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VOLUME 71 NO. 155

PRESEN: WOT RU

by Donna Forsber; The Thornhill Volun- teer Firefighters

‘responded ‘ta a fire call

located on Paquette Read Sunday night around 9:20

.m. This reporter was ‘fortunate’ enough to be along for the ride in the fire truck. No matter how much imagination. is

<.° Princess-Pat

" VANCOUVER — CP

-Rail’s Alaska cruise liner

Princess - Patricia will rate its final season jong the Inside Passage in 1978, it was announced

today. «

A full schedule of 18 cruises will be operated, with the first sailing from Vancouver on May 15.

, Departures are every eight days, with the final - will

cruise leaving on Sept. 28. Calls are -made at

Ketchikan, Wrangell, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau, and Tracy Arm

in Alaska and prince

Fireman at A-frame house fire on Pa night. No one was home at the ime o:

a

quette Road Thornhill, Sunday the fire, and the names of the

20¢

occupants were unavailable at press time.

Fire on Paquette

applied to this sort of situation, there is nothing like reelity!! My adren

‘glands worked overtime

as we raced along slick streets, dodge a stranded Volkswagon and arrived, lights flashing, siren screaming, at the blaze. Although little time had elapsed between

Rupert and Alert Bay, Be :

In announcing planned withdrawal of the ship at the end of next season, B.C. Margetts, general manager, coastal marine operations for CP Rail, said earnings, have steadily declined in recent years, and forecast cost escalations i make future operation -uneconomic.

The decision to operate in 1978 was made in recognition of a long- standing association wit many tour ceprators and

POSTAL STRIKE

TORONTO (CP) -~ A postal strike azu Toronto mail-sorting plant has reduced the flow of mail in the city to a trickle.

Post office spokesm n Ed Roworth said Sunday

the key to the stoppage is -

the truck drivers.

There is no mail coming in or going out because they. will not cross picket lines, Roworth said, adding that mail should be backing up all across Canada.

“T’'m prepared to go to

ilover this one," Eileen

udiow, acting president

of the Toronte local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), said after Toronto’s. CUPW workers voted on the weekend ‘to expand their strike to all. postal stations in Metropolitan Toronto.

Tke strike could con- tinue through the Christmas rush, she said.

Postal workers at one of the sorting plants went on strike Thursday to protest the suspension of.

nine workers, That night, the Letter Carriers Union of

Canada, which includes

the truck drivers, decided |

not to cross picket lines set up by the inside workers. Postal authorities and CUPW representatives negotiated _un- successfully Sunday for nine hours: and resume talks later today. The union has said it will remain on strike until

the strike has from the Vancouver area.

the nine workers are reinstated. . Meanwhile, Mr. Justice J. D. Cromarty of the Ontario Supreme Court, postponed until today a decision on whether to rant an injunction orcing the postal workers back to~ work, The delay was made after lawyers on both sides asked for more time for further negotiations.

EXPAND STRIKE

At Saturday’s CUPW meeting, attended by about 20 per cent of:the union membership, the workers, voted 384 to 334 in favor of expanding the strike in Toronto. ‘In Halifax, Wayne Mundell, spokesman for CUPW in the Atlantic region, said a full-scale strike is likely if the Toronto disputé is not settled. i ost ‘office had ing disciplinary action against: union executive members and stewards and, dt some point, it has to stop, he said,

A union spokesman in Toronto said-support for s0 come

“Everyone calls us strike happy,’' said Les Williams, a CUPW worker on the picket line Sunday.

“We honestly “hate doing this,” he said. “But if we don’t we suffer, our families suffer. It’s a terrible situation to be in. Believe me,”

aa elgg ev

ricia

the

‘with a segment o

the emergency call and the firemen’s arrival, it must be stressed that all

rules of safety under such -

conditions were

judiciously observed, ie., the sound timing of the siren altered” when passing through in- tersections to ensure the public’s attention and

travel agents who have already begun booking and se space for the coming season 8 “and in addition, to ac- commodate the many former passengers who have expressed the desire to be a part of the Prin- cess Patricia's final season,” he said. Despite intense com- petition on the Alaska run, the 320-passenger Princess Patricia has continued to he ular e ‘Canadian and American travelling public seeking aninformal cruising style and a smaller ship, Although the expected heavy passenger response in 1978 is forecast to improve season results, longer term prospects for the ship are less favorable, said Mr. Margetts, “An effect of the in- tense competition has

All Pitch In

Stealing C

observance and speed was used with discretion. Upon our arrival,: the fire truck was backed into the driveway and the firefighters were ready to perform their duties. Operating as a well co- ordinated unit, they had the fire under control within minutes. "

been to make it in- creasingly difficult to fully recover cost in- creases without raising fares. beyond what frayellers will pay,’’ he said.

