INSIDE
EDITORIAL .................... Pago 2
SPORTS Pogo 6
WOMEN'S, SOCIAL ............ Page 9
COMICS ............................ Poge 13
CLASSIFIED ........................ page 12
_1L JILJML 111 /
WEATHER
Sunny ond warm Friday. l"9�>t winds. Low tonight and high tomorrow in Prince George, 45 ond 75. "
Dedicated to the Progress of the North
Phone LO 4-2441
Vol. 3; No. 131
PRINCE GEORGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, THURSDAY, JULY 9/1959
/s Top Institutions
(Jarvis Whitney, Citizen Staff Reporter, recently gained permission from the Corrections Branch of the Department of the Attorney-General to tour the Prince George Provincial Gaol. In his article reporter Whitney attempts to give the public on insight into the workings of o correctional institution. The article was compiled following several visits to the gaol here during which Worden Warren Mulligan was exceptionally co-opuranvc in outlining the gaol program and its functions.)
BY JARVIS WHITNEY Ciriron Staff Reporter
Kdilor's note: Tin- spelling of jail is optional. Jiiil is the commonly ucceptcd spelling. Guol is the older Form, used usually for official purposes. Pronoun ci.ition of I lie i\\a is identical.
WARDEN MEETS REPORTER Reporter Whitney talks to Warden Mulligan
As you approach the Prince George Provincial Gaol for men, the 10-foot high pole and wire fence brings to mind the dreaded prison camp of wartime. However, within the enclosure lies an establishment that is rapidly becoming one of B.C.'s leading correctional institutions.
The resemblance to the ill-famed POW camp ends at the fence, as gaol officials continue to develop a progressive', rehabilitation and work program for inmates that was initiated three years ago.
The program was started about a year after the gaol was opened and has gradually been developed by warden Warren Mulligan and his able assistants. It is turning the institution from a lock-up into a valuable rehabilitation centre,
Recreation, work and vocational I raining programs are making life more pleasant and useful for prisoners of the common gaol and are doing much to reduce institutional troubles officials had to cope with before.
This has been accomplished even though the gaol is not an accredited vocational training unit. OPENED IN i<)55
The Prince George Provincial Gaol was opened, rather prematurely, on August !Hh, 1955, after the old Prince George Gaol for men (opened in l!)2(il was badly damaged in a fire started by a mentally disturbed inmate. The fire necessitated an early movement of prisoners to the new institution.
There were 4.'i inmates the day the transfer took place (although the old jail was meant to hold only 20.) The old gaol was located in the back of the old government building downtown, and provided nothing for the men but yard exercise.
The new institution, a modern onc-storcy rc-inforcccl-concrcte structure, lias accommodation for !)7 inmates and the increase in prisoner capacity here has gone a long way toward meeting the institutional need for the fast-growing Cariboo district.
The gaol here unofficially serves the entire northern part of the province, with the exception of the Prince Rupert area. It is a common gaol for prisoners
sentenced by any court to two years, less one day, on any charge.
Some, who are sentenced to consecutive confinements on several charges, serve more than two years "on the hill," although this is seldom.
Currently, about seventy per cent of the inmates held at any one time are serving terms of 30 days or less.
Thirty-five officers .staffed the gaol when it was opened, and they were adequate. As the institution's program expanded anil more inmates were accommodated it became necessary to take on additional staff. There are now 11 staff members, five of whom are senior prison guards controlling each guard work shift.
Any overflow of prisoners is handled by the Oak-alla Prison Farm and there is no accommodation in the area for women prisoners.
A women's gaol was opened here in 1947, with capacity for -15 inmates, but was closed in 1958 when it was discovered that the need for such an institution here was not sufficient to keep the establishment o))vn. Such prisoners are now sent to Oakalla.) WARDEN MULLIGAN
Warden Mulligan, who came here from the Oakalla prison staff in January, L956 as deputy warden, has a big job on his hands.
Since taking over the senior position in May of that year, when his predecessor, Warden W. K. C. Trant was accidentally killed on a rifle range here, he has worked continuouslv with his fellow administrators to improve the institution. But. the job isn't finished.
The warden, a man who shows in his manner the sympathy and understanding necessary for an official in such a position, is a correctional officer of 10 years experience in all aspects of gaol life. He has experience at the Oakalla Sections and the Young Offenders Unit to his credit.
His untiring efforts to give the inmates a chance to mend their ways have earned him a good name in institutional circles.
The Prince George Provincial Gaol has not been untouched by the prison reform of recent years and emphasis there is, as in other institutions, on rehabilitation; not on the now-dead forms of cruel treatment that formerly hardened men and made them less fit for society than before their imprisonment.
Prison people eventually saw that the harsh methods of running institutions were defeating the purposes of correctional confinement and prison reform came of age.
"Primitive methods have been shelved here," the warden told me on a recent series of visits to the gaol, as efforts continue to promote the more-modern practises of prison operation.
