To kill competition is theUferf our company-.--�motto of the gteamers to look at company of Ashcroft, Before C.
FORT
heral:
&jjf sno iKeried to brass naval officer's coat
8.
VOLUME 1, NO. 46
SOUTH FORT G EORGE, B.CJ, JUNE 24, 1911
$3 DOLLARS PER ANNUM
BOARD OF TRADE APPOINTS
Delegate to Appear Before Railway Commission to Adjust Telephone Rates
The monthly meeting of the Board of Trade was held in the Fourth Street Hall on Tuesday last.1 The meeting was exceptionally well attended. Amongst the mat-ters which were passed upon by the board came the question of the excessive tariff on communications by wire between this place and ithe. railroad telegraph system. The- absurdly exorbitant rates now in vouge Ji.-ive long been the subject of criticism from users of the service, and the action on the part of the board is well advised. The board passed a resolution appointing Mr. J. W. Higgins, of Winnipeg their representative to go before the Railway Commission during their session to be held in his city shortly, for the purpose of investigating western tolls, and bring to their attention the exorbitant tariff between Asheroft and Kort George, with a view to their adjudication. A committee of three were also ap-
pointed to take up with the local management of the Fort George und Alberta Telephone Company, the necessity of instituting direct communication between this town und Blackwater, without passing messages through-the* Central Fort George office. The necessity of a: regular inspection of the sanitary condition of the town was also dwelt upon, and the secretary was instructed to communicate with Dr. Pagan',' provincial medical health officer, for information regarding the slatutary conditions governing this matter in unorganized communities. The question of lire protection was again brought up and the ad-vislbility of organizing to install,a water system was also discussed favorably. Other matters "of minor importance were passed upon.
The secretary was instructed to buy himself a typewriter. �
100-SQUARE- MILE-RESERVE LIFTED
� The throwing open of the lands surveyed last year for the governemnt by J. A. Harvey, lying between the mouth of the Big Salmon River, or the north Fork of the Fraser, and Grand Canyon, leaves over 100 square miles open for alienation by pre-omptors under section 8 of the Land Act. This section reads as follows:
8. Any person desiring to pre-empt surveyed land must make application in writing to the Commissioner of the district in which the land is situate to record such land, and in such application the applicant must give the surveyed description of the land intended to be.recorded, and enclose a sketch plan thereof, and such description and plan shall he in duplicate; the applicant shall also make before a Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, or Commissioner, and furnish the Commissioner with, a declaration hi duplicate, in the Form No. 2 in the Schedule hereto; {ip be supplied by^�ny J. P. or the Commissioner.) and if,the applicant shall in such declaration /make any statement, knowing the same to be false, he shall have no right at law or in equity to the land the reconpoT which he may have obtained by making of such declaration.
th
Provided, however, that in cases of the survey of, lands by the 'Crown, or of lands the survey of which has boon gazetted, in which, the area of a lot, or of a subdivision of a township, exceeds one hundred and sixty acres, the Chief Commissioner of Lands shall have power to permit of a pre-emptor recording such lot or subdivision, but such excess area shall in no case be more, than twenty acres:
Provided further, that any person desiring to pre-empt in a quarter section of land, being a subdivision of a township, or a portion of a surveyed lot, the survey of which has been gazetted, must' confine such application to one particular quarter of such section or lot, or legal subdivision thereof; and shall not be permitted to include any portion of another quarter-section, or lot, or any additional land outside, tne boundaries thereof.
This section of the Land Act applies to all the land above referred, to.
The land thrown open is in no instance further than three or four miles from the Fraser River, whilst many of the sections irieandecthe shore line on one of the boundaries. The country, generally speaking, is flat and lightly wooded.
