Wilhams Lake NEWS EXCHANGE OF THE CARIBOO ribune Oe 2 eo WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. Thursday, December 17, 1953.- Single copy 10c. $2.50 per year. Pat Stinson of Williams first man up to the General Delivery wicket when the new post office opened i8 doors for business November 30. There to pass-out his mail was Postmaster Cece Rhodes. This is the fourth locat‘on for the Wil- liams Lake post office since it was established in 1920- Actually there was a post office here prior to that, but it was located near the pres- ent bridge crossing the San Jose Creek and was known as the Borland Post Office. It was in operation as early as 1916 master was Robert Henderson. The post office moved to town in 1920 and Lake was the until 1930. master Ladies’ Wear and the post- | this year. operated in or close to the present second hand store on Railway Avenue. year it was moved to a corner of Mackenzies store and was operated by C. H- Dodwell Harold Richardson was appointed post then and he constructed the small building that used to occupy the site of Lees there in 1931. structure that housed the post office up to In 1951 Mr. Richardson retired and Mr. Rhodes was appointed in his place, Photos by Blackwell's The same store, moving the post office Two years later he built the Rondmaster Retires From Rly. Following 32 Years Service Tuesday night marked the end of more than 32 years service for W. B. Smetanuk, roadmaster of the Pa fic Great Eastern Railway, who at the time of his retirement’ was one of the oldest officials in years of ser. vice on the government owned line. Section foremen A. G. Horne of Soda Creek and A. Davis of Marguer- ite, accompanied by their wives, vis- ited the home of Mr. and Mrs. Smetannk Tuesday night to present the retiring roadmaster with a set of Gladstone luggage on behalf of the employees of the Maintenance and Way Departments. Mr. Smetanuk started working for the P.G.E. on March 21, 1921 at Alta Lake, In 1923 he was transfer- red to Williams Lake as roadmaster CPA Te Curiail Flights During Slack Three Months daily Canadian. Pacific Airlines’ flight schedule into Williams will be cut to three times during the months of January, ruary and March, according tv com- pany officials who visited here Tues- day. The officials, Ken Razzell, super} intendent of the B.C. district and | Harold Collie of the traffic depart- ment, met members of the executive of the Board of Trade at a luncheor to explain the reasons behind the company move. Mr. Razzell told the trade group that the decision to eut the service during the three slack months been made solely from a profit and loss viewpoint and only after figures had been compiled from three years’ operation. From the viewpoint of accommo- dation, Mr. Razzell said the cirline company was convinced that all pas- sengers could be handled in the thrice-weekly flights. Passengers trom Prince George on the south flights will be handled on the direct Prince-Vancouver ‘Conyair’ route, with the extra seat saving being dis- tributed AMCne, the three southern centres. The northbound flights during the three month period will touch down here on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and southbound flights will be Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The new service will go past Prince George to Smithers with the aireraft staying there overnight be- fore making the southbound flight, of the line from Clinton to. Quesnel, During his years with the railway he has had from 75 to 150 men ander his charge. Mr. and Mrs. Smetanuk will be leaving Williams Lake early in the new year to make their permanent home in Vancouver. Appointed as the new roadmaster on the line is Harry Robinson, torm- erly: section foreman at Quesnel. Businessmen Honor Departing Managers Farewell parties for departing hank managers Len Hellyer and Jack Purser were held in town this week. Monday night 60 businessmen ga- thered at the Elks Hall to say ‘‘good- by to Mr. Hellyer at a Board of Trade stag. On behalf of the hoard, president Bert Roberts presented Mr. Hellyer with a hand tooled cowhide briefcase made by the local firm of T.P. Traders. In thanking the board, Mr. Hell- yer said he had enjoyed working with the people of the district and would always have a_ soft spot in his heart for the Cariboo. He also introduced his successor, Felix Nicholson. At a private gathering Tuesday night, 20 businessmen held an in- formal evening at the home of Mr, and Mrs. Joe Borkowski honoring Mr. Purser, The Bank of Montreal manager was presented with a suede leather jacket by Clive Stangoe on behalf of those present. Johnson, Gardner Win Civic Seats Herb Gardner, former School ‘d chairman running for the first time for a seat on the village com- mission, scored an upset. in last Thursday’s civic election when he defeated Commissioner Tony Bor- kowski. When the final results of the light poll had been compiled, Commission- er M. F. ‘Mac’ Johnson was in the lead with 110 votes; ‘Gardner hed 102, and Borkowski 70. Eligible voters showed little in- terest in the election. The light vote was just slightly over 43 percent of the list. Last year 57 percent of the voters went to the poll. Ney CHANGE OF PLANS IN BANK OF MONTREAL APPOINTMENT PONE co te" provifeial cies nousnts aint, Biggest question mark in town business circles this week has been “who is-the new manager of the Bank-of Montreal?” Originally slated for the job was E. Gilliland, manager of the bank's Merritt branch. Mr. Gilliland arrived in town Monday and the fol- lowing day returned to Merritt. A check with the superintendent's office of the bank in Vancouver yes- terday revealed that Mr. Gilliland will not be taking on the branch managership here after all. Health reasons were given as the main fac tor influencing the change ot de cision.