orMe en An Independent Weekly Newspoper Deroted to the Intel \ of Central and Northern British Columbia Li. 32; � No. 15 Prince George, B.C., Thursday, 2 ril 14, 1949 10c peV Copy; $3.00 a Year PREMIER JOHNSON DUE THURSDAY lig Welcome Planned by B.o.T. or Guests of /Peace/ Convention Due Thursday t From Peace River, Williams Lake, Quesnel, Wil Crowd City For Banquet and Other Festivities The Hon. Byron I. "Boss". Johnson, Premier of British )lumbia; will arrive in Prince George on Thursday, inaugurating the mpst important convention yet held here�the Peace ?iver Railway convention, sponsored by the Board of Trade. During his stay he will be a guest of the Board of Trade 3ilroad committee. The Board of Trade and the City Council are making xtensive preparations to receive and suitably entertain their onored guest, who has found time to come to the Interior in oite of very burdensome other duties in Victoria and in con- ction vvith the reported coming elections. The Premier will be accompan-ed by Percy C. Richards, his xecutive assistant and J. M. Ste-art, Deputy Minister of Railways. Simultaneously there will arrive in Prince George numerous elegates from cities and vil-interested in the extension cftbe P.G.E. to the Peace Riv-p area. I In Prince George, the- Premier his suite, will receive at first nd the opinions of leading busl-i men on the necessity of ex-the P.G.E. not only to nee George but farther north. DRGE MURRAY [Delegates representing chara-; of commerce, boards of trade, to the Peace" associations, Councils and municipalities come from Fort St, John, wson Creek, Quesnel, Wells, i Lake, Pemberton. Van= Lilloet, Fort St James, ouver and many other places, urge' Murray, Cariboo riding eral candidate, is expected, Prince George City Council meet the Premier in full ength. |Preparations ?or the visit of Premier have taxed members the Board of Trade Reception \ bmmlttee and especially Charles APPEAL Charles Alblns, chairman �f the railroad committee of the Prince <;eorge Board of Trade, appeals to ail merchants, storekeepers to keep ihfir store lights burning on �he nights of Wednesday Thursday. Specially at-�n�tive window displays *ffl also help to impress our J�it�rs, which include the Premier. chairman of the railroad to the utmost. here has been the question of ag funds for the guests, in �etton with which a special has gone out to all board '� members and all public-bhiolcltizens and companies. � of registration, trans- I tn^)mmodaUon and dinners \t0 be arranged. council has 'No More Warnings' Says Police Chief "Drivers are still breaking the city parking bylaw," Cpl. Norman O. DeWitt stated yesterday. "We have warned them once and we are not going to warn them any more." Cpl. DeWitt revealed that while there was no minimum sentence Man - in - Street Wins Battle Of the Bottle We don't'know how it started, or who started it, but soft drinks were selling in Prince George for seven cents per bottle at most stores and restaurants yesterday. Reports gave the credit for the three cent price reductions to soft drink manufacturers, retailers and bottlers, to say nothing of the man in the street. One restaurant owner stated that ginger ale might prove an ex- """V'VL'i' "p""-":-1- i ception to the rule in some cases for infringement of this law, the | or,,, wn,,\* ~~n e~.. ~i_i-* HON. BYRON I. JOHNSON Premier of British Columbia maximum sentence constituted a j fine of $100. "Parking must be parallel to j and within 12 inches of the curb. and not within 15 feet of a hy-; drant.or 20 feet of a pedestrian' crossing lane," he said quoting,! from the city parking bylaws. Parking in lanes is forbidden, he stated. \ Complaints from merchants' that the space in front of their j stores was completely taken up | with cars during most of the day in such a manner that their customers had no place to park, resulted in a police survey which revealed that the majority of the cars belonged to the storekeepers who were making the complaints. "In any case where a merchant has space behind his place of business to park his car, without parking it on the lane, I would advise them to do so in order to keep space on the streets available for their customers," the police chief concluded,. Lard has dropped again, it is now selling at 23-25 cents a pound. and would sell for eight cents per bottle. WHOLESALE PRICE Herb Rose, proprietor of Rose's bottling works, stated to a "Citizen" reporter yesterday that he was wholesaling soft drinks at $1.20 per case of 24 bottles, or five cents per bottle. "We are very pleased with the reduced price," said Mrs. Roy $500 Gift Holiday Weather TOMORROW IS GOOD FRIDAY'. All retail stores wiTl be closed on Friday and Monday. Your holiday weather will be cloudy, warm with occasional showers. Forecast for today and Friday�overcast with occasional light rain in Bulkley Valley region beginning this evening. Light winds, little change in temperature. IN THIS ISSUE Editorials, Roving Reporter ...... 