125 YEARS AGO: JUNE 26, 1897
Lillooet: The glorious summer sun is showing again upon us after a long siege of unusual weather for Lillooet. The extra humidity must have been occasioned by the influx of so many of the waterlogged, coast type of individuals. But at last we have our familiar sunny days, and cool, delicious nights.
Spences Bridge: Work on the scow at Spences Bridge is being pushed and it will be completed in about a week. This will be a great convenience to the public who travel in that vicinity.
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee: Ashcroft duly celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee last Tuesday, June 22nd, in royal style. The inhabitants of the town were awakened from their peaceful slumbers by a salute of twenty-one guns, mingled with the sound of the church bells. The weather was lovely and everything went off fine with nothing to mar the pleasures of the celebration… About nine o’clock p.m. the young people began to gather at the town hall [now the Opera House] where a dance was held by the Athletic Association. The hall had been very tastefully arranged with banners and flags, etc., and a large picture of Her Majesty Queen Victoria decorated one end of the hall. The music was very good, being furnished by Messrs. Goss, Wood, and Griffin. Light refreshments were served about twelve o’clock, and about two o’clock, after singing God Save the Queen, the party broke up.
Reading Room: To Editor, Mining Journal — Sir: A permanent — and at the same time, useful — memorial of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year, would be the establishment of a Public Library and Reading Room in the town. The place is rapidly growing in numbers and importance, and this institution would prove a great boon to the reading portion of the community. Pending the erection of a suitable building or room the Town Hall might possibly be utilized, with some structural alteration, for the purpose. Yours faithfully, A. Anstey Dorrell, St. Alban’s Vicarage, Ashcroft.
100 YEARS AGO: JUNE 23, 1922
Is Gored To Death By Bull; Peter North, Cariboo Rancher, Is Instantly Killed By Mad Animal: 150-Mile House: Peter North, a rancher living two miles from Big Lake, met death on June 20, when he was gored to death by one of his bulls. North was standing in a pasture and speaking to his wife over a fence when the bull charged him and threw him ten feet in the air, killing him instantly. The animal then jumped on him, cutting up his body.
Prize Bull Shot: A prize bull owned by P. Parke, of Cache Creek, was found shot dead near the Cache Creek bridge on Sunday morning. The animal had been shot twice, one bullet entering the shoulder and the other, which would cause almost instant death, penetrated just above the heart. An attempt was made to locate the bullets, but this proved futile as it was found they had passed right through the body. This evidence against the slayer has been lost. Suspicions as to the criminal are being told about, but up to date no evidence against any one has been obtained. The animal was buried on the spot.
A Lighthearted Look At Life: “How many people work in your office?” “Only one. He came today. The others have been with us some time.”
75 YEARS AGO: JUNE 26, 1947
Speaks At Kamloops: Rev. Norah Hughes of the United Church, Ashcroft, who is leaving shortly for a new field in the Fraser Valley, spoke at an open meeting of the Women’s Missionary Society of Kamloops United Church on Thursday afternoon of last week. She was the first woman to be ordained by the United Church in B.C. At the meeting she spoke on the need for leaders in church work, especially among the women, but she pointed out that a leader is only a voice, and cannot efficiently carry out her duties without a group behind her. Of special interest to women were her views on whether a woman should follow a profession. Although most women have enough scope in a home and children, the few who would like to take up a profession should be encouraged, especially in the ministry, geology, and medicine, she declared. She asked the women to try to spend some time of their leisure on intelligent reading, so as to be able to be represented in politics, church, or business.
Extensive Road Work On Highway: All along the highway from Cache Creek to Hope, extensive road improvements are under way. Sharp curves are being eliminated and widened, new hard surfacing is being laid. Roads receiving hard surface near Ashcroft are: From Cache Creek to near Perry Ranch, from Cache Creek to the Manor, and from the Manor two miles down the road toward Ashcroft to a point where the proposed new cut-off will be built. The narrow rock bluff and sharp turns this side of Boston Bar is now no more, this stretch has been widened and dangerous curves eliminated. Between Spuzzum and Yale extensive hard surfacing is going on. At Hope work gangs are putting in steel girders for a wide, sweeping curve onto both ends of the bridge crossing the Fraser there. The highways are being streamlined into the interior, and the public works department is looking to the future when an endless stream of traffic will be using the B.C. roads.
Local Road Improvements: The visit of Hon. E.C. Carson, Minister of Public Works, to Ashcroft last Thursday did much to clear the air in this district so far as road building and improvements are concerned. The most urgent to this town, of course, is the approach from the Manor on the main highway. That primitive piece of road has been a thorn in the flesh for many years; and, since the modernizing of the few miles behind Elephant Mountain, a new or better approach to Ashcroft is becoming more and more urgent. The Manor-Boston Flat improvement [now Highway 1] has made it mandatory on the government’s part to remove that barrier against tourist patronage. That a cut-off will be built from the bridge is in prospect for next year. Such a cut-off would shorten the Ashcroft-Manor road by more than a mile and would eliminate a number of sharp and dangerous curves. The whole of Cariboo will be pleased to learn there is a possibility of the Cariboo road being straightened out and paved from Cache Creek to Prince George in the near future. No road in the province is travelled more than that section in the interior, yet it has been permitted to remain in its primitive, freight wagon, ox and mule team condition. Old-timers, like Mr. Carson himself, would regret to have the old road brought up to date, because that would take away all its traditional interest of pioneering days; but roads today are built with a view to the future not the past, and pioneer sentiment is naturally being ignored and forgotten.
50 YEARS AGO: JUNE 22, 1972
Stampede Queen And Princess Named: The highlight of the Stampede Fashion Show on June 17 was the selection of a new Queen and Princess. This was a very difficult job for the judges since the girls had all worked so hard through the contest and the marks were so close. Sheila Booth, Penny Cumming, Cheryl Oliver, Roberta Morgan, and Nelda Stocking all looked beautiful in their gowns as they awaited the decision and we wish all could have won. Congratulations to all the contestants on a job well done. Special congratulations to our new 1972 Ashcroft and District Stampede Queen Sheila Booth and Princess Roberta Morgan. Roberta was also chosen Miss Horsemanship. Trophies, banners and crowns were presented to the happy winners by retiring Queen Val Pugsley and Princess Della Perry.
Cache Creek Speeding: Department of Highways has been requested to erect a 15 mile per hour speed sign on the section of the Old Cariboo Highway between Todd Road Bridge and the Drive-In as well as oil the same section. Council held an informative discussion with Corporals E. Hill and M. Morrison, who advised that unless otherwise posted, the speed limits in all the streets in Cache Creek are 30 M.P.H. Motorists of Cache Creek are to take particular notice of the 30 M.P.H. limit on all streets. The RCMP will recommend various signs throughout the Village to control traffic, especially on Collins Road to curtail tractor-type trucks from using Village roads that are not constructed to withstand the heavy loads hauled by these units.
Foot Path Across Bonaparte Bridge: RCMP concurred that the Village of Cache Creek request the Department of Highways to provide a foot path across the narrow bridge at the south end of the Village [on Highway 1 south of the Husky gas station] as school children from the Sage and Sands Trailer Park will face a traffic hazard when the park reaches its maximum trailer capacity of 100 units in the fall.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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