{"AggregatedSourceRepository":[{"label":"AggregatedSourceRepository","value":"CONTENTdm","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/dataProvider","classmap":"ore:Aggregation","property":"edm:dataProvider"},"iri":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/dataProvider","explain":"A Europeana Data Model Property; The name or identifier of the organization who contributes data indirectly to an aggregation service (e.g. Europeana)"}],"CatalogueRecord":[{"label":"CatalogueRecord","value":"http:\/\/resolve.library.ubc.ca\/cgi-bin\/catsearch?bid=3202327","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isReferencedBy","classmap":"edm:ProvidedCHO","property":"dcterms:isReferencedBy"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isReferencedBy","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; A related resource that references, cites, or otherwise points to the described resource."}],"Collection":[{"label":"Collection","value":"British Columbia History","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:isPartOf"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included."}],"Creator":[{"label":"Creator","value":"British Columbia Historical Federation","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/creator","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:creator"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/creator","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; An entity primarily responsible for making the resource.; Examples of a Contributor include a person, an organization, or a service."}],"DateAvailable":[{"label":"DateAvailable","value":"2015-07-17","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","classmap":"edm:WebResource","property":"dcterms:issued"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; Date of formal issuance (e.g., publication) of the resource."}],"DateIssued":[{"label":"DateIssued","value":"1989","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","classmap":"oc:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:issued"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; Date of formal issuance (e.g., publication) of the resource."}],"Description":[{"label":"Description","value":"Vol. 22, No. 4","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/description","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:description"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/description","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; An account of the resource.; Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, a table of contents, a graphical representation, or a free-text account of the resource."}],"DigitalResourceOriginalRecord":[{"label":"DigitalResourceOriginalRecord","value":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/collections\/bch\/items\/1.0190620\/source.json","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/aggregatedCHO","classmap":"ore:Aggregation","property":"edm:aggregatedCHO"},"iri":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/aggregatedCHO","explain":"A Europeana Data Model Property; The identifier of the source object, e.g. the Mona Lisa itself. This could be a full linked open date URI or an internal identifier"}],"FileFormat":[{"label":"FileFormat","value":"application\/pdf","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/format","classmap":"edm:WebResource","property":"dc:format"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/format","explain":"A Dublin Core Elements Property; The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource.; Examples of dimensions include size and duration. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as the list of Internet Media Types [MIME]."}],"FullText":[{"label":"FullText","value":" $4.00\nVolume 22, No. 4\nFall 1989\nISSN 0045-2963\nBritish Columbia\nHistorical News\nJournal of the B.C. Historical Federation\nMemories of the 1930s MEMBER SOCIETIES\n***** ********\nMember Societies and their secretaries are responsible for seeing that the correct address for their society is up-to-date.\nPlease send any change to both the Treasurer and the Editor at the addresses inside the back cover. The Annual Return\nas at October 31st should include telephone numbers for contact.\nMembers' dues for the year 1988\/89 were paid by the following Members Societies:\nAlberni District Historical Society, Box 284, Port Alberni, B.C. V9Y 7M7\nAtlin Historical Society, P.O. Box 111, Atlin, B.C. VOW 1A0\nBCHF - Gulf Island Branch, c\/o Marian Worrall, Mayne Island, VON 2J0\nBCHF - Victoria Section, c\/o Charlene Rees, 2 - 224 Superior Street, Victoria, B.C. V8V 1T3\nBurnaby Historical Society, 4521 Watling Street, Burnaby, B.C. V5J 1V7\nChemainus Valley Historical Society, P.O. Box 172, Chemainus, B.C. VOR 1K0\nCowichan Historical Society, RO. Box 1014, Duncan, B.C. V9L 3Y2\nDistrict 69 Historical Society, RO. Box 3014, Parksville, B.C. VOR 2S0\nEast Kootenay Historical Association, P.O. Box 74, Cranbrook, B.C. V1C 4H6\nFraser Nechako Historical Society, 2854 Alexander Cresent, Prince George, B.C. V2N 1J7\nGolden & District Historical Society, Box 992, Golden, B.C. VOA 1 HO\nLadysmith Historical Society, Box 11, Ladysmith, B.C. VOR 2E0\nLantzville Historical Society, Box 501, Lantzville, B.C. VOR 2H0\nNanaimo Historical Society, RO. Box 933, Station 'A', Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 5N2\nNanooa Historical and Museum Society, R.R.1, Box 22, Marina Way, Nanoose Bay, B.C. VOR 2R0\nNorth Shore Historical Society, 623 East 10th Street, North Vancouver, B.C. V7L 2E9\nNorth Shuswap Historical Society, P.O. Box 22, Celista, B.C. VOE 1 LO\nPrinceton & District Pioneer Museum and Archives, Box 687, Princeton, B.C. VOX 1 WO\nQualicum Beach Historical & Museum Society, c\/o Mrs. Cora Skipsey, RO. Box 352, Qualicum Beach, B.C. VOR 2T0\nSaltspring Island Historical Society, RO. Box 705, Ganges, B.C. VOS 1 EO\nSidney and North Saanich Historical Society, P.O. Box 2404, Sidney, B.C. V8L 3Y3\nSilvery Slocan Historical Society, P.O. Box 301, New Denver, B.C. VOG 1S0\nTrail Historical Society, RO. Box 405, Trail, B.C. V1R 4L7\nVancouver Historical Society, P.O. Box 3071, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 3X6\nAffiliated Groups\nB.C. Museum of Mining, RO. Box 155, Britannia Beach, B.C. VON 1J0\nCity of White Rock Museum Archives Society, 1030 Martin Street, White Rock, B.C. V4B 5E3\nFort Steele Heritage Park, Fort Steele, B.C. VOB 1N0\nThe Hallmark Society, 207 Government Street, Victoria, B.C. V8V 2K8\nNanaimo Centennial Museum Society, 100 Cameron Road, Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2X1\nSecond Class registration number 4447\nPublished fall, winter, spring, and summer by the British Columbia Historical Federation, RO. Box 35326, Station E,\nVancouver, B.C. V6M 4G5. A Charitable Society recognized under the Income Tax Act.\nSubscriptions: Institutional, $16.00 per year; Individual (non-members), $8.00.\nFinancially assisted by the Government of British Columbia through the British Columbia Heritage Trust.\nBack issues of the British Columbia Historical News are available in microform from Micromedia Ltd., 158 Pearl St., Toronto,\nOntario M5H 1L3-Micromedia also publishes the Canadian Magazine Index and the Canadian Business Index.\nIndexed in the Canadian Periodical Index. British Columbia Historical News\nVolume 22, No. 4 \u2022 Fall, 1989\nJournal of the RC. Historical Federation\nEditorial\nThis Look at the 1930's has been\na pleasure to compile. Contributions\non a diversity of scenarios should\ngive readers a glimpse of our province during those years. There is\nnostalgia tempered with some uncomfortable facts; the theme, however, shows that citizens cheerfully\ncoped with every challenge - and\nthere are no regrets.\nThe Spring 1990 issue is to be\n\"The Okanagan Special\" while\nWinter and Summer issues continue\nto be a potpourri of B.C. history.\nPossible future themes are \"Because\nof the War\" and \"Our Ethnic\nMosaic\". \"Because of the War\" can\nencompass war brides, shifts of population, war work, women in industry, communities that became armed\nservices bases, and many other direct and indirect changes caused by\nthe several wars since British\nColumbia became an entity.\nThose of you with collections of interesting information are challenged\nto share that information with readers of the Historical News. Write an\narticle on your favorite bit of B.C.\nhistory and mail it in to the Editor.\nNaomi Miller\nCover Credit\nThis photo was taken by E.A. Harris\nof Vancouver, describing it as,\n\"Model T on a B.C. Interior road . .\ntypical of the 1930's. This picture\nwas taken in the summer of 1932\nwhen driving to the Okanagan. The\nroad here leads on to Merritt and\nthe lake in the distance is Nicola\nLake.\"\n************\nContents\nFeatures\nTable of Contents & Editorial\nEmployment & Unemployment: A Diary of the 30's\nby A.J. Builder\nTrackers in the Wilderness\nby Carle Jones\nWriting Competition\nA Wardens Life in Kootenay National Park\nby Josephine Cobb\nMemories of Motoring in the 1930's\nby Ernest A. Harris\nThe Comox Nurses Strike of 1939\nby JoAnn Wittaker\nEnterprise in the 1930's\nby lima Dunn\nA White Collar in the Thirties\nby J.A. Green\nMemories of Housekeeping in the 1930's\nby Winnifred Ariel Weir\nThe Early History of New Westminster\nI.WA. Local (1-357)\nby Werner Kaschel\nGems From Archives\nAn Incident in Diplomacy\nby Fraser Wilson\nNews & Notes\nBookShelf: Book Reviews\nAs Wise As Serpents\nReview by Gordon Elliot\nHammerstone, the Biography of an Island.\nReview by Ruth Barnett\nThe Accidental Airline\nReview by Jim Bowman\nPage\n1\n8\n9\n10\n13\n18\n21\n25\n26\n28\n32\n33\n34\n35\n35\n36\nManuscripts and correspondence for the editor are to be sent to PO. Box 105, Wasa, B.C. VOB 2K0\nCorrespondence regarding subscriptions are to be directed to the subscription secretary (see inside back cover)\nB.C. Historical News Employment and Unemployment\nA Diary of the 30s\nIt was early in April, 1932, when I\nreturned to Canada on the S.S.\nMontcalm and it was anything but a\nprosaic crossing, as the Atlantic was\ntruly awful and the sea so rough\nthat we passengers were seldom allowed on deck. Half way across the\nAtlantic we were told that the ship\nhad been obliged to change course\nand we were sailing to the rescue of\nan SOS call of distress. In due time\nwe reached the stricken vessel; it\nwas by then almost dusk and the\nships searchlights were playing on\nthe water. We watched the crew\nlaunching the lifeboat with some difficulty and slowly row their way to\nthe sinking vessel. After an hour or\nso struggle they were able to take\non board the crew of the boat - they\nwere Norwegians, about twelve of\nthem and a dog - and all were transported safely to our liner and taken\nto Halifax.\nIt was my intention to go to\nToronto and it was with no easy\nfeeling that I set out for that city.\nMy total \"wealth\" was $15.00 or so,\nand I could not hope to survive long\non that pittance. I knew that a job\nof any kind was next to impossible,\nbut what could one do in such circumstances? One thing seemed as\ngood \"or bad\" as another, it was\nequally severe everywhere in\nCanada and all one could do was to\nlook at the whole situation with a\ncertain amount of amusement. A\nsense of humour is often a saving\ngrace. The Canadian government\nseemed apathetic in their attitude to\nthe situation and did little to help\nmatters. Canada in those days\nlagged far behind most Western nations in social legislation, and sensible relief programmes as were instituted by the Roosevelt\nadministration in the U.S.A. were\nnot initiated. It seemed to many of\nby A.G. Builder\nus that we were in for a long period\nof stagnation.\nI found a cheap place to live, but a\nweek saw my dwindling funds exhausted and I was obliged to leave\nwith no prospects at all, and leave\nmy belongings behind for future collection. It was late in April now and\nI had no recourse but to take to the\nhighway and keep going - just\nwhere it did not seem to matter! I\nhiked all over the Niagara peninsula\nduring the next few weeks with\nmany others in the same situation.\nWe went to the town police station\nat night where the law compelled\nthem to give us a cell for the night\nand a meal ticket in the morning for\nour breakfast; the rest of the day we\nwent hungry. At the odd times we\ngot a few hours work and just went\nfrom place to place. No one was allowed to spend two consecutive\nnights in the same town police station; it soon became a nightmare existence.\nAfter several weeks of this odd sort\nof life my feet became sore from blisters and badly worn out shoes and I\ndecided to go back to Toronto. As\nsoon as I reached that city I went to\nthe Anglican Cathedral and saw one\nof the canons and told him my story,\nand that I wished to return to\nWestern Canada where I was better\nknown. I asked him if he could find\nme a little job to enable me to make\nthis journey. He not only gave me a\njob cleaning up the Cathedral\ngrounds, but found me a hostel for\nmy room and board and bought me\na pair of shoes! At the completion of\nmy work he gave me $10.00 for the\ntrip to Vancouver. That same day I\narranged with the CPR. to collect\nmy trunk and ship it to the Pacific\ncoast - that cost me $5.00 and with\nthe other $5.00 I boarded the nightly seaboard freight train to\nVancouver. I remained on this train\nall the way - it took five days to\ncomplete the journey and I hardly\nslept at all. When we stopped at divisional points I went to the stores\nto buy food for the trip, but it was\nquite an ordeal. I was very tired indeed when we finally reached\nVancouver and I went to old friends\nfor a few days to recuperate.\nI soon discovered that conditions\nwere no better in British Columbia\nthan they were in Eastern Canada,\nand was convinced that a job was\nprobably easier to get in the rural\nareas rather than in the cities. I\nmade my mind up to go to the prairies and work on the harvesting of\nthe grain crops as that season was\nfast approaching. So it became a\nmatter of riding the freight trains\nagain. I made for southern\nSaskatchewan and once there quickly got work on a farm. Harvesting\ncould be great fun in the days before\nthe combine harvester was invented.\nA gang consisted of six bundle\nteams, two field pitchers and a man\non the grain separator. It was very\nhard work, at least twelve hours per\nday in the field, besides looking after one's team of two horses. Before\nthe threshing the grain had to be\nstooked. This process took about\ntwo weeks and the threshing about\nsix weeks, as the farmer for whom I\nworked did some custom work on\nthe adjacent farms. But the regular\nmeals were a great delight to those\nof us who experienced considerable\nhunger in the months before and we\ndid full justice to the excellent quality supplied to us. The women on\neach successive farm on which we\nworked seemed to vie with one another on the quality of food served. I\nprobably ate more in one meal than\nI would eat in a week nowadays.\nWhen the work was completed I had\nRC Historical News saved $150.00 and prepared to return to the Pacific coast for the winter months, where I could eke out\nthese funds until the following\nspring.\nI returned to Vancouver by freight\ntrain and during the journey I met\none of the most remarkable men\nthat has been my good fortune to encounter. He was obviously English,\ngood looking and with a splendid\nphysique. Conversation, so easy in\nsuch circumstances, was soon established, and he told me that his\nname was Ulrich Mignon, an odd\nname for an Englishman, but it suited him well - one could not imagine\nhim being called Percy or Claude or\nsomething so tame! He was an interesting talker and appeared to\nhave a working knowledge of most\nsubjects - from ballet to ballistics.\nHe was good natured, and witty\nand had a Rabelaisian sense of humour. Some time later I discovered\nthat he had an Oxford University\ndegree and had been a Pilot Officer\nin the R.A.F. The only subject that\nhe did not discuss with me were his\npresent circumstances and his reason for being in Canada at that\ntime.\nAfter several days of travel, in\nwhich we found one another's company delightful and were beginning\nto know one another reasonably\nwell, we thought that it would be a\nsuitable arrangement if we found\nquarters together and share our\nworldly possessions - such as they\nwere! He had never been to the\nPacific coast before but I knew it\nquite well and had many friends in\nVancouver. On arrival in that city\nwe headed for an apartment block\nwhere I had stayed before. It was\ncalled the Victorian Apartments and\nwas situated on Seymour Street. It\nwas, in fact , a veritable Victorian\nmonstrosity. It consisted of three\nflights of housekeeping rooms and\non the vestibules on each floor there\nwas a row of hard leather chairs\neach with its own spitoon beside it.\nThese revolting receptacles were still\nin vogue in all the second-rate hotels\nand rooming houses in those days\nand now, fortunately, like the cham\nber pot, merely collectors items.\nWe were to spend about a year\nand a half together and I enjoyed\nmost of it. He had many interests\nand was widely read and I am forever grateful to him for implanting in\nme some measure of his love for the\narts and sciences. He wrote well,\nand some of his pieces were accepted\nby the Vancouver papers; he was\nalso very talented at illustrative\nposter work and some of it was taken by the advertising media. Our\nsocial life was quite fun too, as although we only had occasional odd\njobs our lady friends had steady employment and we were asked out to\nvarious social events. There seemed\nno reason to feel parasitic about it,\nas I am sure that we provided as\nmuch of the fun as did our hosts.\nEventually, he met a man of some\ninfluence in the business world and\nhe was offered a good job with the\nStandard Oil Company in their\nVancouver office. On the strength of\nthis piece of good fortune he decided\nto be married. I often visited their\napartment and it remained a pleasant relationship with both him and\nhis wife Erica. During the next few\nyears and after I departed from the\ncity I heard from mutual friends\nthat he no longer had this job and\nthat his marriage was a failure.\nThis somewhat saddened me. Some\ntime later, during the early years of\nthe war and I was in the Canadian\narmy, I heard he had become a\nSquadron Leader in the RCAF and\nremained in Canada for the duration\nof the war. One of his extra activities during the latter years of the\nwar was being the editor of the official RCAF news sheet and also its\ncartoonist, in which he created his\nfamous character Sergeant\nSatherwaite (or some such name). I\nhad almost lost touch with him now,\nand it was some time later that a\nmutual friend wrote to me and told\nme that after the war was over he\nworked for some years with\nManpower and had married again,\nsuccessfully, but had recently died\nat an early age of 58. I had always\nwondered why this man with all\nthat potential, a striking appear\nance and personality and remarkable\nintelligence had never attained the\nheights to which he could and should\nhave risen. I suppose there must\nhave been missing some of the ingredients which make for success - perhaps it was lack of ambition.\nNevertheless, when thinking of the\npeople whom I have met over the\nyears, this man stands out like a\nbright light; it was a great experience\nto have known him - and great fun,\ntoo.\nIt was early in the spring of 1934\nwhen Ulrich married and I was on\nmy own again with very little money\nbut managed to get a few small jobs\nto keep the pot boiling - painting the\nhouses of two of my more affluent\nfriends, for the princely sum of twenty-five cents an hour; but that at the\nvery least kept me going, so the\nsearch for something better went on.\nThere is an eccentric streak in most\nof us mortals when we aspire to become something for which we may\nnot be particularly gifted by nature to\nperform, and in which there is no logical reason for success. For example,\nthe comedian who would be a\nHamlet, the indifferent dancer who\naspires to be a ballerina. In my particular case the need for a crowning\nachievement in life was based on economic matters rather than aesthetic\nambitions. It was the Spring of\n1934, when the great depression was\nat its lowest point and most of us felt\nlike second-class citizens and wished\nto climb out of the morass. Every\nday we searched to advertisements\nin the daily paper for jobs. One day,\nto my amazement I saw an ad. from\na vacuum cleaner company who imported the new Swedish Electrolux\nmachine and needed salesmen. The\nad. stated that anyone who was interested could apply at their office in\nGranville Street at 11:00 a.m. the following morning. On arrival there I\nfound at least twenty other applicants at the rendezvous, equally\nthreadbare and seedy looking who,\nlike me had probably breakfasted on\nporridge and coffee - a mere fifteen\ncents in those days.