�oft lee Harts Qnwiief-Vond'efrioof Swi�
;��
An Independent Semi-Weekly NcWkpoper Devoted to the interest of Central ond Northern British Colunv-'g
Prince Geqrge B.C., MONDAY, January 31, 1955
$4.00 per year
par
igine Which Caused Fire ick On Line At City Plant
Still blackened by fire, a $100,000 diesel-gerverator unit :h brought darkness to Prince George's 12,000 inhabitants January 5 is back in operation again.
a signal last week 20 days
feverish overhaul work'was put ne test in the city's First Ave-powerplant as air hissed i the starting system' of number two engine. ne 10-cylinder opposed-piston jr coughed* then caught, and tators cautiously opened the Ittle.
image to the generator could
Ibe fully determined until the
jne was back in operation.
pactivation of the once-faulty
took almost 500 man hours.
jie work of changing connect
Irods, cylinder liners and pis-
and thoroughly inspecting
[other parts of the unit was
|ed out by British Columbia
sr Commission and City of
ce George technicians.
ty Electrical Superintendent
I jack said that the overhauled
is as good now as it ever
ithin 24 hours of when it
ed over for the first time
the fire its 1136 kw generat-
rapacity'was eased into the
pow�r load, 'spite of minute Inspection of part of the machine, the of the crankcase explosion Iresultant. fire was not tleter-
Jd.
|th number two engine back line, the electrical depart-immediately deactivated the ler army powerplant in Cen-|Fort George where two B.C. er Commission operators on to the city were standing by ise of emergency. The army was used nightly during the iaul period at the main plant, >nly to keep it in readiness �se the power load exceeded fgenerating capacity of four
units at First Avenue. |mage from the January 5 las still not been tabulated |t is believed to amount to
$15,000.
lough all generating units ck in operation, the inter-the powerhouse is still in barred and blackened state H prevailed as the last flame sped out. .. .��..-' .-.'��;��� � Iling of the building will have replaced and walls at the fend will have to be re-cover-
Se rehabilitated number two is still blistered' and bare of and its neighbor, number also bears evidence of the ise heat generated in the jing structure.' ; !contract for completely eras-traces of the fire is ex-ed to be let by the city coun-ihortly.
Generating capacity of the main plant is now back to a normal 4000 kw.
An additional 1136 k.w. will become available about February 28 when a power commission crew completes installation of a new unit in a separate powerhouse under construction a few feet west of the main plant.
A crew of seven men is rushing the installation towards completion. Already the, big Fairbanks-Morse diesel engine is at rest on its concrete base and the work of mounting the generator' will commence shortly.
When the Power Commission crew is finished, the city's power-plant will be the largest diesel installation in British Columbia with a maximum output in excess of 5000 k.w. . ,
:W Discloses 1955
bands On City
fage increases for. some cate-
cs plus added holidays and fcthencd vacations are among [demands of the International therhood of Electrical Wbrk-\in their negotiations with the of Prince George for a 1955 tract.
ic union has asked the addi-
of three statutory holidays to
even received by Its members
|er the existing agreement
the municipality. Iso proposed is a vacation (ise which would give IBEW
ibers three weeks with pay |r five years of service.
Dwerplant employees will re-jre an across-the-board . wage
st of 10 cents an hour If the lands are met, and foreman's ties .would be increased to $2.45
ipur from the present rate of B9.
flic existing contract, which entered into in 1953 and Ich covered, a 2-1-month period, tires on July 2. negotiations between the city union bargainers will cornice shortly.
RUF Jet Vanishes With Two Aboard
VANCOUVER (CP)�Some of the most rugged and scenic snowfields in southern British Columbia are believed "to hold the fate of a lost RCAF T-33 jet trainer with two men aboard.'
Search, planes, blocked from a view of Garibaldi Park area 90 miles north of here by cloud and fog Sunday, stood r'eady for first-light take-off today.
The two-seater jet,1 flying tp Vancouver from Gimli, Man., offer a stop at Calgary, vanished Saturday afternoon after radar hod tracked her over the pork area, far off course.
Aboard trie missing jet were FO K. Bradley of Gimli and formerly of Belleville, Ont, and TO J. L,' Nelson of Gimli, formerly of Ottawa. Both are married.