WILL BUILD BOAT FOR UP-RIVER
Mossre. Russell Peden and \\."P\ Cooke, of the Northern Lumber Company are taking" the initial steps towards the construction of a high power steamboat to ply lx:tween South Fort-George and Ttfte Juane Cache, In an interview with The Herald'Mr. Cooke states that it was the intention of the company to build a boat modelled after the wrecked "Chilco" but carrying more
power And ofMighter draft. No defenite arrangements have yet been made, and no details are forthcoming nt present, but it is highly probable that the Northern Lumber Company will commence the construction of their boat at South Fort George next winter. "She will be named the 'Tete Juane", said Mr Cooke, "and will have enough power to climb a tree."
THE COUNTRY THE G. T.P.
Jt is now six years ago since the Gl T. P. preliminary survey parties took iMe field between Edmonton and Prince Rupert to blaze out a low gradient route on that part of the western division � and got it. They obtained a maximum grade to the Pacific ocean of six tenths-of one per cent and in crossing the mountains only one summit was encountered, the maximum altitude of which is only 3,712 feet, considerably lower than any other road on the continent, and every other road passes over two or more summits in crossing the western range. These conditions are due to the fact that the ranges of mountains on the .western portion of the America'n continent, which have their origin in Mexico, reach their maximum altitude in the region of the 40th parallel of latitude, from which they gradually recede to the north. Knowing this geological fact the. G. T. P. engineering department detailed R. L. Orde, to run a rapid preliminary survey through the Pine River Pass from the western end six^years ago, whilst W*n. Grahamo left Edtjumtqn to tie onto Ord's line from the eastern end. We believe that these engineers^found the Pine River pass to offer-the lowest gradient through the mountains, of any pass yet discovered, and had it not been for the engineering difficulties encountered on both; the eastern and western approaches the G. T. P. might have located through that pass
South Fort 'George requests that the Government of the Province of British Columbia .build a school on this townsite, for the education of the school children under proper circumstances, and amid proper surroundings; the people of this school district being billing to stand the taxation, incurred in building. This was the effect of a motion passed before tmTBoard of Trade, here last Tuesday^ j^certainly ~ devolvesWipon the 'department pi education to take the matter up immediately, and remedy the deficiency. There a� now aomerfifteeawhit� children -hero ot tfte school age/ with about the same toimbf half-broo^ The_whooJ here lit
instead of through the Yellowhead. The line, now located is second to none in the annals of transcontinental construction across the north American-conlinent. It is superior in ..every way to the C.P., R. and traverses a richer country. The western division is divided into the prairie section and the mountain section; the former ^extending from Winnipeg, via Edmonton to' Wolf Creek, Alberta, a distance of about 900 miles, and the latter from Wolf Creek to Prince Rupert, through the Yellowhead Pass via the Fraser River, Fort George and tjie' Nechaco dhd Bulkley valleys, to Hazelton, and down thej Skeena to-the Pacific terminus, a distance of about .840 miles. The embryo city of SouthJPort George is the hub of the mountain section, and by the surveyed routg/dt .the road it lies almost exactly hair way between Edmontonrand Prince Rupert, and although situated more remotely than any other point of importance along the route of the oncoming steel there is more development here today than at any otherx point not. yet reached;by the construction locomotive. ^Situated. in the. very heart^of this big province, at the junction of the great water arteries on the north, which must be followed by ^railroads traversing the-central interior from or to any point of the compass Fort George bids well to become one of the big cities of'the Doijn-iniori. Watch it. - , . � i
the present time is.a -building erected fori office purposes on Fourth St. The trustees! pay a rent of $30 a monlh for the'4)uilding. Every little hamlet along the Cariboo Road-has its school house, whilst in South Fort George, the metropolis of the northi a place recognized- from the Atlantic to the Pacific as the site of one of Canada's future cities, the pioneer children imbibe their knowledge in~a 15x30 rented office. Wfe feel confident that after, receiving ~ the Board of Trade, memorial that Dr. Young .Minister oir Education, will take steps to] provide the necessary '
Local and Provincial
x George E. McLaughJin, local- manager of tlie^Northern Development Co., nas completed" plans for the erection of a five room bungalow on his lots ofrerooking the Fraser river on Houston Av., and Seventh Street.
