Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

326 HISTORY OF THE BANKcompleted at Seattle. The bank's superintendent at Vancouverwas hurriedly asked by Sir Richard McBride toprovide the sum of $1,150,000 in the United States to pay thevendors. Owing to the outbreak of war United States fundsfor such a large amount could not be purchased in the usualway, and the only alternative was to utilize the bank's goldreserves for the purpose, although just at that moment everyCanadian bank was doing its utmost to conserve and increaseits gold reserves. The bank, however, agreed to carry out thetransaction, provided the Dominion Government would makegood to it the loss of gold. The purchase of the submarineswas promptly completed and the Dominion Government paidover to the bank the gold ithad been obliged to use for thispurpose.In the early weeks of the war the panicky feeling andgeneral condition of hysteria on the Pacific Coast, caused bythe exposed position of Victoria and Vancouver, produced somuch apprehension of possible runs on the banks that thehead office decided to prepare for contingencies by largelyincreasing the supplies of available currency at the branchesin those cities. The naval situation had an important effectin more ways than one on the business of the bank in BritishColumbia. The war necessarily increased the demand inGreat Britain for one of the great staples of the province,canned salmon, the bills drawn against which the bank hadbeen accustomed to negotiate. Prior to the war consignmentsof salmon to England had been shipped by the Blue FunnelLine, across the Pacific and via the Indian Ocean and the SuezCanal. The war-risk insurance by this route rose to virtuallyprohibitive figures, and it became a matter of the utmostimportance to the bank's customers that new routes shouldbe found. For the time being the consignments were sentacross the continent to the Atlantic seaboard, the insurancerates by the latter route being somewhat lower.Perhaps the most anxious days for the bank's officers onthe Pacific Coast occurred during the first week of October,