125 YEARS AGO
The issue of April 29, 1899 is missing from the Journal archives.
100 YEARS AGO: APRIL 26, 1924
Cariboo Road For Car Traffic; First Car Of Season Makes Quesnel Few Days Ago: The first car to make the trip from Ashcroft to Quesnel reached there a few days ago and was driven by Walter Boyd of Quesnel. He drove a new car which will be used for transportation between Quesnel and Barkerville. No difficulty was experienced on the trip, although the section over the mountain between the old 82-Mile House and Bridge Creek had two feet of snow still upon the ground, which in early days was well beaten down by passing stages and freight outfits. When Boyd came through the only track upon the surface was that of a wandering cayuse. Travel during the winter months is confined entirely to the P.G.E.
For Rent: Good comfortable house to rent in Ashcroft at $10 per month. See R.D. Cumming.
Hospital Dance And Raffle; Dance On Monday Night Draws Large Crowd, No. 119 Gets Ford: The dance in aid of the Lady Minto Hospital which took place on Monday night was well attended, a number coming from outside points. A feature of the dance was the drawing for the Ford car which has been raffled to aid an addition to the hospital. There were a few tense moments during the drawing, all being eager to learn who would win with but one chance in a thousand. The winner was Mrs. J.H. Hamilton of Vancouver, mother of Mrs. Dunsmore.
Locals: Jack Berry was not at the old stand at the dance Monday evening. He says 8:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. is too much of a good thing. His past experience of tickling the ivories for the early morning dances leaves him like a wet rag for a week. It is no joke to pound out a ragtime for such a stretch and go to bed all in and back at the telegraph key at 8 a.m. the following morning. The customers get warmed up about 1 a.m. and when it’s time to go to bed they are just getting peppy. It is just as easy to start a dance at 8 p.m. and quit at 1 a.m. as come straggling in about 11 p.m. and stay up until daylight. He says he’s through that old stuff.
75 YEARS AGO: APRIL 28, 1949
Board Of Trade Meeting: Members of the Board met Hon. E.C. Carson Monday and discussed various road improvements here, especially the sharp curves at the top of the hill on Highland Valley Road and the Hat Creek Road, and the members were given to understand something would be done. An important suggestion was also raised to build a highway from Ashcroft Manor to Ashcroft and up the east bank of the Thompson to Savona, which would cut the distance eight miles. It was the impression that if this was given sufficient support the highway would be built. It was also learned that sidewalks for the town were not forthcoming.
Property Improvements: Lorne Holgate is doing extensive improvements to his property across the river [now North Ashcroft]. A new fence with entrance gate has been built, and now an electric pole line is being put to the site of his recently installed pump on the Bonaparte at the old mill, to pump irrigation water. We understand Mr. Holgate intends building a home out there also.
Greyhound Service: We understand the Greyhound Bus Lines next month will not use Ashcroft as a centre, but will go through to Cache Creek.
Children Hold Successful Dance: Through the efforts of Shirley Louie and Colleen Lamont, a successful children’s dance was held last Saturday evening in Ashcroft, attended by about 90 children. Novelty dances, stop waltzes, circle one steps were the run of the evening. Lemonade and doughnuts were served at 9 o’clock and the dance broke up at 11. The food hamper was won by Lennox Kincaid, which consisted of a large amount of canned goods, tea, coffee, chocolates, etc., which were kindly donated by Wing Wo Lung, Wing Chong Tai, Consolidated Grocers, Foo’s store, and Ting’s. Through the efforts of these young ladies the swimming pool was enriched by the amount of approximately $42.
Why A High School Education Is Essential: The need of a high school education is becoming more and more apparent in this modern age. In the early days when very few were educated, the aim of those who advocated education was that everyone should be able to read and write. Instead of education being only for the rich people’s children, it became a universal thing, but our ways have changed remarkably in the past few centuries. Then few beyond the professions needed a higher education, and the professions made up a very small proportion of the people. Today, with the swift growth of mechanization and motorization, the increasing need of doctors, dentists, researchers, nurses, teachers, etc. make it necessary that higher education is easily available for every child.
Women Score Victory: Women residing in the three prairie provinces have scored another victory in their drive for equal status with the menfolk. R.H. Henderson of Winnipeg, an official of Henderson Directories Ltd., said that when new city directories are published, housewives will be listed along with their husbands. The firm publishes directories for all major centres between Fort William, Ont. [now Thunder Bay] and Calgary.
50 YEARS AGO: APRIL 25, 1974
Cache Creek Mall: It is hoped the new shopping mall at the Oasis Hotel premises will be open early in May. The windows were to have arrived on Tuesday. Following their installation, finishing of the walls and floor should be completed quickly.
Red Cross Loan Cupboard: The Red Cross Loan Cupboard is almost ready to roll. We now have a hospital bed available and the promise of the rest of the equipment in about a week. This equipment is available to anyone needing this free of charge. [The “Loan Cupboard” is still in operation at the Ashcroft Hospital; call (250) 453-2244 for information.]
Railways Bill: The Bill regarding the removal of railways from the centre of towns and cities by the Federal Govt. could work beneficially for Ashcroft. We could have a balanced main street instead of the one-side problem we now have.
Only $1 To Hunt And Fish For Pensioners: Pensioners will get a special reduced rate of $1 for their basic hunting and fishing licences this year, the recreation and conservation department announced Thursday. The new rate is a reduction from the $5 regularly charged for fishing licences and the $7 charged for hunting licences. A department news release said many persons asked for lower fees for senior citizens.
Travel Industry: Last year, visitors spent some $600 million [about $3.9 billion today] in British Columbia, a 15 per cent increase over the previous year and an all-time record. This revenue confirms tourism as the province’s third largest industry and the top money-maker for many businessmen. The industry is also one of the biggest employers in the province. The estimated total employment in the industry, both direct and indirect, approaches 80,000 persons. [In 2022, tourism in B.C. generated $18.5 billion in revenue, and tourism businesses employed 154,366 people.]
Rail Inquiry Visits Canyon Death Site: Little evidence now remains of CP Rail’s recent derailment near Spences Bridge which took two lives. The slide, causing two locomotives and two coal cars to plunge 200 feet down onto the Trans-Canada Highway, has long been cleared away. But a hole in the side of the mountain still serves as a reminder to railwaymen passing the crash scene of their two former colleagues. Engineer Francis Butticci, 47, and brakeman John Boyd, 23, both of Kamloops, died there March 17 as their mile-long freight train snaked through the Thompson Canyon. The Canadian Transport Commission is holding a public inquiry into the accident, which occurred on a section of line CP Rail had previously considered to be slide-free. Vancouver Joint Council of Railway Unions is already on record as criticizing the lack of slide warning fences in the vicinity of the derailment. Such fences, when destroyed by a slide, trigger train signals up and down the line. New Democratic Party MP Mark Rose has also condemned the absence of slide warning equipment to protect train crews working in canyon areas. Rose says many crewmen consider the canyon area a “death trap”. Officials of CP Rail say no warning fence was installed at the scene of the recent derailment because the area “does not have a past history of instability”.