125 YEARS AGO: NOV. 4, 1899
Secure Your Cattle; Editor Journal—Sir: The practice of allowing animals to prowl about the town at night is becoming far too frequent for domestic peace. There is one cow in particular who is a past master — or rather mistress — in the objectionable art of breaking down ordinary lines of defence. She scoffs at bolts and bars, enters gardens at dead of night, does all the mischief she can, and then retires. Is it not possible for owners of animals to secure them within legitimate bounds between night and morning? Surely some little effort would effect this. Yours, Citizen.
Ashcroft Apples: Ashcroft apples are appreciated just as much on the coast as its potatoes, and the demand for them will increase. No part of British Columbia can grow fruit with better flavour than is grown in the dry belt. It is quite within the possibilities that in the near future shipments to the coast and Kootenay will be in carload lots.
Waterworks Company’s Pump: The pump which is to be the means of transforming the Boston Flats from an arid plain into a valley of fertile fields has at last arrived in town, and is being taken up to the Ashcroft Water, Electric and Improvement Co.’s power house on the Bonaparte, where it will shortly be installed. This piece of machinery is distinguished as being the largest capacity pump in British Columbia. It is designed to throw a stream of water to a height of 230 feet at the rate of 9,000 gallons per minute, and to do this there will be required some seven to eight hundred horsepower, which will be furnished by the large Dominion waterwheels which the company installed a year ago.
Restaurant Needed: A well-ordered restaurant in Ashcroft that would keep open until midnight would be a great convenience. Only plain cooking would be necessary.
Hallowe'en Hazard: Hallowe'en parties are all right until somebody sits on your head when you are dipping for apples. The fun ceases right there.
100 YEARS AGO: NOV. 11, 1924
Would Complete Road In 1925; Automobile Club Of B.C. To Urge Government To Speed Up: Executive of the Automobile Club of B.C. was authorized at a general meeting to urge upon the proper authorities: 1. That the Fraser Canyon highway be built to completion in 1925. 2. That the road be wide enough for safe driving. 3. That the contiguous country be set aside as a National Park.
Directional Signs For Interior: Announcement was made at Monday night’s meeting of the Automobile Club of B.C. that the club had been granted $4,000 towards its next year’s program of erecting directional signs on the roads of the Interior. The club has spent thousands of dollars signing the roads of the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, and there has been a persistent demand that the work be extended to the Okanagan Valley and other parts of the interior frequented by tourists.
Pheasant Shooting Superb, Season Opens For First Time At Lillooet With Marked Success: The sportsmen of town were given a real treat today when the season was opened for pheasants. They were successfully introduced into the dry belt several years ago, and of late years have established themselves thoroughly, so now they are a dry belt bird surviving the hardest winters without having to be fed. Farmers and gardeners have been cussing the government and the people who were instrumental in introducing these birds, making all kinds of claims both real and imaginary of the destruction to their crops. Today the farmers are wearing a smile, and thinking of the meals of pheasants they will have during the next two weeks. Just before daylight many forms could be seen moving silently towards the grain fields. At 6:31, the official sunrise, the bombardment began, and the bang of shotguns, and the cackle of cock pheasants, could be heard all day.
Weather: Winter is creeping upon us. On Wednesday morning the mountains in the vicinity were covered with the seasonal mantle of snow.
Hallowe'en: Last night was Hallowe'en, with the usual juvenile disturbances. We are pleased to report that nothing of a destructive nature took place.
75 YEARS AGO: Nov. 3, 1949
Hope-Princeton Road Opened: In the presence of a large concourse of people, numbering several thousand, Premier Byron Johnson officially opened the Hope-Princeton link of the Southern-Provincial Highway at 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 2. The ceremony, which was simple and unostentatious in contrast to the magnitude of the undertaking, took the form of opening a gate to the great Interior of the Province. The Premier, equipped with a suitably engraved golden key, unlocked the golden gate which permitted motorists free passage over the highway. Opening of the Hope-Princeton Highway — a magnificent all-weather 83-mile highway — marks the completion of the first major undertaking of this kind ever undertaken in British Columbia. Involving an expenditure of many millions of dollars, the highway now constitutes the key to the whole highway system of British Columbia. It enables many circle tours, and speeds up travel between the Coast and the Interior, as well as enabling the government to pursue a more active program of highway work in the Fraser Canyon now that an alternate route to interior points has been provided. The highway will be completely paved, with the exception of the difficult Cascade section, not later than 1953.
