Some Lighter Moments in Our Past

On the cusp, as we are, of another New Year, it occurs to me to lighten up a little. In the course of the past year the Chronicles has covered numerous tragedies, from criminal to shipwreck. All great stories if I may be so modest as to say, but...

To begin a brand-new 2023, let's take a walk on the light side, with a chuckle or two from my archives. We have all year to get back to the grimmer side of our history...

 *  *  *  *  *
A professional peril, if you will, of researching history, particularly in old newspapers, is the lure of distractions. These sirens of print can take you temporarily, even completely off course.

Even if only momentarily, the danger is always there and time counts if you're researching in, say, a library.

Back in the old days of the typewriter and, worse, scribbling notes, I'd have to make the hard decision whether to actually record these nuggets, make a note for future reference or pass them by. Happily, this isn't a problem with today's technology which takes just a couple of commands to archive them for another day.

So, for the first Chronicle of a new year, a random sampling of some cheerier news stories from the pages of the Victoria Colonist.

 *  *  *  *  *
PHOTO: Victoria in the 1860's. It wasn't all bad news that made the pages of the Colonist and other newspapers. After all, we do refer to them as the good old days?