_WILLIAMS LAKE TR Volume 27 — Number 52 Williams Lake, B.C., Wednesday, December 30, 1959 Single Copy 10¢ — $8 per year Serious fire averted in hotel A serious fire in the Ranch Hotel was averted Sunday even- ing when firemen managed to locate the source of the blaze between two walls and bring it under control. Unusuat “ blind” window in a lavatory of the older section| of the hotel was indirectly the cause of the fire. At one time the window had opened out to the fresh air, but when the first addition was built, a bedroom wall on the other side blanked it out. The wall was not re- built from the lavatory side and the window was left intact. It is thought a, tenant téssed @ cigarette out the window, and it smouldered among some old rags in the wall. Smoke travelled along the wall and found its way into the beer parlor ventilating systems. It was the smoke in these rooms that prompted a hotel employee to turn in the alarm. Tracing the fire by wall heat, firemen broke through and ex- tinguished the blaze, which was getting a good hold on the old logs of the original hotel. Damage is estimated at $100. Christmas’ bright but not white The Cariboo celebrated a bright Christmas, with little of the traditional whiten What A review fro during 1959? What ine printed below from the fil JANUARY The “bright spot” in the! news items of 1959's first month was written around the fact that several hundred people were on hand last January 17 to witness the opening of the new Kiwanis Health Centre and to inspect *the facilities it has to offer...At the beginning of this month the ‘screaming»of ani other planer in Williams Laké marked the opening of a new commercial area for the town. The place is just south of town across the cree, the area is serviced by a spur track laid last summer by PGE... The government had no intention of changing its policy in regard to sale of timber in the Williams Lake working circle and Las Lu Hache sustained yield unit. clear statement to this effect had been made to the Williams Lake Board of Trade by Hon. Ray Williston . . . With five straight wins to their credit, the local Matheson rink won the “A” event of the ladies bonspiel— the first ladies’ spiel to be held in Williams Lake .. . There are over 1,700 people living outside of the village limits of Williams Lake and within a four-mile Ss What happened in Williams Lake and district highlights of the past 12 months. “|cern of the season was a com- District news high! m the files idents made news? Re- es of The Tribune are the were netting the provincial gov- ernment as much as three times the “upset” price of the sales A full turnout of members of the Cariboo Overture Concert Association agreed unanimously last night that their second con- plete and delightful success. A richly varied program of folk songs was presented. MARCH First set of plans of the new War Memorial Hospital are now in Victoria for review, hospital board chairman Alex Scott told members of the hospital: society at the annual meeting... A big air search in the district was halted this morning shortly be- fore noon when the pilot of a plane which had been missing for two days appeared out of the blue and landed at Williams Lake airport ... For 14 hrs. no natural gas was being pumped into the main pipeline of West- coast Transmission Company south of Williams Lake. Service disruption was caused by an ex- plosion on the line... A com- plete review of the forest inven- tory of this district will be made by the Forest Service this sum- mer, Hon. Ray Williston, Mini- strated last weekend When his foursome captured the two pri- mary events in the first Williams Lake Curling Club annual bon- spiel... As usual, Kiwanis an. nual spring tea ‘and fashion show was a huge success. APRIL Strict budgeting and in- creased revenues in some depart- ments have resulted in the Vil- lage of Williams Lake winding up in the 1958 fiscal year in bet- ter financial condition than it has been in for years...PGE Railway Company has agreed to commence work immediately on surveying another residential sub-division in Williams Lake above the high school by the airport... Complete mystery sur- rounds a tragedy which took place when an Indian, Bas Duncan, 36, of Dog Creek re- serve, was reported to be on fire on Mackenzie Avenue. How or where he caught fire is unknown but when he was picked up by a police car he was only wear- ing a pair of pants, parts of which were smouldering around his ankles . . . Aside from maj or waterworks program, the Vil- lage of Williams Lake will div- ert over $42,000 from general revenue into capital expenditures this year, according to the an- nual budget . . . There are few architectural frills in the new Williams Lake Junior-Senior High School, but there was no lack of color and planning noted The week-old Retail Mer- chants’ Association pushed through a decision on one of the thorniest issues to split town re- tail circles in recent years when they approved-a resolution to have stores open Friday evenings For the second time in her liter- ary career, local playwright Gwen Pharis Ringwood has won the Birks prize in the Ottawa Little Theatre Workshop’s annual one- act play awards . . . Village com- missioners took action last night to provide more than $33,750 this year for the street paving plan. JULY With a big assist from the weatherman, the 33rd. annual Stampede broke attendance re- cords in all departments. Biggest day of the show was Dominion Day, when the largest crowd ever to attend a stampede paid $6,100 to the “Cariboo’s Own Show. An estimated crowd of 1,500. to 1,800 people turned out to see the the lake and the crowning of the new Queen of the Lake at the An- nual Aquatic Show . - Mrs. Harry Felker. 