Doris E. Bechtley 1158 Melville St. VANCOUVER, B.C.' Dec6-57 en An Independent Semi-Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interest of Central and Northern British Columbia THE WEATHER Sunny, with a few cloudy periods. Little change in temperature, light winds. Low tonight and- high tomorrow 40 and 70. Voi: 40; No. 69 Prince George, B.C., THURSDAY, August 29, 1957 (Three Sections, 24 Pages) 7c per copy Senior Citizen Housing Near City To Convey Building Lots Construction is scheduled to get underway early next spring on the first phase of a planned $150,000 low-rental housing project for senior citizens in Prince George. City council made the move on y Monday night which will clear the way for the project, when it agreed to transfer title of some 24 city-owned lots to the Prince George Senior Citizen's Home Society. The society will receive clear title to at leasts 10 of the lots immediately, the balance to be transferred at a later date. The land will be conveyed following the preparation and subsequent adoption of two bylaws which are now being drafted at City Hall. FIRST PHASE of the program, now in its' second year of planning, will likely see the construction of about at least six units, or accommodation for about two dozen old age citizens. The entire project will be constructed adjacent to the Prince George and District Hospital in Block 83 part of which is now occupied by the nurses' residence. The area is bounded by Ninth and Tenth Avenue and by Alward Street and Laurier Crescent. Once working drawings "� � are complete and clear title obtained, RAF Airman Hero Of Jet Test PATUXENT, Md. (AP) � A plucky British airman has successfully made the first test in the United States of a new aircraft ejection seat which permits bail-outa at low altitudes�even near ground level�from speedy jets. FO. Sidney Hughes of the RAF blasted himself out of a two-place navy Panther jet here Wednesday just as the plane left the runway at a speed of more than 130 miles an hour., HE WAS CATAPULTED 80 feet into the air, and a parachute then billowed out to drop him to a feet-first landing. James Martin, inventor of the seat, told reporters it was only the.second ground level test ever made by a man. The other was in England. Navy Secretary Thomas Gates, ,who witnessed the demonstration, described the device as "the greatest thing in aviation safety since the parachute." The demonstration clinched navy acceptance of the device. It has been ordered installed on GO jet trainers. Until now an average of only six out of every 100 men who try to get out of u jet plane below 1,000 feet have any chance of living. the society will make application to federal and provincial housing authorities for financial assistance to launch the project. The project is being sponsored by member clubs of the Prince George Service Club Council. A minimum of $15,000, required to get the project underway Is already in hand. Ultimate plans call for the construction of 20 four-room bungalows, each unit containing, four dwellings for the city's: aged, many of whom do not have adequate accommodation. BALANCE OF THE LOTS on which the nurses' residence is now situated will be conveyed at such time as the residence is of no further use. This will not be until sometime in the fall of 1959 on the completion of the new hospital. ' Under the plan, one-third o� the cost will be furnished by the provincial government and the bal1 afte'e will come from the federal government in the form of a loan under the terms of the National Housing Act which would be amortized over a period of 50 years. . Although the society . requires, a minimum of $15,000, efforts will be made to raise more than that amount due to the fact that the more is subscribed, the less rent the occupants of the dwellings would pay. No Ifs, Ands, Buls; Will Build Monorail You can take it from the Premier himself, the proposed Weiiiier-Gren monorail through the Koeky Mountain Trench north of Prince George will be built. "There siv<- tio ifs, niuls or huts about it," said Sir. Iiennett most emphatically. The premier said this here, Tuesday following his tour of inspection of the Pacific Great Kiistrrn railway in the company of geuonil manager Jdp Broad-bent juul other railway directors. At the y.-uin* time, Mr. Kvuud-bent expressed confidence th'sit the iiortiiorri extension of the PGE will be completed to the Fill-snip Kivcr, fit) miles north of here by September 1). Hp also said the grade to Diiwson Creek should be completed l>y the end of October, and with any luck steel-laying crews will Ueut the snow to the Pint' Pass lOO-odd miles north of Prince CJeorge. Two Impaired Drivers Fined Two impaired drivers were fined .