VICTORIA. B.C.
rince George Citizen
An Independent Semi-Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Intend ,f Central and Northern British Columbio
34, No. 67
Prince George, B.C. THURSDAY, August 30# 1951
*4-00
per copy
New Priest Arriving In City This Saturday
Prince George Roman Catholics will welcome a new priest to the parish on Saturday when Father Redmond of the Oblate Order arrives from the east.
Father Redmond will be assistant to Father A. MacDonald,
i\k Shortage Looms In Pr. George i$ Local Hay Crop Hits New Low
en
ed supp': Ihortage of Seventy IGeorgc's
Prince George may face a serious milk shortage this Linter if dairymen are unable to get sufficient feed for their Lestock, District Agriculturist G. W. Hayes indicated in a Citizen interview this week.
arc grain crops, the ag-Luiturist said, that 50 percent of airymen in this district have " forced to sell their stock. Others are using winter now because of a pasture.
percent of Prince milk supply, Mr. liayes said, is coining from the FFrasor Valley, where the fet'd (.situation is so desperate many [fanners have used up their Uintrr U'vd supply already, [while pastures remain scorched f from hick of rain.
Dairymen in the valley, he said. kre being forced to import feed from Alberta, but many will sell heir livestock if a milk boost, Currently under negotiation, dees not come through to offset the higher cost.
Mr. Hayes said it was unlikely grain wuuld be shipped to the interior from Alberta because of high freight rates. Farmers will ! lucky if they have enough feed carry them through the winter, he stated. Price of hay is ex-cted to range between $50 and $60 a ton here. Local hay crops, the district
agriculturist said, are very poor, not averaging even half a ton per ere. Grain crops are fair and quality is good because the grain has been put up in good condition. Seed crops are .only fair.
Most of the crops in the Pine-Iview district are stooped because
hey matured too fayes reported.
early, Mr.
In some areas, Insects combin-jed with drought to make the situ'-l-ation even more serious.
A happy feature of the generally grim crop situation is the 1 fact that with early haying and harvesting the crops will escape. [injury from frost. ,
Salmon Valley and Chief Lake have the best crops in the district, the agriculturist said.
Scarcity of rain, and in some
leases, rain in the wrong period
is blamed for the poor crop
growth throughout the province.
Peace Talks Stalled, Reds Hurl Insults
TOKYO, Aug. 30 (CP)_The Red Uiina ra' up to the Red command-. � o.v refusing to knuckle down "heir demands but offering to ' ' the conference. The accused Ridgway of be-ThPn\TS1Vo in hiR late�t reply, to :��.-.commander had refused ogam investigate Red charges song V 1>lane bombed the Kae-AucTBrUo? si|,e. ,on the night of - Kidgway previously (1 the charge and said sly was manufactured." �quarters said in a sap-
arate
tried to
statement that Reds
had
at ni[Tt 1)lof nt flimsy evidence check And refused a dayliRht
With
, gy n his -(?Ply of Peking it tl p
one
r*r he Rlanders our
ltfusi"g to continue in-S W?l on the other
little
expectation
negO* resun\ed on the
d
bas|s of th a^6 resun\ed on the latest note ed commander's
note
>
with
r Forecast
overnight with a few Is the weath-Cooler on Fri-winds .increasing
eastds h.gh t
to"
and v u 5 m>p-h- Low to" and h.gh tomorrow, 32 and
Full Speed On Alcan
A coffer dam on the Nech-oko River and the main Nech-ako dam substructure will be rushed to completion this fall, an Aluminum Company of Canada official told Citizen editor C. A. "Cliff" Warner in Montreal this morning.
They cautioned, however, that the 'speed of the main dam construction is dependent on fall and
spring frosts. Meanwhile,
Work On New Bank To Start Next Week
Work on the 48' x 59' foundation of the new Bank of Montreal building at Third Ave. and Quebec Street will start next week.
Drilling of the old bank foundation is expected to be finished today, and further excavating of the site should be completed by the end of this week.
Cost of the new structure is placed, in excess of $100,000.
Plans for the modern building, designed by Architects Sharp, & Thompson, Berwick, Pratt of Vancouver include a full basement of reinforced concrete structure and one upper storey with a large glass area and stone facing
the company has
decided to speed up work at Ke-mano and Kitimat, the Citizen's representative on the Alcan tour wired.
The company may bore another tunnel and instal additional turbines and generators to produce 1,200,000 H.P. within thirty months. Permission was secured Wednesday from the B.C. government to dump 1,000,000 feet of water from Eutsuk Lake into Tahtsa Lake by digging a channel which will raise Tahtsa water by twenty feet and speed power production schedule by nine months. Engineers are now at the channel site.
Alcan is confident that the world's demand for aluminum will ultimately wake power-rich B.C. the world's greatest producer, and hinted the Prince George
area would soon volved.
be directlv in-
on. the exterior. A. P. Anderson,
has been
awarded contract for the new bank building;
Manager Confirms Bank Expansion
Norman Xapier, Royal Bank of Canada manager here, today confirmed that the bank is considering extension of its premises eastwards along Third Avenue where the old Royal Bank Building now stands.
