The west shore., May 01, 1884, Page 138, Image 14

THE WEST SHOBE.
138
con
nected in the
VANCOUVER.
nmv nu.. ..t Vnnmuiver in often
I minds of our friends who live east of the Rockies
with the inland of the mine name. While the latter is in
rvi.nl,;n ,,rth of the Straits of Fuca, the city
i.,;f11 .itnntMl on the right bank of the Columbia
Tt' - -1.. nA lllllwlfful miles from its mouth. The
j wvcr, iidiuij on" , .
M min. 51 sec, and longitude Li dog.
27 min. 30 hoc. west The tide rises an average of two
feet The rive at this iniint is one mile wide and on the
northern side carries water enough at all seasons to give
iM not dentil for river steamers only, but were a very
moderate outlay mode on tlio bar below the city, Bea
ming vessels could come horo, as they did in early days,
for the Hudson's 13ay Company. Being kept back by
Unit company for many years, and still in later years for
the want of projior legislation, because of our remaining
so long a Territory, we are not to the front as our situa
tion deserves.
Without disparagement to any other place, it is the
universal verdict of all visitors that Vancouver has the
most pleasant (tito of any place on the Pacific Coast
Facing the south, it is ojm to the rays of the sun, which
no hill, no forest, can obstruct Enjoying a gradual rise
from the river back to a plateau, the natural drainage is
complete. The Boil has a largo admixture of gravel, in
eoiiHMjuenoe of which, in a fow hours after our heaviest
rains, one ran go almost anywhere and find it dry and
comparatively clean under foot Our City Fathers have
liegun a good work in grading and graveling streets and
laying plank sidewalks, as well as clearing streets of
forest trees, which Isith obstructed the view and stepped
the sea broezo during warm summer mouths. We have
many fino brick buildings, which show the faith we have
in tho xrmaneiice of tho place. Our private residences
will compare with any other growing town, and the nura
lsr of fino residences finished this season, and now under
way, shows tho enterprise and desire for comfort of our
IMipk Tho fact that no house can remain untenanted
for length of time, if fit for a residence, and another
fact that our liest houses are always engaged before the
occupant leaves them, sjeak for us to all new-comers
favorably, ancouver has a iormanont commercial
thoroughfare in the grand Columbia Iliver, from hence
on whono bosom can lie transported all our surplus
products.
Ami now a word to settlers on our publio lands. Do
not waste your Binding timber. There seen te K
end of trees, giant tiws, from one to ix and eight foet
through. The pine forets of black walnut in Ohio and
Wy..K nimoH were lor inu samo reasons utterly do-
kit I. 1 Vf ..... - 1 I -
Y'W "1" valuo of tho trees which
ltkA 1. ...... . 111!
'.n,w "P" "' present value of the land
on which they Hteod, t saying anything of tho evil
eftVcU of that wholesale devotion on the atmosphere,
VL.tl.A Hill .... It IV. 1 .1 . I
.-.. ..... hi uio ground and tho trees ai
only a nuisance- tho sooner out of the way tho better.
mu Bix)Ken. uioice logging tim
ber is fast disappearing, and the distance from mills on
the rapid increase. We will soon be called to go to Btill
more remote forests for our best quality of lumber or to
ship it from abroad. Let us preserve all our best and
only destroy, if we must cut ana burn, the poorest This
will leave na a surprisingly lnrjje pren for grasses. And
as red clover will grow finely in our open forests, we can
reap the combined benefit of pasture and forest for many
years. Bed clover . and timothy, if sown just at the .
setting in of our fall rains, will catch well and give us a
fine crop at the first cutting. Besides the saving of our
valuable trees, the strength of both the man and his
family is kept for better ubcs. Till well and carefully a
small parcel of land leave the rest for grass and forest
Carlos W. Shane.
MEXICAN TABLE CUSTOMS.
DURING eight months' residence in Mexico I have
not seen a bit of butter, potato, egg cooked by itself,
chop or steak, tea, sauce, cake, pie or pudding, or those
ordinary vegetables which we consider indispensable.
Napkins are rarely used-reach person wiping his or her
face and hands on that portion of the table-cloth which is
nearest Eating with the fork is not at all according to
etiquette, but the knife or spoon must be used or more
properly a tortilla. Mexicans manage the latter with as
much dexterity as the Chinese does his chop-sticks, curv
ing it between the fingers till it forms something like a
spoon, and scooping up the food with it, eating spoon and ,
all. The very old people and the lower classes use tor
tillas altogether, instead of knives, forks or Bpoons, the
latter being of comparatively recent introduction. It
requires considerable practice to successfully manage the
tortilla Bcoop, as I have learned from sad experience.
After the meal is finished, and at intervals during its
progress, if one feels so inclined, the mouth is filled with
water from the goblet, rinsed with more or less emphasis
between the teeth, and then spurted upon the floor. In
this process all become expert, from the lady of the house
to the smallest child. When fresher water is required
that in the glasses is carelessly tossed upon the dirt floor,
where it does no harm.
A LAND OF THE DEAD.
CHINA, says a recent traveler, is almost everywhere a
land of the dead. For thousands of years the inhab
itants have been assiduously employed in burying each
other. In the north there are few graveyards, and the
person who dies is placed in the most convenient spoi
which offers itself, and that may chance to be in the
conter of a field of rice or on the roadside. If his rela
tives be rich they at once raise a huge mound of earth
over him ; if they do not happen to have a great amount of
disposable funds they put the coffin down in the held or
on the roadside, thatch it with a little Btraw, and leave it
till the money for a mound can be got together; or they
erect over it a little structure of loose brick and tiles.
Tho wind and rain do their work, and one sees all over
the landscape mounds of earth flanked by exposed coffins.