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- 30 VICTORIA ILLUSTRATED.
situated as it is outside the unhealthy and (to a youth) morally dangerous atmosphere of a town, fronting on splendid recreation grounds
of 200 acres, suited for foot-ball, lacrosse, cricket and every form of manly and ennobling sport, and with boating, hunting and fishing
facilities close at hand.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
Among the recently erected public buildings is the City Hall, which cost, including site, about $160,000. It contains the general muncipal
offices and chamber. police barracks and public library ; the latter is well worthy of mention ; besides containing a well selected
assortment of some 6,000 books, to which additions are constantly being made, it has a membership of about 2,000 ; the reading rooms are
commodious and well lighted, and current literature is provided in every shape. A fine public market, of which a cut will be seen in these
pages, is another late valuable addition to the city ; the building will be used as a central market for. the city and is a very handsome
structure, being lighted by a dome in the middle and having an inside promenade gallery ex-tending around the inside of the building.
HOSPITALS.
Benevolence and charity are both exemplified in the hospitals of Victoria, of which there are three, whose functions, while practically
the same, extend each to its own noble fields. The Provincial Royal Jubilee Hospital is the finest of British Columbia ; it is one of the
gifts from the citizens of Victoria in honor of Her Majesty's Jubilee year, and dates in conception from 1887. The hospital was formally
opened on May 22nd, 1890, by H. R. H. the Duke of Connaught. The hospital is a grand structure, having cost in the neighborhood of $55,000,
exclusive of the extensive and well laid out grounds adjoining the Cadboro Bay Road. There is a large corps of surgeons, physicians and
attendants, and the interior fittings and furnishings are such as to insure the greatest possible comfort to patients. The hospital is
subsidised by the Provincial Government, and is in charge of a board of directors elected by subscribers and the Government.
St. Joseph's Hospital, which ocupies handsome grounds opposite St. Ann's Convent, was built some fifteen yearsago by the Sisters of St.
Ann, is a splendid institution, and although the order is of the Roman Catholic, the hospital makes no distinction of denomination, and
besides accommodates as many poor people as it is capable of supporting.
The Marine Hospital, which is situated on the extreme point of the peninsula opposite the city and adjoining the reservation, has been in
existence a great many years, having until 1873 occupied a wooden structure where the brick now stands. This hospital is exclusively for
the merchant marine, and is owned by the Dominion Government ; it is supported by collection of proportionate tonnage on all vessels
entering port, and these vessels have the privilege of quartering their sick at the hospital, free of charge. The collections on tonnage
was formerly confined to deep sea vessels, but the sealing schooners now avail themselves of the beneficent privileges as well, and
contribute their share toward the support of the institution. The accommodations are very commodious, and at all times far in excess of
the demand. Dr. Davie is the surgeon, while Mr. G. W. Unwin is the steward in charge.
The Naval Marine Hospital, which is used exclusively for the Royal Navy, is situated at Esquimalt.
ST. ANN'S CONVENT.
This convent, which is the most renowned of any in the great Northwest, was founded by the Sisters of St. Ann, a Roman Catholic Order,
similar to "Les Dames du Sacre Coeur," and like the latter, being a totally independent order, owning their property, making their own
rules and having their own Lady Superior. The order was first founded in Canada, near Montreal, but now extends to British Columbia and
to many parts of the United States. The grand purposes in view are : 1st, Teaching ; 2nd, Taking charge of orphans; 3rd, Visiting the sick ;
4th, Taking charge of the poor ; and 5th, Hospital work. In their educational department they take pupils without regard to sect. The
history of the institution is exceedingly interesting. The advent of the Sisters in Victoria was in the year 1858, and their first building
was a little log cabin, which can still be seen on South Park street ; they subsequently located at various convenient spots of the town
and finally put up a building on View street, and rented the adjoining building ; these are now run separately, having a kindergarten of
about 50 pupils and a day school
PROPOSED CANADA WESTERN HOTEL.
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