"The mechanical equipment for restraining and punishing is still here,� as it must be, by law � but it is seldom used now," he told me. NO TWIDDLING
The })7 inmates at the gaol here aren't twiddling their thumbs in dingy cells as they wait for their sentences to play out. Nor arc they pounding rocks in comic cartoon fashion as their stretches drag on.
They work and play and even enrn money, in a program which parallels home life as closely as possible, says Warden Mulligan.
There isn't a guard at every turn prodding prisoners with a rifle, using rough language, bullying and generally making life for inmates a hell on earth as some movies would have you believe. Operations in some large, maximum security institutions might come closer to this, of necessity,, because of the more hardened criminal element present.
As an example of the '"home life" attempted at
the institution 1 site my initial visit to the "house on
the hill." Pail way up' the Airport Hill 1 turned off
the paved highway onto the gravel road leading the
half mile or so to the gaol, fully expecting to submit
to a guard's careful inspection at the gate, even with
the warden's advance notice that I would be coming.
I approached the gaol, turned in toward the eh-
(See "PRISON GATES" Page 3)
HAPPY over his victory in is Prince George's newest celebrates bis victory with
last night's city by-election Brett. Enemark defeated Howard Webb, local 1VVA alderman, Spike Enemark financial secretary, by a considerable margin in light his wife Margaret and son voting. �Vandervoort
Simon Fraser Day Parade eeds Even More Entrants
The giant Simon Fraser Day Parade, focal point of the gala, two-day, Simon Fraser Day Celebrations, still lacks entries.
XEW SPCA President, Mr. Bill Tidy, was elected at the general meeting held on Tuesday. He will lead the SPCA in a drive to strengthen the organization and drive for larger r lutunbership.
According to Chuck Kwert. head of I he Hoard of Trade parade committee, there has been a complete "lack of support" in some quarters.
At present there are 28 units entered in the parade, only halt the expected number. The par-ado is said to he the biggest in the Northern Interior.
Of these 2S units, six are out of town marching bands. The big band attraction will be (he RMIl Band from Kamloops. Also entered arc: the Dawson Creek Legion Pipe Band; The Dawson Creek City Band; the Kiwanis Drum and Bugle Band from Williams Lake; the Legion Pipe Band anil the Firemen's Band, from Quesnel.
Which is one way of assuring the spectators of getting a lot of loud, toe-tapping rhythm.
One of the top float entries is expected to be Hie Prince George, Queen Aurora Float.
The Simon Fraser Day Committee voted !>100 for the float, but plans arc not definite as to who will ride on it � Lynn Alexander, present A u rora Queen, or Jill Ewcrt, 1930 Aurora Queen elect.
The possibility exists that both Queens will ride the float, along with their respective Princesses.
There are fiv�
for the various floats, com muni ty, commercial, non-commercial, t comic and decorated cars.
Awards will be given to the j top float in each classification. Harry Blather, columnist '� with the Vancouver Sun, ami I Eric Itutnsdcjf, Vancouver I Province -writer, will be the i float judges. Their decisions I will l>t> final.
The floats will be judged before the parade commences.
The parade will travel the sauic route as last year, i.e., starting at Koss Crescent and Victoria; down Victoria to Third; along Third to George; down George to Seventh; and up Seventh to the dispersal points along Koss Crescent.
The parade will start at 12:00 noon on the dot. It is expected to finish one hour later. Ml 1,1', LONG?
With 28 entries, Mr. Ewert predicts that the parade will stretch over a half mile.
But this is just half of the expected entries � which means the parade should be twice as long.
Entry deadline for floats is July 11. And, although a last minute rush of entries is expected, local firms and organizations are urged to enter. "There in no ruabon why ihib
can't lie one of the best and biggest parades in the Interior," Mr. Ewci't staled forcibly.
"it is the big event of the celebrations, and will attract people from all over the Interior."
For information and entry forms, those interested are invited to phone Mr. Ewefi (LO l-TODoi or the Board of Trade (LO 1-351-1).
City Council Wants Properly
The city is negotiating for the purchase of property owned by Peter Stranberg. which is stir rounded by city-owned park area adjacent to the Frascr River.
At this week's council meetin alderman Ken Jack, chairman of city council finance committee, said that after a study of the situation the committee rec'oin mends Stranberg bs offered 515,000 ror the land.
Stranberg had uskc.t SIG.OOO for the property, which is in the Simon Fraser Park area.
Councillors approved of the offer of $15,000 in order to re strict the entire area to park land.
i
You Can't Win
The local post office 'people agree witb the cynics that "ya! just can't win."
Recently they installed a sidewalk mailing box for motorists who found it difficult to walk the few steps to the building to mail their letters.
Hardly had the box been broken hi, when a member of the motoring clan, who was likely "three sheets to the wind," careened down the street in the early morning hours the other day and smeared the "pride of the post office."
The box is now being repaired and the city will install a special timber curb in front of it to protect it from the people it serves.
The mail must go through!
'No Decision By Peace Power
Prince George will have to continue waiting for "an undetermined length of time" before a decision is handed clown on a proposal that Peace River Power Development Company establish headquarters in this city.
This was learned yesterday when the company's directors passed through Prince Goorge on their way to Fort St. John.
