Peace River Power Contracts Signed Soon By DORY THACKER (Citizen Managing Editor) VANCOUVER � Contracts for sale of Peace River power in 1968 will be signed in March or April this year, and construction can begin immediately after that. These statements were-made here Thursday by \V. C. Mainwaring, president of Peace River Power Development Co., at a special press conference for B.C. newspapermen. He said negotiations have been conducted for many months with B.C. Electric Co. and the government-owned B.C. Power Commission, the largest prospective customers in the province, and with others. "By the end of March or early April, we shall have worked out the rates at which we can deliver power in 1968," he said. "Then we can sign contracts." NO EXPORTS He added that export, once a prerequisite for the project, has been eliminated from the company's plans at present. Originally the company planned to bring in initial production by 19ti6 and export would 'have been necessary. Mr. Main-waring said. However by setting the production target back two years, the B.C. market would need the entire initial output. Mr. Mainwaring said the marketing contracts must be signed before any construction can#go ahead. Negotiations for these have "progressed without a hitch." Once they are signed, and as soon as permission for the pro- ject is received for the water rights and from the Public Utilities Commission, construction can begin. "We plan to begin construction of a pilot tunnel this year and to complete it in 11)61." Mr. Mainwaring said. Heavy construction will b2 started in 3962 and the first power will be transmitted in 19S8. He said underwriters say that with the srle agreements signed, financial backing will be available. The project will be financed through public sale of bonds and shares. But none will be offered until all frovermreut approval required is obtained, and not until late 19!>1 in any case. Mr. Mainwaring said all money spent so far has come from private interests und they are committed to cover expected costs;% fur 1900 and 1961. Costs to date' include more than $5,000,000 spent on detailed engineering studies and the preparation of a nine-voluirie report on these studies and marketing prospects, which is now in the hands of the provincial povornment. INITIAL OUTLAY T>.c project calls for initial expenditure of $375,000,000 to produce about one million horsepower by 1968. Another three million horsepower will be developed later at an additional cost of $255,000,-000. Major development will take place a few miles west of Hudson's Hope, near Fort St. John. Construction of the dam system will create an artificial lake reservoir which will come to within 65 miles of Prince George. Details of public financing won't bo available until immediately before share offerings arc made because they will vary with market conditions, Mr. Mainwaring said. Majority of the money will be raised in Canada and the United Kingdom, just as has all money to date. "Let me make one point clear," he said. "There is no Swedish capital in Peace River Power." Turning to the "race" between Columbia River and Peace River groups, Mr. Mainwaring said he believes it "will be at least 13 years," and possibly a good deal longer, before any power from the Columbia could be delivered to the Lower Mainland. Every engineering study that has been made indicates clearly that a new major bloc of power will bo required here by 1968, at least five years before Columbia power would be available, he said. He termed "a display of false, optimism" recent federal govern- ment claims concerning how quickly the Columbia could be developed. He referred to the many and intricate international problems involved which "certainly won't be solved in anything like the short time" some federal representatives hone. ELECTION YEAR Before there can be any development of the Columbia, he said, there has to be an agreement reached and a treaty signed. Both require approval of the U.S. and Senate and House of Representatives, and little negotiating can be even started in an election year. Besides, he said, there are 57 r.;roups with vested interests on the U.S. end of the river, and all these must be satisfied before any agreement can be reached. In addition, some "very powerful people" want the Libby dam- site included in any treaty, and the Canadian Government is dead against this since it involves diverting Kootenay River waters. Detailed engineering studies, which took PRP three years to complete, will require at least that long and possibly longer to complete on the Columbia before any construction can begin, he added. Mr. Mainwaring admitted Peace River power would have somewhat higher