Nuggets in the News - and in the Mail
As I’ve said so many times before, history just keeps on coming.
Everywhere I go, every time I open my mail, every time I read the paper, there’s something ‘old’ in the news. So often lately that they’re ganging up on me. So, next week I open my mail bag and my clippings and email files and share with you some of these news stories whose roots are firmly in the past.
Some of them may surprise you. I promise they will entertain you.
That’s this week in the Chronicles.
PS: Speaking of email, some of my best leads over the years have come through suggestions of Chronicles readers, over the 23 years of publication in the Cowichan Valley Citizen, and in the months since they’ve been online. Often they arrive as a comment to a published post, sometimes they’re requests for specific subjects and, often, they’re requests for information.
I do my best to respond and I remind readers that I’m always open to queries, suggestions, even (grrrr) corrections. Just keep in mind that I’ve never made a mistake in print—that I’ve admitted to.
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Former U.S President Barack Obama sitting at the ‘Resolute Desk’ in 2009. —Wikipedia
Hardly had I shuffled my clippings file for this week’s post than an article on the front page of today’s Times Colonist coincided with one of the ‘nuggets’ I’d shortlisted and proved, yet again, the very point I’m trying to make:
That many of the stories in today’s ‘news’ are ‘old’—they have historical roots.
The Times Colonist headline reads (on the front page, yet), “Wanted: One history-infused desk suitable for a mayor.”
Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch is renovating his office and his 1980s government issue desk of “fake wood laminate” has to go. He wants something with real character (perhaps oak) and a past, “something substantial, perhaps with some local history attached, something that could stay with the office and be used by mayors for many decades to come”.
This dovetails with something I saw in the news re: U.S. President Joe Biden’s taking over both the national helm and the Oval Office in the White House. The story was about his installing a bust of martyred labour activist Cesar Chavez as well as those of civil rights champions Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, and former president Bill Clinton’s blue carpet and deep gold draperies.
What caught my eye, however, not having heard mention of it since President John Kennedy’s day, was that Biden would retain the Oval Office’s “Resolute desk” (my link to Oak Bay Mayor Murdoch’s quest), “so named because it was built using oak from the British Arctic exploration ship HMS Resolute.”
Now there’s a story for you!
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a lifelong fascination with the history of Arctic exploration in the 19th century, particularly the search for the fabled North West Passage and the ill-fated Sir John Franklin expedition. You don’t get more dramatic history than this which proves beyond argument that truth really is stranger than fiction. No Hollywood screenwriter could ever come up with a better plot than that of the British obsession to find a shortcut to the Orient via a North West Passage and the incredible heroism and sacrifice that resulted.
Which brings us back to the historic desk in the Oval Office. It’s large and ornately carved with the official seal of the United States of America. The website of the White House Historical association tells us ever so succinctly that “The story of the desk goes back to 1855 when a whaler named George Henry found the abandoned ship the H.M.S. Resolute off Baffin Island in the Arctic. The ship was returned to England and served the British Navy for many more years. After England finally decommissioned the ship, its oak timbers were used to create a desk weighing more than 1,000 pounds. Given by Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880, this desk has been used on the Second Floor of the White House, the Ground Floor, and, most notably, the Oval Office.”
Short and to the point, yes, but, oh, so uninformative!
(And typical of former president Trump, by the way; he thought the desk was from the War of 1814. You can buy a replica of it for $7000 U.S.)
But I, too, must be succinct. Simply put, HMS Resolute, the flagship of Sir Edward Belcher, was on her second voyage to the Arctic as one of seven naval ships in search of evidence of the Franklin expedition in 1852-4. But severe ice conditions trapped her and several of the others in the ice and Belcher, over the protests of his senior officers, ordered abandon ship and a march overland to rejoin the remaining ships of the expedition. Unlike the tragic Franklin expedition, they did reach safety and, ultimately, England.
Belcher was given a court martial, the usual drill for an officer who’d lost his ship, and was exonerated but was never again given an active command.