2 Letters to Editor ...:.................... 3 Classified.................................. 8 Curlers' Banquet...................... 9 Community Centre ........... 11-14 Churches..............................�... 17 SAcBride.................................. IS Women .......................... 20-21 Children .................................... 24 port ....... .25 tentative program for the the Premie]- is as af*ernoon: xegistra- banquet room of the ge Hotel. n K evening f' "X an organizational w the new Peace River Association at which of- ?Tll nanv ? and objects of formulated. Great Drive Launched For Community Centre With Target of $150,000, Public Spirited Effort is Greatest of Several Fund-Campaigns Under Way Two great drives, one aiming at the public in general, and the other limited first of all to the Anglican community, were launched this week. The Prince George Memorial Comunity Centre launched its great drive to. raise $100,000 in the form of cash, pledges of cash, or pledges of labor to erect an educational and recreational centre. Cafe, whose premises were covered with small stickers advertising Coca-Cola at seven cents per bottle. "We have been waiting for this for a long time." "This is the cheapest price at which soft drinks have ever been sold in this part of the country." said H. Gook, Coca-Cola bottler of Quesnel, who works in collaboration with Herb Rose of Prince George. "We are lowering the price in Quesnel this morning. We could not sell any cheaper because there is not the population to sustain a greater volume of sales. "I would like to thank "The Citizen' for their campaign, which created enough interest to enable the wholesalers to put over the reduced price." For full details of the Memorial Community Centre drive, see pages 11-14. Many promises of substantial support have already been received. |V The Anglican Church drive, to erect a new building on the site already acquired, is directed this week to members of the congregation. Scope of the drive will be widened when this phase of the campaign has been concluded. ELOQUENT APPEAL Major C. Warrander of the Salvation Army who is visiting the City from Prince Rupert, made an impa8sionate and eloquent appeal for the Memorial Community centre at a dinner held in the Prince George hotel last night. John Mclnnis, M.L.A., Inspector W. Grant and W. Beaton, Canadian Legion president also spoke in support of the drive. Meeting was under the chairmanship of Alec Bowie. Major Warrander said: "The Prince Rupert Centre has provided many facets of community activity which did not exist before. We have brought fine musical talent from the United States that would not have come here but for the size of our auditorium. "By erecting a Centre you are directing the f�Set of young people into the right avenues and these will build upon the Legion President , , �-~ dele- taken on an lnform-farty will then go to to meet the Premier., VM include executives ' youa� - -ams Lake "On to the' foundations which you provide and any mem- * 10 the airport to take "Contributing to a cause such sis this Is not spending, It Is ln- f th L i r^ott *� take sis this Is not spending, It Is wm me to and pro- vesting in the best sense of the JOHNSON, W. "BILL" BEATON 'Every Member Pehind It' Page 4) Easter Post Office Hours E. H. Burden, city postmaster, announces this week that the Post Office will be closed tomorrow and Monday except for the following hours. Friday, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. During the Easter week-end and on Friday and Monday all mails received and dispatched will be handled as follows. John Mclnnis Leaves John Mclnnis, M.L.A., leaves today to attend the CCF conven- Chuck Thomas To Be CCF. Candidate? Chuck Thomas, member of the provincial executive of the CCF, left on Tuesday to attend the CCF convention in Vancouver. Afterwards he will attend a nominate ing convention in the Okanagan. Dame Rumor says that Chuck will allow his name to go in as a candidate for one of the Okanagan constituencies. Lost But Found We're honest citizens. Yes Sir, we certainly are�some of us. Mrs. C. Cu mm ings of Prince George left her purse in the Wayside Irfn on Sunday night. The purse contained nearly $200 in cash. She went to the cafe on Monday to report her loss and the purse was handed to her with contents intact by Harry Chow, the manager. He refused a reward. Earthquake Kills Six in United States Six people were killed and more than 50 injured by.a severe earthquake shock which rocked buildings in Seattle and along the Pacific coast yesterday morning. The Lower B.C. Mainland felt the shock. The Marine Building in Vancouver swayed and office workers rushed into the street. Traffic over the Patullo Bridge was halted temporarily as the bridge swayed. There were no casualties in B.C. H. G. T. PERRY, who