The Northern Development Co., have a crew at work clearing out Ninth street.
fat Campbell is redecoruting the interior of his stationery store.
A number of fruit trees arrived from the experimental farm at Grand Forks recently addressed to A. G. Hamilton. The trees are being distributed by Mr. Hamilton to the agriculturally inclined. We hope, in time to see these experiments bear fruit.
('has. Houser has completed the enumeration of. the census here, and starts today for Fraser Lake and Nechaco by canoe, up the Nechaco River. Henry Couture accompanies Mr. Houser as canoe man.
The two-color bills, advertising the First of July Celebrations in South Fort George, are. now posted from Winnipeg to Vancouver. As the waters are receding, we believe that the steamer B. X. will make an excursion trip to meet the date. Everyone who visits this burg on July the first will have pleasant recollections ; to take away with the-m, and should they wish to invest in property around here, no better opportunity could be presented of c&m-bining their business trip with J-he pleasure of seeing this remote but rustling townlet en fete, and in gala attire. When South Fort George takes the pleasure, trail en-masse, they do the thing thoroughly. Fifteen hundred dollars have been subscribed for distribution in prizes for the various events on the sporting programme. The dance, to be held in the evening, may, with certainty, be forecasted as "one of the most brilliant .social affairs of the season," and the fireworks display promises to make the lunar system sit up und take notu*. �
Trappers and others from the woods inform us that the snow from the lower levels of the foothills has disapeared entirely. The highest water that we shall- experience this year, we believe, has .now passed, though, as a rule the high water stage is not reached until. Jnly of August. The hot weather experienced three weeks ago was responsible for the rapid melting of the snow in the lower levels, causing the rise in the Fraser which has checked navigation.
The Canadian Pacific Railway commenced construction through a wilderness in June 1881 and completed the line in November, 1885. When the G. T. P. started out to build a line across Canada with the C. P. ft. to feed their construction ^territory from the south, they set the end ofNhe present year as a date for, final completion* General manager Chamberlain,'now says 1913. Back in Toronto Charlie Miller chuckles N^ith glee. 'Tis an ill wind � � \
For the first time in history the Nechaco River townsite has "put one over" South Fort George. Our city's loss was the base-, ball game played /-on the Hammond circus ground >last Thursday. Souti Fort George was not represented by their standard team. The game ended 11 to 8 in favor of Central "without any fighting over the decision. The umpire escaping unhurt. This appears to be merely a preliminary event for the chajm-pionship. Baseballs fly as thick as bees on the streets here now, and the thud of the .caught balls resembles the exhaust of a isteam engine. It seems ,a pity that South Fort George, having such a vastly greater population should have let the suburban burg mage a '.'get-away.f'
. The Nechaco townsite dribbling-bib, alias the Fort George Tribune," printed an inch or so of desparaging remarks, levelled at the Herald editor, last week. The Natural Resources Security Company, owners of the dribbling:bib, apparently can't find anything worse than an "ex-deck hand" to call the Herald scribe. We don't blush at all before the accusation. Yes, the Herald's editor and owner did serve his apprenteship in the'British merchant marine. 'Tis not like being dubbed in the public print a "get-rich-quick swindler, wire tlapper and jailbird," is it �George Hammond? To either the moon-faced type-pickeri who feeds the townsite company's housejorgan to their multitude of dupes, or to the .Albino man-/agbr of the townsite company, who has supervision of its columns, we attribute the "attack" of last week. Oh! you fools. Both those promoters-m^hops are" ex-employees of the Northern Interior Printing Company Limited, and we have their mental gauge, which is microscopical. The editorial end of The Tribune is not definitely allotted to any one man. The columns; are for the pur; pose. of. inducing long distance investment, and any contributions, by 1jhe gamboling crowd of townsite puppets,. Which help in any manner to serve; thig, end, aTe seized with avidity, and published in its columns. Gb-to-it, yoiTTGditorB all. The Herald cares
A COMMUNITY WITHOUT A JAIL
When Government Agent C. W. Grain, of Barkerville, was here making the preliminary arrangements for the erection of the government buildings here, his attention was directed to the necessity of having a jail built here immediately. We understood that the matter was referred to'the department of justice in Victoria, but nothing absolutely nothing, has been done. The mix-up which enveloped the government building location hereabouts evolved the losing of the jail, which was provided for in the initial plans of the government, in the shuffle, as the Victoria diplomatists who settledxthe- claims of rival townsites to the location of the buildings in the un-unique manner of placing them off neutral ground, omitted to consider the fact that it was too remote a spot from the populated area to
