} THE OMINECA HERALD, FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 195 EDITORIAL’ a | | fe (continued from page 2) | @ whole north country. It would Me take years to recover the ground @ lost, if it did not, indeed, mean} bringing in a new population to start all over again. On the fother hand, the immediate estab- Be lishment of the milk depot would fe put all the farmers in a position mic make good and get on their feet. Reducing Fire Loss Recent fires in interior. towns have brought forward the matter meet fire proteetion, not necessarily Sem fire insurance, because insurance does not protect*the community or the Dominion ‘against the loss sustained in the fetback to busi- ness which every big fire causes, One of the main things that the recent fires have demonstrated, but by no means for the first time, is that in a new country ‘such as we are living in it is the greatest possible mistake to per- mit buildings to be erected ad- joining one another, especially when those buildings are all frame and the majority of them are mere shells at best. The two greatest assets we have, some may not agree, are time and space. These we can better afford to waste (apparent- lv}, and save greatly in the end. In a country such as we have, no building should be permitted without ample space between it or Burns Lake fires, and the next. one, to allow the fire-fighters ample opportunity to work, We cannot afford elabor- ate fire departments, and it is doubtful if they would have been effective in either the Smithers We can afiord, however, to buy an extra lot or Ewo and thus prevent our neighbor’s fire destroying our own property. No doubt many patent schemes will be brought forward, guaranteeing protection against fire, but there is no guar- antee like space, No such thing has yet been introduced that is firé-proof except space and solid fire-walis, We have the space and it costs very little. Why not use it? We also have lots of time to walk or drive an extra lot or two between buildings, Why not use our time? [Et would be Struck Wealth of Gas by Accident TN asd AtUORNY bee CIN DAL ili mpany’s elevator and the Canadian Pacifte bride. ae iesort is ad photograph taken of the Big Chief natural gas There wos a closed-In well at Medicina Hat, July 26th, 1909, . Gtcund Sicect, a heartaches and the tueee aul dany vines Wells resulted in disappoint- ment to their promoters. There were times that the tragedies and the losses far ex- pressure o£ 580 Ibs. and on open flow of 3,000,000 ‘cubic fect per day, an equivalent ta 151 tony of cocl, not op UST thirty-nine years ago, in July, 1885, to be exact, a small crew of men in the service of the Canadian Pacific Railway, unlonded a portable water-well drilling machine at a point near where what is now the village of Allison, Alberta, thirty- five miles west of Medicine Hat, on the main line of the company. The crew had been sent to this spot to drill for water and set to work. Little did these men realize that they were about to make a find that was to be the beginning of a wide-spread industry. Perhaps they were disappointed when, Instead of the water they were seeking, gas appeared in their well, but if they could have looked inte the future they would have seen that this first. gas well was to be the cause of the expenditure of millions of dollars. the employment, directly and indirectly, of thousands of men, and the opening up of an enormons area stretching from the Peace River in the north to the international! boundary in the south, and from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Alberta- Saskatchewan line in the east. So much interest was immediately aroused over the discovery of natural gas in this well that others were drilled in Medicine Hat, but the results were not gratifying until the year 1890, when gas was dis- covered. in considerable quantity while drilling was being conducted in search of coal, and it was then found that it could be obtained in commercial quan- tities in what is now known as the Medicine Hat sand, at a depth of about one thousand feet, In 1906 the first deep well -was sunk and a splendid flow of gas was encountered, from which the city of Medicine Hat has enjoyed the benefits of natural gas up to the resent ime, with the further prospect of a long-continued supply. 4 . @ After thia the Canadian Pacific Railway drilied a number of wells.for its own ust, and other concerns entered the field... The wells at Pincher Creek were drilled for oil, which was produced for a time, gas in inslenificant quantities being also encountered but ceeded the successes and the gains, but this did not deter the men who were willing to stake thelr ali on what they bad undertaken to do, and it ia to their determined efforts that the later developments of petroleum and natural gas are due, - The next gas field of importance to be developed was the Bow Island field, on which work was begun in 1908, on the south bank of the South Saskatchewan River on the Crow's Nest branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was in this field that Canada’s largest gas well was drilled, producing, when com- pleted, approximately thirty million cubic feet of gas per day, and it was on the strength of this de- velopment that tte enormous sixteen-inch pipe line, one