Doris E. Bechtley Dec6-57 1158 Melville St. VANCOUVER,. B.C. Prince George Citizen An Independent Semi-Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Intereit of Csnfra) and Northern British Columbia �' THE WEATHER Cloudy with' showers until late today, scattered afternoon showers Friday. Little change in temperature, light winds. Low tonight and high Friday, Quesnel 45 and 70, Prince George and Smithers 45 and 65. 4*4 Vol. 40; No. 55 Prince George, B.C., THURSDAY, July 11, 1957 � (Four Sections, 24 Pages) 7c per copy Electors To Polls July 31st ����' City Moves To Annex 4000 City Hospital Can't Offer X-Ray Service � Effective today no X-ray facilities will be available in Prince George & District Hospital. Unless emergency help can be found this condition will continue' to exist until :September � 1,- when an X-ray technician is due to join the hospital staff. Resignation of' the former technician,, who was forced by family illness to return to her home in Victoria, brought about the situation. Members of the local medical profession are alarmed by the development. Use of X-rays, particularly in serious accident cases, is necessary procedure in assesing injuries. For the time being only the services of a private X-ray operation will be at their disposal. Hospital " officials state they have made "every effort." over the past- month and a half- to obtain a- technician, but have only been able, to get the promise of one for September. An urgent appeal is being made to all X-ray and laboratory technicians who may be living in the Prince George area to register with the hospital fdr temp-orary or emergency work. The hospital board faces almost the same situation regarding lab- technician is not obtained by July 31. Until an X-ray operator is on hand, the Hospital will be unable to handle either in-patients or out-patients. This will apply to miniature chest films, as well. While at least one doctor this morning stated his belief the lack of hospital staff was primarily due to B.C. Hospital Insurance regulations which too rigidly controlled wage scales, Bill Ferry, chairman of the Hospital Board, did not agree. "We are- paying as high here as in other hospitals, and higher than in other provinces. It's just that technicians are in very short supply everywhere." Boer Engines Stolen Two outboard motors, 23 and six" horsepower, were stolen from a cabin afNukko Lake last week. They were the property of Howard Footc. Prince George BOUNDARIES of the City of Prince George will be extended to take, in additional 4000 acres, of land in the fringe area west and southwest of the city if ratepayers approve a referendum scheduled to come before them July 31. Heavily dotted black lines in map prepared by Bill Jones of the city's engineering staff show present boundaries, while straight black lines show ultimate boundaries if taxpayers agree to annexation. Plans to annex area were disclosed at meeting of city council Monday night. �Craftsman Photographers Former Red Leader Gets Post Running Russian Powerplant LONDON (REUTERS) (CP) � Ousted communist leader Georgi Malenkov was reported sent at least 2,000 miles from Moscow to take up a job managing a hydro-electric power station in east Kazakhstan. The news was announced by " Moscow radio in an English language broadcast Wednesday night which said there could be "no thought of persecution" of the top leaders ousted in last week's Kremlin reshuffle. The radio said the men concerned had been "transferred to other work." But it made no reference to the jobs allotted to the other dismissed top leaders, who include former first deputy premiers Vyach-cslav Molotov and Lazar Kagano-vich. The broadcaster said some wes- oratory help if a replacement RCMP are investigating. tern commentators are spreading rumors that Malenkov, Molotov and Kaganovich are in prison. "We declare that there is no truth whatsoever in this," the Moscow broadcast said. "The central committee of the communist party is. not in the habit of taking petty revenge." Karl Anderson Funeral Friday Funeral service for Karl Anderson, who died in Vancouver last Monday, will be held from Knox 'United Church tomorow at 2 p.m. Rev. Gordon MacLaren will officiate. Mr. Anderson was 71 when death came suddenly in St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver. He was widely known here, and throughout the district having operated his own business in Prince George since 1911. SCENES like this would have been common in Prince George if Government Employees had gone ahead with strike plans. Pickets would have been in evidence at all government offices and institutions. 'Fringe' Resid Consent To 180 Tourists Prince George ratepayers will be called upon July 31 to decide one of the most important issues to face this city in its entire turbulent history. How they vote 'on a referendum slated to take place three weeks from now could be a major factor affecting the lives and destinies of not only the city's present population but of generations to come. On that day taxpayers will be asked to approve or reject, a plan to extend the boundaries of Prince George to the extent of increasing the city's share by 4000 acres. If the referendum is approved the city will be almost triple its present size. It will mean the fulfillment of the city's destiny for some. For others, annexation of their property is taken as almost a catastrophe. As city council moved Monday night to give first and second readings to a bylaw for presentation to the Lieut.-Gov.