serve as a jail, so the steel cells continue to W rust in the "B. X." warehouse. Government ' Agent Grain witnessed the "running-in" of one drunken nigger and two drunken white men whom the constable locked up in the government warehouse; The majesty of the law received a cruel jolt- some moments after the sensational arrests, when n government teamster, going in for some hay to feed a government horse, inadvertantly released the bevy of drunks. The Hammond-ville hurry-up waggon happened along at this juncture and saved the authorities any . further trouble by deporting them Nechaco- . wards, where they belonged. That is a fair sample of the manner in which the majesty of the law is upheld here today, for no matter how conscientious a- constable may be, without a' jail his authority is a joke.
HIGH WATER PARALYSES BUSINESS
Owing to the high water in the Fraser riyer and consequent upon the non ^arrival of steamboats for that reason, conditions^ are quiet here at the present time. The industries are unaffected, the labor market remaining the same, but there appears to be no surplus of idle men here, which is a good sign, as in the beginning of the season we had feared a flooding of the market. The large employers * of labor are full handed. Both saw mills are running, daily, and building throughout the townsite continues unmodified. It is evident that we are now
experiencing a lull, pending~ttie storm of rapid development which will break upon us with the settlement of the Indian Reserve question. This matter we believe without^ doubt, having interviewed the Indians and "ascertained their feelings, will be settled when again brought up. in August. The realty market is quiet, few transactions having been recorded lately. Values remain unaltered. The mercantile houses report business hrisk. People who are waiting the settlement of the Indian Reserve question before coining in should be prepared to get here about August loth.
WILL
INCORPORATION
Active steps are.at last being taken to incorporate South Fort George a municipality. 'Tis well considered. In the days of old, when rival cities grew up, whose populace strove each to the undoing of the other, occasionally they would gird on their armor and sally forth, en masse, to do a "small deed of arms," and retire, covered with victory, or gore, or both. Those good old days are gone now. Diplomacy, subterfuge, guile and graft have taken the place of the shield and buckler; legislative halls substitute the gladiator's arena, and the ballot-box usurps the concourse of the trysting day. Although the evolution of the world's progress has brought about this state of events exceptional conditions sometime upset the established order of things, and though the laws of the land apply impartially to the entire territory within their radius of jurisdiction, whether it be the congested cities or the sparsely populated hinterlands, their en-' forcement in these remoter fields is difficult to the governors and oftimes unfair to the governed. Take as an "instance of this argument the rising city, of South Fort '.George on the banks of the Fraser river three hundred miles from the nearest railroad point, and for five months in the year, by climatic conditions, marooned from communication with the world outside save by waggon or sleigh. - "But here are a vigorous fighting people. They are building a city far in advance of the approaching railroad, in the very path of the steel monster that is creep-/ ing\through the mountains to nourialrand" clothe\them with every modern convenience and luxury, which have been voluntary foregone pending the arrival of the iron horse. And the government applies the same laws to these people\and their city that rule the
motley throng in the southern centres of industry where every condition differs. The man whose ministry rules this province has visited our city in its infancy. We dined and wined him and shook his hand, made speeches lauding his praises^-for everyone admires his magnificient political ability� but what were his impressions V Premier Mc-Bride "saw this rough" diamond of a city from no point of vantage. He saw the conflict in which we were engaged with another townsite., enormous, but lethagic and practically unpopulated; he saw our city beginn.-" ing to take shape frotai the efforts of independent sources, but when it^dame to choosing between the city and the townsite for the location of government buildings his government refused JLo act in accordance with the public wish, but compromised by making their^offices a half-way house. They considered only the fact that there were two towns here, one controlled by the people, ' the other by the "interests" and that^it be politic to offend neither of these factions, so. they compromised. They wor^v sell lots in this townsite as a matter of "public policy", probably evolved^ut of a merited horror of seeming to^favbr any one community, and so ixCr they haven't spent a bean on street/improvements, and the business blocks/they own in the centre of town are devoid of sidewalks and littered with shacks. And now "the people of this city are going to ask the government to allow them to incorporate and rule their municipal des-, tiny to conform with the local requirements of the time and place, as soon as-the statutary conditions governing the incorporation of cities can be fulfilled. Will the right of home-rule be granted?
