A Trip to Vancouver.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 31, 24 December 1898, Page 1

A Trip to Vancouver.

Mr R. Capstick, telegraphist in the Waimato Post Office, returned on Monday from a trip to Vancouver, where he had gono hi charge of tho mails. When waited upon by a representative of the Advertioek he gave the following interestmg account of his trip : " I left Wairaate on October 12th, and after a pleasant trip from Lyctelton in the Takapuna, arrived in Wollingfcon at J. p m Leaving at 8 o'clock in the K.M.S Aorangi we arrived at Suva, the capital of Fiji, O u J uesday, the 17th. after an uneventful passage. It is an interesting sight to oee the native canoes shooting out from different points along the shore and racing to the steamer, each one striving to be firei to dispose of his curios and fruit I amused myself, with several of the passenger, by throwing over threepenny bits for the natives to dive for. Although the harbour was swarming with sharks the natives are not the least afraid. On going ashore one is struck with tho small amount of clothing worn by the native population, even the policemen and soldiers wear nothing but a waistcloth Their hair is so thick that they dispense ■with any artificial head covering. The afternoon I spent wandering round the town and suburbs with Mr Melville Gray of Tiiaaru, who was a passenger by the boat. Together we visited the native village and the Governor's residence Mr bray carried the inevitable kodak and obtained a number of interesting vn W^oA We , pdt in the tirae Pleasantly till 2.30, whan the steamer's warning whistle made us hurry o-i board Just after leaving Suva wa experienced the curiosity in reckoning time winch b-acomas necessary in crossing meridian 130, and .we had to double the Tuesday. Four days after leaying Suva we crossed the equator, and our passaga through the tropics was of the pleasanteft. Large numbers of flying fish and the sia bards peculiar to the region were observed and. some of the passengers obtained specimens of the former. Fro.m Suva ei&ht days finds the steamer in si»ht of Honolulu, the capital of the Hawaiian Republic (now annexed by America), a spot which has been fittingly designated the Paradise of the Pacific. In the morn"-' ing L rambled over the town with the ships doctor and in the afternoon we took the tram to Waikiki beach, a famous, excellent, and safe bathing place. The water maintains an even temperature of about j/Odeg., and is so bouyant 'that one may float in it without the slightest exfW. It is a great treat.. FrJrn thence we went to Kapiolane Park, wljich <soi tains a race- track, where the annual races are held At the time of my risit ther£ were between thr^g" and four thousand Amenban soldiera/camped on this course undergoing training before departing