was recently elected president of the B.C. Liberal Association (see story on page 10), has sent a telegram from Vancouver to the executive of the Memorial Community Centre, promising a donation of $500. Toronto Three Up Over Detroiters Toronto Maple Leafs took the third straight game from Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals last night in Toronto by a score of 3-1. Jack Stewart, hefty defence player for Detroit, opened the scoring m the first period." - Halfway through the second Bill Eze-nicki tied the count with assists from Gardner and Watson. "Teeter" Kennedy put the Leafs ahead seconds later on passes from Smith and Mackell. Harry Mort-son, Toronto defenceman, scored Toronto's third goal within a minute on passes from Thompson and Klukay. Maple Leafs back-checked stubbornly to hold the Red Wings from there in. At one time in the second period the winners playcrl two men short. "Turk" Broda, Kennedy and Lindsay, were the three stars. Fourth game will be played Saturday in Toronto. (See GREAT DRIVE, Page 4) tion in Vancouver. Special Notice IN ORDER TO SHOW YOU WHAT OUR TEENAGERS CAN DO, NEXT WEEK'S "CITIZEN'' WILL BE PRODUCED ENTIRELY BY THE PRESS CLUB OP THE PRINCE GEORGE HIGH SCHOOL WITH THE AID OF "CITIZEN" MECHANICAL STAFF. Board of Trade Meeting A general meeting of the Prince George Board of Trade will be held in the Prince George Grill at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 18. Special attendance in view of the coming y,isit of the Premier is requested. MOSQUITO WAR -COUNCIL HELPS Following a reasoned appeal by Kinsmen president Syd Perry, City Council agreed on Monday to support Kinsmen with their all-out war on mosquitoes this yeajr. The support will be in the form of a donation of $300, and 1,000 gallons of diesel oil from City supplies if required. Mr. Perry, addressing the Council, said they could fight mosquitoes with DDT in oil or in a water solution. "That means," he said, "that somebody must buy the DDT and the Club is not in a position to absorb the entire cost." FAL.T; DOSING By using motorized spray equipment, mosquitoes could be coped with very effectively, he said, and Kinsmen had offers of support from other clubs. The $300. he.requested. yr.as.for~the purchase of DDT and the renting of spray equipment. They hoped with the cash grant and the promise of oil from the City to give mosquito breeding grounds n second go- ing-orer in the Fall. Granting the request, after consultation with aldermen, Mayor Jack Nicholson said they were very fortunate in having a club to sponsor the anti-mosquito campaign. It was a very worthwhile object. Alderman G. Nicol mentioned,, that local oil companies have given 1,000 gallons of oil and have promised the loan of trucks. "We make the donation with (he good wishes and thanks of the council," said Mayor Nicholson. See Mosquitoes, page 20. CA LG A RY�Okanagan Valley points were in favor of the No. 1 Calgary-Big Bend route for the Trans-Canada Highway, delegates to a Trans-Canada Highway meeting in Calgary were told. PRO-CONSERVATIVE GROUP PRESSES FOR JUNE FEDERAL NOMINATING CONVENTION Farmers Not Free Until Then Says C. W. Ferry, New President � Westaway Would Bar Press A recommendation that Cariboo Central Progressive Conservative executives call a nominating convention for June, 1949, was passed at the Monday night annual meeting of the Prince George Pro-Con Association. One faction at the meeting, led by C. Westaway, who was later elected president to suceed A. McB. Young, K.C., expressed the desire to get the party to put a man in the federal election field immediately. C. W. Ferry pointed out that farmers who wanted to attend the nominating committee would be seeding their land and unable to attend before sometime in June. "LEFT BEHIND" Mr. Westaway contended that the Liberals had already selected George Murray as their candidate and the Conservatives would be "left behind" if they didn't get moving. A motion by Mr. Ferry that the Cariboo Central Executive be re-i commended to hold their nominal tions convention in June was finally passed. Election of officers resulted in Mr. Young, who has held the presidency for many years being no- minated, but he declined. He was succeeded by Mr. Westaway, WOULD BAK PRESS One of his first acts upon taking over the chair from Mr. Young, was to suggest that a Press committee be formed and that members of the Press not be admitted to the Association meetings. He outlined the duties of the committee, which he said, would keep the Press informed of the association's actions but at the same time would permit the association to "deal with things which we might not want published." Other officers elected at the meeting were as follows: Miss D. Harmon, treasurer; James Quayle, Secretary, Alex Moffat. C. W. Ferry, Norman Radley, Mrs. William Graham, Mrs. Martin Caine, Mrs. E. Milne and Alex McB. Young, K.C.