THE WEST BHORE.
rt. J Uvl H Vancouver by the government for a
,.. on crrUin edition, of improvement, which are
Lg m.mi.li.l with. There U another park of forty
trr n 1L rmth ! of F!e creek. Three small
er (tiki in tbo city occupy a total area of about twen
tv acr , ai.d u very attractive ornaments. The mu-mcj-al
government rwntly paid tl5.0Wl.00 for aeon
(rally market square. The one cemetery
utuated on tho uth aide and it owned and cared
fr ly tU city.
Vancouver baa a well organized police depart
mtit, which ia wlf attaining. Baloon licenses are
.VHKi rarli, ami drinking placea are kept under
itrict i surveillance Tbo city onus and main
Uiba a bipitl, which it built last year at a coat of
IIO.IMKMI. It ii under the direction of a hospital
Urd of flvo medical men. Tho city hall ia a com-m-iliui
building, in which aro tho headquarters of
all tho department of the city government. The
municipal government consists of a mayor and board
of t'D aldermen, elected by ballot, and the usual other
ofllwra acting under their direction. An enterpris
iiig j.lirr regarding public affairs of all kinds ia pur
sue The board of trade ia an active and strong on
gaiiiialion, whirl) ii an imjMirtant aid to tho business
derelupment of tbo town, lu members aro tho prom
inent buiineM men if tho city, and they labor for the
l-oal inlereati of th municipality in everything that
cmHi within tho aoojx of their ojwation.
The government Lm appropriate! W.'l.OOO.OO for
th f rvtiin of a court house and registrar's oflice in
Vancouver thii year. Heretofore Vancouver hai boon
include,! in tho New Westminster district, and all
tran.fen f real r.Uto had to pus through tho land
regi.trar'i hands th. ro, but the growing importance
of tLo new city has made nwaiary the formation of
a now dutrict, of which it will U the headquarters.
Tho mrth.al of recording real ntaUte transfers in
in llnti.h Columbia i, known aa the Torrens
).U-m. and it i. a great deal .bplor than tho older
and ia..r general ni.U olmed ia mm )mx Tbo
rrgutrar u . .alaried government official, and tho
wilutta.ly.iw,, any flaw in titlo
Vy Tk-J ith all ne,
f, aUtru. and tho wcWr j,
Utlo crnmcntw,!! etablih a signal it.
Thoc,,yi.0f.uchj ;
..H iutt;:. ::ri;vl;r rrro-
represented in Vancouver. There are lodges of Free
Masons, Odd Fellows, Good Templars, Knights of
Labor, Knights of Pythias, Locomotive engineers,
United Workmen, Foresters, Sons of England, and a
St Andrew's society. They embrace a large member
ship and wield a considerable inflaence for the good
of society. The city has a public reading room, a
Young Men's Christian Association, which is con
templating the erection of a fine building on a site
that has already been donated, and a Woman's Chris
tian Temperance Union, all of them in a very flour
ishing condition. There are at present nine church
edifices in the city two Methodist, two Presbyterian,
two Episcopal, a Congregational, a Baptist and a Ro
man Catholic and preparations are being made to
erect several others. Besides these, the Methodists
have a Chinese congregation, presided over by a na
tive Chinese missionary, and a Chinese mission school.
The news field is unusually well covered in Van
couver. The News-Advertiser is a morning daily of
eight pages, which is ably conducted and presents a
full quota of the news of the world each morning.
The Evening World is a publication but a few
months old, but it is a vigorous, enterprising and newsy
journal, and merits the large patronage it receives.
Uoth papers issue weekly editions. They are clean
and efficient exponents of the publio interests.
The business institutions of the city are of an un
usually stable character. Many of them are branches
of old eastern establishments that have long been
noted for their security and sagacity. The city has
four banking houses, three of which are branches of
eastern concerns, and the total capital represented by
them is about 120,000,000.00. Many other business
houBCB aro of similar stability. Throughout the en
tiro province last year there were only thirteen busi
ness failures, and of these the total assets exceeded
tho liabilities by some $20,000.00 Perhap it would
bo well to consider a few figures in connection with
tho volume of business transacted in Vancouver for
1888. During the twelve months, the Canadian Pa
cific railway brought to the city nearly thirty-nine
thousand tons, and forwarded from Vancouver about
twenty-two thousand tons of freight Over five hun
dred and sixteen thousand packages of merchandise
yre exported to China and Japan via the Canadian
Pacific, steamers, and the imports from the same
aourco aggregated over five hundred and seventy-four
thousand packages, a cain of more than a hundred per
cent over the previous year. The Canadian Pacific
i company disbursed in Vancouver, for various par
I jHHK-8 during the year, $019,231.05. The local cuBtom
; housfl records show that for the last fiscal year there
wived in Vancouver two hundred and seventy-one
' "aft, of a total of one hundred and thirty-