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Bdflh CohmbiaHistorical News

Journal of the B.C. Historical Federation

Fall 1994

CONTENTS

FEATURESPiebiter Creek: A Personal Reminiscence of Delina C. Noel 2

by H. Barry CottonThe War Work of Women in Rural B.C 5

by Gwen SzychterSunday School Vans and Their Drivers 10

by Naomi MillerThe Marine Building Revisited 15

by Robin WardThe Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation 15

byJack MeadowsHelen Gregory MacGill: First Woman judge in B.C 16

by Dolly Sinclair KennedyAdelaide Bailey: Exemplary Teacher 1857—1949 19

by Carolyn CrossThe Sutton Lumber & Trading Co. Token 22

by D.M. StewartThe Stolen Church — Windermere 24

by Naomi MillerA CWAC in Victoria: 1942-45 25

by Phylis BowmanPioneer Postmistress 28

by Kelsey McLeod

B.C. Women’s Institute: A Brief History 31by Estelle Lefurgy

Music of the Titanic 32by Thelma Reid Lower

David Douglas: Botanist and Explorer 34by Win Shilvock

NEWS and NOTES 36

BOOKSHELFRobin Ward’s Heritage West Coast

Review by Mary RawsonNo Ordinaryjourney: John Rae, Arctic Explorer 1813-1893

Review by Maurice HodgsonTangled Webs of History

Review by Duncan StaceyWilderness Wandering on Vancouver Island

Review by Kelse’ McLeodRaincoast Chronicles 15

Review by Kelsey McLeodThe Unknown Mountain / Behind the Unknown Mountain

Review by Elizabeth WalkerA Century of Sailing 1892—1992

Review by Michael FH. Halleran

Volume 27, No.4

EDITORIAL

October was declared “Women’s HistoryMonth” by the Federal Government in 1991.The choices of topics for this issue acknowl

edge the theme by telling of diverse contributions of women to the life in our province. Wethank the current president of the B.C. Women’s Institute for a truly “thumbnail sketch” ofthat organization. Local Wis were helpful toall women and young brides, especially thosefreshly immigrated from other countries. Myown mother was shown the art of canningfruit in glass sealers with glass lids, rubber ringsand wire clamps. The Kaslo WI then requestedthat she share some of her skills with fellowmembers; Mother taught glove making. Wethank those who contributed items about local branches; some of these detailed accountsmay be printed in future issues.NEW & NOTES

Was/is there an anniversary, official openingor special hertitage event in your community?We urge you to tell of this in a few words andsend to the editor. If you are proud of a localachievement, let us tell others about it. Wemay have room for a picture (as on page 35in this issue). Don’t be bashful. Either writean article on your community history ... orwrite a paragraph about a recentdevelopment, especially if it is now a touristattraction.

Naomi Miller

COVER CREDITThe lady on our cover is taken from a collector’s item — an original sheet music cover sentby Thelma Lower as an illustration for herarticle “Music of the Titanic.” The original,carefully framed, hangs in the hall at the Lowerhome. The hat on the lady would excite anyfashion historian, and the words of Oh, YouBeautiful Doll will swim through the minds ofmany who danced to it, or heard their parents humming it.

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Manuscripts and correspondence to the editor are to be sent to P0. Box 105, Wasa, B.C. V0B 21<0.Correspondence regarding subscriptions is to be directed to the Subscription Secretary (see inside back cover).

Piebiter Creek: a personalreminiscene ofDelina C. Noel

When I firstmet Mrs. Noel,she was acknowledged as thegrand old lady ofthe Bridge Rivervalley, a positionshe earnedthrough havingprospected andhunted throughout the area sincethe year 1900,when she firstcame to the valley with her husband ArthurNoel. She wouldcertainly not haveappreciated useof the adjective‘old.”

She was thedaughter ofFrench-Canadianparents inLillooet, who senther back to a Quebec convent for herschooling, and she never lost the slightaccent she had by then acquired. Sheand her husband were the originalstakers of the Lorne Mine, later to become part of Bralorne, which at one timewas the second largest producing goldmine in the Commonwealth (includingSouth Arica). In 1958 she was awardedB.C.’s Centennial Medal for fifty-eightyears of service to mining, a well-deserved honour.

