125 YEARS AGO: JUNE 12, 1897
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee: The Queen’s diamond jubilee will be celebrated at Ashcroft on Tuesday, June 22nd under the auspices of the Ashcroft Athletic Association. About $200 has been subscribed by the citizens, and athletic sports and horse racing will be indulged in. A tug-of-war, married vs. single men, will take place during the afternoon, after which a football match of local men will take place. In the evening a dance will take place in the town hall, which will conclude the festivities of the celebration of Her Majesty’s Jubilee.
Street Cleaning: The street needs clearing and if everyone will get in and clean off in front of their business houses for the celebration which takes place on the 22nd, the Ashcroft Athletic Association will ever pray. It would not be much trouble and could be done in a short time. Everyone get in and have the street cleaned in front of their business houses.
Spences Bridge: The traveling public at Spences Bridge is still put to considerable trouble on account of having no ferry. It is reported that another scow will be built to replace the old one, which broke away a few weeks ago and is now lying about seven miles below Spences Bridge.
Despondent Cat: A young man who was the happy possessor of a cat is now mourning its loss, it having committed suicide Thursday by walking over to the railroad track and permitting itself to be run over by a freight train. Some say the cat was despondent on account of the drinking fountain scheme for man and beast not materializing.
New Use For Sunflowers: If America continues to discover new vegetable oils the olive oil of Italy will lose one of its greatest markets. Some years ago the oil of the humble American peanut was substituted with fair results. Now the chemist of the Agricultural department at Washington announces that the seed of the common sunflower is a perfect substitute for olive oil and will be the salad oil of the future. The sunflower yields enormous crops of seed and will thrive on any soil good enough for corn; it is already largely raised to feed to poultry and pigs; it needs no cultivating, for it keeps down any weed that tries to grow near it, so the prospect of a new American industry being speedily developed is quite promising.
100 YEARS AGO: JUNE 9, 1922
Tired Of Life, He Jumped Into Fraser; Children Watched Ted Lingstrom Leap From Bank To His Death: Quesnel: Children playing on the river bank in front of the Cariboo Hotel yesterday afternoon, saw a man walk down the little trail to the water’s edge, jump into the stream, swim with the current some distance, and then disappear. The man’s head appeared again one hundred feet downstream, and he began to shout. The children, thinking he was calling for help, ran to the Prince George boat landing to secure assistance from the waiting taxi drivers, but the swimmer was not seen again. Investigation showed that the man was Ted Lingstrom, who had been laid up in the Globe Rooms here for eleven months. He was apparently tired of life as he had paid his board bill almost up to date and left $3 in change and a $125 watch and chain in his room to cover the balance.
Abandon Line As Far As Clinton; Planned To Convert Grade Into First-Class Motor Road: It is said that the report of Mr. J.G. Sullivan, former chief engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway, on the engineering problems of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, recommends the abandonment of the government railway line from Squamish to Clinton. If this section of the Sullivan report is acted upon, the P.G.E. will probably be connected up with the Canadian National Railway at Ashcroft. The railway would then be continued from its present end of steel through to Prince George with the least possible delay. The abandoned portion of the railway grade would be turned into a first-class motor road and would be linked with North Vancouver by a new highway, running north to Squamish through Capilano Canyon. If a road is to be built via the canyon and Squamish to Clinton, the most direct route to Kamloops and other points in the interior will be opened up, advocates of this scheme declare. It would be a scenic highway unequalled in America. Just as the Cariboo road now has a daily stream of motor vehicles for the transport of freight and passengers, the new road would be able to give a like service to those living along the present P.G.E. grade. As an attraction to tourists the new road would be in a class by itself, many people believe. Not only would it be a new and vital link in any scheme of a trans-Canada highway, but it would open the Coast districts to motor tourists from the prairies, the Okanagan, and all the Upper Country. With this road in existence it would no longer be necessary for tourists from Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, bound for Vancouver and Island points, to make a long detour into the United States or to ship their cars part way by rail. [In 1922, motor travel through the Fraser Canyon was restricted by the lack of a bridge across the Fraser near Spuzzum following the washout of the first Alexandra Bridge during high water in 1894. A replacement bridge that allowed motor travel between the Coast and the Interior through the Fraser Canyon was not built until 1926.]
75 YEARS AGO: JUNE 12, 1947
Shelter For Old Millstones: The Ashcroft Historical Society has contracted with Mr. J. Nordstrom for the building of a shelter shed over the old Harper mill stones that are on display across the bridge at a cost of $70, and the work has already begun. Donations from all historical-minded residents who are interested in the preservation of those past relics, as they donated to the old freight wagon shed a number of years ago, [are appreciated]. Donations may be handed in to the Journal office or given to R.D. Cumming.
Spences Bridge: Lytton baseball team played a return game here last Sunday and really took our boys to the cleaners, score being 25-5, our team being handicapped by the absence of some of the regulars, however we hope it won’t happen again. During the game a helicopter flew overhead which caused a bit of excitement.
Butter Off Ration List: A further list of articles and services to be removed from price ceilings and rationing controls, including butter and dairy products, was announced in the House of Commons. The most important foodstuffs released from price controls are dairy products of all kinds, including butter, cheese, evaporated milk, and ice cream. Butter is being removed from the ration list, and rationing was also dropped on jams, jellies, and marmalades. Honey is being removed from price control and rationing.
50 YEARS AGO: JUNE 8, 1972
Ashcroft-C.C. Arena News: The Ashcroft Cache Creek Arena is coming along by leaps and bounds, but we have just been shocked by the high cost of plumbing fixtures. So we have decided to ask you to check the garage, basement, and any other hiding places you might have for shower stalls, hand basins, and toilets. All donations will be gratefully appreciated.
First Baby In Hospital: Congratulations go out to Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Burns, Ashcroft for the first baby born in the new Ashcroft and District General Hospital, on June 7, a boy, 9 pounds.
Public Notice: On the local flooding picture, the Ashcroft district, although declaring emergency measures, has not experienced any disaster. Bonaparte River back water at the joining of the Thompson River has resulted in some basement flooding of Cozy’s Camp at the Circle 7. Sandbagging has taken place at several low lying residences. The Department of Highways assisted in hauling loads of heavy rock at the Ashcroft water pumping station and the Juniper Beach Campsite.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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