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Doris E. Bechtley 1158 Melville St. VANCOUVER,   B.C.
Dec6-57
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An Independent Semi-Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the  Interest of CenS-rol and Northern British Columbia
THE WEATHER
Variable cloudiness, with a few showers and sunny periods during the day. Little change in temperature, winds light. Low tonight and high tomorrow, 50 and 68.
Vol. 40; No.58
Prince George, B.C., MONDAY, July 22, 1957
(Two Sections, 14 Pages)
7c per copy
Police Seek Mystery Car
Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched an intensive search Sunday for a late-model two-tone sedan which was involved in an accident Saturday on the Nechako Hill in which a Prince George man was sent to hbspital suffering serious injuries.
In I'rincQ George & District Hospital today undergoing treatment for multiple fractures, a possible fraeutred pelvis and, probable internal injuries, is Wesley Colgun, 530 Douglas Street.
Colgan was a passenger in half-ton pickup truck which was forced off the road Saturday at about 7 p.m.                                        I
Driver of the truck, Robert Wil-1 Hams, 573 Third Avenue, was un- j injured.'                                     j
According to police Williams and Colgan were ncaring the city when they were met by a vehicle approaching on the wrong side of the road at high rate of speed.
(Police from Prince George to Dawson Creek have been alerted to look for a cream and black, lDOU or 1954 model Ponliac sedan. Williams told police that the driver of the automobile kept right on going.
� The accident occured just north of the bridge approach where a road cuts into the highway from the west.
Both Williams and his companion were thrown clear of the vehicle, about 30 feet distant from where the pickup landed at the bottom of a steep embankment. Damage to the truck is estimated at about $1000.
Colgan was admitted to hospital suffering from a fractured clavicle, crushed ribs, possible fractur-de pelvis and possible internal injuries.
His condition is described as serious.       .   ,          . '.    '
The two men, employed by a' contracting firm, were returning to the city from a pioject north on the Hart Highway.
Four Die In B.C. Weekend Mishaps
VANCOUVER, B.C. (CP) � Four persons died accidentially in British Columbia during the weekend. One was killed in a traffic accident, two were drowned and a fourth died when a rifle he was handling discharged.
Patrick Hodgins, 20, of Youbou", died in hospital in Duncan Saturday after the car he was in crashed into a utility pole. Two other men were injured.
At North Surrey, eight-year-old Linda Murphy was drowned in a swimming pool at Bear Creek Park. She had gone to the park on a Sunday picnic with her family. Residents have asked that the muddy pool be closed.
Jack Sneilb, about 35, drowned Sunday near Nelson when he fell  from  a motor launch.
In Langley, Edward Sevcrsen died of head wounds after a .22 calibre rifle he was handling discharged. He died Saturday night, 2-1 hours after the accident.
OUTLINE of what's to come is pictured here in photograph-showing progress on the city's new arena. Picture ta.ken, by Craftsman Photographers indicates that the $455,000 structure will be of no small dimensions. Final stages of financing remaining $50,000 of the coliss*eum were announced today by Mayor John Morrison.
Last Minute Offer Averts Nurse Strike
PENTICTON, B.C,(CP) � A last-minute offer by the Pentictori Hospital Board Sunday night averted what would have been the first strike of nurses, in Canada, .   .
Fifty-three nurses at the Fen-ticton General:* Hospital" voted., at a hastiiy called meeting to accept the. board's olfer of full implementation of a conciliation board recommendation  for higher pay.
The walkout was scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. today. Only emergency cases were being admitted  to  the hospital.
Of the 102 patients-in the hospital Saturday Administrator E. F. MacDonald had estimated there would be no more than 40 left by strike deadline. Fifteen of the patients were newborn babies.
Basis for the settlement was a wage offer by the hospital board of $244 a month as recommended by the conciliation board. Previously the hospital board had offered $240 a month. The present wage is $230.
Announcement of the offer was made following a special meeting of. the board earlier Sunday. Apart from the length of the contract, the offer represents fulfillment of the nurses demands.