The directors, under Lord Twecdsmuir. Chairman of the Board of the Power Company, stretched their legs for about id minutes at Prince George airport.
Doug Smith, one of the PRO'S told The Citizen in an exclusive, am; rushed, interview that '�there has been no decision on where our headquarters will be. 1 don't know when the decision will be handed down."
According to Mr. Smith, engineering studies at the site of the company's proposed giant dam near Hudson's Hope arc going very well.
"Engineers have completed an interim report." he said "and it will be presented as soon as possible."
The company is spending between 1VS and l:i.i million dollars on the studies.
Although most of this is being spent on work in Vancouver, about a half million is being poured into drilling, camps and supplies at the dam l,Uc and on the trahsmissidn lino.
"The drilling is almost finished at the site," said Mr. Smith, ��and work should be finished by the end. of the summer." This was said with crossed fingers.
The company has to present a report to the B.C. government in the fall 6n their findings, and the government wiU then decide
if it is in the province's best interests that they go through with their plans.
Tin Power Company has approximately SO men employed at the dam site at present.
Strike Violence
VANCOUVER (CP)�Violence
broke out again Wednesday night in a hitter waterfront dispute surrounding Northland Navigation Company. The company's operations to northern British Columbia ports have been halted.
A beer parlor brawl involving some U) men was a sequel to a similar donnybrook Tuesday.
Three men were injured in the latest fight and four were arrested. There were no arrests Tuesday, but one man suffered head injuries.
Cecil MeSorley, manager of the downtown hotel parlor, said a group entered the beer hall and shouted "scab and goon" at another group inside. They threw glasses and chairs and the seated men returned the fire.
Police broke up the brawl after about 10 minutes. After the first fight police blamed the incident on members of rival sca ' unions. ;
Wins Handily In Poor Vote
"Down with taxes and 'down' with pavement" was Spike ftnemark's promise to the public after defeating Howard Webb in yesterday's aldcrmanic by-election.;
A poor turnout of the ^j 1,001 voters � just over 21 per rent � gave Enemark, local businessman, a tremendous majority over Webb, local 1WA financial secretary.
Enemark was given the nod by <>17 of the voters, while Webb received 2(57 votes.
Citizens cast 88(i votes bill two ballots were spoiled. 0
The light turnout, of voters, common to summer elections', had nothing in the way of fiery campaign issues to guide them as they filed to the polls in the Civic Centre yesterday between S a.m. and 8 p.m.
Promises of service were made in the short election race hut verbal hammer and tongs, knock 'em-down, drag-'em-out political fisticuffs never developed as the two men sought the position left vacant by the resignation of Cieorge Stewart. TIIAMi VOU
The winner, declared about S:30 last night by returning officer Arran Thompson, issued the following statement:
"I want to thank everyone for my sucess. I promise all the citizens of Prince George to do my best in their interests. Down with taxes and 'down' with pavement."
Webb, who offered'to tin- public city council experience that Eneinark did not have, remaiked only on the Jight vote, following declaration of the winner.
Enemark referred to several matters prior to the by-election vote. When questioned on them last night following the election, he said that he would have to study further the issues involved 1 eforc formulating plans of action.
The following is from Ene-mark's statement prior to I in. .-�lection:
"i have lived in Prince George mi,.1 of my Hf� and liavn walcli-id the burden oi� taxpayers here grow and g'row until it has now reached a stage all out of proportion. If elected to civic office, it is my intention to take a long, hard look at what citizens of Prince George are getting for their tax dollar � and if it is necessary " to continue this high rate of taxation, then to see that we get the facilities and services we are paying for.
"For one thing, I want to find out why it costs $00,000 to police 15.000 people iii Prince Georgi
while it costs only �50,000 for the 30,000 population of Nor 111 Vancouver.
"At the proticnt time there is no training available for youth on completion of schuv.1 and it is my intention to advocate at every opportunity the establishment of a vocational training school here so our own children will not have to accept unskilled jobs while we import skilled workmen for the better jobs available,
"It is my firm conviction that a city manager is necessary for Prince George in order to give stable management to our business."
Search For Clues
The truck involved in the Me-Lcod Lake murder case will be brought to Prince George shortly-
RCMP here say the vehicle will be shown to service station people and others who believe they might have seen the vehicle about the time of the murder of 30-year-old Californian Bruce Worline in late June.
Police say they are not sure when the truck will arrive in the city.
RCMP in Vancouver were seeking a woman for question-Ing Wednesday in connection with the murder. They said they "just want to talk to her."
Scvcraj persons have already been questioned in connection with tin- slaying of the .lO-.vear-ohl man. whose bnllel-iiddlc(> miles north of Prince George.
Police said the woman they arc seeking is about W years old but might, look older: about five feet five -inches, tall and weighing about 121 pounds. She has brown hair and eyes and a swarthy complexion. She has worked as a waitress.
Meanwhile, police are also looking for a man who may be an East Indian. He was described as about 35 years qlci, five feet 10 inches tall, weighing about 173 d i
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