125 YEARS AGO: APRIL 10, 1897
Local News: It is reported at Ashcroft that a lead miner from Montana or some other country, showed some quartz loaded with gold to a few intimate friends in Kamloops, on the 31st day of March, and confided to each as a state secret that he got it near Thompson Siding, but they must not tell. They didn’t; but that night a party of six pilgrims passed through Ashcroft and on to Thompson Siding, where they sought for the find and found it not. When they were on their way home, it struck them that it was April 1st.
Lillooet: The $5,000 voted by parliament in addition to the $3,000 that was provided for in the estimates last year, will make a good showing towards a road from Lytton to Lillooet. It will doubtless be some years before the road can be completed entirely, so as to be valuable for freighting. Lillooet should (and of course will) have a road to the nearest railway point, and Lytton is about 20 miles nearer than Ashcroft. Meantime, with a stage line running [to Lillooet] through from Ashcroft in ten hours, as will be the case within a month, it will be an easy day’s ride via Ashcroft.
Highland Valley: At Highland Valley work is showing very rich copper gold rock, some to the value of $300 to the ton being found. Many claims are already staked off in that promising section and there will be an influx of prospectors in a very short time.
Lytton: There has been a great change made in the town lately. Four new buildings have been erected, which are now completed. This shows that the town is going ahead. The remains of the Globe hotel which was unluckily burnt last fall have all been removed, and Mr. Hautier has put up a new fence around the place, and is fixing up a garden.
Ashcroft Athletic Association: The Ashcroft football team have a chip on their shoulder and are waiting for Clinton, Lillooet, Kamloops or some other town to knock it off. All are requested to attend the daily practices as often as possible. It would greatly aid the progress of sport, were the stores in Ashcroft to close an hour or so earlier two evenings in the week, or have one afternoon off instead. As it is now, play lasts for about twenty minutes owing to the darkness setting in early. [Switching the clocks ahead an hour in spring, to gain more daylight in the evening, did not start nationwide in Canada until 1916.]
100 YEARS AGO: APRIL 7, 1922
Ashcroft Fire: The home of F.V. Cornwall was the scene of a fire a few days ago, the damage of which is estimated to reach several hundred dollars. Mr. Cornwall chanced to be near at hand at the time and the fire was soon under control, The children were all in the house at the time, some of them ill in bed.
Clinton Clippings: A.F. Matthews, inspector of schools for this district, was in Clinton early this week. We understand he will recommend to the department that an addition be built to the school and a second teacher supplied. The attendance now is about 45 — too many for one teacher.
Women Medical Students: One of the most glaring survivals of past masculine impositions, is the fact that when a woman takes ill, no matter what the ailment may be, she must submit to treatment by a male practitioner. Woman, however, is gradually winning her way against great odds into the ranks of the surgical and medical profession, although the obstacles that are placed in her path are not encountered by her brothers entering the same field.
75 YEARS AGO: APRIL 10, 1947
Baseball Notes: We have the player material to produce the kind of ball the fans like to come and see. How about it you die-hards? Give us a boost. We need it. This is one way of keeping our younger men active for health sake, not to mention the straight and narrow path that is easy to fall off.
Clean-Up Week For Ashcroft, April 13-19: Commencing next Monday the Board of Trade will sponsor a spring clean-up and paint-up campaign for the town which looks very untidy since the snow has gone off and left the accumulation of winter uncovered. Clean-up week is April 13 to April 19 and residents are asked to rake the ground around the outside of their places and put the refuse in a pile, and the public works department truck will call and pick it up. While you are at it give the inside of the yard some attention also, but dispose as best you can the accumulation there. The truck will only pick up street refuse. Spring is a good time for painting up and all should plan to do this job also. With tourist season approaching we will have many visitors and it would be pretty nice to have them go away saying “What a clean looking town Ashcroft is.”
Ashcroft Journal Museum: A nucleus of what one day may be an outstanding exhibition of historical interior articles including the Cariboo country, and beginning with a collection of personal possessions, the museum has been augmented from time to time by donations from historical-minded parties and is growing rapidly in importance. Above the Journal printing office may be seen … a good collection of historic records and curios of the district. Also in the museum are the complete files of the Ashcroft Journal from May 1895 to the present time. [The items in the Journal Museum did indeed form the nucleus of the present-day Ashcroft Museum. The complete files of the Journal from 1895 to 2022 are at the Journal office, below the former museum and beside the current one.]
50 YEARS AGO: APRIL 6, 1972
Ashcroft-Cache Creek Arena Progress Report: The Arena Society is happy to announce that they have received this week from the Department of Manpower and Immigration, Vancouver, a remittance of $31,356. This payment is the first instalment of an authorized amount of $59,468 by the Federal Government for LABOUR COSTS ONLY for the completion of our arena in Ashcroft. This completion work has been taking place during the past month. Among the work achieved has been the completion of electrical fixtures and the pouring of concrete for the floors of dressing rooms, bathrooms, and furnace room. It should be clearly understood that the amounts received and authorized are for labour costs. As a result of this endeavour many local unemployed people have benefited.
Flying A Kite: KIDS — Remember to fly your kites AWAY from Hydro lines. It seems even wet string can conduct.
Clinton News: The Museum was open during the Easter weekend and had quite a lot of callers. Curator Mrs. Avis Choate wishes to thank Jerry Hook, Harvey Smith, and Bruce Gainor for their assistance on Thursday. It was very much appreciated. The museum will be open every day except Thursdays.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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