: e ian ©6=Malioned Minist _ Tony MacGregor, a 33-year-old journalist working out of the legislative press gallery, will be writing a weekly column on the legislature for the Herald. MacGregor has had extensive experience as a reporter since gradpating from Ryerson Faiyeechnteal Institute in Toronto with a journalism ~ degree. He will be writing a weekly column of generd! In- terest as well as an occassional feature article. By Tony MacGregor VICTORIA-Now that most of the story behind the resignation of Jack Davis has spilled out it ap- pears we have a very maligned minister on our Davis resigned on Monday from the energy, — transport and communications portfolio because he was being investigated by the RCMP over refunds he received from changing first-class tickets to economy tickets. He received the refunds long after the trips were made and used them to offset other ex- pense.. which he incurred while on the trips. _ ‘The problem was that he didn’t keep detailed ’ ‘records of his payments. Apparently the amount a money involved was in the neighborhood of 1,000, ‘ If that isn't a tempest ina teapot, what is? - Davis was responsible for a budget which ran over $64 million and was being paid an annual salary of $48,000. It just isn’t reasonable to expect a 62-year-old politician with a glowing reputation, a former parliamentary secretary, a former federal polition of two portfolios’ (environment and fisheries) to risk his reputation and career for a paltry few hundred dollars. « Not that standards of honesty should be lowered. Any politicidn who gets his fingers anywhere near the till should be shown the door at short notice. It’s justthe public doesn’t believe that Davis is guilty and neither does anyone | else who knows him. Davis will, I believe, be exonerated by the RCMP investigation and welcomed back to the cabinet with open arms. But why did the investigation start in the first place? I asked Davis that question-asked, him whether political maliciousness might be behind the move. He said he didn’t think maliciousness was the motive and said it could have been intitiated by somebody in the travel industry who was sur- prised that a minister would hand in a first-class ticket for economy class. The RCMP, rightly, has to investigate any ‘such complaints. But what a tragedy that the chain, of: events had to result in such bitter "hurailiatign tar Davis arid his family. “© - . The -tragedy...was’ compounded by inability to defend himself because of his lack of knowledge of the nature of the investigation. He and his family had to suffer through almost two days of mental punishmentsqhile the public. and press indulged in wild speculation about the cause of the resignation. Bennett was right in asking him to resign until - the investigation is complete and Davis was right to agree to resign. But some statement should have been made at the time which would . have given the public some idea of the reasons behind the move. But one thing is sure-politicians on both sides of the house are deeply sympathetic to Davis's plight and should he be cleared by the RCMP investigation many British Columbians will feel deep sympathy for 4 man who nas peen so obviously maligned. Found turtle and - other oddities. FRESNO, Calif. (AP' TT tenn eet te U The old (foreground) and the new: the (Tourism B.C, photo) two Alexandras bridging the Fraser. Lone mre & ersApy ' ta oF oa ~ — Nellie Cantrell wa: driving near her home it northwest Fresno whet she spotted somethin; moving beside the curb It was her pet turtle Susie, who disappearec 16 months ago while being kept in nearby Ma: dera by Mrs. Cantrell's daughter. Mis. Cantrell said she knew it was Susle because of registration numbers: on the turtle’s underside. As a result of her 2+ kilometre journey however, Susie's shell was cracked, She needed a shot of penicillin to ward off pneumonia and a plastic covering for protection until the shell mends. CONCEPCION, Chile (Reuter) —' Edmundo Nunez Merino, 53, _ respectfully raised his hat as a funeral cortege assed, little knowing that he was supposed 10 be in the coffin. ‘He was spotted by his _ daughter Monday as she accompanied what she thought was Merino’s body toa cemetery in this southern Chilean city. - She later explained to reporters that she had been told her father was dead when she went to _, visithim in a-hospital last Sunday, She made ‘and weeds in,his yard. arrangements for the burial. ; . Authorities were left with the task of iden- tifying the body in the coffin. n MILWAUKEE. (AP) — Bruce Edgar, an 18-year- old freshman at the University of Wisconsin says he has been turn down for a job as. Playboy Club bunny. Edgar, whose mother Eunice Edgar is executive director of the Wisconsin Civil Liberties Union, said Monday he lans to review previous udicial decisions before decides whether to fight his rejection as a. case of sex discrimination. . Edgar