forMamUa. Having been in the volunfa S /-n W Ze J aknd I was very interested SS« 3^" 011 disappointed wMA Untld j ne f and of discipline wfoch was displayed. Another interesting place is the Nuuana Pali ( a precipice) . six^esfrom town, an historical spot* b«ng the scene of the last battle between iimg Kainehameha the Conqueror, and the Oahuans In this battle thousands of natives were forced over the steep preoi-' pice and n, e t their deaths on the rock. S;!™' , A / triking and beautiful view is obtained from this point of miles of lowlands beneath. One interesting eight New Zealander like myself could spend fi^ w°? k A n ? T atthe varieties of fish. We left Honolulu at 6.30 and th. voyage to Vancouver was exceedingly pleasant but uneventful. We arrived at the quarantine grounds about 1 a,m., Nov v " vT^ U u able t0 2 et a P ilot did not leach the wharf at Victoria till 9 a.m. After another wearisome delay, owing to no doctor being available, we were pre- ' iT Ttll rom , f ctting ashora ««*a tn «; t + i 6n * ° nly haK an hour to get to the telegraph office, a distance of 2* nuloa , and back. I was therefore S e *f J»« a look round the city. We then left, arriving at Vancouver about 6.30 p.m The trip from Victoria to Vancouver, about 80 miles, brings before the traveller some exceedingly pretty scenery, the steamer travelling between small islands. After getting the mails off our hands, we proceeded to the Hotel Metropole, which we made our headquarters. • A short description of Vancouver mar not be out of place. It has a population of about 25,000. A little over 10 years ago, the site now ocoupied by the oitv was covered with dense bush. In July, 18S6 a fire spread from the forest and de! ' stroyed the rapidly-growing city, only one house being left standing. Vanoouver is now a fine city containing many splendid buddings of brick and granite. It has many mdes of asphalt streets, and is lighted by gis and electricity. An ample supply ot pure water h provided by meant oi p;paa laid under the inlet from a mountain stream opposite. The two weeks" spent in Vancouver were employed visitmg the different places of interest. Oae day was sp-mt at New We^tminsi n- (eornmonly callod tho •• Eo.yal City ") on the Fraaer river. It has a population of 8000 and is the headquarter of the salmon' canning industry. Tuera is a large export bdbinoH doae in tun'oes, large qaaatikss bo.ng sported to all part* otthavorld In Vancouver I was much pleawd to meet old Njw ganders iv the parso-13 or Mr Mj*s Joua3 and taimly late of 'J\m mi. Mr Jona? wjn the auc! pioneering business, aid i 3i 3 j 0 h,s usual good spjr.w. I was well rocoived by them and ipent three pr four evenings at their home. lam certain any other .New Zealander calling on them will be mado very welcome. There was not much talk about the Kiondyke golddelds, pwing,"' perhaps to rumours of a new field at' Lake Atlins, which is much nearer Vancouver. On the return trip, I met a professional gentleman from Dunedin, who H ? ow Zealand for the Kiondyke last March. Prom him J heard a few particulars of the hardships and tcials to be experienced by prospectors,. After some l months ot bad luck he was on the point of leaving, just having sufficient money to take him out of the country, when he was called upon to attend a miner who was ill with typhoid fever. He restored the man to health and the miner 'was' so grateM that he advised'hito to try a certain spot' before leaving. This he did and 'was doing very well until he was laid Wjxi&V self by fever. He was carried *6?kftiffi&, Cityon a litter, having 'to/ b> • strapped «f wMe J cro3smg White

was strapped to a mule. The illness and the rough joui'ney so shattered his health that he was forced to leave Klondike, and when I met him he was on his way home. He advises no one to go to Kl6ndyke, without plenty of money, as hundreds have spent their last dollar, and are practically stranded and only too willing to work merely tor their food. Due story this gentleman told me was that after having sti'nck gold, he decided to indulge in the luxury ot a good square meal. He walked several miles to Dawaon City, and invested in a pound of chops, a pound of onions, and a pound of potatoes, the whole costing him 17s 6d. He then walked back to his camp, and tramped another two miles to collect firewood td cook his meal. He was m the middle of the enjoyment of it when, to his disgust, a friend called, and he had to give away what still remained. Taking his experiences all round he Would not go through the same again for doubfe the money he bi ought back, about JB7OOO. There will be greater hardships this winter, as during ray stay in Vancouver, Dawson City was almost totally destroyed by fire. There being a scarcity of timber the people will have to live in tents. During our two Weeks' stay we experienced sorn§ difficulty in killing time, *nd were not at all sorry when the day of departure came round, but we were rather disheartened at learning that we had 520 bags of mails to sort on our way home. We left Vancouver at 3.30 on Nov. 17th. As the steamer was about tyro hundred yards from the wharf, I was much amused at hearing a shout of " Goodbye, Waimate." This was from Mr Ben Jonas, who had promised to see me off, but had arrived at the wharf too late. We again arrived at Victoria at 11 p.m., and I had once more only half an hour to get to the telegraph office and back, and it being dark, I saw less of the place than I did on the first occasion. Pleasant weather was experienced for the "home trip, but being so pressed with work, we were not able to go round Honolulu or Suva again. I had the enjoyment at Suva, however, of receiving a batch of Waimate papers, the Advertiser And Times, and there was no more work till I had got through these. The amount of work we had kept us well employed from Victoria to Wellington, working some days from 6 a.m. to 10.30 p.m. Arriving at Wellington, we had a look round for a few hours, and were not sorry to atJlast have the mails off our hands. Leaving at 2.30 p.m., we arrived at Lyttelton at 5.30 a.m. on Sunday. We left Ohristchurch by special at 8 a.m., eventually arriving at the well known Stud"holme Junction at 12.30. Mr Franklin, with his usual kindness, met me at the Junction and drove me home, which, after all, is the bast place on^ can find.