�u Vol. 35; No. 98 VICTOR!A,~B. C7;; � - George Largest Circulation of Any Semi-Weekly Newt \ ,P in British Columbia -------------'-�--------------------:------;�:______ �4_____________ �'. Prince George, B.C.f MONDAY, Decen * 15, 1952 en Union Accepts Renewal $4.00 per year 5^ per copy Mill Shutdown Averted and Lumber workers, mill operators, merchants and the general public can breathe easier here today with the announcement by the Northern Interior Lumbermen's Association and the International Woodworkers of America that a strike oi lockout in the lumber industry has been averted. In a statement made to The � " � . Slippery Roads Slow Traffic To Ringside Although about 400 cars _,. busses made the three-mile trip carrying spectators to the boxing bouts at the Fall Fair building on Friday night, only a few minor accidents were reported on the ice-covered roads. A chinook wind which blew up a few hours before the fights started made driving extremely dangerous on wet and slippery Winchester Street and Central Avenue. � As the long stream of cars crawled back, to town at midnight several fenders were dented or Trade Board To Ask Power Questions Prince George Board of Trade will ask the city shortly whether it would turn the municipal power system over to the British Columbia Power Commission and whether power distribution rights in the city would be given to the commission if a hydro project were constructed to serve this area. The two questions form part of a program of the Trade Board's trade and industry committee to bring cheap power here. The subject of handing the city's power facilities over to the B.C. Power Commission is not a new one.- The city terminated joint discussion of suph a plan with the ' Power Commission two years ago scraped ,and one motorist lost a i v ^umim?H1�" V� yearvs ago honriiirrv,* d when it was learned no substan- headlight. tial reduction in power costs The Citizen this morning, the union stated that its" officers .have tentatively accepted renewal of this year's contract and will recommend acceptance to the I.W.A. membership. ..A spokesman for the lumbermen's association said that acceptance by operators is automatic. Before the master agreement between the union and mills in the Northern Interior can be signed, a majority of the union's membership must accept the renewal proposal by ballot. A union meeting held here yesterday to deal with the situation voted 95 per cent in favor of renewal of the 1951-52 contract for the year ending August 31, 1953. Voting at outlying operations gets under way today and will continue through this week. Meanwhile, operators have extended their threatened shutdown date to December 20 to give the I.W.A. time to gt the approval of its membership. Much of the credit for a possible settlement is being given to the B.C. Labor Relations Board, members of both sides said. The board called both parties together in Vancouver Thursday, the day when the renewal proposal was agreed upon by union planners. Mike Sekora, I.W.A. international organizer,'said in a state-;. ... . . , ^-... . - - ment today that as far back as m9 to officials of the Norrh-West Telephone Company. two weeks ago he had made the prediction that there would be no shutdown, strike or lockout on December 13. Most serious accident occurred would be guaranteed, only a nom-at Winchester and Fraser when I inal price would be paid for the a, ^StJ�Und light deliverv truck j city's power generating equip-skidded out of control, struck a | ment, and expansion of facilities road barrier and ended up in a; to meet the city's increasing shallow ditch. Passengers were power needs would be at the dis-shaken but unhurt. ; � i cretion of the Commission. Telephone Expansion Project Will Wipe Out Waiting List A four-month project involving the addition of more than $27,000" worth of felephoiie cable and wire in the Prince George exchange area will be completed byyear's end, accord- He and Howard Webb, union business agent here, said the union had capitulated on the grounds that "there were not suf- Under the supervision of Foreman Eric Nordgren, a crew of six men has placed cable containing almost 4,000,000 feet of telephone wire throughout various parts of the city. Harold Bemister, splicer, and his. helper, George Holland, are ficient gains in sight to warrant joining it to the existing system, pressing the issue." The increased facilities result- It is expected that the union mg from tne installaton will en-membership will support the | abie the telephone company to last; provide service to most of those now on the waiting list for "tele- to renew recommendation year's contract. Mr. Webb said he had authority to sign individual renewal agreements with some operations already, as a result of the meeting held yesterday.' These include most city planing mills and the agreements for them may be signed today. phone service. Installation of these new telephones will be made early in the new year1. The project points up the increase in Prince George's telephone population since the end of the war, when there were 477 telephones here There are mow 1507, more than three times as many telephones as there were seven years ago. DR. H. M. BROWN of Prince George, medical director of. Cariboo Health Unit, will cpn-duct a weekly series of articles in The Citizen dealing with the detection and prevention of diseases prevalent in this area. Former City Man Plane Crash Victim Crash of an Anson plane, on Sechelt peninsula last week took the life of a former Prince George stage line operator and husband oi me former Flora Houghtaling of Prince George. Capt. Brucd Wilson, a pilot for Queen Charlotte Airlines, disappeared December 8 on a 90-mile flight from Vancouver to Comox on Vancouver Island. Strong winds and heavy