INSIDE EDITORIAL ........................ Page 2 SPORTS.............................. Page 4 CLASSIFIED ........................ Page 8 WOMEN'S SOCIAL ............ Page 7 COMICS............................. Page 9 h IHE WE A T H B R Cloudy with scattered show.rs on Tuesdoy, continuing mild. Winds southerly 25 in main valley and light elsewhere. Low tonight and high Tuesday 30 and 45. Dedicated to the Progress of the North Phone LO 4-2441 Vol. 3; No. 51 PRINCE GEORGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1959 BY CARRIER 35c PER WEEK THESPIANS from nine high schools in the Northern Interior took part in a regional drama festival here this weekend. Winners or various prizes and trophies, shown above, were (back row, left to-right): Murray Cameron, director of the McBride group; Rita Lonsdale, best supporting actress; Max Ewart, best supporting actor; Douglas Palsson, second best actor; Tom Kerr, Dawson Creek Tops in Festival director of Johnny Dunn, best play; (front row, left to right): Linda Westaway, best.actress; Eric Schneider, best actor; Carol Perman, best supporting actress and Joanne Wolff, runner-up for best actress. Mr. Keith Simpson of Vancouver, adjudicator of the festival, is shown on the far right. � �Hal Vandervoort photo Entries from � jpa\%crci creek won top awards in the northern interior drama festival held in Prince George during the weekend. Dawson Creek's entry of ".loluuiy Uunn", I (Ui'cucteil V>y Tom Ken1, was adjudicated Hie best play in the festival Saturday night. Keith Simpson from Gladstone high school in Vahcouver was THIS WEEK . . . First Ave. Lights To Be Lit Shortly Street.lights on the west end of First Ave. are expected to go into operation this week. Cost of the overhead mercury vapor lamps is b'_-ing shared by the city and the B.C. Power Commission. ld Oldtlmers To Ho Reunion Oldtimc Prince George residents will again have a chance to refresh old memories when the P r i n c e George and District Association holds its annual reunion dinner March i!) at Vancouver. All city travellers in the vicinity of Vuncouve r around mid-March arc invited to attend the dinner, tc begin at 6:30 p.m. at Mt. Pleasant Canadian Legion dining hall. 2(555 Main St. Entertainment will be provided. Twenty lights are being installed on First Ave. from Victoria St. to the Ncehako bridge and the hill which leads south into the Central Kurt. George area in the vicinity of the former posver plant. Decision to install the lights came on the heels of protests over the dark, heavily-travelled section of the street on which a man was killed in Deccmhcr. JUKI' Kl'liKS A coroner's jury inquiring into (he death recommended that lights be installed in the area which lias been the scene of more traffic deaths in the city than any other street. Cost <>l' each lamp is in the neighborhood of $-00 and is being shared 50-50 by (lie city and the B.C. Power Commission. Operating costs will he paid by the city. Lights will increase the safely of both pedestrians and build ings in the area. Several large warehouses which skirt the west end of First Ave. need constant police patrol during the night because of poor lighting conditions. Your Citizen Carrier Citizen carrier Jim Shannon, 12, is very keen on all sports, music and singing. lie plays hockey in the Pec and plans lo join We the **�?� plays eaguc ttle League this summer for baseball; Ik> moved to Prince George List. August from his native Medicine Hat, Alberta. ile takes piano lessons-and sings in the junior choir at the Knox United Church. Jim bus an older brother and a younger sister. His route is A-23 which co-vcrs Gorse and 1-1 em lock streets. .Jim is a Grade 7 student at the Cpnnaught Junior High School. He has about 30 customers on his route. Jim is the spn of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Shannon, l(j.'55 Fir Street, and can be reached at Lu 4-4353, Entries Here adjudicator for I hjj rostlval which saw plays presented by the Prince George, Vanderhoof, Dawson Creek, Fort St. John and 'M^Bride high scnools. Dawson Creek had the second best entry in the festival, Lu-crezia Borgia's Little Party, which was also directed by Tom Kerf; SCHNEIDER TOPS The best actor was Eric Schneider of Dawson,Creek and runner-up was Douglas Poison. Mr. Simpson named Linda Westaway of Dawson Creek the best actress. �Miss Westaway is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Cyril Westaway of Prince George. Prince George's top award in the festival went to Max Ewart who was named best supporting actor. Edward Cameron of McBride was runner-up in the category; Joanne Wolff of Fort St. John was runner-up in the best actress category. -LOCAL ACTRESS Prince George senior high school student Rita Lonsdale was chosen best supporting actress while Carol Perman of Fort St. John came second in the same category. The nine plays in the festival, the first of its kind to be held in the Northern Interior, were presented in the senior high' school fieldhouse. 