56, of 134 Mile, died in War Memorial Hospital following a car accident . . . Leslie Pigeon, the only female Court Registrar in British Col- umbia, opened County Court in Williams Lake for the last time after 17 years of service in that department . Application by Radio Station CKCQ to establish and closed all day Mondays... .|. . boat races, a parachute drop into|. Mrs.! ights of 1959 from September 14 . . . Announce- ment last week of the new village bylaw changing half-day closing to Monday instead of Wednesday has now initiated action by maj- ority of retailers to.“go whole hog” and close all day Monday - St. Peter's Anglican Church filled to overflowing when people came from as far as Horsefly and Miocene to see Rev! E. H. Wall- ace instituted and inducted into the position of Vicar of the local parish . . . Three youths were in- jured, two of them seriously, when their car lost a wheel and plunged to the bottom of a 50 foot embankment 16 miles north on the Quesnel Highway. SEPTEMBER Mrs. Bernice Collins returned from a short vacation at the coast and was shocked to find her 38- year-old-husband, Albert Edward Collins lying dead at their home at Springhouse. Evidence point- ed to suicide . . . Headlines: “Sheep Creek Site of New Bridge” . Some 37 men in town and district have been thrown out of work as a result of the disastr- ous blaze that caused an esti- mated $150,000 damage to the local planer mill of Lignum Ltd . - Residents of Williams Lake and district came well up to ex- pectations at the blood donor clinic last Friday when almost double the required number of people gave their services . .. The 1959 Stampede resulted in a net profit of $4,044.12 . Thieves BaOP one Ua Wun road ee radius according to fares com {iter of Lands and Foreste, prom: |, <0°e, 2°0Ne, Scuo0l, ustees|¢ “satelite” station in Witliams| had @ marathon night’ on Mae left over from falls a month old,| peeg rom {ne Detitions signed |ised a delegation from the WHl-| tn. octal opening cr the|the Board or Deeadensy oes | Menaie Avenue when they broke d in the valleys most of this by property owners of the area liiams Lake Board of Trade in an| ‘1, Cuicl@l opening of the | th "Work Will stat inemeut | nto four different diseds but wich Reese 4 requesting a Fire Protection |;-tovvicw at Victoria Al Arme| 2420000 structure .. . 3 per~ Ors eo gy NOT will start immedi-|ittle to show for their efforts. ae g 7 Arm- s los ir li y a 395, ildi In Williams Lake bright skies : pred, strong of Quesnel is skipping a sttanoeiwnn here Rear een fe stones diane eee OCTOBER sent the mercury up in the mid-| Examining the source of a fire which originated be- | FEBRUARY rink for the first time this sea-| ney were driving crashed |and offices of the B.C. Telephone ‘Tragedy yaeeurred wien’ 1ocal forties. The next day was still! tween wall partitions in the Ranch Hotel is Fire The scramble for timber was|son, but how well he has learned through a guard chain on the|Company in Williams Lake .. . businessrr 77, Gordon McLeod fell clear bur the temperature had| Ghiet Pigeon and members of/ the Yolufiteer [ow Mm the Cariboo, witr~the rer fle: veurling—game. ~ working | yiacattstar tern at Marguerite | Latest Hashton-the-lost .queaaellnn ie ? a droppea o and the{dav-! Pa sul that Himbérf action salt} Nirough =the Kanksiwae“damom-| Wy slimes fat. the owtriine |Dlane came when an RCAP plane| yr "Tie time low ¢___ | waters of the Fraser River. | ancouver claimed to have ancou, the owner above, colde way |spotted a red and white plane] o¢ sid ys Ltd., on the month. | © corresponding te the/ Cariboo Hishway three miles eens | 3 TOWN’ 5 CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION IN 1921 "Sesser sunsets Spin St Mua ea when about half an ineh fell in frst lime in the world to adopt} French Mountain, 35 to 40 miles! morning at 10 minutes to eight, the valley last night BY BEN CLARKE og Cabin Hotel (now Ranch) Planks laid across upended cases |short, the stresses and strains| Microwave telephone and tele-|south of Dog Creek Airport./ a valve was turned and the town’s Here are the readings at the) _ ; ee by Archie and. Mr. ods brought trom/of modern living had net then| (ype communications for is eu-|There were four people on board) water supply began