Lytton Rebuilding: Main Street in Lytton has been the scene of feverish activity all summer, and a new face is being rebuilt from the ashes left by the disastrous fire which destroyed the business section in June. Modern and pleasing stores, with a particular eye to Lytton’s tourist trade, are now nearing completion, and before winter sets in, this village will boast of three whole blocks of new and rebuilt buildings. New structures now being constructed or planning construction are B.R.’s General Store, with a new warehouse; Lytton Meat Market; Alex M. Gammie’s Department Store; Copper Kettle Café; Mountainview Bakery; and a pool room. A branch of the Canadian Bank of Commerce is planned to be opened. H.D. Hipwell, Chilliwack druggist, has purchased property on Main Street from A.J. Rebagliatti and proposes to erect a new drug store on the site.
Jail Break At Lytton: Two young men, 18 and 19 years of age, named John Alex Razzo and Thomas Edwin McKeller, broke jail at Lytton, and in a stolen car hit up the Cariboo Road Monday last at a high rate of speed. They escaped a blockade of local police, and headed up Merritt road. At the railway crossing about a mile east of the bridge they mistook the railway for a road and hit up the CPR right-of-way. When they saw a train approaching, going west, they jumped from the car, which was hit by the engine and thrown about 50 feet over the bank. They were picked up by local police shortly after, and jailed at Ashcroft. At a trial they were sentenced to two years for malicious damage each, to the machine they had stolen, and one year’s additional for attempted jail break.
Hallowe'en Parties: Ashcroft Ladies Auxiliary to the Canadian Legion held their annual Hallowe’en party for the children of Ashcroft and district Monday evening and it was the usual huge success. There were costumes of every description, which took time and patience to make, but only a few prizes were available, so the judges had the “works of the world” picking out the best ones. . . The Hallowe’en party and dance held in the hall in Spences Bridge, which was gaily decorated with Hallowe’en colours and motifs last Friday evening, was a howling success enjoyed by young and old. The schoolchildren and their teacher surprised the parents and friends who packed the hall to watch them play games in their amusing attire, with their entertaining recitations and sing-songs, and the grand march which took place to select the prize-winning costumes was really something, and was quite a task for the judges, as all the costumes were good.
50 YEARS AGO: OCT. 30, 1974
Electrical Problems At Drylands Arena: It was hoped to have ice at the Drylands Arena in Ashcroft a week ago, but due to a necessary change-over in wiring of the ice-making machine, we are still without ice. We were fortunate to have Jack Chatvaire to help us out in this situation. Jack was an electrical contractor in Vancouver before taking over the Sands Motor Inn, so knows the problem. Unfortunately, we are not able to just visit a wholesaler here to provide the necessary electrical parts needed, we must order and wait for them to arrive, which hopefully will not be too long, as there are a number of programs ready to go as well as clinics and demonstrations.
Ashcroft Locals: Charles Kirkpatrick shot an eight-foot cougar up in Venables Valley last week. He said it was ready to jump at him when he shot it and killed it with one shot in the neck.
Walhachin Notes: Blow the dust from your crystal balls and hear this: a coven will be held in the Memorial Hall for all witches, imps, cats of various hues, and other strange and weird characters: Hallowe’en. So attire yourself in your various guises and attend the wiener roast. Understandably, most of the fearful monsters will be house-to-housing as usual before the party, so don’t forget the treats for all our little friends, though they be “got up” fearsomely.
Hallowe’en Coming Up: Dare we mention the fact that Hallowe’en is this week on Thursday. While this festivity was partly a religious and partly a gay time when first celebrated, nowadays Hallowe’en has turned into something of a fiasco. The children still enjoy it with tricks or treats, and dressing up to visit their neighbours, and parties, but the older ones are something else. In modern phrasing: When are they going to grow up? Eggs! All over streets, windows, what a waste! and what a mess! ’Nuff sed.
