September 2, 1920
What was happening a century ago this week from the front page of the Cowichan Leader.
September 2, 1920
At last! the 100-odd “Imperial Pressmen” have come to Duncan and gone again after an indoor luncheon at the Agricultural Hall.
Some were entertained privately by individual citizens but most joined a like number of residents in the hall because the planned picnic beside the Cowichan River had been cancelled because of rain.
They were greeted by Duncan Mayor Pitt, North Cowichan Reeve Herd, MLA Duncan and the president of the Duncan Board of Trade. The esteemed guests were spared speeches of welcome. Lord Burnham did thank their hosts and said that their visit to the Island, brief though it was, was among the highlights of their tour and he could well understand its attraction to British emigrants.
His single criticism was that neither Canada nor British Columbia promoted themselves adequately on the world stage.
Robert Allister of the Cape Times, South Africa, thought the Island made him feel more at home than anywhere else and he was particularly impressed with its agricultural prospects.
And so it went, with no real speeches, but heaps of praise for the natural beauty of their surroundings and the hospitality extended to them. If it all seemed somewhat anti-climactic after three weeks of hype in The Leader, well...
There was more of general interest in the other articles of the September 2nd issue—more about a suspected arsonist in Cobble Hill, a devastating house fire and a serious auto accident on the Malahat.
There was more prosaic news, too: Schools were about to resume classes, the Fall Fair was nigh, the Looking Out Circle of the King’s Daughters Hospital had given a poorly attended concert for starving children at the Opera House, and the Women’s Missionary Society of the Methodist Church had held a picnic (with no mention of rain).
The Rev. F.G. Christmas was commended for standing in for the ailing Rev. E.S. Hunt of Shawnigan Lake by holding five services—Duncan, Cowichan Station, Quamichan, Maple bay and Duncan—on a single Sunday.
The Rev. C.R. Sing didn’t fare as well in his court appearance before Stipendiary Magistrate James Maitland-Dougall on the charge of lighting a fire near standing timber without a permit. He was fined $50 and paid on the spot.
According to Assistant Fire Warden E.P. Burchett, Sing had set five fires on a piece of land he was clearing, between Cobble Hill and Cowichan Bay. Burchett said he hadn’t slept for two nights, he’d been so busy attending to other fires in the area, several of which were thought to be the work of an arsonist.
For driving with no headlights on, Capt. R.E. Barkley, Westholme, was fined $5 and costs.
There’d been a serious car accident south of the Malahat Summit when a Ford car driven by Mrs. A.B. Matthews, also of Westholme, left the road after hitting a large pothole that bounced the car across the road where it struck an embankment and bounced back again to end up on its side just short of a steep drop.
Luckily, noted The Leader, “the nose of the engine became embedded in the ground. On Mrs. Matthews leaning back hard on the seat of the car, it righted itself as, otherwise, it would have turned upside down and fallen down the cliff.”
Three passengers who were thrown clear suffered cuts and bruises but Mrs. Matthews was unhurt. All were driven to Duncan by a passing motorist.
Yet another disastrous house fire was reported, this one owned by C. Gwilt on Riverbottom Road, Sahtlam. Mr. Gwilt was at work, Mrs. Gwilt, while baking cookies, was fetching firewood from a shed when she noticed the house was on fire, likely from a spark from the kitchen stove. Neighbour J. Haslam rushed to help and “did everything a man could possibly do,” but it was no use and the house was destroyed.
Only some chairs were saved and their young daughter, who’d been swimming, was left in her bathing suit and raincoat.
Just a year old, the nine-room house was partially insured for its $4000 value (a large sum in those days). Also lost was the $700 Mr. Gwilt had saved to buy a car. For all that, he was quick to say he intended to rebuild in the near future.
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