$100 each in police court this week. Anthony 1-41 ley, Prince George, pleaded guilty to a charge of driving,while. .irjipaired and wits ordered to pay a $100 fine. William Ross, also of Princn George,, pleaded guilty to a similar charge and was fined $100 and costs by Police Magistrate P. J. Mo ran. Mayor Off Today For Gas Parleys Mayor John Morrison will leave Prince George for eastern Canada today where he will engage in what have been described as "informal talks" on the city's gas case with high officials of the federal government. "1 am not going armed with either documents or statistics, but with a simple statement of injustice," His Worship told The Citizen this morning. 'His first appointment will be next Thursday with Hem. Gordon Churchill, Minister of Trade -and Commerce. The mayor will ask tlic federal government to intervene in the natural gas distribution case here lo the extent of ordering West Coast Transmission Company Ltd., to sell gut; direct from its imitn line three miles cast of the city to Prince George Gas Company Ltd., Weekend Activities Here's a full list of attractive week-end activities of interest to everyone. TOMORROW All exhibits, except livestock entries, must be entered at the Pall Fair building before noon. Judging takes place during the afternoon. SATURDAY 2 p.m.�Official Fall Fair opening �Variety show at Fair grounds 4 p.m.�Horse racing SUNDAY opening of Cariboo Open Golf Tournament at-Prince George Golf and Country Club' green. � � � 2 p.m.�Swimming meet at municipal pool. MONDAY 1 p.m.�Fair reopens for final day. Stock Car racing at PGARA track on Northern Trans-provinciat highway. 2 p.m.�Citizen Bunion Derby at Fall Fair Grounds. 2 and 4 p.m.�Baby contests.. 4 p.m.�Horse Racing. 8 p.m.�Trophy awards in Fall Pair building. 8 p.m.�Variety show. at noil-discriminatory prices. PltKSS URGENCY He said he will impress on the federal government the urgency of dealing with the case. Prince George Gas Company has been franchisee! by the city to distribute natural gas here but has been ordered to buy the wholesale product from Inland Natural Gas Co. Ltd., at a rate designed to make local consumers pay the same gas price as those in the (See Mayor off, paoe 8) HORTICULTURAL enthusiasts these days are members of "Prince" George Lions Club who in their spare time are turning what was once a barren plot into what will be a pleasant park by next summer. Members turn out week nights whenever they get a chance to work on the projected park at Third Avenue diversion. Seen here preparing walks are left to-rjght Lions Club president Art Bowes, Mac Best, Ralph Stromberg and Don Meyer. �Citizen Photo We're Getting Best Deal In Province Says Premier Premier, "\V. A. C. Bennett Tuesday said that Prince George is getting a better deal from the Socred government than any other center in the province. He was full "of salesman's ad j^ctives, broad .'.smiles and hearty handshakes after a day-long tou of the 'Pacific Great Extern ex-Uinsion north �>f 'nere. ' ' The premier was accompanied by Ray Williston, Minister of Lands and Forests. PGE managing director Elnar Gunderson, other PGE directors and a Van couver press party. "JVlore money is being spent in the Prince George area per capita than anywhere in the pro vince," he told an audience at e dinner gathering in the McDonald Hotel. FASTEST GROWING Referring to the new span across the Nechako River, he said: "It's a fine bridge across your great, mighty river." He described the Prince George district as the fastest growing, liveliest part of British Columbia. In a bouyant mood the premier appeared to be getting wound up for a political rally which he attended in Quesnel Wednesday night. "If you didn't have growth problems, you would have something to worry about," the Premier told the meeting, sponsored by City Center For North Development - Russ Baker The future development of British Columbia's 90,000 square miles of nbrthland will depend for many years upon the ubiquitous floatplanes of B.C.'s large ami small airlines. Russ Baker, whose experience in both flying and in northern B.C. goes back to. the days when string and bailing wire held the "old kites" together, is still convinced that there is so much of this province where treasures are to be found that no