December 9, 1921
What was happening a century ago this week from the front page of the Cowichan Leader.
December 9, 1921
There are two big news stories in this issue of the Leader. First up, National Liberal Conservative candidate Charles Herbert Dickie, whom we’ve met in the Chronicles before, had topped the polls in the federal election:
COWICHAN MAN RETURNED
C.H. Dickie Wins Handsomely in Nanaimo Riding—Huge Majority In Own District
There’s no question but that the Cowichan Valley put him in office, he having lost handily to his Nanaimo-based opponent in the Greater Nanaimo area. Nevertheless he had a handy overall majority.
There’d been lots of excitement at the Duncan Opera House on election night. This was in the age before instant communication, remember, voting tallies being transmitted by telegraph. At the Opera House the numbers were written on paper plates and flashed on a movie screen for the large crowd there in support of Dickie.
Sounds primitive but it worked.
Dickie complimented both his opponents for their “clean and gentlemanly” campaigns and was “heartily cheered” when he promised to do all that was “right and true” for all of B.C., Canada and the Empire as a member of the opposition in Ottawa.
To entertain the crowd of 150 while waiting for the final count, silent movies, mostly comedies, were shown with local pianist Miss Monk at the keys. There’d been further laughter when a Dickie supporter complained of a red tablecloth (the Liberal Party colour) and it was replaced with a Union Jack.
Some of the most contentious issues of the day, at least locally, were the cost of fuel oil, “Orientals,” farm and Game matters (see below).
(It’s interesting to note that Dickie, who by all accounts was a decent man and a good MP, promised in his letter of thanks to the electors, to “do my utmost for the constituency as a whole and for every class in it (my italics—TW)”. I say interesting because, for all of Dickie’s good qualities, he was a product of his times—racially prejudiced—although he was capable of turning the telescope around on occasion.)
On the provincial scene the big news story of the day was that of local Independent MLA Kenneth Duncan’s bill to reform the Game Act had been defeated at its second reading. As the Leader put it it in its headline,
Urgent Reforms Pressed By Member For Cowichan Receive Little Sympathy From Government.
Conservationists had sided with game birds, M.B. Jackson haughtily defending the devastation of crops by pheasant and quail [both introduced to the province—TW] with the comment, “Damage to potatoes was a matter of opinion.”
A.D. Paterson, Delta, could see the farmers’ viewpoint but worried that, allowed to protect their crops, they would abuse the privilege: “There [are] as many selfish farmers as there are other classes of men.”
The Hon. E.D. Barrow had provoked that response when he declared that, after all, farmers weren’t sportsmen! On a more serious note the minister told of having seeing examples of game bird-damaged vegetables exhibited at the Duncan Fair. He felt that some farmers, particularly those in the Cowichan Valley, should be allowed to defend their crops.
His comment re: farmers not being sportsmen really meant that he thought that a farmer whose crops had been seriously damaged by game birds might wish to recoup himself by taking up hunting.
The vote for the status quo was 25-15, many of those favouring the protection of game birds other than during hunting seasons, representing non-rural ridings.
Duncan City Council awarded a contract for the laying of three sections of concrete sidewalk on Jubilee Street to J.M. Campbell, for a total of $370.80., fully $400 less than the highest quote by W.H. Vaux. Payment of bills amounting to just over $5000 was authorized and word had been received that there’d be no rebates from B.C. Telephone for those who’d been inappropriately overcharged.
$78,366 had been quoted for improvements to the City electrical system and $37,145 for a million-gallon reservoir and pump for the waterworks, also owned by the City.
Clr. Ashby was welcomed back to North Cowichan Council after a lengthy absence and approval granted for repairs being made to the high school’s sanitary system during the Christmas holidays.
Clr. Rivett-Carnac asked if nothing could be done to separate “the Oriental children” from public classes and was told that to do so would require other classroom accommodation. The Girl Guides were granted permission to use the court house for their activities “on the usual arrangements” and revenues from poll, road and dog taxes were rolling in.
Certainly enough to compensate farmer W. Thomas of Chemainus $5 for a lamb killed by a dog. But Council had no patience for slackers; any outstanding taxes were to be pursed through the courts. This seemingly harsh attitude probably was the result of Council’s offer to delinquents to work off their outstanding taxes hadn’t had a single taker.
An unspecified law suit against the Municipality by J. Moon, Somenos, and described by the Leader as a “very unusual action,” was underway and Council voted to dispute it in court. The Chemainus War Memorial Society would be asked to take custody and care of the newly-arrived war trophy, a German naval gun.
Two “sets of pictures” (i.e. movies) were being shown at the Opera House, one leading lady, Louise Huff, being described as “a remarkably charming ingenue whose beauty [is] only equalled by her cleverness and dainty appeal”.
All of the costumes were “uncommonly lovely” and the “whole setting was more than unusually striking”. (You’ll never see a movie review like that today.—Ed.)
After 40 years Bank of Montreal manager A.W. Hanham was retiring. He’d begun as a junior accountant in Montreal with the Bank of British North America in 1881. After several cross-Canada postings he’d requested a transfer to the balmy west coast because of ill health during a stint in Winnipeg. After four years in Victoria he came to Duncan in 1905, to open the BBNA’s first office upstairs in Harry Smith’s Duncans [sic] Emporium, 1905. (The latter-day Red Balloon building, now a vacant lot.)
Because all local business and residents did their banking in Victoria at that time, it had been “uphill work for Mr. Hanham and his assistant to persuade them that it was easier to bank at home”.
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