Franc Joubin’s informative articleabout Mrs. Noel, “Bridge River Pioneer”in the Western Miner& OilReview,1wasalso published in that Centennial year;and in 1960 this amazing woman — ashe rightly decribes her — passed awayafter a lengthy illness. My own association with her was in 1951 and 1952,when she engaged our firm to surveysome mineral claims in the property

which she was developing at PiebiterCreek.

There is no doubt that she benefitedsubstantially when Bralorne was financed (she would drive a pretty hardbargain, and I am sure she got a fair-sized “piece” of the action), yet shechose to continue living the hard life.She told my wife that she had had fivemiscarriages, due to the strenuous lifeshe led. In summer she dressed in a pairof breeches, a mackinaw jacket and anold battered hat that had seen betterdays, and roved around her mineralclaims (at this time the Chalco Group atPiebiter Creek), collecting samples andprospecting. In the winter she retired tothe West End of Vancouver, where sheplayed bridge for relaxation and worethe same clothes that most ladies of hervintage would wear — nylons, a dressand a hat transfixed with hatpins — and

carried a handbag. However,when shewalked downthe street, it wasobvious that thiswas no ordinarylittle old lady;she strode outlike a Highlandgillie. She told usa story aboutherself whichproved the point.Some years before (she said)she had been referred to a doctor at the MayoClinic. Havingbeen examinedby this doctor,she was thenpassed on to another, who thenreferred her toyet another doc

tor; at which time she asked the lastdoctor what was afoot. One examination should have been quite enough, inher opinion. The doctor admitted thatthe second and third times had beenunnecessary, but none of the doctorshad seen such physical development ina woman before, and they wanted theircolleagues to see it also. There couldhave been a lot of truth in this story.

One day in July 1951 we set out, acrew of three, to survey the first fourmineral claims of the Chalco Group atPiebiter Creek. An intriguing name suchas this begs for an explanation. I amtold on good authority2 that the creekwas called after one “Piebiter Smith,” anearly prospector with protruding teethand a fondness for pies; and what couldbe more logical?

I was fortunate in having, as my mainassistant, a man whose hobby was

by H. Barry Cotton

Mrs. Noel kneels beside herfirst grizzly, 1906Photos courtesy of Franc R. Joubin

B.C. Historical News - FaIl 1994 2

mountaineering. Rough, steep terrain, farfrom slowing him down, actually stimulated him; as did the prospect of newvistas, as he was also a very competentamateur photographer. I have to admitthat, in 1983, when revisiting PiebiterCreek, I found it hard to believe thatanyone would willingly run lines in suchcountry; yet, in 1951 we did, and I donot remember that we found the workunduly arduous.

To drive to the Bridge River valley in1952 it was necessary to ship the car byrail from Lillooet to Shalalth, to whichend the PGE Railway Company provideda flat-car service twice per week. So wedrove to Lillooet, put our car on the flat-car to Shalalth, then drove over MissionMountain and on to Bralorne, whereMrs. Noel awaited us. This took a day.Next day we drove through Pioneer, upto Piebiter Creek, a primitive road butdrive-able by an Austin A40. From theend of the road it was a two-mile backpack to the claims, and we got therewith all our gear by the end of the second day. “There” was a group of logcabins and tent platforms. We stayed inthe tents; Mrs. Noel was in the maincabin, where she cooked our meals. Igot the impression during that two-weeksojourn that meat — to Mrs. Noel — meantsteak. No other meat was considerededible. Not that we complained; we hadnever eaten so well in our lives. Whensupplies became short, she took her‘Trapper Nelson” packboarcl, walked outto Bralorne, and came back with more“meat.”

The claims were at an elevation of5500 feet plus, that is to say, all the wayup to about 6500 feet, and they provided my first introduction to “slide-alder.” This is descriptive of a small aldertree, ten to fifteen feet high, which growsat high elevations on steep slopes. Thestem, up to four inches in diameter,grows horizontally outwards for abouttwo feet, then straightens up and growsvertically. It is usually found on old rockslides, and sometimes stretches for halfa mile. It makes for tough going.

But the problems of contending withslide-alder were negligible comparedwith sorting out the mineral claims. Inthose days, by definition, a mineral claimcould not include land which was already lawfully held for mining purposes.The precept still holds good obviously.

