Doris E. Bechtley ; Dec6-57 1158 Melville St. VANCOUVER, B.O,
Prince George Citizen
An Independent1 Semi-Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Intereat of Cent-sol and Northern British Columbia
THE WEATHER
Cloudy with scattered showers, little cooler, light winds. Low tonight and high tomorrow 50 and 65.
Vol. 40; No. 59
Prince George, B.C., THURSDAY, July 25, 1957 (Four Sections, 24 Pages)
7c per copy
Province Forbids Voting
IN SUMMER training at Camp Wainwright, Alta., is Prince George infantryman L/Cpl. Ken'Hornby, left, a member of the RCEME attached to the Lord Strathcona Horse. Hornby is seen here helping to operate a winch in a tank recovery exercise with companions Cfn. Nick Periverscff, Glade, B.C. and L/Cpl. George Squire, "Vern-on. Members "of the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade, the men are undergoing summer training at the camp and will participate in exercise "Hot Foot" at the end of the month.
$12,000 Paving Job Shortlived If City Sewer Plan Goes Ahead
An estimated $12,000 worth of new paving on Victoria Street will have a useful life of only one year if the City of Prince George proceeds as scheduled with a sanitary sewer installation in the downtown area.
A Citizen reporter- learned to- ..... ----------
day that two blocks of Victoria Street on which paving was completed last week must be ripped up in 195S if the sanitary sewer work adheres to the city's existing timetable.
The paving contract was let by
the 13.C. Department of Highways to City Construction Ltd., Van-
couver.
A sub-contractor
on thc project finished paving of seven blocks of Victoria Street curly last week.
City Engineer George Harfprd confirmed yesterday that sanitary sewer line is scheduled to be laid from Tenth to, Twelfth Avenues next year. The paving project stretched from Fourth to Twelfth.
Mr. Harford said it might not be necessary to demolish paving over thc full width of the street.
Department of Highway officials associated with thc project could not be contacted for comment up to press time today.
Indications that the A7ictoria Street paving might not last long came only a fe.vv hours after the renovated thoroughfare was open-de to the public. Hardly had barriers been removed when a power
Strike Violence Hits London
LONDON (REUTERS)� The worst strike violence in more than 30 years hit Britain Wednesday as London police clashed with market handlers and bus workers roughed up passengers.
Not since the general strike of 192G has Britain known strike warfare. Despite picas by union leaders, battles with police and thc public continued and grew uglier.-
Club-swing policemen fought bottle-throwing � strikers at London's Covent Garden fruit and
with fruit was set afire and crates of produce were smashed.
Some 3,500 handlers in London's five main markets have refused to work in protest against a new.working system proposed by employers.
Striking provincial bus work-
shovel under contract to the city j
crs
punched one woman and
started nibbling smallcorners of tlll-cw another into a hedge in
Cornwall in a walkout which has forced some owners to ask for greater protection . . . including i the use of armed force if necessary ... to keep buses running.
paving from two intersections.
Contractors are scheduled to start work on paving Victoria Street from Twelfth Avenue to Seventeenth Avenue within the next few days; A one-block por-| tion of this stretch would also have to be excavated for sewers if the city stuck to its sewage construction schedule. , Paving and maintaining Victoria Street falls to the Department of Highways because the rouie links two arterial highways. First Avenue is also a provincial government responsibility.
Supplying Juvenile Costs $200 Fine
Found guilty of contributing to juvenile delinquency Robert Allen Park, Prince George, was fined $200 in police court this week.
Evidence at the trial established Park had supplied beer to a teenage boy.
Dollar Hits New Record
NEW YORK (AP) � The Can-adian dollar Wednesday reach-do its highest point in terms of of United States currency since November, 1J).'J.'J. It was the second such record in a week.
In terms oi" U.S. currency, the Canadian dolhu- closed at $1.05 2:1/04, up �/:�2 from Tuesday, {hiring the day it sold as high as $1.05 3/8.
Protests Block Provincial Gov't Approval
Eric Nicol Regular Feature For Readers Of 'The Citizen'
One of Canada's top humorists, Eric Nicol, will commence tickling the ribs of Citizen readers in this issue with the appearance of his column on Page Nine.
Nicol, frequent winner of the Stephen Leacock award for Canadian humor, successful author and columnist, has written a thrice-weekly piece for the Vancouver Province in recent years.
Recently a Winnipeg group has made his column available to selected Canadian newspapers on a one-a-week syndicated basis.
The Citizen will carry Nicol's column in its Thursday edition until. September when the paper becomes a five-times-a-week daily paper. In the new daily the Nicol column will appear in the Friday issue.
Now, for a sample of truly Canadian humor at its best, turn to the front page of the second section and read about Nicol's troubles with the love life of the common squash.
Lightning developments on the municipal front in the past 10 hours have seen:
(1) The provincial government reject approval for public voting on the city's annexation and hospital construction bylaws next Wednesday.