Mr. Napier, back from a three week holiday in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island, said he was unable to state yet whether the expansion program would-be embarked upon this year.
He said it was the desire of the bank administration to make the (See MANAGER CONFIRMS, Page 4)
City Men Head For Uranium Mine. Site
Local Electrician To Install 1,200 h.p. Hydro Plant
Twelve Prince George men will be leaving shortly to work on a northern British Columbia project which may have a considerable effect on Canada's atomic production. f
The project is the Western
is
Uranium company's mining development, on Rochet de Boule mountain near Skeena Crossing some 335 miles west of here. Superintendent of the mine is Dick Bater. former city resident and son of Mr. and Mrs. M. R. Bater of Prince George.
His brother. Art Bater. will head the 12-man contingent which will instal electric power so that the mine may go into operation in the near future. �0 MEN EMPLOYED
At present, about 60 men are employed in preparing the hard-rock property for the start of production. Main effort so far has been the completion of a dam to provide the vital power. The powerhouse is almost completed.
Ten miles of pole lines will-now lie set up from the hydro site to
the mine, carrying There will be five
6600 volts, substations.
and an expected 1200 horsepower yield from the first stage of the power development. Next spring a second hydro development will be added. � IN A FEW WEEKS
Western Uranium, which is financed jointly by Canadian and American capital, hopes to be in production in a few
TWO SHIPS COLLIDE NEAR PRINCE RUPERT
PRINCE RUPERT, Aug. 30 (CP) �Two coastal passenger ships collided today off Prince Rupert.
Ships in collision were Princess]
weeks, at least by the middle of November.
The property was mined years ago for copper, silver and other
was abandoned assayed today
later, have
ore but
Samples
shown rich deposits of these and
other minerals as well as the
precious uranium, source of
atomic material.
Electrical contractor Art Bater will spend two or three months at Skeena Crossing with his brother, while the power installation is carried out. Others in the local party include Lloyd Poole and Charlie Richmond.
BETTY ANN BUNTON Miss Betty Ann Bunton, first place essayist in British Columbia in the Dominion-wide essay contest sponsored by the BanK of Nova Scotia.
Cab Parkins Permit May Cause A Furor
Council 'On A Limb' Charges Taxi Operator
First multi-car taxi stand permit ever issued here was granted to Prince George United Cabs Ltd. by City Council on Monday night.
United Cabs will be permitted to have exclusive parking rights on the north side of Fourth Avenue from the George Street intersection east to the lane entrance.
Council granted the cab company's request after brief debate, but reporters who talked to another cab operator following the Council meeting are of the opinion that more and hotter debate is to come.
TURNED DOWN
J. O. Watt, an official of Prince George Yellow Cabs Ltd. and of B.C. Taxi Ltd. told The Citizen that he had made application for a similar permit some time ago
and that it had been turned down.
As a result of the Council's refusal to grant his firm a parking stand permit, Mr. Watt said he had been forced to lease property on which to park his fleet.
Mr. Watt said he would take the matter of a reversal of policy to the Council at on early date. "They are kind of out on a limb," he added.
The cab operator said he had rented a lot facing on George Street to store his cars.
Aldermen estimated Monday that United Cabs would be able to park five to six cars in the space allotted to them.
(See CAB PARKING, Page 4)
FULL PROGRAM!
FALL FAIR FUN FOR ALL
High-flying aerialists, baseball tournament, contests to test every skill, booths displaying latest city merchandise, boxing bouts, dancing, and exhibits of the very best in garden produce and needle work will be highlighting attractions for Prince George and District residents when they don their best holiday mood this week-end for a trip to the Fair.
First day of the exhibition, tomorrow, will be devoted to judging of all exhibits. Entries will be received by the Fair Association up to 9:30 p.m. at the fair ground or at the Northern Hardware up to 5:30 p.m.
Official opening of the city's thirty-sixth annual fall fair will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, when George Murray, M.P. will give the fair its go-ahead signal. Presentation of Horticultural Garden cups for the 1951 season will follow.
A fair concert next on the program will include songs by David McCullock. new arrival from Scotland who has had opera training, and young Prince George favourite Billy Ross. Dance numbers will be performed by Nina and Serena Fawcett and Carolyn Cor-less.
Following the knitting contest
the Daring Madisons will their first exhibition show.
give
Nick pro-rec
Schmeling, instructor.
civic will
centre be on
hand with his boys for a number of boxing bouts, and the airport will give an exhibition of their square dancing.
A similar program will be featured during the evening, starting at 7:30- with the order changed slightly to allow the "Madisons to give their performance before light fails.
