and the movement is regarded as not successful. The new provisional government has discharged the commission, appointed some months ago to make a thorough inquiry into the conditions and necessities of the agricultural industry NEW SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC GENERATION. During the past month, the work of conducting power from the Sooke Mountains, 18 miles distant from the city, for the tramroad and the illumination of Victoria by electricity has been completed. The water from the mountains starts 2,300 feet above the level of the sea, and is the highest fall in Canada. About 700 feet above sea level and 16 miles from Victoria, these waters form a lake covering 150 acres, into which empties Goldstream River, which is tapped 3 miles from its source by an artificial lake or reservoir covering 71⁄2 acres, 1, 122 feet above sea level. From this reservoir the water passes through a steel pipe, 33 inches in diameter, 6,700 feet to the power house of the electric company, which is 460 feet above sea level, thus giving a fall of 1,000 feet from the main lake, and through which 15,000,000 feet of water pass every twenty-four hours, and forming 1,500 horsepower. In The practically inexhaustible supply of water is regulated by automatic governors, insuring steady action of the dynamos. the power house located at the foot of a mountain is an electric plant without a rival for size and completeness on the North Pacific coast. All electrical machinery has been furnished by an American firm (Hasson & Hunt, of San Francisco). From the power house the electric current is carried on six copper wires, twenty one-hundredths of an inch in thickness, 12 miles to the city, and furnishes power sufficient to operate the street-car and electric-light systems, and offices and factories in addition. Besides furnishing this motive power, the water is excellent for drinking purposes and is now used throughout the Esquimalt Peninsula, including the British naval station and Victoria West. It is the largest work of the kind in western Canada, and after an inspection of the mammoth machinery, the miles of ditching and piping, the dam construction, the amount of general work accomplished, and its successful result, the expense of nearly $250,000 incurred does not seem excessive. ADDITIONAL SERVICE WITH SAN FRANCISCO. A new schedule is announced for the steamship service between Victoria, Puget Sound, and San Francisco. For several years past the steamers have left every fifth day, but in view of the increased traffic, a semiweekly service is to be inaugurated next month. MINING ON VANCOUVER ISLAND. Considerable interest has been awakened during the past month relative to mineral deposits on the west coast of Vancouver Island. New veins of copper, coal, and gold have been found. A United States company is operating near Alberin, and the ore mined by them has been assayed in paying quantities; the company has several stamps running, and employs over 200 men. ABRAHAM E. SMITH, VICTORIA, September 2, 1898. Consul. DAWSON CITY AND THE GOLD FEVER. Consul McCook has sent the Department of State an undated report from Dawson City (received September 12, 1898). Mr. McCook says: Dawson City, probably the largest mining camp in America, is built on a bog or swamp and contains a shifting population which now numbers about 20,000. Forty thousand prospectors have passed through here from the White and Chilkoot passes. Most of them had a year's provisions. Hundreds are going away daily, not being able to stay long on account of the cost of living. A dinner costs $2.50, and breakfast and lunch $1.50. Lodging is $1.50 per night in a bunk, and a hotel charges $6.50 for a bed per night. The price of property in the business locality is enormous. A lot of convenient size upon the main street can not be had under $40,000. Lots in a bog off Main street bring from $5,000 to $10,000. To rent a log cabin costs $200 per month. With the exception of the warehouses, the theaters, dance halls, saloons, and gambling houses are about the only establishments which can afford these terms. Along the river, ground leased from the authorities brings $10 per front foot per month. This, with the 10 per cent royalty charged on the gross output, yields a very large revenue. The prevailing price of labor is $1 per hour, but there are so many idle hands waiting for employment that the supply exceeds the demand and may bring the price down. Still, there is the greatest activity in the erection of large buildings and warehouses. Most of the prospectors who are coming to Dawson City leave for camps in United States territory, since, apart from the country in the immediate vicinity of Dawson, which has all been staked off, this is the most promising field. But even here, out of more than 5,000 placer claims and 2,000 bench claims, only 200 have thus far paid to work. A great many have not yet been prospected and will have to be given up to the Crown, because one condition of the grant is that every person having a claim must work it continuously for three months each year. Ninety days' labor at $10 a day is a good deal to risk upon one claim, and a good many who can not afford it will surrender them. The creek claims have been reduced in size from 500 to 250 