September 1, 1921
What was happening a century ago this week from the front page of the Cowichan Leader.
September 1, 1921
For the second week in a row the big news in the Leader was agricultural, this time headlined, GROWING SEED INDUSTRY - Cowichan’s Sweet Pea Far Superior to that of California -Harvesting Now.
The Florists’ Exchange of New York, the chief organ of the flower trade on the continent, had published a glowing article about a two-month-long tour of American and Canadian seed growers by J.M. Bridgeford, managing director of a major English wholesale seed firm. A sweet pea specialist, he expressed his disappointment of California crops but raved about his visit to a four-acre spread “near” Victoria (undoubtedly Saanich) whose stock upon blooming, he was convinced, would put the American growers to shame.
He’d also visited the well known Crosland Bros. Farm at Cowichan Bay. He said their two acres of sweet peas were the best he’d ever seen. (Into the 1930s the Sweet Pea Festival was a major annual event in the Valley.)
Others in the seed business had already praised the local product, saying it likely was superior because of ideal growing conditions shared by sweet peas grown in Germany. In total it was estimated that local growers had 40 acres of the flowering peas under cultivation.
According to the Leader, the Crosslands were to be given credit for having made Cowichan seeds well known in England. At the very least they deserved mention for perseverance, having invested 14 years into bringing their sweet peas to the point of a profitable commercial scale.
Independent MLA Kenneth Duncan was quoted as saying he didn’t think the government’s new PGE Railway (long derided because of its incompleteness as “Prince George Eventually” and “Please Go Easy”) would ever be financially viable: “As a scenic route it is beautiful.” As a financial venture, “Doubtful, very doubtful.”
Still under construction—it would be decades before it operated as intended, only to be given away by a Liberal government—it had already cost the province $38 million and operating expenses were $3 million a year. (You can multiply these figures by 20 to allow for inflation over a century.) According to Duncan the line had originally been laid out to attract the founding of new townships but he didn’t think this likely.
Archibald Tiderington (I don’t make these names up, folks) was in police court on a charge of bootlegging. Apparently he’d been negotiating a sale at one end of a woodpile, unaware that Provincial Police Constable William Kier and Game Warden E.G. Steadham were at the other. His Not Guilty plea notwithstanding, Magistrate Maitland-Dougall found him otherwise and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment. Logger and prospective purchaser John Kynble was out of pocket both the booze and his money, $4 for a case of beer and $2.50 for a part bottle of whisky.
A second man, identified only as Sam, also charged with bootlegging, was released but his alleged client was hit $5 for drunkenness. Sam didn’t get off Scot-free, however, police having seized an unlicensed revolver for which he was fined $10.
A charge of wilful negligence in dealing with a fire was also dismissed.
Final planning was underway for a full program of sports for Children’s Day at the Fall Fair. The key to the events was that each team be composed from an existing group, such as the Scouts, Girl Guides, etc. There would be relay, wheelbarrow, three-legged and needle-threading races and high jumps for boys and girls up to 14 years.
There was increased interest in the monthly Child Welfare Clinics held at the Cowichan Women’s Institute. Sixteen babies and five children between the ages of two and six years old comprised the latest batch. Drs. A. Popert and H.P. Swan, assisted by Chief District Nurse Miss J. Hardy, conducted the clinic. The information gained, said the Leader, “should prove of much benefit for future reference in connection with the health of the [children], and if health statistics should be required at any time.”
The Cowichan Electoral District Health Centre was still working towards establishing a dental clinic and two prospective dentists had been lined up once suitable accommodations could be found. One of them, Dr. Kerr, was enthusiastic about instructing dental hygiene in schools.
City water had been tested in Victoria for “impurities” caused by logging operations; despite complaints of consumers, a Victoria chemist found no problem with the samples provided him for analysis.
Miss Jill L. Cossley-Batt, a journalist whose career “has been astonishingly successful as her record in other activities,” had stopped by on a visit. The Leader was awed by the credentials of one so young (she was still in her 20s): O.B.E., D.Sc., B.A. During the war she’d risen from ammunition worker to inspector of explosives factories to Recorder of the Committee of Chemical Warfare.
She’d lost her father and her brother in the war and had to abandon chemistry after being severely injured; this is when she’d turned to journalism. As such she’d travelled the entire Commonwealth and Far East and was enjoying a bus man’s holiday in Victoria. While in the Valley she was hosted by Miss F.S. Leather, Quamichan Lake, and squired about by the Board of Trade.
She certainly impressed the reporter assigned to cover her visit: “It is rather hard to state in what accomplishment Dr. Cossley-Batt is deficient. She has command of seven languages, is a fluent platform speaker, a vocalist and violinist, and a writer of outstanding ability. She is certainly one of the most interesting and distinguished visitors the district has entertained and it is possible that she may spend a longer period here at some future date.”
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