\nThe office door soon opened and we\nall entered to be greeted by an unctu-\nB.C. Historical News ous looking individual who seemed\nto be the office manager. The interviews were en bloc; then followed a\nrecital of our names, addresses and\ntelephone numbers. All of us were in\nfact hired, regardless of experience,\nfor after all the company had little\nto lose - apart from some loss of\ntheir time - as the job carried no basic salary, merely commission on\nsales. We were instructed to come\nthe following day for a demonstration of the machine and its various\ntools; the day after for a talk on the\narts ( and grafts ) of salesmanship\nand on the third day we were to sally forth with one of the experienced\nsalesmen already in their employ.\nOn arrival on the third day I was\nsurprised to see that a piano had\nbeen installed, and after a brief pep\ntalk we were obliged to gather\naround this instrument and join in a\nfew suitable ditties, such as\n\"Onward Christian Soldiers\". All\nthis, I presume, was intended to\nbring us to a pitch of fervour, like a\nrevivalist meeting. The object being\nto seize a vacuum cleaner under one\narm, a sales book under the other,\nand march out full of electronic enthusiasm! The whole business\nseemed to me completely vacuous\nand utterly ridiculous, but perhaps\nthis was the modus operandi of the\nselling game at this period.\nMy particular instructor for the\nday was evidently a very experienced man at the selling trade. We\nwent to New Westminster and in\nthe course of the day visited five\ndental establishments. The only\nreason I could think of for his penchant for dentists was that he might\nbe paying off old bills. During the\nday four cleaners were sold which\nmeant a commission of $30.00 per\nmachine for this salesman-genius\nwho, with such a display of selling\nartistry, buoyed up my own hopes\nfor such unexpected riches! I might\nadd that my recompense for the day\nwas a slice of apple pie and a cup of\ncoffee at lunchtime, for although he\nlived in that city I was not invited to\nhis house.\nThe following day I was to be on\nmy own in Vancouver, so in the eve\nning I made a list of doctors - thinking that they must be at least as\ngood prospects as were the dentists\n- and possibly of a higher status in\nthe professions. A few telephone\ncalls were made and the third call\nsecured an interview for the following morning with a doctor's wife at\ntheir home where I would demonstrate the machine. That evening I\ncarefully vacuumed my room, sufficiently to know that there was some\ndebris in the bag (which is a common\ntrick in this trade).\nAt 10:00 the next morning I arrived at the doctor's home - it was\nan elegant establishment - and I\nwas greeted affably by the lady, and\nafter the usual polite conversation I\ngot down to business. There can\nhardly be a woman in the western\nworld of today who at some time in\nher life has not undergone a demonstration of this kind, so I decided to\nproceed by the book. At first a section of carpet is selected - approximately eight feet square; the machine must be adjusted accordingly\nand the patch assiduously worked\nover for at least five minutes. Then\nthe various tools are used for the\ncrannies of the chairs, etc. The next\nprocedure is to put a large section of\nnewspaper on the vacuumed carpet,\nremove the dust bag and carefully\nshake the contents (which in most\ncases is about the equivalent of a\nchild's sand pail at the beach ). At\nthis moment a quick look at the\nlady filled me with pity and some\ndegree of shame; doubtless she\nthought that I must consider her a\nslut, so I quickly reassured her that\nit was nothing unusual as no other\ncleaner on the market at that time\nwas capable of such efficiency. This\nmollified her to some degree and I\nthought that this was the psychological moment to finalize a sale, but\naccording to the book the full power\nof the machine must be demonstrated. So a section of parquet floor is\nselected, the machine adjusted, a little polish applied and the patch vigorously polished until one's face\ncould be seen in it. I certainly considered that a sale was imminent at\nthis stage and suggested that the\npile of debris lift on the newspaper\nhad better be removed. The machine\nswitch was pushed on, and then,\nhorror of horrors, I realised that I\nhad forgotten to change the hose\nfrom the blow-out position to the\ntake-in end.\nThere are moments in life when\none wishes to expire on the spot (a\nmost convenient place is a doctor's\nestablishment), or to eat dust as it\nwere, but I had to face the fact that\nevery speck of that was either back\nagain on the drapes and in every\ncorner of that elegant room! Red in\nthe face, and stammering my apologies to the lady - who by now was\nalmost in a state of apoplexy - I suggested that she immediately telephone her cleaning lady and that\nmy company would pay her in full\n(like hell they would). Fortunately,\nthe telephone was in another room,\nso as soon as she disappeared I\nseized my equipment, tore out of the\nfront door, raced downtown, deposited my machine and handed in my\nresignation. Fortunately for me all\ntelephones were busy that morning\nfor no complaints had been received\nin the interim. However, dishonoured, subdued and deeply mortified\nI realised that my forte in life was\nnot that of a salesman but rather of\na garbage collector or even a street\ncleaner, and the charms of salesmanship faded into an idle dream!\nShortly after this soul shaking\nevent I decided to leave the city and\ngo to the Okanagan Valley where I\nhoped to get some work in the orchards during the summer and autumn. Little was I to know that it\nwould be twelve years before I returned to Vancouver, but much water was to pass under the bridges of\nour lives during this time. I went to\nPenticton and Oliver during the season and was able to keep myself in\nfunds in a modest way.\nIt was at Penticton that I met\nHarry Spencer Chapman for the first\ntime. He was close to forty then and\nhad recently had a share in his father's cattle ranch but had given this\nup to work on his own; but work was\nscarce when we met. It was after\nthe fruit season and even if work\nRC. Historical News could be found the pay was quite inadequate for anything but the most\nmeagre living. With the Christmas\nSeason fast approaching prospects\nof much merriment looked very poor\nindeed. Harry was married and had\na baby daughter. We took an instant liking to one another - which\nremained until his death in 1965.\nWe were both English, of similar\nbackgrounds, but without much formal education. He was a man of\nvast resources, he was good natured\nand highly intelligent, had a wonderful sense of humour and ready\nwit. He was in fact an amazing\ncombination of brains and manual\ndexterity. He could and did perform\nmost trades as an artisan and from\n1940 until his death lived at Union\nBay and Courtenay on Vancouver\nIsland. During this period he designed and built over thirty houses,\nliterally with his own hands.\nBoth of us being out of jobs, we\nracked our brains for some way to\nmake a little money for Christmas.\nOne of us, I cannot remember which,\nthought of the Christmas tree and\ndecoration business, viz., holly, mistletoe, cedar boughs and Christmas\ntrees. Hany had the use of a large\ntruck, from his father's ranch, I\nthink, so we decided to go into the\nwoods and gather cedar boughs and\ntrees. We had solicited and obtained orders for two large trees, a\ntwenty footer for the biggest store in\ntown and a ten footer for the\nAnglican Church.\nWe set off for the woods several\ndays before Christmas and after a\ncouple of hours drive arrived at the\nspot Harry had in mind. There was\nan old cabin still intact, with an ancient stove which we could use for\nsuch elementary cooking necessary\nfor a stay of two days.\nWe went to work at once, filling\nthe truck with cedar boughs and by\nthe following afternoon we had loaded many small trees, tied the load\nwith ropes and set off for home on\nthe lookout for the two tall trees -\nthe 'big' money in fact! It did not\ntake long to obtain a suitable tree\nfor the church, but the twenty footer\nwas not to be found. On the way\nback we decided to pass through the\nIndian Reserve, which was forbidden\nterritory for the white man, and\nthere were dire penalties for anyone\nwho had the temerity to cut down a\ntree. Almost at once we saw a\nspruce suitable for our purpose.\nReserve or no reserve, Harry stopped\nthe truck with a bang, seized an\naxe, and before I could blink my eyes\nthe tree was on its way to the\nground. Unfortunately, at that moment, two swarthy Indians appeared out of nowhere, gesticulating\nwildly and obviously cursing us with\na mixture of English and their own\ntongue and with considerable venom! I was more than glad that the\ndays of the tomahawk had passed\nby; I also thought of a possible\nChristmas spent behind bars at the\nPenticton lock-up!\nHowever, as I have indicated,\nHarry was a resourceful man. What\nhe said to those two Indians I never\nknew, but in no time at all they\nwere filled with the Christmas spirit\n(not the liquid kind). Not only did\nthey agree to our taking the tree but\nactually helped us to tie it on the\nload, then waved us off with cheerful\ngrins. I rated this performance of\nHarry's a work of real art and\nthought that he would have made\nan excellent diplomat. This part of\nour assignment over we proceeded\nhome, parking the truck in Harry's\nback yard.\nI must mention that before we left\nfor the woods I had ordered a consignment of holly and mistletoe from\nthe wholesalers in Vancouver - this\nto be delivered by train to Penticton.\nSo the following morning we collected the goods and while Harry was\ndelivering the orders and the rest of\nthe load I went in to every shop in\ntown that sold shoes and accumulated a vast supply of shoe boxes. A\nsprig or two of holly and mistletoe\nwere placed in each box and on\nChristmas Eve we set up a stall on\nthe main street - without interference from the police - and proceeded\nto sell each box for twenty-five cents\napiece. In the end we found that we\nhad garnered about $120.00, a vast\nsum in those days! That was\n$60.00 each which provided a large\nturkey, a bottle of whiskey ($3.50\nthen), thus a worthy reward for a little enterprise.\nDuring the previous summer I had\nworked for a month or so in Oliver,\nB.C. for an ex naval officer; Clarence\nKing; he owned an orchard there\nand lived there with his family. He\nwas a remarkable man, serving the\nBritish mercantile marine until the\noutbreak of World War I when he became a skipper of one of the \"Q\"\nboats which were successful in beating the \"U\" boat menace in the\nAtlantic. For these services he was\nawarded two decorations. In the\nSecond World War he served with\nthe Canadian Navy - although by\nnow he had reached the age of 51.\nHe again had a splendid record in\nthe anti-submarine campaign and\nreceived decorations from both the\nCanadian and United States governments.\nHe had been in the district for\nabout five years and had planted\nout his twenty acres with fruit trees.\nAs everybody knows it takes several years of growth before fruit trees\nbecome a paying proposition, so in\norder to live and support his family\nhe grew ground crops - tomatoes,\ncantaloupes, cucumbers, etc. In fact,\nsuch crops were grown by all or-\nchardists in the early years of the\nsouthern Okanagan fruit industry\nand were, in fact, its mainstay. The\nKing family became my very good\nfriends. Clarence died in 1965 and\nhis wife, Olive, who lived to 92 years\nof age died a year or two ago.\nWhile I was with the King's that\nsummer Clarence suggested to me\nthat I might consider working on a\ncrop sharing basis the following\nyear; as he had other irons in the\nfire. The proposition was that he\nwould till the soil and supply the\nequipment and I would raise the\nplants from seed in the greenhouses,\nplant out the crop and do the harvesting. It seemed a reasonable\nproposition to me and settled the\nproblem of how to live in the coming\nyear.\nSo it was in February, 1935 that I\njoined the Kings in Oliver and lived\nB.C. Historical News with the family until they moved to\na new house later in the year. For\nthe first two months I did the preliminary work in the greenhouses -\nsowing seed and transplanting\nwhen necessary; it was also very important to maintain the stoves in\nthe greenhouses to withstand frost,\nso this meant a vigil at night, too.\nEarly in May the ground was warm\nenough to commence planting out\ninto the ground - these crops are\ngrown between the rows of fruit\ntrees. In all I raised 19,000 plants,\nviz; tomatoes, cantaloupes, cucumbers and cabbages and all had to be\nconstantly irrigated and cultivated\nand I never seemed to stop work. In\nfact, as I recollect, I worked at least\ntwelve hours per day, seven days a\nweek, including Sundays and holidays. I had very little money to\nspend and my diet was most meagre, but the thought of a good crop\nand money to spend buoyed my\nhopes and kept me cheerful. It developed into a bad season - a late\ncrop because everything was late in\nmaturing and late crops meant poor\nprices. In fact, the crops were so\nlate that the prairie market was lost\nto the Niagara growers, who happened to be early that year. Our local packing and marketing facility\nwas not able to cope with the situation. I have a poignant recollection\nof picking forty large boxes of semi-\nripe tomatoes one day which were\nnever picked up by the packing\nhouse as the market was dead.\nThese very quickly perished in the\nhot Okanagan sun. As soon as the\nseason was over Clarence and I discovered that our profit was only\nabout $300.00 each instead of the\n$1,500.00 that we had hoped for.\nSuch calamities hurt.\nAs the season wore on and it became evident to me that the financial rewards would not be great I applied for a job with the Northern\nMining Syndicate who operated a\ngold mine at Osoyoos, and was just\na few miles away from the King\nproperty and almost on the Canada\/\nUSA border. I was advised that a\njob would be available and that I\ncould start work there when my\ngrowing season was over. It was\nwith considerable elation that I\nheard this news, it was the fall of\n1935, and the depression was already of six years duration. As far\nas I was concerned it was possible\nthat my troubles might be over.\nIt would be impossible for anyone\nwho had not experienced many\nyears of such conditions to understand what it is like, or what it can\ndo to a person. It must be remembered that during the long years of\nhardship there was no adequate\nsystem of relief as there is today, no\nunemployment pay or proper relief\nprogrammes, such as were instituted by the Roosevelt administration\nin the U.S.A. After the first year or\nso the B.C. Government did institute\na meagre form of assistance, as I recall it was 35-cents a day for food\nand $1.45 a week towards rent!.\nIt is an unpleasant situation\nwhen, for the first time, you realise\nthat you do not have any money for\nfood and shelter. These facts are\nhard to bear; hunger for a limited\nperiod does very little harm, but being without shelter at night is a\nfrightening experience and lowers\nthe morale very quickly. During the\npast year I was homeless on many\noccasions, sleeping in police stations, railway cars, parked cars on\nthe highways, haystacks, barns and\nsundry other places - at least safe\nfrom the vagaries of the weather.\nBut the hardest thing to endure in\nthis situation is the simple fact that\nyou are no longer a normal person,\nwith a normal person's perspective,\nleading a normal life, but rather an\noutcast from society, contributing\nnothing to life in general and having\nat times to ask people for food; this\nis a personal humiliation and difficult to become reconciled to.\nFortunately, for me, I am an optimist by nature and remained convinced that thing would come all\nright in the end (as they have), and\nI think that my sense of humour\nhelped me to get through those\ntimes - for, after all is said and\ndone, almost all tragic events have\ntheir comic relief from time to time\nand make life endurable.\nIt was in after years that I came\nto realise that in spite of all the frustrations and hardships the experience of it all did me good. It taught\nme the value of work as a stabliser\nof life, both to the body and the human psyche; and in the real sense\nthe experience gave me physical and\nmental endurance - qualities that I\nwould need as the years passed by.\nThere is a school of thought today\nwhich pontificates that hard work is\nnot necessary for mankind and that\nany kind of mechanical invention for\nthe alleviation of human effort is a\ngood thing. I do not agree. From\nthe personal point of view I can say\nthat I rather enjoyed work and accepted it usually as a challenge,\nwhether the work was merely manual or using one's brain. For man has\nbeen a working animal since he first\nevolved and his body and mind are\nattuned to the ethics of it. What\nwill happen to man when it is a\ncompletely push button world, one\nhesitates to think. It cannot be a\nRoman holiday forever, and the vast\nmajority of mankind are not and\nprobably never will be capable of a\ncontemplative life.\nAnother enormous asset gained\nduring those depression years was\nthe real friends I made, a few of\nwhom are still living and who I see\nfrom time to time. I remember particularly Robina Martin and Janet\nGibson, two Canadian ladies both of\nwhom had secretarial posts in the\nBritish Embassy in Tokyo, and both\nof them back in Vancouver on furlough in the winter of 1932. These\ntwo good friends often fed Ulrich and\nmyself and gave us the run of their\nhouses. Alas, they both died some\nyears ago.\nIt was, therefore, late in\nSeptember, 1935 that I commenced\nworking at this mining property. It\nwas only a small concern employing\nabout fifty men; we lived in cabins\non the property and had our meals\nin the cookhouse. My first job was in\nthe lowest category of the mining\ni.e. mucking, which is simply going\nin to the mine after the miners have\nblasted the rock and shovelling it\ninto mine cars for dispatch to the\nRC Historical News crushing mill. It was hard, physical\nwork but that was not a new experience for me. After a month or two on\nthis work I was sent to one of the diamond drillers as his helper; this\nwas much more interesting working\nand slightly higher pay, too. After a\nfew months the driller left the employ of the company and I, having\nbecome reasonably efficient at the\nwork, was given the job. This, of\ncourse, meant even higher wages (by\nthe standard of those days). I was\non this work for close to two years\nand from time to time I was 'lent' by\nthe mining company to two of the\nother gold properties in the area\nwho required some exploration done.\nThis made the work even more interesting. Early in 1937 a large sodium cyanide plant was completed\non the mine property: this was to extract the maximum gold from the\nore. I was then transferred to work\nin this mill as an operator and spent\na few weeks learning the work from\nan expert in gold milling. There\nwas no hard work involved in this;\nmerely keeping the plant going\nsmoothly and making various tests\nthroughout one's shift. We were\nobliged to work seven days a week\nall round the clock, and apart from\nthe long change from day shift to\nmidnight shift had no time off at all!\nThe company did not hire a spare\noperator. I recall working one\nChristmas Day, in fact I was obliged\nto put in sixteen hours as the man\nthat should have relieved me had\nsuccumbed to an early Christmas\ncelebration! However, after the difficult times of some previous years\nnone of us minded this strenuous life\nvery much.\nMoreover, it was a pleasant locality in which to live and we managed\nto lead an enjoyable social life in the\nlimited time at our disposal. There\nwas a badminton club for winter and\nexcellent tennis club for the summer\nmonths. I joined a debating society\nwhich met once a month; we also\nplayed bridge and danced when\nthese things offered themselves. I\nalso bought my first car ever in\n1937, a Chevrolet coupe - much better built than today's offerings. But\nas the days of 1938 and 1939\npassed by it became increasingly obvious that we were in for another\nwar and it was the subject of much\nspeculation as to when it would be\nupon us. I, as an ex-militia officer,\nhad no doubt what I would do when\nit came. I remember coming off shift\nat midnight on September 4, 1939,\nand listening to a radio broadcast\nfrom England telling us that\nEngland had declared war on\nGermany. Also listening to this programme with me was a German employee - a very rabid fascist. Ours\nwere very mixed emotions.\nThere was no sleep for me that\nnight as I began to formulate plans\nfor my immediate future. I had\nmade up my mind, of course, to join\nup as soon as possible and having\nbought a new car a few months before I decided that I would drive\nright across the country and join my\nold battalion - now the Princess\nLouise Fusiliers - in Halifax, Nova\nScotia. (The machine gun corps had\nlong been disbanded). I resigned\nfrom my job that same day, settled\nmy limited affairs, said goodbye to\nmost of my friends and set off on\nthis lengthy journey with about\n$100.00 in my pocket - all my\nworldly wealth!