PRINCE GEORGE CITIZEN
VOL. 6, No. 75.
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C., APRIL 3rd, 1924.
 cam tb.
provincial Police Will Endeavor to Get McKinley
If Apprehended the Gun-Man Will be
Brought  Back at Expense of
the City
Latest  Vancouver Version    Is    That
Prisoner  Was   Released  on
Advice  of  Carlow
A. McNeil, chief of the provincial police, makes the announcement that the provincial authorities will make every effort to secure the return of Hoy McKinley to Prince George to stand his trial upon the charges which will be brought against him. This :icljon was taken by Chief McNeil after he became convinced there was not much prospect, of the municipal authorities making' any effort to apprehend McKinley. In the opinion of the provincial police officials it would be a travesty of justice to allow McKinley to continue at liberty after the brazen manner in which he had flouted the police officers and dictated terms to them at the point of his gun. The provincial authorities realize they are getting a late start, as the result of the delay on the part of the municipal authorities to take any action, but if McKinley can bo rounded up anywhere in Canada he will be brought back to this city and the municipal police will be required to prosecute the charge or charges against him, and assume all tho expense in connection therewith.
The Vancouver newspapers have issued a new version of the story ex-plaining the release of McKinley at Vancouver, after he had been placed � iiidcr arrest. In the first instance it was stated the Prince George auth-
FORMER RUPERT MERCHANT
DIED IN VANCOUVER
Vancouver, April 2.�Martin O'Reilly, one of the pioneer merchants of Nelson and Prince Rupert, died here yesterday, following a brief illness with pneumonia. He was sixty years old, and leaves a family of seven small children.
LABOR GOVERNMENT IS
FOR ABOLITION OF THE OBNOXIOUS SECRET TREATY
London, April 2.�Arthur Ponsby, under-secretary for foreign affairs, in moving the second reading of the bill to ratify the Lausanne treaty, dealing with the disputes between Turkey and Greece, made tne Important announcement today that in order to strengthen the control of parliament over international treaties the government has decided upon a course which would permit of the discussion by parliament of all treaties before the same are ratified. The new proposal calls for the laying all treaties on the table in both houses of parliament for a period of twenty-one days, following which the treaties may be ratified and published. This would do away with the secret treaty which has been so prominent a feature of European diplomacy.                       t
BANDITS  SECURE $265,000 FROM   HOCHELAGA  BANK MESSENGER IN MONTREAL
Montreal, April 2.�One of the most sensational robberies of bank messengers ever staged in Canada was pulled off in this city yesterday when eight bandits held up a messenger of the Hochelaga bank and made away with $205,000. The messenger put up a fight against long odds and was wounded in the encounter.    The
Completion of P. G. E. to Prince George Assured
This Will be One of the Pledges With
Which the Coming Campaign
Will be Opened
Prospect of Selection of B. C. Route
Into Peace River Ha* an
Important Bearing
Victoria, April 2.�There are signs that the decks are being cleared by the members of the provincial government for the -general elections, and that the campaign will be got under way within a few weeks. It is said the government will shortly make another pronouncement for the completion of the P. G. E. into Prince George, and that its candidates will stand behind the government in a polcy to spend up to another million dollars, if necessary, to tie the- loose end of the railway in with the Canadian National. While there is still present the problem of providing sufficient tonnage for the operation of the government line it is conceded the position would be very much bettered once the line is brought into Prince George. In any event a do-nothing policy is very damaging to the government prestige, in that it is a confession of failure. The country through which the constructed portion of the railway passes is just as good as when the government took over the con struction of the railway from the or iginal contractors. That section be tween Quesnel and Prince George is conceded to be better as producing section   than
SMALLPOX MAKES ITS
APPEARANCE IN THE
LONGWORTH DISTRICT
Smallpox, which has been more or less prevalent in the coast cities, has made its appearance in the Long-worth settlement, and Dr. C. Ewert left for that point last evening to make suitable arrangements for the isolation of the case. As a precautionary measure Dr. Ewert suggests to the heads of all families in Prince George, that they arrange for the vaccination of their children without delay. It is a matter of record that persons who have been recently vaccinated are more immune from the disease, and when attacked the fatality rate for vaccinated persons is very much lower. A fresh supply of vaccine will arrive in the city by the end of the week. It is furnished free by the provincial board of health,
ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND SHIPBUILDERS  MAY BE LOCKED OUT ON APRIL 10
Advance Guard of Esthonian Settlers Arrives
Sir John Pitka Will Pass Through the
City Tonight  With  Company
of  Seventeen
London, April 2�Unless the strike of the men in the Southampton shipyard can be adjusted by the government the country will be faced with a lockout of one hundred thousand shipbuilders. The minister of labor has the matter in hand and is hopeful of bringing about a solution which will obviate the threatened lockout. It is alleged the Southampton strike constitutes a breach of agreement by the strikers, and the employers contend  that unless it  is  officially dis-
credited    no    agreement workers is of any value.
with    the
any
traffic which
has yet been reached by the railway, and the better known the Peace River district becomes tY a larger it
it was stated the Prince George auth-   aufco upc(, by the bandits was found   looms   in   importance   in   connection orities had  been communicated Wltn | later bv  th'Q  police.     In   it was  the I with the  ultimate   future   of  the  P.
 j
had advised the
a financial position to defray the ex-pon.se of bringing McKinley back to this city, and that as a result of this information the prisoner was given his liberty.
