Williams NEWS EXCHANGE OF THE CARIBOO Lake Tribune Volume 22 — Number 48. WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. Thursday, December 9, 1954. Single copy 10c. $2.50 per year. Community Drama Courses Proving Popular In B.C. Requests from communities like Williams Lake for drama will result in the Extension Department of the University of British Columbia putting an inst tor on this program on a full time pasis next year, was the prediction ‘of Sydney Riske when he addressed the Kiwanis Club Tuesday. In the Cariboo for the first time, Mr. Riske gave a short instruction course to persons interested in stage work over the weekend. In his address to the service club, Mr. Riske stressed the fact that drama work is not-aimed at any cer- tain section of the population, but is undertaken by the University to pro- vide assistance to anyone who wished to take advantage of the course. The four western provinces are far ahead of the remainder of Can- ada in the development of community theatres, he stated,,and it is with the}: hope of furthering this interest that the extension department is moving §nisructors into the field. The program was started for the first time this year and prior to in- augurating it, questionnaires to the more than 200 known drama groups in the province “were circulated. So instructior in Gilmour Boa, Cannaaie lone reresentative in the world shoot- great was the resp for ing that Mr. Riske has been on the road every weekend visiting different ventres, and from this experience {Continued on back page) Boa has won many Olympic and career. ing crate with 2 record 588-point score-in the compelition. The 30-year-old Torontonian thus bettered the world Tecord of 586 set in 1952 by Arthur Jackson of Washington, D.C. Lodge Names Officers For 1955 Heading Cariboo Elks Lodge for the coming year will be Bob Moore, who was elected Exalted Ruler at the lodge meeting last Thursday. Mr. Moore replaces E. G. “‘Tony’ Woodland, who was recently named District Deputy of the lodge in the North Central Interior. ‘(Otlier officers named Thursday were Bill Adolph, Leading Knight; Jack Halfnights, Loyal Knight; Har- old McKay, Lecturing Knight; Bill Kohnke, Inner Guard; Felix Kohuke, Outer Guard. Returned to office were Ed. Baker as secretary; Walt Thomas as treas- urer; Alf Eagle as historian. Lac La Hache Brigade Equipped With Truck Village finances are in Commission Chairman Stan G ship meeting last Thursday ni Mr Goad stated that up to the end of November the general fund had a surplus of $12,000. Out of this would come roughly $1,000 for normal op- erating expenses during December, and a further $3,500 for the pur- chase of the recently acquired grader. The village water system is in the black for the first time in a long while, the chairman went on. This account has $1300 on hand, of which $1,000 is owing to the general rev- enue account. The village laid 1120 feet of new main this summer along Railway Avenue, which is in line avith the commission’s policy of re- placing sections of the old PGE lines each year. : Commissioner Alf Eagle told the Drive this fall to provide the set- tlement of Lac La Hache with ade- quate fire protection. following a s of fires there this year, was climaxed last Thursday night with the arrival of a fire truek for the recently formed Lac La Hache Fire Department. Fire Chief Ray Wise says the ve- hicle is a 2%-ton 1946 Chevrolet with two pumps; a 500-gallon one and a 120-gallon one. ‘The fire brigade now has 20 mem- bers with Ron Blancher as deputy commonwealth prizes during hit chief) and Alex Bryce secretary- 2 Z treasurer. —Centza! Press Canadian his way to an individual small bore carbine DEATH CALLS WELL-KNOWN RESIDENT Funeral ~% =yhe end came suddenly for Mr. Smedley, who had been in indifferent | = whealth since he suffered a. stroke jast May. He was helping his wife in the kitchen of their home whén he collapsed. His death brouelit an end to a long and interesting career that centred for years in the Far Hast. He was born in 1879 in Yokohama, Japan, the son of the first English civil engineer and architect to be em- ployed by the Japanese governmert to construct the first Buropean rail- way system in that county. He was educated in Sydney, Australia, and then studied architecture and engin- eering at Victoria College, London. He served his apprenticeship un- der the famous Dutch engineer Mr. De Rike and was chief assistant to De Rike when he designed the harbour facilities of Yokohame and Shanghai. Branching out on his. own, he formed the architec- tural firm of Smedley, Denham and Rose, Shanghai, later known as the ‘Asia Realty Co. This firm built many of Shanghai’s business structures. The well-known American