They wanted the contract to run until Dec. 31. It will be effective until July 31,  1958.
The nurses had promised to provide emergency staffs during
Teenager First Polio Victim; Mercy Flight To Vancouver
A 19-year-old Prince George polio victim was flown to Vancouver Friday by an RCAP mercy flight mission.
Geraldine Bellamy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. Bellamy, 559; Freeman Street, hospitalized by the disease last Wednesday, is the first polio case reported in Prince George this year.
the strike.' Two nurses were to act as an unpaid "patrol" on each shift.
The hospital board had claimed it could not meet th conciliation board recommendation because it received only $240 a month for each nurse from the B.C.  Hospital  Insurance  service.
The board issued a statement Saturday saying there had been an offer of "some additional funds" from the BCHIS but this was insufficient to meet estimates. The statement followed a visit to Penticton by a hospital service team from Victoria which studied whether the general hospital was entitled to further benefits.
Hospital care In B.C. is paid for through a five per cent sales tax, receipts from which go to the BCHIS..
The hospital board had said it would allow the strike to take place in hopes the government egency would recognize its "obligation" to the nurses.                  |
l'entictoir General is one of three British Columbia hospitals at which the Registered Nurses j Association has called strike votes over rejection by hospitals of conciliation  board   wage  awards.
About 215 nurses at Royal Columbia Hospital in New Westminister are to stop work at 7 "a.m. July 30. A strike ballot is being taken today among 230 nurses at St. Paul's hospital here.
Short of Money
City Rejects Bid For More Policemen
City detachment of the RCMP, hampered by a lack of men to properly police the growing. City of Prince George,  has been  turned down on a request for three
additional officers.
And the City of Prince George, hampered by a lack, of money, was placed in the . pdsitiqn of being forced jtp peigct th submitted1 '� last: week ti Inspector J. D. Lee.1
"We simply can't afford it right now," said finance committee chairman Alderman Percy Williams.
Alderman Williams explained that the city appreciated the need for more men, but the budget had made no provision for an increase in staff.
Addition of - three constables would cost the city approximately $14,000 a year.
Total cost of policing the city this year will amount to about $69,000 but next year it will cost more.
Under the new RCMP contract the city will pay a total of $84,300 in  1958.
Meanwhile the detachment, with a total strength of 18 men including office personnel, is unable to give the city the preventive-type of crime control that is required.
"We simply haven't enough men to patrol the city and residential area,"  explained one RCMP
She was rushed to Vancouver by RCAF Dakota aircraft when her doctors became alarmed at the speed with which paralysis was affecting her body.
The left side of the attractive teenager's body was partially paralized when she left here. She is employed by the Northwest Telephone Co.
A polio specialist and a nurse from Vancouver were aboard the mercy flignt aircraft which took off from Prince George airport at  about  & P.m.  Friday.
The girl's mother told The Citizen today that her daughter had been admitted to Vancouver General Hospital and that she was resting comfortably.
She said that the girl began to experience sickness about a week ago, and that she was admitted to Prince George & District Hospital  Wednesday  night.
She was without pain until Thursday night and the advance of the disease became rapid Friday.
Miss Bellamy's case is the first reported polio outbreak in the Prince George area  this year.
At this time last year, three cases had been  reported.
Four Forced Off Road By Motorist
A weaving, rambling' motorist, who forced four cars off tlie road on the airport Itill Thursday, found out Friday it didn't pay to party and drive at the name time. Lloyd George Tallinan, Prince George, paid $100 and costs when found guilty in police court of impaired lriving.
RCMP report Tallman's eccentric driving' caused the police switchboard to be flooded with phone calls by outraged motorists. When they arrived on- the scene Mr. Tallinan had come; to a halt, � but; was ;cx-periencirig difficulty in climbing back into bis vehicle.
Government House Design Under Way
VICTORIA (CD � The provincial government has decided against holding a competition among B.C. architects to design a new government house.
Provincial Chief Clive Campbell and his staff arc going ahead with plans in the hope the mansion will be completed before the end of next year.
spokesman.
