K. H. bright 1158 Melville St. VANG OLTEH 1 B.C. 0ct4-57 Prince George Citizen An Independent Semi-Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interest of CenWa! and Northern British Columbia THE WEATHER Scattered showers during the evening. Variable cloudiness overnight and Wednesday, with occasional showers near the hills Wednesday afternoon. Little change in temperature. Winds light. Low tonight and high tomorrow, 27 and 55. Vol. 40; No. 32 Prince George, B.C., TUESDAY, April 23, 1957 (Two Sections - 12 Pages) $4.00 per year 5c per copy Biggest In History 37 Percent Increase Proposed Conciliation Sought In IWA Wage Talks VANCOUVER (CD� Deadlocked wage talks involving mure than 30,000 coast woodworkers will go to a conciliation board here. Appointment of a three-man board was recommended after representatives' of the International Woodworkers of America and coast forest operators were unable to agree in meetings with conciliation officer Reg Clements. The IWA is seeking a wage increase of 20 per cent. SERIOUSLY INJURED, when this tractor overturned on a .land clearing job at Sixteenth Avenue and Oak Street Saturday was city equipment dealer Donald Christie. Pinned for a time underneath the"Trfachine, Mr. Christie managed to free himself and crawl about 50 yards on hands and knees to summon help. Teacher Shortage Nears Crisis In B.C. VANCOUVER (CP) � A "near-crisis" has arisen with the shortage of teachers in B.C., Education Minister Les Peterson said here Monday. He told delegates to the annual convention of the B.C. Teachers' Federation that an average of 500 teachers will be needed annually during the next eight years to cope adequately with the influx of new students. Mr. Peterson said an increase in student population this year of | 21,000 had called for 700 additional class rooms with a new teacher in each. No Frills In Budget Says City Hall Source Prince George ratepayers will face a :J7 per cent increase in local taxes this year if city council votes to adopt a proposed 1!)57 budget tomororw night. The increase would be the largest in a single year in the city's history, but its most surprising feature is that, according to a City Hall source, it contains "not a single frill." "In fact," said The Citizen's news source, "it is little more than an austerity budget designed to meet requirements parallel to those which were met in 1950." No capital-from-revenue projects of any magnitude arc contained in the proposed budget. Council will meet tomorrow night in committec-of-the-whole to decide whether or not it will recommend the budget's acceptance at the next regular meeting on Monday night. Routine Visit Coast News Famine Bared By Williston Vancouver daily papers must be "starved for news" according to Lands & Forests Minister R. G. Williston who arrived here on a routine visit yesterday. The popular B.C. cabinet minister told The Citizen early this morning that he was not here expressly to discuss Prince George's hoodlum element as reported in Vancouver newspapers. "As far as I'm concerned I am just on my regular visit here to report on what has been doing in the House. I told them that in Vancouver before I left. I even said as much over the air. But they must be starved for news in Vancouver." Williston's trip to Prince George lias been planned since late in March when he advised local Social Credit Party officials of his intended arrival on April 23.. The minister will discuss the hoodlum problem with Mayor Victoria Principal Teacher Of Year VANCOUVER (CP) � Victoria school principal Bernard C. Gillie Monday av;is named B.C.'s "teacher of the Year," Mr. Gillie received the Fergus-son Memorial award at the opening session of the B.C. Teachers' Federation convention as the educationist who has made an outstanding contribution to education in B.C. The federation cited Mr. Gillie's "unselfish service" to his fellow teachers and his wide interest in community affairs. Mr. Gillie taught at Kelowna and Britannia Beach he fore moving in 1939 to Victoria, where lie heads S. J. Willis Junior High School. About GOO delegates from all parts of B.C. registered Monday for the four-day meeting. They represent 0,200 teachers in the province. Doctor Recovering From Heart Attack Dr. Donald Murphy, h member of the Associate Medical Clinic, is in Prince George & District Hospital recovering from a heart attack suffered about a fortnight ago. According to hospital authorities, the doctor is "coining along very well" but will be away from his practice fur a considerable time yet. Unemployment At All-Time High As 3,500 Jobless Seek Work 100 Register Daily To Claim Benefits Unemployment in Prince George has leaped to an all-time high with a total of 3,470 persons registered for work today at the local employment office. Unemployment Insurance Com-1 ............ mission officers report that with-1 covered by the Prince in the past two weeks the army branch of the UIC and of unemployed has been mount- Morrison and city council on Thursday. "We will do anything to help if help is needed," said the min- j Lstcr. Mr. Williston arrived in the city about 7 p.m. yesterday, conferred with local forest service officials, talked with friends and stayed overnight at the home of YV. U. Munro, Io22 Ninth Avenue. Early this morning he left the city for Queshel where he will address the board of trade later today. Late this afternoon he will catch a train for McBride where he will speak tomorrow. Arriving back in Prince George on Thursday he will meet with the city to discuss certain land problems as well as the law enforcement situation. On Friday he will attend an executive meeting of the Prince George Board of Trade. ing steadily with an average uf 100 new registrations being filed daily. Of the total number of registered job seekers, some 4321 are drawing insurance benefit cheques. This figure is expected to approach the 3700 mark by week's end. UP ONE-THIRD UK: figuers indicate that over 1200 more persons are currently drawing benefits than there were at this same time last -year. Number of persons registered for employment at this time last year totalled 2200. The number this year represents a one-third increase. As a result, it