moving airport for the past week, taken) Not seated apart as a group os na the Grand Cen- ow ) win a bet,/ reached Williams Lake or the| tire system. Figures on lumber |and all lost their lives. [through the new 12inch steel in the Central and between the hours of § a.m. and|but mixed with other diners, a of the Cariboo production (tral (now Maple Leaf) operated + main that parallels the highway 4 p.m. free ot geal unattached) red and Ma Weyenberg, |bottle on display. The job of] “The old order changeth, giv-|Seuth Cariboo for 1958 elearly ee ens hive caused over| Ut (© t€ Dumphouse on the Thursday, Dee. 38 42 |males who had been classed as)” aN _ taking up the collection was del- ing way to the new show why this district did not sah mustery fire caused over iace .. . Death in a Kamloops a (no reading) |"“old timers” ate a Christmas ROLLED DOWN SLOPE gated to a young war veteran,| Lest one good custom should|feel the general _ recession |$40,000 worth of damage when] nospital ‘Tuesday was the tragic Saturday - — 10 30 | dinner at the Famous Restaur- Twas shown the marks in the) 55 turned in more money than corrupt the world.” that affected Canada as a whole eaesons Sears etal = th wae end of a race that started here Monday, Dec. 13 18 jant on December 27th as guests snow where a leading merchant /i4q een anticipated but 1 With it went some Cariboo|last year . . . ‘The distriet’s dan-| Lake Y haltday tlosine i prin: [BU asercte eee Rolin: siactin to Tuesday 20 of the Elks Lodge. These were /had rolled down the slope from| yever asked to officiate again|eustoms that, while they might|serous forest condition erupted Monday hale-day, “eke attest. coneusedrbavehaet ie This morning at eight o'clock |survivors of that period of vil-|nis place of business on Railway | °° there was no hymn veing|not have corupted any worl into flaming violence with high ake will take effect as nued on Pag it was 24 above. lage expansion that is’ some-| Avenue almost onto the door-| in to drown out such re-|certainly made life more pleas winds and a lowering of humidity times referred to as Horse-and-/step of a matron who Was ans arks as, “See here now, youlant for those who lived here in Out in the Chileotin, Forest Ser-| ° Buggy Days. avowed enemy of the Demon! oo, agord more than a dime,”| those days. vice airevatt spotters reported 30] Harry Perry dies As I studied the surroundings Rum. Later, when a young /nq «yey, 1 want more than a| We ought to be thankful that | blazes, and the staff at ee 7 I compared them to those that/matron from ont of town rode] iia out of you.” some things do not change. One |Creek station are readying them- Vi 1 h were here for the Christmas of/on horseback to take greeti ' oo of the most conspicuous of|selves tor what looked like their at ictoria ome 1921 when most of the popula- te a bachelor establishment on | WONDER OF SURVIVAL these is the spirit of goodwill |Worst fire season on record . . . Harry G. T. Perry, 70, former| tion consisted of bachelors as| First Avenue, one of the in-| In the light of present knoW-/1/ Christmas. ‘This writer here-|Loss to three parties amounted to) owner of the Prince George Citi-| the railway line had only just/ mates, clad in nothing but| ledge, it is a wonder that any|),. ‘ostiges that the meal he en-|around 340,000 in the spectacular zen and a powerful Liberal repre-| been turned over to the PGE by pyjamas and slippers, rode her |survived. In our blissful igmor-| joveq as q guest of the Blks|tire that razed the old Centra sentative for central Biitish Col-|the Northern Construction Com-| horse to the station where he lance, we drank more milk and) ogc, was every bit as tasty as [Service garage building on Mac- umbia, died at his home in) pany and the material yard was) tried to get it to climb the |other beverages than cokes of /ui. “arst Christmas dinner in|Kenzie Avenue, one of the town's Victoria last Saturday. still here. In ‘fact it was a/ stairs so he could properly greet | pepsis: for a while, the most] inco. 3s years ago. For this older landmarks . . . In critica As a major force in the party/mere 27 months since the town-| another lady who was also an| popular soft drink was called). (nani the Brother Bills. | condition and still unconscious and government, Mr. Perry was|site had been surveyed. ardent advocate of Prohibition. | Whistle and sold for cents in a Vancouver hospita is rear credited with plotting the course] The local conditions then in-| Failing in this, he crossed the|per bottle at the time that a old Nona Bareson, w ne. hie of provincial development after|trigued me as my previous| road to the pool-room where he | full meal with a great varietty thrown from a horse ‘Sunday the Second World War. Christmases had been spent in| stuck his head out of a window |of choice could be had for a¢ afternoon as she practiced for He was considered by many to have been responsible for spa ing renewed construction of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, after