$27,692 For City From Tax
prince George will get $27,962 this city's share of a' 1952-52 interim allotment fron? the provincial 3 per cent sales tax revenues.
Finance Minister Einar Gund-prson announced yesterday in Victoria that $5,000,000 will be distributed to B.C. cities .and municipalities. The total is $500,-(joo greater than the same period last year.
' included    in the list of B.C. �centres #re:
p;-ince Rupert, $47,732.
H,,rn.s Lake, $3,806.
Dawson Creek, $17,055.
Fort St. John, $4,201.
McBride, $2,323.
Poucc Coupe, $2,181. � Quesnel, $7,541.
Smithers, $5,721.
Tclkwa, $1,630.
Terrace, $4,566.
Vanderhoof, $3,060.
Nechako River Gives A Wafer Scare
A sudden drop in the level of the Nechako River here late yesterday caused concern over the possibility of a city water shortage, but the river as unexpected-jv regained its normal height during the hours of darkness and
things are back morning. Charles   East,
e
en
irgast Circulation of Any Semi-Weekly Newspoper in British Columbia
Vol. 35; No. 99
Williams Lake Bandit Shot
Prince George, B.C., THURSDAY, December 18, 1952
$4.00 per year
 per copy
.38 Calibre Slug Ends Gun Battle
Mounties Get Their Man After  Bank  Holdup
A full scale gun battle between Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a suspected bank bandit outside Williams Lake on Tuesday proved the old adage that the Mounties always get their man.
The gunfight ended abruptly at a desolate point in the country when the man who had allegedly shot at and wounded a bank manager a short time before dropped to the ground as a .38 calibre slug from a Mountie's revolver slammed into
his chest.
Formal  charges
are  pending
said today the river dropped over a foot suddenly yesterday and came back up just as fast during the night.
He said the fluctuation in the river level was probably caused by the formation and breaking of an ice-jam upstream from Prince George.
The water shortage, had it materialized, would have been caused by the fact the river's surface had fallen below the level of the water inlet to the pumping station.
Work has been under way for some weeks to extend the city's water inlet out into the main channel of the Nechako River, thus avoiding difficulties when the river level changes.
against the man who, RCMP say, wounded a bank manager in a robbery attempt before being subdued by a posse's gunfire after a to normal this chase into the wilds.
Both suspect and his alleged city engineer, victim are recovering in hospital here. A slug tore into the alleged desperado's chest, and Leonard Hellyer, manager of the Williams Lake branch of the Bank of Commerce, received a flesh wound in the thigh.
Shortly after midnight Tuesday when Hellyer, working late, was about to enter his car in front of the bank, a man approached him and asked for a lift. After the manager had started his car, the man pulled a gun and told him    he was going to rob the
i bank.
j The bandit fired one shot. to intimidate the manager and took his wallet.
"We entered the bank," the manager 'said, "and he ordered me to unlock the vault."
Lumbermen's President Answers I.W.A. Charges
Joe  Morris   Charged   With   Misrepresentation
Bert Leboe, district lumberman and president of the Northern Interior Lumbermen's Association, today branded as "untruths and misrepresentations" charges made against him recently by Joe Morris, I.W.A. vice-president, in a signed ar-
ticle in the B.C. Lumber Worker.
Morris charged the millman with paying less than union rates at his Cresent Spur plant, discriminating against union labor, and of establishing an arbitrary increase in board rates for employees.
The union officer charged that Leboe Brothers Sawmills Limited, the firm of which Mr. Leboe is president, pays a basic rate of $1.20 an hour compared with the union basic of $1.30 an hour, and that, the established premium rates for skilled workers are seldom paid to the men the firm employs in skilled jobs. "The N.I.L.A. president indignantly denied the charges and said that;"Mr. Morris could have found oui the truth on these matters very easily if it had served his purpose."
He said the basic wage at his company's operations is $1.30 an Hour, the same basic rate as that in the master agreement between the I.W.A. and the lumbermen's association.
Replying to the charge that Leboe Brothers Sawmill Limited pays few men Skilled wages, the company president said "there are very few men employed by us who are making as little as $1.30 an hour."
To this he added the statement, "we are an integrated operation consisting of a logging camp, sawmills and a planing mill, and we hire just as many skilled men, Paying (hem skilled wages, as any comparable operation."
He said Morris was quite right when he charged the firm with charging $3 a day board instead of the $2.15 in the union's contracts, but said it was for the Protection of married working-1 men in this district.
A man buying groceries and eating as men do in logging camps could never subsist on (See PRESIDENT ANSWERS, Page 8)
I.W.A. Signing Jp With District Mills
Wage and working condition agreement between lSMocal lumber manufacturers and*the International Woodworkers of America have been signed already and the union membership's vote has so far been almost unanimous in acceptance of last year's terms,   j
Howard Webb, business agent for the I.W.A. here, said today he sees no hitch in sight in the present proceedings of getting mills in this district signed up.
