125 YEARS AGO: JULY 1, 1899
Train Service: The change in time from night to day service, and two passenger trains a day each way, means a great improvement for the travelling public that stop off at, or leave, Ashcroft.
No Dumping: Notice is given that anyone found dumping refuse of any kind on the vacant lots in the townsite will be prosecuted.
Animal Show: The Norris Brothers' trained animal show will exhibit on the railroad grounds on Tuesday, the 4th. The entertainment is first class and all reports agree that nothing has been seen in the west to compare with this unique show. The street parade is well worth seeing. Street parade and entertainment both afternoon and evening.
Weather: The weather in Ashcroft has not been so far as hot and dry as it usually is at this season of the year.
100 YEARS AGO: JUNE 28, 1924
School Picnic At Clinton: The Clinton and Maiden Creek schools held their annual picnic near the Parke ranch about four miles south of town, on Tuesday last. There was a very large crowd in attendance, everyone both old and young coming from miles around. It is needless to say that the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and we noticed that the older ones took as much pleasure out of the sports as did the younger ones.
Ashcroft Fire: The home of Mr. and Mrs. Morgan was the scene of an exciting fire on Monday morning. The fire was discovered about 4 a.m. by members of the family in a clothes closet off the sitting room. The contents were badly burned and the walls and door badly damaged before it was extinguished by the fire brigade which arrived just in time before the flames were too far advanced.
The People And Taxes: The voter is a sort of complex person when it comes to taxes. Some want taxes abolished entirely, but at the same time they want the government to build transprovincial highways, roads leading to and from their own farms, irrigation ditches, reclamation schemes, bridges across rivers, etc., etc. In fact there is a constant howl against taxes of any kind without considering where the government is going to get the money for the public works above mentioned.
75 YEARS AGO: JUNE 30, 1949
Lytton Road: Permanent paving recently completed on the stretch of highway between Lytton and Siska Lodge, a distance of 5.6 miles, provides motorists with one of the best pieces of road in the province. It is 24 feet wide with full four inches of blacktop surfacing and ample shoulders on both sides. Work on reconstruction of this section was begun nearly three years ago.
Hollywood Star in Clinton: Lon Chaney, the Hollywood star, and his wife passed through Clinton last weekend on their way to holiday at Mr. and Mrs. Bert Gammie's G Lazey-Two Guest Ranch.
End Of Bridge Washed Out Again: Last week during the heavy cloud burst, the Ashcroft end of the Ashcroft bridge road approach was washed partly away, and again Tuesday the same thing happened. Apparently the heavy rainfall finds an outlet from the hills and road over the bridge and makes quite a stream, which no gravel fills could withstand. This evidently is a yearly occurrence and seems an endless job for the road crew filling in the huge gap over and over again. During Tuesday's storm, hail fell heavy in Ashcroft for 20 minutes, and when it finished the ground was white with about half-an-inch of it, which made things look as though winter had come. The weather has been really cool, and on several mornings snow covered Cornwall mountain the past few days.
Deadman Creek: Garnet Foster's heavy bulldozer has been out Deadman Creek way, bulldozing the creek deeper and building up banks, which were washed out in the flood last year. Considerable damage was done to farm land also, and while there this damage was remedied by filling in and levelling washed-out places. This week the bulldozer was digging out the Ashcroft-Highland Valley road, which was covered with a considerable depth of rock and gravel and washed out in many places during the cloudburst last week.
Gardening News: Gardening is considered quite a chore by some young people, but Clinton's Patsy Simpson felt quite repaid for her work when she found a bright coin while digging in her garden. Upon investigation it proved to be a small gold coin, about the size of the old silver five-cent piece. On one side is a helmeted head, resembling "Britannia", surrounded by a ring of stars. On the reverse is a laurel wreath and the word "one", which leads to the thought that it is a one dollar gold piece. The most interesting thing is the date the coin bears, "1849". It would seem to be a relic of the old gold rush days.
Whooppee!! Today, school's out, the annual dream of youngsters has come true. The sun shines, the old swimming pool, fishing holes, and vacation are beckoning, what more can a feller ask!
50 YEARS AGO: JUNE 27, 1974
More About Hat Creek Coal: British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority will begin exploratory drilling this month at its Hat Creek coal deposits, 10 miles west of Cache Creek. Resources Minister Bob Williams said the drilling program determines the feasibility of establishing a coal-fired thermal generating plant in the area. The first stage, scheduled for this summer, is to determine the best site for a possible two million kilowatt generating plant. The second stage will be the assessment of coal deposits in the selected work area and help in establishing mining procedures and costs. The final stage will be to determine the ultimate reserves of the deposit. Proven reserves are estimated at 380 million tons of coal, with potential reserves assessed at several million tons. Williams said the environmental impact of drilling will be kept to a minimum. "Little construction of access roads will be required, and an area of less than 90 feet by 90 feet will be adequate for each of 20 drill sites planned for the 1974 program," he said.
Fire In Walhachin: Fire destroyed two of the older buildings across the road from the C.P.R. right-of-way. It was caused by the extreme dryness and a measure of human carelessness. Nine homes were threatened by the blaze, but thanks to the efforts of Walter Ferguson, Bill Mairs, Bodo Jennem, Julius Hansen, and many, many others, the blaze was controlled by the pathetically thin streams of water from garden hoses. Finally, when the fire had nearly exhausted itself, though there was still danger of flare-ups, a bulldozer from Kiewits, who had originally been careless taking no proper precautions while welding, buried the smouldering ruins of cabins and trees with dirt.
Walhachin Water Woes: Sad to narrate, one just can never rely on the Walhachin water. It quit Saturday, and service will be restored today. Evidently the key personnel in Walhachin had "stampeded" both unwisely and too well on Saturday night. After this, fellows, stick to Walhachin water. Though quite rich in foreign substance, glook, it isn't intoxicating. Cheers!