Now this perfectly logical and innocuous statement is fraught with hiddencomplexity. For instance, where, at thetime of staking a claim, part of the landis already held by a prior claim in goodstanding, such ground must be excluded

from the claim under consideration;even if the prior claim were to be abandoned a month afterwards, the claimunder consideration would never beentitled to such ground, which (whenlater abandoned) becomes open ground,and must be restaked. Although all surveyors are well aware of this ramification in the otherwise straightforwarddefinition of a mineral claim, at the timeof which I am writing there were evensome Mining Recorders who were notwise to it, and certainly a great numberof free miners.

Mrs. Noel, when staking the ChalcoGroup of mineral claims, started out inan area where there were no conflicting claims. It was all “open” ground. Shehad an assistant, one W.E. Rutledge,whom she employed to help her stake.She could stake eight claims only in herown name, but could acquire others bypurchase, so she asked her assistant tostake eight more, which she could thenobtain by bill-of-sale for a nominal sum— one dollar. This was standard practiceamongst prospectors, and was a recognized method of acquiring mineralclaims. The assistant would agree at the

start of the operation to hand over theclaims which he had staked, althoughonly bound to do so by a gentleman’sagreement. Well, Mr. Rutledge turned outto be no gentleman; because after Mrs.Noel had staked her claims and he hadstaked his (they were merged with eachother and considerably overlapped) andthe claims had been recorded, Mr.Rutledge decided that he would ratherkeep his claims than turn them over toher.

In Mrs. Noel’s interesting career, several persons had tried unsuccessfully toget the better of her, and Rutledge musthave been naive indeed to suppose thathe could get away with this deal. Shecould do nothing legally, of course —

the claims he had staked were officiallyhis. But next year she staked more mineral claims around his holdings on theoutside. Then she waited him out; shewould not buy him out, as he hadhoped. She simply held on, keeping herclaims in good standing. Five years laterRutledge passed away and his claimslapsed. So Mrs. Noel restaked over hislapsed claims and again over her own(some of which were in good standing,others never having been so). Then shedecided that maybe she had better havea survey, to find out just what groundshe really had covered; this was whereI came into the picture. There were atleast twenty-four claims to sort out.

I could not ever have found a betterintroduction into the practical workingsof the Mineral Act. It was the worst“dog’s breakfast” that one could possibly foresee. Adding to the confusion wasthe fact that, since it was an area of manysnowslides, a good many of the stakingposts had disappeared, and I had to obtain affidavits to establish the positionsof such missing posts. Fortunately, Mrs.Noel had a good memory. After morethan a week, we were able to definelegally and properly the ground to whichshe was entitled. Predictably, we founda large “hole” of open ground in themiddle, and staked it on her behalf as afraction.

The Sub-Mining Recorder inGoldbridge at the time was WillHaylmore, also a well-known personality in the history of the Bridge River. Atthe time of recording this fraction, hehad long hair down to his shoulders likeBuffalo Bill; and we had a short discus-

ThL’ i7iijfle I.f?l(’fi?EDltI(C’.

witb Mrs. Noel seateL

3 B.C. Historical News - Fall 1994

sion on fractional mineral claims — whichmight have gone on longer as the whiskey bottle on the table was still half full.But regretfully we were on the way toShalalth to catch the “flat-car” to Lillooet.There is a good picture of Haylmore inthe publication Bridge River Gold,3 nowunfortunately out of print. It shows partof the circular rock wall outside hiscabin, with one of several wooden models of Lewis guns, which were paintedwhite and set in the wall facing outwards. His grave is still on the property,and is being tended, but the rest of theland, which was held as a placer mine,reverted to the Crown on his death, andthe cabin, with its pictures and regimental photographs of the British army ofbygone days, was later pulled down.There is another excellent photographin the same publication. It is of Mrs. D.C.Noel as a young girl with a trophy —

one of the many grizzly bears that fellto her gun.

The following year, 1952, saw us backagain in Mrs. Noel’s country.

Now that her Chalco Group claims hadbeen sorted out, Mrs. Noel had decidedto stake and survey some more. Thistime we had a different arrangement.My wife, who otherwise would have satin the office in North Vancouver, twiddling her metaphorical thumbs, thoughtthat she would like to be part of thecrew. This was an excellent idea, as weneeded both a cook and (since later onwe were to do some work for the federal government) a bookkeeper; my wifewas able to fulfill both functions.