-In-Council requesting annexation, a delegation of property owners in the area let it be known that it would not consent to annexation without a fight. The machinery to bring about the annexation of most of the fringe area bordering the city with the exception of South Fort George and the VLA sub-diyislqn on" ^Pine Street* went into action only recently. The city's ability to accomplish what has hitherto been a frustrating and near-impossible task, was made easier by the new Municipal Act. Before the act went.into effect July 1, the city was required to petition and win the approval of property owners having 50 per cent of the assessed value of the land to be annexed. The new act has changed that regulation. ... � ., Now the' city may annex by the simpler device of obtaining �approval from three-fifths of the resident homeowners in the area. This the city has done and it now only remains for the taxpayers of Prince George to agree to the referendum. Prior to July 1, the city was faced with the impossible situation where one property owner with a large amount of land could block annexation plans because his assessed value may have been overwhelmingly in excess of property values owned by a dozen or more other owners. Not only that but the large property-owner (See 4000 ACRES, Page 3) OAKLAND, Calif (AP)�More than � 180 men and women will leave this bay area city Saturday for a train ride north to Prince George via the famed Cariboo country of British Columbia. They are flue in Prince George Tuesday afternoon. The party will stay in the city until 8 o'clock that night. No arrangements have 'been made by local groups as it is understood the party is made up of holiday-seekers only. It will be the first excursion train of its kind originating in the United States for the Pacific Great Eastern Railroad at Vancouver. The excursion trip is a co-operative affair in that three railroads will carry the passengers. Besides the PGE, there will be the Western Pacific and the Great Northern Railways. Western Pacific is sponsoring the northbound � trip, 't" � �"'�i$&t$?*v?f$l Ginier Awarded Highway Contract Ben Ginter Construction Co. Ltd., was the successful bidder when tenders were opened in Victoria for the construction of 7.G miles of road on the Northern Trans-prqvihcial highway hear Burns Lake.- Contract price for the project amounts to $983,276. The Prince George contractor will be responsible for clearing, grading, graveling and topping of the road section east from Burns Lake to Tintagel. The new section will relieve the highway of a particularly rough piece of roadway,. Right-of-way has already been prepared and construction is expected to get underway shortly. At the same time the Department of Highways announced that R & L Construction Co. Ltd., Vancouver had been awarded a contract for the paving of 16.4 miles of highway between Dawson Creek and Pouce Coupe. Strike Still Pending Says Gov't Employees Spokesman According to officials here the proposed strike of B.C. government employees has only been "postponed" not called off as suggested in coast press releases. Provincial executive of the Employees Association will meet today in Vancouver, and "it is thought likely" it will recommend acceptance of the latest government offer. Until that action is taken by the employees group the strike is technically in abeyance only. More detailed information is expected later today. . The Prince George branch of the association will meet tonight to discuss the situation. Feeling here is that the wage increases and other concessions made to them will satisfy present demands. One matter which still prompts some reluctance to call off strike action is the fact employees feel they "have been left in the dark" as to when Chief Justice Gordon Sloan will be prepared to act as a board of reference. Any indication that the government will be slow to implement this step would make employees hesitant to give up strike action. They have, repeatedly .stated that a better means of dealing with the government was as important, if not more so, than wage increases. Cabinet Weakens: Civil Servants Strike Off VICTORIA (CP) � A government promise that civil servants' bargaining rights.would be reviewed t�y an independent body has averted a strike of more than 11,000 British Columbia government Avorkers. The pledge was made following a meeting between the B.C. cabinet and representatives of the B.C. Government Employees Association. The civil servants had voted earlierto strike at 7 a.m. Friday. Association president George Horridge announced Wednesday afternoon the strike had been .called off. ' The government'.employees, moire than 14,000 sU'ong in B.C., also .gained a V6 per cent .wage increase' retroactive to July- 1. the-actual money ^woft't be deliverad to the$a'. until the increase is approved at the next regular session of the legislature, probably early next year. While the association had requested, a 13-per-cent wage increase, it made plain it was chiefly concerned with bargaining rights. The workers at present have no recourse in a labor dispute except to appear before the cabinet. Premier Bennett announced after the lVS-hour meeting that Chief Justice Gordon Sloan will be appointed as a "board of reference" to review the.civil servants' case. Representations will be made by the workers arid the government. , Mr. Bennett said both sides in .the dispute had agreed to abide � by any i-ecommendations for change in the bargaining procedure made by the chief justice* � ----� - �-�> l :; ;. t �;.' - �> .......\ The premier said he had no idea when the chief justice would put the board of reference on an active basis. "Whatever recommendations are made", Premier Bennett said, "will be submitted to the legislature." The government concessions did not include any uniform reduction in the work week. The association included in its original demands one for a standard 40-hour week, claiming some employees still were working'a 4'4-hour week. Association officers estimated the 7V2 per cent salary increase �as recommended by the civil service commission�will cost the gogvernment, approximately $2,450,000 for the remaining nine months-�f the current fiscal year. '