feet. ooo. Estimates of last year's output range from $8,000,000 to $12,000,Work has largely been confined to Bonanza and Eldorado creeks. Dominion, Sulphur, and Eureka creeks will be opened up next winter, as they promise good results. One can not prospect in summer, as the pits which are dug then fill with water. It is by the merest chance that one may strike a rich claim. No poor man should sell out and come here. Organized companies with capital will do much better, as they can hire work much more cheaply than individuals. In a report dated August 24, Consul McCook further emphasizes the distress among the prospectors in and around Dawson City, and strongly advises no one to join in the hunt for gold unless he has at least enough provisions to last over winter, and enough money in bank to take him home if he is unsuccessful. The consul says he is appealed to daily by men who have no money and can not get work, and he advises such of them as are able to travel to go to St. Michaels, where, he is informed, the Government is arranging to take care of them by putting them in communication with friends in the United. States. STRIKES IN GERMANY IN 1897. In spite of the Empire's numerous and almost paternal efforts to advance the material interests of Germany's working classes, discontent with existing conditions is increasing. This is evident in the enormous and steady growth of socialism; but it is more particularly localized in the increased number of strikes. In 1896, there were 483 strikes in this Empire, with 128,808 persons actively participating. They lasted, altogether, 1,923 weeks and cost, in actual expenditures out of labor-organization funds, to say nothing of the losses in wages, 3,042,950 marks (about $714,000). In 1897, there were 578 strikes, actively participated in by 63,119 persons. They lasted 1,921 weeks, and consumed, exclusive of wages, etc., about $362,000. Thus the number of strikes was 95 less, the number of persons participating less by 65,789; the duration was about the No. 2188. same, and the expenditures smaller by about $361,000. This difference is due to the strikes by the dock laborers and textile workers in 1896, in which 55,510 persons took part. Among the trades, workers in wood led with 64 strikes, 12,036 persons participating, and the expenses being about $42,364. Shoemakers follow with 52 strikes, 6, 193 participants; formers, with 50 strikes and 2,132 persons; metal workers, 29 strikes and 2,023 persons; workers in tobacco, 24 strikes and 625 persons. Participants, as a rule, seek employment in other places, and are supported out of the funds till work is found. Workers in the same branch, if enrolled in a labor organization, are not allowed to go into a boycotted shop. In view of the extensive manufacture and sale of artificial mineral waters in this country, the Hungarian Minister of the Interior (as the supreme public health authority) has issued a new ordinance, according to which licenses to manufacture artificial mineral waters may be issued only to druggists or chemists holding diplomas. The erection of factories for such manufacture will be permitted only after expert examination. The local authorities are expected to care for the regular medical supervision of such factories. The names of domestic or foreign natural mineral waters may not be made use of. It is also forbidden to use the same bottles, jars, capsules, corks, stamps, or trade-marks for artificial mineral waters as for natural mineral waters of similar composition; and the word "artificial" must be marked in large letters on all vessels containing artificial mineral water. The name of the manufacturer and the place of manufacture is to be plainly written on the label. These regulations are enforceable by fine, and, in case of repetition, by fine and imprisonment. Failure to observe the regulations may be punishable by the revocation of the manufacturer's license. In connection with this ordinance of the Hungarian minister, it may be pointed out that mineral waters form one of the principal articles of export to the United States from Budapest and the surrounding locality. The brands now exported are the "Hunyádi János," "Apenta," and "Francis Joseph" aperient waters, from Budapest; the "Lajos" aperient water, from Komárom (Komorn); and the "Salvator" lithia water, from Heperjes (Eperies). Under the United States tariff law of 1894, owners of mineral springs in foreign countries were obliged to certify that the water exported by them to the United States was in no way prepared by manufacture. As such certificate was required at the production of each invoice of water, the people of the United States were in some degree protected again st artificial imitations of the genuine Hungarian bitter waters. Under the United States tariff law of 1897, however, natural and artificial waters are admitted under like conditions of payment of duty, and a certificate of origin has been dispensed with. FRANK DYER CHESTER, BUDAPEST, July 27, 1898. Consul. TRADE OF NEWCASTLE. Consul Goding sends from Newcastle, July 31, 1898, a newspaper clipping giving a report of the trade at that port for the first six months of 1898, as follows: The quantity of coal exported, compared with corresponding period of the previous year, was: |