other form of transportation can provide adequate means of access. Landing fields will come, Russ believes, as the country grows and the population increases, but in the meantime to get into the isolated parts of the province where its true wealth may lie still undisturbed it takes a seaplane. LAKES AX ASSET British Columbia, with its hundreds of lakes and rivers, suitable for floatplanes, enjoys an advantage over many other parts of the continent in this respect. Pacific AVestern, for that reason, uses a high. percentage of the Canadian-built Beavers, whose remarkable ability to pack a heavy load out of a short ,runway Or waterway, has made them the premier bush planes in the world :oday. I The northland, which now appears on the verge of entering its long-expected boom with the entrance of the multi-millionaire Wenner-Gren Foundation into the Field, will never, in Baker's opinion, be developed if it must wait upon landing fields and facilities for land-based airplanes. PRINCE THE CENTER For that reason he is particularly; interested in seeing that Prince George, the center, as he sees it, of the northern development, should have-the accommodation for the increasing traffic in water-borne air landings. "1 can't quite understand the reasons for the local objections to using Hudson's Bay Slough as a seaplane anchorage," he told The Citizen this week. "Perhaps, people don't understand that planes will not be flying out of there. They will be only taxi-ing into and. out of the area. Takeoffs and landings will all be on. the Fraser River, as they are now. It will in no way change conditions in the Slough area except that aircraft will taxi in there for safe anchorage out of the river currents." "I can't' rightly understand," PWA's president said, "why there is so much opposition to the use of Hudson's Bay Slough for this purpose. I know the Parks Board wish to develop a park here for the city; but there is no reason why Hie two things can't go side by side. "Down in Kelowna, Pcnticton and Kamloops floatplanes are docked right side-by-side with the (See SEAPLANES, Page 5) the Prince George Board of Trade. "More money has been spent ;per,capita in B.C. on highways, bridges, electrical power services ancl'other government projects than anywhere in the free world," he said. Mr. Bennett stated that the Northern Trans-provincial highway was being treated "as the most important link in the entire B.C. system." He indicated that construction work on the new road to McBridc would be pressed ahead and completed on schedule if poor weather conditions and other construction problems don't interfere. The Premier and the entourage travelled as far north as mile 82 on the PGE by car. "Development in the north has never before reached the crescendo it. has today. The situation in changing very rapidly and it is not being hit hy any economic conditions," Premier Bennett re- (Sec SAYS PREMIER, Page 8) Fish Eggs Kill Three PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. KB � Three women arc dead here after eating a. meal Monday which included home-canned salmon eggs. RCMP said autopsies have been performed on the first two victims and food samples have been sent to the RCMP laboratory in Regina for analysis. A joint inquest has been ordered for Sept. 5. Mrs. Nina Lund, GO, died Wed nesday. Her daughters, Mrs. Anne Boser, 34, and Miss Lucinda Wes ley, 36, died Tuesday night. The mother and one daughter were taken to Prince Rupert gen eral. hospital Tuesday morning and the other daughter in the afternoon. Miss Wesley died Tues day evening and Mrs. Boser that night. Mrs. Lund died Wednesday afternoon. . A physician said he believed they died of botulism, a kind of food poisoning. Serving The Big Boy Shortly before noon on Tuesday a 22-year-old journeyman printer will place his thumb against a small red button and the first issue of a modern daily newspaper for Central British Columbia will start slipping through the press on its way to more than 6000 Prince George Citizen subscribers and upwards of 18,000 readers. He will do it without fanfare and in such haste that he will hardly have ah audience. It is probable that in the rush to get the most perishable commodity in the world-, news, into the hands of those who buy it the significance of the occasion will escape him. The decision to convert the semi-weekly Citizen into the daily Citizen was made just over nine months ago. It was a decision based not so much on the immediate economics of the publishing