1900
Coast Miner Van Anda Newspaper1900 Coast Miner Van Anda Newspaper
Newspapers on the coast of British Columbia had been publishing for years, from Vancouver to Victoria and Nanaimo, even in Comox. A new newspaper appeared on the coast, and this newspaper did not open in a large, well-settled area; it was published on Texada Island in Vancouver, BC.
The Monday edition of January 15, 1900, rolled out for The Coast Miner, reporting on events around the Island.
The Marble Bay Opera House was hosting a social event for the bachelors of Texada Island, and a new school opened on January 8, 1900, with Miss Parsons as the teacher. The School had a mysterious fifty children who enrolled, and elsewhere on the Island, Mr. A.J. Holmes arrived from Vancouver, seeing if there was a want for a musical on the Island, as another person, Mr. Ott Marstrand, the owner of the Doering and Marstrand Brewing Company, had just come to visit the Island.
Mr. W.H. Hamilton arrived on the Island; he was a shoemaker and a mender who advertised his services to the residents of Texada and the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, Master Willie Scott had a painful accident as he cut down a tree, and it hit his arm, requiring stitches; while having it done, he asked if one should let moustaches grow, or let the girls cut them off. Willie was only 16 years of age.
Coast Miner Newspaper (click on image to enlarge)
A new Presbyterian Church is under construction, with Reverend Meddill serving as pastor. While this was happening, Samuel Britt of the Meadows cut a new road from the main road to his residence. The new Government Wharf under construction is nearing completion, according to Mr. A. Raynes, who is the foreman. The Chinese Lily, seen in many windows in Van Anda, is part of Mongolian tradition and brings luck during the New Year.
Mr. C.B. Rabson is back on Texada at Van Anda after a summer in Atlin and has acquired some valuable claims. The Texada Kirk Lake Gold Mines intends to commence work again as soon as details arrive from the head office in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mr. McLeod has largely completed his pretty cottage at Myrtle Lake farm, and several relatives and friends paid a New Year’s Day visit.
A tailor shop opened in Van Anda by Mr. G. McLeod, the brother of Mr. WH McLeod, who can now supply Texadiates with up-to-date clothing, as Mr. Kiddie is in his final year taking a course of Civil and Mining Engineering at the Western Institute at Staten Island and his friends at Van Anda look forward to his return. Mr. William Huggett, who is secretary of the Copper Mines Ltd, is building a bungalow at Van Anda and will occupy it shortly.
An election held at the Copper Queen City elected Mr. William Reid, who is foreman of the mine, as the Mayor by acclamation, and Mr. Alfred Raper Esq. is now living in the log mansion he built. Mr. H.W. Treat, a resident of Van Anda, published in the paper for a special cut-and-carry timber license near the Sechelt peninsula, on December 27, 1899.
The Marble Bay Hotel held a drilling contest on New Year’s Day. Mr. A Walters set the ball rolling, with a tug-of-war between six young valiants, Masters Jack Raper, Art Rorison, Geo. LeRoy, Masters, P. Rorison, Rod McDonald and Jo Thompson. In the drilling contest were Charles Rabson, Ed Russ, Fred Brown, Wm. Whelan, Ed Prendergast, and Wm. Clevis; all were assisted by Frank Carpenter, who supplied the water into the drill holes.
The local advertiser was the Van Anda Copper and Gold Company, and Mr. Treat, who applied for an additional cut-and-carry timber license near his other claim. Another advertisement placed in the paper was for Mr. PW Charleson, an investment broker with mining stocks, holding special lines on Van Anda Stock. Alongside Mr. Charleson’s ad was Mr. AW More, who advertised Van Anda Shares for sale.
Coast Miner Newspaper (click on image to enlarge)
Van Anda Bakery, operated by White and Tait, advertised breads, cakes and pies and all kinds of confectionery, with free delivery in Van Anda, as the Coast Miner Office advertised that they print Letter Heads, Bill Heads, Envelope Cards, order Sheets, Notices, Bills of Fare from their own office at Van Anda, BC.
Mr. Hamilton advertised his first-class materials and artistry at a shoemaker in Van Anda, as Neis was the place to get shaved or have a haircut by an expert in Van Anda. Mr. LJ Seymour, who was the Justice of the Peace at Van Anda in 1900, had a fisherman’s boat marked COE or COI 1474, which still contained everything inside, including a Winchester 44.
The announcement by the Copper Queen Mine of Van Anda that it had struck ore at 400 feet with good results prompted the Montana Copper Mine company to come to Texada Island to operate. The Cornell Mines invested $100,000 of its own money to widen many areas of its mine, including a ledge to tap into its ore. Another lead of good ore was announced on the property known as Cobledicks in the Estero Basin, by the owner of HW Treat.
