July 7, 1921
What was happening a century ago this week from the front page of the Cowichan Leader.
July 7, 1921
The most gripping story on this front page, SOUTH SEA TRAGEDY, is a real heartbreaker. Poor Maj. J.D.H. Roe, formerly a stalwart of the Duncan Board of Trade. Talk about jinxed!
A year ago he and a partner had launched a ferry service between Mill Bay and Saanich. It failed.
Then he and his new wife built a fine bungalow at Mill Bay. A week after completion, it burned down. It was only 50 per cent insured.
Deciding to start life over in the South Seas, the Roes and several friends settled on an island in the Cook Islands, southeast of Samoa. There, Roe was stricken with appendicitis and with no surgical assistance available, he died.
At last report Mrs. Roe was returning to Canada...
Dominion Day had come and gone and with it the 14th annual yachting regatta at Mill Bay, a squall and (pre-global warming) rain. With visitors from afar, the bay was “covered...with craft of all shapes, sizes and rigs”.
What began with sunshine and a breeze became a squall by afternoon, upsetting yachting events. On shore, the damp weather, the lack of access to the government wharf (barred to the public because of its decrepit condition) and any serious attempt to inform viewers of what was happening disappointed many.
Nevertheless, Spirit of Vancouver won the light sloop race, Gwendolyn, also Vancouver, the heavy sloop event, and Adelphi (Vancouver again) the yawl and schooner competition.
Two kitten boats were dis-masted in the heavy weather and, in the most exciting event of the day, locals R.W. Whittome and F.R. Gooding managed to remain afloat while winning the dinghy race in Bonito. Two other entries were overturned and Alice, a Tacoma speedboat, “ran amok at the finishing line”.
There was an Evinrude event for decorated craft, ladies singles sculls and a greased pole event. In short, an exciting regatta for those involved if not for those unable to see what was going on from the shore.
It was business as usual for North Cowichan: taxes, roads, schools and noxious weeds. Seventy per cent of the 1921 property taxes were in, up 10 per cent from the year before, and the $16,000 bank overdraft had been replaced by $12,000 surplus. The Mainguy Island road fiasco was finally paid off, to the tune of $4,188.30.
Replacement of the pilings of the Maple Bay wharf was discussed but no decision made until it was determined how much it would cost. Clr. Rivett-Carnack complained that, since consolidation, the Chemainus school was getting short shrift with reduced teaching staff and fewer manual shop hours. W.M. Dwyer, chairman of the school board who’d been asked to attend the meeting to discuss this, said he thought Rivett-Carnack should be addressing his concerns to the trustees not the councillors.
Two outstanding accounts for road work were discussed, one held over, the other approved for payment.
And the Municipality was still wrangling with Duncan over the allotment of war trophies, North Cowichan wanting two machine guns besides the already granted field pieces. An exasperated Reeve Paitson urged the municipal trophy committee to seek an “amicable agreement” with the City which was, in effect, competing for the Great War weaponry.
The road superintendent was instructed to estimate the cost of clearing the trail to the Mount Prevost war memorial then under construction and word had been received from the provincial attorney-general’s office that the Municipality would only be accountable for injuries to children using school buses if the school board and/or driver were negligent.
Safe from unseasonable weather in the Agricultural Hall, the King’s Daughters held a successful flower show which included fruits and vegetables. Particular mention was given to sweet peas and strawberries and younger entrants were praised for their displays of pressed grasses and clover.
Sunshine also favoured the ladies of St. Peter’s, Quamichan for the 36th annual summer fete which included an “American roundabout handicap tennis tournament,” with Mrs. Hickes and W. L. Smythe winning 33 of 42 games. There was dinner, a tea and strawberries and shortcake with a stall of needlework and games.
The Board of Trade had more important things on their minds than summer festivities: the CNR’s proposed Tidewater Line from Cowichan Bay to Deerholme. This would mean opportunities for local sawmills but would mean that the branch line would bypass Duncan. Officials of the CNR were invited to meet with the Board to discuss the matter in detail.
H.N. Clague, public works, reported that funding had finally been achieved for rebuilding the Cowichan Bay wharf and P.M. Campbell suggested cooperation between Duncan and North Cowichan to harvest more electrical power from local waterways. (Duncan’s power system was run by diesel generators.)
Trout fishing in the Cowichan River was reported to be “exceedingly good” and it was recommended that Cowichan Tribes be permitted two fishing weirs, salmon trout runs having been larger than in previous years. The 40,000 Atlantic salmon fry—“this splendid variety of sporting fish”—were about to be released at the Cowichan Lake hatchery and it was reported that neither of the two fisheries conservation officers were on duty.
Fuller’s and Chemainus lakes were to be stocked with trout fry for the first time and eastern brook trout, released the previous year (it’s not stated where but likely Cowichan Lake), were now being caught.
Tables, seats and firewood were now available to users of the public campsite at the Agricultural Hall grounds and there was talk of another Mill Bay-Saanich Peninsula ferry service. The provincial police were enforcing eradication of Canadian thistles at Cobble Hill and work was underway to clear a site for a war memorial there.
A complaint of insufficient road work in the district was to be forwarded to MLA Kenneth Duncan and, lastly, it was agreed to fulfill a request from the Girl Guides to provide transportation to and from an event at Crofton.
Have a question, comment or suggestion for TW? Use our Contact Page.