INSIDE
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SPORTS ............................. Po�� 4
CLASSIFIED ........................ P�9� 6
COMICS.......................... Pose 7
WOMEN'S SOCIAL ............ Page S
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Mostly cloudy and mild tomorrow with mixed rain and snow in the morning. Winds light. Low tonight and high tomorrow 25 and 35.
Dedicated to the Progress of the North
Phone LO 4-2441
Vol. 3; No. 24
PRINCE GEORGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1959
BY CARRIER 35c PER WEEK
Reid Lake Death Ruled Accidental
A man who was fatally injured when a jack slipped under a light truck Monday died of accidental causes, a coroner's jury decided last night.
Era Hubert Akerley of 457 Third Ave. was killed \vhen working at the rear end of a "Jeep" about 24 miles north-west of Prince George in the Reid Lake area.
The jury under Coroner Dr. A. L. Chambers heard evidence that one of the blocks supporting the jack apparently slipped. Akerley suffered serious skull and brain injuries and died at the scene.
Plane, 73 Aboard, Plunges Into River
NEW YORK (AP) � A new American Airlines turbo-prop airliner with 73 persons aboard plunged into the chilling, fog-covered waters of the East River late Tuesday night. Sixty-five apparently died despite feverish rescue efforts by harbor craft.
There was no indication In the preliminary passenger list that any Canadians wore aboard.
The piano's pilot, using instruments because of the murky �weather, was feeling his way gingerly toward a runway at La Cuardia Airport after a night from Chicago.
For some undetermined reason, tlie four-engJned aircraft smacked Info the water and burst apart'about half a mile from the'whore end of the runway. w'ui':('K/\<;i<: sinks
Some of the passengers and crew were, flung from or floated out of the wreckage before it
sank to the river bottom 30 to :3fj feet below.
A tugboat a few hundred feet away raced to the crash site.
A member of the tug's crew said tne sights and sounds were something never to be forgotten.
"There seemed to be bodies all around^ and there were continual .screams for help," he said*
All through the night and into a grey, rainy dawn a hugh array of boats searched, the river waters for bodies.'Dy mid-morning only 10 had been recovered, leaving 1(5 still missing. The eight survivors were in hospitals.
Mother Rescues Child
One woman, the mother of the rescued boy, also hud been . jaidkii*^* t< i'�*�wM�e-iiUy�. ML died Hftoi-vfrirtl Thb boT said later -.his mother swam and held his head above water before he was rescued.
NEW YORK 0 p.m.
Pipeline Worker Tossed 150 Feet by Explosion
A man was killed yesterday when a natural gas pipeline cleaning apparatus exploded and blew him nearly 150 feet.
Henry Harold Penner, �'](�, of Blueberry, near Fort St. John was working with a cleaning crew when the mishap occurred.
An iron "pig" was being forced down (he line to remove grave!, dirt and water when it suddenly burst out of an exit and struck Penner in the stomach. He died at the scene.
by a business located in the city to buy city plates.
Columbia Excavating Co. Ltd. and distributors for the British-American, Home and Standard Oil companies feel the license fees arc excessive and will create an unnecessary financial burden on the firms.
Columbia Excavating said city taxes, including license plate fees, would make it more practical for the company to locate its offices beyond the city limits.
J. S. Bennett, comptroller for the firm, said about 75 per cent of the company's contracts are out of the city.
A $5 levy will apply to firms which operate a vehicle, either a car or truck, in conjunction with their business. This includes delivery trucks belonging to grocery stores and "company cars."
The S10 fee applies to firms which" have vehicles for hire� taxis, u-drive companies and transfer firms.
Owners of certain types of trucks such as oil and gasoline delivery tanks and concrete mixers will- have to pay a $20 license fee.
.Mayoress Carrie Jane Gray said she believed confusion and complaints had arisen over the issue because a poor "public relations job" had been made of it.
'Fhe license fees will become due the same date as trade licenses, on Jan. 10 and July 10.
Jobless Picks
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Building Hits Record Month
Close to $400,000 worth of building permits was issued in Prince George last month.
City buikiing inspector Kd-mond Neff reported today that the figure climbed to an all-time high for January of $396,350.
It is $157,350 over a figure of $239,000 reached in January, 1958.
Largest permit was for reconstruction of the Hudson's Bay Co. retail store at Third Ave. and Quebec St. It was in the amount of $277,000.
Three RCMP duplex housing units boosted the figure by $100,000. .
Mr. Neff said there is a notable increased interest in construction here this year. Comparatively mild weather coupled with a winter w ork campaign has stepped up building activity in the city.
Decrease of 129 Within Nine Days
The month-long, so far steady decline in the number of jobless appears to be picking up speed, the local branch of the National Employment Service reported today.
In the last nine days of January, the number of- unemployed registered here dropped by 129, about the same decrease as recorded during the four weeks between Christmas and January
The January 31 total of unplaced applicants was 2.723, as compared to 2,852 January 22 and 2,911 January 1.
On January 31 last year, nuni ber of jobless was 550 above this year's.
At the same time, job applications by women kept mounting while male applications dropped.
While male applications decreased from 2,511 at the begin-
Mayoress' Attacks Leave Police Silent
Mayoress Carrie Jane Gray's claim that the local police'force could be slashed by .'50 per cent has been receivedTwith a "no comment" answer by the commanding officer, of the Prince George RCMP subdivision. .' Pointing.1 at yesterday's issue
of The Gtnzpfi which carried the mayoress', proposal, Inspector II. G. Ingel said:
"This is the first and only report I've had'on this. Until I am notified through proper cbatmjclBi*rI � can *m�ko' no comment."
.However, Inspector Ingel did say that a large transient population made Prince George "difficult to police" and that, he did not think the, 19-man complement was excessive.
Mayoress Gray charged in an address to citv council Monclav
night that police costs in Prince George are "outlandish" and that the complement could be reduced to 13 from 19.
Assuming the city's population at 13,oyo, the jpoUccman-per;tiiousand quota would "Be l.-li
While no tipjto-datc figures on provincial or national averages are available, the 1955 estimate shows a provincial quota of 1.5 per thousand, and a national average of 1.6 per thousand.
ning of the year to 2,197 January 31, female applications rose from 370 to 52G. MOKE PLACEMENTS
Another encouraging sign' is the stepped-up activity of the N'I'jS placement service.
During January 631 men and 09 women found jobs through this service. In January, 19.r>8, only 401 men and 60 women were placed.
NES officials attribute' the greater number of available jobs to the favorable weather. Of the GUI placements last month, 501 were made in the lumber and logging industry, according to employment supervisor Cliff Bristow.
As the weather aids (he basic industries in taking on more men, the "winter work drive" has helped contractors to inuintiiin their regular crows on construction jobs..
Hospital Gets Grant
Federal health department announced today Ihe Prince George and District Hospital will receive a grant of $302,120 to assist in construction of the new building.. -" \ *
The $2,000,000 hospiUd pro-jcet, scheduled for completion In September, will provide Kil beds and will have a nurses residence with accommodation for 10.
The federal government pays $2,000 per bed and $2,000 for every bed in the nurses' residence.
Prince 0e