It was in this gallery that I first met John Butts we have heard so
much of through Mr. Higgins. I remember Butts as a sleek,
respectable-looking young fellow with a nice tenor voice, which he
was not afraid to use, and he was quite an addition to the choir, of
which I was a juvenile member. In after years John fell from grace
and gave up the choir, and might have been heard singing as he walked
along the street, and not above taking fifty cents from someone well
able to give it. He was always cheerful and goodnatured, and if a
child were lost John would ring his bell and walk up and down calling
out the fact.
This view of the old city is taken from the rocks on the Indian
reserve, and in the foreground is a large building which occupied the
site of the present marine hospital. When first I remember this
building it was used as a lunatic asylum. It is the only prominent
building shown on the reserve, with the exception of the Indian
lodges, which by the extent might accommodate easily two
thousand Indians. The harbor is full of shipping, taking up the whole
frontage from the Hudson's Bay Company's wharf north, which is the
only one distinctly to be seen in the view. The vessels reach to the
bridge across the harbor.
At anchor is the historic _Beaver_, and steaming out of the
harbor is the British steamer _Forward_. On the Hudson's Bay
Company's wharf is a large shed or house. I do not see the present
brick building, which was not built then (1859), but Mr. Glide says
in a large shed on this wharf the _British Colonist_ first saw
the light, the advance sheets being printed here in 1858. When the
shed was torn down a little over a year ago there were brought to
light a number of old letters, which was a good find for the man who
had the job of taking the shed down, for there were lots of old
Vancouver Island stamps on these letters.
The _Colonist_ was moved from here to Wharf Street, about where
the Macdonald block now stands. Also Wells, Fargo's express first did
business in this shed, then moved to Yates Street, where it was
located in a building, the lumber for which was imported from San
Francisco, being redwood. This building was afterwards moved to
Langley, between Bastion and Fort, and used as a feed store by Turner
& Todd, whom we all know.
An incident by my schoolfellow Ernest Leigh, of Upland Farm in 1859,
finishes this reminiscence.
Killing of Capt. Jack.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account