Extensive capital improvements to the Princess Patricia would be required-to enable the ship to conintue in service beyond the end of. 1979, after which all vessels entering U.S. waters will require self-contained waste disposal systems.

The company has now determined that the ship's economic prospects make the required major modifications prohibitive.

Since the retirement of Canadian ‘National’s Prince George in ‘early 1875, the Prineess Patricia has been the only Canadian-flag vessel in West Coast cruise

TUESDAY. DECEMBER 33, 1977

Speaking later to the fire chief, Jim Piper, I was informed that the fire and started in the kitchen area and caused 50 per cent damage to the downstairs. The reason for the blaze is sitll under investigation.

T6 Be Pulléd Out

service.

The 6,000-ton CP Rail liner was built at Govan, Scotland in- 1949. Major refitting was carried. out to prepare the ship for Alaska cruise gervice in 1963 when it replaced the well-known Princess Louise. . .

Approximately 90 of- ficers and crew are in- volved in the operation of the Princess Patricia, 45 of whom are permanent employees. The remainder are seasonal staff hired on a year-to- year basis. |

At the conclusion of the season in the fall of 1978, most of the permanent employees will be able to either exercise their seniority . in other operations of CP Rail’s coastal service or take advantage of job-security provisions in their union agreements.

hristmas Back |

From “Grinch”

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Corporations, fruckers and even a wandering wino are itching in to steal

ristmas back from a “Grinch” who looted a $15,000 cache of toys intended for ° poor children,

By late Sunday, the fire department reported it had receive about $40,000 worth of donations and toys to replace those stolen or wrecked last Wednesday.

Firemen had been using a vacant fire station to store its gifts, which they had planned to give to 70,000 needy children this Christmas. Bul someone broke in and loaded a pickup truck with more than $10,000 worth of toys.

Police arrived early Thursday to find a dozen teen-agers playing among another $5,000 worth of wrecked toys. The youths said the thief told them to help

themselves. The cubprit, reminiscent of the villain

in the Grinch Who Stole .

Christmas, a children’s story by Dr. Seuss, remains at large. -

But his crime inspired an overflowing of seasonal charity that Lieut. Dan McDermott, head of the fire depart- ment's 25th annual to’ drive, called ‘utterly fantastic,"

WING HELPS OUT

“T want to write you a cheque before I'm too drunk to write my name,” an unnamed wino

told firemen. He signed and donated a $50 traveller’s cheque,

Truck driver Terry LeBlanc— known on the highways ‘as Terrible Terry—hit the CB radio waves and told his buddies he needed their help to fill a truck with toys. He got it.

“I think it’s a dirty shame that’ someone would go out and rip off little kids,” LeBlanc said.

“And people with quarters and 50 cents have been coming in all day," McDermott sald.

Postal Holidays

Postal facilities will be closed throughout British Columbia on Christmas Day, December 26, December 27, New Year's Day and January 2

There will be no mall deliveries on these

holidays, however

Hmited service will apply to Special Delivery items on December 26,

December 27 and January 2, Street letter box

collections will only be

made on December 27,

Bob MeClelland

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coup. 77/78

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VICTGHIA, “ites V3a7-Li4

#61

Health Minister Here on Dec. 21

Health Minister Bob McClelland will be arriving in Terrace

y, December 2ist. to meet with rer- pesentatives of the ad- ministration and staff of the Skeenaview Lodge, MLA Cyril Shelford’s “Purpose of the visit 1s

2 0 visit is said to be to enable the minister to have a first hand look at the highly controversial situation existing there.

Last week employees of.

theTerrace

Psychogeriatric ir stitution picketted it and barred staff from en- tering or leaving. They were protesting the transfer of a number of longtime residents to Maple Ridge Hospital, in southern B.C., scheduled to take place later that

utation Cyrit Shelford’s office, and a

phone call by Shelford to the Hon. Bob McClelland,

Minister of Health, the .

transfer was § nded — at least until after Christmas.

Shelford stated he is anxious to have Me- Clelland meet representatives of the staff as well as the ad- minstration, since there appears to be a diversity of opinion and a com- munications gap,

The Health Minister will be departing Terrace on the Wednesday evening flight.

Bella Bella Is Cold Cold

BELLA BELLA, B.C. (CP) — The cold that

lagued the 1,100 inhabitants of this isolated midcoast

community gave way to rain during the weekend as a crew hired by British Columbia Hydro worked to restore electric power that had been off since last Tuesday.

Cecil Reid, chief councillor for the native Indian band that com-

rises most of Bella.

ella’s residents, said that band members were confronted Sunday with a new problem: the frozen pipes that burst were thawing and. flooding some basements, and the winter supply of fish and beef stored in freezers was in danger of thawing.