it had been languished for years with its southern terminus the Revelstoke, Nelson, London, Cal-| and, gary and Toronto. member Oriental near main I cannot re- whether or not an was dispensing chow livery stable but the| eating places were the with well-chosen phrases, breached a vigorous sermon on the benefits of Temperance. During that holiday season, Rey. A. D. Mackinnon arrived from Clinton to hold a religious 40 miles from Vancouver and its) dining rooms (no stools, count-| service in Moore's Hall where northern terminus at Quesnel. ers, cubicals or jukebox) of the the pews consisted of rough In charge of the local telephone switchboard New Year’s Eve will be Mrs. Doug Gordon, pictured above, to handle all the “Happy New Year” greetings which will go over the wires. Two other operators will be working during the critical hour from midnight to one o'clock. cents. We used the milk just as it came from local cows that had never known the difference between a TB test and a patch of wild garlic. It was extracted by the now out-dated, unscienti- fic hand method. For a number of us, the drinking water came from shallow wells or seepage instead of gushing from a tap after having been skilfully im- pregnated with palate-tickling chlorine. It is true that the settlement had a water system of a kind but in times of scar- city such as a break in the main as a freeze-up, water could be obtained from the railway tank or creek water purchased from a cart at so much per barrel. NO ULCERS In spite of the known deposits of radio-active pitch-blende on the hillside near the course of the old Mountain Race ,we never let our nightly slumbers be dis- turbed by wondering just how much Strontium 90, C Iodine 131 or Carbon 14 might be in the milk, the morning hot; cakes or the quarter of frozen mowitch hanging by the cabin door. Our main anxiety was whether the PGE was going to be completed or closed down. public interest was also aroused by the recurring reports that the Comer Ranch was going to be made into an Experimental ‘arm. Stomach ulvers were so little known that they were nevy- Member of pioneer family passes William James Crosina, mem- ber of one of the district's pion- eer families, passed away Tues- day morning in War Memorial Hospital. He was in his 59th year. Funeral services will be con- ducted January 1, at 2 p.m. from St. Peter's Anglican Church. Crosina | was born in the son of Mr. and Mrs. Crosina, who pre-empted As Louis land at the 153 Mile in 1908. soon as the baby could travel, his mother brought him home to the Cariboo and he lived here all his iT He ranched with his father, in 1923 married and took over the 158 Mile Ranch, famili- arly known as Mountain House. Here the couple lived until 1949, when they sold the property and took up a ranch at Big. Lake. Ranching kept Mr. Crosina close to the land, although he was one of the first members of Cariboo Elks Lodge in Williams Lake. He leaves to mourn his passing, his wife, five sons, Willie, of Quilchena, Wayne and James of Likely, Omar in Toronto and Roy in Williams Lake; two daughters, M Inez Cottell, Mission City and Mrs. Rita Speed of Likely; three sisters, Miss Lil Crosina of 153 Mile House, Mrs. Dorothy Harrah of Abbotsford and Mrs. er the topics of conversation or the source of apprehension. In Clara Moffett of Merritt. Six- race in the Western Playday Residents of Glendale are giving some consideration to asking for inclusion within Williams Lake village limits, according to a dele- gation that appeared before the council. Residents later settled for formation of a water district JUNE A Riske Creek father of fou young children was killed when his lumber truck overturned or the road two miles south o Scott's Store in the small Chil cotin centre . . . A seven-year-old boy playing with a candle wa: the innocent cause of a blaze tha completely destroyed the home o Mr. and Mrs. Barney Neufeld or the north-east side of the gol course . . . Eric Collier, trapper writer of Meldrum Lake in th: Chileotin Country, has just re ceived word that Reader's Diges magazine has taken a $10,00/ option for the condensation right: of his forthcoming book, “Thre: Against the Wilderness.” Merlin Vernon Lillico, 21-year-ol¢ B.C. Telephone lineman in Wil liams Lake, lost his life in a auto accident on the Chileotir Highway about one mile fron here . . . Letters patent have beer approved for the formation of th: Glendale Water District, and ten: ders for the work of installing a system to. the suburban area were called late in the year. . . About 300 people crowded into the Legion Hall to take part in the social evening marking the open- KR CHRIST IAS BABY Only baby in the district to be born at War Memo- rial Hospital on Christmas Day was Mr. and Mrs. Terry Thompson’s 8-lb.- world at 8:30 p.m. 9-0z. son who entered the This is the Thompson’s first baby and the proud mother states that ‘‘ We haven’t teen grandchildren also survive. ing of the Branch’s new lounge! qecided on his name yet.”