less than the value. pf''a Hammond town-site lot for the squeakings of the townsite organ, or the persecution of its promoters.
The steamer Chilcotin leftsSoda Creek on Wednesday, loaded with freight for South Fort George. .
The body of a man identified by constable Anderson of Quesnel, as that of the man Newcombe, who committed suicide by jumping off the B. X. wharf here with his pockets full of 'rocks, was discovered in the river near* a cordwood camp below Quesnel last week. The Cariboo Obsery-er says: On the body was found a Waltham watch, a chain and key chain, but no money. The clothes were half.torn off the body, and from the appearance of�, the. remains Mr. Little came to i\\e conclusion that it had floated down with! the headxand upper part of the body scraping on the bottom, while the legs floated frjse, as, the head was almost worn off.
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Quesnel is hard up for news these days, since the proprietors of this journal sold out the Cariboo Observer there it dishes up this sort of stuff: �
"Mosquito Lotions at Allisons.'' \
"Elliott will press'your plants.^ (abbreviated article.)
1 "Strawberry-shortcake at the Cariboo." ("Blanch Curtiss fell and cut her left hand, it is healing nicely." (abbreviated article.)
"A band, of sheep arrived. A bunch of horses left." (abbreviateq items.) .�(Excerpt.) "On motion of Mrs. B�y, seconded by Mrs Mc-na it was decided to purchase mattress protectors for the! hospital."
On Thursday lngt the Crown of England was lifted upon the head of George the Fifth, by the Archbishop of Canterbury in Westminister Abby. All over the great British Empire the day was observed as a public holiday by his majesty's subjects. The King is the second son of the late King Edward the Seventh. He was born June 3rd., 1865 and married the Princess Victoria Mary of Teck on the 6th of July 1893. A monarch has an appalling load of responsibility cast upon his shoulders by the spectacular ceremony of the coronation. �� The great golden crown of England is the nation's emblem of monarchic authority. When the Priimate of all England crowns the nation's king, he rests upon him also the -divers powers and tremendous diplomatic responsibilities of the monarchy � and Britishers should find a glow of pat^ riotistn whenever his image is encountered, remembering his life's work;for the nation. There can't be much fun in being a king. He must sign death warrants; advise a]nd council his ministers; mold! the diplomatic relations of his nation; strengthen the hand of charity and perform an endless vista of publig functions, fulU-of pomp and show, . and a terrible" conventionality. A king can't enjoy life like his subjects do. To a western man, who loves life on the edge of things in God's big world, the idea, if ever analysed, of having one's life, be decree of heredity, bound compulsory to an endless outlook of display and appalling responsibilities 'twood be inconcicvably awful. Nothing
4but worfcr^ for the nation.. .. .___
God save the King. !'
�A.''--''�'.