We arrived at Piebiter Creek with allour baggage about a quarter of a milefrom Mrs. Noel’s cabin beside the creek.This time there were no problems oftitle to worry about, our claims were sim

ply projected up the valley, and we spentthe next two weeks working steadily atthem. My wife had a cook stove set upin the open air (covered with sheet metalstrips, after we were rained on). We hadtwo tents, and a good camp. Mrs. Noelwould often drop by for a girl-to-girlchat with my wife.

Close to the camp there was a bigrockslide. Mrs. Noel had on occasionremarked that this was where shewanted to put in a tunnel. Although Ithought I knew what miners could accomplish, I must say that the prospectof tunnelling through a rockslide with-

out machinery seemed to me at the leastimpracticable. But this lady knew otherwise. She went in to Bralorne one day,and came back with Oscar.

Oscar was a Swede, and I believe hewas approaching eighty years of age.He was quite shaky, and when hewalked his knees had a way of knocking against each other. He slept in a tentin Mrs. Noel’s camp; and while we werein the hills surveying, Oscar startedwork. He used only handtools — crowbars, hand-drills and dynamite — and hecut and squared his own timbers for theadit.

Napoleon once said that while a difficult problem can be solved right away,the impossible may take a little longer --

or words to that effect. In three days,Oscar, working entirely on his own, hada timbered portal ten feet long throughthe slide and was drilling into the rock-face. We, non-miners that we were,stood and marvelled at it. If Oscar coulddo this at seventy-nine years old, whatsort of a man must he have been in hisprime?

But next day he was gone, which Mrs.Noel had expected. She gave him another three days, then went to Bralorneand brought him back, completely incapable and incoherent, and when wehad helped her to put him to bed, sheleft one-third of a bottle of rum underhis pillow — a very understanding lady.

Our work went well, and the onlyother incident that I remember of note,apart from all of us being beaten by Mrs.Noel at crib, was arriving on the lineone morning to find that a porcupinehad all but eaten one of the woodentransit legs. We improvised.

After Piebiter Creek, we proceeded toLittle Gun Lake, after having met withthe Bralorne Mine manager, DonMatheson. Our next job was to surveysome lots fronting on the lake, for thecompany. We stayed in one of the cottages close to the Little Gun Lake Lodge.After the heat and mosquitoes ofPiebiter, this place was a paradise. Weswam every day and fished enthusiastically, if inexpertly. Mrs. Noel had advised us that Don Matheson was “a verynice man” and that “he would do anything for me.” While talking to Don, theconversation inevitably got around toher.

“Well, of course I’d do anything for

her,” he said. “I find that it pays. If sheasked me to stand on my head here inthe office, I’d do it. The fact is that ifshe wants something, you might as wellrealize at the start that she will not restuntil she gets it; so in order to avoid alot of hassle, I make sure that she gets it

right away!”Which statement does a lot to sum up

Mrs. Noel’s character. She was a lady ofgreat charm, and strong willpower; butwhereas all the articles written about heremphasize the latter attribute, not toomuch was said about the former. In factshe was a very charming and stalwartlady. Her log house in Bralorne wasquite unique. In it was a stone fireplacecontaining pieces of ore from all of thecurrently producing mines in B.C., andhanging on the walls were skins of several of the grizzly bears which she hadshot.

It would be most satisfying to be ableto report that such a house had beenpreserved as a Heritage Site. But thiswas not to be. The building was notprotected and was later vandalized. Iwas informed recently that in the early

1980s it had been sold, removed andre-erected as a dwelling on a site nearLillooet.

H. Barry Cotton is a retired surveyornow living on Salt Spring IslarnL

REFERENCES

1. ‘Bridge River Pioneer” by Franc Joubin. The WesternMiner & Oil Review. August 1958.

2. 1001 B.C. Place Names, G.P.V. and Helen Akrigg.Discovery Press, 1973.

3. BridRe River Gold, Emma de Hullu. Published by thel3ridge River Valley Centennial Committee, 1967.


The War Work of Women in RuralBritish Columbia: 1914 —1919

by Gwen Szycbter

The popular image of “Rosie the Riveter,” in factory dress, is a familiar onefrom the 1940s. But the First World Warconjures up no such image of mythicproportions. Our mental picture of thewomen of World War I is one of sockknitters and bandage rollers. Many haveperceived women in Western Canada,and British Columbia in particular, as having contributedonly to this limited extent tothe winning of the war. In thepast, historians have dwelt onthe male adventure in Europe, cataloguing the physical losses and extolling thepolitical achievement of serious nationhood. There hasbeen little interest in the activities of women, except forexaminations of their struggle for suffrage and prohibition. However, as in otheraspects of Canadian historywhere the participation ofwomen is only recently being slowly unearthed, thereis more to the story.