- In a wire from the bank's head office at Montreal, received here just before going to press, the Bank of Montreal announces the appointment of Thomas A. B. Lar- son as local branch manager. Mr. Larson joined the bank in 1929 in Westlock, Alberta and served in various branches in that province before joining the RCAF in 1943. Following service he was attached to the Vancouver branch and he has also been on the staf of the superintendent's office there. In 1950 he was appointed manager of the branch at Gibsons. fr, Larson is around 42 years of age. In the meantime manager Jack Purser, who is slated to move to North Vancouver, will probably be here until the New Year, Miss Hills Named Hospital Matren War Memorial Hospital Board has announced the appointment of Miss M, D. Hills as hospital matron, filling the position that has been vacant since the resignation of Miss Yvonne Parliament two months ago. Miss Hills, who joined the hos- pital staff early this year, has been carrying on as nurse-in-charge for the past two months prior to her ap- pointment. A graduate of St. Paul's in 1948, Miss Hills has nursed in hos- pitals at the coast and in the interior of the province as well as in Ontario and California. Appointed to the post of istant matron-is Mrs. G. McLean, a gradu- ate of Saskatoon City Hospital in 1935. Since moving Lake in 1950 Mrs. McLean hi on staff on a temporary ‘basis at various times, P.G.E. Features Largely In Proposed Expansion Plans For British Columbia Premier Asks Federal Govt. To Share In Cost Gf Projects The Pacific Great Eastern Railway featured prominently in a multi-million-dollar plan of economic expansion for British Columbia that a three-man cabinet delegation headed by Premier W. A- C. Bennett placed before the Federal Christmas Lighting Contest Next Week A home and, commercial Christ- mas lighting contest in town this year will again be sponsored by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. Judging for the two classes will be done next Tuesday night. In the commercial class, toughest competition will probably come from the siore of Western, Rife & Pigeon, winner of the contest for the past two years, Last year’s winners in the residential class were Mr. and Mrs. Bob Kyte. Judges for the annual competi- tion will be Hospital Matron Miss M. D. Hills and hotel managers Benny Abbott and James Shaw. Former Lac La Hache Resident Killed In Okanagan Accident J. R. Jack Robertson, son of Mrs. K. Robertson of Lac La Hache, was killed Sunday in an accident near his home in Kelowna when he was buried alive in a trench caye-in. Mr. Robertson was working with other volunteers laying tile in an eight-foot ditch when the sides caved in. Fellow workers had the unconscious man out within a matter of minutes but he died of internal emorhage. Well known in the Okanagan, Robertson last year coached the Ke- lowna Midget Packers hockey team was a noted booster youngsters. Tom McDougal of Williams Lake, an uncle of the accident victim, left of sports for for Kelowna on receiving word of the tragedy, Besides his mother, Mr. Robertson leaves his wife and four you ters. ... FIRST TIME WINNER eight votes behind Mr. Johnson and well in front of defeated candidate Commissioner Tony Borkowski when the counting was over. - HEADS POLL Village Commissioner M. F. ‘Mac’ Johnson, who headed the poll in last week's ‘civic election. —Photos by Blackwell's, Government Monday: The provincial projects are esti- mated to cost about $238,000,000 and Mr. Bennett has proposed that the costs be borne equally by the Provincial and Federal Governments. The proposals include: 1, Adding 311 miles to the PGE, extending its southern en@ to Van- couver and its northern end to Daw- son Creek. 2. Construction of a new network of provincial highways. 