\nImpetuosity has always been a\ncharacteristic of mine and it has, at\ntimes, caused me difficulties. If I\nhad considered all the hazards of\nsuch a journey it is most unlikely\nthat I would have made it. In the\nfirst place it is close to 4,000 miles\nto Nova Scotia and I had no idea of\nwhat it would cost or clear picture of\nthe route that I would take, and\nwith only $100.00 I could land myself in trouble. I had only driven a\nfew thousand miles in my life and\nnever in traffic of any substance. In\nrural British Columbia in those days\nsometimes one could drive for miles\nwithout seeing another car. A trip\nacross the continent entailed passing through many of the larger cities, and this alone would have been\nsufficiently discouraging to dissuade\nme from making the trip. However,\non September 9th, 1939, I set off\ninto the state of Washington east of\nSpokane, with the route Chicago,\nDetroit, Toronto, Montreal, the New\nEngland states and Nova Scotia in\nmind. It must be remembered there\nwas no through route from west to\neast in Canada in these days. After\nthe first night on the road I arrived\nin the town of Missoula, Montana\nabout lunchtime and went to a cafe\nto have some food, looking through\nthe advertisements for interest. In\nthe local paper I noted that a lady\nwas looking for transportation to St.\nPauls, Minnesota and would be glad\nto pay any motorist a share of the\nexpenses. I immediately telephoned\nto her and arranged to collect her\nand her luggage in an hour or two.\nOn arriving at the door she eyed me\nwith a certain amount of suspicion -\nprobably wondering if either her\npurse or her virtue were safe in my\ncompany. I told her that I was on\nmy way to join the Canadian army\nand that I would charge her $10.00\nfor the trip. This was reasonable\nenough as it was about 1500 miles;\nshe was glad to accept my offer and\noff we went.\nIt was a two day drive to the city\nand entailed staying for the night at\na hotel. She told me that she was\ngoing to St. Pauls to stay with a\nbrother; on arrival I was welcomed,\ntoo, and given a bed for the night.\nThe next morning I set off out of\nMinnesota and into the Dakotas,\nthen south into Illinois - fortunately\nI was able to by-pass Chicago which\nI had dreaded because of the traffic\nproblem. The roads that I had travelled to date had been good and the\ntraffic by no means dense; now and\nthen I encountered a flock of sheep\nor herd of cattle on the highway. I\nthen made my way into Michigan\nand to Detroit where I knew that I\nmust find the tunnel that took one\nto Windsor, Ontario. This proved\neasier than expected and I went on\nto Toronto and stayed with some old\nfriends for the night. Just outside\nthe city the next morning en route to\nMontreal I picked up a young hitchhiker, he turned out to be a university student anxious to get to\nMontreal. He paid for some gas and\ntook a spell at driving - this was a\nRC. Historical News great help to me. Also, being a resident of that city he was aware of all\nthe best routes going east, so after a\nmeal he drove me to a convenient\nplace for me to set off. I was now on\nthe last stage of my journey,\nthrough the New England states,\nthen New Brunswick and finally\nHalifax, Nova Scotia.\nThe journey turned out to be 4,400\nmiles, it had taken ten days and\nonly cost me about $60.00 from my\nown pocket. Gasoline while driving\nin the States was only 18-cents per\ngallon, meals were from 30-cents up\nand a respectable hotel room cost a\nmere $1.00 a night. I hesitate to\nthink what a trip of this nature\nwould cost today! I still had about\n$50.00 in my wallet and I had\nmade it!\nSo this was the end of an era as\nfar as I was concerned, the future\nwas uncertain (if one survived it) but\nlife was vastly exciting.\n****************\nA.G. (Gerry) Builder came to Canada in\n1923. He crossed the Atlantic 25 times before\nsettling in to retirement in Victoria. This gentleman enroled fbr a Senior s Writing course\nwhen he was 77 - This teas part of his autobiography that he wrote while taking the\ncourse ten years ago.\nTrackers in the Wilderness\nby Carle Jones\nSimon Peter Gunanoot, a Hazelton\nIndian, became quite famous when\nhe successfully eluded all Law\nEnforcement Officers for thirteen\nyears as they hunted him in the\nrugged Skeena Country of North\nWestern B.C. following the murder\nof two whitemen at Hazelton in\n1906.\nI never knew Simon Gunanoot, but\nI did know his younger brother\nDave, and this story will allude to\nan almost meeting we had in 1938.\nWhen Dave and other Indian families left their traplines in the Bowser\nLake and Meziaden Country, they\nwould come out over the Bear Pass\nto American Creek and camp there\nwhile they sent a runner into\nStewart to make a deal with some\ntruckers to haul them into town,\nwhere they would meet Mr.\nGoldbloom, a fur buyer from Prince\nRupert.\nThese meetings could take place at\nany time of the year, but this one occurred late in the Spring of 1938, after the heaviest snow had gone.\nMy partner and I had a Model \"A\"\nFord, stake body truck and we\nwould often haul them. Men,\nWomen, Kids and Dogs of all sizes.\nAll except the Chief carried packs,\nsome of those Squaws could carry\nprodigious loads, even quite small\nchildren carried packs. Fox Terriers\ncarried little packs, and big\nMalemutes could carry over fifty\npounds.\nWe liked Dave Gunanoot, he had\nas we said, \"Never Come In\" and\nhadn't been spoiled too much by our\nso called Civilization. His wife was\na pleasant looking woman who had\nenough Mission training to read and\nwrite a little and could do simple\nsums. They had two or three children.\nOn this occasion they had finished\ntheir trading and we had hauled\nthem back up to American Creek\nwhere they had loaded their packs\nand struck off for their traplines.\nA couple of days later an inspector\nof the B.C. Provincial Police came in\non the boat and told the local\nPoliceman, who was new on the job,\nthat he wanted to talk to Dave\nGunanoot. The local policeman\nknew that Ray and I had some contact with the Indians, so they asked\nus to take them to meet Dave. They\nwouldn't state their business, and\nwe were a little worried of the consequences if they were not diplomatic\nwhen they did meet him. He didn't\ntrust white men, particularly\nPolicemen.\nWe told them where we had left\nDave and the other families, so they\nhired us to help overtake the Indians\nwho couldn't be far along on their\ntrip back to their traplines.\nSo with four saddlehorses and\nthree or four packhorses loaded with\ntent, camping gear and horsefeed,\nwe headed out.\nThe second morning we hadn't\ngone far when we came on the scene\nof a recent camp, warm ashes, etc.,\nand assured our policemen that it\nhad been Dave's overnight camp.\nLater that day, as we made our\nway through the difficult country we\novertook an Indian woman carrying\na heavy load. She had got behind\nthe main party when she stopped to\nhave a baby. The child was born\ndead so she buried it, and taken up\nher pack and carried on.\nKnowing she was one of Dave's\nband, we rearranged our packs and\nput her and her load on a horse.\nThe Police were very pleased to have\nmade this contact. When we made\ncamp that evening we hung a horse-\nblanket over one corner of the tent to\nmake a private sleeping place for\nher. She didn't have much English,\nand we didn't have any Indian, but\nshe knew us and asked why the\nPolice were here. By this time,\nthrough talking to the young policeman, we knew that the Inspector\nwanted to discuss any knowledge\nRC Historical News\n8 Dave might have of a fur theft over\nin the Fort St. James area, some\nweeks before. We told her what we\nknew, but learned nothing from her.\nThat night she slipped away, but\nwas back the next morning. She\nliked riding that horse and getting\nher load carried. She told Ray that\nDave didn't want to talk to the\nPolice and that he knew nothing of\nthe fur theft. We believed her.\nWe carried on and each day we\nwould come on the signs of a recent\ncamp.\nThen as the grub was running low,\nthe decision was made to abandon\nthe chase. We left the Indian woman to carry her pack and headed for\nhome.\nThe police were disappointed, but\nhigh in their praise of our ability as\ntrackers. They didn't realize that\nthe Indians were simply following\nus each day, and then moving\nahead at night to make their camp,\nstepping aside in the morning to let\nus pass. Our slow pace through the\nrough country enabled them to keep\nup. They always knew where the\nPolice were with no chance of a surprise meeting.\nIn 1975, I visited Stewart and\nlearned that Dave, now widowed,\nwas living in the town. I walked up\nand rapped on his door. As he saw\nme standing there he said, \"Hello\nCarle, come on in\", as casually as if\nI was just passing on my way for\nthe mail.\nWe enjoyed a cup of coffee and a\nslice of freshly baked bread in his\nspotless little cabin. He was about\neighty years old then, but had gone\ninto Meziaden the fall before and got\nhis annual Moose for the winter\nmeat.\nWe spent an interesting hour reminiscing. We chuckled as we remembered that we did not tip the Police\nas to what was going on for two reasons: First, we were obeying orders.\nSecond, jobs were not too plentiful\nand this was a short job worth $5.00\nplus board per day for each of us.\nAlso, the boss got $4.00 per day for\neach horse!\nWe were not about to make suggestions to the Police on that trip\nwhere we built our reputation as\nTrackers in the Wilderness.\nCarle Jones made his debut as a historical\nwriter with his 'Tuckers and Packhorses of\nStewart\" in the Winter '89 NEWS. This gentleman resides in Creston where he is busy directing the operation and expansion of the\nCreston Museum. Carle recruited a volunteer\nto animate many of the displays in the\nCreston Valley Museum (open since 1982.).\nBritish Columbia Historical Federation\nWriting Competition 1989\nThe British Columbia Historical Federation invites submission of books or articles for the seventh annual Competition\nfor Writers of B.C. History.\nAny book dealing with any facet of British Columbia history, published in 1989, is eligible. The work may be a community history, a biography, glimpses of the past. Names, dates and places with relevant maps or pictures turn a story into\n\"history\".\nThe judges are looking for fresh presentations of historical information with appropriate illustrations, careful proof\nreading, and adequate index, table of contents and bibliography. Winners will be chosen in the following categories:\n1) Best history book by an individual writer.\n(Lieutenant-Governor's Medal for Historical Writing).\n2) Best History as prepared by a group (Eg.\nBunch Grass to Barbed Wire was published by Rose Hill Farmers Institute).\n3) Best History for Junior Readers.\nAwards are given where entries warrant, i.e. a lone entry in group 2 or 3 will not automatically be given a prize.\nWinners receive a monetary award, a Certificate of Merit, considerable publicity, and an invitation to the Annual B.C.\nHistorical Federation Conference to be held in Grand Forks in May 1990. Deadline for entering 1989 books is January\n31,1990, BUT submissions are requested as soon as possible after publication. Those submitting books should include\nname, address, telephone number, selling price of the book, and an address from where the book may be ordered if a\nreader has to shop by mail.\nMail to: B.C. Historical Writing Competition \u2022 EO. Box 933 \u2022 Nanaimo, B.C. \u2022 V9R 5N2\n\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\u2666\nThere will also be an award for Best Article published in the British Columbia Historical News. This prize is reserved for amateur historians and \/ or undergraduate or graduate students.\nArticles should be no more than 2,500 words, substantiated with footnotes if possible, accompanied by photographs if\navailable, and typed double spaced. (Photos will be returned.) Deadlines for quarterly issues are February 15, May 15,\nAugust 15, and November 15. Please send articles direct to:\nThe Editor, B.C. Historical News, EO. Box 105, Wasa, B.C. VOB 2K0\nRC Historical News A Wardens Life in\nKootenay National Park\nby Josephine Cobb\nIn 1937 my husband of nearly a\nyear; Leonard Cobb and I were living in Radium Hot Springs, B.C. up\nabove what is now the big parking\nlot housing campers and trailers visiting the Pool today. Len worked at\nthe Government Garage as a mechanic, and, seasonally a truck driver. We were housed in two tents set\nup five hundred yards from the\nGarage. One tent was for kitchen\nand utility work; the other a bed sitting-room. It had a board floor and\nboards for four feet up sides and end\nover which a tent was fastened. A\npiece of canvas called a \"fly\" made a\nsecond roof, keeping snow off the\ntent in winter and making the place\ncooler in the summer. We were\nquite comfortable and warm there,\nas long as we tended the airtight\nheater. If too much wood was put in\nat one time it had a tendency to\noverheat and blow the lid up and\ndown in an alarming fashion.\nLen applied for the job and was accepted. Late April saw us moving\nour few belongings five miles up the\nroad from the Park Gate. Kay's\nCabin was a frame building with a\nkitchen, living room with fireplace,\nand two bedrooms. There was a\nsink in the kitchen and cold running\nwater from a tap, piped from\nSinclair Creek. A rain barrel outside\ncaught precious soft water. An outhouse was partially hidden among\nthe trees. Laundry was done in a\ngalvanized tub with woman power\n(me) rubbing clothes on a corrugated\nglass washboard. A larger tub\nserved us for the Saturday night\nbath, whether we needed it or not.\n(This function was never neglected.)\nWater was heated in a large galvanized copper-bottomed boiler which\nsat on the kitchen stove along with\nthe ever cheerful kettle. The cabin\nwas an improvement over our tent\nhome.\n-\n-' \u2022 \u25a0 ...\nKay's Cabin, as it was in 1987- when we just occupied it. All trace of it is gone now.\nThe position of Warden at Kay's\nCabin was advertised that spring by\nthe Federal Civil Service on a notice\nin the Radium Hot Springs office.\nRC Historical News\nThe duties of a warden were varied. There was fire patrol, trail\nmaintenance, bear control and keeping the telephone line open. The tel-\n10\nephone line stretched from the\nRadium office to the last warden's\ncabin near the Alberta border. The\nwire hung in long loops between\ntrees on which insulators were fastened. A high wind would often\ndown the phone line; a tree might\nfall across it, or some weight would\ndrop the line into the snow where\ncurrent grounded wire could not\nserve the receivers along the way.\nFurther into the Park the avalanches which came down with a thaw\nwould bury the line for the width of\nthe slide. Fire pumps must be kept\nready to start at a moments notice.\nThis was no small feat as they were\ntricky little two-cylinder motors.\nLen had a good grasp of things mechanical, but if he was puzzled he'd\nstay with it till he had mastered the\nproblem. Those fire pumps ran efficiently when needed. A sharp eye\nwas kept out for lightning strikes,\nand side roads were patrolled to\nmake sure that visitors had put out\nall campfires. The area for our fire\npatrol that summer was from\nMcLeod Meadows to the Gate.\nBerries were in short supply in the\nbush so consequently there were a\ngreat many bears about. At night\nwe would step out on the back porch\nwith a flashlight: as we swung the\nbeam around our clearing we would\ncount six or seven pairs of eyes belonging to the visiting bears. Those\nbears foraging for food at the hotels\nnear the Hot Springs were giving\nsome places a lot of trouble. It was\nLen's job to go down and shoot the\npersistent troublemakers.\nTranquilizing was not known in\nthose days, and there was no money\nfor staff, conveyances, or catch-em\nalive traps to transport bears away\nfrom habitation. One night in the\nC.RR. Camp above Blakeley's Hotel, in the dark, with a five cell flashlight trained along the sights of a\ntwelve-gauge shotgun, he killed, he\nthought, a black bear that had been\nsmashing all the little jello desserts\nwhich were laid out in preparation\nfor a bus tour. It turned out to be a\ngrizzly, a more dangerous customer\nthan a black bear.\nLen had several trips out to\nMcLeod Meadow where bears were\nupsetting the tourists. In one instance he had to look for a bear that\nmade off with a cake that two ladies\nwere trying to bake in a cracker box\non one of the stoves in the shelters.\nThe improvised oven was a larger\ntin over the cracker tin. Oh, the joys\nof being a warden.\nLen used a government Model A\nlight delivery truck for those trips\nthe first summer. He serviced it and\nwas glad that it had lots of power.\nOn one outing we came across a\nsmall lake within the country that\nwas within Len's Patrol area. After\nhe had reported its whereabouts the\nsuperintendent had Len and Frank\nFoyston carry some trout fingerlings\ninto the lake in cans of water\nstrapped to their backs. There was\nno trail. They travelled in hot\nweather over windfalls and rough\ncountry to get to it. Those transplants grew into large trout eventually. Years later we were surprised\nand pleased to learn that the tarn\nwe first saw had been given the\nname \"Cobb Lake\"\nA warden's cabin had to be a self-\nsufficient unit. We kept a rifle, axe,\npick and shovel close at hand.\nWhite gas for one lamp and coal oil\nfor the other had to be stored in a\nsafe place. Cans of gas and tins of\noil had to be kept filled and ready\nfor emergencies involving truck travel. A good pile of stovewood was a\nmust. A large load of slabs was\nhauled from E. Trethewy's mill at\nFirland below Radium. When these\nwere dumped in the yard at Kay's\nCabin we started to cut them with a\nSwede saw. However, Len rescued\nan old gas powered saw from\nGovernment discards, got it going,\nand cut up the wood for the kitchen\nstove and front room heater much\nmore quickly than anticipated.\nWhen fall came we prepared a\ncarefully considered order for groceries to last during the months when\nthe Radium-Banff road would be\nclosed. Len got most of the staples\nfrom Ray Ball's store in\nWindermere. Groceries came in\nlarge amounts; flour by the 100 lb.\nsack (or 50 lb. at the smallest); sugar in 50 lb. sacks; milk by the case,\n48 cans to the case; tea, coffee, and\ncocoa; raisins, baking powder, soda,\ndry yeast cakes, vanilla, salt;\nmatches; butter in a 50 lb. box at\n250 per lb.; raspberry, and strawberry jam, and peanut butter in 4 lb.\ntins; bacon in 6 or 7 lb. slabs; dried\nprunes, apricots or apples which\ncame in 20 lb. boxes, each for $2.00;\nrice and beans in large sacks; wholewheat flour and molasses; Canadian\nbulk cheese; and sowbelly pork for\nfrying or cooking with beans. We\nmade our own cookies, cake, bread\nand candy. Breadmaking was a\nlong drawn-out process with slow\nrising yeast in each batch which\nwould be covered with blankets and\ncoats to keep it out of all drafts during the day. Our winter order of\ngroceries filled the back of the Model\nA truck and cost about $30.00. To\nsupplement those supplies Len went\nto Edgewater where he purchased a\nside of beef at 9# per lb. from Eric\nSmith, plus 50 or 100 lb. sackfulls of\ncarrots, potatoes, turnips, and onions. These were stored in a cold\nroom, created under the kitchen\nfloor.\nIn preparation for winter patrols\noutlying cabins had to be checked,\ncleaned, stocked with dry food (in\ntins to protect it from mice) and firewood. Some of these cabins were\nwindowless remains of a homesteaders shack. The Kootenay River\nValley had attracted, and lost,\nabout a dozen homesteaders before\nthe area was claimed as a National\nPark. Some cabins had to have a\nsmall stove taken in for heating during emergency winter stopovers.\nPack rats and their nests had to be\nousted as far as possible. A warden\npatrolling for illegal trappers or\ndowned telephone lines had to have\n11\nshelter after walking or snowshoe-\ning 8 to 10 miles. These duties, as\nall others, were recorded in the\nwarden's diary; this daily report\nhad to be turned in at the Gateway\noffice at the end of each month.\nLen rigged a snowplow blade on\nthe Model A Ford and was able to\nkeep the five miles of road open to\nRadium Hot Springs. Economy,\nhowever, dictated that we go to\ntown only once a month, unless on\ngovernment business or in an emergency. The social life as observed by\nthe warden's family in 1937 was\nlimited. Our At water Kent radio,\npowered by two big \"B\" batteries\nand a smaller \"C\" cell, entertained\nus - when the reception was right.