THE COAL INDUSTRY OF VANCOUVER 

 ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



[* Extracted from the British Columbia Mining Record 

 of February and March, 1898.] 



THE coal city of Nanaimo has long been known as 

 the "Newcastle of .the Pacific Coast," and it now 

 aspires to be another Liverpool. Here coal is king. 

 As an industrial, commercial and distributing centre 

 Nanaimo yields to none, and the smelters, manufac- 

 tories and works projected will doubtless sustain the 

 ambitious claim. Aided by a short connecting line of 

 rail to Gabriola (southeast end) the distance from the 

 terminals of the Canadian Pacific Railway, can be 

 abridged to almost an hour's passage by ferry. The 

 cars that have been hauled for three thousand miles 

 may thus be shunted to the merchant's door. Na- 

 naimo, of course, claims a share of Klondyke trade 

 the coal steamers must have, and why not stores? 

 This port is the final calling place in the province, 

 on the northern voyage, and the first touched on the 

 return. The advantages are obvious. 



While the chief market for the famous Vancouver 

 Island coal is in San Francisco and southern ports 

 of California, the gradually enlarging provincial trade 

 is a most important factor in the success of the in- 

 dustry. The prospects of a greatly increased local 

 demand are the result of mining enterprises in this 

 Island and province, and the outlook for securing the 

 Klondyke trade. 



THE FORMATION. 



The avenue to the wealth of our coal beds was 

 opened by the mighty uplifting force of the moun- 

 tain upheavals, whereby large areas of the coal-bear- 

 ing strata were raised from the "vasty deep" and tilted 

 up, at various angles, so that after the glacial erosion, 



^Published at Victoria, B,C., H. Mortimer Lamb, Managing 

 Editor ; London office, Leadenhall Building, London, B.C. 



