aOViNOIAL LIBRARY
rnnce vieorge \ citizen
An Independent Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the interest of Central
.Prince George B.C., Thursday, August 18, 1949
hern British Columbia
10c per Copy; $3.00 a Year
fadets Put )n Weight
Beaming and weighing on an \tP of five pounds more than ! thev left, most Air Cadets JKSince George Rotary' Squa-La retained to the city on Tues-�d fiPt tun weeks in training g( the Abbotsford RCAF
,v returned undisputed base-lallchaplons of British Columbia Cadet squadrons and came [r winning an inter-provincial .ShbeMvoen H.C. and Alberta.
�TI,e bo.vs ;ill behaved very wf|l and I was proud of them during thelrstay at the camp," sli(l Commanding Officer P/O Johnny Watt
pOWatt reported that the camp session went very well and that (heCadets gained valuable experience on theground and in the air. NAVIGATE I'LAN'KS ' Advanced Cadets navigated
I planer on a cioss country flight and plotted'its return course. Next year one Cadet will be
I selected for a complete flying course. �
Excursions to Fraser Valley points and to Vancouver were provided for the 270 Cadets at the camp.
Sports and military drill kept the Cadets in best of physical condition. P 0 Peter Bancroft, squadron adjutant, and civilian Instructor Andy Brassard are also back from. camp.
Best Junior "Ploughman'
POPULAR SPORT FIGURE LEAVES
Vince Giles, prominent figure in city sporting circles, and until recently a partner in the insurance and real estate firm of Knight and Giles, announced plans this, week to move to Kamloops where lie manage an office for Edward
I "Ted" Martin, veteran B.C. real estate and insurance agent. Vince came here in 1921 and is nown all through northern B.C.
|mrhi> management and executive duties on hockey clubs, baseball c!u!i> and league directorates.
His family will follow him to |theOkanagan city.
He says that his interest in |baseball and hockey will not lag to the fact that Ted Martin |operatp? his own ball club and iloops is the centre for the [central division if the B.C. Amative Hockoy Association. He will leave on Tuesday and
I'ill be missed by players and fans Si ike.
$10 For Civic Centre Drive Slogan
ICe
Earh
next month the Prince
orge Civic Centre Association 11 inaugurate its drive to give you the finest civic centre north f Vancouver. A slogan is needed
{�r the drive.
The Association offers a cash nze of ?-io and three more 1)rizes
r So each for the best slogan up j� word i l
> drive Make i
g p words in length, to start off
Mail
short, make it snappy. it now.
your contributions to the "The Citizen", with this 1- marking your envelope Centre Slogan Contest". �
EILEEN FLICK, 14, at the wheel of the troctor where her skilled ploughmanship at the Woodpecker contest on Wednesday, August 10, gained her much praise and a car robe. (See page 9).
�Photo courtesy Prince George Motors
4
Jail Break Ends After One Hour's Freed
Wet Weather Hits Loggers, Farmers
Damage running into millions of dollars has been caused to farmers, loggers and business men in the Interior through the excessively wet summer.
Many smaller sawmills have closed down as the never good tote roads have become absolutely impassable or uneconomical to negotiate with the soft condition of the ground.
But the situation may yet be saved for the farmers if sufficient sunshine comes before the first frost. More than 60 per cent of the
Youths Dash for Liberty Balked By Alert B. C. Police Constable Two Miles From City
An audacious jail break which netted little more than 60 minutes freedom was staged by two Prince George youths, age 15 and 17, when they fled from the city lock-up Tuesday morning where they were being held awaiting trial on charges of car theft.
Returned to the cit3* last week | from Field, B.C., where they had J Moran been apprehended in connection with the theft of a car belonging to D. H. Fawcett, Prince George, the two boys made their break
for freedom while the constable on duty was occupied in the cell block.
It Is presumed that they ran out the cell block door while the constable's back was turned. SHORTLTVJED
Their escape was shortlived however, as n police dragnet had caught up with them less than throe miles from town as they walked along tin* Cariboo Highway near the airport.
District Police Constable Arthur Weeks encountered them on the highway near the airport as he drove south,' and with little trouble persuaded them to accompany him back to the lock-up.
Both boys were brought here on August 11 and were remanded to a higher court by Juvenile Court Judge George A. Hallett. on the following morning. TRIAL ~-\
On the afternoon of the same day they appeared before City Police Court Magistrate P. J. Mor� an and were remanded for a period of eight days.
Police state that they
not
know whether the boy's next appearance in court will be in the a trial or preliminary
event that Magistrate
form of hearing. In the
calls For a preliminary hearing and commits the boys for trial.. witnesses \vffPhave to be brought from southern R,C. where the pair were captured.
