INSIDE
EDITORIAL ........................ Poge     2
SPORTS   ..............................   Page     4
WOMEN'S SOCIAL    ...........  Page     8
CLASSIFIED ........................ Poge     6
COMICS .......................... Poge     7
WF4THFR
Cloudy with occasional snow flurries to-doy and tomorrow. Cold-Jer. Low tonight ond high Imorrow, 10 and 30.
Dedicated to the Progress of the North
Phone LO 4-2441
Vol. 3;  No.  6.
PRINCE GEORGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA,  FRIDAY, JANUARY  9,   1959
First Ave
PINE MANOR hospital building was demolished today. The structure was pulled to the ground by a heavy tractor-drawn chain. A salvage firm had removed all salvageable material from the building. Before it was
closed down, Pine Manor teachers who had trouble the post-war years.
was used  to accommodate finding living quarters in
�Hal  Vandervoort  photon
Retiring Board President Bemoans Bridge Fiasco
Out-going president Walter T. Hums told the annual meeting of the Prince George Board of Tirade Thursday that "particular concern is noted over the failure to complete the approaches to the uuw Kticnufc.tv.-ls'Ciduc�thereby preventing the use of Lhut structure."
Mr. Burns was speaking during the installation of new president John H. Morrison and other officers of the trade  hoard.
He noted in his annual report the "near lack of progress on the Prince   George-McBride   section
of Highway 10" and added that it has been "disturbing."
Other points In Mr. Burns' report included: Merchants'  Committee: "Great cohceitrf. was expressed
by U\is comtuUtee over the impending strike of the 1WA in late 1953.
"As a result, a special committee was struck to observe the trend of events in this regard. Other activity of this committee was mainly concerned with matters affecting the retail outlets in the City."
This Weekend...
By PAT CAMPBELL
Biggest item on the agenda this week-end is the Joint Olliccrs Cocktail Party set for Saturday night at the First Ave. Armouries . . . Thirty-two officers from our various military services will host the affair, which will be held in the upstairs lounge . . . Dancing to Gordic Pearson and his orchestra . . . Guests are in for an unusual treat between the cocktail hour and dance time, when former Citizen ad man David Skcnc will'show a movie on the Man Mau terrorists, filmed by Skene himself who was Living in Kenya at the time of the crisis.
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For anybody who's in the mood for a good ski run, Ted Church and Dud Sawley will be on hand at their Aurora Ski Club lull Sunday at 1 p.m. to take parties bri a cross-country jaunt . . . It's a mile-and-a-half, downhill located just behind the club hall . . . Carmen Pen-nock has just completed a big sign with directions on how to find the Aurora hill, which has been posted at the Curling Club turrioff on  the Vanderhoof Highway.
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Boy Scouts will hold a Scout dance Saturday night in the Scout Mall, followed by a turkey lunch.
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Be on the lookout for Teen Town members Sunday who will be blanketing the city in a giant bottle drive to help finance fares to the forthcoming Teen Town Convention, scheduled for March at White Rock . . . Seems like a good time of a year for a bottle drove, which is probably what the teeners figured.
� Pacific.Great Eastern Railway: "The connecting of Prince George and the Peace River area by rail was a long-standing project of this Board of Trade that was completed'In 1958.
"For years thin. ndaFiVbr Tvuiclu
has used every influence possible to induce the responsible authorities to undertake this rail access. Probably it will never be told to what degree these efforts were responsible in bringing about this rail connection. Nevertheless, the membership of this organization surely can take great satisfaction in having kept the issue alive until the commitment was  marie.
"This, to me, typifies the real down-to-earth basic activity which justifies and gives real meaning and purpose to a Board of Trade."
Civic Affairs:
"Once again this committee brought the subject of a 'City Manager' to the fore.
"As a result, the city council was moved to present the question to the electorate of the city in the form of an opinion poll. It is a matter of record that the electorate expressed favor in the approximate portion of :5 to 2. In view of this position, the committee looks forward to an eventual unified administration of city affairs."