Club there was designed by Mr. Smedley. He came to British Columbia on a holiday in 1907, and liked it so well he stayed, and was married in Van- couyer in 1909. He was employed there for a time by the City of Van-| couver when the Hastings Townsite was laid out. In 1912 he returned to Shanghai and remained there until Will Hold Service In New Church Hall After spending the summer hold- ing church services in a rented hall, the congregation of St. Andrew’s United Church moves into the new McKinnon Memorial Hall this Sun- day. It was intended that this would be the first service to be held in the services were condutted ‘this-afternoon from St. * Peter’s Anglican Church for John Di town’s earliest businessmen, who: sunday, morning in his 75th year. Sate ? Smedley, one of the iced ayer. at his home the outbreak of the First World War- ‘eFoliowing the wehbe retgrned to | British Columbia, living for a’ time in Vancouver and Squamish! It was jn 1921 that a friend of his, the late W. C. Sharp, persuaded him to so into partnership in a hardware busi- ness at Williams Lake an@ the firm of Smedley & Sharp was originated. Mr. Smedley eventually acquired sole ownership and remained with the business until 1946 when he retired. He was a veteran of two wars. He fought in the Defence of Pekin dur- ing the Boxer Rebellion and was awarded a medal from Queen Vic- toria, At the outbreak of the First World War he joined the colours again and was commanding officer of the First Chinese Labor Battalion. During his years in Williams Lake he was active in community affairs. He was one of the men instrumental in having the: village incorporated. When the new hospital was built in 1923 he served as one of the first directors and stayed on the board as provincial government representa- tive until the time of his death. He was vice-chairman of the board. Be- cause of his architectural ability, he was often called on to furnish plans for community projects. The church from which he was buried today was -he product of his drawing board. A love of sailing that he had ac- quired during his years in seaport eentres was brought to Williams Lake and his former lakeshore home was a centre of boating activities in earlier days. His liking for boating led him to making a hazardous water trip when he was 69 years old. Starting at Stewart Lake, Mr. Smedley travelled down the Nechako River to the Fraser and down that river to Ques- nel in &n 8-foot dingy powered by 2 ¥% horsepower outhoard motor. Four years ago he was appointed Stipendiary Magistrate and Juvenile Court Magistrate, appointments he auditorium proper, but a delay in receiving the heating unit for this part of the hall will necessitate the holding of the service in the base- ment Sunday. The move upstairs witl be made the following week. Official dedication ceremonies in connection with the new hall will be held sometime in January. Eee AUXILIARY RAISES $800 Over $800. was realized by the United Church Ladies’ Guild at the annual Cattle Sale. Tuesday night's meeting voted to turn $500 over to the Chureh Board for the purchase of chairs for the new church and Sunday School. held until his death. He was a Past Mas member of Centré Lodge, A. er and charter & AM. He leaves to mourn his passing his wife Christine; one son, Jack at Trail, and one daughter, Gladys, at Francisco, three sisters, Gwen, Iva and Duley in England. Four grand- children also survive. Pallbearers at the Masonic rites today were ' Sid Western, Claude Barber, Mac Jonhson, Ken Rife, Erwin Brandly and Bob Blair. Hon- orary pallbearers were J. C. Edwards, Rod. Mackenzie, R- Beauchamp, M |; Lunn, Chas. Moon, Claude Pigeon, | Claude Huston and John Anderson. | A detachment of R.C.M.P. officers | attended the funeral in full dress. - Now that the fire truck is here the prigade will start active practising. Fire Chief Claude Huston has offered to help out the new brigade by giv- ing instruction in fire fighting. rsideqof 18 months the fre de- partent hopes to clear off the truck |fudetedness, using two methods. Onesis a voluntary tax with a rate of $3 a month for large houses, $2 for WW Bomes. $1-for shacks, and $¥ fot pasiness firms. Added to this revenue the department plans to stage community fund raising shows. Next project to be undertaken by the department will be the construc- tion dfa fire havi ~ Veteran Police Officer Retires Set. Joe Howe ended 26 years active service with the Royal Cana- dian Mounted Police Monday night. Officially Sgt. Howe does not retire until tha middle of next Marehy buy he is @njoying “accumulated: leave until thet time. Actually Sgt. Howe is credited with 30 years service with the force}, His four vears active service in the) First World War is taken into COR sideration as police tine. BOARD OF TRADE ANNUAL MEETING Members of the Board of Trade will elect their officers tonight for the coming year and approve the adoption of a revised set of by-laws. Man Feared Drowned In Quesnel Lake Discovery of a half-submerged canoe on Quesnel Lake about nine| ere to attend the funeral of the miles from Likely, has started police | jate J, D. Smedley today are Mr. and searching for prospector Cleland H.