clouds hampered search for the missing twin-engined Anson. Finally a plane spotted remnants of the shattered aircraft scattered over a wide area of the desolate west coast region north of Vancouver. Capt Wilson lived in Prince George at the start of the last war and took a prominent part in forming the first flying club here. He organized a bus line to serve nearby communities before leaving, for the south. A brother, H. W. Houghtaling, and Mrs. Houghtaling left here to attend the funeral in Vancouver. Voters Give Centre Plan 3-1 Approval A total of 842 voters gave a sweeping three-to-one endorsement Thursday to a referendum authorizing municipal ownership of the. Prince George Civic Centre. Final count of the referendum ballots, cast only by property owners, was 610 for, 211 against. Spoiled ballots numbered 21. The referendum does not require that the city take over the B.C. Movies Feature Home-School Meeting centre, but opens the door for municipal ownership of it if the council is willing. Regular monthly meeting of the Home and School Association was held Dec. 11, in the senior classroom of Sacred Heart School. Feature' of the "evening was a The civic centre issue was plac- j showing of films of British Coed before the voters upon the; lumbia by Mr. and Mrs. G. - S. recommendation of B.C. Brace- Wood with Mrs. Wood adding an well, B.C.'s inspector of munici-' palities, who will be instrumental Plan To Make City Bigger Envisioned By Contractor A sweeping plan which would give Prince George 2200 additional acres of industrial land and which would involve widening1 the Fort George Canyon, construction of about a half j Dimes shown by spectators at the mile of dyke along the west side of the Fraser channel, and i Exhibition Hall boxing show, dredging of riearly half a mile of the Nechako River channel, He gave much of the credit for has been drawn up by a city contractor and submitted to the Prince George Board of Trade. William Bellos, president of Diminufive Dancers Charm Fight Crowd Vancouver's Crippled Children's Hospital was among the big winners at Prince George Athletic Club's maiden entry into the world of sport here on Friday night when boxing fans contributed close to $200 through direct donations and purchase of programs. The shot-in-the-arm given the March of Dimes drive at the boxing show brings to nearly $500 the amount collected by Radio Station CKPG, sponsors of, the drive here. Charles Cawdell, CKPG sports-caster and chairman of the drive, said he was "more than gratified" at the response to the March of in getting: the government's consent for expenditure of sale of lands money for completion of the building. amusing commentary. The Book-of-the-Month 'draw was-won by Sister Mary Bridget, teacher of grades 1 and 2. The monthly draw was won by B. Kennelly. Refreshments were served. � Trade Board Tackles Tonsorial Topic Prince George Board of Trade will contact the municipal license' inspector here to find out if a licensed barber shop must .extend shaves to its patrons if such service is requested, j. The question i of. whether a barber must comply with* the wishes of his customer In the matter of laying cold steel to warm and stubbly flesh came up at a general meeting of the board on Thursday, Karl Anderson, well known city oldtimer, expressed concern because he had seen a sign in a city< barber shop reading "no shaving." The Board of Trade will attempt to determine if the city can compel barbers to offer shaves to their customers. Curlers Start Tonight After Weekend Thaw Tropical temperatures which started Friday, forced a halt to curling club mixed bonspiel games which were-to have been finished up yesterday. Only one game was played Friday. With the mercury dropping last night, Jim Willson and Allan Gaugh were hard at work" this morning preparing the ice surface and report that play will go on . tonight. Draw officials have decided to postpone the remaining games in the bonspiel until next week-end and commence regular play tc^ night. Following are both ladies' and men's draws for tonight and tomorrow: LADIES Tonight�7 o'clock, Kelly-Roine; 9.15, Kappahn-Dingwell. Tuesday�6, Farnsworth-Rich-ardson; 8.00, Sales-La wson; 10.00, Croft-Hill. MEN Tonight, 7 p.m.�Carmichael, Madill, Ken Wilson-Rustad, Hut-ton-Carr, Dilworth-S. Kennedy, Rolne-Batty. 9:15�Walls-Green, O. Killy-Blackwburn, Butcher-Baillie, Cor-diner-Cameron, Hay-Hadden. Tuesday�7 p.m. � McDonald-Bill Peckham, Sales-Smith, Sles-inger-Wilf Peckham, H. Kennedy-Rice, Webster-Hatch. 9:15�Dezell.Phillips, H. Hatch-' Geddes, Arnett-Wray, Johnson-JV Willson, Meiers-Skalicky. Assman, Hilton, Gabriele Win City Council Seats Hart Road-Treacherous Says Public Works Man Driving conditions on the Hart Highway were described as treacherous here this morning by a Provincial' Department of Public Works official. . D. D. Godfrey, divisional en- Two incumbent .aldermen and one newcomer to rnunici- giheer, said he had been informed ; pal politics won seats on Prince George's City Council last from the northern terminus of Thursday when a record 854 persons cast ballots at City Hall, the road that ice conditions are! Declared winners by Returning Officer D. T. Williams shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday when the Hollos Ranch Ltd., a general construction firm, outlined the plan . late last. week before em-barking on a trip to Greece. Prince George would gain 200 acres of industrial land along the west bank of the Fraser River north of the C.N.R. Bridge and would have access to 200 acres of industrial land on the north bank of the Fraser upstream from its confluence with the Nechako in the area generally known as Frasep Flats. Mr. .Bellos' plan is to deepen f>nd widen the Fort George Canyon to lower the level of the Fraser River