Tho revised version, following the denial of Mayor Alward that any official of Prince George had given any such information, is that the re-lensc of the prisoner came as the. result of some information given by Ezra Carlow, who was formerly chief of the Prince George police, and who was hold up by McKinley when he soueht to arrest him. Just � what former Chief Carlow told the Van-couver police does not seem to be �>'y<'loar, and one of the'statements allcced to have been made by him is manifestly not true. The Vancouver newspaper makes Carlow say it would be useless to bring McKinley back to Prince George for the reason that R. W. MacLeod, formerly staff-sergeant in thp R.C.M.P., who was also held up by McKinley, had left the city.
Tl-e more the McKinley matter is stirred up the more complicated it becomes. It is to be regretted the nolicp authorities of Prince George have shown themselves to be so lax ;n tfcoir efforts to secure McKinley, but if ho has not already got across tho international line ho will be apprehended and the people will have a chance to find out just what is behind the whole matter.
 its     a                                 p             in   cnnect
 In   it was  the I with the  ultimate   future   of  the  P.  hody   Qf   Qne   of  the   robbers.     The   G. E.
Bank of Hochelaga has offered i re-       It will be another year before the
 later bv  thQ  police.  -          of
ward of $5000 for the apprehension of the robbers.
Vancouver Man Member of Gang of Bank Robbers
Body  Found   in  Abandoned   Auto    Is Identified as That of Paul Webster of  Vancouver
EASTER BAZAAR OF KNOX CHURCH LADIES' AID WILL
BE HELD ON APRIL 12
The annual bazaar of the Ladies' Aid of Knox church will be held in the Ritts-Kifer hall on Saturday, April 12th. Special efforts are being made to make the bazaar this year even more attractive than its predecessors, and the ladies expect to open it with an unusually attractive display of fancy work as well as a tempting assortment of home cooking of all kinds. The bazaar will open at 2 o'clock and will continue throughout the afternoon and evening- Arrangements have been made to furnish an excelent tea-room service.
ce.
Members of the ladies' organization who have agreed to furnish articles for the bazaar are requested to leave the same at Hughes & Drake's or C. <-<. Keid's stores by noon on Wednesday, April 9th, or at the committee room of th   Ldi' Aid
of the Ladies' Aid.
VANCOUVER KEEPS ITS TAX KATE DOWtf TO 31.66 MILLS
Vancouver, April 3.�As the result �t a successful attack upon the estimates of the board of works, the city
clnS,�ithe board of w�rk8| the city �uncrt has been enabled to prevent any increase in the tax rate for the  ylar    Th
 ylr'   The rate I*"  on the assessed values.
 31.66
Police   Gather  in    Two    Other    Men
Found in Possession of $16,000
in Currency
Montreal, April 3.�The police believe they Have a good chance to run down the bandits who held up the messenger of the Hochelaga bank and made away with $265,000. The body which was found in the auto, abandoned by the bandits in their flight, has been identified as that of Paul Webster, a former resident of Vancouver. Webster has a long police record in Vancouver. His criminal career began in 1909 when he was arrested on a charge of procuring. He was acquitted on this charge but later became identified with the dope ring, and was before the courts a number of times for infractions of the narcotic drugs act.
Having identified one of the bandits the police believe it will be easy to trace out the identity of the remaining seven men who had a part in the holdup. Two men have already been picked up who are believed to have knowledge of the robbery. Each of these men was in possession of $8000 in currency, which they could not satisfactorily account for. At the time of their arrest the men were in. the company of two women. The women will be held by the police for interrogation.
"|he police have identified the money found on the two men under arrest as part of that taken from the Hochelaga bank messenger. Search in the boarding house in St. Henry, in which the two men were captured, led to the discovery that the robbers had checked a number of suitcases and trunks at the Windsor street station in Montreal. The trunks carried labels of London, Paris and other European points. If the loot is in them it will be recovered at the New York end. The police are of the opinion there are but two principals in the holdup who have got away, and an effort will be made to locate them in New York.
The casualties in connection with the robbery include the chauffeur of the bank car and one robber, both being killed.
federal government will decide the route by which it will connect the Peace River up with the Canadian National system. There is a very strong possibility that the Prince George route may bo chosen by the federal govrnment, but if it is not this route would doubtless bo taken by the C. P. R., and with a connection brought into Prince George the provincial eovernment would be in a better position to treat for the dis-nosal of the line- as an entrance into Vancouver for the C. P. R. In any event the press of the province is calling upon the provincial government to do something with the railway, and it may be taken for granted that one of the first statements in connection with the approaching campaign will be an assurance by the government of its intention to complete the line as far as Prince George without further delay.
