC Historical News" from 1968-2004; and "British Columbia History" from 2005 onward.
Periodicals
FC3801.B72 H44
English
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Victoria : British Columbia Historical Association
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Original Format: University of British Columbia. Archives.
British Columbia--History
British Columbia Historical Quarterly
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