As befitting its importance to the Valley’s economy, agriculture was the big news story of the day, Cowichan cattle having had “splendid success” at the Victoria Fall Fair.
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When we left off last week, California badman ‘Judge’ Ned McGowan had barely escaped a vigilante neck-tie for his alleged role in planning the murder of crusading San Francisco newspaper editor James King.
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Bloodless it may have been, a tempest in the proverbial teapot, a farce, even. But bland, never!
Read MoreThis will be an abbreviated 100 Years Ago as fully one-half of this front page is dedicated to a report of the just-held Fall Fair and a list of prize winners.
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I have no idea what young boys read today. My favourites were Mark Twain (in particular Tom Sawyer which I’ve read a half-dozen times) and Robert Louis Stevenson.
Read MoreThe big news story of the day was the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention in Alberni; the main topic of concern, at least for the Duncan delegates, Mayor Pitt and City Clerk Greig, was roads. (An issue that has ever been with us, it seems.)
Read MoreIn a world of constant change it’s heartening to know that the Fall Fair aka Cowichan Exhibition, is still with us (even if, in pandemic times, in a virtual state).
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Situated on Vancouver Island’s west coast, between Long Beach and Ucluelet, Florencia Bay (until 1930 known as Wreck Bay) marks the final resting place of the Peruvian brigantine of this name.
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One of the downfalls of having to work most of the time is the number of lost opportunities. Over the years there have been many. One I truly regret is not having known Gerry Wellburn, father of the B.C. Forest Museum, today’s B.C. Forest Discovery Centre…
Read MoreFor 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.
Read MoreAgriculture, particularly dairy farming, is still a major player in the Valley economy, but nothing like it was a century ago. Back then, most residents operated their own small farms…
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You won’t find this in Bob Dougan’s book, A Story To Be Told. It’s something he told me personally; of growing up on the family farm on Telegraph Road, Cobble Hill, and of knowing ever so vaguely, even as a child, that there was a skeleton in the family closet.
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“I’ve written a book.” This statement, from almost anyone else, would have been no outrageous thing in itself. I heard if often when wearing my publisher-printer hat.
Read MoreIt’s by no means the biggest news story on this front page of the Leader but it’s the most eye-catching. Harry Blake, 74, had died in Chemainus hospital 16 days after falling onto a jagged rock from a haystack. He suffered fractured ribs and a dislocated spine.
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One of my true regrets of having earned my journalistic spurs back in the ‘60s is that newspapers and magazines at the time were mostly black and white. Meaning no, or rarely, colour photos because they were too expensive to process and to print. Meaning that I took 1000s of photos in black and white—and we now live in an age of full colour reproduction!
Read MoreThe big story of the day is another Maple Bay Regatta with 100s of Valley residents enjoying “pleasures of shore and sea and excellent racing” with the bonus of the events being promptly conducted.
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Up until recent years, Penelakut Island, east of Chemainus and midway between Saltair and Ladysmith, was known as Kuper Island. It was originally named, as were 100s of other B.C. geographical place names, after a British naval officer.
Read MoreThe most dramatic story on this day’s front page is also the saddest…
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In my promo for this week’s Chronicle I noted that, as recently as the 1960s, Victoria was so quiet, t’was said they rolled up the sidewalks at night. It was even called a cemetery with a business section. Times have certainly changed, if not for the better, crime-wise.
Read MoreSome things never change. As sure as summer you have heat, swimming...and tragedy. In July 1921 it was that of 12-year-old Donald Smith Hawkins, a student of Duncan Public School and the adopted son of James Hawkins, foreman of the James Logging Co., Cottonwood Creek.
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