125 YEARS AGO: JULY 15, 1899
Maggie Mine: A report from the Maggie mine, on the Bonaparte, on which Messrs. Hawkins, Smith, and Bryson are sinking, is to the effect that fine ore has been struck in the shaft within the past two days and that the mine is looking very encouraging. If this proves to be, as all here hope it will, a large shipping copper, gold, and silver property, it will mean much for Ashcroft. The samples sent down are very rich in copper.
Cariboo Roads: We print a letter from Mr. F.S. Reynolds, of Ashcroft, on the condition of the Cariboo Road. It is impossible to state the case any more strongly. Cariboo is a district of great possibilities, but it cannot be properly developed without better means of communication than it now has. "Sir: Having recently made a trip through the Cariboo country, visiting the mines in the various sections, I am asking you to use your best efforts to secure proper appropriations for the repair and maintenance of the Forks of Quesnelle and Horsefly roads. The roads from the 150-Mile House to Quesnelle Forks and the Horsefly to the 150-Mile House are simply impassable. To be appreciated these roads must be travelled, and if any of your readers did attempt the journey they would see at once the utter folly of the attempt to do anything in the way of road construction or repair with the $2,000 allocated yearly, which is scarcely sufficient to fill up half-a-dozen of the mud holes on the way."
An Evening's Entertainment: At the entertainment at the Ashcroft town hall last night a rather small audience enjoyed themselves very well. The violin solos and the songs were good. Space does not permit of a lengthy notice, but we think that the general verdict last evening was that the entertainment was well worth attending.
100 YEARS AGO: JULY 12, 1924
Narrow Escape From Drowning: Mr. T. Belshaw, the proprietor of the Ashcroft Ice Cream Parlours, had a narrow escape from drowning on Sunday evening. Apparently Tom was standing on a rock and slipped off into the water out of his depth. Tom, unable to swim, started to drift with the current, when Mr. Arthur Peel, seeing his difficulties, immediately went to his assistance, as Tom was going down for the count. Tom, it seems, had a very close call, being unconscious when brought ashore. We must accord Mr. Peel for his actions.
Gone Fishing: Messrs. Marcus Bailey, Oliver Harvey, Judge Murphy, and Jack Richards are out after the fish again in Marble Canyon. They expect to bring home fish that will break all previous records. Down goes the lake again. A Swede was swimming in Marston's Lake and, so the story goes, a six foot trout (?) came alongside and barked at him. Marcus, how about a six foot fish in Marble Canyon? Do they bark, or only bite?
To Develop Property At Hat Creek: The Clear Mountain Coal Company has arranged to develop its coal property at Hat Creek with greater activity, so as to be able to supply Vancouver with a considerable tonnage during the winter. The coal is delivered to the P.G.E. railway at Pavilion. The mine is 13 miles from the railway, to which the coal is transported by motor truck. A steam shovel is to be used for stripping the coal seam instead of the hand labour at present employed.
75 YEARS AGO: JULY 14, 1949
Lytton Rebuilding: Lytton is rebuilding after its recent fire. Excavations have been dug for four business premises to replace those lost in the big fire June 13. They are Alex Gammie's store, Copper Kettle Cafe, Lloyd Miller's B.R. Store, Maurice Floyd's Lytton Meat Market. The foundation is being poured for Walter Sitko's bakery, excavation for which previous to the fire helped firemen by providing a break in the flames.
Hot Weather: Although it felt like 150 in the shade Sunday, it only registered about 100 and 105, depending on what thermometer you were reading. Everything out in the open was sizzling hot, and we heard one guy say he had hard boiled eggs for supper that the hens laid that afternoon.
Heavy Rain: Everyone was expecting a good rain on Monday afternoon, the heavy dark clouds and thunder looked very much like a good downpour, but not for us in Spences Bridge. However, a few miles out on the Merritt road, it came down in torrents, washing out the road in several places and disrupting rail traffic, also from Shaw Springs west it rained heavy enough to block the highway and railroad with mud. Mr. Gallagher's bulldozer was rushed to the scene near Thompson to clear the mud and debris away.
Spences Bridge To Get Permanent New School Addition: At the regular meeting of representatives of Ashcroft School District No. 30 held here last Monday, it was decided to erect a permanent addition to the Spences Bridge School instead of fixing up the old church. At Lytton, temporary accommodation will be fixed up in the basement of the school. At Ashcroft the downstairs will be renovated for a temporary schoolroom. At Clinton the courthouse will be used when school opens in September. The ever increasing children population is demanding new rooms and schools in the district.
Ashcroft: Lorne Holgate showed us a tomato about the size of a tennis ball which he picked from his tomato fields on the farm across the river. It looks as though semi ripes will be picked soon. Tomatoes are shaping up well and plants looking good, although some damage was caused by the recent hailstorm.
First Helicopter Lands At Lillooet: A helicopter marked "Okanagan" landed on Sunday on one of Lillooet's side streets. After fuelling it went north up the Fraser River. It attracted quite a bit of attention and a number of people soon gathered to view the machine.
50 YEARS AGO: JULY 11, 1974
Ashcroft Arena: Ashcroft Arena will open in October! After years of existence and heart breaking disappointment, this town will have a fully functional arena by Oct. 5, 1974. Contractors have been given the green light to install a 60-ton Cimco ice plant, also a hard-surfaced skating rink. Engineering plans are now completed with the actual construction beginning in two weeks' time.The arena will have a substantial sound system, and it is hoped that one of the larger bottling works in the Interior will provide the scoring clock. Due to the sincere interest of many citizens of the South Cariboo in this arena project, the Commission felt it appropriate to search for a new name for the building. The name will be chosen from the many entries already received.
Cache Creek Esso Robbed: At about 10 p.m. on Saturday night, July 6, a man entered the Cache Creek Esso station and asked for some change and where the cigarette machine was. There were two attendants on duty, namely Jamie Fraser and Bruce Kraus. Bruce Kraus took him to the machine, where the man demanded money. The young men said they had no key. The man threatened them, and after conversing, the attendants gave him a small amount of cash. The man is described as six feet tall, about 22 years of age, clean shaven, blue eyes, he was wearing a brown imitation leather waist length jacket and brown cord pants. Anyone seeing this person phone the RCMP at Ashcroft.
Another Accident At 16-Mile: Last Friday morning another accident occurred at 16-Mile involving two cars and two trucks. This is a bad strip of highway, skirted by ditches and banks 10 to 20 feet deep. The hardtop is as wide as a two-lane standard highway, but that is it. There are practically no shoulders to pull out on when trucks go barrelling by, and any resident can tell you that speeding on this stretch is constant. The grade at the north end encourages trucks to speed up, and with the secondary road intersection right on top of this grade has caused five accidents in the last while. We have stated before and will again: so far these accidents have caused only one death, but it is miraculous there have not been more. This stretch of highway NEEDS IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. Please widen the highway and build up the shoulders, will you, Mr. Lea, Min. of Highways?
Pavilion Mountain Fire: On Sunday afternoon June 29 a fire broke out at Pavilion, enveloping about a square mile of the hillside and the B.C. Rail tracks. The fire ran along the south side of the highway, coming within 100 yards of the Pavilion store, and scored off any growth on the hillside adjacent to it across the highway. There was a stiff breeze prevailing and billows of smoke were visible for miles. The Forest Service fought the fire with bulldozers and 40 men, but eventually called in water bombers from Kamloops, which soon brought the blaze under control except for a few spot dead logs and debris.