Mr. Burns also touched on the economic status of P r i n c e George. He noted:
"For the first time in many years, there was a marked slackening off in the growth pattern of business. This was the result of a lower production of lumber and a lower price in large measure.
"This turn of events has had a very "sobering" influence throughout the business community. However, despite individual disappointments experienced, there is evidence that the resulting consolidation has contributed to a much needed stabilizing effect on the local economy."
Drive To Arrive Alive
Stay   alert  and  ,kccp  your mind on driving aiid walking.
Air
Personnel
Wanted
Formdr RCAF and Commonwealth air force personnel arc being sought here to form a branch of the Air Force Association in Prince George.
Interested ex-air force veterans are asked to get in touch with   Rex  Brooks  at 4-4567.
Mr. Brooks said that once enough prospective members are contacted, an executive will be set up and affiliation made with Air Force Association headquarters.
Ha said associate memberships might be extended to members of the United States Air Force in the area.
SHRUM. COMMISSION HERE FEBRUARY 20
The Shrum Royal Commission, inquiring into financing of the British Columbia Power Commission, will sit at Prince George February 20, the Canadian Press reported today.
The announcement comes less than three weeks after The Citizen published an editorial advocating submission of briefs from various groups in case the royal commission was to sit in Prince George.
City Enters Bid With Wen-Gren
A delegation from Prince George will meet Wenner-Gren officials in Vancouver next month in an effort to have this city made headquarters for the billion-dollar northern development.
The delegation will consist jmaihly of members of the 'Industrial Development
Commission, board of trade and representatives from city council.
The proposal is expected to go before city council as soon as the Industrial Development is formally reconstituted later this month.
Wenner-Gren officials are expected to have an executive meeting jn Vancouver in ^mid-February   and   the
local - promoters     hope     to
have the plan before them by then.
Only opposition Prince George faces in its bid to be the � center of Wenner-Gren activity will come from Fort St. John.
Fort St. John residents argue their town is closer than any other center to the site of the 4,500,000 horsepower hydro - electric dam site at Hudson Hope.
Final plans are expected to be made this summer for the liiulti - million hydro, mineral and railway development of the Rocky Mountain Trench.
Work is expected to begin in 19G0 on the hydro dam which will be located on the northern reaches of the Peace River.
STRIKE  IN SOUTH CRIPPLES  OUTPUT
The woodworkers' strike against major Southern Interior lumber operators, now in its 46th day, has stopped SO per cent of production in that area.
Making the announcement, George Mitchell, district secretary of the International Woodworkers of America, told Vancouver Labor Council the strike will go on "for some time" if workers don't win more pay.
Eighty per cent of the production in that area has been stopped," he said, "and it's not going to be moving for some time if operators don't pay more than the basic $1.53 an hour."
Association Names State
Annual meeting and election of officers will be held Monday night at S p.m. by the Prince George and District Association for Handicapped Children at the Cariboo Health Unit, 1461 Sixth Avenue.
Officers to be elected are president, three' vice-presidents; secretary, treasurer and six directors.
}; Current    president    is  rMrs. Connie Hawloy.
Darkness Blamed in Fatal Mishap
A coroner's jury yesterday recommended installation of street lights on the dangerous west end oi First Ave. where a man was killed in an automobile accident
last month.
The jury made its recommendation after hearing evidence that Fredrick Bernhard Nelson was struck by a car on an un-lighted portion of the through-way on Dec. 6.
Constable S. L. Partridge testified Nelson, who was wearing dark clothes, was in an area without street lghts or outdoor lighting supplied by buildings. WAS   INTOXICATED
However, a Prince George doctor told the court that a blood analysis proved Nelson was in a state of intoxication which would make him irrational in his thinking, and that he probably couldn't walk a straight line.
Dr. John Willms said an analyst's report showed there was .2 per cent alcohol in the blood sample.
The jury Freed the driver of the tar, David Joseph Gcnd-crpn, 18, of Prince jSebrgc, oi" any blame in the mishap.