applied last week for the job of watting: on tables at the elub’s Lake. Geneva, Wis,, facility. BALTIMORE (AP);— Stuart Levene calls himself acon servationist, He says. he believes “in the benefits of all life as it exists on eat But. aiter bein fined $915, Levene agree to cut down the foot-high vegetation surrounding his home. Judge Joseph Clotola convicted Levene of violating three counts: of the elty’s housing code by refusing to trim the grass ‘was due to his go The Bridge of Alexandre How many. times have you crossed the graceful, curving span of the . Alexandra Bridge in the Fraser Canyon? Ever wondered about the history behind the old bridge a few hundred metres upstream? Woll, wonder no more! Some interesting tid- bits of the history of this structure, located halfway between Yale and Boston Bar, are enough to tempt you to stop and walk down to view this important monument to our pioneers. Actually, although it may not be readily visible, two bridges were built at the present old- bridge site. All three, including’ the structure currently in use, bore the name Alexandra. The first bridge was built by Joseph W, Trutch as part of the contracts he held for the Cariboo ‘Wagon Road. .,. Me-Trutch rectived his *’ Davis’s contract “early in -1863 and, not being one to waste time, hired San Francisco engineer A.S. Halledié and set to work. By September of. that year, the bridge has been designed, constructed, loadtested and opened to traffic. ; Mr. Trutch's bridge (officially named in honor of the Princess Alexandra, Princess of Wales) .spanned 62 metres, bridging the entire width of the Fraser River at its narrowest point below Hell’s Gate. Despite the short construction timetable, it was no makeshift job. The bridge stood up to the traffic of thousands of gold-seekers, mules, horses, cattle, and even a - few camels before the completion of. the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 made the canyon road impassable. Though no longer maintained, the first bridge continued to carry local traffic until the 1894 great flood. The closure of the canyon road and the bridge’s fina] demise heightened- interior dependence on the Tailway. After considerable ‘public pressyre- probably brought on by CPr freight rates — the ‘provincial government, in the early 1920s, decided to rebuild the road and the bridge. The design and con- struction of the second Evel Knievel out of jail — Evel Knievel walked out of jail early today into a tangle of financial and legal problems. But his publicist says things will jumping again soon for the daredevil motor- cyclist, ‘ Knievel, 38, served a little less than five months of a sixmonth jail term imposed after he pleaded guilty to assaulting executive: Sheldon Salman with a baseball Knievel said he assaulted Saltman because of material con- tained in a book Salman wrote after working as a promoter on evel’s unsuccessful rocketcycle leap over the Snake River Gorge in Idaho. ‘ “7 feel that the majority of society have understood the reasons for my action,”’ Knievel said, He contended his-in- carceration would not serve “as a deterrent to others.” . Kntevel’s early release behavior, said: Sheriff's television’ ‘haystack Lieut. Joseph Race. Publicist Stan Rosenfield said one of the first problems Knievel will have to face is a civil suit filed by Saltman for an undisclosed sum. Rosenfield however, that Knievel has filed.a $210-million libel suit against Saltman and his publishers. In addition to the legal problems, Rosenfield said, Knievel owes about $900,000 in back taxes. And Knievel no jonger has money coming in from Evel Knievel toys, after the Ideal Toy Co. discontinued“ the line . because ‘of the nature of his crime. Knievel has announced plans to “jump into a without a parachute from an air- plane at 40,000 feet on an ‘unspecified date. Knievel may’ not be allowed to perform the feat in the United States, but backers in the Dominican Republic have expressed interest od in the event, Rosenfield WOMAN DIES SAANICH (CP) Marguerite Neave Ford, - 70, dled Sunday in a fire at her home In this Vie- torla-area municipality. Police said that caréless smoking may have been the cause of the fire, HIKER KILLED CLEARWATER RCMP Monday identified a man killed Sunday ina 300-footfall in Wells Grey Provinelal Park as, Ed Bourget, of Kamloops, B.C., a former resident of Regina, An- _ inquiry {s to be held inte _ the ineldent, ' ae B riefs FOUN } D '- VICTORIA | (CP)The hody of David Andrew Wade, 17, of Vic- toria,nwas found Monday on the southeast face of Mount Finlayson, about 20 miles northwest of the city. Police said he was climbing with friends when he fell 200 feet, RHUBARB I5 SEEING EYE SAN DIEGO, Calif. (AP) — Ever since Rhubarb, a part Slamese cat, came to the home of Elsie Schneider 16 years ago, she has been acting as her mistresa’s eyes. + noted, . Alexandra Bridge became the responsibility of