Since their arrest last week further charges have been ,laid by the Ashcroft police for the al-ledged theft of a jeep from the Gang Ranch.
It is expected that the boys will stand trial at Ashcroft on the other charges after their trial here.
1949 hay crop in the Prince George district has been seriously damaged by heavy rain and hail storms during the past week, according to George Hayes, district agriculturist.
Grain is commencing to suffer from yellowing," the first signs of rot, he revealed.
Clover seed crops have also sustained considerable damage as heavy rain drops and hail have shattered the seed sets and caused a certain amount of rank growth.
"Clover seed should be harvested when it is about 65 per cent in bloom." the agriculturist stated, 'and with present heavy rains It will not reach that state in a uniform manner."
Grains may come on again and straighten up from their fallen condition if warmer weather is experienced," he said. ALREADY CUT
"Of all the hay grown in the
Women Golfers Active In P.G.
A one day women's golf tournament was held last Friday afternoon at the golf club with the' prize for the low score of the day. a silver teaspoon, going to Mrs. Isobel Rat ledge. " The rose bowl, which had been
played for at a previous nament, was presented to
tour Mrs.
Lorna Archibald by Mrs. Alice Mellish. Tea was served to the golfers by Mrs >. Cunliffe.
\V K A T H E K FORECAST:
Weather forecast was unable to be obtained as telephone line to Meteorological Station is still out of order. (See "Linesmen" story on this pjrge).
Operators' Demands Shock Loggers
m"m
can be ac-
Y ands can be ac
Whlch will increase the pro-on costs of lumber, said a
l� Prince Geor8e lumber fwor, commenting on present se negotiatioris at the coast. ^Vancouver, J. H. Ruddc
K'gers1 treasf*
y"r(l rates. "Iri past
Ruddock, e Northern jn-has countered for wage in-a counter demand for '�eases and increases in
have granted
_ wage request made
This LJ market flourished, we are making some of our own," the local operator said.
reported to be in basic b'y 2O\/jc, which
rates
would bring wages bark to the | keeping lumber operators worried
i!>47-48 srale, a ~>Oc increase in board rates and a readjustment of holiday with pay benefits.
They also demand resumption of the 48-hour week, reduced during the boom years to 44 hours.
"The eight cent pet* hour raise we granted last year was. in many cases of small mills, the straw that broke the camel's back," said the'operator.
He said that for the lumber business with present falling prices it was purely a question of either operating at a reasonable margin of profit, or not operating at all.
The loss of the United Kingdom market and generally falling prices, combined with the imminent end of the building season is
enough without the factor of increased production costs, he said.
While some operators felt that the IWA was not in a position to stage a walk-out. District IWA president Stewart Alsbury termed the counter-demands a vicious conspiracy to lower living conditions and stated: "We will fight this threat to our welfare to the last ditch, with all the resources at our command."
IWA secretary here. Don Me-Shane, declined to comment on the possibility of a strike in northern B.C. woods but added gloomily that "If the rain doesn't stop soon so logging operations can continue, it won't matter very much."
Mrs. Bowman Given Farewell Reception
About 63 ladies attended the farewell reception in honor of Mrs. Harry Bowman, wife of the Minister of Agriculture and M.L.A which was held at the hormi of Mre. H. D. Gray on Wednesday. Mrs. Bowman bus been in this community for IS years and will now take up residence in Victoria. She is consoled by the fact, however, that she will be near her eldest daughter, Mrs. Ean Pater-son, who is living in North Vancouver.
P.G. Wetter, But Reds Get It Colder (if that's Any Consolation)
Greenland is , getting iwarmer, Siberia is becoming colder and British Columbia wetter, but whether these are permanent trends remains to be seen.
This is the opinion of D. E. Mc-Taggart Cowan, asistant comptroller of the Dominion Meteorological Office, Toronto, who was questioned on Tuesday regarding'cur moist summer.
Mr. McTaggart Cowan is on a visir to our weather station here and touring the Dominion generally.
"There is no indication anywhere in the world of any large scale climatic changes," he said, "but there are slow tempercture changes in certain parts.
The weather expert discounted theories that atomic research has influenced our weather. "The energies involved in atomic experiments are insignificant compared with rhe erver-1 gies released, let us say, by o hurri-; cane," he said.
He agreed that when there are ex-
district this year only about 30 ]^cesJ^^ per cent of It is of good feeding has hod recently, nature tends to value and that hay is already cut ', restore the balance later, and this and under cover." . I may be done either by a few exces-
Mr. Haves explained that each' sive|v d? veQrs ,or.,by a "umberf , ..���. � . .... .. ... years
day the yet un-cut hay is left in |
the field detracts from1 its food
y b.
is only sughtly
XOTK�Owing to a shortage of space. Letters to the Editor have been held over until next week.
value.