The plane left Calgary at-2:30 p.m. PST and was due in Vancouver 75 minutes later. � �
The Silver Star jet was on radar screens here when operators lost contact while placing the craft over an area of 9,000rfoot peaks end wide, White snowfields.
Quesnel Students Win Badminton Crown
Eight members of Prince George Junior-Senior High School Badminton Club found the competition too stiff when thejr travelled to Quesnel Saturday for an inter-school tournament.
Quesnel high school had 13 wins to take the crown, with Williams Lake in second spot with 11 victories. Wells had nine wins, Prince George seven, and Fort St, James six.
Playbig for Prince George in the girls' singles; Joyce* Ongman won one game and lost two, anci in the boys' singles Dave Den man won one and lost three.
In the doubles Ann Gladwin and Nancy 'Holt won three out of four, and Robin and Roger Vinn edge split four games with their opponents.
Hard luck pair of the Prince George team were Trudy Robbin and Don Decan, playing mixed doubles. They lost all four games.
Following the tournament, the Quesnel Club were hosts at a banquet, and the Prince George play ers report they were royally en tertained.
Car Deal Ends With Vernon Man In Court
Wilbert Mercer of yernon_\vas escorted back to Prince George last week to face a charge of false pretences.
He appeared before Magistrate P. J. 'Moran in police court' today and was committed to trial.
The charge arose when Mercer while trading in his car with a local car dealer, stated there were no enciimberances against the,caiv This was later discovered to be untrue by an insurance company.
P.G. V Curling Kids Win Praise But
Title
Lumbermen 8r Williams Lk. 7
Williams Lk. 9, Lumbermen 6
Prince Geroge Lumbermen and Williams Lake Stamped-rs broke even on weekend hockey gomes at the local .arena. Jrince won on Saturday, 8-7 and the Stamps took Sunday's, ixture 9-6.
After losing to the Summerland entry in {.he Section D playoffs for the B.C. high school curling championship and in the North America Life Trophy competition, a rink from Prince George Junior Senior High School was eliminated in the eights of the consolation event today, and will return home tomorrow.
In championship play the
Prince George boys won three games and lost two games on the final ends. They defeated^ the Salmo rink in their first game and later eliminated the Golden entry 13-2.
1 In the final game for the title Summerland was beaten 9-7 by Kelowna, who will represent the province in the Dominion play-
downs at Sydney, N,S., in March.
According to word from Nelson today, the Prince George rink, youngest in the spiel and the only entry without the advantage of practising on artificial ice, were "the toasts of the town".
They are shown above, left to right: Harland Vlberg, Kevin Smale, Garry Wray (skip) and John Kennedy.
Damage Heavy As
Resumes
The ice-clogged Nechako River poured into the city's heavy industrial area for the second/time in a V/eek on Friday afternoon; on,dJthis timeidbrnage'.will ruVihto the thousondsi-
Friday's flash flood brought the highest winter water .level since 1949 when many mills'were forced to shut down.
Provincial and' municipal authorities are powerless'to get at
md Clearing, Breaking Cost xre At Woodpecker
and clearing^nd breaking , have .been setat^.31.49 an in the \Voodpecker^Ustrict�
result' of 'work leight farms last year, farmers in. that area are pleas- the low costs and the rk done by Fred Grere with [own equipment under the pro-cial government land clearing eme.
fr. Grere report^ that he clear-J289 acres and broke 394 acres, cost for cutting and piling ^raging $21.00 an acre.- Aver--cost of double discing or g with a Rome disc was B3 an acre, and the cost ,of re-Ing after burning was'".$:J.8G an
Woodpecker fafmers feel that land clearing last year in the district was more satisfactory than in former, years, and that if the s&i^ie plan and costs are continued th>ywill be able to have more acres.) piu>amder cultivation. In this way Uie"fRrjner will be able to spend more tilTie^on the farm rather than workings at' other jobs.
The standard of work performed by the clearing and breaking unit was very good, and as a result much less work will be necessary before planting,crops.
Indications are that most of the new land will yield the first crops this year.
ssto
the cause of the floods until spring when dredging can commence.
At the height of the. week-end inundation families were evacuated from their homes ' in the North Nechako area.
This morning at least six mills were shut down while small crows commence the job of denning up.
