Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

THE STATIONERY DEPARTMENT 507The opening of a branch in Dawson City in 1898, followedas it was, shortly afterwards, by other branches in the northerngold-fields of the Yukon and Alaska, entailed a considerableaddition to the regular work of the stationery department.During the first two years all the fur coats, boots, and otherarticles of personal apparel required by the members of thestaff stationed in that inhospitable climate, were purchasedand shipped north by the department. There were also manynew forms and books to be prepared for use in connectionwith the business, at that time quite novel to the bank, ofpurchasing, assaying, or accepting for safe-keeping, depositsof gold dust and nuggets. The initial supply of stationery forDawson had to be put up in water-tight tin cases of a size andweight suitable for packing over the mountain passes andalong the water routes leading to the new northern branches.During the extensive alterations made to the head officebuilding in 1899-1900, a one-storey annex was erected on thestreet level at the corner of Melinda and Jordan Streets toprovide quarters for the rapidly growing stationery department.The much-needed relief from the congested quarterson the top floor of the main building, which the departmenthad occupied for some years, came not a moment too soon, forthe additional work entailed by the amalgamation of theBank of British Columbia in 1901, the opening of manybranches in the western provinces in the years which followed,and the amalgamation of the Halifax Banking Company in1903 soon taxed to the uttermost the space which had beenprovided even in the new premises. When the amalgamationof the Eastern Townships Bank came in 1912 and nearly onehundred new offices were added to the already long list ofthe bank's branches, it was found that the space occupied bythe department in the head office building was altogetherinadequate to handle the increasing volume of supplies requiredby the branches. The old quarters were given over entirelyto the printing presses and the work connected with them, andthe remainder of the stationery department was removed to