He fears that the much jieeded change in the weather may start �with a fit).st which w<>u!f: -"" v> .k further havoc with local crop*. BEES TOO
Even the local bees have felt the wetness and. according to John Cornet". Dominion Expei1-1 imental Farm apiarist, at one ; time took to "loafing"�that i-; lying around instead of getting I
honev.
I
Interior farmers are neverthe- j less optimistic that enough sun- j shine and frost-free days wUl yet See WEATHER, Page 5' . j
years when rainfall j less than average.
"We wish we knew the exact" an-; swer to that question." he said "When records have been kept fcr 200 years, perhaps #e shall. Weather is receiving more- attention now than ; at ony rinrfe in fhe his rot y of rhe world."
Soencer Wal.'ccc cn-pcr? wearber [officer, concurred v\;rh ihe',e remarks. "The wet summers wo � Have bver hcving recently are no Sign of a p*?r-Tiorcnt climatic change." he said. I wcq'd not be at a. surprised if next year were net a very good one ror rhe i farmers as far as weather is concerned."
Linemen Kept Busy As Storms Continue
Much damage to telephone and lighting cables has still to be made permanently good, a week after the heavy storm which struck Prince George last Thursday evening.^
Telephone maintenance gangs were reinforced from Kamloops to cope with the lightning damage and have been work-
ing day and night.
City power men succeeded in restoring full service within three hours of the storm striking, but lights failed again during another storm on Sunday.
So severe was the lightning that the telephone cable was blown out in 15 places between Tofield Street and Fraser Avenue.
A cable terminal box was badly damaged, � at Edmonton Street when a city power cable fell and short-circuited it during the storm causing four openings in the cable between Edmonton and Vancouver.
rrinf6r.crmb.Vts
The North West Telephone Company sent reinforcements from Kamloops in the persons of E. J, Davis, district manager there and cable-splicer W. North to help the local* staff, which includes E. A. Robertson, assistant, T. A. Smith and manager Charles O'Connor.
The lines to the airport are stil out, but come under a.Government department.
In" the six years I have been her*, we have never had our lines hit so badly as this," said Mr. O'Connor. "The damage is heavy and cables may have to be completely replaced. "We have had enough storms
this year to last us a long time." All city telephones are now wi,iking again, the last repairs being completed on Tuesday night.
MISSED
Keith Hoff, 980 Montreal street, narrowly missed being struck by one bolt of lightning as he drove home in his car.
He said. "I was just driving along Montreal Sireet when there was a sudden crash wliieh shook the whole car. I didn't see the" lightning but all the electric wires above the street ,turned red and a part fell off a transformer only ten feet from my car."
Affected by the storm, though was the oil stove of Mrs. R. A. Harlow, 2413 McBridti' Cresent, who said that the blojwer motor i was burned out. necessitating a replacement and forcing her to do
Man Saved From Electrocution
Only the presence of mind of city employee F. R. Reach ^aved. Joseph I.amont. mechanic, of West End Motors from being electrocuted, when a car battery charge!" short-circuited on Thursday' morning.
Joseph Lamont was using the battery charger; when placing his hnnd on the ddor of the .car. the full force of the current went through him. Paralysed, he was unable to release, himself or make any movement.
P. K. Beach, who drives a city garbage wagon, rushed to the scene and disconnected the charger.
Bruce Nichol, co-proprieter of West.End Motors, said he thought the accident was {Um? to a faulty ground connection to the charger.
Lamont Was rushed for medical attention and has since returned to work.
If the shock had been prolonged. It would have hud serious consequences.
EDITOR HERE
Three well known newspapermen have arrived in Prince George '.to publicize our city.
They are Seth Halton, editor of the Daily Colonist. Victoria: J. K. Nesbitt, parliamentary
her cooking on a hot
plate until
repairs were made.
Closer to one of the, scenes of impart was the Central Market on Winchester Street, where Roy Wilson says the hin.st which knocked down the wires outside the store was Hke the bracjc of a rifle In an enclosed rooini
correspondent, and S. H. McNeil, reporter on the Daily Colonist. They are accompanied by J. Wilkinson, Campbell-Bennett executive.
Distinguished masonic visitors, were entertained in Prince George-this week when Col. Don McCu-gan, of Victoria, Most Worshipful the Grand Master-of the- Grand Lodge of British Columbia, accompanied by Walter Owen, K.C, a senior official of the order from Vancouver, arrived by C.P.A.