British Commons Rejects Proposal of Capital Levy
Conservatives Carry Big Majority of House With Them in Denouncing Suggestion
NEW B. C. COMPANY
SECURES  TIMBER  HOLDING IN  BELLA  COOLA  DISTRICT
The Bella Coola Logging company Ltd., is the style of a new timber or-
First  of  a  Movement   to Transplant
One Thousand Families in the
Stuart River District
The first contingent of the Esthonian (settlers who are to take up lands along the Stuart river, in the vicinity of Fort St. James, will pass through the city tomorrow evening in charge of Sir John Pitka. There are seventeen persons in the party, which includes six women. They are travelling in a colonization car which was placed at their disposal by the management of the Canadian National railway, and will probably make use of the car for a week when they arrive at Vanderhoof.
Sir John and his party will be looked after by James Smith, of Victoria, as the representative of the lands department, and by R. G. Sut-ton, local representative of the land settlement board, as both of these departments of the government service are interested in the success of this colonization venture, which gives greater promise than any other of like nature in recent years.
Sir John Pitka has been personally-over the lands which it is proposed to place the new settlers upon. He knows his people, and after carefully sizing up the local conditions he is confident they will make good in British Columbia. The lands picked out or the Esthonians are among the best in this section of the province.
Ltd., IS tne styie oi a new umuei ui- |----�-   �-
ganization   which   is   credited    with j Most of them were purchased   some having secured 'about a billion feet   ""�""" "~"   K"*    �">~ ^w.~ n,;,.*,, ^aa of timber in the Bella Coola district. It is the intention of the company to commence logging this year and it is predicted it will have 200 loggers at work  before  the  season   is  far  advanced.    The logs will be  exported to mills in the United States.
Cardinal Merrier To Have Golden Jubilee Friday
Congratulations Will Shower In Upo:
Him   for  Stand  Taken  During
the  World  War
Labor Ministry Asserts It Is the Only
Remedy But That Country Is
Not Ready for  It
London, April 3.�The house of commons rejected by a decisive vote yesterday the principle of a capital levy as the means of restoring the finances of the country. The question was introduced in the form of a resolution, which was engineered by the Conservatives in the house in order to force the government to declare its intentions in the matter of the proposed levy upon capital. Clynes, who was leading the house at the time, admitted the government could not hope to pass any such measure, and that it would be useless *or any government to attempt such action until it had the full consent of the electorate. He asserted, however, that it was the only way out for the British people; that in the end the country would be forced to adopt it in view of the crushing nature of its financial obligations. He said he could see no alternative! The resolution against the adoption of the capital levy was carried on a division of 325 to 160.
"Ruggles of Red Gap,", a picturi-zation of Harry Leon Wilson's sidesplitting story, is the feature at the Capitol this evening and for the rest of the week.
Did   Not   Fear  the   Force  of  German Authority When His Country Wa Over-run
Tomorrow will be the golden jubi lee in the priesthood of Cardinal Mercier of Berlin, and it goes without saying he will be the recipient of congratulatiry messages from all parts of thte world, as the result of his uncompromising opposition to the aggression of Germany in connection with the invasion of Belgium during the early stages of the war.
When Germany had shattered the power of Belgium, and launched its programme of murder and rapine, with the boast that it would leave the Belgians with nothing but their eyes to weep, the heroic old cardinal threw all the power of his church into the scale and issued his now famous pastoral letter in which he exhorted the Belgians to defend their rights, and denounced the Germans for their excesses. It was a hazardous thing for the cardinal to do at the time, since few were permitted to assail the German authority and continue in the field of usefulness, but in his case the Germans did not take extreme measures. They were content to order him into confinement in his residence in Malines. This they could accomplish, but they never curbed his patriotic spirit, and he continued a thorn in the side of the Germans till the close of the war. The prelate is now 73 years old, having been born as Desire Joseph Mercier, in 1851.
The Canadian National is making special arrangements for the transmission of congratulatory telegrams to the cardinal from all points in Canada, and with the reduced cable charges in effect the sending of a message is not as prohibitive as it was formerly.
/ears ago, but being some thirty-odd miles from Vanderhoof they did not lend themselves to settlement short of something in the nature of a colonization scheme, with the result that they have been allowed to fall back to the government.
With the Esthonian colony it is suggested they will create their own community, and for such travel as they will have to the railway at Vanderhoof they will have the use of an excellent highway. The small party now going on the lands,is composed not only of fanners but of artisans. They will in a measure get the site of the colony ready for the greater number who will follow later, and if the plan materializes as it has been mapped out, there will shortly be a colony of nt least 1000 families of Esthonians settled in this section of the province.
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