ABELLED A BI-PLANE in Omineca Herald 1921 news stories, the machine in the ficture above appears to have only one wing, which raises the question: did the late Seepublisher, “Chuck” Sawle, get his aircraft identification mixed? (Photo by Jack Robinson, Terrace, B.C.) | Mexico To Siberia In 192] —by Catherine M. Fraser From out of the past history of the Skeena River comes interesting news story. The crippled plane in the photo above is being trans- Meported across the Skeena River to Hazelton, following a ishap in the early 1920s. The plane, on a flight from Mex- maco to Siberia in August 1921, was mecheduled to make a stop at Haz- meelton, B.C, ™ While attempting a landing at Mihe Skeena River town the ma- chine struck a fence in a field on mthe wrong side of the river. Later the plane had to be taken across athe river to Hazelton for repairs. It transpires that one of the mudistrict’s old-timer Jack Robin- son, now of Terrace, but for over m40 years a resident of Hazelton, Bhad been on hand at the time, He had taken this photo of the Maplane and the 75-year-old dug-out Wiwar canoe, then being used as a Se ferry. Mr. Robinson, appreciating Ter- Sarace bank manager Don Steele's Bkeen interest in the history of m skeena district, passed on the Za Photo to him, Mm In the course of a chat with Mr, maSteele about the photo, we delv- med into our old newspapers and acame up with the following ex- mcerpts from the 1921 files of the a Omineca Herald.” AUGUST 12, 1921: “A BI-PLANE IS COMING — A ‘bi-plane has secured permission from the Canadian Air Board to mfly over our pait of Canada in a milight from Las Vegas, Nev, to maSiberia. The machine will cross the boundary at Shelby, Montana, mand follow the same course and muse the same stopping places map- fped out by the New York-to-Nome maplanes last year.” BAUGUST 19, 1921: oe THE POLAR BEAR BI-PLANE SARRIVED AT EDMONTON — The Ma Mexico to Siberia” bi-plane arriv- med in Edmonton Tuesday morning meat 11:30 quite unexpectedly, The mmachine, known as “The Polar mGear,” is piloted by C. 0. Prest. “The Polar Bear is a big yellow machine carrying a 75 h.p, Curtiss meengine and carries enough fuel mero travel 450 miles, She was espe- Sially built for this trip, and ap- parently she is a success as the Maxockies have been crossed three meimes, and during three weeks of @ravel, the only trouble encounter- Z:d was one foul spark plug. im “The new machine gave an exhi- mepition of real flying stuff in Ed: @monton, Thousands of people mavatched the performance which @ncluded a lot of new stunts. “The Polar Bear should he long here in the next day or so. ‘rom here the machine will go to Telegraph Creek, Dawson and across the border to Nome. From Nome, the flyers will cross the straits into Russian territory. “Enroute, the travellers are taking aerial photographs of points of interest along the 4,688-mile trip.” AUGUST. 26, 1921; “POLAR BEAR STUCK ON FENCE IN WRONG FIELD — The Polar Bear arrived here on sched- ule but landed in a fence on the opposite side of the river from Hazelton. “The pilot read his telegram of instructions as “two miles up the Skeena,” and as he could not see anyone or the usual smudge, he figured he was ahead of time and so landed in the best spot he saw. “The mistake was on the part of Mr. Bach, who did not light his smudges on time. “The machine was only slightly damaged and can be repaired here. “A number of Indians, watching from a hill, brought in the first re- port of the accident. A party of men immediately got & canoe and went across the river lo render assistance.” And so the annals of the “Omi- neca Herald" reveal part of the story of that historic international flight from “Mexico to Siberia,” over four decades ago. PS. In a talk with 82 year old Jack Robinson this morning he recalls the fact that the plane could not be repaired at Hazelton. It was shipped to Prince Rupert, unfortunately not crated. On being unloaded at the coast city a strong easterly whipped it oiit into the harbor, Mr. Robinson is dubious as to whether the Polar Bear ever did reach Siberia, SECOND SECTION TERRACE “OMINECA” HERALD... TERRACE, B.C. Wednesday, February 9, 1966 Page Nine Local NDP Concerned Over Angus Report At a meeting of the Skeena NDP Provincial Constituency Association held here fast Sunday, concern was expressed at the possibility of a complete disappearance of Skeena riding as recommended by a Royal Commission headed by Chief Justice Angus and now before the Provincial Legislature. Members of the association agreed that, in view of the large Beographical area and the com- plexity of the industrial make-up of the proposed riding, some con- sideration should be given to the Rupert Rink Makes The B.C. Playoffs The B, Smith rink from Prince Rupert emerged winner in the Elks Corby Cup district play-offs, and won the privilege of repre- senting District No. 8 in the forth- coming provincial curling play-offs in Prinecton, starting February 18. It was a hard fought battle with two rinks each entering from Elks lodges of Prince Rupert, Kilimal and Terrace. Curling starled here at noon Saturday, February 5 con- tinued throughout the day and ended on Sunday. The B. Smith rink from Prince Rupert was winner of the “B” bracket and the ht. Legeard rink of Terrace the “A” bracket. In a close game belween the two rinks the B. Smith rink came out victori- ous, The winner of the B.C. finals will represent Elks’ curlers at the Dominion finals in Grande Prairie, Alberta, As part of the weekend curling activities a social was held in the Eiks Hall Saturday night. It was well attended by curlers, Elks and visitors. Harley Lewis of Prince Kupert entertained during = the tloorshow, . ea a lg ag agg ag gg gga Call 843-5752 SUPERIOR BUILDING MAINTENANCE LTD. FOR A COMPLETE JANITOR SERVICE WINDOWS —_ FLOORS — WALLS CARPETS AND UPHOLSTERY RESIDENTIAL e 4740 STRAUME AVE: Mother's dishwasher. Dad's power tools, Sister's hair dryer, Exciting new leisure-makers! But are you getting the most from them? (And can you take advantage of the other great new electrical living aids your family will want in the months ahead?) Not if you have to battle outdated wiring and insufficient autlets every time you want to turn something on. To win that war, © COMMERCIAL ctf cost of MLA’s servicing a riding of that nature. It was also suggested that, in view of the great potential that exists and the possibility of a rapid industrial expansion in this area, consideration should be given to increasing representation trom ihe Northern area within the next five to ten years. Clive Lytle, provincia) NDP or- ganizer, who was present at Sun- day’s meeting, expressed new hope that the NDP would stand a good chance of increasing representa- tion from the Northern area to the Provincial Legislature after the re- distribution, President of the Skeena NDP Associalion, Larry Sloat, expres- sed anxiely at the possibilily of losing Smithers and Hazelton which would not be included in the new riding of Prince Rupert. A joint meeting of both Prince Rupert and Skeena riding associ- ations will be called soon ta dis- cuss the implications of merging the two constituencies. Don't Blow A @ FUSE... af call g ao ELLIS HUGHES iy Pe A ° No Job Too Big! | No Job Too Small !} YOUR “A' CLASS. CONTRACTOR Qualified Residential, a Commercial & High Voltage Electrical Contracting Ellis Hughes “Electric Ltd. BON. Kalum + Ph VE3-5249 you need the ultimate weapon: modern HOUSEPOWER wiring. Cost? A lot less than you may think. 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