36 THE UPPER YUKON 



a liquor store were two vacant lots which be- 

 longed to the Canadian Government and were 

 to be sold by it on the 28th of August. It 

 was expected that they would bring $90,000. 

 A corner lot of forty feet front was offered 

 for sale at $54,000. 



A Welshman, who owns a fruit store, en- 

 deavored to interest us in its purchase by 

 offering the frame building for $10,000, the 

 ground for $40,000, and an assortment of fresh 

 vegetables, oranges, meat, etc., he said he 

 would throw in as an additional inducement. 

 This man had been through the Boer War in 

 South Africa, had come to Prince Rupert in 

 the very early days, and had bought his bit 

 of ground when it was not so " 'igh" in price 

 as it is now. 



We were of the opinion that many investors 

 in building lots here would be cruelly sur- 

 prised by a big drop in prices before very 

 long. 



At Port Simpson we heard that the Great 

 Northern Railroad Company was trying to 

 purchase 500 acres of bay-front for a ter- 

 minal, but so far had been unable to acquire 

 the desired land. Port Simpson has but a few 

 scattered houses, a couple of churches, one so- 

 called hotel, a stone monument to the memory 