here, and to place a "yke along the -west side of the Eraser's channel, continuing up 'ne south bank of the Nechako's channel, thus protecting and en-urging that part uf the Fraser's Watercourse which now consists of dry gravel beds. Traffic lanes and a railroad line would be built along the top of ^ne dyke and a low level bridge would be constructed from the dyke to the north shore of the Nechako River at the point where it meets the Fraser. ,,The main channel of the Nechako River would be dredged to increase the area of shoreline land, and the cut-banks along the north bank of the Nechako, would to prevent the from filling up be rip-rapped deepened river with silt. In addition to providing more industrial land, Mr. Bellos points out, the plan would end the danger of spring floods in the areas known as The Island and the Cache. ' The contractor believes the plan should be undertaken jointly by the Dominion Government, the Provincial Government, the C.N.R. and the Ci^y of Prince George. The scheme will be discussed at the next general meeting of the Board of Trade to be held in January. the heavy donation to the Rythm Ranch Hands and four diminutive square dancers who charmed the audience with a display of their talents before the boxing card got under way. With the expert calling of Warren Holly to guide them, the dancers showed remarkable ability in the intricate steps of the old-time square dance. Trained by Mrs. A. F. Martin, grade four teacher at King George V school, the youthful dancers were making their first appearance in aid of the March of Dimes program. Dancers were Connie Williams, Sharen Rodgers, Lorraine Brand-ner, Linda Holly, Lana Holly, Shirley Allen, Donald Boult, Douglas Frank, Reggie Robinson, Mike Shelest and Jim Wright. At the close of their numbers^ the youngsters scrambled for five minutes retrieving the rain of silver coins and dollar bills which the crowd showered on them. In all, the children -collected $164 and the sale of programs netted the Children's. Hospital another $15. very bad just north of the Pine Pass and that it is inadvisable to attempt the trip over the highway without chains. A number of American tourists were stopped by ice conditions late last week and were forced to spend Saturday night in a Public Works Department emergency shelter. Thieves Get Decision Over Fight Devotees While about 1500 fans watched the fight card at the Fall Fair Building on Friday night, sneak thieves were busy looting a num- last ballot had been counted were Alderman Harold Assman, chairman of the city power and light committee, Alderman Eugene Gabriele, chairman of the fire and water committee, and Reginald W. Hilton, city lumberman. It' was Alderman Assman's fourth consecutive victory, and the third consecutive municipal election in which he has polled the most votes. Losers in the bid for two-year seats were Alderman Jack Ait-ken, chairman this year of the city's public works Department, ber of unlocked cars parked out- and city steam engineer Otto E. side. Missing are several robes, a cigarette lighter, and miscellaneous small articles. One fan returned to his car to find the battery had been stolen. Informed of the losses, a Prince George Athletic Club official stated today that in future the parking areas will be patrolled by guards while club-spons o r e d events are in progress at night. Leboe. Leading the poll with 611 votes was Alderman Assman, and others in the order of the number of votes polled for them were R. W. Hilton 556/ Alderman Gabriele 533,^Alderman Aitken 419, Otto Leboe 219. A recapitulation of voting combinations following the count-revealed that the most popular combination vote was'^for the. three eventual winners. No less than 218 voters could pat them- selves on the back for picking Assman, Hilton and Gabriele as winners. Next most popular combination with 123 voters backing it, was for the three incumbents, Aitken, Assman and Gabriel. A total of 101 voters backed an Aitken, Assman, Hilton combination. Nineteen ballots were spoiled in the aldermanic race. CURLERS DROP BROOMS, GRAB GOLF BAGS Soaring temperatures at the week-end > resulted in about two dozen Prince George golfers retrieving their bags from* winter storage and spending several hours Sunday at the course, which a week ago was covered with several inches of snow. With the exception of a soggy fifth green, they reported the course in good condition. Several of Sunday's "winter" golfers came straight from the curling rink where they learned that play in the mixed bonspiel had been postponed due to wet ice. i A warm Chinook wind on Saturday soon removed the first traces of winter throughout the district and turned some roads into muddy quagmires. The mild weather continued on Saturday with the mercury rising to a high of 53.1. degrees. The weatherman has promised the. curling fraternity, cooler weather during the next 24 hours, with a low of 15 expected tonight. Hospital Alarmed At Expense Freeze VANCOUVER, Dec. 15^ The provincial government's order to "freeze" hospital expenses during 1953 will--6e discussed at a special general meeting of the B.C. Hospitals Association here Jan. 5s< ^Health Minister Eric Martin will'be invited to attend. Alfred H. J. Swencisky, president, said telegrams have been received from hospitals all over the province expressing alarm at the order fixing hospital expenses for 1953 at the 1952 level. He indicated it will be necessary to lay off a considerable number of employees^ in cases where negotiations have been completed on higher wage scales for 1953 unless the freezing cyder is rescinded. Death Claims Brother Of Prince George Man Mr. and Mrs. George O. Toombsf left by car Saturday evening for Vernon to attend the funeral of Mr. Toomb's brother, A. E.-Toombs of Vernon.