transmission costs than Columbia power. But transmission over distances of tiOO miles is n.y longer the problem it was a few years ago, with the production of new-type lines which will carry 500,000 volts. Moreover, he said, on-the-sitc production costs would bo much lower for Peace River because only one site has to be developed on the Peace compared with seven sites on the Columbia. WANT ADS Buy or Sell Everything Phone LO 4-2441 Dedicated to the Proaress of the WEATHER FORECAST Low JO, High 25, Cloudy. Crown Life Insurance Co. Wm. J Shbckey District Representative Phone LOgan 4-2441 Vol. A; No. 10 PRINCE GEORGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, I960 BAIL JUMPER NABBED "I came up here to the drug habit." These words were spoken by a 27-yearrOld Vancouver man who pleaded guilty in police court today to theft from a Prince George drug store Wednesday. Robert Roland Taylor told Magistrate George Stewart he had been on drftgs for two months and came here with another man intending to rent a cabin and take the "cold turkey" treatment. He said they broke into the drug store lo obtain some secon-al which "keeps you from getting sick." They were going to get of! sell the other pay their rent. merchandise to Suicide� Blamed For Crash WASHINGTON (AP)�A Sen-ale investigating committee heard testimony Thursday that led its chairman to state publicly that a suicide bomb caused the crash of a Florida-bound airliner Jan. (i and the death of 34 persons. Senator Mike Monroney said the evidence is strong that a passenger bent on suicide caused the disaster by taking aboard with him a bag of explosives. The FBI moved into the case Thursday as the story was unfolded before the subcommittee. It heard testimony that insurance totalling nearly $900,000 had been issued since last April on the life of one of the crash victims. lie was named as Julian Andrew Frank, 32, Wcstporl. Conn., lawyer. He died with the 33 others when a National Airlines plane plunged to earth near Bolivia. N.C., while en route from New York to Miami. Taylor's companion, Ronald Parsons, 39, is wanted in Vancouver for bail-jumping after he failed to appear Monday on a charge of drug trafficking. Parson:; and his wife wore free on $10,000 bail each Nov. 10. RCMP here today said Parsons will be returned to Vancouver to answer the previous charge bofore he is tried for the breaking and entering here. The two men were nabbed by police in a hotel room a few hours after they had broken into Cunningham Drugs' and taken an estimated $1,500 in pills and merchandise. The drugs arc being taken to �\'ttn trot* fcr-'-vhc-fc-thcy�will� tye analysed for content. Police'indicated further' charges may be laid against the two men, depending on the analysis results. It is illegal to be in p&ssession of any medicine containing co-dein in excess of a half grain without a doctor's prescription. Magistrate Stewart told Taylor he couldn't be badly "hooked" after being on the habit for only two months. "In my situation, I had all (the drugs) I wanted," Tayor replied. Drug store manager D. J. Mac-Lise told The Citizen there was a considerable amount of goods taken, largely items which could be easily sold, but declined to comment further. Taylor was remanded eight days for sentence. In the mean time, his record will be checked in Ottawa. A civic properties worker was in "satisfactory" condition in hospital today after the tips of two of his fingers were severed in a skill saw accident Thursday. Mervin Van Koughhett was working with the saw when his glove caught in the apparatus. Briti&h Columbia's newest and most/ modern hospital will be officially opened here Saturday by Health Minister Eric Martin. One of the most interesting pieces of equipment is a device Ceremonies begin at the $2,-040,000 hospital at 11 a.m. TAKING AJDVANCE LCK3^aTPfi^^ tomorrow is Health Minister Erie Martin (left). Seen chatting with Hospital Administrator Gordon Townend, Mr. Martin was impressed with the 82,040,000 institution, described as the most modern in British Columbia. �Mai Vandervoort photo TIME FOR ACTION, SAYS GROMYKO Reds Urge West to Slash Armies MOSCOW CD � Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko today urged the United States, Britain and France to follow Russia's example and reduce their armed forces. Gromyko addressed the Supreme Soviet 24 hours Khrushchev had after Premier announced a ons, "even more formidable, even more perfect than the rocket and nuclear weapons."' Meanwhile, in Washington, the Western powers expect to mount a new campaign this spring to break down Russian secrecy barriers as an essential step toward i\n arms control agreement. The importance of ah international inspection