125 YEARS AGO: FEB. 26, 1898
Fatal Stabbing Affray: News reached here Monday last of a serious stabbing affray which took place near Savonas. Dr. Wade and Constable Beattie, of Kamloops, hastened to the scene, where the injured man, who is an Indian named Hughie, was found in a bad plight, his intestines extruding. The doctor sewed up the wound, which operation proved useless, however, as the unfortunate man expired a short time later. His assailant was George Newlove, who is well known in this vicinity, there being few of the old timers for whom he has not worked. He came to this country in 1862 from Panama, where he had been employed on the railway. So far Newlove bears a good reputation, is a man of mild disposition and of small stature, being a little over five feet in height, and altogether does not look the sort of man either to entertain a wish or the power to injure anyone. The verdict of the coroner’s jury was not one of deliberate murder, but that deceased was stabbed by a knife at the hands of George Newlove, at Indian Gardens, near Savonas. Constable Beattie placed Newlove under arrest and he is now confined in the Kamloops jail.
Chilcoten: Quite a few of the ranchers are short of hay for their stock and there will probably be quite a few dead cattle lying on the range about the first of May. The wagon road across the Chilcoten plains is being drifted full every day and teamsters are having some hard times.
100 YEARS AGO: FEB. 24, 1923
Radio Bug: The radio bug has arrived in Clinton. F.W. Engeman has installed an up-to-date set, and has been getting great results. He has picked up broadcasts from Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, Dallas Texas, and numerous other places, including particularly all the stations along the coast as far south as Los Angeles through the scope.
Cache Creek Dance: We are asked to announce that there will be a dance in the school house, Cache Creek, on Friday, March 2nd. The usual crowd is expected, and there will be a first class orchestra. Everyone knows that Cache Creek puts up a good dance.
Ashcroft Locals: Someone in Ashcroft has a dog which barks all night. Could this animal not be taught better manners? In Kamloops, owners of dogs are taxed from three to five dollars for the luxury. Why not a tax on dogs in Ashcroft?
Quesnel Notes: Constable Gallagher, of Williams Lake, brought a prisoner into town on Tuesday’s train and left him at the local Bastille to serve one month for drunkenness. He is now sawing cordwood.
Lesson: In Ashcroft recently, to be correct since the beginning of the year, there have been six entertainments under various direction. Four of these were attended with marked success; two of them were more or less failures. Is it a mere coincidence that the four which proved successful were advertised in the Ashcroft Journal, while the two failures were not advertised? The moral is that if you want to make a success of your dance, or your cantata, or your sale of work, you must get the local paper to talk about it. The way to get such publicity is to squander something on advertising. We assure you it will yield a thousand per cent on the investment.
75 YEARS AGO: FEB. 26, 1948
CNR Train Wreck Kills Three: Three CNR trainmen from Kamloops were killed and a fourth slightly injured when a west-bound freight engine hit a rock slide near Gosset, and plunged 50 feet down the banks of the Thompson River. The dead are Archibald Legg, engineer; Cecil A. Merrick, fireman; and James A. Donnelly, brakeman. Injured is Walter Smeaton. Gosset is between Spences Bridge and Lytton.
Ashcroft Cannery Installs New Machinery: The Ashcroft Cannery has received delivery of a large Juice Preheater and Pasteurizing machine. This large machine is the latest on the market, and will increase the volume and also the quality of the tomato juice, retaining the Vitamin C content to a much larger degree than ever before.
Clinton: The airplane which was circling low over Clinton on Friday afternoon had some of the residents worried, lest it should be in difficulties. However, upon investigation, it proved to be working in conjunction with the radio beam station at Ashcroft Manor checking up on their Beam. [The Beam Station was sadly lost in a fire in July 2014.]
Ashcroft Locals: The school kids are enjoying a holiday this week while a new furnace is being installed at the school. There will be no school until Monday.
Cold Weather: Now that spring is in the air, winter has settled in. With the thermometer at 83-Mile and 74-Mile Houses reading 50 below zero, the southern Cariboo had the dubious honour of being the coldest spot in Canada this last week!
50 YEARS AGO: FEB. 22, 1973
Vandalism At Arena: Sometime during Thursday of last week the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Arena was entered; the guilty party jimmied, pried, and broke in doors from their hinges and padlocks, looking for something, but what for, no one knows. There is nothing of great value to anyone but children whose hockey equipment was stored in the offices entered. The glass door to the office was smashed. There must be a twisted quirk in minds that would do this sort of thing to a building that was erected for the purpose of giving our kids something to occupy their time other than roaming the streets and getting into mischief. RCMP are investigating.
Trucks Stranded On Highway: Forty trucks were stranded two hours on the Trans-Canada Highway five miles south of Spences Bridge Feb. 17, when RCMP stopped all traffic because of severe ice conditions. RCMP said the truckers were “mad” about the situation as they waited for highway department sanding crews to arrive. The road was reported open again at 7 a.m. A truck driver died Saturday when his truck went over the bank.
Art Club News: The first meeting for this year was held last Tuesday evening, when the members discussed our annual show. We will have lots and lots of room this year, the Arena has been promised to us, for two days. With all this extra space, we would like to have a big showing — a lot of crafts, pictures, handwork, sketches, also children’s paintings and crafts. It would be a good idea to have a children’s corner, where the school children from the area could each have a display.
Airplane Club Being Formed: Anyone interested in joining this new group of pilots and purchasing a share of an aircraft, please attend a meeting on February 26 at 7 p.m. at the Bank of Montreal, Ashcroft. At this meeting we shall discuss what type of aircraft we shall purchase and choose officers for the new company.
Spences Bridge Community Club: It was unfortunate that the people who did not like the idea of the planned “Box Lunch Social” for Feb. 17 did not come forward and tell the Entertainment Committee that they disagreed with their choice of entertainment. As it turned out, due to lack of ticket sales it had to be cancelled at the last moment and we are left with the possibility of still having to pay for the dance band. There was much preparation involved and I would like to stress the fact that the Entertainment Committee is a group of hard working people who donate their time and efforts so that others can enjoy themselves. They would appreciate your “constructive criticism”. If you feel they are trying something different and you feel it won’t work, let them know in time to change the situation.
Savona News: So nice to see the snow finally going! The ice on the lake has also gone. There are lots of Cedar Waxwings in the area. Ah Spring??
Do you want to read more from the archives? An expanded version is available on the Journal website at www.ashcroftcachecreekjournal.com.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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