All certified operations are offered 1952-53 contracts as soon as their employees have voted ac-
Bank accountant Donald and a friend, seeing the front door open, came in to investigate. The gunman ordered Hellyer to the front of the building. He then fired, wounding the manager and fled. ,
Ten hours later, and 12 miles away,..the man was surrounded and called upon to surrender.
When the desperado opened fire, police retaliated. At the height of the exchange ^he fell with a bullet in his chest. . _i
RCMP have declined to release the suspect's name. They said charges haven't yet been laid because he was undergoing surgery and his condition prevented them from questioning him thoroughly or placing him in a lineup. It was reported    he was carrying
another papers.
man's     identification
Holiday Issues Curtailed
Publishing dates of the Prince George Citizen will be altered over the holiday season to offer better service to subscribers and to give members of the newspaper's staff an opportunity to enjoy Christmas and New Years in their own homes.
Issues cancelled are those' of Monday, December 22 and Thurs-' eels, many of them destined for
RALPH CH^TWYND, MLA for Cariboo and B.C.'s Minister of Railways, who announced yesterday in Victoria that PGE freight service to Prince George would be inaugurated early in 1953.
Vancouver Firm Gets NeW Post Off ice Job
Dominion  Construction   Low  Bidders
Prince George's new Federal Building will be erected by Dominion Construction Co. Ltd. which entered a low bid of $449,000.
Charles Bentall, president and managing director of Dominion, said yesterday construction will start in the spring on the reinforced concrete structure. It is expected to be completed by the beginning of 1954.
The federal building will house the post office, R.C.M.P. headquarters, the department of fisheries and the customs and immigration office.
Company officials said they understood three other firms entered bids for the job and that the highest bid was in the neigh-
2-Cent Stamps Best Sellers
Record Mail Shipment Left 'Prince' Tuesday
With parcels and letters pouring in and out of Prince George post-office at a record rate as the pre-Christmas rush nears a peak, j
the largest consignment of mail ever to leave the city�386 bags �was loaded on the eastbound passenger train Tuesday evening.
MARCH OF DIMES HOCKEY TONIGHT
First local hockey game of the
The train was delayed several j 1952"53 season will be played in minutes while the mountain of c|vic Arena here tonight in aid
mail   was delivered to railway .clerks, already deluged by load-
ings between Prince George and jrens Hospital.
of the March of Dimes campaign for the Vancouver Cripple^ Child-
Prinqe Rupert.
Postal clerks here faced another dilemma today as the stock of one-cent and two^cent stamps became exhausted. A large shipment ordered from Vancouver failed to arrive today as expected. About 20,000 three-cent stamps
still on hand disappear fast.
are expected to These may be
used on sealed letters for local delivery.
Practically all the record shipment consisted of Christmas par-
day, January 1.
The regular Thursday issue next week will ,be moved forward to Wednesday, December 24, and the following Monday issue will be published on Tuesday, December 30.
Citizen newsboys are asked to be on hand at the newspaper's office at noon on publication days.
points outside the province.
Postmaster Ernie Burden stated all the parcels which left here Tuesday had been mailed several days after the deadline set by postal authorities.          �
He doubted whether the parcels would reach their destination in time for Christmas delivery.
"As usual, most people paid (See RECORD MAIL, Page 8)
Crackdown Ordefed To Collect Hospital Bills
Board of directors of Prince George and District Hospital will take stern action to enforce payment of hospital accounts owing by ex-patients whose ability to pay has been established but who
epptance. of the union policy com- i appear determined to evade settle-mittee's    recommendation    that they agree to a renewal of last year's wages and other clauses.
ment.
Decision to adopt a "get-tough" policy toward hospital debtors was reached at a meeting of the
ATHL.KTIC  CLUB  MEETS   i hospital board Tuesday night, and
A meeting of the Prince George 1 followed disclosure   that during
Athletic Club will be held tonight September    accounts    totalling
in the basement of the MacDon- $6068.74 were left unpaid by 56
aid Hotel at 8 p.mf       ,      patients who were without B.C.
PGE Freight Trains Here Soon
VICTORIA, Dec. 18 (CP)�Freight trains wiH be rolling over the new 83-mile Pacific Great Eastern Railway link between Quesnel and Prince George early in the new year.
Railways Minister Ralph Chet-wynd said Wednesday certain technicalities, which held up. Board of Transport Commissioners' approval to handle freight, now have been cleared away.
"All we have to do now is carry out the regulation concerning publication of our rates. That will take about 10 days, and then will be all clear," he said.
Final approval was given by the board for an inter-change system with the CNR at Prince George.