hundred and seventy-five miles in length, was financed and built in order to supply the towns en route, Other fields have been opened, among them that known as the Foremost field, located on Etzikom Coulee. In 1914, the first well was drilled here in search of oil, and at a depth of about two thousand feet, gas In very large quantities was found. Re- cently another well has been completed in this field, which is now ‘producing over seventeen million cubic feet, of gas per day and is one of the largest gas wells in Canada, giving to the towns and villages along this route an almost unlimited supply of gas. As many as three hundred wells have been drilled in. Alberta up to the present time in various sections of the province, ‘Not all have been productive, of course, some having to be abandoned on account of drilling difficulties, while othera did not yield the fluid sought, or did-so in such small: quantities as not to be worth the expense of further development, and so were abandoned for more productive fields. - C) people of Alberta: is of enormous value and its im- possession of this natural resoyrce to the’ portance cannot be exaggerated. It has played o big. art in the past and will play: a big part in the uture- in the development of the province. It re- mains for the people themselves to see to it that-it is - properly used an conserved for posterity ~-Western Story Magazine. oy re a | much easier to put in a full day, and there‘would be less time for grouching: and watching each other's movements. But the main thing is that it would cut the fire loas to a minimum. The Prince Rupert: General Hospital has decided to join the ranks of those who observe the National Hospital Day, May 12. H. H. Little, a former resident of Hazelton, and one who took an interest in Hospita) Day here, is responsible for the action of the Prince Rupert board, Treaty Protects . And Preserves Wild Fow! Life The geese and ducks from Can- ada go to the United States and spend the winter there. Years ago the people in the United States where the birds winter used to shoot them for market. There were no bag limits, and in many places there was no closed season, Then when the birds were on their northward flight they were shot wherever they stopped to feed. In many of the states this was true, and even in parts of Canada. Now, since Canada and the United States have come to an understanding, because the birds were getting scarce, things have changed. There is an open sea- son of the same length in all parts of Canada and the United States, In-no part of each of these countries are the birds shot for longer than three and one-half months. In the whole of the United States there is no shoot- ing after the end of January, In the whole of the United States where our birds are in winter there is no sale of them allowed, Fines amounting to thousands of dollars each year have had to be paid by persons who broke the law and long jail sentences have been given persons who shot duck and geese for sale. As there is no shooting after the end of January the birds are not bothered when they are mating before coming. north to Canada to breed. If Canada and the United: States had not agreed by this treaty to give the birds more care, by now there would be very few ducks and geese coming north in the spring for they would have nearly all been shot and sold. Since the treaty be- tween Canada and the United States the sale of birds hag stop- ped and spring shooting has stopped. The treaty made it possible for the United States to setaside big reserves where the ducks and geese are not shot at any time of the year, It is be- cause of this treaty that the ducks and geese come north now in bigger numbers than they did a few years ago. Remember’ that if the treaty had not been ‘adopted there would be hardly any birds left to come north, | a All: Canadians should do ‘their share to see that birds are not shot in spring before they nest and: to. see that no birds are wasted, because they: mean ‘so . much to our people. The { Omineca Hotel. yh. Cy . C. W. Dawson, Prop. oh Automobiles, Buses, or Rigs , meet all trains for passenger ( and baggage transfer HEADQUARTERS FOR TOURISTS AND COMMERCIAL MEN Dining room in connection MEALS AT ALL HOURS Hazelton B. C. oe! be aad Fk Oh Onl Bad pels Wi Mnaee Mat Fae 5 ak Fad Fa ek Pe eS NS Os Sl a i i ¢ l t rm rts a a nd Pe rs sl ed Pt i Pt es ne EB Hotel — Prince Rupert A REAL Goon Hore. Pee PE i te ene es Oe SE Prince Rupert BG, H. B, RocHESTER, Manager | Rates $1.50 per day up. + ae al a a Rl ed hill Spell Ronee Pid bt tage The Bulkley Hotel E. EB. Orchard, Owner European or American Plan The headquarters for the~ Bulkley Valley. Tourists and Commercial men find tnis a grand hotel to stop at. All trains met. Autos, livery or rigs saddle horses provided. Smithers. B.C. SHACKLETON ~ Hotel! New, clean and comfortable Firat-class Dining Room in connection RATES ARE ATTRACTIVE THOS. SHACKLETON - Prop. im en ~ waa3t Special attention to travellers } : arriving or departing on i night trains } Grandview Hotel } South Hazelton, B.C. H, CARVATH - PROP, j $Y Dining Room t and Sample Rooma in connection Heme ' Armar 4 4 7 B.C. UNDERTAKERS BMBALMING FOR SHIPMENT A SPECIALEY | » P.O, Box 948 Awire <1 PRINCH RUPERT, 8.0, will bring us