— Page 6 THE TRIBUNE, WILLIAMS LAKE, 3.6. ‘Thutsday, September i8, 1968 NES? EN EQUIPMENT wD FURNISHINGS spring to make way for the ne , evidence of early days in Wil {Scene too — including possibi | Original names have a way of sticking and the Ranch was no ex- ception. The first hotel to open in the new village of Williams Lake was called the Log Cabin and glthowgh the name was subsequently chan one way to brand yourself a ne comer was to refer to it as ‘The Ranch.’ To the old-timers it has re- mained the Log Cabin and it prob- ably has taken a major constructioa project to erase the name. The Log Cabin just barely made its claim to being the first hotel. While the owners, ‘Bill’ Smith and Archie Campbell, were erecting the log walls another hotel was being constructed on First Avenue, but the partners opened their establishment in the spring of 1921 just prior to the completion of the original section of the present Maple Leaf. Bill Smith, who was Mrs. Hazel Exshaw’s uncle, came to Williams Lake in 1916 and took up a home- stead near the location now of Wa. Herde’s ranch. His partner in the hotel venture was already an old- timer to the north, having come to the country in the days of the Alaska gold rush. The two men constructed the 13- The upper picture is an interior view of the men’s section of the Ranch Hotel beer parlour, showing modern bar in back- ground. On the bottom is a corner of one of the tastefully furnished bedrooms in the new addition. There are nine rooms on each floor. — The Ranch Is Still ‘Log Cabin’ To Old-timers of The District When they tore down part of the old Ranch Hotel this w structure, a lot of the visible FOREMAN liams Lake vanished from the ; y a name. | |room hotel themselves and obtained enere logs from the site of the pr ent airport. They operated it until ;19 when Mr. Smith bought out Campbell. The. other original owner kept going until 1931 when he sola out to Peter Slavin. He .had paid Campbell $1500 for his half interest and sold outright for $6,000. Mr.| Smith died in 1939 and Archie Camp- bell was last heard of in Langley Prairie. The Log Cabin came safely through Williams Lake's major fire in 1921, but thanks to the efforts of | well-meaning townspeople the same couldn't be said for the furnishings. With the Fraser and Mackenzie store burning next .door it looked as though the hotel would go for sure and neighbors started to clear the rooms. Dishes were carefully ga- thered up and placed on cheap home- made tables, but the tables wouldn't OWNERS HAVE BEEN go out the doors upright and in get- BUSY ON LAKEVIEW ting them out the dishes were all smashed. So it went with much of| the other furnishings. Although the spotlight this year The Log Cabin had its moments of has been on construction of the greatness in the past too. The hotel, Ranch Hotel, the joint owners of this business and the Lakeview have not confined their attention to the for- George Dobson, foreman in charge of the hotel addition job has been with Mr. Greenall for seven years, Was the first possessor of the first modern bathtub in town. Cold water FOUR DIRECTORS OWN TWO HOTELS The Ranch Hotel Ltd. and Lake- view Hotel Ltd., are operated by the same directors, two of whom are ac- tively engaged in the management of the hotels. Of the four men, W. B. Lobb aud W. H. Clary are in business in Vap- couver. Mr.“Clary is president of the Ranch Hotel Ltd., and- Mr. Lobb is vice-president. Secretary of the com- pany is F. J. Lyneh, who is running the Lakeview in his capacity of man- aging director of that company. Ste- phen Demcoe is managing director of the Ranch Hotel Ltd. BUILDER... Tom Greenall, -owner of Tho: Greenall Construction, genera? con- was piped in directly to the tub ut|mer building. The Lakeview too, has| tractors for- the project, was born 3 if the bather wanted hot water add-| undergone extensive renovations. | into the building trade. s a ed he had to haul this from a barrel} Work has just been completed on| He obtained his construction train- behind the hotel's big stove. five rooms and now two floors of the| ing in the firm of J. Greenall & Son, One thing owner Smith did not] hotel have been completely re-decor-| a coast company. Following the wa O I ) da U ad approve of was the sale of beer in| #ted and re-turnished. Early this| he beeame a director of a new firm of his hotel and although he was finally |Stmmer the hotel restaurant was|C. B; Bailey Construction Company forced into making provision for a|¢ompletely redecorated. ~ and was active as superintendent. beer parlour, this attitude on his part] On the exterior new vitrolite pan-| In recent years this firm ceased to led to several amusing incidents, els have been placed around the| te active in.construction work and 9 dispensing business because he want-| “ected on the root of the building. | then left the coast and started his Ea to eli Mis: hotel anal pregpexiarot wee fe no geen ot es own firm in Prince George retaining a es s ? a sale looked brighter if a beer par-|"°P#/S to the annex of the hotel. | his interest in the other company. a building which Eaton S was lour was included. The sale was sonie eae ae ee ES ligie in materializing though and in ’ : the intervening space of time there happy to fu rnish, were days when he would get so dis- z gusted with the trade that he would az: lock up the parlour and disappear ulti he cooled down. : L A customer came into the beer parlour one night and found the big - barrel heater crumpled on the fluor. z Asked what had happened, Mr. Smith a replied “Some cowboys were in rid- ing it.” And there tle heater remain- Contract Sales Department Meealae meee ek | time. . i with offices in The original hotel had 13 rooms (travellers weren’t _ superstitious 2 about room 13 in those days),-a cin- VANCOUVER ing room’ and lobby. Later thren| « rooms downstairs were taken out wo VICTORIA make a sitting room and the beer : parlour. In those days beds and meals : cost the trave‘ler the same—50 cents. P & EATO N fo} That was the old Log Cabin, tne * BRITISH COLUMBIA_ LIMITED first hotel on the PGE townsite of Williams Lake. ° ° Heartiest. Congratulations ..: Our Hear 2 ‘ i Here is the staff of the Ranch Hotel. In the front row left 0 right are Mrs, L. M. Begen, receptionist; Mr. W. Foster, in charge of beer parlour."Second row are Mrs. Kathleen Dobso; A SUPPLY and Mrs. Lucette Wiel, chamber maids, an‘d Joseph La pleue waiter. Back row are Bud Byers and Everett Aanhout, waiters COMPLETE HOUSES Others not shown in the above phutogaph are Mrs. Jozn Miller, housekeeper; Frank Dana, night elerk; and Art Miller, LINE OF AT maintenance man, BUILDERS QUESNEL | | ° spi AND Congratulations AND WILLIAMS : to the directors of HARDWARE LAKE THE RANCH HOTEL LTD aft aie : oe Y Oe To the Ranch Hotel Ltd. and to its managing director Steve Demcoe It was our privilege to supply the following All Veneers Exterior Stucco Material Lumber and Sheathing Gyproc Lath & Plastering Material British-American Paint for Outside and Interior Finishes on the opening of a new and beautiful hotel Hi. J. GARDNER @ SONS LTD. Knotty Cedar Panelling Fibre-glass Insulation You have provided Williams Lake with a handsome addition to its business district Fred Mellish j General Hauling and Coal Dealer Phone 68-R-5 He