APPOINTED ASSISTANT DIRECTOR 263 



I had taken Mr. Topley, our photographer, to the western penin- 

 sula of Ontario to photograph trees as I had been instructed to 

 make a collection of wood specimens for the Chicago Exhibition, 

 which was to take place the next year, 1893. We took photo- 

 graphs of each species of forest tree and the same tree when grown 

 on a lawn, or in a fence corner, so as to show the trees in a dual 

 state. I selected the specimens and Topley took the pictures 

 and, as I was a specialist in my line, and he was a noted specialist 

 in his, we made a first class collection. In fact, I may mention, 

 that, since then, duplicates, made from his photographs, have 

 been made into sets for people in very many foreign countries. 

 Besides having a picture of each tree, I had each photo of each 

 tree framed in its own wood and the result gave the collection an 

 unique value. Late in the summer and fall, I was very busy in 

 getting wood for the frames and, towards spring, when men were 

 asking to be permitted to go to Chicago, I said that I preferred 

 going to Vancouver Island this year than going there, so I 

 got permission and, as my eldest daughter, Mrs. A. O. Wheeler, 

 was then living in New Westminster, I shut up my house and 

 took Mrs. Macoun and my youngest daughter and started for 

 New Westminster, B.C., early in April. 



We had a delightful journey, part of the way, as Mr. Chip- 

 man, who was the Hudson's Bay Commissioner at Winnipeg, met 

 us at the train and came across the prairie with us, so we had his 

 company part of the way. After we left Canmore, we had a 

 whole series of adventures before we reached New Westminster. 

 Our first trouble came when we reached Glacier, where we got 

 word that a snow slide had just taken place at the end of the loop 

 and we would be detained for some time. We thought little of 

 it but, in the evening, we were informed that very heavy snow 

 slides had taken place east of us and the road was blocked. There 

 were quite a number of passengers stranded at Glacier who had 

 to be fed and we got down to oleomargarine and bread before 

 we had an opportunity to move further west; but Mr. Marpole, 

 whom I had known for a number of years, came to our rescue 

 and introduced me to the chief engineer of the C.P.R. (Mr. 

 Cambie), west of the mountains, and he invited Mrs. Macoun, my 