(2) The city council vote unanimously to defy the provincial edict and proceed with balloting next Wednesday as planned.
City of Prince George has been virtually ordered to cancel its plans for annexation.
A bluntly-worded recommendation delivered via long-distance telephone to City Hall this morning left the city no alternative but to call off its referendum scheduled to go before the people next Wednesday.
The government directive was ordered in the face of a compelling number of protests from anti-annexation
forces. j----------------1-------------------
At, the same time the govern-
Petition Too Late
Merchants May Be Stuck With Gov't Closing Hours
Merchants, in the city of Prince George who have petitioned city council for a new store closing bylaw may
have missed the boat.
Because.the hew Municipal Act fails tb spell out council's; peroga-tlve 1'egardinB store closing hours, the city's merchants may have to abide by government regulations whether they like it or not.
In addition, if the merchants had been able to reach unanimity in June regarding the hours they wished to operate, they would have it their own way now.
AS IT IS, until city council finds something in the act that permits it to implement a new bylaw, government regulations will be the rule.
A delegation that appeared be fore council Monday night sub mitted a petition signed by close to 90 per cent of merchants re questing a return to the store closing hours that were in effect before the new Municipal Act came in July 1.
Chief difference between government regulations and the old city bylaw is that the act permits stores to remain, open one night a week until 9 p.m. In this city's case, the night opening is on Fridays. In addition, for the sake of tourist trade primarily, the government permits all-day Wednesday shopping during the months of July and .August.
However majority; of Prince George merchants do not favor either of these innovations. They wish to close at G p.m. sharp each night of the week and at noon on Wednesdays.
"The time has not yet coiuo fur J) p.m. shopping on a Kri-
^Pinnies On' Men Here's Your Chance
Because of a shortage of home economics teachers in Prince George School District 57, men may be encouraged to take over teaching the culinaiy arts. If they do, some gaslranomes predict, a general rise in the level of kitchen
ability will be seen in the land.
This state of affairs was disclosed at a meeting Tuesday night of the. school board, when trustees'expressed concern with the teacher shortage, a condition that appears likely to stay with the board right up to when schooj starts in September.
Latest reports indicate that there are still some 26 teacher vacancies to be filled.
OF THIS NUMBER, eight teachers are required for secondary schools, 15 for rural and three for city elementary schools.
Principals now" fill most posts in city anil district schools, but there are still a few unlllled.
The board reported an 'extreme' shortage of home economics teachers.
As a result students who normally take home economics courses in grades nine and ten may have to make a choice be-
tween either year.
With this knowledge in mind, a trustee suggested that men be encouraged to take over economic courses.
ALMOST AS UNIQUE was the suggestion that trailers be used to house teachers in rural areas.
Lack of sufficient teacherages in the rural district was blamed for the reluctance of teachers to fill vacancies outside the city.
Still another problem trustees were left to consider was the matter of -transportation for .children in the Summit Lake area.
A resident of Summit Lake noting the lack of transportation in that area, offered to purchase a small bus if the board would cooperate by giving him financial assistanc. Trustees agreed to return a decision on the matter at a later date.
^.Vi"-pri&ml��nt city merchant' Alex B; Moff.it told toiinclJ.
"Prince Geore Is not a Friday-night town. It could be a Saturday night town," he said.
He pointed out that the city was able to give sufficient service to shoppers without the need for Friday night shopping.
Spokesman for the group was Roy Yip who told council that there was nothing in the Municipal Act to say that tlie city "could not" pass a new bylaw.
However city solicitor H. B. King advised council that there was nothing in the act either that gives council the power to alter the present government regulations.
THE ONLY BYLAW council has passed since the act came in was one which permits drug stores, service stations, confectionery stores and other specialty stores to set their own hours.
General merchants were given the opportunity before the new Municipal Act was enforced, to petition a bylaw which would have established the hours they wished to operate, but because they failed to reach a decisive expression of opinion, council was unable to act.
Whether it is now too late for council to act on behalf of the merchants depends upon how the city is able to interpret the new act.
those now protesting annexation voiced their objection too late for the city to alter its petition to the government.
Even though me city petition-
ment lias requested the city to hold off a $650,000 hospital bylaw which was slated to be polled the same day.
icy meeting of c
council, representatives of the,
Prince George Board of Trade I nici�al Act tnat sets a time limit and the Industrial Development I on tl>e valldity.;of the..signatures; Commission was held at 11 o'clock this morning to consider the order that hurst like a bombshell among
"An"cmergency meeting of city | ed thc area as fai< back as a VC1U" >m,r,Pii representatives of the I ago, there is nothing in thc Mil-
Wenner-Gren Unveils First Monorail
First full-size version of the Alweg monorail train was shown to the world this week in Cologne, Germany, by Swedish industrialist Axel Wenner-Gren.