\nHalf hour comic programs such as\nFibber McGee and Molly, Jack\nBenny, and Amos 'n Andy were\nmuch appreciated. That winter the\nWorld Boxing Championship was being fought by Joe Louis and Max\nSchmelling. Some friends came up\nfrom Radium to listen with us, but\nbefore they were all properly seated\nMax Schmelling knocked out Joe\nLouis in the second round. Rather\nan anticlimax to the evening! Traffic\npassing Kay's Cabin was very light\nduring the off season, so anyone\nwho came along was invited to join\nus for a meal and socialize a bit.\nWinter patrols were conducted on\nsnowshoes or skis. Nothing startling happened that winter, and as\nspring 1938 appeared Len and a\nhelper were sent to clear trails and\nsideroads of windfalls. Early in the\nsummer a new cabin was built at\nNixon Creek, just off the highway.\nThis project was supervised by\nOswald Young, warden at Kootenay\nCrossing, with Len Cobb and\nStanley Wolfenden assisting him.\nThe sturdy cabin, built of logs cut in\nthe area, was much needed to serve\nas an overnight stopping place for\nwinter patrollers. Late in the season Oswald Young unexpectedly left\nthe Kootenay Crossing Station.\nLen and I were instructed to move\nto Kootenay Crossing for the winter.\nThere was to be no replacement at\nKay's Cabin so Len faced patrols\nfrom Vermillion Crossing to the\nRC. Historical News Gate, a distance of 38 miles with\nSinclair Summit being a proven obstacle on the roadway.\nhen &Jo outside Kootenay Crossing Cabin -\n1988\nWe were installed in the Kootenay\nCrossing cabin, with six months supply of groceries, by the end of\nOctober. The cabin was similar to\nKay's Cabin, but without a fireplace.\nThere was a garage which held a\nChev. truck for the warden's use\n(when road conditions permitted.).\nThere was the telephone , and intermittent radio reception. We had a\nSpringer spaniel and a cat for company. The nearest, and only neighbours were Charles and Annie Crook\nwho lived five miles south of\nKootenay Crossing. Their home\nwas a combination gas station and\ndwelling, with a few log cabins built\non the other side of the highway for\nrenting to summer tourists. This\nsmall business was situated on 160\nacres of freehold land that the owner\nhad homesteaded in 1911.\nThe Warden at Kootenay Crossing\nhad to patrol a different area every\nday that travel was possible.\nOccasionally Crook's son, Ray,\nwould go out with him, and sometimes I would accompany them.\nEvery month end he skied or snow-\nshoed the 25 miles out to the office\nin Radium Hot Springs. His most\nhectic assignment came just before\nNew Year's Day when a big slide\ncame down near Vermilion Crossing\nburying the telephone line and\nRC Historical News\ncutting off communication to Bert\nRutherford, the warden at Marble\nCanyon. Len snowshoed up, reconnected the telephone, and snowshoed home again for New Year's\nEve. Twenty-two miles on heavy\nwet snow to help a fellow warden\njoin the civilized world for a brief telephone chat as 1939 dawned in the\nRockies.\nLen Cobb at Wordie Creek cabin \u25a0 1988 - on\nthe way to Vermilion Crossing from Kootenay\nCrossing. (Note the height of the snow.)\nThe Crook family were very hospitable to us. Mrs. Crook's baked\nbrown beans and brown bread tasted\nlike manna from the gods, especially\nto snowshoers who had been out for\nhours in the crisp sunshine. Best of\nall was the companionship. Charlie\nwould sing and play the banjo, Len\nplayed the mouth organ, and Dinty,\nour dog, put on his show for us.\nThese neighbours brightened up the\nwinter for us. Roads became passable on the valley floor but it was not\nuntil the 2nd day of May 1939 that\nwe travelled in the Chev. truck over\na slushy Sinclair summit to Radium\nHot Springs. It was six months\nsince I had left there for Kootenay\nCrossing.\nWe returned to Kay's Cabin for the\nsummer. Len carried out his duties\nas warden of the station. In\nSeptember he tendered his resignation to Ottawa; it was acknowledged with regret by the\nDepartment of National Parks. We\nleft Kootenay National Park at the\n12\nend of October to undertake new\nchallenges, but rich in memories and\ncautiously optimistic about changing\noccupation in a community a few\nmiles away.\n****************\nhen Cobb became a miner, first at Bralorne,\nthen at Kimberley. His doctor advised him to\navoid further underground work for health\nreasons. The next ten years saw him working seasonally for the Forest Service out of\nCanal Flats, alternately with operating his\ntrapline near White Swan Lake (26 miles\neast of Canal Flats). From 1960 to 1967\ntheir home was at the end of a trail. Then a\nroad was pushed into that country providing\naccess to a lot of timber. In 1960 they moved\nback to Brisco where they owned a small\nacreage, and in 1977 they moved to\nInvermere.\nThe writer further says, \"I accompanied\nLen wherever we had to go to find work. We\nhad no chUdren. Len was at home with his\nenvironment, capable and content with his lot\nHe was a good companion, full of fun. The\nlife was interesting and challenging. I entertain no regrets.\"\nJosephine Cobb, now a widow, lives in\nInvermere where she is a member of the\nWindermere District Historical Society.\nNOMINATIONS\nCanadian Historical Association\nCertificates of Merit fw\nRegional History\nThe Regional History Committee of the\nCanadian Historical Association invites nominations for its\n\"CERTIFICATE OF MERIT\" Awards.\nTwo awards are given annually for\neach of five Canadian regions, including British Columbia and the Yukon:\n(1) an award for publications and videos that make a significant contribution\nto regional history and that will serve\nas a model for others; and (2) an\naward to individuals for work over a\nlifetime or to organizations for contributions over an extended period of\ntime.\nNominations accompanied by as\nmuch supporting documentation as\npossible should be sent no later than\n30 November 1989 to Robert A.J.\nMcDonald, Department of History,\nUniversity of British Columbia, Memories of Motoring in the 1930's\nby Ernest A. Harris\nOver the years the motor-car, for\nbetter or worse, has become an integral part of our way of living. For\nme the 1930s are recalled by memories of the three automobiles (all of\nthem used cars) that I owned during\nthat notorious decade. For a vast\nnumber of people who suffered privation because of mass unemployment\nthose years were indeed the 'dirty\nthirties.' Social assistance was minimal and unemployment insurance\nand medicare did not exist.\nMy family was far from wealthy\nbut in 1930 I was fortunate to have\na job. In September of that year I\nwas appointed to the teaching staff\nof Mackenzie School in Vancouver at\na salary of $1200 per annum. I was\nthen 22 years old, and had 3 1\/2\nyears of experience - a year and a\nhalf at Boulder, a tiny Doukhobor\nsettlement south of Nelson, and two\nyears (1928-30) at Englewood, a\nsaw-mill company-town on\nVancouver Island, near Alert Bay.\nBoth were ungraded one-room\nschools. To reach Boulder I went via\nthe Kettle Valley Railway that tres-\ntled and tunnelled its way through\nthe rugged Coquihalla valley into\nthe southern interior, and to\nEnglewood travelled by Union\nSteamships whose red-funneled fleet\nof steamers served the B.C. coast for\nmany years before sailing into history. In Vancouver I could live at\nhome and travel by street-car to and\nfrom work daily - but only by a very\nround-about route.\nIn those days the B.C. Electric\nstreet-car lines radiated from the\ndown-town area like the spokes of a\nwheel - each spoke serving a different suburban community. My home\nwas in Marpole, served by the bouncy Oak Street tram, and Mackenzie\nSchool, about four miles to the northeast, was close to the Fraser Street\ncar-line. To get there it was necessary to travel into the city and then\nout again with two transfer points -\nalmost an hour's journey. Obviously\na more direct mode of transportation, other than walking (which I did\noccasionally), would be desirable.\nA solution came about during the\nfirst week of school when I was introduced to a car salesman who had\njust sold a new car to a fellow teacher. He said he had the very thing\nfor me in the slightly stream-lined\nshape (compared to its upright predecessors) of a 1926 Model T Ford -\na touring car with a canvas top,\npriced at $145. After a short ride\nand kicking the tires a few times, it\nseemed to be a good deal but I had\nto admit I had never driven a car.\nThe young salesman said that was\nno problem - he would give me a lesson but I would have to get a driver's license, which at that time was\nmore or less a matter of form. To\nthe question: \"Had I driven an automobile?\" I replied, \"Not in B.C.\" (\"or\nanywhere else\" I should have added\nbut didn't). Nothing more was said\nso I paid $1.00 and was given a license to drive.\nMy salesman instructor drove from\nthe Motor License Office (then located in the old court house on Georgia\nSt.) to Stanley park where I took the\nwheel and learned the rudiments of\ndriving a Model-T-much of it done\nwith one's feet. There were three\npedals at the base of the steering\ncolumn - on the left the clutch,\npushed down for low gear, let out for\nhigh, and held mid-way for neutral.\nOn the right was the brake and between these two pedals was a\nsmaller one for reverse. Someone\ntold me in an extreme emergency\none should come down hard on all\nthree but I don't recall ever having to\ndo that.\nThe gas throttle control was a\nhand-operated lever just below the\nsteering wheel (in my Model-T one\ncouldn't \"Step on the gas\") and a\n13\nsimilar lever on the opposite side\nregulated the spark. The car had a\nself-starter but if it failed to work because of a weak battery there was\nalways the crank handle hanging\nout-front and it was used on more\nthan a few occasions. The dashboard had only two features - a slot\nfor the key and an ammeter that indicated how the battery was - or\nwasn't - re-charging. There was no\nspeedometer but you could estimate\nthe speed to some extent by how the\nengine chattered and the car rattled.\nThere was a manually operated\nwind-shield wiper and ventilation\nwas not much restricted by the flapping side-curtains.\nI soon established a satisfactory\nrapport with my Model-T and travelled by direct route to and from\nschool without mishap - except for\nonce going in the ditch along 49th\nAvenue one foggy late afternoon. In\nSeptember 1930 Mackenzie School,\nformerly housed in a frame structure\non Fraser Street, re-assembled in a\nbrand new building at 39th and\nWindsor. This event was apparently considered to be important\nenough to have the school officially\nopened by the premier of the province, Dr. S.F.Tolmie. The premier\nwas a large amiable man enticed\nfrom federal politics to lead and\nunite a divided provincial\nConservative Party to victory in\n1928. This electoral success was severely challenged by the stock-\nmarket crash in 1929 and the uncertainties that followed. Three years\nafter the school-opening the Tolmie\ngovernment, unable to cope with the\nharsh problems of the Depression,\nwas annihilated at the next election.\nMackenzie School had a fine school\nspirit with an emphasis on sports\nfostered by the principal, Tommy\nWoodcock, whose entire teaching career of more than forty years was\nspent at this school. I was no sports\nRC Historical News expert but became at least a nominal coach. My faithful Model-T\ntransported a multitude of kids to\ninter-school games - an entire junior\nsoccer or baseball team was often\ncrammed aboard. If the car sometimes balked at starting there was\nalways an enthusiastic crew ready\nto give it a push. Of course the\nModel-T was also used for family\noutings and Sunday drives as well\nas personal errands. However the\nbiggest test for the automobile and\nfor my driving ability came at the\nbeginning of the summer holidays in\n1931 when I decided to drive to\nHorsefly in the Cariboo where my\nsister, Kay, was also a teacher.\nWith the completion of the railways the historic Cariboo Road, built\nby the Royal Engineers in the\n1860s, had fallen into disuse and\nbecome impassable. However by\n1926 it had been re-built and declared open for automobile traffic\nwith a new suspension bridge at\nAlexandria in the Fraser canyon\narea. Five years later in 1931 it\nwas still an adventure road, scenic\nbut winding and unpaved - a narrow\nshelf hacked out of the mountain\nside.\nOn July 1, 1931, with a companion named Joe, Model-T and I set\nout on our safari. Almost 2 1\/2 days\nlater, after a journey of ups and\ndowns, ins and outs, and slips and\nslides we reached our destination at\nHorsefly. In the '30s the Cariboo\nwas still frontier country with wide-\nopen spaces, cattle ranches, snake\nfences, and log houses. Modern\ntowns like Cache Creek and 100-\nMile House with their 4-star motels\n(an unknown word then) were nothing more than a few log-buildings.\nHorsefly too was a log-cabin village -\nthe City Hotel and the general store\nwere the only frame buildings. The\nschool-house was neatly built of\npeeled logs and the hospitable\nCorner House, where my sister\nboarded, consisted of several log\nhouses that seemed to have come together to form one comunal dwelling. It is regrettable that so many\nof these relics of pioneer days have\ndisappeared due to fires, neglect,\nand the passage of time.\nThe return trip, with sister Kay\naboard, saw us slide down the muddy northern part of the road and rattle along the drier section from\nAshcroft to Lytton. When we\nreached the lower Fraser, nearing\njourney's end, Model-T was showing\nincreasing signs of weariness. As\nwe rattled into New Westminster, at\ndusk on the second day, the car\nlights refused to go on and, worse\nstill, the brake-bands had burned\nout - fortunately close to a garage.\nWe returned home on the interurban tram that used to run from\nNew Westminster to Vancouver via\nMarpole. Next day we rescued\nModel-T which, mechanically restored and washed clean of Cariboo\nmud, was ready to ramble again. I\nalso drew a cartoon commentary of\nour journey which the Vancouver\nPROVINCE later published in their\nSunday Magazine section-(Oct. 11,\n'31).\nWhen school re-opened for the fall\nterm the Mackenzie staff-member\nwho had been on leave of absence returned and I was assigned to\nCarleton School, where I was to remain for the rest of the decade.\nCarleton, located at Kingsway and\nJoyce Road in the Collingwood area,\nwas a couple of miles farther east\nthan Mackenzie but this made little\ndifference to my restored Model-T.\nThis school too had an excellent reputation due in no small part to the\nprincipal, Alex. Martin, who had\nbeen appointed to that position in\n1905 and who retired in 1942. Over\nthe years he had seen a school with\nonly two classrooms grow to twenty-\nfour divisions housed in an 8-room\nframe structure built in 1908 and a\n16-room brick building completed in\n1912. The original 2-room school\nwas retained and used when required. (It is still in use).\nMy first year at Carleton was an\nagreeable one, in spite of the menace\nof the depression. The Model-T continued its transportation function\nsatisfactorily until the end of the\nterm in June. During the 1932\nsummer holiday we made another\nventure into the interior and this\ntime it was 'On to Okanagan.'\nThere I spent several weeks with\nold friends, the Fred Day family,\nwho lived on a farm near\nKelowna.\nFred Day had a dairy farm and\non his 80 acres grew corn and alfalfa as well as crops of tomatoes,\nonions, cabbages - and cucumbers.\nSometimes he would take a day\noff and we would go fishing, usually in his rugged old Star car.\nHowever I once did drive my\nModel-T to Beaver Lake over a\nrough steep so-called road that\nchallenged its horse-power to the\nlimit going up and put a strain on\nthe brakes coming down - with\nsome Kamloops trout. I learned a\nlittle about farm life by helping\nwith the haying and one frustrating experience picking cucumbers -\nfrustrating because the price was\nso low they were just dumped.\nFred's dairy assured him of a\nmonthly pay cheque but many\nfruit-growers were cash poor.\nUnlike the drought stricken prairie dust-bowl the irrigated\nOkanagan valley was productive\nbut in the '30s transportation and\nstorage costs eliminated any profits for the fruit-growers, making\nthem victims of the Depression\ntoo. In protest they threatened to\nlet the apple crop fall unpicked\nwith the cry \"a cent a pound or on\nthe ground\".\n1932 and 1933 were perhaps\nthe worst years of the Depression.\nCut were the order of the day -\nsalaries, supplies, services - even\nthe school telephones were disconnected to save a few dollars.\nCollingwood was mainly a working class district and many families were hard hit by the lean\ntimes but they were resilient people and tried to make the best of\nthings. The Carleton PTA did\nuseful work in several ways, one\nof them being the supplying of\nmilk to kids in need. The school\nnurse did extensive social service\nwork in the community and some\nof the principal's time was taken\nup issuing chits for children's shoe\nrepairs. Although times were\nRC Historical News\n14 Mr WtRSnlDVtS&D To ToW~A\ntrce. semtip i\/s ifi we. wenr\nBOMJ PAVIUO* MOe\/MTAW\nCODLjrnlY AGREE O\/VA\n**A3 9SC\/OSO TO Go\nY \/*4K8LJl CAHYO*. \u00a3\n~AtTua>Mrl6 - Tt\/S t*HU> M>SSTiit\nMt>t>j>yAHj>wsr. we KecEivep\nOUR tAST SIT CF C\/IAiSOO\nfitVO *T V *\/4T C*\u00a3\u00a3K.\nwe\ntee it to\nV*A\/COU\\\/jtx ,js 4 SOl\/lfM\/Ht\nn.\n7Vti fto\/tj? PHont Ast\/caprr\nSre*ce'3 g\/tioce. 443 t\/\/tp\n4* s\/ceuaur 'Pewwiiw I\nl\/r.\n_ AM IJOUSCS ALONG\ntoo-Mn.B, aw*M\u00a3, ere.\nTHenc -we \/\/oweveRSrut.\n\/t Nt\/ftgc* of vapant ixsrs\nTt\/if HiNOCBNr\nCRSATUM WAS ot\/K\nDOMNFAU- T\/fB\nvzitf&q OAzep\/tr\nit too Lone... y\nAMD \u2014\u2022\nOUR F\/tlTlfFUL STtBff was\nshowing v\/cary. mow lyrroiA,\nt& \/ \/n\/e CMsr si\/e\nW4S\nifov\/evi\nA aanrtertA.N\nWITH A TUAM\nAescuep US AND\nWe PROCULPBD TO OUR\nP\u00a3sr\/M*r\/Or\/\u2014i)OR3BAt\nA\/\u00a3W MSsm\/MSTMtl Sl\/e.\n- wir<\/ rife Ass\/sTjNca\nOf 7}\/e CURg Mp 4 TSLBPWNe ftxg\nif\"* I -7T- *\/*cTt.Y OPfiOSlT\/Z. HOARAS*..\n9KoP*iN6) tiMiOVS*4*~ I *\"\u00b0 MAT was that\/\nCW)\ntough school functioned normally\nwith many after-school activities for\npupils and teachers.\nAn extra-mural activity pursued by\nmany teachers was the attainment\nof a BA degree by degrees. This\nmeant attending lectures at UBC\nfrom 4 to 6 p.m. twice a week during\nthe regular term, followed by six\nweeks at the Summer Session. After\nseveral years one could amass\nenough credits to graduate. It was\nabout twelve miles from Carleton to\nUBC and my Model-T usually transported several others beside myself.\nLater they became owners of late-\nmodel cars but at that time they\nwere glad to get a lift in my old tin\nLizzie, which also transported me to\nevening classes at the B.C. College\nof Arts on Georgia Street. This\nschool was established by F.H.\nVarley and Jock Macdonald in 1933\nbut their innovative effort succumbed\nto the Depression two years later.\nModel-T also conveyed me and\nfriends to Friday night badminton\nsessions at various locations in the\ncity, ranging from school gymnasiums, church halls, and \u2022 one season - the chilly vastness of one of the\nold Exhibition buildings at Hastings\nPark.\nAll this usage was having a wearing-out effect on my aging auto.\nThe dependable Marpole garage-\nman, who liked Model-T's, and had\ndone his best to keep mine mobile,\nindicated that expensive repairs\nwere needed and I would be well ad-\n15\nvised to get another car. He happened to know of one that an old\nlady had not even driven on\nSundays but, for several years, had\njust kept it in her garage. A good\nbuy, he said.\nA day or so later my garage-man\nbrought the automobile out for inspection. It proved to be a solidly\nbuilt solidly black vehicle that could\nhave led a parade of antique cars\nwith dignity. We went for a test run\nbut even though the car rode well\nenough and the motor chugged confidently I had to tell him it wasn't for\nme.\nSoon after this I selected from a\nGeorgia Street used-car lot a 1928\nChevrolet coach priced at $250. I\nclosed the deal with $25 off for my\nRC Historical News faithful but worn-out Model-T. My\ngarage-man admitted it was a good-\nlooking car and though he found\nnothing mechanically amiss opined\nthat some defect would soon show\nup. This 1928 Chev. was only two\nyears younger than my 1926 Ford\nbut it did have important differences\n- more horse-power, standard gearshift, a speedometer, an automatic\nwindshield wiper, and being a closed\ncar better shelter from wind and\nrain. On the left rear mud-guard a\nsmall red triangle indicated the car\nhad hydraulic brakes. From 1934\nuntil 1938 the '28 Chev. served satisfactorily without too much grief. It\nmade two summer trips to the\nOkanagan and in 1934 did a tour of\nVancouver Island from Victoria to\nMenzies Bay - the end of the road\nthen.\nBy 1938 I was obliged to dispose\nof my Chevrolet because of, not metal fatigue, but wooden fatigue. The\nbody was built on a wooden frame\nwhich over the years had rotted badly. In spite of attempts at reinforcement it became very difficult\nto open and close the two heavy\ndoors and so it was necessary for me\nto acquire my third and last used\ncar of the decade.