Dr. Willms said Nelson suffered from a series of fractures, chest and abdominal injuries. He testified that death was probably caused by fractures of the skull and neck. .
Genderon testified he was travelling west on JFirst Ave*., at about 25 miles per hour., when a man emerged in his^vision.
He said he slammed on the
brakes   but   struck   the   pedestrian.
Genderon testified that \Vl-son   was   walking  about  lour feet  out  on   the   traffic   lane. There is about 25 feet of cleat. anco beyond the traffc lanes in which   the   man   could   have, walked, another witness said,. Police testified that the collu sion   left a  noticeable  dent on the hood of Genderon's car; An officer told the jury that Nelson was wearing a dark cap, a heavy coat and rubber boots.
He said the brakes and lights on Genderon's vehicle were in good working order.
Taxi driver William Harcy-chuk, who called police and ambulance by radio from the scene, said it would be difficult for a driver to see a person dressed in dark clothing.
He also testified that there :is no overhead lighting on the street.
WEATHER
Prince George and � lkilkiey Valley regions�mostly cloudy, a few snow flurries, with occasionally freezing rain Fri. Little change in temperature. Winds light, northerly, occasionally reaching northerly 25 . in the ewestern valleys.. Temperatures! Prince George�low, M); high, 30. Smithers�low, 10; high, 25.
Threatening Desertion Brought Private Luck
By RON BAIRD Citizen  Staff  Writer
When Bill Loopol of Shelley, B.C., was 23 years old he did what a lot of vets have always wanted to do � he told his colonel off.
But the young soldier wasn't court-martialed�he just joined another army.
It came about this way.
Bom in the former Russian state of Bessarabia, Loopol emigrated with his parents to Edmonton when he was four.
When he grew older, he travelled extensively across the United States, finally landing in Missouri, wticre he joined the St. Louis Regiment, in 1913. CUTS KKI) TAPE
When World War I broke out, Loopol itc'neU to join the Canadian Army, so to cut red tape, he simply told his commanding  officer   this:
"If you don't put my discharge through, one of these days you'll find this monkey-suit (his uniform) hanging on your door-knob."
The colonel took the hint� Loopol was on his way out of the St. Louis Regiment at 10 a.m. the following day.
He headed for Fort Francis, Ont.., where he  enlisted in  the
91th     Regiment,    Within    two years, he was overseas.
His battalion broke up in Eng-lang and Loopol was transferred to a western cavalry unit, of which his brother was a company sergeant-major, He tried to contact his brother but failed � an army buddy back from France broke the bad news that Loopol's brother had been killed at, the Somme.
BILL LOOPOL
He was at the front by Christmas of 1916, and recalls how both the Allied and German troops�during a lull in the bat-
tle�called out Christmas greetings to each other before going back to the grim business of war.
One Jerry, along with a shouted '"Merry Christmas," called out�"do you remember Winnipeg?" Apparently he had lived in the Manitoba city before going home to enlist in the German army.
Loopol was promoted to tern; porary sergeant before he ended his army service, and was twice wounded�once when "a bayonet was stuck into his arm, and a second time when shrapnel hit him in the side.
Strangely enough, he recalls, on discharge he was checked out as medically "A-l"�despite his wounds.
In World War II, Loopol joined the Veterans' Guard � and remained a private by his own choice.
One of Loopol's hobbies is col. lecting news pictures of World War 1 battle scenes�ho now hag 493 clippings, sent him by an eight-year-old Thorold, Ont., girl, Ruth Clark.
For the past 33 years, the 68-year-old veteran of two world wars has lived and farmed at Shelley.
His chores today are a far cry from the time he told off the colonel in St. Louis.
WINTER employment campaign committee reports work on winter projects is in high gear throughout me city and district. Members of the committee are shown in the adjoining and above pictures. They are from left to right: Al Robbins, Cliff Bristow, Harry Loder (chairman), George Forscutt, George vCruezot,. Ken McKenzie, Alex MacGregor, U? I. Moss, Gordon Brownridge, Gordon Bevan and Ernest Shaw.
�Hal Vandervoort  photos