| Transcript |
- VICTORIA ILLUSTRATED. 89
the Victoria Tramway Co. Mr. Wm. Wilson, his partner, is one of the most prominent and wealthy men in the city, and is thoroughly well
known throughout the Northwest. The firm have travelers on the road constantly, thoroughly covering the entire business portion of the
province. To Mr. Cowan, who is the active partner, is due great credit for the success in making this house rank as it does. Although a
young man, on assuming charge of the business he covered the field with a glance, used his energies in the proper directions and
accomplished what few men would have even attempted.
DIXI H. ROSS.
Mr. Ross, who is a native of Pennsylvania, went to Cariboo in 1870 and engaged as a merchant there. Mr. Josiah Beedy, his uncle, was the
one to create the first excitement in Cariboo by bringing a nugget of gold to Victoria. He had, at that time, stores all the way from
Victoria to Cariboo, and was one of the pioneer merchants of the region. Mr. Ross returned to Victoria and founded the present business
in 1875. He is an American citizen, never having seen fit to exchange his flag, but is as prominently identified as almost any other man
in Victoria with the interests, local and otherwise, of this city. He has been a very successful merchant, and is one of the best known
and highly respected men of Victoria.
LAWRENCE GOODACRE.
Mr. Goodacre, who has been one of the most successful merchants of Victoria, is a native of Nottingham, England, and was engaged in his
present business in that city. He came to Victoria in 1866, and the business of Mr. Harris was at that time bought out by Mr. Goodacre's
partner, Mr. Stafford. The place of business was named the " Queen's Market," and has retained that appelation ever since. Mr. Goodacre
has thus been in the business twenty-five years, having gone into partnership with Mr. Stafford, who afterwards died, leaving him sole
proprietor. The slaughter house of the firm is near the city, and the magnitude of the business can be gathered from the fact that the
daily slaughtering is from six to eight cattle, thirty- five sheep and lambs, and ten calves and hogs. Mr. Good-acre is a wholesale and
retail butcher, and contractor by appointment of Her Majesty's Royal Navy, the Dominion Government, and a number of large corporations.
He has shown his confidence in the future of Victoria by large investments in landed property, and has served two terms as member of the
City Council.
A. B. ERSKINE.
Mr. Erskine was born in the North of Ireland ; left there when quite young, and spent some years in Eastern Canada, coming to Victoria in
the Spring of 1879. He was engaged as salesman with Henry Mansell for seven years, when he started for himself in the present business.
He carries a general stock of boots and shoes, which he imports chiefly from the United States, Eastern Canada and England. His premises
(corner of Government and Johnson streets) are very commodious, and show him to be a thorough business man, and fully alive to the
interests of his business, which is increasing heavily each year.
BOUCHERAT AND COMPANY.
This house was founded in 1859, and has since changed hands several times, although it has always been very successful. Mr. J.
Coigdarippe, a native of the South of France, is senior member of the firm. He came direct to Victoria and engaged in business here,
joining the old firm in 1884. Mr. Luke Pither, his partner, hails from New York, and has been a resident of Victoria a number of years,
entering the present firm in 1890. The firm handle everything in French wines?Sauternes, Burgundies, Champagnes and Clarets, together
with Ales, Stout and Beer and a general line of cigars. The turn-over for last year amounted to $200,000, and this year it will exceed
this amount considerably. They enjoy a good reputation in business, and are the only house of any magnitude, exclusively, in this line.
MCLENNAN AND MCFEELY.
The firm is composed of R. P. McLennan, a native of Pictou, Nova Scotia, who came here in 1884, and E. J. McFeely, a native of Lindsay,
Ontario, who came to the province the year following. For the past five years they have been engaged in the plumbing and tinning business
both in this city and in Vancouver. They have a large store in both of these cities, carry large lines of house-furnishings, stoves,
ranges, etc. Their specialties are : roofing, gas and hot water fixtures, hot air furnaces and picket wire fencing. They have quite a
number of men and boys employed, and have several large contracts on hand, one of which is the roofing and ornamental sheet iron work of
the new Roman Catholic Cathedral, contract price of which is $11,000. Mr. McLennan looks after the firm's interests in Victoria, while Mr.