Historians have describedthe enthusiasm with whichmen responded to the call forvolunteers. A sense of national urgencyunified the people and elicited not onlyvolunteers for the armed forces, but alsovoluntary contributions of time andmoney by the citizens at large. The FirstWorld War was a conflict which requiredthe mobilization, in one fashion or another, of the entire civilian population.Since Canada was unprepared for warand lacked the necessary infrastructureand institutions, ordinary citizens hadto fill the gap, thereby saving the Dominion Government enormous amountsof money in the provision of services.

The wars themselves and Canada’scommitment to each were substantiallydifferent. World War I was a conflict that,from the beginning, consumed men and

material in great numbers. The manpower committed to the Second WorldWar was as large, but came significantlylater in the war and the number of casualties was dramatically lower. During thecourse of World War 1, some wartimeindustrial contracts were awarded toBritish Columbia, hut whatever factory

jobs might have become available towomen accrued to urban women. In asmall rural community where there wasno factory work for women, the emphasis was on volunteer work.1

The municipality of Delta, located inthe southwest corner of the lower mainland of British Columbia, had a population of about 4,000 in 1918.2 Itsgravitational centre, the village of Ladner,serviced a farming population in the surrounding district. The ethnicity of thepopulation is vitally important: in the1911 census, people of British stockconstituted the majority, namely sixty percent of the population.3

From the pages of contemporarynewspapers, in particular, the Richmond,

Point Grey, Delta and Fraser ValleyWeekly Gazette4,the image emerges ofwomen doing much more than knittingand sewing their way through the waryears. Neither of the women’s organizations commonly associated with warwork in the Great War, that is, the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the

________

Empire and the Women’s Institute, was present inLadner. Instead, two entirelynew groups came into being,the Delta Women’s PatrioticSociety and the ComfortClub, to coordinate women’sunpaid volunteer labour. Inboth of these organizations,there is evident the maternalfeminism prevalent at thetime, so that the women’sactivities were focused deliberately on the goal of relieving suffering, rather thanhelping to supply weaponsfor warfare.5 The ComfortClub never disclosed membership figures, but the annual reports of the DeltaWomen’s Patriotic Societydid: in 1917 there were 122members on the roll, but the

average attendance at meetings was onlyfifteen.6

The Delta Women’s Patriotic Society(DWPS) was organized as the workingarm of the male-run Delta Patriotic Fund.This latter group was formed for the purpose of raising money soon after war wasdeclared in 1914. The ambitious goal ofthe national organization was to make upfor soldiers who had left behind depend-ants the difference between the incomethey would have received from paid labour and the allotment paid to soldiers.7It must be remembered that in these yearsthere was no safety net in the form ofsocial welfare or family allowance. Families in need had only their relatives orchurch-run charities to rely on in the event

.4’

Rest and relaxationfor returned soldiers was thepurpose ofthis Soldiers’Camp atBoundny Bay in South Delta It was supplied and sustained largelyby the women ofDelta, who collectedfoodfor the soldiersfrom the localresidents. Under the auspices ofthe Red Cross, it operatedfor the summersof1918 and 1919 on property belonging to Mrs. KirklanL

Photograph courtesy of British Columbia Archives and Records Service, No. HP 73414


of illness or financial hardship. The women’s branch was set up in September 1914for the purpose of aiding war relief. Women’s work was considered to be not onlysewing, knitting and cooking, which theywould do in great measure, but also raising money to buy materials and to sendto various agencies and funds associatedwith the war.

The society’s agenda included bazaars,whist drives, dances, socials and teas. Thewomen catered public dinners, for example, the Delta Board of Trade annualdinner, and received some of the proceeds. Their dances were profitable ventures, the one held on New Year’s Eve,1915, taking in $195 at the door. Whistdrives brought in a lot of money; one inthe spring of 1916 netted $104.95, whileanother in January 1917 added about $90to the treasury. Individual women heldteas in their homes, turning over the receipts to the DWPS. Some also donateditems of handiwork to be raffled, such asa teacloth or a set of lace collar and cuffs.Tag days were held to raise funds forspecific purposes. One was held in August 1915 to raise money for surgicalequipment for the Fifth General Hospital, Canadian Expeditionary Force. In conjunction with a dance held for the samepurpose, this tag day netted about $236.Flag days were a variation on the theme,one being held that same summer, inwhich young women sold flags at a horseracing meet, earning S 169.57.