A.L: Carruthers, bridge engineer for the provincial department public works. Design work began in early 1925 and the bridge was completed and load- tested by August 1926. Despite the canyon highway’s inadequacy for the rapidly-improving automobile, the bridge remained in service until the early 1960s. Alexandra Bridge tock much longer to build than eigher of its predecessors — strikes and steel shortages having been invented by this'time. It is also a much larger bridge, boasting a 245 metre span compared to 84 metres. for Mr. Carruthers’ bridge. With the completion of the present corssing in 1963, Mr. Carruthers’ structure, like Mr. Trutch's befcre it, . became obsolete. The third and present However, thanks to the presentations of a few interested individuals, the old bridge was not demolished, Through the efforts’ of the historic sites division, parks branch, recreation and conservation _depart- ment, the bridge was designated an historic site in 1974. y A provincial picnic site on the highway’s west side, just upstream from the new bridge, makes an ideal stopping place to break the. monotony of a long — trip. ; A short walk down the ald highway leads to Mr, Carruthers’ bridge and a glimpse of the past. If you are particularly ovservant, you may see the remains of Mr. Trutch's bridge and the . old Cariboo road. You may even catch a glimpse of an_ old- fur brigade trail that once linked the interior to the coast via Anderson Creek and the Nicola Valley. ° FURNITURE & APPLIANCES | TOTEM | OD ADAIR a 7 all Sag _ THE HERALD, Thursday, April 13, 1978, PAGE? _ China opens to tourists PEKING (CP) — China is ‘swinging the doors n to tourists from anada and ofher Western countries. The government is talking about attracting up to five times as many tourists this year as last year. Sounds like a Iot, but only 20,-000 tourists en- tered China last year. International politics and lack of such tourist facilities as hotels, guides and restaurants have been major obstacles until now. ‘But. the Chinese government has decided that tourism is a good thing and is busy building hotels in several cities. Foreign observers say tourism will boom in China once the snags are cleared away. China has great variety in climate, ancient historic sites and a society that is sharply different. from Canada’s, The mystery of the New Chinese society will probably .be the main attraction for tourists for some time yet. Tourists interested in luxurious, Westernstyle resort life are unlikely to go to China. TRAVEL CHEAP Travel is relatively cheap in: China but hotel accommodation still is below Western standards and cultural life is limited. There are restrictions on places ‘tourists can visit in China, par- ticularly centres where tourist facilities are poor. But Western travellers still can go to major cities like Peking, Canton and Shanghai and some smaller resort centres like Kweilin in southern China. ; That is enough to give tourists a taste of Chinese life—the communes, the swarms of bicyclists and pedestrians on city streets that are almost cars, the old houseboats empty of . Chinese slipping down rivers in southern China, Why is China opening up to tourism now’ Political change is one reason. The Chinese leadership was preoc- eupied with the inward- looking cultural revolution for 11 years until Hua Kuo-feng, chairman of the Chinese Communist arty, declared it officially over last year. Chinese sources also note that there was a political wall between China and the West until the late 1960s and early 1970s. Canada was one of the first Western. coun- tries to give diplomatic recognition to China in the early 1970s. WANTS CLOSE RELATIONS Linked to _ these changes is China's evident desire to culti- vate closer relations wjth many Western nations, Canada included. One Chinese informant said China is anxious that the West understand his country better. But politics is not the only reason for the change. Hard foreign currency is an important factor, Chinese sources ¥. , China is embarking on a major program of in- dustrial growth in the next 20 years and it has - little foreign cash with which to buy machines and technical knowledge. Not many Canadians have been travelling to China. There are no accurate statistics, but estimates by federal government and travel agency officials range between a few hundred and 1,000 last year. However, the May trip is one of the Canadian agency's first ventures in apackage tour to China— the ‘tour group will be visiting Peking Shanghai, Hangchow an Canton in an 18-day trip. wane NEW BIG TUB Big Capacity _ Big Savings 4 Less than any previous | Blg Tub Maytag Maytag Dap press Zine Glant A308 Torrifie Feutures! Delicate, Permanent fabric cycles . 4 Water level settings .3 Water | temperature settings . cabinet with tough. acrylic enamel tintsh . enamel -Power Fin Agitator . 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