Hydro spokesman Mickey Allum, the power districts manager in Terrace, was optimistic that the crew, braving choppy waters, coul have one of three cables in place by today, al- though they could not

restore full power until Tuesday. — : Bella Bella, 500

kilometres northwest of Vancouver, lost its

Mr. Jim Ellis, District Justice Council co- ordinator will be ad- dressing a meeting of the Justice Council, tonight at the Terrace Hotel in the Skeena Room at 8

p.m. -

‘Featured will be a film and —_ discussion on “operation Coun- terattack’' based on the use of the 12 “‘Batmobile”’ mobile breathalizer vans.

Meeting Tonight

electric power supply when a tug boat's tow chain apparently cut the underwater cables laid across the mile-wide channel between the town of Campbell Island and 2 substation on Denny Island.

Reid said band members . are _ bitter because B.C. Hydro took too long to respond to the call for help, and because the accident bore out the band’s fears expressed in the late 1960s when the substation was built. SWITCH LOCATIONS

“Hydro should have put the generator on Cam bell Island, fed the cable to Denny and put an emergency generator there,’’ Reid said.

Denny Island is home to fewer than 100 persons.

“People are more bitter about that (the site of the generator) than they are about the slow- ness of Hydro to reapond,”” Reid said

unday.

Allum said Hydro hired acontract crew of about a dozen men to lay three temporary cables which arrived Friday aboard the B.C. ferry Queen of

The program will be led by ihe aided by. filn and pamphlets,

RCMP to date claim to have found the Batmobile an effective tool in the the program to reduce the amount of drunk driving in the province. !

A Batmobile | is currently assigned for use in Terrace district.

~Taxi Owners Not Worried

VANCOUVER (CP) — Taxi owners in Van- couver aren’t concerned about. insurance in- creases of between 15 and 25 per cent announced Friday by the Insurance Corp. af

British Columbia, Jimmy Dawson, president of the Vancouver Taxi Owners’ Association, said Sunday. “I don’t believe those figures," Dawson said, “They don’t know what they're t Iking about.

Annual! Show

Terrace Co-op and Tilicum Twin Theatres will be holding their annual Free Christmas show for children up to 12 years old.

A great attraction, last year, the attendance is expected to be even greater this year.

The show will be at 1:30 p.m, Thursday, Dec. 22nd. and will be a Walt Disney Cartoon Special.

Admission will an article of food, clothin etc, which will be donate to the Salvation Army for distribution to the needy.

The Terrace Co-ap's participation the the Free

ildren's Show includes paying a major share o the ‘theatre rental and donating bags of Christmas candies to all the children at the theatre.

He said he suspected #-prees iden w. speaking about taxi it

abou in- surance rates for the whole province when he made the announcement

He said Vancouver taxi owners paid $960,000 in premiums last year and received $400,000 in settlements.

As in past years,

Vancouver taxi owners will negotiate premiums with ICBC based on past records—which is to the owners’ advantage, he said. “If we are wid we expect to pay. We don’ want the rest of the ‘Public subsidizing us. And they won't.”

There are about 450 eabs in Vancouver and 1,200 to 1,400 in B.C, Dawson said,

ICBC spokesman Bev Penhall said that neither he nor Gillen could reply to Dawson’s comments until they records today.

examine

Prince Rupert. Regular Hydro = crews ~=—s were already repairing a similar cable problem at

‘Tofino on the west coas

of Vancouver Island. :-

The crew is weightin: the cable every hun feet for about 5,000 feet across the channel which Allum said is a_time- consuming job. Hydro will repair the original cable later.

The coast guard cutter Ready brought 75 kerosene heaters Saturday along with five drums of fuel, but cam stoves didn't arrive, Rei said, and some residents tried to cook meals on the heaters.

The band is seeking a shipment of plumbing pipes from Ocean Falls,

.C, to replace those that burst in the cold.

Meanwhile, telephone contact with the isolated community was lost Sunday night. A B.C. Telephone Co. official in

Vancouver suspected a -failure of a microwave:

radio relay system and

said the company hoped . toland a repair crew here

today.

For Christmas

Lieut. Jack Strickland of the Terrace Corps of the Salvation arrived recently from Surrey, B.C. He replaces

Capt. and Mrs. Bil Young who left Terrace for anyon City in Oc-

r. Lieut. Strickland is. busily engaged in pre- Christmas activities that - Include caring for the... Christmas Cheer kettles - to finance local Corps: « welfare throughout t

year. .

Donations from the Terrace Co-op — Tillicum Twin ‘Theatre Free Christmas Children’s show also are distributed to the needy by the Salvation Armh.

This year's demands Strickland says, coupled with inflation costs make the Corps work all the more demanding. Per- sons wishing io donate personally to the

vation army can reach Lieut. Strickland at 635-

BULLETIN

The Terrace School ‘Board Meeting scheduled for Wednesday,

called off, a Schoo] Board hone call revealed onday night. No reason for the postponement waa iven. However, the ‘errace HERALD has been informed the News media will be kept in- formed. of further developments. a