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In 1922, the spread of illegal drugs from Vancouver into rural BC is a concern

Red Cross warns that ‘all citizens should be on the alert against the insidious traffic in drugs’

125 YEARS AGO: MARCH 6, 1897

New Telephone Lines: The C.P.R. will shortly put in about fifty miles of telephone lines. About 25 miles will be put in south of North Bend and the balance from Ashcroft each way. A new telegraph operator will also very likely be stationed at Spatsum in the near future.

Cariboo Telephone: The telephone question is under consideration by the Burrard Inlet Telephone Company. What will be done this season will be decided within a few days. The matter is of much importance to Cariboo and its people. It is to be hoped that it will be pushed through.

Railway Petition: A petition has been presented to the provincial legislature by F.E. Ward, of Spokane, asking for a charter to construct a railway from a point at or near Ashcroft or Kamloops to Barkerville, Cariboo.

To Whom It May Concern: Found at Clear Water Lake about Nov. 12, 1896, the remains of an unknown trapper of the following description: black cloth cap, no bill, turn down style, black sack coat with a medium sized check and trimmed with black braid, vest to match coat, shirt blue flannel. Underclothes badly decayed and colour unknown, black pants with raised stripe of same colour, also blue overalls. Footwear consisted of two pair of white wool socks and a pair of dark coloured leggings with red stripes. Probably wore moccasins but had none on when found. He carried a new model Marlin rifle. He had no cartridges except a 70.760 which had been fired. The gun laid several feet from him with an empty shell in it. In one of the pockets were a knife, belt pin, several nails and some matches. None of the skull bones were found and only the left arm, which was broken just above the wrist.

100 YEARS AGO: MARCH 3, 1922

Foreign Population: The Kamloops Telegram in a recent issue refers to Ashcroft as the “town with the dense foreign population.” This is “rubbing it in,” so to speak. Of course there are no more Chinese in Ashcroft than in any other towns in B.C. The difference is that the Ashcroft Chinese are being advertised abroad in connection with raising the best potato the world has ever produced.

Railway Modernisation: The C.N.R. has just completed the erection of an up-to-date auto unloading platform [in Ashcroft]. Suitable for loading or unloading from either side or end doors. This will put the C.N.R. in a position to handle autos in quick order, and also tractors and other heavy machinery.

Invading Small Towns: Drug Peddlers Would Carry Nefarious Trade To Rural Districts: Because of the publicity which is being given to the campaign against the sale and use of narcotic drugs in Vancouver, some of the drug peddlers are taking to cover in the small towns and rural parts of the province where they are continuing their nefarious trade. Because of this province-wide moral and health problem, the Provincial Division of the Canadian Red Cross is sending this warning to be published in every newspaper in the province in order that not only the officials but all citizens, especially teachers and parents, should be on the alert against the insidious traffic in drugs. Dance halls need specially watching. Watch the stranger in town. Avoid “snow” parties where snuff (cocaine) is given. Close chaperonage of girls is the greatest safeguard, and parents should insist on this. The habit begins by the snuffing of cocaine, which causes a feeling of exhilaration. After three or four doses the user cannot sleep and must then resort to Morphine.

Drug Traffic: The recent agitation commenced in Vancouver against the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs now threatens to develop into a Dominion-wide movement. Steps are on foot to secure the co-operation of the federal authorities to achieve this end. Towns like Vernon and Penticton have taken active steps to cope with the situation at those places. Other of smaller interior communities must do likewise.

75 YEARS AGO: MARCH 6, 1947

Same Stones On Cariboo Road 35 Years Ago: Northern B.C. road conditions came in for discussion in the legislature Friday. John McInnis (CCF, Fort George) said the same old stones that were sticking out of the Cariboo road 35 years ago are still there.

Work Of Mercy Never Ends: Invalids will be able to leave home, temporary crippled will be able to walk, sick people will have bedroom comforts, when the British Columbia Branches of the Canadian Red Cross Society establish their loan cupboards. This new peacetime project of the Red Cross in the Province is a development of the Home Nursing, and is designed to provide necessary invalid and sickroom equipment on loan to those who need it. The first loan cupboard, a model for those to be established throughout the Province, was displayed at the recent Red Cross Conference in Vancouver in order that delegates from outside branches might see the form of this project. Equipped with Gatch bed, wheel chair, crutches, bed table, cradle, backrest, and all sorts of sick-room supplies, it will solve emergency needs in many homes. Supplies will be purchased by the Branch and will be kept in a convenient location in charge of a Branch member. [The Red Cross Loan Cupboard currently operates at the Ashcroft Hospital on an on-call basis; call (250) 453-2244, and go to https://bit.ly/3sVQv8H to find out what equipment is available.]

Statistics For The Year 1946: The year 1946 ended with a continuation of the upswing in births and marriages [all figures for B.C. only]. There were 1,999 births registered in December giving a birth rate of 24.55 per 1,000 population in contrast with 1,318 births registered in December 1945, a rate of 17.13 per 1,000 population. During the year 1946, 21,476 births were registered in contrast with 17,306 in the previous year, an increase of approximately 20 per cent. The birth rate in 1946 was 22.88 per 1,000 population in comparison with 19.39 in 1945. This is the highest birth rate ever recorded.

50 YEARS AGO: MARCH 3, 1972

Barb Shaw Thanks Donors: On Monday night many people came to donate blood for Barb Shaw’s open heart surgery. Seventy-one pints were donated and it’s nice to know a community can stick together in time of need for a fellow neighbour.

Road Work In Local Districts: Cache Creek Survey: Highways Location Branch survey crews are working on Highway 1 and 97 in Cache Creek preparing a design for a curb, gutter, and storm sewer system. This would also allow for four lanes through Cache Creek. There is no estimate when this work would proceed.

Possibility Of Bicycle Safety Program: A meeting will be held between Ashcroft Firemen and R.C.M.P. on March 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Ashcroft Fire Hall, to discuss possibilities of setting up a bicycle safety program and competition for school children.



editorial@accjournal.ca

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