Thousands of board feet of lumber are scattered around the mill yards and thousands more^ were carried away on the swollen waters. �� ,;
Exact amount of damage brought about by the second flood can not yet be computed but an official of Prince George Planing Mills Ltd.; hardest hit in the heavy industrial section�along River Avenue, said thousands of dollars would be involved in getting the plant into, operation. /
An estimated 200 men are jobless today as a' result of7last week's inundation of industrial installations.
The flood was caused by an ice jam located about/half way between the Nechako bridge and the river-s- confluence with the Fra's-er. .� /
Millmen who witnessed _the conditions which resulted in a river on^ the rampage were impressed by the speed with -which the later level built up.
Martin S. Caine, �owner of Caine Lumber Company on River Avenue, told Citizen newsmen that the ice in the Nechako Riv�r suddenly . started to. move slowly downstream at 2:55 p.m.
The ponderous mass of floe ice continued to move for about five minutes, then ground to a halt when its forward end reached the shallows some 1500 yards below the bridge.
Immediately the water started to rise and one onlooker said the level came up one foot in three minutes.
The water kept rising until, it was five feet above its previous level.
The office staff at Prince George Planing Mills immediately evacuated the building but failed to reach high ground before the waters swirled around their legs. They were wading knee-deep in the icy stream.
FOUR-FEET DEEP
At'- the Norman M. Smith Lumber Company a carrier driver suddenly found the waters four feet deep.around his machine and he was forced to build a bridge with
part of his load in order to reach dry ground.
A half mile section of River Avenue was soon under three to four feet of water and stalled machinery stood in evacuated mill yards. A car left at one mill was submerged almost up to the windows."
Hardly had the river started on its second rampage before it poured over the top of a dyke erected" the week before to protect^the city's water settling basin.
Less than half an hour after water and Ice started to pour' across River Avenue and s^nvl around the tall stacks of lumber, a garage salvage car raoxf to the scene tp rescue a Jate/model car marooned in 30 inches of water.
Hundreds of rnfee fled from nests under Jcmding platforms.' �They swam to'snowbanks at the edge of the^rapidly rising water.
iSmpioyees worked feverishly to lift motors and machinery above the/water level. Some were isolated and had to be evacuated by 'bloats and hastily improvised rafts.
Soon huge slabs of ice were nudging at the side of the municipal pumping station and city officials feared that it would be �shifted from its foundation.
A fleet of dump trucks went into immediate operarton to raise the level of the dyke. The trucks operated' around the clock until Sunday afternoon before they had once more sealed in the perimeter of the basin.
Shortly after the waters started to come up the .city's water chlorinator went out oi. operation for the second time in a �week and it is still inoperative today. Residents are strongly urged to boil all tap water intended for human consumption.
The chlorinator was rendered inoperative by mud which was sucked into the water system.
At the peak of the flood city
officials were concerned over th safety of the powef., system*. ,T.h water"level was within 48 inche of the big generators in the Firs Avenue powerplant and the base ment was a sea of' seepage wate which came up as the water tab, mounted. B It 11 >GH TH K E A TEXED
Traffic deck of tlyy^Nechako bridge was only sevjm feet above the river ice at/one stage and Provincial Public Works Depart ment of-fickrfs 'in Victoria were alerted tp/fhe clanger that furth er floofcHng might put the bridge out Pfoperation. CIVIL DEFENCE
A civil defence headquarters was set up in the Second Avenue premises of Gordon Nicol Ltd. anc movement of civil defence official and police were correlated through Coordinator Jack Nich olson.
Roadblocks were-set up along
First Avenue and River Avenue
barring the approaches to the
(See FLOOD, Page 7)
Vandals Takes $180 Parking Meier Here
Royal Canadian Mounted Police here are today__searching for a city-owned parking meter which disappeared from its location at the week-end.
Police say the meter was removed while still attached tp the steel post on which it was mounted.
The meter probably contained no more than two or three dollars.
Police believe that disappearance of the meter was ah act of vandalism rather than a serious attempt at theft.
It is believed the steel, post may have been loosened when struck by a car. The unit cost'the city $180. i l
H.S. Basketball Star Offered Scholarship
Ken Larson, rangy center mar for Prince George Polars, senioi boys' high school basketball team has been corresponding with a scout for a well known basketbaj scouting association.
Mr. King is the scout. Kennj impressed so much last year a the B.C. high school basketbal playoffs in Vancouver, where h was high game scorer with 30 points.