business as it was on the conviction that Prince George and the vast area of which it is the center is a "big boy" now. This area, undoubtedly the richest in British Columbia in the terms of per-capita prosperity and future development, has^lacked the ability to sell itself daily to the world of commerce which must help to build it. The daily Citizen will provide that ability. We believe, immodestly if you like, that The Citizen will put Central British Columbia on maps which heretofore have passed it by. , The Citizen, for reasons better known, perhaps, to its readers than its publishers, has for years been a leader in the weekly newspaper field in Canada. The calibre of its expanded staff is such that it will remain a leader. The Citizen will strive to become, and we are determined and confident that it will become, both the marketplace and the voice for nearly one third of the greatest province in Canada'. If it can be said that this newspaper has a primary aim, then that aim is to promote the development of the central interior and to keep pace with that development which it has helped to create. On Tuesday when the presses roll out the first daily issue the "big boy" will be getting what he earned. We hope you like it. Life Pic Duo Sees Trench Life Magazine will be featuring a picture story one of these days on Wenner-Gren-land, the Rocky Mountain trench area of British Columbia north of Prince George. One of the world's ace news photographers is touring the Tr&nch by air today under the personal supervision of Russ Baker, Pacific Western Airlines president. She is Margaret Bourke-Whitc, whose picture-stories have been intriguing readers of the weekly newsmagazine ever since the days when she tramped the battlefields of World War II to record on film the bright and the dark moments of the struggle. Miss Wnite took off yesterday from, Prince George in a PWA Beaver aircraft bound for the wildlands the Wenner-Gren Development Co. has been intensively studying the past few months. Accompanying Miss White, besides ex-bush pilot Baker, were Ed Ogle Time and Life Magazine writer and Al Williamson, Vancouver public relations niah. SIGN OF SUCCESS Interest of the big-circulation American weekly magazine in the area is taken here as evidence that the Wenner-Gren people are meeting with success in their preliminary metallurgical surveys of the huge district, included in the watersheds of the Trench. The Swedish industrialist's survey parties have been carrying out air-borne magnatometer work, and reports reaching Prince George indicate they have pinpointed several sections showing distinct promise. Actual field work has been limited so far, and will have to be completed before .true assessment will probably take the work well (See DUO SEES, Pago'i) West Offers New Arms Cut Plan LONDON (AP) � The West moved swiftly today to counter new Soviet moves by placing before Russia� and the world�a complete plan for a "first stage" arms reduction and control agreement. The plan, vital parts of which Russia already has denounced, calls for ending the atomic arms race, banning nuclear tests for two years, limiting missile development to peaceful purposes, and cutting conventional military forces. Harold E.. Stassen, United States delegate, was under instruction from Washington to present the package today. Announcement of tne plan for presenting the package proposal was made Wednesday in Wash-ington a short time after Preslj dent Eisenhower had issued- a statement in effect appealing to Russia not to reject the Western proposals before they have been seriously studied. Eisenhower said rejection "would condemn humanity to an indefniitu future of immeasurable danger." The president's statement re-(See WEST OFFERS, Page 2) DEW Line Still Good Despite Red Missile VICTORIA (CP) � North America's radar warning system "can and will be modified" to meet any new threat, Maj.-Gen. G. R. Peai-kes, VC, minister of national defence, said Wednesday. ' The DEW line circling Canada's Arctic fringe and put into operation only a month ago, "is not made obsolete by the Russian announcement that it has tested a long-range missile," he said in an interview. "We're going to keep our defences up-to-date to meet this and any new threat. As weapons are developed, defences will be developed." Gen. Pearkes said modifications will be made to the equipment on the DEW, mid-Canada" and Pine Tree radar lines. He added that the continent had other -warning systems as well. , .