125 YEARS AGO: FEB. 6, 1897
Masquerade Carnival: The grand fancy dress carnival which was announced to take place on the Ashcroft skating rink Tuesday evening, February 2nd, was a great success. The ice was in good condition considering the mild weather of the past week, and the rink was well lighted with large lamps and a string of Chinese lanterns which were hung across the centre of the rink set it off very nicely, and with a large bonfire on each side of the rink the costumes of the skaters were shown fine. At eight o’clock the crowd began to gather, fully two hundred spectators being in attendance, with over fifty masqueraders on the ice.
Chinese New Year: Last Monday morning the residents of Ashcroft were disturbed in their peaceful slumbers by the sound of fire crackers and other explosions which announced that it was the Chinese New Year. The Chinese are a conservative people, and when others made changes in calculating time they would have none of them.
Kamloops: Every hotel in Kamloops is crowded and beds at a premium. What the spring will bring forth remains to be seen but from the present outlook there will be many more people in the city than can secure proper accommodations. Everyone seems to agree that a new and thoroughly good hotel is badly needed and the people would very gladly assist any enterprising hotel man who would undertake to give Kamloops what it requires in the way of a new and strictly first class hotel.
100 YEARS AGO: FEB. 3, 1922
Opening Of New School: The new Ashcroft, three-room school was officially opened on Monday last, when a gathering of parents, teachers, and others were present. The event will be a long-remembered one in the annals of Ashcroft. The new school is a modern building in every detail. It has a furnace in the basement supplying hot air to all compartments. It has the most efficient plumbing system and has electric light installation. Every provision has been made for proper ventilation both for summer and winter.
Hockey Stick Shortage: Hockey players are advised to refrain from cracking their sticks over each other’s heads. As a result of a fire in a Preston factory, where $5,000-worth of sticks were destroyed, a shortage is feared.
Cold Weather: The recent cold snap which came rather unexpectedly is probably the last of the season. Taken altogether, the winter, although steady, has not been noted for very much extreme cold.
75 YEARS AGO: FEB. 6, 1947
Cache Creek: Now that New Years is over things have come back to normal in this small community and the natives are spending their time — which incidentally they have plenty of — in keeping the wood box full. The temperature dropped to 30 degrees below zero here last week, and anyone not having the use of a blow torch was out of luck as far as getting automobiles started. China New Year proved a hilarious event at Cache Creek this year, when Mr. Kee Mok entertained at a dinner for several Cache Creek residents. Cache Creek is beginning to take the shape of a village these days, the white population being around sixty in number, though there is plenty of room for Cache Creek to expand from where this correspondent stands. It looks as if we will have to advertise for immigrants to enable us to have a school of our own.
Make Ashcroft Your Shopping Centre: Those who shop in Ashcroft will find many items can be bought here just as well as in larger cities. All merchants give courteous attention to customers, and if they haven’t what you want in stock they will do their best to get it for you. Make Ashcroft your shopping centre, first, last, and always.
Truck Troubles: The saddest words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: Will you push me again? The Standard Oil truck seems to enjoy being pushed around in the morning to get it started. A familiar scene on the streets of Ashcroft is Russ and his oil truck being pushed around in order to get the blankedy-plank thing going.
Board Of Trade: The annual meeting of the Ashcroft Board of Trade will be held in the Ashcroft Hotel tonight. The Board of Trade movement has a real and responsible part to play in the future of Ashcroft and District if we are to move ahead and develop. Our problems of today will not solve themselves. They call for action. Citizens must do the job themselves for the general good of our community.
Faculty Of Medicine Should Be Established: In view of the impending crisis due to the dearth of physicians in Canada, the people of British Columbia should realize a Faculty of Medicine should be established at the University of British Columbia. The previous ratio of physician to populations in Canada has been approximately one physician to 1,000 people (it is doubtful whether this ratio has ever been reached in B.C.). It has been proven that this ratio is inadequate to meet the changing trend in national health, and in face of current and future needs (an increase in population through natural increase and through immigration), would leave Canada critically under-supplied with physicians. Consider the condition of rural areas in B.C. for medical care. In some districts there are hospitals but no physicians, in some there are neither hospitals nor physicians. A medical school in Vancouver would alleviate this condition. Students from all over the province would be trained in B.C., remain in B.C., and return to these rural areas to practise. It has been suggested that graduates from a Medical Faculty at the University of British Columbia would be required to spend three to six months of their one year compulsory internship in rural hospitals, to learn the aspects of rural practice — the problems of the “Country Doctor”.
We Want News: The Ashcroft Journal doesn’t make news, we only print it. At times things happen in Ashcroft and district that don’t appear in the local paper, which is no fault of the editor when it is not handed in. When you have news that will be of interest to the town, please bring it personally or by phone or letter. Activities of local societies are particularly solicited in order to let the outside know what we are doing. Ashcroft needs the publicity, and if your society is doing charitable work, the more important it is to have it published to let the public know the good work that is going on in the community.
50 YEARS AGO: FEB. 3, 1972
Disturbance At Gladwin Auto Court: The door of the Gladwin Auto Court store was badly damaged when occupants of a car which drove up about 3 a.m. Sunday, January 30th kicked the door in, when refused a request to buy a chocolate bar. Mr. and Mrs. D. Cenname, owners of the Court, were of the opinion that the culprits intended to rob the premises prior to the appearance of Mrs. Matallie Cenname, who sleeps in the rear of the store. Fortunately Mrs. Cenname was able to get the licence plate number of the auto and alerted Spences Bridge RCMP and the group was apprehended.
Robbery At Lytton Garage: For the second time within a year the Lytton Garage was broken into and robbed around 5 a.m. Sunday morning January 30th. Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Haughen discovered the thieves at work, while driving home from the Sanderson’s anniversary party. Mr. Haughen was able to get the licence plate number of the motor car used and at once alerted Lytton police. It is believed that the guilty parties involved are being apprehended by police in the Fraser Valley area. About a thousand dollars’-worth of goods were stolen with entry being made by breaking the glass in the front door of the garage.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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