"If we had three more men we might be able to do it. But even Uiat.y.wouUln't be enough." ^J^TJglnted Out that, because tr police patrol cannot be "everywhere at once" petty misdemeanors must, go   unchecked.
Police Avert Mass Escape From School
VANCOUVER (CP) � A mass escape from the Girls Indtistrial School on Vancouver's Cassiar Street was thwarted by police Sunday-night.
Twelve troublemakers were placed in maximum security cells. Two girls escaped. They were being sought.
Police said the escape was planned to take place during a wild demonstration involving most of the school inmates.
School officials called police at 7 a.m. when the girls began breaking windows, throwing furniture and pillows, screaming, and running through the building.
"They were trying to force the main floor doors - and break through the windows," one officer said.
Demonstrations   continued   for
Mayor Seeks Help
Arena Fund Still Deficient
$25,000 Shortage 'Matter Of Concern
Mayor John Morrison announced today that a $50,000 spread between the cost of Prince George's new arena and the amount of money which the city has earmarked for the structure "looks like it has been half subscribed."
The mayor said that heads of five city service clubs have agreed to recommend to their membership that each organization subscribe $5000 towards offsetting the deficit.
"But the remaining $25,000 which we must raise to meet the total cost is a matter of* some concern to me and to members of my council," said His Worship.
In   an   exclusive   statement   to ------'�---------------------------------
The Citizen the mayor launched a  construction on the basis of what strong appeal for public assistance  we had.
more than an hour. One girl told a reporter the trouble began at 3 a.m. Sunday when a few girls were told they could not go to the washroom.
Lawyer Chooses Imprisonment In Preference To Paying Fine
A young Prince George lawyer went to jail Friday in preference to paying a $10 fine.
John Meredith Tayler, who was , convicted May 15 of failing to take out a professional licence, chose incarceration when he was served witn a wararit for committal by  RCMP.
But the slight, English-accented laywer did not- languish for long "in durance vile", for within less than an hour a colleague, either out of sympathy for the prisoner or out of deference for the profession, paid the fine plus costs.
Mr. Tayler, who has been attempting to appeal the conviction and the fine imposed by Magistrate P. J. Moran, expressed surprise, if not indignation when he announced that "they actually put me in the lockup." *
He said he was scarcely acclimatized when he was released.
Total "spring"
amount     required    to the -victim,   $10* plus
$3.50 costs, was paid by someone who wished that his name remain anonymous.
However, Mr. Tayler said he was prepared to suffer the alternate one day in jail in preference to paying for what he has termed an  "unjust"  conviction.
The young lawyer, who came to Prince Geo'^re about a year ago, has been the subject of puzzled speculation ever since he refused to pay for a city licence, and began fighting the case in court last September.
After a series of remands that took place over a period of half a year, Mr. Tayler was convicted In May and given until July 15 to pay the fine.
Since he had not paid the fine, Magistrate Moran Friday issued a warrant for his committal to
jail.
The storm in a teacup arose when he was summonsed last August on a complaint laid by the City of Prince George, alleging that the lawyer had failed to take  out a  professional  licence.
Mr. Tayler, who was employed by a Prinre George legal firm at the time, argued that the onus was' on his employer to pay for the document.
Mr. Tayler said that he has applied to the police magistrate to "state a case' which in legal procedure would be presented to the Supreme Court.
He said that it is the magistrate's "duty to do it."
It would then be for the Supreme Court to decide whether the case is "good in law."
"So far," said Mr. Tayler, "my application he .met with, little success."
in raising the remainder of the funds.
"1 am not soliciting private donations at this time but I do want some ideas," he said.
"The shortage of $25,000 may seem small in view of the total cost of the project, but it looms continually larger because of its absence."
Total initial cost of the new artificial ice arena is $505,000. Earlier this year a bond issue covering $455,000 of this amount was oversubscribed by local firms and private individuals.
At that time it was thought that the proceeds of the bond issue would cover the entire cost of the structure.
