August 19, 1920
What was happening a century ago this week from the front page of the Cowichan Leader.
August 19, 1920
There was little in the way of sensationalism in the pages of The Leader of a century ago. Hence the story that a firebug was on the loose in Cobble Hill is almost overwhelmed by miscellaneous headlines about more mundane events.
First up for August 19 was “Aquatic Sport,” an entire column on an afternoon of “unalloyed pleasure at Maple Bay”. This was an account of the Maple Bay Regatta which had been blessed with brilliant sunshine and a full tide. No surprise, then, that there was a large turnout.
The Leader complimented the event’s organizers for their “timely preparation, executive ability and an infinite capacity for taking pains”. Regatta participants and spectator came from as far as Nanaimo and Victoria. It’s interesting to note that not all events were nautical—for example, a pillow fight and a tug-of-war.
On the business scene there was yet another new sawmill, this one, the Holt Creek Lumber Co., owned by Station Street shoemaker Sam Lee and 12 partners. Previously a tie-cutting operation, the company proposed to cut 8-10,000 feet daily from part of the Keating Estate.
There were bigger doings in the local lumber industry at Cowichan Lake where the Canadian Puget Sound Co. was about to begin logging 60 million feet of timber at the rate of 100,000 feet a day with a crew of 80-100 men.
The recent conviction of Hy Chin Huam of selling liquor in violation of the Indian Act was overturned in the Supreme Court in Victoria on a technicality because only one of the two presiding magistrates had signed the conviction This rendered it invalid and saved the defendant from his sentence of $200 fine or six months.
The big news story of the day was the impending visit, as reported last week, of the Imperial Press Conference to Duncan. It would require 35 cars to transport them from Victoria for a luncheon beside the Cowichan River near the Cricket Club grounds. Visitors could join the festivities for $1.
The Cowichan Valley was the “farthest west” point of their Canadian visit and The Leader opined that, having been feted and dined and “speeched” to death before they arrived here, they’d probably prefer “a quiet time among us”. Several residents had volunteered their cars and time to show the dignitaries around.
Declared The Leader: “”It’s unlikely that any more important body will visit this district,” and it was essential that they be given a good reception.
Other visitors of note were 18 post graduates—15 women and three men—of Chicago University. They’d travelled across the continent while studying physiological ecology, the relationship of plants and trees and their reactions to the environment. They were welcomed by W. Melvin Fleming, district agriculturalist and secretary of the Cowichan Field Naturalists’ Club. After visiting the Messrs. Crossland Bros.’s seed nursery they were off to climb Mount Arrowsmith.
Finally we get to the “firebug” story. The latest of a series of fires in the Cobble Hill area occurred at the Frondeg Lumber Co.’s mill near Raymond’s Crossing. “There appears to be no doubt that it was deliberately set,” and public opinion was said to be aroused. The Leader hoped that the person or person responsible “for this dastardly business will be placed in durance vile ere long”.
The resulting smoke had cast a pall that covered square miles between the Koksilah River and Glenora. Firefighters were battling the blaze and there were other fires, although not of suspicious origin, in Sooke and the Nitinat Valley.
The sleep of many residents around Somenos and Quamichan lakes was disturbed on Monday night (August 16) by the baying of hounds responding to the report of a cougar sighting.
W.M. Galbraith, Duncan, had received a letter from HRH King George V in memory of his son, Lieut. William Galbraith, RN. The appalling number of those killed in the First World War while defending the Empire is vividly indicated by the fact that Galbraith’s plaque was numbered 698,846. Because this particular plaque, of copper, bore a strong resemblance to the British one-cent coin it became known as the “Death Penny.”
The brief inscription, besides his name and rank, was, “He died for Freedom and Honour.”
Norman Corfield won the Hayward Cup on the Duncan Tennis Courts for the third time and assistant fire ranger E.F. Burchett had his car stolen while in Nanaimo. It was quickly recovered and the thief arrested.
The King’s Daughters Hospital had attended to 48 in-patients and 13 out-patients in July and its hard-worked nurses were given the respite of a tent, cost $50, for their off-duty comfort. The hospital board discussed creating a tuberculosis ward and three directional signs were to be erected to assist newcomers in locating the hospital. It was also agreed to accept the City’s offer of a used chemical fire extinguisher.
Representatives of the Cowichan Fish & Game Society appeared before North Cowichan Council to urge that a license fee be imposed on all out-of-Valley hunters. They didn’t want to see the Valley “denuded” of its game as had happened elsewhere, spokesman Capt. R.E Barkley explained. Some weekends, he complained, as many as 40 non-resident hunters could be seen in the Mount Sicker and Maple Bay areas.
When Clr. Smith asked why he and his club wanted to protect bears which killed sheep, Barkley replied that, in 25 years, he’d known of a single incident of a bear killing a sheep. The suggested license fee was $10. Council agreed to mull it over.
And I.W. Sherman, who’d hunted down the cougar wounded by a motorcyclist on Jaynes Road several weeks earlier, reported that he’d received the full $25 bounty from the province after a government clerk withheld $10 for the Municipality. Council agreed to top up the provincial bounty by a further $5 for any “panther” shot within Municipal boundaries.
The Mainguy Road controversy between Swallowfield Farm owner Gore Langton, Mainguy Island owner James and the Municipality continued unresolved; the possibility of appointing an arbitrator was discussed before the matter was held over—again.
Chemainus Clr. Rivett-Carnac complained that only $1900 of $4500 budgeted for his ward had been spent by mid-year. At the very least he wanted a sidewalk laid for a mere $150 and some rubbish removed; Council agreed to let him see to it.
The never-ending problems of road work came up for discussion. So far this year $14,000 had been expended on the roads—“but no one knew where”—and it was obvious that the Municipality was headed for a deficit—meaning the need of a loan—by year-end. Reeve Herd’s suggestion that staff be downsized as an economy measure received no support.
Finally, the sensitive issue of several properties owned by returned servicemen being sold at auction for unpaid taxes was put off by making them exempt from the September 30 sale of seized properties.
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