125 YEARS AGO: APRIL 1898
While the Journal archives are almost complete from May 1895 to the present, the issues of April 1898 are unfortunately missing.
100 YEARS AGO: APRIL 28, 1923
Roadwork: Much good work is being done on the Cariboo road between Ashcroft and Clinton by government gangs. In the Lillooet district a “caterpillar” is being used as power to drag the scrap, instead of horses.
Sleeping Cars To Be Provided On The P.G.E.: A tourist car service will be inaugurated on the P.G.E. early in May, which will greatly improve travelling conditions. There will be sleeping cars on the trains, and on the new schedule the train will start from Squamish on the arrival of the steamer from Vancouver in the evening. Passengers will then be able to avail themselves of the sleeping cars between Squamish and Clinton and on the following morning view the beautiful Cariboo country as the train passes on to Williams Lake and Quesnel. The return trip will be so timed that passengers will arrive in Squamish to connect with the steamer in the early morning and arrive in Vancouver before midday.
Hospital Bazaar: Come to the hospital bazaar on Wednesday afternoon, May 2nd, and enjoy afternoon tea. And say, boys, why not treat your girl to ice cream at the bazaar?
Save Stanley Park: When all the coal in the world has been mined and used up, then, and not till then, are we justified in undermining Stanley Park. This valuable asset to the city of Vancouver is not only a local possession; it is a province-wide one. It belongs to British Columbia, and any attempt to deface it, injure it, or destroy its attractiveness as a playground or place of leisure, would be resented from one end of the province to the other. Coal mining is a dirty operation at its best. It is impossible to handle it in a clean way. Then there is the scarring of the environment with unsightly shafts and dump grounds, to say nothing of sifting operations and the continual loading of barges at a very spot where we wish to forget all that sort of thing. At a boy, Vancouver, save the park.
Weather: A hot wave encompassed the dry belt on Wednesday, and the heat was almost unprecedented for this time of the year, the thermometer reading about 85 in the shade. This is remarkable when we remember that on Monday morning, two days before, there was frost enough to nip the potato tops.
75 YEARS AGO: APRIL 29, 1948
Cache Creek-Clinton Road: All over the province with the opening of spring, when roads are at their worst and the tourist season is just around the corner, we hear voices urging new roads and improvements to old roads. There is competition in those voices too, each aiming to be heard above all others on the theory that he who shouts the loudest will be most likely to be heard first and get proper attention. Of course the day when it was impolite to blow one’s own horn are gone with the wind. The modern idea is that publicity stimulates business, and that is what we will have to do with regard to the Cache Creek-Clinton section of the Cariboo road. Last year we were led to believe that road would be paved this summer to make it fit for the local as well as the tourist traveller, but we understand nothing is yet definite. No portion of B.C. roads in the interior is travelled more than that 25 mile stretch, yet it is in a worse condition with corrugations and other surface inefficiencies than any in the drybelt. It cannot be denied that the government has its hands full, but the most urgent should have priority.
Asks For Ashcroft Clinton Cutoff: Construction of a short connection between the P.G.E. Railway at Clinton and the CPR and CNR lines at either Ashcroft or Savona is urged in a brief submitted to Premier Byron Johnson recently. The proposed new connection would have several advantages. It would allow fast freight shipments from the Cariboo to the coast, thus saving the cattle raiser considerable shrinkage on his beef. The increased speed of shipment through a direct connection would not only improve the service to Cariboo points, but would also prove a greater tourist attraction, it is felt.
Clinton News: Clarence Stephenson spent Tuesday in town after breaking the road through to near the 100-Mile House. He was met there by Eric Jackson. They had much trouble along the 83 and 93 mile hills. Three road gangs are working in the vicinity of Clinton, and all roads are being cleaned, but evidently they have forgotten Clinton streets.
50 YEARS AGO: APRIL 26, 1973
Ashcroft Thompson Bridge: [This letter is in response to safety suggestions for the old Ashcroft bridge following an accident where a vehicle struck a child who was using the bridge sidewalk. The bridge was replaced by the current one in 1990/91.] Minister of Highways, to Miss Isobal M. MacRae: I have now received a report regarding the Ashcroft bridge and can advise the following regarding your proposals: 1. Addition of a separate sidewalk extending over the side of the bridge is not possible. With the addition of a recently approved water main, no further load can be added to the bridge. 2. Due to the length of the bridge, one-way traffic controlled by traffic signals would be undesirable. 3. The space taken by a barrier between the roadway and sidewalk would make the sidewalk impractically narrow. My department feels that the existing sidewalk width is in accordance with general standards and that the traffic usually travels slowly due to the sharp turns at each end of the bridge and the narrowness of the roadway. Robert M. Strachan, Minister.
Petition To Be Circulated: There was a poor turnout at the Public Meeting announced by the Community Resources Council to make a decision regarding the use of the old hospital. The Village of Ashcroft is actually the only interested party with sufficient funds and administration to carry the project. As a firm commitment was going forward from the Village Council, the meeting voted to circulate a petition in town to request the Village to purchase the building and property for Village offices, Council Chambers, Library, and Recreation Commission offices, and that the balance of the floor space be made available for social and recreational facilities as needed in the community.
Attracts New Business: A new face has appeared on the business scene in Ashcroft, that of Macleods (formerly Kirkpatricks), one of Western Canada’s oldest and most respected retailers. Macleods are quick to recognize the potential growth of this progressive community and pleased to become a part of it. Macleods Store is here to stay and grow with Ashcroft.
Walhachin News: We have lots of lovely long-stemmed onions for distribution. First, about a bushel should go to B.C. Hydro for their speed and efficiency. Every time I pass that trailer in Savona, I notice that you still haven’t managed to run any wires from the pole to the trailer. Of course, those people have only been waiting about seven-and-a-half months for service now. Aren’t they somewhere near the top of the list yet? Then there is the matter of the leased street light ordered for the Hall in November. Where are we on the list of priorities? And onions again to several enfranchised freight lines which refuse to deliver into Walhachin without adding an $18 service charge for coming four miles off the highway.
Du Pont Underway: Dillingham Corporation, who were awarded the contract for site preparations and foundations, are already at work on the project for the Du Pont explosives plant to be built on the Butte Ranch at the Second Slough at Ashcroft.
Do you want to read more news from the Journal archives? An expanded version of this story is available on the paper’s website at www.ashcroftcachecreekjournal.com.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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