system which is French Ready to Shoot PARIS (Reuters) � France has virtually completed prepara tions for exploding its first atomic bomb. The exact date is shrouded in deepest secrecy, but one strong prediction is that it will be in mid-February, a month before Mild and unsettled weather conditions are predicted for Prince George and district over the weekend. Forecast calls for cloudy skies to continue Saturday. Light snow flurries today will become more frequent in western sectors Saturday. Little change In temperature is expected. Wind will be southerly 15 Saturday. Low tonight and high Saturday will be 10 and 25. Smithers, 3 and 25. Pence River Region: Sunny with a few cloudy periods today and Saturday. Continuing mild. Winds west 15, light overnight. Low tonight and high tomorrow at Grande Prairie 5 and 25. Lo Hi Precip. Prince George Terrace Smithers Quesnel Kamloops Dawson Creek Fort St. John Fort Neison Wiiitehorsu '�> -11 -10 31 34 33 32 30 34 27 -1 .10 .10 .02 Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev visits here. Final touches now are being put to a test site amid a barren wilderness of sand and stones in the Sahara Desert. The blast will mark the first atomic explosion on the African continent. LAM) OF THIRST The site is one of the most desolate spots on earth. It is in a region known as the Tanez-rouft � "Land of Thirst." At the test site, more than 2,-500 men, most of them Moslems, arc reported to have been working for more than a year building concrete blockhouses, underground shelters and control rooms. Seven tons of meat leave Fort Latny for Reggan, the nearest inhabited place, each week to feed the men at the site. Military planes from Algiers run a regular service carrying troops and officials to Reggan. MANY FACTORS Both political and technical factors affect the date of the explosion. On the political side there is Khrushchev's visit and the coming East-West summit meeting. Among technical problems is the need to wait for the right weather conditions. Thus both President Charles tie Gaulle and Francis Perrin, France's atomic energy commissioner, must give the go-ahead before the test can take place. troop cut of 1,200.000, about one-third of the Soviet armed forces. Gromyko said there has been enough discussion on disarmament. "Now is the time for action." He noted that the abortive discussions on disarmament had run to G60 meetings of various United Nations groups. He said the destructive potential of modern weapons dictates the need for ::lolai and universal disarmament." Another speaker at today's session disclosed that the "extraordinary weapons" mentioned by Khrushchev Thursday are being produced now in the Leningrad area. The disclosure was made by Ivan Spiridonoy, first secretary of the Leningrad region Communist Party organization, who said the region is actively engaged in the production of the weapons, but disclosed no further de tails. Khrushchev told the parliament Thursday that Russia was , preparing "fantastic" new weap- eS S,ervicc ,l�- pvit Vp..a, sale for auction must first VANCOUVER! iCP � An official of the B.C. Truck Loggers' Association suggested Thursday that a new timber sale policy be instituted which would eliminate pressure bidding at timber auctions. Al McMahon. a director of the association said all parties who intend to bid on a timber sale should first acquire approval of the lands minister. He said this would eliminate unexpected competition at tim-j ber sales and might curb speculation in timber rights and irresponsible bidding. An operator who asks the For- woulri operate throughout the Soviet Union and keep check on its armed forces was heavily emphasized anew Thursday in a statement here on Russia's projected military manpower cut. Disarmament negotiations resume at Geneva March 15 among members of a 10-power committee equally divider! between the Reds and the West. Within two weeks the U.S. is expected to begin consultations with Britain, France, Canada and othei" Western members of the group on what Allied policy should be. Chief element is sure to be a requirement for a vast system of international inspectors operating behind the Iron Curtain as well as within the borders of the free world. It will then be open for public inspection until 5 p.m., and on Sunday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. 125 BEDS The hospital, replacing the old 112-bed hospital that has served the area since 1945, will open with 125 beds. Additional space is provided in unfinished sections of the hospital for 40 beds, with major equipment large enough to eventually serve a 245-bed- institiUion.