\nThis time I made a big change to a\nsmall car - a 1936 made in England\nMorris 8. At $600, it cost almost\ntwice the other two combined but I\nthink I liked it because it was different, a bit sporty (mechanically related to the MG), and economical. It\nalso had a sliding 'sunshine roof.'\nThe car performed well in city driving but did require more gear shifting. Nevertheless it made it to the\ntop of Grouse Mountain on the now\nabandoned road that zig-zagged to\nthe original chalet. In the summer\nof '38 I again visited my friends in\nKelowna but the Morris 8's longest\njourney occurred in 1939 when, with\ntwo companions, I drove to\nCalifornia.\nIn 1939, despite economic problems and Nazi\/Fascist aggression,\nthe United States staged two world\nFairs - one in New York and the other in San Francisco. Our objective\nwas the latter city when we drove\nal ij\u00ab \u00absw Mai *k uaaf\n(Minfal-feeorrj . W-\njtp\/i'r G*r any \/\/rnfen \u2014^.\n.\/un\u00abi6 ma. TV's\/\nCJI^SMt Hi* i*rmwnion*t. \/*>.irtW)'\nirtMnpa* **p -'rry T*\u00abrif vA>* \/rr l~\nsouth in mid-August. Unlike B.C. it\nwas pavement all the way. When\nPresident Franklin Roosevelt was\nfirst elected in 1932 part of his fight\nagainst the Depression was a massive program of public works. This\nwas made evident by the many new\nbridges we crossed as we travelled\nthe scenic coastal highway, Route\n101.\nSan Francisco has many points of\ninterest but in 1939 the Fair was\nthe chief attraction. It was dominated by a huge goddess figure called\nPacifica - somewhat ironic in a world\non the brink of war. Of course we\nvisited the B.C. exhibit which featured several large murals painted\nby three young Vancouver Art School\ngraduates - Fisher, Goranson, and\nHughes, who later achieved distinction as War Artists with the\nCanadian forces.\nAfter a few days in San Francisco\nwe drove on to Los Angeles taking\nin the well-known tourist attractions\n- but not Disneyland, which was still\nin the future. Our Morris 8 was an\nobject of interest to Californians and\nthere were usually comments and\nquestions wherever we stopped.\nThe return trip was made along inland Route 99 in hot sunshine\nthrough Bakersfield, Fresno, and\nSacramento. In Oregon we visited\nCrater Lake and then it was north\nto Canada and home again by\nAugust 31. Next day came the news\nthat Hitler had invaded Poland and\nWorld War II had begun. The final\nmonths of the 1930s marked the\nstart of another world conflict that\nwould, during the 1940s, bring more\ndeath and destruction than ever before in human history.\nDividing the stream of history into\n10-year sections has no special significance other than recording the sequence of events but some decades\ndo have more adverse ones than others. The Thirties had a dark side\ndue to the economic slump and preparations for war but there were\nbright spots too - positive efforts to\nsolve social problems, considerable\nintellectual stimulation, as well as,\nRC. Historical News\n16 in spite of everything, a lot of fun.\nThose of us who personally experienced the 1930s can say, with the\nChinese, \"we lived in interesting\ntimes.''\n**************\nErnest Harris is now retired and living in\nVancouver. He has written a book on the history of Port Essington which will be published\nearly in 1990.\nEXPLANATORY NOTES\nre CARTOONS\n\" ON THE ROAD TO CARIBOO\"\n\u2022 was published (Oct. 11, 1931) under a\nheadline: 'Where the Flying Splashes\nPlay\"\nPanell- ADVICE: Better than any of\nthe advice given was the loan by a\nthoughtful friend of a set of chains\n- without which we would never have\nmade it along the muddy slippery road\nnorth of Clinton.\nPanel 4- Alexandra Suspension\nBridge - $1.00. This toll was collected\njust beyond Spuzzum near the bridge approach.\nPanel 7 \u2022 TeeGee' White Elephant \u2022\nthe B.C. government was burdened with\nthe unfinished debt-ridden Pacific Great\nEastern* Railway (now B.C. Rail) which\nmany people (especially cartoonists) regarded as a white elephant.\n\u2022Abo\n'Please Go Easy' \u2022 'Prince George\nEventually' and others.\nPanel 8 - 'Tow a tree\" would be a real\ndrag - but would ease the strain on the\nbrakes - especially a Model-\"Ts\n\"FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA TO\nCALIFORNIA BY (Morris 8)\n- This was never published although the\neditor of Morris Motors Magazine intimated he could have used it if it had not\nbeen for looming war restrictions.\n\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022**\u2022\u2022\nModel T (July 1,1931) on the Fraser Canyon\nroad somewhere between Boston Bar and\nlytton.\nSIXTH B.C. STUDIES CONFERENCE\n2-3 November 1990\nThe sixth B.C. Studies Conference will be held at the University of\nBritish Columbia in Vancouver from 2-3 November 1990. Proposals for\nconference papers are now invited.\nPurpose\nThe Studies Conference is interdisciplinary with an historical focus.\nThe organizers invite proposals for paper that will enhance an understanding of any aspect of British Columbia's past, current and future\ndevelopment.\nFormat\nApproximately ten sessions will be held at the conference. Most sessions are made up of two papers on a related subject followed by a commentator's critical assessment. A \"Victorian dinner\" is also planned.\nDeadline\nSuggestions for conference papers will be considered as they are received; the deadline for proposal submissions is 15 December 1989.\nEnquiries and paper proposals should be directed to Robert A.J.\nMcDonald, Department of History, University of British Columbia,\nVancouver V6T 1W5; Jean Barman, Department of Social and\nEducational Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T\n1W5; Peter Baskerville, Department of History, University of Victoria,\nVictoria V8W 2Y2; or Robin Fisher, Department of History, Simon\nFraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6.\nBEDBUG REMEDY\nThe recipe below was from the page of an\nearly pharmacist's notebook, and is printed courtesy of Jack Scott of Cranbrook.\nJ. Fred Scott was born in Winnepeg in\n1877. He opened his first drugstore in\n1902 in Indian Head, Saskatchewan.\nThis he sold in 1914 and moved to\nVictoria. Then from 1917-1920 he\n-. worked in Vancouver for the\nCunningham Drugstore organization.\nHis next move was to Cranbrook, B:C.\nwhere he purchased the Cranbrook Drug\nand Book Company from Mr. Atchison.\nFred Scott was twice president of the\nPharmaceutical Association of B.C., and\ntwice president of the Dominion\nPharmaceutical Association. Son Jack\njoined his father in 1950 and took over\nthe family business in 1965. Scott's store\nwas absorbed by Shoppers Drug Mart in\n1988. Jack treasures his father's notebook and copied the page with the for fumigating a room.\nBedbug Remedy - June 1931\nPotassium Iodide mirch U.S.EX., granular\nSulfuric Acid\nGrind or crush Potassium Iodide. Put in\ngranite or chinaware container, and add\nacid. Have room sealed as close as possible & leave for 36 or 48 hours.\nBOTH ARE POISON, so be careful &\nkeep away from fumes.\n17\nRC. Historical News The Comox Nurses Strike of 1939\nby JoAnn Whittaker\nOn October 31, 1938, the Advisory\nCommittee on labour conditions in\nhospitals completed its report containing recommendations about the\nregulations of working conditions for\nstudent and graduate nurses in B.C.\nhospitals. These minimum recommendations were based on an on-\nsite investigation of forty-nine hospitals conducted by the Committee.\nThe working conditions and salaries\nwere terrible. It would be expected\nthat this report should have resulted\nin immediate action by the government. Pattullo's Liberal government, elected in 1933, had legislated the 48-hour week in all major\nindustries and increased the minimum wage.1 The minister responsible for health and welfare was the\nProvincial Secretary, Dr. G.M. Weir.\nDr. Weir had, in 1931, written a\nsympathetic report on Nursing\nEducation in Canada. In 1935, he\naided the Registered Nurses\nAssociation of British Columbia\n(RNABC) to pass a new \"Registered\nNurses Act\". The RNABC was the\nprofessional body responsible for licensing graduate nurses. That is, it\nset the standards necessary to practice nursing. Registration, however,\nwas mandatory only in the seven\nhospitals with schools of nursing.\nTo obtain these standards, this organization had been accustomed to\ndealing with government politicians\nand bureaucrats.2 However, dealing\nwith these same persons regarding\nthe matter of working conditions for\nnurses in hospitals was a new issue\nwith which the RNABC had to cope.\nPrevious contacts had been about\nprofessional standards. This new\nissue conflicted with the\nAssociation's perception about the\nproper conduct of nurses and their\nvery real needs for better working\nconditions. This dilemma is best il\nlustrated by the RNABC's response\nto the Advisory Committee's report\nand the Comox nurses \"strike\".\nGraduate nursing evolved from private duty to hospital work in the\n1920s and 1930s. Most hospital\nnursing was done by student nurses\nin training but by 1938, approximately one-half of the registered\nnurses in B.C. were employed in\nhospitals.3 It was the opposition\nCooperative Commonwealth\nFederation (CCF) that raised the issue of nurses' working conditions.\nGraduate nurses did not come under\nany government regulations legislating their working conditions,\nhours of work or wages. In 1935\nE.E. Winch (CCF Burnaby) tried to\namend the \"Hospital Act\" to regulate them. Dr. Weir rejected this\namendment but Winch tried to\namend it again on November 19,\n1937. He withdrew the bill after Dr.\nWeir explained that the nurses\nshould be regulated by the Board of\nIndustrial Relations (BIR), not the\nHospital Act. Weir stated the BIR\nhad been studying the problem for\ntwo years.4 This was not the case.\nIn reality, he had only appointed an\nadvisory committee on labour conditions in hospitals in October 1937.\nWeir acted in conjunction with the\nMinister of Labour, George Pearson.\nThey set up a committee consisting\nof Miss M.H. Walters,\nSuperintendent of Nurses at\nEssondale, Percy Ward, inspector of\nhospitals, and Fraudena Eaton,\n(better known as Mrs. Rex Eaton) of\nthe BIR. Their terms of reference included investigating and reporting\nupon wages, hours of work, conditions of work, and other labour conditions prevailing in hospitals; recommending reasonable minimum\nstandards of wages, hours of work\nand working conditions for the differ\nent classes of hospital employees\nwhich might be set by Order of the\ngovernment; and enquiring into the\nextent to which the recommendations of the Committee, if implemented, would increase the operating costs of the hospital. It was\nimportant that hospitals not be burdened financially by the imposition\nof labour regulations. Weir instructed the committee to conduct its investigations without publicity and to\nreport without publicity to both\nPearson and himself by January 1,\n1938.5\nThe completed report was delivered to them on November 2, 1938.\nIt was not made public nor did the\nnurses of B.C. see its contents. The\ncommittee's findings corroborated\nWinch's fears. The nurses hours of\nwork varied from 86 to 130 hours in\ntwo weeks of day shift with the majority of hospitals surveyed in excess\nof 100 hours. Many institutions\nclaimed that their nurses worked an\neight-hour day. This was a split\nshift and was only accomplished if\nthe ward was not too busy. Time off\nvaried.from no time off duty to one\nday per week. One hospital allowed\ntwo one-half days per week. Night\nduty usually lasted four to five\nweeks, occurring every three to four\nmonths and consisting of 96 to 168\nhours worked in a two week period.\nIn the majority of hospitals this was\nin excess of 133 hours. Most hospitals did not allow time off during a\ntour of night duty. Some allowed\none-half night per week. In order to\nhave this, the day nurse stayed on\nduly until the night nurse came on\nat 11:00 pm or 12:00 am to relieve\nher. She, in turn, was expected to\nreturn to work the next day at her\nregular time of 7:00 am. Salaries\nranged from $30.00 to $60.00 per\nmonth and maintenance (room,\nRC Historical News\n18 board and laundry) in the majority\nof hospitals. The majority also\ngranted vacations of three to four\nweeks per annum. Nine hospitals\nallowed no vacations at all.6\nWeir and Pearson did not reveal\nthese findings nor did they divulge\nthe committee's recommendations.\nHospitals would expect provincial\ngovernment financial assistance if\nindeed it legislated working conditions that increased their costs. The\nreport recommended improved working conditions for graduate nurses.\nThe report recommended an eight-\nhour day, six day week or ninety-six\nhours over two weeks; one day off\nevery week or two days off in a two\nweek period; split shift to not extend\nbeyond a twelve hour period; and\nsalaries to be a minimum of $40.00\nevery consecutive two week period of\nfull time work (i.e. 80 hours or more\nevery two weeks) and laundry of\nuniforms should be provided.7\nCanadian nursing leaders advocated\nan eight-hour day for nurses but\nwished to enact regulations through\n\"professional channels\". In B.C.,\nthe RNABC favoured \"moral sua-\nsion.\"* This attitude was hardly\nconducive to the improvement of the\nworking graduate nurses' lot and\nupset Eaton.\nA frustrated Fraudena Eaton reported that she saw no evidence of\naggressive agitation for reform.\n\"Training, temperament and circumstances of her work make the general duty nurse a poor advocate for her\ninterests.\" The needs of the nurses\nand the additional expense of the\neight-hour day conflicted with the\nneeds of the hospitals for equipment, supplies and buildings. The\nnurses were aware of this but\nseemed unaware that their sacrifice\nwas not being repeated by other hospital employees who enjoyed much\nbetter working conditions.9\nThe BIR issued Order 52, the\n\"Female Minimum Wage Act,\" on\nFebruary 14, 1938 regulating the\nworking conditions of other female\nhospital workers and excluding\ngraduate nurses. These regulations\nenforced an eight-hour day and a\nforty-eight hour week. The split\nshift was to be confined to twelve\nhours from the start of the shift and\none full day, twenty-four hours, off\nper week was to be granted.\nLaundry of uniforms was to be provided. It was the responsibility of\nthe Council of the RNABC, with the\nassistance of hospital inspector\nWard, to \"encourage\" better hours of\nwork in B.C. hospitals for nurses.10\nThis approach was unsuccessful as\nwas evidenced by the Comox nurses\n\"strike\".\nObviously, trouble had been brewing in Comox. In December 1937,\nafter the withdrawal of Winch's bill,\na nurse from Comox wrote a letter to\nthe editor of the Vancouver Dairy\nProvince. In it, the author stated\nthat nurses were still overworked.\nFurther, she questioned the role of\nthe Advisory Committee and its activities over the past two years.\" It\nis evident that Weir's secrecy was\nmisleading nurses. The Committee\nhad been at work for only two\nmonths at the appearance of this\nletter. In April 1939, matters erupted at Comox.\nOn April 12, 1939, the entire nursing staff at the St. Joseph's\nHospital, Comox, walked off the job.\nThe public perceived that the nurses\nwere on strike.12 The reality was a\nbreakdown in relations between the\nnursing staff and the hospital management over the issue of working\nconditions.\nThe working conditions at the hospital were terrible. Nurses were required to \"live in\". Their day shift\nhours were from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00\np.m. with a two hour break, at the\ndiscretion of the management and if\nthere was time, in mid-afternoon.\nThey had one half day off per week\nand one full day off each month.\nNight shift was one full month with\nno time off. Then, at the end of their\nnight duty, they had one sleeping\nday off plus their monthly one day\noff. Wages were $90.00 per month\nminus $30.00 for room and board\nand $0.90 for provincial income tax.\nThere was no overtime pay, holiday\npay or sick pay. The nurses paid\ntheir own laundry costs. The food\nwas terrible, and in fact, probably\n19\ntriggered the job action. The nurse\nthat this author interviewed stated\nthat perhaps the other conditions\ncould have been more tolerable but\nfor the food.\nThe nurses, graduates and undergraduates, decided to improve their\nlot or resign. They consulted with\nthe Chief of Staff, Dr. Straith, who\nencouraged them, and with a lawyer. Subsequently, they drafted a\nletter to the Sister Superior demanding an eight-hour day, one whole\nday off per week, laundry to be paid\nby the hospital and sick and holiday\npay. They concluded the letter with\nan ultimatum. If the hospital management was unable to comply the\nSister Superior could consider the\nletter as thirty days notice of resignation. Silence ensued. Finally, on\nthe thirtieth day, the Sister approached the nurses as they sat in\nthe dining room. She had tears in\nher eyes. The hospital was unable\nto meet their demands as they needed the money to pay for the new\nwing. She requested that they resubmit their resignations dated as\nof that day so that she could find a\nnew staff to replace them. The nurses refused. They were ordered to\ntake their belongings and leave.\nThey all found accommodation in\nthe homes of local residents and settled down to wait. Colin Cameron,\nCCF Member of Parliament for\nComox, interested himself in their\ncase. He attempted to meet with\nthe hospital board to no avail. He\ncalled a public meeting that was attended by a \"good sized\" crowd. At\nfirst, the Mayor and aldermen were\nvery hostile but after they heard the\ndetails of the nurses' working conditions, they agreed that changes had\nto be made.13 Colin Cameron attempted to also present the nurses'\ncase to the annual convention of the\nRNABC then in session in\nVancouver. He was refused permission and only met with the\nAssociation president and the\nRegistrar, Helen Randal.14\nThe irony of this situation is the\naddress of the President of the\nRNABC at that opening session.\nMiss Duffield urged her members to\nRC. Historical News seek better working conditions. At\nthe same time, Helen Randal hinted\nthat the actions of the nurses at\nComox jeopardized their registration. She opined that the nine women should have contacted the authorities. The question here is what\nauthorities? They had contacted the\nhospital management. The RNABC\nhad no jurisdiction over the conditions of work of the graduate nurses.\nYet, Randal was prepared to remove their registration certificates.\"\nShe made no contact with the\nnurses involved. The Association\nCouncil indeed had the power to suspend a member, in an unanimous\nvote, \"pr dishonesty, gross incompetency, a habit rendering a nurse unsafe to be entrusted with or unfit for\ncare of the sick, conduct derogatory\nto the morals or standing of the profession of nursing, or any willful\nfraud or misrepresentation practiced\nin procuring such certificate.\"\u2122\nThere really were no grounds for\ntheir dismissal. The nurses in\nComox had contacted a lawyer, obtained legal advice and followed it.\nThey had given due notice of resignation. They returned to work on\nApril 18, 1939 with the promise of\nimproved working conditions. They\nwrote a letter to the RNABC outlining their case but received no reply.\nIn May 1939, the Council sent a letter, drafted by their lawyer, to the\nnurses involved expressing disapproval of their actions and forwarded\na copy to the Sister Superior at\nComox.\" Nevertheless, the Council\ndid not suspend their registration.18\nThese nurses were frustrated and\nangry. Their demands for better\nworking conditions were identical to\nthose proposed by the Advisory\nCommittee and to those advocated\nby the RNABC. However, the\nAssociation disapproved of job action. It was more important, in\n1939, to maintain the professional\nimage than to agitate for improved\nworking conditions. Nurses did not\nbecome involved in controversial issues.19 In fairness, the RNABC was\nhampered by a lack of knowledge.\nIt had never seen the report of the\nAdvisory Committee.\nRC Historical News\nRandal and the RNABC did not\nsee it until after it was publicly tabled in the provincial legislature in\nNovember 1939. The professional\nideology of the RNABC conflicted\nwith the very real needs of the working graduate nurses for better conditions. Their needs also conflicted\nwith the hospitals' finances, the responsibility of the government politicians and bureaucrats. In the end,\nthe reactivated committee worked to\nimprove nurses' conditions. The\nRNABC did not become the collective\nbargaining agent for its members\nuntil 1946.\n***************\nMrs. Whittaker lives in Cobble HUl on\nVancouver Island. This article is part of the\nresearch she has done to earn her master's\ndegree in history at the Vniversity of Victoria.