It is the prototype of the line Wenner-Gren plans to build into the Rocky Mountain trench area of B.C.. north of Prince George.
Me has spent nearly $5,000,000 since 1951 developing the Alweg train, which he hopes to put into use in Canada and South America.
Previous experiments have been. conducted with a two-fifths scale model on an oval track on a heath outside Cologne.
Today a full-size two-coach train ran smoothly along its concrete-based single rail for 1.25 miles at 50 m.p.h. Wenner-Gren's engineers say much higher speeds would be possible on a longer track.
An Alweg spokesman said that 62 miles of Alweg railway are to be built in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
He added that it is also planned to begin construction of a section in British Columbia in 1960 or 1961.
aldermen and City 'Hall officials.
The verbal request was made by Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs J. A. Brown.
CITY CllilUC AKKAN THOMSON told The Citizen the deputy minister spoke in a "firm bust- j nessllke" tone of voice that indicated the government was concerned with the.reaction that the annexation problem has posed.
It substantiates a long-distance telephone conversation a Citizen reporter held with Minister of Lands & Forests R. G. Williston last night in which the minister disclosed that he had personally received "a rather unanimous" expression of opinion from groups and individuals protesting the city's expansion plans.
IT HAS ALSO RAISED thoughts in the minds of some that the city has failed to conduct "a good selling job" in attempting to proceed with its annexation plans.
Indeed resident homeowners in the area west of the city's boundaries claim that the city has attempted to "railroad" thc referendum through.
At the same time according to other views, it indicates that thc government is unsure of the powers contained in the new Municipal Act and that as a result it is expressing a desire to implement its now famous "second look policy."
"It looks like it is going to be a test of the new act," predicted one City Hall spokesman.
T H B RECOMMENDATION, said Mr. Thompson, called for the cancellation of voting Wednesday on both annexation and the hospital nlqrisy bylaw.
"If 1 had my way they wouldn't cancel it at all," exploded Industrial Development Commission Chairman Harold Moffat.
"Annexation has got to happen so let's got it over with. Lets not back down now," he said.
Other prominent civic leaders expressed surprise at thc government order.
"This is most surprising," said Board of Trade President Walter Burns.
However he conceded that a lack of publicity regarding annexation was thc root of the trouble and contended that the current board of trade publicity campaign would have been more effective six months ago.
However it was this duplication of names plus petitions from veterans planning to build in the new VLA sub-division that' likely forced the government to order the cancellation of the entire annexation scheme.
"If they had gone auout this in a straightforward manner more of us out there may" have gone for the deal," said Claud Towe, owner of six acres in the fringe belt.
' "As It is they have avoided publicity and it looks like they are just trying to railroad the thing through."
Meanwhile It was learned that at least five duplications of names appear on petitions that have been , forwarded to the Lieuten-ant-In-Council.
A PETITION THAT WAS filed with city council Monday night by property owners in the fringe area protesting the scheme, contains the names of five families who signed favoring annexation with the city a year ago.
According to City Hall records there are but 22 registered resident homeowners in the area. Of this number the city claims to have 60 per cent who approve annexation.
However a petition raised by residents in the area shows that 13 out of the 22 now object to joining the city.
A confident city council explained this for the benefit of reporters at a press conference yesterday by pointing out that
This Helped Block Annexation
DUNCAN, B.C. CD � Two Duncan residents who own property near Prince George said Wednesday they have formally protested to Municipal Affairs Minister Wesley Black at being barred from voting on an annexation of �1,000 acres of land to thc northern city.
'The land, adjoining Prinee George's boundaries, includes the 300 acres owned by C. P. Deykin and Robert Bishop of Duncan.
They said they are disfranchised by the new municipal act because they are not residing on the property.
On other occasions, Mr. Deykin said, when Prince George sought to annex the land they recieved votes by mail "just as though we were residing on our own. land." � Earlier annexation attempts have been rejected by voters.
"Mr. Bishop and I are not speculators. We developed and worked that land for many years, and have paid taxes on it for 35 years. We arc willing to co-opera to with anyone in developing the area of -Prince George. We have repeatedly offered to extend nearby trackag to our property for in-dusrly, or develop it for residential use, at one third the price being charged for nearby city land." � Mr. Deykin and Mr. Bishop charged that Prince George has expanded so fast and borrowed to such an extent that their credit is impaired and they must get greater acreage to again be able to borrow.
The vote on the issue, now cancelled came to the attention of the men because they subscribed to the Prince George Citizen they said.
Koolenay Seen As Sleel Plant Site
VICTORIA (CP).� Premier Bennett said Wednesday it "looks' more favorable than ever" that a steel smelter will be established soon in the Kootenay area of the B.C. interior.
He made the statement following a meeting in Trail last week with officials of the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co.
"I'm not saying it will take place�but it looks very hopeful," the premier said at a press conference.
A basic iron and steel industry in the interior would not hinder establishment of a smelter on the coast, he said.