As for his flagship, Resolute defied the odds and rather than being crushed in the ice, proceeded to drift to Davis Strait where, off Baffin Island, she was taken in tow in September 1855 by an American whaling ship. The American government “graciously returned [her] to the United Kingdom” where she was returned to service until broken up in 1879. At least three desks of her recycled oak timbers were ordered to be made by the British government. One of them, a large “partner’s” desk constructed in Chatham Dockyard, was presented to U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1880 as a gesture of appreciation for the Resolute’s rescue and return to the Royal Navy.
HMS Resolute’s framed commission and a pen holder made from recycled wood of another RN ship, HMS Gannett.
Enough said; I trust I’ve made my point that there really are ‘nuggets in the news’ when you know enough about history to recognize them. I’ll conclude this one by noting that the Arctic settlement of Resolute, Nunavik, is named after Belcher’s illustrious flagship.
Now, where were we? (I hadn’t meant to be so long-winded.) Oh, yes, more historical items in the news. So what else do I have in my recent clippings bag?
Another one with Canadian and English roots: I see that local “kid’s lit” author Beverley Rayner has published a book, The Face of Courage, based upon British nurse Edith Cavell (namesake of Alberta’s Mount Edith Cavell). For years, I had a small china replica of her monument in England on my desk, given to me by a great friend, the late Madelaine Larrigan. I ultimately surrendered it to a lady I didn’t even know, at the request of a mutual friend. I can’t remember now why the little statue was so much more important to this lady than it was to me, but the friend who patched us together told me later that the recipient was thrilled with it and promised to treasure it.
There’s a statue of Edith Cavell in London’s Trafalgar Square. —Wikipedia
Who was Edith Cavell and why is a short road in Duncan’s Cairnsmore neighbourhood named for her?
She was a British nurse working in Belgium when that small country was overrun by the Germans in the First World War. She was charged with harbouring escaped British prisoners-of-war and helping them to return to the Allied lines. This, I’m sorry to say, was recognized by the existing laws of war to be a hostile act, for which she was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad. (One of those rare cases in either world war that the Germans acted within their legal rights.
Madelaine gave me the statuette to go with two First World War era postcards that depict (they’re an artist’s renderings) Edith Cavell’s last moments. When Edith fainted before the order could be given to Fire! the officer in charge shot her dead with his Luger as she lay unconscious on the ground.
What the Germans accomplished was to make Edith Cavell a martyr and propagandist’s dream come true. School children around the world (as the British Empire then was) saw her as a heroine and as a victim of German brutality; hence the naming of scores of natural physical landmarks, streets and schools.
Speaking of Cavell Street, some other Duncan streets are about to have a new look no later than March 21st.
Duncan City Council is to be commended for its new policy of erecting bilingual Hul’q’umi’num street signs with the help of a provincial grant. Fortunately for most of us who’ll definitely have a hard time with pronunciation, they’re spelled out.
So far, Canada Ave. (originally Front Street) will be subtitled Q’ihan Shelh, meaning “ahead of;” Government Street, St s’hwulmuhw Shelh, for “first people;” Station Street, Liloot Shelh for “train;” First Street, Yuwen Shelh for “first;” Second Street, Sxwuts’ts’ulii Shelh for “hummingbird;” Third Street, Smuyuqw’a Shelh for “ladybug;” and Fourth Street, Thuthiqut Shelh for “forest.” The hummingbird and ladybug are important elements in Cowichan storytelling and today’s Duncan once was forest.
What’s most amazing about this project is the startling fact that, until 50 years ago, there were no written forms of what had always been oral Indigenous languages.
Cowichan Tribes elder Merle Seymour added to the poignancy and significance of the project by recollecting how, as a child in one of the now infamous residential schools, he and fellow classmates were physically punished if caught speaking their own language.
None of this is new to Yours Truly. I live at the junctions of Miller and Tzinqaw and Koksilah roads. Who Miller was, I’ve no idea, but Tzinqaw stands for “Thunderbird” and Koksilah, according to the late Oracle Jack Fleetwood, means “horse corral”.