is anticipated that the amount of benefits paid in April this year will skyrocket well beyond the total of $132,U'J2 paid out in March. UIC officers expect that all the claims will be registered by the end of this week and that a level-ling-off process will result. OVER 1000 IX CITY Of the present number of persons drawing benefits, 1710 are city residents. The balance arc resident in other communities George receive cheques by mail. Yet.in the face of zooming unemployment, the local employment office reports a demand for certain diversified tradesmen which occasionally compells them to bring in help from outside points. Most recent available figures reveal vacancies in the Prince George area for 61 males and 31 female workers. These openings are in varied types of employment and include stationary engineers, miners and construction laborers. In the female division there are 15 vacancies for clerks, secretaries and stenographers. Domestic help constituted most other vacancies. SO TAKERS A demand at Kitimat for pot-line laborers has had very few takers. Main requirement for this work, which is not skilled, is physical fitness. It pays $1.7*2 per hour for a -12-hour week with a shift differential increase for night work. Prince George is feeling the effects of an overall condition of uncertainty which has for some time been affecting the logging (See UNEMPLOMENT, Page 3) Oldlimers Elect Biederman President Albert Biederman was elected president of Fort George Old Timers association at a recent executive meeting in the offices of the Northern Hardware &. past-president is W. Bellos. Executive officers are: Harold Assrrian, first vice president; Cecil Pickering, second vice president; W. G. Fraser. During the meeting, the financial report was read by the secretary treasurer and Wednesday, May 8, was set as the date of the association's annual banuct which will be held in the Prince George Cafe dining room. The following committees were set up: refreshment � J. Paschal, Walter Flynn, R. Pooley, K. Anderson; entertainment � Ted Williams, Harold Moffatt, It. Paschal with others to be appointed; raffle � Cecil Pickering and George Henry. After some discussion it was decided to change' the membership qualification date to November 30, 1918 instead of 1916. The next meeting of the association is scheduled for Friday For municipal purposes the budget sets forth a tax rate of 03 mills applied to 100 percent of land assessment and -12 percent of improvements. The increase stems not from the mill rate, which is actually lower than in 1956, but to the increase in taxable improvements from 20 percent in 193G to -12 percent in 1957. Taxation for municipal purposes would be up approximately 47 percent, and for schools, nearly 20 percent. A typical home assessed'at $tl500 sUuated on two lots assessed at $800 would be liable for municipal taxes of $169 this year compared with $114 last year. School taxes on the same property will be up from $G6 to $79. Only bright spot in -what ap- pears to be a bleak picture for most taxpayers is that persons who occupy homes which they own themselves will get $2S lopped off the top of their tax bill. For some owners this will reduce the proposed tax increases on an average home and site to approximately 20 percent. But it will not affect commercial property or homes owned by non-occupants. Total tax bill for 1957 on the typical home mentioned above would 'be $2-18 compared with $161 last year. According to well-informed sources the increase is nearly solely the result of increased costs in both municipal and educational fields. Otherwise Quiet Weekend Baby Chicks Perish As Fire Razes Barn Some 200 baby chicks perished in a fii'e Saturday which destroyed a log barn on the' farm of Thomas Payne on the Giscoine road at about 9 p.m. The old-type building burned to the ground and an unstated amount of equipment as well as the chicks were lost. Three Charged, Nine Injured In Easier Traffic Mishaps Three motorists have heen charged with, traffic offences and nine persons were sent to hospital as the result of motor vehicle accidents here during the Easter weekend. The injured were involved in three separate accidents that mar-cd an otherwise quiet holiday. There were no fires, and according to police, there was no major crime. All those injured were treated for minor cuts and bruises and subsequently released by hospital authorities. Of the motorists facing pi'osccu-tion, two are charged with driving without due care and attention and one is charged with impaired driving. Four persons were sent to hospital for treatment of minor injuries as the result of a two-car collision on Third Avenue near Winnipeg Street at about 9 p.m. Saturday. Fined $50 in police court this morning on a charge of driving without due care and attention as a result of the accident is Donald A. Hill on leave from Royal Canadian Navy barracks at Esquim-alt. According to police, Hill was driving west on Third Aveiric when his vehicle collided with an approaching car on the left side of the road, driven by Alex Padalec, 17S2 Seventeenth Ave- Total damage to both automobiles amounted to about $1000. Three passengers in Padalec's vehicle were sent to hospital with minor bruises and lacerations. They were Stan Machala, Christine Listal, 876 Alward Street, and Ruby Gutterson, 1931 Mc-Bridc Crescent. Miss Gutterson suffered a broken nose and facial cuts and Miss Listal and Mr. Machala sustained lacerations to the face and mouth. Hill sustained a slight concussion and Padalec received a badly bruised left arm and a bruised right knee. Edgar Walls, -1G77 Eighteenth (See THREE ^CHARGED, Page 3) Premier Takes On Third Cabinet Job VICTORIA (CP) Premier Bennett has taken over a third cabinet portfolio, that of Minister of Agriculture, replacing former minister Ralph Chctwynd who died April 3. It is assumed the appointment is a temporary one until the three provincial by-elections scheduled this year are completed. A N N 0 U N C I N 6 True Life Adventures ...Tv^e ...AND THE SAVAGE... ...fue ...The INGENIOUS, .IN NATURE AND THINGS IN True Life Adventures STARTING Thursday, April 25 ~~ IN THE ' Prince George . Citizen ^**t^ ii rrniiifli (M hkti