\nI. Margaret Ormsby, BrinshCnlimiMai A Mahay,\n(Macmillan of Canada, 1958; reprinted [with corrections] \\fencouven Evergreen Press, 1671), p. 489\n8. Jo Ann Whittaker, The Search for Legitimacy: Nurses'\nRegistration in British Columbia, 1913-1938,\" in Not\nAotPtaMonegn SeteetedEsraysantheHfctoiyof\nWnrai's Work In British Columbia. Edited by Barbara\nLatham and Roberta Pazdro. (Victoria: Camosun\nCollege Press, 1984), p. 321\n3. Provincial Archives of British Columbia (hereafter\nPABC), GR 680 \"Report on Working Conditions in B.C.\nHospitals,\" p. 17\n4. \\kneouver Dotty Province (VDP), December 4,1937, p.3;\nVictoria DairyTlmes (VDT), December 4,1937, p. 17\n5. PABC GR496 Box 43 File 17 (GR496743\/17)\n6. PABC GR 680\n7. Hd\n8. Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia\n(hereafter RNABC) Minutes January 28,1942, January\n21,1943\n9. Mrs. Rex Eaton, \"A Lay Person Looks in,\" Canadian\nNone 38 (September 1940): 868\n10. PABC GR650\n11. VDP December 14,1937, p.4\n12. VDT April 18,1939, p.2. The story heading was \"Comox\nnurses strike settled.\"\nIS. Interview with Jean Guthrie, April 18,1985, Comox B.C.\nUnfortunately, Mrs. Guthrie had recently destroyed all\nher letters and newspaper clippings related to this incident. Therefore, the incident recounted relies upon her\nmemory and newspaper articles.\n14. RNABC Minutes April IS, 1939. Jean Guthrie does not\nremember this.\n15. Vancouver News-Herald April 17,1939, p.2\nIS. RC Statutes 1935\n17. RNABC Minutes May 19,1939\n18. Interview, Jean Guthrie\n19. HI, March 24,1939\nAldyen Irene Hendry Hamber\nAldyen Hamber's life spanned the\nhistory of Vancouver. Born in New\nWestminster, daughter and only child\nof John and Adeline Hendry, the family moved to Vancouver in 1903. John\nHendry was in the lumber manufacturing business and was president of\nmany of their trade organizations.\nAfter Aldyen's basic education in\nVancouver and Tacoma she studied art\nand languages in Germany. While in\nEurope she was presented at Court.\nHer husband-to-be, Eric Hamber,\nwas born in Canada and had a career\nin banking. While posted to\nVancouver he took part in many of the\nsocial and sporting events and here he\nmet Aldyen. It was not until Eric\nHamber was transferred to London\nand the Hendrys were on one of their\nperiodic visits to Europe in 1912, that\nthe young couple decided to marry.\nOver the family's protests the couple\ndecided to marry in London rather\nthan wait until their return to\nVancouver.\nJohn Hendry, by this time 69 years\nof age, decided his new son-in-law\nshould join him in business.\nAldyen and Eric Hamber's life, apart\nfrom business, were filled with events\nof philanthropic, sporting and social\nnature. This culminated in Eric\nHamber being appointed Lieutenant\nGovernor in 1936. During their term\nof office they entertained a wide range\nof people and their inaugural\nChristmas party for children became\nan annual event. Eric Hamber died in\nI960, then Aldyen set up the Hamber\nFoundation and endowed an Eric\nHamber Chair of Medicine at the\nUniversity of British Columbia. The\nHamber name also lives on with the\nEric Hamber Senior Secondary School\nin Vancouver, Hamber Island in\nIndian Arm and Hamber Provincial\nPark near Golden. The Hendry name\nis remembered with the John Hendry\nPark in Vancouver.\nPeggy Imredy\n20 Enterprise in the 1930's\nAfter reading Don Sale's article\nabout \"The Old Cariboo Wagon\nRoad\" in the Historical News,\nVolume 10, 1984, I decided to write\ndown some of my memories. I was\none of the young teachers of the '30's\nthat Don referred to in his article, for\nI travelled the Cariboo Highway on\noccasion in Clarence Stevenson's\nStage, during the year I taught at\nEnterprise School.\nEnterprise is in the rolling cattle\ncountry of the Cariboo, some 20\nmiles south of Williams Lake. I arrived there via the P.G.E. on the\nmorning of Saturday, September 3,\n1932, having left Vancouver on\nFriday morning via the Union\nSteamships to Squamish, to begin\nmy second year of teaching in the\nCariboo. In the 1930's the PG.E.,\nwhich we affectionately called\n\"Please Go Easy\", or sometimes in\ndisgust \"Past God's Endurance\",\nran only between Squamish and\nQuesnel.\nI was met by Clem Wright, the\nSecretary of the School Board, at\nwhose home I was to stay. It was a\nbeautiful, cold, sunny morning, invigorating as only Cariboo Fall days\ncan be, and I remember Clem telling\nme how unhappy his sister was because the first heavy frost had blackened her beautiful dahlias. Clem\nhad recently lost his wife, and his\nsister and mother from Vancouver\nhad come to look after his home and\nhis three children. His home was\nthe '37 Mile Stopping Place on the\nold Cariboo Highway, and it still\nstands solidly there today, a large\ntwo storey log house. Clem had\ndriven the horse drawn Stages in his\nyouth, and his mother had come to\nthe Cariboo as a bride before the\nturn of the century. They had many\nstories to tell about the gold rush\ndays and the early settlers, like the\none of how her piano had been\nbrought by stage over the rough\nby lima Dunn\nwagon road, and it arrived safely\ntoo. It was not long before I learned\nwhy the Cariboo Highway was\ntermed \"All Right\", for Granny\nWright and her four sons at that\ntime owned nearly all the ranches\nbetween Lac la Hache and the '37\nMile.\nI had my first glimpse of\nEnterprise School that afternoon,\nwalking the nearly 2 1\/2 miles\nalong the Highway to it. My heart\nsank when I saw its condition, for\nthe door was ajar and little marmots\nhad made it their home over the\nsummer. Piles of their droppings\nwere in the corners, and the place\nhad a terrible smell. I sat down at\nthe low table which passed for the\nteacher's desk, and cried, for I had\nleft such a nice clean school in the\nTen Mile Valley in June. How I\nwished the Dept. of Education had\nnot closed Ten Mile, but with the\ngraduation of the three Grade 8 pupils, who were not returning to\nschool, the enrollment fell below the\nrequired 8, so there was no other alternative for me but to apply for a\nnew school. How thankful I was\nwhen I received the appointment to\nEnterprise. I felt that my prayers\nhad been answered, since, to obtain\na Permanent Teaching Certificate, it\nwas required to have two years experience and two good Inspector's\nReports, and that was my goal.\nSchools were hard to come by in the\n'30s. There were dozens of applications for every vacancy, and I was\none of the lucky ones.\nNo schools in the '30s were the\nwell equipped places of learning\nthat they are today, and Enterprise\nwas one of the poorest. Not only\nhad the marmots made it their\nhome, it was dark and in need of a\ngood cleaning. There was no teacher's desk, no flag pole, and the only\nbell was a piece of railroad track\nhanging outside the door, with a\n21\nmetal striker by its side. The interior had at one time been painted\nwhite, but the only windows were\nfour on the East side, so the lighting\nwas poor. It was indeed a sad looking little school, that had been neglected, but now it was my job and I\nwould do my best. Clem was very\ncooperative and it wasn't long before\nhe and his hired help cleaned and\nrepaired the School and raised a flag\npole. School Law required that the\nUnion Jack be raised and lowered\neach school day in the '30s, and\nSchool Law must be obeyed. I did\nnot question why there had not been\na flag pole before or why the School\nwas allowed to get in such a poor\ncondition, but there was often rancour in School Districts in the '30s.\nThe children were proud of having\nthe pole and happy to have their\nfirst picture taken beside it. Then\nthey vied with each other who would\nhelp raise the flag each day. Clem\nalso donated a sheep for me to raffle, the proceeds to be used to purchase a proper teacher's desk, a bell,\nand other requirements.\nThat Fall a party of hunters from\nVancouver made the '37 their headquarters, and they certainly contributed to the cause of the desk. I remember the joking about the poor\nyoung teacher who had nothing but\na gambling table for her desk, for\nthat is what the low table had been,\ncomplete with a top of green felt. It\nwasn't long before we had enough\nmoney raised and the sheep was\nwon by one of the visitors, which\nwas cause for more joking. For\n$50.00 I had a cabinet maker near\nTen Mile School make the desk, and\nit was delivered on the top of the car\nof the young man who later became\nmy husband. By the time the\nInspector made his first visit that\nFall, things in the school were well\nin order, and the comment on his report made me feel the work had all\nB.C. Historical News been worthwhile. It was - \"Miss\nBeamish has taken hold of this\nSchool in a pleasing way and should\nsucceed in materially raising its\nstandard.\" The comment and the\nreport he gave, made me feel exceptionally good for I had greeted him\nin a very unceremonious manner.\nBeing right on the Highway,\nEnterprise School was the target of\nvarious salespeople passing on their\nway to Williams Lake and points\nnorth. To get rid of one such salesman that called at the school I took\nan unwanted subscription to a magazine, and I foolishly gave him a\npostdated cheque. That caused a\nfuror with my father, since the Royal\nBank in New Westminster deducted\nthe amount from his account as\nmine had insufficient funds. So I\nwas determined not to let the next\nsalesman into the school. The next\ncame, and I held the door closed, until he said, \"7 am AR. Lord from the\nDept. of Education.\" How ashamed\nI was, and so I really appreciated\nthe comment and the report he gave.\nI know he enjoyed the incident too,\nfor he told it to a Normal School\nClass attended by one of my friends,\nwhen he was lecturing about the\ntrials of young teachers in Country\nSchools.\nThere were just two surnames on\nthe Register that year, four La\nBounty Children and four Wright\nchildren. Phyllis Wright, whose\nhome was at the 108 mile, came to\nstay at the '37 to keep the enrollment up to the required number of 8.\nSo I taught Grades 1, 3, 5, and 7,\nwith Jack Wright being the biggest,\nand the best helper. He looked after\nhis brother, Doug, and sister\nKathleen, and Lila La Bounty, in\nGrade three, ever the little mother,\nmade sure to take good care of her\nlittle brother, Raymond, in grade 1,\nand we had a happy school with lots\nof singing and stories. Jack and\nDoug Wright looked after bringing\nwater each morning from the well,\nand kept the woodbox full for the upright stove we had in the middle of\nthe school, I looked after making the\nfire each morning and heated water\non the top of the stove in the winter\nRC Historical News\nfor lunch time cocoa, with lots of\nfresh cream from the '37 to go with\nit. Irwin and Herbie La Bounty\ndrove a little two wheeled cart for\ntheir family's transportation of three\nmiles, and in the winter it was\nequipped with runners for the snow.\nJack and Doug Wright rode horseback with Kathleen and Phyllis riding behind. I walked along the\nhighway except when the occasional\ncar came along. That is how I met\nClarence Stevenson. I don't remember how frequently he made the trip\n(All eight) Enterprise School children in the\nwinter of 32- '33.\nbetween Ashcroft and Quesnel, but if\nthere was room I was always offered\na ride. I was a little reluctant about\ntaking the first ride, but everyone in\nthe Cariboo knew Clarence and his\nfriendly ways. He had many stories\nto tell his passengers about his early days driving the horse drawn\nstages to the gold fields. Then\nwhen I went to New Westminster for\nEaster I was a paying passenger\nfrom the '37 to Ashcroft, and was\nmet there again on my way back to\nthe Cariboo.\nI really enjoyed walking the 2 1\/2\nmiles along the highway, for there\nwas plenty of wildlife always to be\nseen. The little marmots popping in\nand out of their holes were most interesting, and I loved to listen to\nthem whistle to their mates telling\nthat an intruder was around. In the\nSpring I remember how the saucy\nlittle northern bluebirds would hop\n22\nfrom post to post of the rail fences\nthat lined the highway, and sing\ntheir merry song and often a mea-\ndowlark would join the melody.\nThen in the winter the deer and\nmoose would join with the cattle at\ntheir feeding station in the fields\nand coyotes could be seen slinking\naround.\nI continued to use the iron rail and\nthe striker for a bell especially in the\nwinter time. St. Joseph's Creek ran\nalong the valley not far from the\nschool and it was a wonderful place\nfor the children to skate. That bell\ncould be heard even there above the\nsound of the screams of their laughter. After all it was a gong, and\nmost unique.\nEarly in the Fall, Gertrude, Clem's\nsister, and I became very good\nfriends and I was always treated as\none of the family. There was lots of\ncompany at the '37 since the Wright\nfamily was a large one and those\nliving at a distance were frequent\nvisitors. There was always something interesting going on, and the\nyear I spent at the '37 mile was one\nof the happiest of my life. It was at\nEnterprise I learned to play Bridge\nand 500, though I have never been\ngood at either, and along with the\nothers I went out cross country skiing, but managed to spend a good\ndeal of my time falling down.\nOne winter outing I had was on a\ncold Saturday in January. The\nhired man, Bill Dingwall, was taking the children with a load of feed\nfor the range cattle and asked if I'd\nlike to come along. It was fun, and I\njoined in their gaiety of a winter\nhayride, but I wasn't dressed for the\nreturn ride when the hay and feed\nhad all gone from the sleigh. The\nresult was that I had frost bitten\nlegs. Granny Wright, ever watchful\nover us all, prescribed a hot drink\nwith gin for me, after rubbing the affected parts with snow. I had never\ntasted gin before and it really made\nme giddy, instead of sleepy as she\nthought. We laughed a lot about\nmy giddiness, but I recovered well\nfrom it, and I've never liked the\ntaste of gin since.\nOne of the Wright daughters, Alice, Mrs. Bain, belonged to the\nIODE, and through her, a Vancouver\nGroup of Junior IODE Girls, under\nthe leadership of Mrs. Bishop,\nadopted Enterprise School.\nThroughout the year they sent\nLibrary Books and on Special\nOccasions, as Halloween,\nThanksgiving, Valentine day, etc.,\nthey sent something for each pupil,\nwith exchange of pictures and letters. They were a wonderful help to\nEnterprise School, and it certainly\nwas an education for the IODE girls\nin Vancouver. One Saturday evening in 1934 or 35 I opened the\nMagazine Section of the Vancouver\nSun to see an article about the good\nwork of the IODE, and there was a\npicture of me on horseback in the\nCariboo, with the caption telling of\nhow the IODE helped Country\nSchools. I have the article and the\npicture with its caption still today in\nmy Scrap Book.\nPeople in the early days have always been known as being very\nfriendly, and those at Enterprise\nwere no exception. I was welcome in\nall their homes. I remember starting off one Saturday morning in\nApril for the five mile walk to visit\nEnid and Fred Wright at the '32\nmile ranch. They had a lovely log\nhome and a wee daughter who was\na great attraction to me, for I've always loved children. I had a nice\nday's visit with them and a ride\nhome in the evening so Fred could\nsay hello to his mother at the '37.\nThere was Chris and Harry at the\n'27 mile. Chris had been a young\nteacher who had come to the\nCariboo, and not only fallen in love\nwith the country, but with one of the\nWright brothers. She and I had\nmany things in common, so we had\nsome good visits. Then there was\nthe weekend I went home with the\nLa Bounty children in their little\nsleigh. It was early in March and\nthey had some new baby lambs that\nLila wanted to show to me. They\nhad a wee baby girl too, Gladys,\nand she was a bundle of joy. Later\nin the Spring I spent another weekend there, so Mr. and Mrs. La\nBounty could get away together.\nThat weekend rather cured me of\never wanting a large family to look\nafter, for they had six, with Irwin at\n12, being the oldest, and there was\na hired man too. I also had a\nchance to visit with Maggie\nHamilton at the 100 mile. Her\nfriend, Jack Foster, was the\nTelegrapher there, and Lord Cecil\nhad just built his first famous\nStopping Place there that year.\nThere was a dance that weekend,\nand the country dances with their\nsquares, two-steps, and polkas,\nwere always a lot of fun. On the\nSunday, Maggie's brother drove me\nback to the '37 with a group of\nfriends going on to Williams Lake.\nThey sang the whole way. I remember one line that seemed to be repeated over and over, \"and the pig\ngot up and slowly walked away,\"\nbut what the rest of the song was,\nI've completely forgotten.\nMaggie's brother was one of the\nmembers of the \"Lac la Hache All\nStars\" Hockey Team in the '30's,\nand another winter outing I well remember was going to Williams Lake\nwith Maggie and Foster to cheer\nthem in a game. The Skating Rink\nat Williams Lake in the '30's was\nnot the indoor fancy one it is today,\nbut rather an outdoor one, and to\nwatch and cheer for your favourite\nteam then, was almost a hardship.\nI don't remember which team won,\nbut the memory of the outing is still\na happy one that I cherish.\nThe Country Schools in the Cariboo\nwere not too many miles apart, so\nquite often I was able to get together with other teachers. The nearest\nschool to the south was Lac la\nHache, at the '22 mile, and the nearest to the north was the '50 mile.\nThere was a young Mill Owner at\nWilliams Lake, by the name of\nClarence Anderson, who was a\nfriend of all us young teachers. Over\nthe Christmas Holidays he won a\nturkey, and he planned a way of entertaining all his friends. So on a\nreally cold weekend in January we\nhad a wonderful time at the home of\nthe Crosina's. They were another\nvery well known family of the early\ndays who had established at the '53\nmile. Their daughter Lillian ran the\nstore that was known to all up and\ndown the highway, and even today\nit is a Heritage Stopping Place.\nClarence came down to the '37 to get\nGertrude and myself, then on to the\n'50 to pick up Mary Beran, the\nteacher there, and Ina, whose last\nname escapes me, the teacher from\nRose Lake. The turkey dinner,\ncooked by Mrs. Crosina, was a fabulous one, with large group of us\naround the great big table, and the\nfrivolity after it went on to the wee\nsmall hours. Ina and I were to\nshare a room over night, and I well\nremember what a hard time we had\ngetting warm. The living rooms of\nthose old log homes were generally\nheated by large fire places, and the\none at Crosina's home was the largest I'd ever seen, but very little heat\nLac la Hache All Stars in the 30's. Back row at right Maggie Hamilton's\nbrother & next to him Peter Ogden.\n23\nRC Historical News got up the stairs to the sleeping\narea. At the '37 there was a large\nheater in the living room, the chimney from which ran between my bedroom and the one next to mine, so I\nwas nice and warm. But that night\nat Crosina's still stays in my memory as the coldest one I've ever spent.\nIna and I surely were glad when the\nmorning came, and we could hurry\ndown to the fireplace.\nLac la Hache School and\nEnterprise joined together for a\nPicnic and day of fun at the\nEnterprise School Ground for the\nMay 24th celebrations. It was a\nhuge success and of course attended\nby the pupils, their parents, and\ntheir friends. One race I remember\nwas a Cracker Race, trying to whistle the first line of \"God Save the\nKing\" after eating two soda crackers, an almost impossible feat to accomplish, but one creating lots of\nlaughter. We ended the day with a\nBaseball Game between the two\nSchools, but although I remember it\nwas lots of fun, I don't remember\nwhich School won.\nAt the end of June I was asked to\nsupervise the Grade 8 Exams for the\ndistrict, since I did not have any pupils who were writing them. They\nwere held in Lac la Hache School,\nand I stayed with the Ogden\nFamily while I did this. Mrs. Ogden\nwas a dear English lady who had\nmarried her husband, Peter, while\nhe was overseas in the first World\nWar. She had no knowledge of what\nshe was coming to in the Cariboo,\nbut she was a gracious host, and\nthey had a beautiful home. I really\nenjoyed the few days I spent with\nthem, and little three year old Peter\nwas a darling, asking me every\nmorning \"how many more sleeps are\nyou going to stay?'\nI was so pleased to see in 1985\nwhen driving over the Highway,\nthat the Lac la Hache School is now\na Heritage Building. I sat down in\none of the desks and reminisced\nabout the days in 1932-33.\nEnterprise School has long since\ngone and now the new highway\ndoesn't even go anywhere near\nwhere it was. In 1951 we stopped\nby all that was left of it, a pile of\nlogs with only a semblance of a\nbuilding in them. I am happy too,\nthat the '50 mile School is also a\nHeritage Building.\nI don't remember the dates of the\nWilliams Lake Stampede that year,\nbut they were sometime in June,\nand even then the greatest attraction for all the cowboys in the district. Gertrude and I each ordered a\nnew dress from the Hudson Bay in\nVancouver. We were sent three from\nwhich to chose the one we liked best.