Mr. Chetwynd said freight runs will be unscheduled for a time, and regular passenger service won't start until June. In the meantime, however, some provisions will be made for a limited passenger service.
Hospital Insurance Service coverage.
During the same month collections of outstanding accounts amounted to only $543.57.
TREND
Bruce Thompson, nospltal administrator, stated a similar trend would show in the financial statements for October and November.
.He said about 20 per cent of the patients now being admitted to hospital were classified as. self-responsible, meaning they had not paid hospital insurance premiums.
"It is quite obvious that we cannot maintain adequate hospital service for any length of time under these circumstances," stated a board member.                   ;
He favored throwing the whole problem into the lap of the government in view of their failure to take some steps to ensure that a large proportion of the public is covered by insurance.
The administrator was instructed to have garnishee orders served on employers of about 24 persons who neglected to pay for hospital service. In addition a number of other delinquents will be sued in the Small Debts Court.
Facing each other across the redline will be two city pee-wee teams and two midget teams.
Face-off will be at 8 p.m. sharp and all admissions will go to the March of Dimes.
Use of the arena is being donated for the occasion by Harry Thacker, arena manager, and puck fans will pay voluntarily as much or as little as they wish to see the games.
borhood of $528,900.
The beginning of April was mentioned as a possible starting date for construction, depending of course on the weather.
Dominion said it has been informed it is getting the job but that "it will probably be three weeks before it is official." Documents have not been forwarded.
The building will have a full basemfent, a ground floor and a second floor. Dominion Construction is already in Prince George completing a wholesale grocery warehouse for the W. H. Malkin Company.
Plane  Pilot Sights SOS  Signals On V.I.
VANCOUVER, Dec. 18 (CP)�A Pan-American Airlines pilot Wednesday night reported sighting -a strong light flashing an S-O-S signal from a Vancouver Island mountain.
Capt. Robert MacKenzie, flying from Alaska to Seattle, said the light was spotted about 10 miles south to southwest of Ladysmith. It was, he said, at about the 4,500-foot level neaj* the top of a mountain.
At Ladysmith, RCMP said as far as they knew nobody is missing in the area and they were awaiting further information before taking any action.
VANCOUVER, Dec. 18 (CP) � Grant McConachie, president of Canadian Pacific Air Lines, said Wednesday CPA is planning a non-stop., aJr. service .between Vancouver and London over/fhe Arctic route.
He said this service would connect with CPA's present non-stop service from Tokyo to Vancouver to provide^.the fastest transportation between Asia and Europe.
Trade Board Replies To PpWer Commission
Four vital power development questions posed by S. R. Weston, chairman of the British Columbia Power Commission recently, in reply to an Associated Boards of Trade resolution asking for increased power sources in the Central and Northern Interior were answered this week by trade and industry committee of the Prince George Board of Trade. Origial impetus given the gen-
eral feeling in the Interior that more power must be made available for the establishment of. industries was in the form of a resolution sponsored by Prince George at the Associated Boards annual convention in Smithers. The resolution read, in part, "be it resolved that the Associated Boards of Trade urge the Provincial Government to. develop the necessary electrical power to meet the demands of the rapidly expanding economy in the Northern Interior."
FOUR QUESTIONS
Upon receipt of this resolution, Mr. Weston asked, (1) upon what fact is the statement made that the present supplies of power available are inadequate to supply present requirements? (2) Can you call attention to any'ap-
plication that has
for not
commission,
electrical energy been met by the with the possible
exception of ,power to operate headsaws in mills? (3) In what particular communities of the Northern Interior do you request development of more electric power to meet the demands? (4) Has your board any suggestion as to how to meet the cost of providing large reserves of electrical power in advance of its utilization?
THE ANSWERS
Hedley Millar, chairman of the Prince George Board's trade and industry committee, has replied to the questions as follows:  (1) The any delay in discovering it.
statement that present supplies of electrical power were inadequate to supply requirements was based upon the experience of some of the local planing rmilla which, wishing to increase present poAver consumption, were informed that no additional power was available. There are a number of plants situated in this area, operating with diesel, which would prefer to utilize electrical power if available..
(2) While we cannot recall any
application   for electrical energy
being refused by the Commission,
we are aware of applications be-
(See TRADE BOARD, Page 8)
Fire Causes $1000 Damage To Dairy
Around $1000 damage was sustained at Northern Dairies Ltd., corner of Brunswick Street and First Avenue, shortly after 1 p.m. on Tuesday when flames raced across the roof of the firm's boiler-room.
A dairy official said today that the fire got its start from sparks escaping from the chimney.
Prince George Fire Department sped to the scene and managed to halt the blaze before it spread to adjoining buildings.
The dairy man said it is believed the fire might have raged out of control if there had been