McFeely attends to the Vancouver branch. They are both young men, and have shown a progressiveness and energy which, combined with strict
attention to business, have made their enterprise a very successful one.
HOTEL DALLAS.
William Jensen, the proprietor of this hotel, was born in Liverpool, England, and came to the United States in 1858. He served in the
United States Army, during part of the rebellion, in the Fortieth New Jersey Regiment, U. S. Infantry, Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac,
and remained until the close of the rebellion. On his return from the war he went into business at Williamsburg, New York, and subsequently
South Brooklyn, remaining there until 1868. From New York he organized a colony, on Horace Greely's advice (" Young men, go West and build
cities") went to Kansas and engaged in business at Waterville. He afterwards built the second hotel at Concordia, and later, entered
the hotel business at Cawker City. Ile left there for California in the Spring of 1872 in search of a location for business, and, not
finding what he wanted, came to Puget Sound and ran the American Exchange Hotel at Seattle for three years. In the Autumn of 1877 he
came to Victoria, re-named the old Royal Hotel the " Occidental," enlarged it by the addition of fifty rooms, bought the property and
re-sold it during the present year. The Hotel Dallas, which he has just built, is situated upon half an acre of Ground on Dallas Road.
The hotel is three stories in height, one hundred and twenty feet front, sixty-five feet in depth, contains sixty bed-rooms, twelve
sitting-rooms and parlors, and will accommodate one hundred persons. The hotel is sixty feet from the sea, and commands a full view of
the Olympic range, the Royal Roads and the Straits of Juan de Fuca, and is only one block from the landing of the outer ocean-vessels'
docks, where all sea-going vessels from China, Japan, Alaska, San Francisco, and the largest local steamers arrive and depart. The electric
cars are within one block of the hotel, and pass through the city, arriving in eight minutes at the post office. The house is built of
brick ; is furnished with all modern appliances and conveniences, including hot and cold water baths, steam heat, electric lights,
electric call-bells, bar and billiard rooms, while the fine promenade on the flat roof gives a magnificent view for miles around. The
hotel is strictly first-class.
DRIARD HOTEL.
This house, which has for years been one of the substantial features of Victoria, is as well-known as any hotel on the Pacific Coast.
It was founded, on its standard of excellence, in 1875, by Mr. Louis Redon, who is at present President of the Victoria Electric Light
Company, and also President of the company formed for the projected Canada Western Hotel. Mr. Redon at first had for partner Mr. Lucas,
but in 1878 associated with him the late Otto Hartnagel, whose son, Gustave Hartnagle, is now one of the partners. In 1884 the increased
patronage of the house necessitated an addition on the rear, and the theatre addition was built in 1885. The patron-age has, however,
grown to such proportions that the building is now being extended to the corner and covers the intervening space of 75 x 122 feet.
The building when completed, at an immense outlay, will be seven stories in height, and will have 225 rooms. Everything will be entirely
modern ; there are to be rooms with bath-rooms attached, call and answer electric bells, electric and gas lights, and, in fact, everything
that modern ingenuity has invented for comfort. The menu of the hotel, which is supervised by a well known chef, is at all times of the
best, and is, in fact, celebrated among travellers all over the world. The hotel will soon be entirely completed, and will be one of the
handsomest adornments of the city.
COLONIAL METROPOLE HOTEL.
Mr. Thomas Tugwell, the proprietor, came from Brighton, Sussex, England, and has been in Victoria since 1858. He has been carrying on
the present business for the past three years, and has increased it to its present dimensions since entering the venture. The hotel
has a frontage of 120 feet on Johnson street, and is three stories in height. The bulk of Mr. Tugwell's trade is with transient guests, a
nd he therefore operates on the American plan. His house is lighted by electricity and provided with fire escapes. Hot and cold water
baths are at the disposal of guests. The rooms, eighty in number, are all well lighted, and the house is well ventilated. Mr. Tugwell
is a very popular man, and the large and increasing patronage is a sufficient testimony to the character and accommodations of his hotel.
M. R. SMITH AND CO., BISCUIT MANUFACTURERS.
|
|---|