'The festival took place Friday and Saturday evenings and there was a matinee performance Saturday. The following are the plays and the school which sponsored them: "The Man Who Wouldn't. Go to Heaven," Prince George Senior High; "House of Bernada Alba," Yanderhoof Elementary Senior High; "Johnny Dunn," South Peace Senior High (Dawson Creek); "A Room in the Tower," North Peace Senior High School (Foil St. John). "Five Dozen Eggs," McBride Elementary Senior High; "Little Glass Houses," North Peace Senior High (Fort St. John); "The Stolen Prince." Duchess Park Junior High; "The Anniversary," .McBride Elementary Senior High, and "Luerezia Borgia's Little Party." South Peace Senior High (Dawson Creek). ALLEGED to have received $5,000 from Frederick Fields of Vancouver in his last election campaign is W. C. 'Henderson (PC-Cariboo). Charge 'that Fields, recently appointed director of the Hank of Canada, contributed $20,000 to four successful Progressive Conservative candidates, including Works Minister Green, was made in the Commons last week by � Frank Howard (COF-Skcena). Conviction Thrown Louis A. Gagnon, 511 Freeman St.. Saturday was found not guilty of a charge of 'assault occasioning bodily harm. The trial, heard by Magistrate J. C. Sands of Fort St. John, arose out of a B.C. Appeal Court order for a new trial. The Appeal Court neard an appeal on Decemher 1], 1958 against a conviction against Gagnon by Magistrate P. .1. Mor-an on September 13, 1958. lie was fined SI.000 or sentenced to six months in jail. Gagnon paid the fine. On December 11. Gagnon's appeal was granted with a new trial being ordered and the SI,-000 fine being returned lo him. Defence counsel at the trial here this week-end was John A Coates. Peter B. Wilson appear-edYon behalf of the Crown. The fourth game of the best-of-seven Cariboo Hockey League finals between the Prince George Mohawks and the Vanderhoof Bears will be played at the Prince George Coliseum Wednesday night. This was announced today by league president Jack Rebmari after conferring with officials from both teams. Tickets will go one sale Tuesday morning and game time will be S:3U p.m. Wednesday. First Broadcast hool Board The weekly broadcast Parent-Teacher Time, after a winter series dealing with education from the teachers' and students' points of view, will tee off tomorrow night with a new series focussing on the school board. R. G. Atkinson, chairman of District 57 School Board, and trustee Jack Rhodes will appear on the broadcast at 9 p.m. tomorrow answering questions about function and duties of the board. WOULD RELIEVE SHORTAGE Advocated Here Establishment of a school of nursing at the Prince George and District Hospital would alleviate the shortage of qualified nurses in northern B.C., the Hospital Society was told last week. L. L. King, chairman of the hospital board's personnel committee, told an annual meeting of the organization Tuesday evening that a new hospital and staff quarters will attract a school of nursing. He said that to mid-1958 there $700 Fine For Theft, Possession A Prince George man has been fined $700 or in default of payment sentenced to 30 days in jail on a charge of theft under $50 and three charges of being in possession of stolen goods. Richard Harry Millns, 24, 2023 Ross Crescent, pleaded uilty before Magistrate P. J. Mpran in city police court March 13 to all four charges. .Millns was fined $100 or in default of payment sentenced to 30 days in jail for theft under $50 which took place several weeks ago in Prince George. Three other fines of $100 each were imposed for possession of stolen property valued at less than $50. On each count, Millns was sentenced to 30 days in jail in default (jf payment. Sentences would be served concurrently. was an apparent shortage of nurses and supervisors and technicians were particularly difficult to obtain. "Last fall this situation seemed somewhat improved but it appears to be deteriorating again