The New International Encyclopædia/New Westminster

NEW WEST′MINSTER. The former capital and one of the chief cities of the Province of British Columbia, Canada, on Fraser River, in the midst of the gold region, 15 miles above the mouth of the river, 75 miles northeast of Victoria (Map: British Columbia, E 5). The river at this point is about a mile wide and contains several inhabited islands. The terminus of the Great Northern Railway via Blaine is on the opposite bank. The city is the centre of considerable tracts of arable land, is delightfully located, has a fine climate, and a heavy rainfall. Its leading industry is salmon fishing, several establishments exporting the fish in cans and barrels. Other kinds of fish are caught for this trade. Fish oil is manufactured. New Westminster has also a large traffic in lumber and furs, a woolen mill, foundries, iron works, machine and carriage factories, etc. Anthracite and bituminous coal are exported. There are, in the city, Methodist and Roman Catholic colleges, the provincial asylum for the insane, the Dominion penitentiary, and public library; and New Westminster has municipal water-works, electric lights, an electric street railroad, and public parks. Population, in 1891, 6678; in 1901, 6499.