Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/592

BRITISH COLUMBIA. of peltries from Indian trappers is still carried on. This province presents more attractions to the sportsman and hunter of big game than almost any other part of North America; and excellent game-fish abound in all its streams.

The geology of British Columbia has been studied only in a very general way, and large areas arc still unexplored. In the Rocky Mountains, Archæan rocks are represented by granites, gneisses, and schists, which underlie immense thicknesses of Paleozoic strata ranging from the Silurian to the Carboniferous. Jura-Trias beds are found overlying the Paleozoic in places. At the close of the Triassic, the first upheaval took place in the Gold Range, and in the highlands of Vancouver and Queen Charlotte islands. Cretaceous rocks are found along the coast, and probably also along the u|)per course of the Skeena and the Lower Nechaes rivers. They hold valuable coal deposits where they outcrop on Queen Charlotte and Vancouver islands. Tertiary strata occur in the southwestern coast region. In the interior of British Columbia between the Rocky and Coast ranges there are areas occupied by limestones, quartzites, serpentines, and igneous rocks, the age of which has not been determined. A large part of British Columbia is mineralized, and gold, silver, lead, and copper ores are wrought in numerous localities. Rossland, Kaslo, Yale, Nelson, Slocum, Trail, and New Denver are important centres of mining industry. Auriferous gravels, resulting from the erosive action of glaciers and rivers, are of widespread occurrence and yield considerable quantities of gold.

Mining is the principal industry of the province. Placer mining for gold was carried on extensively as early as 1857 along the Fraser River and its tributaries. In 1803 the output reached $3,000,000, a large part being obtained from the northern interior, about the headwaters of the Fraser, called the Caribou District. The output then diminished, reaching the minimum of $380,000 in 1893. The introduction of hydraulic methods and machinery produced a revival of industry and so increased the output that in 1900 the product exceeded $4,700,000 in value, nearly three-fourths of which was obtained from the lode mines. Silver and lead are obtained from the same ores in the southeastern part of the province, and they have consequently bad a parallel development. The silver output increased in value from $73,000 in 1890 to $2,400,000 in 1900, while the value of the lead for the latter year slightly exceeded that amount. Copper-mining is one of the most recent in development, but one of the most promising in its outlook. This, too, is obtained from the southeastern portion of the province, where extensive operations began about 1890 in the Kootenay district. From $111,000 in 1896, the value of the output increased to $1,600,000 in 1900. The output of coal (bituminous) doubled in value during the decade, being $4,300,000 in 1900. This, however, is mined almost exclusively from Vancouver Island. Vast resources of coal exist in the eastern foothills of the Rockies.

The position of British Columbia upon the Pacific coast, giving her the advantage of the enormous quantities of fish which frequent the coast waters and streams, is another important source of wealth to the province. British Columbia is second to Nova Scotia alone in the importance of her fisheries. The exports of fish exceeded $1,000,000 for the first time in 1882, and exceeded $2,000,000 in 1800, while in the nineties the exports averaged about $3,500,000. The total value of the product in 1899 was $5,200,000, of which $4,000,000 represented the salmon-fisheries. The salmon-fisheries are most extensive along the Fraser River. On this river only nets are allowed, which, together with other stringent regulations, has prevented the depletion of the supply. Seal-fishing is not so important as in former years. The catch increased from 9000 in 1883 to 95,000 in 1894. when it declined to 35.500 in 1900. The greater portion of the catch was from pelagic fishing. Herring, sturgeon, halibut, oolachan, and cod are among the fishery products.

The transportation facilities of British Columbia have not been fully developed. Communication with the East is, however, established by means of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, which crosses the province, and is connected at two points with the railroad system of the United States. The same company has a branch route from the East into the Kootenay region, where the short lines and steamboat routes connect the various mining towns. The rivers, as a rule, are too precipitous to admit of navigation. Steamers ascend the Fraser as far as Fort Yale, and others run upon its upper waters, and on Lake Okanagan, etc.; but the interior is dependent for transportation mainly upon stage lines. Telegraph and mail routes penetrate to all civilized parts of the province. Its position on the Pacific gives British Columbia an advantage with respect to the Oriental and Pacific Coast trade, but there is some uncertainty as to what the future of this will be, particularly in view of the building of an Isthmian canal. The province imported $10.300.000 worth of goods for home consumption in 1900, the value having doubled during the decade. The total exports amounted to $17,800,000, or three times that of a decade earlier. Coal and fish are the two most important exports.

British Columbia is represented in the Canadian Parliament by three Senators and six members of the House of Commons. The local government is in the hands of a local Legislature of thirty-eight elected members, a Lieutenant-Governor, appointed by the Dominion Government, and an Executive Council. The chief towns are Victoria and Vancouver. At the close of the century the receipts amounted to $1,544,000—the Dominion subsidy, general mining receipts, and free miners' certificates being the most important sources. The expenditure for the same year was $1,831,000, the construction of public works, education, and interest on public debt being the largest items.

The clearing-house transactions of Victoria in 1900 amounted to $32,000,000, and those of Vancouver to $40,100,000. The province contains post-office and Government savings-banks.

There are free public schools, and, differing from most Canadian provinces, they are wholly under secular control. The system comprehends common, graded, and high schools, with a total teaching force of nearly 500. There are also a number of private schools. The city school districts are divided into three classes, and to these the Provincial Government gives a per