now," Mr. King stated. He noted that the hospital now has obtained the services of a permanent nursing director, Mrs. M. Greene, and he paid tri- byloto the work slio-has-done. ""We are also Indebted to Mrs. W. D. Ferry in helping us out during the period when we were without a director," Mr. King said. Northern Stages Ltd., operators of the city transit system, has applied for a 35-per-cent increase in fares. The increase, if granted by the British Columbia Public Utilities Commission, would affect an average of 12,000 passengers who use the system every month. R. H. "Dick" Smith, general manager of Northern Stages, said the move follows an appearance he made recently before city council, requesting a subsidy from the city. Fares would be increased from 12"/y cents a ticket to 17 cents or six for $1. Children's fares will bo 10 cents or half an adult ticket. ' He said that although the city was not prepared to grant a $5,000 or $8,000 subsidy, councillors were anxious to have the bus system continue its service to residents. 'The fare increase, if granted by the PUC, would go into effect April 15. Northern Stages revised its routes as an economy measure last September. HAD DEFICIT However, Mr. Smith told city council, the system suffered a deficit of $8,000 in 1958. H� suggested that the system could continue operating on its ourrent route and fare schedule if the city provided an $8,000 subsidy. Mr. Smith suggested as a M'coml jJt�i'iwU.vn licit, the eom|�i.i�.v Jippl.y Aoi- ..�� in. crease in fares from 12'/.! cents 15 cents per passenger. It would bring an increase of $3,000 in revenue to the company but the city would have RED CROSS CANVASS ACROSS CITY TONIGHT A pO-minute "blitz" canvass will take place in Prince George this evening to raise $6,000 for vital Red Cross services. Some 300 canvassers working under 40 team captains will be calling on homes between 6:30 and S p.m. in the annual drive. Sawmills and businesses will be called on later this month. The Red Cross set an objective of $6,300 in last year's campaign but collected only $4,800. Organization officials are confident they will reach the current $6,000 objective. Each team captain will have an average of eight canvassers working under him to cover certain areas of the city. One area will be canvassed by members of the local Life Underwriters Association. to cover the remaining $5,000 loss witlh a subsidy. "We are not asking the City of Prince George or the taxpayers to supply us with any profit, or not even any interest on our investment, which was made in order lo provide a necessary, cheap and serviceable type of mass transportation," Mr. Smith commented. WANTS TO CONTINUE He said the company would like to continue the service if it could do so without a loss and that it be the only bus line operators in Prince George. �Northern Stages paid three per cent of its gross revenue back to the city until March, 1958. Mr. Smith,estimated that the bus lines are used by between 2,500 and 3,000 persons a week. "Our service is a benefit not only lo our customers but particularly to the businesses of the cit5\ Wo supply the mass transportation which funnels business from outlying areas in the city downtown to the business area," Mr. Smith stated. Fast Work Seventy-five Citizen city and suburban carriers were guests of The Citizen at a movie party and dinner Saturday night and heard details of a new contest which will give them all an opportunity of winning a bicycle, in addition to cash prizes, during the next two months. At the dinner party in the Prince George Hotel, Assistant Publisher Gordon Crockett unfolded details of the carrier contest in which any boy or girl who obtains 20 new orders before May 15 will receive a bicycle. In addition to the bicycle, there will be a cash prize of $20. Indication ol the enthusiasm with which the carriers are tackling this contest was shown when Mr. Crockett returned home a few minutes after talking to them. Two minutes after he arrived home, Carrier Ray Jensen was ringing his doorbell wanting to sell him a subscription. OUTSTANDING/DONORS to,-the Red. Cross blood ' presented badges to a group which had-notcd "bleeding" transfusion service were honored yesterday. Michael records. From left to right are Mrs. Doris. Boyd, Mr. Thornwaite, second from left,, who was chairman of Thornwaite, D. H. Fawcett, Stanley Jacobson, Steven : the1: lied Cross blood donor committee here last year, Bonin and Mrs; Dora Allen.