\nMae Wright's husband, Tommy\nDowney, was the Credit Manager\nthere and so we had special privileges. I chose a long black satin one for\nthe dances I hoped to have with my\nspecial boy friend from the Wingdam\nMine, who was coming for the\nStampede. The activities of the\ndays, with the cattle roping, branding, and cow punching, are long\nsince forgotten, but the dances in the\nevenings are still clear in my memo\nry.\nNear the end of June I received my\nsecond Inspector's Report. It was\nagain a good one, and along with it\ncame my Permanent Certificate, so I\nhad reached my goal. It had been a\ngood year, and one I'll never forget.\nNo story about Enterprise is complete without telling about the\nFelker Ghost. Everyone knew about\nthe ghost at the '41 mile. I never\nsaw it, but I certainly saw, many\ntimes, the rocking chair that rocked\nall by itself. The ghost was that of\nold Mr. Borden Felker, who in life,\nhad claimed he would come back,\nand every morning he did, lighting\nthe fire in the kitchen stove then sitting down in the rocking chair beside\nit. Bill Dingwall, our hired man,\ntold us he had seen the ghost when\nworking at the 41, and so we had to\nbelieve. How could we not believe\nwhen, not only Bill, but many others, had seen the mysterious rocking\nof the chair, and heard the crackling\nof the morning fire, and felt the\nghostly presence?\nThese memories have made almost too long a story, but for me, remembering and looking at the old\npictures, has been reliving the year\nat Enterprise and all its happy\ntimes. The last time I stopped to\nsee Gertrude she and Bill Dingwall,\nnow her husband, were still living in\nthe original Wright home at the 27\nmile, near the Wright Station on the\nP.G.E. They were spending the\nwinters in Arizona, but the Summers\nin our beloved Cariboo.\n**************\nBmaDunnisanenthusiasticmemberofthe\nBurnaby Historical Society and the B.C.\nHistorical Federation. She makes her home\nin White Rock.\nOld School Building at Lac la Hache. This is where I supervised the Grade 8\nExams fbr the district in June 1933. (Painted section added Aug. 2186).\nWatch for Christmas\nprograms at local\nHeritage Sites -\nIrving House,\nFOrt Steele and\nelsewhere have\nspecial events\nin season.\nRC Historical News\n24 A White Collar in the Thirties\nby J. A\u00bb Green\nArticles on the \"Hungry Thirties\"\ntell of mortgage foreclosures, soup\nkitchens, hunger marches, relief\ncamps and Bennett buggies.\nSeldom is anything said of how the\nordinary Canadian coped with minimal wages and no apparent hope of\nimprovement.\nTo-day, the younger generation,\nknowing only current conditions, just\ncan't comprehend the working conditions that were normal when we\nseniors were young. At that time\nthe employer was boss - you did as\nyou were told and worked hard. If\nnot you received a slip in your pay\npacket stating 'Your services are no\nlonger required\" and that was it.\nThere was no notice, no explanation\nand no recourse, and no frills like\nunemployment insurance. This is\nthe story of one Canadian's start in\nthe business world.\nIn 1937 I had graduated from\nVictoria High School and completed\nthe two years of study then available at Victoria College\n(Craigdarroch). After making various applications I was \"accepted\"\nfor work at the Royal Bank of\nCanada, Courtenay, B.C.\nOn arrival in Courtenay the bank\nmanager handed me a book of rules\nand explained the facts of life to me.\nI was to dress neatly and wear a\njacket and tie at all times when the\nbranch was open for business. The\naffairs of the bank and its customers\nwere to be held in the strictest confidence. I must enhance the reputation of the bank by good behavior\nand taking an active part in local organizations. Until certain salary\nlevels were attained car ownership\nand marriage were strictly forbidden. Studying a correspondence\ncourse was compulsory and continuing employment was dependent on\nsatisfactory performance.\nThough the usual starting salary\nwas $400 per year I was paid $100\nmore than that because I was away\nfrom home and having to pay for\nroom and board. A salary of $500\nper year works out to $41.66 per\nmonth, and as I was paying $37.50\nper month for room and board, and\n$5.00 for the correspondence course,\nmy cash position was a bit negative.\nAnother of the bank's rules was\nthat no employee should take a second job. After all, it might appear\nthat the bank was underpaying its\nstaff.\nUsually we worked from 8:30 to\n4:30 on week-days, and 8:30 to 1:00\non Saturdays. It was while I was in\nCourtenay that the banks started\nclosing on Saturday mornings.\nThere were dire predictions that\nstores would be robbed of cash held\nover on week-ends but these did not\nprove true.\nThe only technical equipment that\nthe bank provided was, for a staff of\nfive, one typewriter, one ancient\nBurroughs adding machine which\ndid not subtract, a book of interest\ntables and a couple of elderly revolvers. The bank did not trust machine records, and at interest dates\nthe long lists of amounts credited as\ninterest had to be added \"in the\nhead\" and signed that the totals\nhad been checked and found correct.\nSavings interest was 1 1\/2 per cent\nper year on the minimum quarterly\nbalances, if my memory serves me\nright, but we on staff were privileged\nto receive 3 per cent. Of course, as\nwe were all broke, that was purely a\npsychological_benefit. The two interest calculation dates each year were\namong the times that we worked far\nin to the evenings.\nVacation allowance was two weeks\neach year, in the first few years, but\nif one took vacation in the winter an\nextra week was allowed. Medical\nand dental plans were unknown.\nThe junior clerk was general dogsbody for the bank. He washed and\n25\nfilled inkwells, and changed pen\nnibs and blotters. He saw that the\ncounter was properly stocked with\nstationery and he washed and polished the manager's car. He learnt\nto post and balance savings ledgers,\nand walked around town delivering\nand collecting drafts. These had\nbeen forwarded by other banks and\nwere like promissory notes for merchants to pay on time for goods received. At that time a small store\nmight pay $5.00 on a $200.00 account to stall it off for another\nmonth. At the sub-branch which\nwas opened at Union Bay one or two\ndays each week the junior would get\nexperience as a teller.\nThe teller was kept in a cage.\nThis not only had steel mesh on all\nfour sides but over the top as well,\nand a door that automatically\nlocked whenever it was closed. In a\none-teller office the teller got no\nlunch break, he tried to eat his sandwiches in between customers. On a\nbusy day he might have no chance\nto eat until 3:00 by which time he\nwould probably have lost his appetite. Giving good service to customers was paramount - staff convenience was not important.\nIf the teller's cash was short at the\nend of a day the shortage was deducted from his pay, but overages\nwent to the bank. If the ledgers did\nnot balance, or necessary work not\ncompleted, the staff worked at night\nor on week-ends to clear it up.\nThere was no overtime pay or compensating time off.\nAt the end of the year our annual\nraises came through. Most of us got\n$100.00 or $8.33 per month. Small\nas it was it really helped one's financial position.\nDespite the lack of money the staff\nenjoyed life. The teller had a car\nand we hiked on the Forbidden\nPlateau and went swimming at\nComox Spit. We fished in the river,\nRC Historical News played tennis on the municipal\ncourts and bowled on the bowling\ngreen adjacent to the courts. Long\ngames of poker were held in the\nstaff quarters over the Canadian\nBank of Commerce with lg raises\nand a 25g loss limit after which the\nloser could play free to try and win\nback a stake. On Saturday nights\nwe listened to Hockey Night in\nCanada on the radio, sponsored by\nthe Imperial Oil with commentary\nby Foster Hewett.\nAny girl that had the use of her father's car was worth her weight in\ngold. I was fortunate to meet an attractive newspaper reporter who got\nin to shows and dances free. That\nreally helped the budget.\nNone of us drank much though\ngetting alcohol was no problem. The\nB.C. Provincial Police constable who\nboarded with us used to confiscate a\nlot of liquor when breaking up loggers' parties that got noisy. He had\nto turn in the unopened bottles but\nbrought the rest home. The trouble\nwas that to carry it easily he would\npour it all in together to make full\nbottles, and we ended up with interesting mixtures of gin, rum, rye or\nanything else that happened to be\naround.\nOf course I did my own washing,\nironing and mending. There were\nno drip-dry shirts then, the shirts\nwere of cotton and looked scruffy unless ironed after each wash. When a\ncollar got frayed it could be turned\ngood side out to extend the life of the\nshirt. Irons had no heat controls or\nsteam capability so damp cloths\nwere used for pressing.\nIn Victoria I had been in the 5th\nB.C. Coast Brigade Artillery Militia\nso in Courtenay I transferred to the\n2nd Battalion (Machine Gun)\nCanadian Scottish Regiment. We\nwore old uniforms from the 1914-\n1918 War and our arms and equipment were from that era too. A private was paid 200 for each evening\nparade attended, but had to assign\nthat back to the unit to keep it solvent. Even so many of us were\nkeen, attended regularly and studied specialties. Such was Canada's\npreparation for the World War that\nbroke out the following year.\nLater I was transferred to a\nbranch in Victoria. This branch did\nnot have a stenographer so, as jun\nior man, I was told to type the\nmonthly reports and be sure that\nthey got on the ship to Vancouver\nthat left at midnight. I'd never used\na typewriter before so it was \"hunt\nand peck\", with the former \"typist\"\nmost pleased to have fobbed the job\noff on to me. We sometimes carried\nlarge sums of money to and from the\nmain branch. We'd wrap it in old\nnewspapers and pocketing our revolvers board the street car, the bank\nreimbursing us for the six cent fares.\nIn the bank I learned accuracy, patience and perseverance which\nserved me well in later years when I\ntook a five year course of study for\nmy chartered accountant diploma,\nand later still two years for a diploma in hospital management.\nAll this sounds like a tale of woe\nbut no-one had told us about being\nbelow the poverty level. We made\nthe best of things and had a lot of\ngood times together. It was fun to\nbe young.\n**************\nMr. Green is a member of the Cowichan\nHistorical Society.\nMemories of Housekeeping in the 1930's\nby Winnifred Ariel Weir\nIt was July, 1932, a few months\nafter I was married, when I decided\nto have a few friends for dinner.\nThere were just eight of us but I laboured all day over the McClary\nwoodstove in the kitchen, baking\nParkerhouse rolls and a gourmet\nmeat loaf, heating the whole house\nin the process.\nI had an ice-box which my husband\nhad filled with fresh ice before he\nwent to work. The ice was cut from\nLake Windermere in February in\nblocks eighteen inches square and\npacked in layers of sawdust. He al-\nRC. Historical News\nways hosed it off before carrying it\ninto the kitchen but drips of water\nand sawdust smeared my newly\nwashed floor. I reminded myself\nthat I must empty the drainage pan\nunder the ice-box before my guests\narrived or we might find the kitchen\nfloor afloat. In July it needed emptying twice a day.\nThe jellied dessert had been made\nthe night before because jelly in those\ndays was unreliable and needed a\nfull 24 hours to set. There were\nfresh green peas and carrots from\nthe garden.\n26\nTo-day 57 years later I am having\neight for dinner. The meatloaf is in\nthe microwave; the dessert, made a\nweek ago is in the freezer, the salad\nis crisping in the refrigerator and the\nkitchen is as cool as the rest of the\nair-conditioned house.\nMany communities were not as deprived as ours in the 1930's. Many\nhad ample electricity. Our electricity\ncame from a diesel plant. In the\nsummer the power went on at dusk\nand off at 11 p.m. The hours of electricity varied with the season. In\nwinter it also came on at 6 a.m. and went off at sun-up. There came a\nday when a prominent lady in the\nvillage got an electric washing machine and the power was left on every Monday morning until noon.\nSoon other housewives also got\nwashing machines but we could use\nthem only on Monday mornings.\nMy first washing machine, bought\nin 1933, because there would be a\nbaby in a few months, was a wooden\ntub on legs, bound with iron bands\nand having a side handle which I\nswung back and forth to agitate the\ninner wheel which circulated the\nclothes. A hand wringer was fastened to it and it could swing sideways to also serve the two galvanized tubs of rinsing water. All had\nto be emptied by hand. There was\nalso the big copper boiler on the\nwood burning stove in which I boiled\nany particularly dirty items. The\nwooden washing machine had to be\nstored with a few inches of water in\nit to prevent it drying out and developing leaks.\nWe could never use an electric iron\nas the diesel plant did not produce\nenough power. The flat irons always sat at the back of the stove,\nready to be moved forward for use.\nHow many housewives to-day know\nthat to test the iron for the right\nheat, one spat on it.\nThere were no Pampers in those\ndays nor diaper service. We made\nflannelette diapers, hemmed on the\nsewing machine. After laundering\neach day they were hung on the line\noutside even in 20 below zero F.\nWhen the frozen diapers came back\ninto the kitchen they hung on an\noverhead rack to thaw and dry.\nThe hospital had a small x-ray\nmachine which required all the power the diesel plant could produce so\nwhen the doctor required an x-ray\nfor a patient, the telephone operator\nwould phone each customer and ask\nus to turn off our lights for half an\nhour. So we would sit by coal-oil\nlamps or candle light.\nThe day came when we had power\nevery day until noon and some of us\naquired a vacuum cleaner and we\ncould wash every day. That was\nluxury but there were occasional\nfrantic days when I was rushing to\nfinish the vacuuming or the washing\nbefore the power went off sharp at\ntwelve and the babe, just out of diapers was asking to be taken to the\nbathroom.\nThere was no Pablum or commercial baby food. I cooked Cream of\nWheat overnight in a double boiler to\nensure its digestibility. When the\ndoctor recommended vegetables I\npressed them through a sieve, not\nonce but twice on his advice.\nEveryone had a vegetable garden\nand we canned and bottled through\nthe hot summer months. If our root\nvegetables gave out before spring,\nwe could buy them for two cents a\npound. We relished the fruits of\nsummer for in winter we could buy\nonly apples, oranges and bananas.\nThe first grapefruit in the spring\nwere as welcome as the crocuses and\nlilacs.\nMilk was delivered to the doorstep\nearly each morning. It was ten\ncents a quart. It came in glass bottles that we washed and put out for\nthe milkman to pick up next morning. Many of us had a few chickens\nin the backyard and eggs were\ndeemed fresh for three days only.\nIt never occurred to us that keeping house was difficult. It was the\nsame for all of us and we were happy with our accomplishments. We\nhad a happy social life. There were\ndinner parties and dances. Dances\nwere $1.50 a couple plus a cake or\nsandwiches for the supper and the\nbaby-sitter was fifty cents.\nWe baked for church teas and bazaars and attended these events of\nall the churches. There were picnics\nin summer and swimming parties\nand skating parties on the lake in\nwinter. Community spirit was all\nencompassing. We rejoiced at engagement parties and weddings,\nmourned with the bereaved at funerals, delighted in the small achievements of neighbours.\nTo-day I have most household appliances. Certainly keeping house is\na breeze compared to the 30's. But I\ndon't regret a moment of it.\n**************\nMrs. Weir is Curator of the Windermere\nValley Museum, former newspaper editor,\nand chairman ofthe district Cancer Society.\nADVANCE NOTICE\nCONFERENCE 1990\nThe Boundary Historical\nSociety has plans well underway for hosting the B.C.\nHistorical Federation's Annual\nConference in Grand Forks,\nMay 10th - 13th, 1990.\nMark these dates on your calendar. You won't want to\nmiss this event.\nGIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS\nGIVE A SUBSCRIPTION TO A FRIEND OR RELATIVE\nFOR ONLY $8 PER YEAR\nMake cheque payable to B.C. Historical Federation\nMail to: Subscription Secretary\n5928 Baffin Place\nBurnaby, B.C. V5H 3S8\n'at\u00bb-*m?\u00a3m\nName\nAddress.\nPostal Code.\n. Gift From\n27\nRC Historical News The Early History of New Westminster\nLW. A. Local (1-357)\nThe \"timberbeasts\", as the early\nwoodworkers were known in British\nColumbia during the late 1800's and\nearly 1900's, were both radical and\ndiscontent. These men were faced\nwith destitute working and living\nconditions, and discrimination, low\npay for long tedious hours, and no\nholidays, pensions, or health benefits. During these early years various organizations tried to help the\nwoodworkers attain better social\nbenefits, higher wages, and other\nadvantages, but unfortunately most\nwere not successful. In July, 1937,\na new organization arose to lead\nand organize the woodworkers.\nThis was the International\nWoodworkers of America (I.W.A.),\nunder the communist leadership of\nHarold Pritchett. The union faced\nand still faces struggles with powerful employers and anti-labour governments, however, through the\nmany struggles that it has endured\nit has grown to a force of great\nstrength and solidarity.\nMisconceptions concerning the\nI.WA. and its locals however, seem\nto persist. Many speculate that the\nI.WA. and its locals only help their\nmembers by settling grievances, negotiating contracts and performing\nother tasks for their workers. The\nI.WA. and its locals actually go beyond these priorities by reaching out\nand helping the neighboring communities.\nThe I.WA. local 1-357 from New\nWestminster has an interesting history and has played an important\npart in helping the trade union\nmovement and surrounding communities. This article will examine the\nbirth of local 1-357 and, the role it\nplayed for the workers, and the people of neighboring communities.\nThe I.WA. during the 1940's saw\na number of important gains for the\nunion. One of those gains came in\n1942 in the \"hub city\" of New\nWestminster, where the mighty\nRC. Historical News\nby Werner Kaschel\nFraser River was (and of course still\nis) used to transport log booms to\nthe nearby sawmills, veneer (plywood) plants and sash door plants.\nNew Westminster was a woodworking town.\nOn 24 October 1942 the I.WA. expanded its territory by chartering local 1-357 of New Westminster, its\nsixth in British Columbia. The\ngrowth of this local and its committees not only helped the wood workers significantly, but also aided the\nsurrounding communities both socially and economically.\nThe first meeting of the newly born\nlocal was held in the Arenex at\nQueens Park, New Westminster, on\n8 November 1942. Over four hundred and fifty new members, both\nbrothers and sisters, turned out to\nlisten to the first I.WA. president,\nbrother Harold Pritchett. That night\nhe \"stressed the role woodworkers in\ngeneral are called upon to play in\nthe war effort.\"1 He laid down the\nconditions of the charter, the responsibilities of the organization, read\nthe obligations of membership, and\nfinally congratulated the members\non their effort in organizing the mills\nin New Westminster. From this\nmeeting came the first real feeling of\nsolidarity among woodworkers in\nthe New Westminster area.\nThe first elected executive council\nof 1-357 consisted of nine people. At\nthe same time, the local chose seven\npeople to sit on the Vancouver\nTrades and Labour Council\n(VT.L.C). Shortly after their first\nmeeting the local moved into its offices.\nThe original offices were located in\nthe Ellis block on Columbia Street\nbut by December, 1942 the local was\nsettling into their new building at\n650 Columbia Street. During the\n1940s, the local organized a Social\nCommittee, Ladies Auxiliary, and\nhad helped to form the I.WA. and\nCommunity Credit Union, as well as\n28\ncreating a number of other committees, in 1948. The local was dubbed\nthe \"cornerstone of trade unionism\nin B.C.\", because it was the first\nI.WA. local to break away from communist leadership.\nDonations to charity organizations\nand funds for sports teams were\nsome of the deeds the Social\nCommittee and Women's Auxiliary\ntook part in. A number of donations\nby the local were made to the\nSalvation Army Home, Boy Scouts,\nCrippled Children's Hospital, Red\nCross, St. Johns Ambulance and the\ndrive to build Queens Park Bowl.