But low bid on the project amounted to nearly $100,000 higher than the estimate.
Tills amount was cut to about $50,000 through temporary elimination of. .certain features of the arena.            �.             �--,   -
Already under construction,-the building will be completed before next winter.
Mayor Morrison said that. "The city, with its extensive committments in other fields, simply cannot afford ot put up the $25,000 sum which will be. left if the service clubs accept the recommendations of thdir leaders.
"When we learned that the arena would cost a good deal more than the amount we had raised, 1 personally assumed the responsibility of  authorizing  a  start on
"Through   the   co-operation   of
the service clubs it now appears that we have raised or are about to raise half of the shortage, hut ' the   remainder   is  a  matter  for some concern."
In making his statement this morning the mayor said he hoped that members of the public might suggest gome method for raising the balance of the funds.
"I don't want to be forced into a door-to-door canvass for the money but we might have to do this if some workable alternative is not found."
He said anybody with,ideas on how the $25,000 can be raised should contact him personally.
Billboard Lack Places City In Unique Spot
A decision by city council last week placed the City of Prince George in contention for being the only city of its size in British Columbia that has not, nor is likely to have for a long time to come, advertising  billboards.
Acting on a recommendation of a special committee selected re cently to study the billboard question, council unanimously agreed to ban their entry within the city.
The decision was apparently based on a survey conducted among some 35 or 40 downtown merchants by an impartial canvasser.
"It's not fair. It's shortsighted." exclaimed Peter Wlens, painting and decoratirig contractor who had applied for permission to erect some 20 billboards throughout the city's light industrial area.
But council also was acting on a recommendation of the city building inspector who advised that the billboards would serve the city "no useful.purpose" and that they would oniy "tie up" industrial property and be an aid to boosting the price of the land on which they would be located.
Mr. Wiens who loses the opportunity of operating a billboard agency for Seaboard Advertising Co., Vancouver, a subsidiary of Neon Products of Canada Ltd., by council's decision, charged the city with "choking local initiative."
He said the city was begging for new enterprise but was not prepared to give local business a fair chance.
"It's the only city of its size in the province that hasn't got billboard advertising, he claimed.
He argued that modern billboards', with eye appeal, would be an asset to the city in hiding unsightly scenes he claimed abound in the city.
Car Dead Set On Killing Owner!
'   Seenis" a   man  can't" 'ttirft � :ih+5--�� back on his own car these days without it getting up and hitting him.
Owner of a 1957 model car was almost killed by his vehicle Saturday afternoon when it rolled into an 8-foot deep ditch on Victoria Street in which he was working.
Only the agility of workman Floyd Steene prevented him from being crushed to death when the driverless vehicle plunged into the city sewer excavation at about 3 p.m.
Here is how the freak accident, involving three vehicles and no drivers, happened:
George McCall of Quesnel parked his late model car on a slight grade on Sixth Avenue west of Victoria Street. During his absence the vehicle began to roll east of its own accord. It bumped into the rear of Steene's car which was parked close to where Us owner was working at the bottom of the deep ditch.
As the vehicle was making its silent approach to the adge of the trench Steene happened to glance skywards and in the nick of time leaped aside to safety.
Meanwhile McCall's auto, continuing on its reckless way, caromed off Sleene's vehicle and struck a panel truck that was also  parked  on   the street.
Total damage to all cars involved amounted to about $150, while Steene Is recovering from a bad case of shaken nerves.
Annexation Debate To Be Broadcast
Prince George ratepayers who may be uncertain about the ramifications involved in the city's annexation plan will be given an opportunity Friday night to hear all sides of the controversy in a radio broadcast.
Sponsored b'y the Prince George Board of Trade, the program will bring to the air a panel of experts composed of leading figures in the community, all of whom are, well versed in the problems in-' volving annexation.
The hour-long discussion will be broadcast over radio station   ' CKPG  starting at 9 p.m. If the members of the round-table conference fail to touch on a particular aspect of the pJan, listeners may telephone an