Oh, and Sh-hwuykwselo (“Busy Place”) Creek flows through my Back 40. So, Duncan, we rural folks of CVRD Electorial E District beat you to the punch by decades!
Moving on... Another decision by Duncan Council is in the news: that roadside memorials will be given an extended deadline before removal. We’ve all seen them: usually a motley collection of plastic flowers, plasticized photos of the deceased and a name tag. The one thing they all have in common besides tragedy is that their homage is erected on what’s usually public land, such as roadsides and at intersections.
Municipal governments and the Province frown on them as, among other things, potential distractions to those driving by. Over time, abandoned to the weather and, sometimes, vandalized, they become unsightly. But there’s that sensitive issue of tearing them down...
I’m of mixed minds about them. My mania for remembrance, or legacy as one former editor of the Cowichan Valley Citizen put it, should come as no surprise to anyone who’s read the Chronicles over the past quarter-century. I recognize governmental concerns for what has become something of a flood in recent years. Technically, they trespass on public property. But I also empathize with their grieving creators and their attempts to honour a family member or friend.
I’ve never had a roadside memorial distract me from my driving. And I’ve never seen one that didn’t make me pause and think, if only briefly: if not about that particular memorial then about another one I’ve seen. I wouldn’t want the job of tearing them down and Duncan’s new policy is to allow them to be up for 15 months rather than 13 months so as to avoid the almost inevitable conflict of posting a public notice of removal on the first anniversary of a death when family grief can be expected to surge.
An exception is being made for the memorial in Charles Hoey Park for Nellie Williams and Fran Shurrie who were murdered on City streets on Christmas Eve 2019.
Response to tragedy is in the news in another way, lately. This is the result of a number of suicides at the historic and scenic Niagara Canyon trestle in Goldstream Provincial Park. As everyone knows, the E&N Railway has been suspended for over a decade as its current owners, the Island Corridor Foundation, attempt to find government funding to restore it to life as a freight and passenger railway.
(For a great photo of this historic trestle check out https://visitorinvictoria.ca/niagara-canyon-rail-trestle-a-hidden-treasure/)
Sadly, the trestle appears to have become a destination for some of those who are emotionally upset and planning to commit suicide from its towering span.
I’ve no wish to open this Pandora’s Box of human tragedy. I do want to make a simple and personal statement in defence of the trestle as is as there’s now growing pressure to fence it off to the public. Point: Officially, the E&N right-of-way is private property and posted with No Trespassing signs for much of its entire length from Victoria to Courtenay, and Parksville to Port Alberni.
That said, I am mightily pleased with myself for having hiked all but 20-odd miles of the Mainline and 20-odd miles of the Alberni Spur. The scenery, with several high points such as the Niagara Trestle and Cameron Lake, ranges from everyday to the spectacular. What a change from looking back at the traffic from the railway tracks instead of the other way round that most of us know.
And every foot is history! I and my friend Jennifer have thoroughly enjoyed the experience, learned much and have found some neat treasures along the way. I’m still a sucker for sparkling green glass insulators, which are increasingly hard to find these days, and make no apology for my railway trespassing.
Should the day come that the Niagara Canyon trestle is barricaded I, for one, selfishly or no, will be sorry.
I’ve no wish to open this Pandora’s Box of human tragedy. I do want to make a simple and personal statement in defence of the trestle as is as there’s now growing pressure to fence it off to the public. Point: Officially, the E&N right-of-way is private property and posted with No Trespassing signs for much of its entire length from Victoria to Courtenay, and Parksville to Port Alberni.
That said, I am mightily pleased with myself for having hiked all but 20-odd miles of the Mainline and 20-odd miles of the Alberni Spur. The scenery, with several high points such as the Niagara Trestle and Cameron Lake, ranges from everyday to the spectacular. What a change from looking back at the traffic from the railway tracks instead of the other way round that most of us know.
And every foot is history! I and my friend Jennifer have thoroughly enjoyed the experience, learned much and have found some neat treasures along the way. I’m still a sucker for sparkling green glass insulators, which are increasingly hard to find these days, and make no apology for my railway trespassing.