-' � � ' Milton Burl, chairman of hospital board building committee, said today the building can be completed in phases. And, he added, expansion is already in r planning stages. , Next phase is completion of unfinished areas to increase beds to 177. Following that a fifth storey can be added, increasing capacity to 245. MOVING SOON Mr. Burt said hospital staff, numbering sonic 130 including nurses, and the medical staff of nearly 20, will move into the new building in several weeks, along with the patients now in the old hospital. Some furnishings and equipment are yet to be installed but all should be ready during the next week. No additional staff is being hired imriiotliately. Mr. Burl said need for more employees, if any, will be determined after the hospital is in full operation. The building will be opened as the Prince George and District Hospital. Health Minister Martin will unveil a plaque at the official tide (Special to The Citizen) NEW WESTMINSTER � A coroner's jury has ruled that the driver of a station wagon involved in a fatal accident in nearby Surrey Jan. 7 was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time of the collision. The driver was identified bv end p money on planning his proposed operation. Under the pi'nsent system the operator ran the risk of facing unexpected competition at the auction. "It is certainly a waste of dollars when you find yourself involved with competitive bidding which strips the planned operation of all profit and leaves you in a position where you must pass over all the profit dollars to the government." JUcMahoii proposed that the timber sale applicant's name be timber sale applicants name be RCMP as William Mahood of I publicized and. that no bids be Prince George. accepted at .the auction unless The jury was inquiring into the death of University of B.C. student Bernard Barons of Surrey. It found his death was accidental, due to multiple injuries suffered in the crash. Three Youths Charged NEW YORK (AP) � Three youths accused of organizing an anti-Jewish ''National American Socialist Rennaisance Party" were arrested in Quens Thursday night. the parties had received approval of the minister beforehand. Pistol Found in Hotel Mrs. Nellie Struck, a chambermaid at the Columbus Hotel, turned over to police an automatic pistol she found in a vacated room Thursday. RCMP said the gun was in a "broken down" condition. Harold Hewlett reported the theft of gasoline from his truck's tank overnight. !ape Case Goes A 27-year-old man was conv mitted for triai at the spring assizes Thursday on a charge of rape. Charges against a second were dismissed. Frederick Martin was committed for trial after a preliminary hearing which heard evidence ol an all-night drinking party in a Prince George house which allegedly culminated in the attack on two women. Charles Gauthier was released. Preliminary hearing of twe other men charged with rape arising from the same party, is set for Monday. Leland Trieb-wasser and James Ford Jr. will appear before Magistrate George Stewart. Harry accused, Crown. Kenney appeared Frank Perry for for the Chetwynd Store Theft Brings Jail Sentence Rheal Maisonneuve, 35, was sentenced to 10 months today in police court for theft from a store at Chetwynd Dec. 24. The sentence will run concurrently with a three-month term lie is now serving for a Dawson Creek theft . , Maisonneuve pleaded guilty to the charge Monday and was remanded for sentence until today pending a pre-sentence report. He told the court he had spent "nine or 10" years of his life in Canadian jails. It was generally believed the institution would be nameless on its opening, with the name of Queen Elizabeth's third child to be tacked on later. But Mr. Burl said today this is not true. Although he said the hospital board "may" change the name, it "was never definitely decided" to title the hospital Prince or Princess something-or-other. However, he pointed out the name plate on the plaque is detachable, making changing of the name a simple matter. The board was seeking a name for the building earlier because it felt, the current title was too long. In a sneak preview of the hospital yesterday, conducted by Mr. Burt, reporters were shown the ultra-modern facilities of the building. known as a doctor's paging sys-lorn. It is a radio operated communication system by which any doctor in the hospital can be contacted immediately by the switchboard operator regardless of where he may be. Each doctor picks up a pencil-like object from a slot in the Avail and stuffs it in his pocket ,vhen he enters the hospital. This activates the pencil. fa '�maH radio receiver) and at the same time puts on a ligh't lo let hospital staff know he is on duty. Should he be wanted the pencil softly reacts with a "bzzz . . bzzz bzzz." The doctor then phones the operator. She can also talk lo the doctor through the pencil, be he scrubbing up, walking down the hall or having coffee in the cafeteria (where staff members buy meals at cost price). If the call is urgent the doctor is alerted with a more rapid signal from the depths of his breast pocket. ELECTRONIC TOY Patients will also have an electronic toy. The signalling device above each bed is also part of the hospital intercom system, The patient and nurse can talk to each other without the nurse leaving her central floor station, which is never more than C8 feel away. Patients, never in larger than a four-bed ward, will have little complaint of cold food either. A "hot pellet" food server which can keep food warm 40 minutes after it has left the kitchen will be use/I. Operating and x-ray facilities are doubled from the old hospital, a driveway is provided for emergency ambulance cases, a non-denominational chapel is included and automatic facilities abound. It is definitely one of the most modern institutions in the province. Following the official opening the entire hospital, especially "sterile" areas will have to be scrubbed down after the public troops through the building. Then, with final pieces of equipment and furniture installed, the big move begins from the dilapidated old army building that the hospital people are more than happy to vacate. Future of tho old hospital is undecided. Equities in the building arc claimed by both senior governments, the city and the hospital society. MARGARET GAY AT COUSiN'S WFDD!NG LONDON (AP) � Princess Margaret, often a wedding guest and never a bride, saw another of her cousins married Thursday.'. Just ;;s at. Wednesday's wedding of Lady Pamela Mount-batten, the 29-year-old princess was all smiles and gaiety at the wedding of Davinia Bowes Yvoiydaughler of courtier Sir Da,x4d Bowes,Lyon, to Viscount 'fifllrymplo",' 53, heir to an ancient Scottish title. s MONTREAL �'i � Canada's biggest labor hassle moves to the summit today. Presidents Donald Gordon of the CNR and N. R. Crump of the CPR meet top negotiators of the 120,000-member non - operating rail unions at 2 p.m. By stepping in when the talks are still at the collective bargaining stage, they hope to avert a threatened breakdown and a possible union bid for federal conciliation services. At stake are union demands worth S65.000,000 a year. They include proposals for a two-year contract providing a pay boost of 25 cents an hour. Also sought arc an extension of statutory holiday pay lo some 4,500 seasonal track laborers and more vacations for long-service employes. When they decided to intervene personally, Mr. Gordon and Mr. Crump tossed aside their long-standing policy of keeping clear of labor squabbles unless a strike crisis looms. They will appear before the 15-unioh negotiating team headed by Frank H. Hall of Montreal, vice � grand - president of the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees (CLC). The union leaders bargain for a wide cross-section of workers in Canada's rail industry � almost all the employees except those who actually run the trains. They work in freight yards, of-fjces, stations, shops and on the tracks. Chan Didnt Show at Commons But They Were Waiting for Him OTTAWA iCPi � Elusive Wel-don Chan didn't disrupt Thursday's formal opening of the new session of Parliament. But the RCMP almost wishes that the 40-year-old Hong Kong-born Chinese, sought for deportation since Nov. 2, had made such an attempt. They were on Parliament Hill in force and would have taken Chan into custody seconds after he had made an appearance. Extra RCMP constables and plainclothesmen were placed on duty following rumors that Chan planned to give himself up during the opening ceremony. The rumors stemmed from a letter last week to Immigration Minister Fairclough from Harry Fan, Chan's Vancouver lawyer. Mrs. Fairclough said Thursday the letter asked permission for Chan to surrender to the minister at the parliamentary opening. Mrs. Fairclough replied that Chan should give himself up to the nearest immigration officer or to the police. Government officials said they had never seen so many redcoats 011 Parliament Hill. An RCMP official said the force would have been remiss in its duty if, in the light of the rumors, it had not taken steps to ensure that Chan was not permitted to cause an embarrassing incident al the opening. � Chan, his wife and five-year-old daughter, Alice, arrived in Canada in April, 1958, on a visitor's visa. The family applied to remain in Canada permanently but the immigration department ruled them inadmissible as immigrants and ordered them deported lo Hong Kong.