| urs. Jack Smedley of Trail and Miss Vaux, 55, who is feared drowned. | Gladys Smedley of San Francisco. The canoe was discovered by Wes Speed of Likely, when he set out to find Vaux after becoming alarmed at his failure to return to the lodge. Vaux, who had been prospecting in the area all summer, was staying at Speed Bros. lodge and went out to his camps for several days at a time, always giving a date of return. This time he was to return November 27, and when he hadn’t shown up by December 1st, Mr. Speed set out for the prospector’s camp on Hobson’s Arm. A search of the campsite after finding the canoe revealed that the Dormitory, shop lifting from lgcal stores. The five students will have their individual cases reviewed by the School Board at a special meeting man had packed his gear and had probably been on his way back. Police dragged the vicinity of the jake for two days and are now con- dueting an air search. Mr. Vaux has no close relatives. Police have notified a distant cousin in the United States of the incident. 37 Gobblers Won At Local Shoot hirty-seven turkeys were won at the first turkey shoot sponsored by | the Cariboo Association of Mar men, The shoot was held Sunday at January parents will be asked to appear. The shop lifting occurred over a period of two months, and mainty concerned the loss of minor articl with one of the five boys being re- sponsible for roughly 75 per cent of the value of the goods taken. The cases ranged from the loss of small articles like a chocolate bar through to cheap magazines, and costume jewellery, up suede to a jacket and a portable radio. Value of the goods is placed at from $150 to $200. Stores involved are not pressing any charges and the students resp sible will make good the financial loss Harley's yrange. The entire affair came to ligbt ‘The gobblers were gpresd around | 0 November 29th when the mauager o1 tatty evenly, with only Alvan Miller, Walter Bailey and G. Marey succeeding in getting more than one bird. The five marks- men took home two apiece. ‘A fresh breeze at the shoot bother- ed some of the contestants at 200 yards, but E. S. Quesnel romped through the long range 600-yard miss and out match with no trouble at al Matches were called at 10:30 a.m. and shooting continued through to 9 o'clock at night with the aid of lights. Returning Officer lil, New Appointment Made Sudden illness of Returning Offi- cer Joe Smith this week forced com- missioners to call a special meeting last night to appoint a new 0) for today’s by-law voting. Commis- sioner-elect Tony handling the job in the em Mr. Smith is presently in War Mem- orial Hospital. ney meeting that ine bis main job of building inspector. he was principally concerned with not letting any part of the village grow into a “shack town.” Mr. Eagle also looks after the cemetery and beach. Of the form- Village Finances Healthy, Ratepayers Told At Meet healthy shape, oad in ht. according to addressing the steward- Only $700 of his $3,000 allotment for sidewalks in the village had beer spent this year, Commissioner Mat Johnson told the meeting. He said that half a block of new wood side- walk had been laid and about 70 feet of concrete sidewalk. Other work had consisted of repairs to existing sidewalks. Purehase of a grader for the vil- lage is going to. result in a consider- able improvement to the village streets, Commissioner Herb Gardner asserted. Although the machine was purchased too late in the year to see much result of its usefulness, Mr. Gardyer said it had done consider- able work in the new sub-division spreading gravel. Next year he said it was going to be his objective to have crushed gravel laid on all the streets running into Oliver Street, for a block on each side of this main thoroughfare. He intended to then er he said that new posts had been placed along the fence line and weeds had been kept down. Nothing jvad been done on the beach this year, but he said he hoped a program could be worked out for the 1955 season. P-TA To Hear Panel yEntertainment at next Tuesday night’s meeting of the local Parent- Teachers’ Association will again take the form of a panel discussion. Two teachers and two laymen will discuss the high school program. Moderator will be Fred B. Bass. Firm Opening Prizes _ Awaiting Claiments Vive prizes offeredin connection with the recent opeving of Beath Motors garage are awaiting the hold- ers. of lucky numbers. Drawing for the gifts was made by Village Cor- mission Chairman Stan Goad Satur- day night. One of the original six prizes, an Five high school students, have been suspended as a result of a full-scale investigation conducted by school authorities into a wave of 5th, at which students and | customer was missing. | confined to the boys. }haa occured among the gi Borkowski is | automatic toaster, was won by Clive Stangoe. Here are the others. Persons hold- ing the numbers listed have only to present their, stubs at the garage to walk away with the merchandise. First — Car radio (701); second — mantle radio (1667); third — set of two tires (1650); fifth — spot- light (S80); sixth — windshield fan (1636). Five Pupils Suspended In Wake Of Shop-lifting Investigation all residents of the School a local clothing store noticed a plaid shirt that had been put aside for a He quently saw a student wearing one like it the same day, and informed Trustee Bill Sloan, member of the dormitory cions. Together Beames, mittee, Mr. mediate investigation. In the meantime a group of re- ible boys in the dorm, who act had acted on their own | to stamp out the wave. ‘They had eall- ed a meeting of the boys and warned them that a continuation of the ac- tions of those responsible would re- spons s prefects, sult in the prefects seeing to it that |they were asked to leave the dorm. he prefees then informed Matron Mrs. L. Boyce of their actions, who turn passed jt on to the adult com mittee. The committee had nothing but ise for the work of the prefects, during the subsequent in lie who tent to clear the cases up The tigation revealed that | while current wave had arlier instances in the put it had been stopped when inve the dorm subse- committee, of his suspi- with principal Tom who also acts on the com- Sloan launched an im- ations co-operated to the fullest ex- been nave these sections oiled to keep down the dust hazard. Commenting on the surplus in the village tieasury, Mr. Gardner said he was of the opinion that no such surplus should exist. He went on to say that he believed taxpayers would be willing to pay a little more if the village would provide services that would eliminate objectionable fea- tures of living here, such as th clouds of dust from the streets in the summer. The meeting did not draw much in the way of attendance. Only about 20 taxpayers were on hand to hear the stewardship reports and enter int< a discussion on the proposed sewer by-law. _ Chairman of the Jexce [meeting was Jack Esler. The bér owas thanked= by Commti Goad for their continued interest ir civie affair as evidenced by their nual sponsorship of the meeting. *° Bsler conveyed his group's thanks to the School Board ‘for the use of the high school auditorium. Review Sewer Plans For Ratepayers ‘A resume of the advantages of in- stalling a sewer system in the village, and the costs involved as far as the taxpayers are concerned was given at the stewardship meeting Thursday by D. F. McMaster of sociated Engineering Services. The experiences of the Quesnel hoard of commissioners in tackling a similar project on a smaller scale last summer were recounted by Ques- nel Commission Chairman Alex Fraser, who attended the meeting in company with Commissioner Cece Tingley. : Mr. Fraser said the final estimate worked out on their service, whicb is confined to the commercial are qwas $70,000. The installation is nv complete and tho total cost of the project was $60,000. In the question-and-answer period | that followed, former commissioner C. H. Poston posed the question of whether it was wise to commit the village to another debt that would increase the town’s bonded indebted- ness by 2% times. He went on to say that this would only be one of sev- eral expensive projects the taxpayers would have to pay for over the next 20 years. Estimated expenditures of ),000 for educational needs and $150,000 for a new hospital, also came into the picture he said, and although these items were borne by the taxpayers throughout the entire district, the village taxapayer would pave to pay hi Commissione last s share. Goad said the final with the taxpayers. e ouly marshalled the facts on the costs of installing such a sys- tem,” he stated. Commissioner Gardner said in his opinion the taxpayers couldn't afford to be without a sewer system, a view that was backed up from a medical viewpoint by Dr. J. B. Ringwood and Dr. H. K. Atwood. Roger Fry, son of Mrs. Eva Lock- |w ood of Lac La Hache, has been ap- | pointed a: ant District Agricultur- jst at Kamloops, Mr. Fry was former- y at Vancouver.