As Mr. Clark summed up his article in the weekend edition of the Colonist 50 years ago, they really were the Roaring ‘20s!
Should the day come that the Niagara Canyon trestle is barricaded I, for one, selfishly or no, will be sorry.
And, speaking of old news, I’m happy to report that at last 136 years of the Victoria Daily Times are now available digitally. (The British Colonist has been online for years.) What a treasure trove this is going to be for serious historical researchers and for anyone else interested in our past or, perhaps, working on their family tree. I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet but really hope that it’s more easily navigable than its Colonist consort which is a priceless asset, yes, one I’ve used many times, but in some respects a time-sucking, frustrating, challenge. Nothing like the operator-friendly Vancouver Sun.
A subject dear to my heart, Terry Fox, is also in the news. Canada’s most famous and iconic symbol of hope and determination and heroism is on the shortlist for Canada’s new $5 bill. But he’s up against tough competition: Pitseolak Ashoona, self-taught Inuit artist; Robertine (Francois) Barry, the first female French Canadian journalist and advocate for women’s rights; Binaaswi (Francis) Pegahmagabow, the most highly decorated Indigenous soldier in Canadian history and advocate for Indigenous rights; Won Alexander Cumyow, the first Chinese to be born in Canada who used his language skills to “bridge racial and linguistic divides in Vancouver and helped change attitudes toward Chinese people in this country”.
The legacy of Terry Fox, of course, carries on to this day, his Marathon of Hope having raised 10s of millions of dollars for cancer research.
Simply put, I wouldn’t want to be on the committee that has to choose between these Canadian giants. Would five people fit on the back of $5 bill?
Finally, for today, two otherwise unrelated news stories that have a common denominator: cement.
When I was a kid growing up in Saanich the only thing I knew about Bamberton was a result of our holiday trips up-Island to Parksville. That’s because when you drove over the Malahat and neared the Lookout, the rock faces and trees on both sides of the Island Highway were chalky white. This was the result of dust from the Bamberton cement plant, unseen below on the western shore of Saanich Inlet, which emitted the dust from its smoke stack(s). In turn, when it became wet with rain and dew, the dust turned to a light coating of—cement. How the trees survived, I’ll never understand.
What brings this to mind is a news article from Halifax in September, headlined, “Cement plant emissions that coats cars causes concern.” Public concern had been raised by “sticky, white dust” from the LaFarge cement plant in Brookfield, N.S. which, apparently accidentally, created a coat of grey-white on properties and cars. If in fact this was a one-day wonder, and inadvertent, it pales alongside what I used to observe on the Malahat. The Bamberton cement works are long gone now, of course, but it was years before the last traces of the air-borne cement dust disappeared from view beside the Highway. (I’m sure that the local foliage is much relieved.)
The other related story is that investors are looking at building a $300 million film studio in partnership with Malahat Nation which now own the former Bamberton site. Anyone who has lived in the Cowichan Valley for any length of time will remember the bitter controversy that was sparked by Victoria developer David Butterfield in the 1990s. Other proposals for the former industrial site have been made since but, to date, Bamberton has yet to be reborn.
There you have it, just nine of the ‘Nuggets in the News’ in my clipping file—for today. I’ve barely touched my file of new-old news which continues to grow weekly if not daily, but you’ll have to wait (with bated breath, I’m sure) for another day.
That said, while watching or downloading the news or reading a real newspaper, you might consider looking at current happenings the way I do, through a rear view mirror, by linking them to the past. You don’t have to have a professional historian’s broad knowledge to read about, say, an old building that’s being demolished to wonder at what stories it could tell, and filling in some of the blanks if you know them. Or to link some other event or physical landmark to a previous era. In short, it simply involves looking back into time and reflecting. So many things have changed in your lifetime and, yes, the world really is “going to h—”.
But so what? Think of the good old days and savour what you can of them. As I’ve often said, they’re not making them any more.
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