\nThe local also sponsored baseball,\nsoccer, and lacrosse teams in their\nneighboring communities. During\nthe Second World War, the local had\na War Finance committee, which\n.promoted the purchasing of war\nbonds by members. The local itself\nbought $1,500 of Victory War bonds.\nWomen played an important role\nduring the war in many industries,\nbut their presence in local 1-357 was\nso significant that they accounted\nfor 70% of the total workforce. The\nmajority were considered excellent\nworkers but after the war most lost\ntheir working jobs as the men returned home. However, by the late\n1950s and early 1960's the local led\nthe way on issues concerning women\nand their role in the workplace.\nBesides their work in the mills the\nwomen were also very active in the\nWomen's Auxiliary, which was one\nof the first groups to emerge from\nthe local.\nThe auxiliary organized a sick\ncommittee in the early forties, which\nwas very popular among its members. The sick committee consisted\nof wives, or relatives of members,\nwho visited the Royal Columbian\nHospital and the Saint Mary's\nHospital to see injured and sick\nwoodworkers as well as other sick\npeople. They often brought the injured and the sick people cigarettes, flowers or a newspaper, the B.C.\nLumber Worker to read. The\nWomen's Auxiliary was engaged in\nplanning an expanded program of\nsocial activity \"for combined purposes of fund raising and improvement\nof both social and recreational outlets for I.WA. members and their\nfamilies.\"2 The Women's Auxiliary\nalso helped fund $300 for a new cabin at Camp Jubilee, a children's\nsummer camp located at Burrard\nInlet's Orlomah Beach near Deep\nCove, opened up in 1935.\nThe Women's Auxiliary was very\nimportant because it supported both\nthe members and the neighboring\ncommunities. Their cause was a\nphilanthropical one. The Women\nwere also very active in organizing a\nnumber of committees within the local. The Social committee, one of\nthe biggest developed in the local\nduring the early 1940's, branched\nout into a number of other committees such as the Sports, Labour Day\nand Dance committees.\nA Sports committee emerged in\nthe early 1940's, which created fastball teams among the different\nwoodworking operations. An annual picnic was held in the summer\nmonths, where members and families met at a park to play baseball,\nenter sack races, flex their muscles\nin the tug of war and to compete in\nother track events. The picnic and\nsporting events in the outdoors\ncreated a relaxing, enjoyable time\nfor the people as socializing was the\nmain course of the day.\nBy 1944, a Labour Day committee\nwas created. For many years this\ncommittee sponsored a float in the\nPacific National Exhibition (PN.E.)\nparade which \"exemplified the advantages of trade unions in the betterment of living and working conditions.\"3 A Mercury flatdeck was\nusually decorated for the local's\nfloat. By the mid fifties however,\nthese floats ceased to be, because of\na dispute between the PN.E. officials and the VT.L.C.\nThe Dance committee was another\none of the committees created in the\nearly 1940's and its projects became\nvery popular among the members.\nMembers from the Social committee,\nDance committee and the Women's\nAuxiliary helped organize many\ndances, one of which was known as\na \"Klondyke Night\" dance. These\ndances provided good entertainment\nand door prizes were awarded to\nlucky members. The Social committee did not concern itself solely with\nrecreational matters however, it also\narranged loans for members who\nwere in need of money.\nThe loans were paid back in\nmonthly installments and this may\nvery well have laid the ground work\nfor the establishment of the I.WA.\nand Community Credit Union.\nThe formation of the I.WA. and\nCommunity Credit Union in the\nsummer of 1944 was one of the\nmany contributions this local has\nmade to its members and the nearby\ncommunity. The growth of the\nCredit Union membership jumped\nfrom 240 in 1946 to over 2,500 in\n1959. The Credit Union encouraged\nboth members and relatives to join.\nLoans for building houses, sicknesses or accidents could be taken out by\nI.WA. members. The ties between\nthe local and the Credit Union bettered the financial circumstances of\nthe members, created a stronger\neconomy for the community of New\nWestminster and in turn, strengthened the union. As well as providing\nthe community with a financial institution the local also created education classes for its members.\nEducation classes were set up for\nshop stewards and members on the\nPlant committee. They helped promote safety precautions at work.\nThis ultimately led to the organization of Safety committees in the sawmills and plywood plants of the local. The Safety committee usually\npublished news letters or bulletins\nthrough the local's Press committee.\nThe Press committee initially\nprinted letters and bulletins, which\nwere relayed to the wood operations\nthroughout the local. They contained messages such as accident reports, notices and demands, social\nevents and safety meetings. By\n1945, a newspaper was formed by\nthe local called the BUZZ SAW. A\ntwo page issue came out monthly,\ncontaining articles of interest to local\nmembers. The committee continued\nprinting bulletins whenever necessary including some concerning political elections.\nA political committee in the local\nstudied the proposals for legislation\neffecting labour and working people.\nIt looked at the people aspiring to\npolitical office and helped fund and\norganize campaigns for the\nCooperative Commonwealth\nFederation (C.C.F.). The only two\npolitical parties that were supporting the cause of the working class\nwere the Communist Party (CP.)\nand the C.C.F., who were both fighting amongst themselves to see who\nwould take political control of the union. This struggle in the political\nrealm of the union and its locals\ncreated internal conflicts amongst\nthe members. The local helped fund\nthe CCF. and in turn it helped the\nlocal in the cause of the working\nclass. The CCF. also aided the\nI.WA. in its struggle with the communists.\nThe threat of communist run unions was common in many organizations like the I.WA. during the\n1930's and 1940's. The government\nand employers of B.C. were afraid\nthe communists within the union\nwere becoming a serious threat to\nthe capitalist system. \"In 1943, we\n(Stewart Alsbury, George Mitchell\nand a few other members from local\n1-357) organized the Old Timers\nGroup at Fraser Mills against the\nopposition (communist) leadership,\nbecause they were using the union\nand its money to support their own\npolitical purpose.\"4 Two major\nevents led to the exclusion of the\ncommunist leaders inside the I.WA.\nduring the Cold War era. The first\nwas the passing of the American\ngovernment's Taft-Hartley Act in\n1947, which put an end to communist leadership in both Canada and\nthe United States. The act stopped\ncommunist leaders from B.C. entering the U.S. to attend international\nunion meetings and it also enforced\nthe resignation of those communist\nleaders. By March, 1948, \"the only\n29\nRC. Historical News local where there was an effective\nturnabout (i.e., white bloc victory)\nbefore the so-called \"Forty-eight resolution\" was the New Westminster\nlocal where Stewart Alsbury was\nthe elected president of local 1-357\nand the leader against the opposition. As a result of the Hartley Act\nand their strength in the I.WA.,\nHarold Pritchett and other communists tried to break away from the\ninternational. In October, 1948,\nthey held a meeting for all I.WA.\nlocals, which resulted in the communists forming a national union, the\nWoodworkers Industrial Union of\nCanada (W.I.U.C). The second\nevent occurred at this meeting,\nwhen delegates from local 1-357\nwere the first members to walk out\nafter Pritchett and his group suggested their disaffiliation with the\nI.WA.\nThe WI.U.C. did not give up without a struggle. \"The fight between\nthe I.WA. and the W.I.U.C. turned\nviolent at Iron River, a logging\ncamp and W.I.U.C. stronghold\nsouth of Campbell River on\nVancouver Island.\" In December,\n1948, Stewart Alsbury and a few\nother I.WA. men were sent to Iron\nRiver to break up an illegal strike\nset up by some W.I.U.C. loggers.\nAs eager as Alsbury was to settle\nthis despute nonviolently he led his\ngroup into a violent confrontation,\nwhere he was seriously injured. \"I\nwent out on a tour to Vancouver\nIsland to help the I.WA. rid itself of\nthe opposition faction, where I got\nbeat up severely in my cause. . . I\nhad four ribs broken and was out of\naction for sometime.\" The WI.U.C.\nceased to exist by 1950 and the\nI.WA. was back in action thanks\npartially due to the leadership of local 1-357, which kept growing significantly.\nThe break from the communists\nwithin the I.WA. was significant\nsince it helped its members and other trade unions fight off communist\nleadership. The communist leaders\nwere accused of \"using the I.WA.\nas a racket for (their own) personal\nprofit\" and the I.WA. was used by\nthem to extend the influence of their\nparty.5\nThe locals membership increased\nfrom 2,300 in 1942 to over 5,000 in\n1959. In the 1950's, the local witnessed significant growth following\nthe burning of their first mortgage\nand the accumulation of more property. The local also helped form the\nUnited Good Neighbours Fund\n(U.G.N.), helped fund strikes, improved communication for members\nwith the radio program \"Green\nGold\", created social activities like\nChristmas Tree party and a fishing\nderby, as well, it fought against racism in the neighboring communities.\nBy 1949, \"we bought a building\non 533 Clarkson Street, which was\n(the local's) first real office because\nprior to that we had been renting.'*\nA gala event occurred for the local\non February 1950 - \"1-357 Will\nBurn Mortgage At Banquet\" was\nthe sub-heading in the B.C. Lumber\nWorker in February 1950. A dance\nand banquet was set up by the New\nSociety, a branch group from the\nSocial committee that was formed in\nthe late 1940's, which was held in\nthe Gai Paree where members\nwatched the burning of the mortgage. In 1951, the local bought the\nproperty at 537 Carnarvon Street\ndirectly behind their building, where\nthey constructed a new building containing four offices. Local 1-357\nwas renting all the office spaces out\nby September 1952 and one was\nrented to the I.W.A. and\nCommunity Credit Union. In 1958,\nthe local purchased a lot of land on\nthe corner of 12th Street and 8th\nAvenue, where they built a new\nbuilding which opened up in May of\nthe same year. The local resides at\nthe same location today.\nIn 1954, local 1-357 along with\nthe New Westminster Chamber of\nCommerce joined together to form\nthe United Good Neighbours Fund,\nformerly the Community Chest.\nThe local's contribution to the community came in the aid of social\nwelfare, which was set up in the\nU.G.N. The local prompted other\nbusiness, industries and unions to\nhelp the U.G.N. Men from the local\nprovided leadership to the U.G.N,\nas presidents, directors, and campaign chairmen. Volunteer canvassers provided by the local played an\nimportant part in the collecting of\nfunds for the U.G.N. The U.G.N,\nwas important because it aided\nneedy people.\nThe I.W.A. supported any strike\nthat included a bonafide union in\nCanada or the United States. In\nthe mid 1940\"s the local made contributions to strikes on the regional\nlevel, but later it also made efforts\nto aid strikes on provincial, national\nand international levels.\nContributions were made in forms of\nboth money and food.\nAmong the strikes they funded in\nthe early 1950's were the\nWeyerhaeuser strike in\nWashington, Eddy Match in\nMission, and the big Army & Navy\nstrike in New Westminster. The\nArmy & Navy store workers, as well\nas members of other striking unions\nreceived $25 a week from the I.WA.\nlocal 1-357. Any time a strike occurred, the local's paper, BUZZ\nSAW, urged I.W.A. members not to\npurchase items from the striking\noutfits, and to obey the picket lines.\nDuring the I.W.A. strikes of the\n1940's and 1950's, local 1-357 also\nfaced hardships which were lightened by the comradeship and diligence of its own members. For example, the Women's Auxiliary\nsearched for food and money from\nstores and farms in the Lower\nMainland, later, they even set up\nsoup kitchens for picketers at the\nmills. \"Women from this local\nworked like hell during these\nstrikes . . \" The Women's Auxiliary\nhelped members significantly during strikes by providing them with\nfood and funds, so they could survive the duration of the strike.\nNews regarding strikes and I.W.A.\nmaterial was heard on the local's\nradio program, \"Green Gold\".\nGreen Gold was introduced in\n1939 on CJOR by I.WA. president,\nHarold Pritchett, who talked about\nthe news in the labour scene.\nStrikes, negotiation proposals, demands, safety talks, working condi-\nRC. Historical News\n30 tions were just some of the items\nmentioned on the program. Local 1-\n357 participated in the \"Green\nGold\" talk show on CKNW on\nSaturdays at 7:05. The first program by the local commenced on 5\nApril 1952. The CKNW program\nhad been \"received with acclaim by\nradio listeners. The programs have\nalready proved to be a valuable medium for presentation of I.W.A.\nnews and policies.\"1 One of many\ntopics mentioned on the program\nwas education and safety in wood\noperations.\nIt was stated that \"the Education\nProgram launched by local 1-357\nhas been an outstanding success.\"8\nThe program had classes dealing\nwith co-operatives, education for\nshop stewards and grievances committees, but the central theme of the\nprogram was its safety class.\nMembers at the plant level were\nable to talk about accident reports,\nclaims and the prevention of accidents. The local's educational program involved showing film on safety rules and hazards at the\nworkplace and soon these films were\nshown to other I.W.A. locals. The\npopular demand for local 1-357\nfilms was overwhelming. In 1950 it\nwas announced that the I.W.A.\n\"shows 30 films a month and is now\nrated by the National Film board as\nthe biggest of any rival circuits.\"3\nThe local's Education Program was\nimportant to its members and other\nlocals, because it improved the education of shop stewards and safety\ncommittees in turn making safer\nworking conditions for all.\nThe Women's Auxiliary, Sports\ncommittee and Social committee introduced many athletic activities\nsuch as bowling, which became an\ninstant success with the members.\nFishing derbies were another adventure the local attempted in the early\n1950's and they became a popular\nactivity.\nDuring such recreational activities\nworkers, families and friends could\nget out to relax, socialize and wait\npatiently along the sand bars of the\nFraser River to catch \"the big one\".\nThis yearly event still takes place\nwith prizes consisting of trophies\nand cash. The \"Christmas Tree\nParty\" was another event that\nbrought the workers and family\nmembers together. The parties ended in the late fifties, but while they\nwere in existence they were a great\nsuccess, as exemplified by the fact\nthat as many as 2,000 to 4,000 often gathered for the celebration.\nRefreshments, gifts and entertainment were made available to the\nmembers and their families. The\nhigh cost of such large parties unfortunately made the \"Christmas Tree\nParty\" unfeasible; the last one being\nheld in 1958. The Women's\nAuxiliary and the Social committee\nwere major agents in the organization of social events in the local.\nThis, of course, was very important\nfor the members since such events\ncreated enjoyable times for them\naway from the mills. Although the\ncommittees spent a significant\namount of their time developing social activities they also took time to\nfocus on more serious issues,\nRacism has been a factor in B.C.\nsince the 1880's, when Chinese were\nfound working for half the wage of\nthe Caucasian worker. Since the formation of the I.W.A. in 1937, this\nold tiered wage system was abolished in the forest industry, because\nthe I.WA.'s philosophy is \"based on\nbrotherhood and sisterhood of the\nworking people joining together\ncooperatively to pursue common and\neconomic and social interests. \"10 The\nlocal's Social committee has helped\nto \"combat racism and racial discrimination of all forms in the mills\nwithin the boundaries of the local,\nand to look into particular problems\nfaced by our immigrant brothers and\nsisters\", since the 1950's and perhaps earlier.11 \"I.WA. Leads Attack\nAgainst Prejudice\" was one of the\ntalks on CKNW on 11 April 1952,\nwhere speakers from the local attacked The Vancouver Sun for writing a discriminatory article on problems in South Africa.12 They also\nsupported equal rights for all races\nof men in the work force in B.C. The\nstrength and sincerity of the local's\nattack against racism helped mem\n31\nbers and those in need when situations of prejudice occurred.\nIn summary, it is clear that local\n1-357 has played an important, and\ninteresting role within both the\nI.W.A. and Greater New\nWestminster area. The local's\nachievements are many. It helped\nto organize the I.W.A. and\nCommunity Credit Union and aided\nin the formation of United Good\nNeighbours Fund. During its continuous growth and expansion the local, through its various committees\nwas able to aid both its own members and the greater community.\nMany years have passed since the\nlocal began its efforts to improve conditions within the workplace, but the\ntime has been certainly well spent;\nthe local and all its brothers and sisters are a credit to both Canada and\nthe trade union movement,\n**************\nThe author is a Simon Fraser graduate\nwith a RA. in History, and a holder of a\nPublic History Certificate. His home is in\nSurrey.\nBIBUOGRAPHY\n1-357 MinuteBook, Vol. 1, Nov. 1942-Sept. 1947, p. 1\nB.C. Lumber Water, March, 1951.\nB.C. Lumber Worker, Sept. 1954.\n[nterview with Stewart Alsbury, Feb. 1986.\nLembeke, One Union in Wood, p 105.\nInterview with Stewart Alsbury, Feb. 1986.\nRC Lumber Write* April 1952.\nRC. Lumber Wferker, March 1950.\nB.C Lumber Worker, November 1950.\nTlieChipper.January 1978.\nTheChipper, January 1978.\nB.C Lumber Worker, April 1952.\nBergen, H, Dalstog, E, Parkin, A, Barnett, T\n\"Hard Bargaining- A Union in the Woods 1940-1950 in\nSound Heritage. Vol. VII. No. 4, Provincial Archives.\nVictoria, B.C. pp. 61-76.\nLembeke, Jeny&Tatlam, William 1984\nOne Union in the WdocJi A Political History of the\nInternational Wndworkers of America, B.C. Harbour\nPublishing Co., Ltd.\nLembeke, Jerry 1989\n'The International Woodworkers at America in BX.\n1942-1951\", Labour\/Le Trauaille 6, pp. 113-148.\nNorton, Desmond &COPR Terry 1964\nWorking Peopta An Illustrated History of the Canadian\nUboraMowement, Deneau Publishers: Ottawa, Revised\nEdition.\nPalmer, D., Bryan 1983\nWiridngClass Experience! The Rise and Reconstruction\nof Canadian Labour. 1800-1980, Canada: ButlesworthS\nCo.\nIWA Annuals Series 5-16,1976-1986. Naylor\nCommunications Ltd\nLocal 1-387 Union Minutes Nov. 1942 - Sept. 1947, Oct.\n1947-Sept. 1957 - Sept. 1962, Oct. 1962 - Sept. 1970,\nOct. 1970 - Sept. 1975 - Sept. 1980.\nLocal 1-387 Society Minute Book, Feb 1949 - April 1981.\nTlieChipper, Dec. 1971 - Dec. 1985.\nMicrofilms\nRC. Lumber Worker, Dec. 1942 - Nov, 1069.\nRC. Historical News Gems From Archives\nThis Program Courtesy of Kootenay Lake Historical Society\nProgram \u2014 Thursday, July 27th\nPROGRAM COMMENCES AT 1 P.M.\nSwimming'\u2014boys under 10 years\u20141st 7&c, 2nd 50c, distance 25 yartL\nSwimming\u2014girls under 10 years\u20141st 7&c, 2nd 50c; diiU-uce 25 >:nJs\nSwimming\u2014boys under 14 yeais\u20141st 75c, 2nd 50c; dijian..e 30 >arris\nSwimming\u2014girls under 14 years\u20141st 75.;, 2nd 50c; distance 35 yards\nSwimming\u2014boys under 12. years\u20141st 75c, 2nd 50c; distance 35 yards\nSwimming\u2014girls under 12 years\u20141st 75c, 2nd 50c; distance 35 yards\nS.\/imming\u2014boys under 16 years\u20141st $1.00, 2nd 50c, distance 50 yards\nS..i.nming\u2014girls under 16 years\u20141st $1.00, 2nd 50c, instance 50 yuid3\nDiving\u2014boys under 12 years\u20141st 75c, 2nd 50c\nD.vi:ig\u2014girls under 12 years\u20141st 75c, 2nd 50:\nSwimming under water\u2014open, 1st $1.50, 2nd $1.00\nDiving\u2014boys under 10 years\u20141st 75c, 2nd 30;\nDiving\u2014girls under 10 years\u20141st 75=, 2nd 50c\nDiving\u2014boys under 14 years\u20141st 75:, 2nd \"\u00bb0c\nDiving\u2014g'.ris under 14 years\u20141st \"5c, 2nd 50c\nDiving\u2014boys under 16 years\u20141st $1.00, 2nd 50=\nDiving\u2014girls under 16 years\u20141st $1.00, 2nd 50c\nDuck Race\u2014girls, open\nDuck Rcce\u2014boys, open\nDiving for plates\u2014men, open\u20141st $1.50, 2nd $1.00\nDiving for plates\u2014women, open\u20141st $1.50, 2nd $1.00\nDiving\u2014men, 1st $1.00, 2nd 75c\nLadies Diving\u20141st $1.00, 2nd 75c\nHigh Diving\u2014men, open\u20141st $1.50, 2nd $1.00\nHigh Diving\u2014women, open\u20141st $1.50, 2nd $1.00\nSwimming\u2014men, open, 75 yards\u20141st $1.50, 2rd $1.00\nSwimming\u2014ladies, open, 75 yards\u20141st $1.50, 2nd $1.00\nSpecizl\u2014youngest swimmers on the beach\u20143 \"Kidd medals\", .-