Sunday will be baseball day (See FALL FAIR, Page 5)
Deal Indicated
'IRON CURTAIN OVER WAGE TALK5
An "Iron curtain" has descended over talks between the Northern Interior Lumbermen's Association and the International Woodworkers "of America.
Union officials in Vancouver efused to comment today on the progress of the talks, but it was earned that a possible compro-nise in demands of the two factions may have been reached.
According to a Vancouver source, lumbermen's representatives are on their way here today to confer with their principals.
This is interpreted as a sign that the union, and the employers' representatives have reached a tentative agreement, and that ratification of the conditions must be obtained from the lumbermen involved.
Theoreticallv
Saturdav will be
the last day of work for district loggers if no agreement is reach-
ed.
Doing Well After Brush With Death
Doing well in hospital today is Sven Johnson, 47, after a miraculous escape from serious injury when a stick of dynamite with which he was working exploded prematurely.
Full details of the accident were not available but it is known that. Johnson, an employee of Davvson and Hall Ltd., contractors, was engaged in blasting operations yesterday in the vicinity of BaUJy Mountain near West Lake.
He suffered extensive facial acerations when the dynamite vent off, but these proved later o be superficial.
Hospital authorities state he will probably be released today or tomorrow as his condition is good. He was attended by Dr. J. G. MacArthur.
Broadcast Tonight For Blood Donor Campaign
W. Roy Hunter, administrator of Prince George and District Hospital, will be on the air at 6:15 tonight over Radio Station CKPG, speaking on behalf of the current Red Cross blood donor campaign. Mr. Hunter's topic is "Transfusion."
Mr.' Hunter is third in a series of weekly speakers for the cam-
Actually, the expiring contract, .paign which have included J. R. j Mi d D M
may be extended iffithe union does not adopt the "no contract, no work" policy they have used in the past.
Morrison and Dr. H. M. Brown. Next Thursday at the same time Mayor Garvin Dezell will give the I final talk in the series.
Citizen Editor Reports
DuBose Tells All In Huge Alcan Deal
C. A. "Cliff" Warner, the Citizen's editor and the only representative of a weekly newspaper invited to participate in an Aluminum Company-sponsored tour of the firm's operations in Eastern Canada, reports on an interview with a top Alcan official and bares for the first time Alcan's long-range plans for its B.C. development.
ARVIDA, Aug. 29�At a press conference following a dinner in
Kathleen of Canadian Pacific ; honor of visiting B.C. newspaper-Steamships and Prince Rupert of j men at Saguenay, McNeely Du-Canadian National Steamships, j hose, Alcan vice-president, said Both ships are making slow the Kitimat development was progress toward this port. The easily the biggest ever under-Kathleen is badly holed. Collision taken by his company and pre-occurred 29 miles northwest of dieted that within 20 years it
here in fog.
would surpass the Arvida opera-
No casualties were reported in tion with 6,000 employees, annual the collision. production of 2,000,000 tons of
aluminum ingot, and the the site (claims of the largest concentration of electrical power in the world.
ON SCHKDUtiE
Mr. Dubose said the Nechako and Kitimat projects are on schedule and the first unit would go into operation in 1954 with 240,000 h.p., producing 80,000 tons of aluminum annually.
Additional generators and tunnels will be gradually added at Kemano to bring the power out-
put to 2,500,000 h.p. Nechako dam construction will start in April, said the official.
He anticipated little trouble in reaching amicable settlements with Ootsa Lake settlers despite unreasonable demands by a minority, and denied newspaper reports of an unfavorable reception accorded him on his visit there this month. He believes cash settlements to 95 claimants will range from $8,000 to $18,000, based on 160 acre plots. One or two
would exceed the maximum. PULP FIRM
Conditional upon securing a forest management licence, Powell River Pulp and Paper Co. will establish a large mill in the
Kitimat region. Two other large B.C. firms are also interested in Alcan's Kitimat power. Said Mr. Dubose, "We are not
a company that comes along and leaves stumps and desolation. As at Arvida we will welcome other
firms to share Central wealth of waterpower.""
B.C.'s
\
The Alcan vice president pointed out that in the 25 years his company has operated in the Saguenay Valley, the population has increased by more than 35,-000, and predicted the growing demand for aluminum would bring a similar increase at Kitimat. B.C. LABOR
"We want every possible job
to go to B.C. people and will Use local engineers and technical staff if available, although it will be necessary to bring some trained personnel from Quebec," he stated .
Today the party of B.C. newspapermen saw the huge Arvida works which produces 2,000,000 tons of aluminum ingots and bars annually. This plant will not be duplicated at Kitimat as bauxite will be treated in Jamaica and reduced to alumina before being shipped to B.C. for final reduction by electrolytic process. Cheap power is the key to successful competition in the aluminum field andB.C. has resources which cannot be met by U.S. aluminum manufacturers.
"We are underselling Americans by two and a half cents a pound in world markets and we expect this margin to widen with the completion of the Kitimat smelter," the top official told a Citizen reporter.