What A Magnificent Future!
BY: BG EDITOR
Cabin in Greenwood
The St. James's Budget, London — December 1896
Feb 29, 2020 — GREENWOOD, BC (BG)
In a 2018 Feature we ran a brief piece from an 1897 issue of the Boundary Creek Times, "A Londoner's View of Greenwood City",[1] with the remarks of a British M.P. who had given an address to Parliament on his recent travels to British Columbia and Greenwood. At that point we only had access to the Times excerpt, but have since located a full copy of the remarks given by Mr. Adolphus Drucker, a Conservative member of Parliament, published in a British news journal of the day.[2]
This publication, The St. James's Budget, was a weekly digest of the daily St. James's Gazette. The London evening newspaper was published from 1880 to 1905. Interestingly enough, the paper's first editor was a Mr. Greenwood.[3]
Mr. Adolphus Drucker, M.P.
A more complete version of Mr. Drucker's report follows:
"Will British Columbia rival South Africa and West Australia as a gold-producing country? There is reason to believe that it will, or we should hardly hear of syndicates being formed for its development and of experts and others busying themselves in the preliminaries of prospecting work. Americans have been in the field for a considerable period, and until there is better railway communication the efforts of our own countrymen to open up the land can hardly fail to be seriously impeded, and even, to a certain extent, thwarted.
A recent visitor to the goldfields of the future is Mr. A. Drucker, M.P., who has returned to London in time to correct the proofs of his important work, "The Evolution of the Aryan" (founded on the late Professor Jhering's "Vorgestchichte der Indoeuropaer"), which will shortly be issued by Messers. Swan Sonnenschein & Co. In a conversation with a representative of the St. James's Budget Mr. Drucker gave some of his impressions of British Columbia, and these will be read with exceptional interest just now."
A recent visitor to the goldfields of the future is Mr. A. Drucker, M.P., who has returned to London in time to correct the proofs of his important work, "The Evolution of the Aryan" (founded on the late Professor Jhering's "Vorgestchichte der Indoeuropaer"), which will shortly be issued by Messers. Swan Sonnenschein & Co. In a conversation with a representative of the St. James's Budget Mr. Drucker gave some of his impressions of British Columbia, and these will be read with exceptional interest just now."
Mr. Drucker's trip to Canada began in early September of 1896, leaving London for New York, then Montreal. He rode the Canadian Pacific Railway to Calgary, then travelled on to Vancouver, and Victoria. In his report, it's interesting to note that he points to the Boundary Creek Times as a leading journal, apparently read by he and his associates in Parliament:
"As you will see from the last report of the British Columbia Board of Trade, which you have on your table, there are enormous coalfields in the now well-known Crow's Nest Pass, which are very important as forming the main source of supply for the purposes of smelting in the famous Kootenay district, which has been so much written about in the Times during the present year; indeed, British Columbia should heartily thank the leading journal for directing general attention to that rich district.
There is official authority for the statement that this coal is peculiarly suited for mining purposes, and the construction of the proposed British Columbia Southern Railway would open up these coalfields and put them in communication with the Kootenay smelters. At present the coke used by the smelters is all imported from the United States.
I went back from Vancouver to Sicamous, the junction for Vernon, to which the Agent-General for British Columbia in London gave his name; and at Vernon I took steamer to Penticton, which has at least one characteristic — namely the dustiest road in Christendom, lead to Rossland, which has become the centre of the Kootenay mining industry. In the district between Penticton and Boundary Creek I saw gold mines, some, of the ores being particularly rich in copper. In most of the mines, including those which do not contain much gold, there are nearly always sufficient copper and other metals to pay the expense of working.
To give you an idea of the rapid growth of towns in British. Columbia, I may cite
Greenwood City. In March there was not a house to be seen ; but when I was there in September-October there were three large hotels and all the indications of a considerable town. Of course there was a newspaper, and a very smart one too — the Boundary Creek Times.
What a magnificent future British Columbia has! What with the mining industry, and the salmon and sturgeon fishing, the outlook is indeed splendid.
Speaking of sturgeon reminds me to mention to you that I was told that British Columbia will soon be producing more delicious caviare than Russia itself! Then there is the lumber industry, the importance of which must not be underrated, for the supply is inexhaustible; while in respect of fruit-farming and agricultural pursuits generally the country is unique.
It may interest readers of the St. James's Budget to know that Lord Aberdeen has a ranch near Vernon, on which he has started hop-growing; and that there is a big brewery at Vancouver, and another at Calgary. No doubt the example set by that far-seeing nobleman will be pretty generally followed ere long."
There is official authority for the statement that this coal is peculiarly suited for mining purposes, and the construction of the proposed British Columbia Southern Railway would open up these coalfields and put them in communication with the Kootenay smelters. At present the coke used by the smelters is all imported from the United States.
I went back from Vancouver to Sicamous, the junction for Vernon, to which the Agent-General for British Columbia in London gave his name; and at Vernon I took steamer to Penticton, which has at least one characteristic — namely the dustiest road in Christendom, lead to Rossland, which has become the centre of the Kootenay mining industry. In the district between Penticton and Boundary Creek I saw gold mines, some, of the ores being particularly rich in copper. In most of the mines, including those which do not contain much gold, there are nearly always sufficient copper and other metals to pay the expense of working.
To give you an idea of the rapid growth of towns in British. Columbia, I may cite Greenwood City. In March there was not a house to be seen ; but when I was there in September-October there were three large hotels and all the indications of a considerable town. Of course there was a newspaper, and a very smart one too — the Boundary Creek Times.
What a magnificent future British Columbia has! What with the mining industry, and the salmon and sturgeon fishing, the outlook is indeed splendid.
Speaking of sturgeon reminds me to mention to you that I was told that British Columbia will soon be producing more delicious caviare than Russia itself! Then there is the lumber industry, the importance of which must not be underrated, for the supply is inexhaustible; while in respect of fruit-farming and agricultural pursuits generally the country is unique.
It may interest readers of the St. James's Budget to know that Lord Aberdeen has a ranch near Vernon, on which he has started hop-growing; and that there is a big brewery at Vancouver, and another at Calgary. No doubt the example set by that far-seeing nobleman will be pretty generally followed ere long."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] "A Londoner's View of Greenwood City"
http://www.beautifulgreenwood.com/features/12-18/feature157.html
[2] The St. James's Budget — December 18, 1896
[3] Wikipedia: The St. James's Gazette
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_James%27s_Gazette