3. Development of a forest fire protection system. REASONS FOR EXTENSION Thirteen pages “of the 44-page brief are devoted to the problem of expansion of the Pacific Great East- ern Railway. On the reasons for extending the line the brief dwells on factors that are familiar to every group of busi- nessmen in the Central Interior who have from time to time pressed for the work to be completed. The northern extension would open up large areas of farming country in the Peace River and. pro- vide access to valuable deposits of coal and@ timber products. The estab- lishment of a rail haul from the Peace to Prince Rupert would be of benefit to the national interest in as- isting in the development of Cana- dian-Japanese trade. | On the southern extension, the [brief points out that its dbnstruc- tion is vital to the economy of the Central Interior. The present situa- tion at Squamish is termed “absurd.” In explaining why British Colum- bia is justified in asking for Federal assistance in development of the rai way, the brief points out that par- ticipation in the provision of rail- way facilities for the development of Canada has already cost the Federal government some three billion dol lars, including direct expenditures. land grants, cash subsidies and guarantees of debenture issues. PROPOSALS With regard to the PGE, the brief presents two alternate proposals: 1. That the Government of Can- ada purchase the Pacific Great Wast- ern Railway from the Government of British Columbia at its present fair and reasonable value, for operation by the Canadian National Railw with an undertaking that the PGE be extended to Vancouver and to the Peace River country. 2. That the Government of Canada enter into an agreement with the Government of British Columbia for the joint ownership of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, with equal representation on the board of direc- tors, and with an undertaking to ex tend the line to Vancouver and to the Peace River; that the invest- ment of the Government of British Columbia be represented by the pres- ent value of the railway; that the investment of the Government of Canada be represented by the other costs, the whole not to exceed an amount equal to the investment of Power Shutdowns Due On Weekend Plans to install a new 1000 kilo- -watt unit in the local power plant year have been announced by the .C. Power Commission. The additional unit will increase the capacity of the plant from 1400 KW to 2200 KW. The new engine will be larger than the one installed last year. Although the announcement does not mention plans of adding to the present building, it is known that this work will have to be included since there will not be enough room to house the big unit. The new en- gine and generator replaces the 200KW Vivian unit now in use. The work of installation will be completed before next winter's heavy load period is reached, the Government of British Columbia, and that all costs in excess he shared equally; and that the Canadian Na- tional Railway take over the opera- tion of the Pacific Great Eastern on behalf of the joint owners. CARIBOO ROAD The Cariboo Highway also enters the proposed development plan under the ‘highways section” —__ The brief states that this high= way is the “backbone of the prov- ince's northern. developmeni” and provides the only existing road ac- cess from the-southern part of the province to the northern interior and the Peace River. “It is important strategically and holds first place in any plan of econ- omic development,” the brief states. Annual Hospital Staft Party Held The guests came bearing gifts to the annual Staff party at War Mem- orial Hospital Tuesday night. Members of the Hospital Board were guests of the nursing and ad- ministration staff, and following the annual custom, gifts for each staff member from the board were dis~ tributed by the chairman! This year’s chairman Clive Stan- goe thanked the stafi for their loyal support and paid tribute to the work of retiring director Jack Purser for his work as chairman of the board’s staff committee. Hospital administrator Walt Thomas expressed the thanks of the staff to the directors for their inter- est in maintaining good working conditions. The nurses and nurses’ aides had decorated the board room for the occasion and served refreshments. Dr. and Mrs. H. K. Atwood and Dr. and Mrs. J. B. Ringwood were also among the guests present. SECOND NEW POWER UNIT SLATED FOR TOWN NEXT YEAR Conyersion of power lines: north and south of town will result in dis- ruption of service in certain areas Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday customers on the north shore of Williams Lake, east of the’ pump house, will be without power from § a.m. to 4 p.m. without a break. Crews will be converting the line south from 2300 to 6900 volts to carry power into the resi- dential school at St. Joseph’s Mis- sign. Power will be turned on in the school Saturday night. Sunday's shutdown will affect few customers. The line to Quesnel will be cut off from Borland Street west from 8 a.m, to 4 p.m. to convert this line from 2300 to 6900 volts for the new industrial site. Last Sunday's complete town shut- down only lasted two hours instead of the anticipated seven. Ice Next Week Latest information on ice-making Progress at War Memorial Arana in- dicates that the big building will be in use for winter sports the first of next week. Curling club men will paint the surface of their sheets tonight in readiness for next week’s play. First organized rink play for the curlers is the ‘Green’ Bonspiel, with the first draws being slated for De- cember 28. Curlers wishing to take part in the ‘spiel must have their names in to club secretary Murray Fairley by December 23,