He was broached by the scou at the conclusion of the tourna ment, and offered a scholarship a an American college upon com pletion of his schooling here.
The starry cagerhan graduate this year from Prince George higl school, and is yet .-undecidec whether tto go to work or accep the offer;. . .
The-basketball scout suggested a junior college for Ken for the first year, which .would give hin more basketball, and a bctte chance to get recognition befon stepping into the big time.
No Rough Stuff When V's, Kamloops Clash
PENTICTON�Hockey fans will see the' European-style game when Pentic ton V's -and Kamlaepvs Elks, both o the Okanagan senior, amateur hocke league, play on exhibition contest in Vancouver Feb. 7.
Proceeds will go to the V's-trave fund. They are trying to rois $15,000 to take them to Europe fo a series.of games leading to the worl hockey championships next month ii Dusseldorf, Germany. ' In the Vancouver game, V's ani Elks will play the style of hoGkc featured in Europe, minimizing body contact,
Soft ice made good hockey impos-ble and passes would go astray as lusive picks bounced and rolled away rom waiting sticks. Very often what 'orted out as goad plays, would wind p in favour of the opposing team ecause of bouncing pucks, i
Suspense and excitement were still lere though as 6oth teams plowed jack and forth in the tough going on ven terms,~rtot knowing when a bad reak would change the course of play nd alter the picture abruptly.
Coach Forsey kept throwing three nes in fast changes at the hustling ake crew on Saturday night trying o wear them down and managed to keout a slim 8-7 win.
They were lucky at that as Trevor The Cat) McDonald in the Lumbermen's net made four sensational saves n headlong drives that were ear-
arked for goals.
Once McDougall, charging in as ast as the ice would let him, split ne Lumbermen defence and raced for ie puck with nobody in front of him ut McDonald. Trevor came out of is net to meet him and dove at the uck. He gathered'it in underneath im just in time and McDougal trip-ed over him and sommersaulted into le net.
Lumbermen scored first on an all-
efence combination as Lorn Irwin
ppssed to Fred Therres who drove a
ong one past the unprepared Hutchis-
n.
Rugged Rocky Richardson tied it up ive minutes later on a solo effort, but Swanson and Church combined .right after the face off on one of the best >loys of the day to put Prince in the ea"d again, Swanson getting the goal.
Wally "Chop Chop" Choptain made it 3-1 for Prince as Jock Lar-; put him in the clear, but Carl 3ucholtz nulified that goal a moment later unassisted.
If looked like all Prince George for awhile as Swanson and Deibel both cored in quick succession and the core read 5-2 for Prince. Swanson got his on a rebound of Tuhursky's shot and Choptain, after doing a fly-ng mare over Richardson's shoulder, put Deibel in position for his.
Ron Montgomery, formerly of Pen-icton V's and playing a solid game at defence for Williams Lake got one jack as Irwin's pass-out to his centrj man didn't quite make it and Montgomery picked up the loose^puck - in Front of the LumbermenV'goal anc McDonald didn't have^a'chance.
Williams Lake come back fast a the second periojd^started, scoring tw
repares For Emergency
nanswered goals. Norberg got their ourth goal and Montgomery the fth, this time on a pass from Don uesnel.
Ken Ludwig broke the tie unassist-
on a beautiful display of stick
andling, and Orval Claffey got a soft
ne from the blue line, ond Prince
eorge was two goals up again.
Williams Lake were pressing hard nd were unlucky not to score os the eriod ended.
Choptain and Hutchison cooled off >r five minutes in the sin bin for aging their own private Donnybrook olf way through the third period and arry Bishop fooled McDonald on a ong shot for the Lake's sixth goal. I Deibel got that one back on a nice lay with Lorkins and Choptoin.
The Stamps made futile attempts
get even as time was running out
n them, but Stineniger made it look
(See HOCKEY, Page 4)' .
Emergency measures have been taken by Canadian National Railway officials on the Jasper-Prince Rupert division to combat the* danger of additional flodds on the Nechako River at Prince George.
At a meeting here Saturday attended by E.XW. Graham, assistant divisional superintendent, and a number' of departmental heads., a^ tour was made of the flood-^irea and an appraisal made qfrWilUam Dale; tourists, Elmer Nelson; entertainment, Jerry Clark; membership, Ken -IJiUtrellf merchants,.