Mining and Contractor supplies could be purchased through Thos. Dunn and Company, according to their ad run in the Coast Miner Paper, deals in steel and iron bars, steam pipes, fittings, and more. Letters to the editor sent to the Coast Miner give much information to others living elsewhere, one written by Pearl.
Pearl’s “Gem of the Gulf” comes across as a warm, enthusiastic portrait of Texada Island at the height of its mining boom, written in the familiar booster tone of coastal newspapers around 1900. In a single flowing narrative, Pearl describes the Island as a place where industry and beauty meet: a rapidly developing mining centre alive with new buildings, steady wages, and opportunity for anyone willing to work, yet also a healthful, scenic refuge shaped by sea air, mild climate, and striking coastal views. The letter blends personal observation with promotional optimism, presenting Texada as both prosperous and wholesome, a community rising with confidence and attracting newcomers who sense its promise. Beneath the praise lies a clear purpose—to affirm Texada Island’s reputation as the “Gem of the Gulf” and to encourage settlement, investment, and belief in its future—capturing the mood of a frontier town convinced that its best days are just beginning.
A visitor wrote to the paper, giving descriptions of the local environment, describing Van Anda as having an extensive wharf, and not a mere mining camp, with a considerable settlement of over 500 residents that contains sawmills, several stores, as many hotels, 3 barbers, a meat market, a cobbler shop, 2 bakeries, an assay office and several other businesses.
The visitor continued to write that Van Anda also had its own printing office and newspaper office, a minister, a doctor, and law and order were represented by a Justice of the Peace. The townsite, owned by the mines office in Van Anda, and all the other mines and sawmills, together with a smelter, have a payroll of nearly $15,000 weekly. While the visitor was there, two serious breaches of social etiquette occurred: one was when a gentleman pitched his wife out a window, and another was when the National Anthem was omitted at the close of a Public School entertainment. The convivial gentlemen committed another crime by erecting a flag on a pole alone.
The editor of The Coast Miner, Mr. Louis J Seymour, with his office in Van Anda, Texada Island, British Columbia, announced that the January 15, 1900, edition was the first publication after a short period of suspension, as the proprietors had erected a building for printing and plant purposes.
Coast Miner Newspaper (click on image to enlarge)
With stories from the Van Anda Copper and Gold Company properties and its erection of a smelter, to a new assay office, with additions of building roads, and enough ore to run the new smelter from the Cornell mine alone for one year. Ore bodies at the Copper Queen have increased, and dozens of new veins have been discovered on the Company’s properties in Van Anda. Even the Company-owned store is doing more business than most retail stores on the coast, including in cities such as Victoria and Vancouver.
Mr. L.J. Seymour has been endeavouring to establish a flagstaff at the new School at Van Anda; the local magistrates have been pressing the Provincial Government to appoint a Constable to reside at Van Anda, and to provide a building to house the detention of those who make it necessary, and as a courthouse. Local Member of the Provincial Assembly, Mr. Ralph Smith, has the matter under his charge, and Mr L.J. Seymour, the Justice of the Peace, will shortly be going to Victoria on the subject.
Since July 1899, 40 new houses have been built in Van Anda, and the population of Van Anda, including Marble Bay, is around 500. Elsewhere on the Island of Texada, a tailor intends to open up a business over the old schoolhouse.
An opinion piece by Mr. B.T. Sternfeld on what Texada Island looks like to a New York Expert caught the newspaper’s attention. Mr. Sternfeld is of the American Metal Company of New York. He expressed that he was highly impressed with all the mines, that they would continue operations, and that the economy on the Island was strong.
Other things that impressed Mr. Sternfeld were the smelter and the water power available for granulating the mastses and slags; as well, he himself was astonished at what had been done at Van Anda and the mines, bringing the property to its present state.
On another topic in the paper, there were concerns about the rapid progress of the Island, which needed more direct access and communication with the business centers, and that Dominion members should conduct a study on telegraphic communications with the outside world. With a mere 20 miles distance, a wire could connect Van Anda and the mines on Texada Island.
The S.S. Comox continued to service Texada Island as a coastal settlement service. It sailed every Tuesday and Saturday at 7 am for Texada Island, Lund and other ports, and every Thursday at 10 am for Sechelt, Texada Island and Lund, returning to Lund at 7 am.
The Coast Miner Newspaper, the first newspaper to be published on the Malaspina Strait, was read by many and published by one man.
Coast Miner Newspaper (click on image to enlarge)
References:
The Coast Miner newspaper, January 15, 1900 edition