The organization also engaged in appeals requiring a contribution of labour,such as the vegetable-growing campaign, which was first undertaken in1917. The members of the committeeset up for this purpose canvassed all thehouseholds in each neighbourhood toset aside a plot of ground on which theywould grow vegetables to feed soldiersin military hospitals. Sock campaignswere frequent and were reported as receiving “a hearty response.” In this latter venture, every person in themunicipality was requested to donate“one pair, either hand-knitted, machine-knitted or the price of one pair (fiftycents) of good woollen socks.” Canvassing was extremely thorough with everyresidence in the municipality receivinga visit from a volunteer.

A second women’s group, the Comfort Club, appeared in November 1915,as an offshoot of the Women’s Christian

Temperance Union (WCTU) branch inLadner. One woman, Mrs. LeilaHutcherson, appears to have been thedriving force behind this organization,making her home available for meetingsand fund-raising events, and sending re

ports on itsactivities tothe newspaper. Mrs.Hutchersonwas electedthe first president of theDWPS, butshe had spentthe winter of1914—15 inCaliforniawith hermother, aswas her custom.8 In herabsence, thevice-presi

This is Leila H.atcberso,,, u’ife of dent tookErwsi Hutcbersor who played aformaiite role both in the Delta over, andWome,s Patriotic Society ,ot tL,e when a newCoWart Chth. She was the dargbierafearlv settlers in Della. Letilia ut slate of officJohn KfrklamL This portrait datesfrom abowt thetime of World War . ers was

Pratograpn courtesy of Mary SouSe elected inmid-1915, Mrs. Hutcherson was not reelected. Another woman, Mrs. LillaMcKee, rose to prominence in the DWPSfollowing this change, and eventuallybecame the prime social “mover” in thecommunity for the duration of the war,during the period of the Spanish influenza epidemic, and far into the inter-waryears. It is apparent that some readingbetween the lines is necessary to arriveat a plausible scenario which may explainthis second group’s later appearance onthe scene.

The Comfort Club concentrated on supplying what were referred to as “comforts” to local men overseas. The groupsent Out parcels, especially at Christmastime, and the contents tended to be socks,mitts, scarves, sweets and cakes, and letters to these soldiers. This work was considered no less important, for the pagesof the newspaper sing the praises of theComfort Club, which “ever since its inauguration has done splendid work in keeping our lads in khaki supplied withreading matter, cheering magazines, socksand other things they love to get fromhome ... “ It was also a project carried

out on a substantial scale: in one monthalone, March 1917, the club shipped 110parcels to the men in the trenches. In thecourse of one year; that is, November 1916to October 1917, the women of the Comfort Club shipped to the front 1,018 parcels, whose contents included 607 pairsof hand-knitted socks, 1500 newspapers,and over a thousand magazines. In thosetwelve months, these women also raised$1,275 through their various fund-raisingefforts. One of its members, the secretary, maintained a correspondence withthese soldiers, and the letters receivedfrom the men overseas were publishedregularly in the newspaper, for the benefit of the community. During this sameone-year period, 300 letters from the frontwere answered.

A comfort shower seemed to be thepreferred method for acquiring donation of goods. As well as money, people brought socks, magazines, candy,chocolate and gum to he sent to thesoldiers. Another favoured event of theComfort Club for raising money was theholding of a market day, at which themembers sold eggs, butter, bread, poultry, bottled fruit, candies. fresh fruits andvegetables, and roots and grains, all ofwhich they had donated. Often, a rummage sale, where second-hand clothingwas sold, was held in conjunction withthe market day. Individual women alsoopened their homes to the public forteas, as was the case with the DWPS, inaddition to the larger teas held in public places, in which the entire membership of the organization participated. Atypical floral tea at which flowers, bulbs,roots and seeds were sold, along withhome cooking, could net the organization about $45.

The work of the Comfort Club mightappear to overlap that of the DWPS, acriticism raised in a letter to the editorof The Weekly Gazette. In reality, thework of the two groups had one fundamental difference. The Comfort Clubinteracted directly with soldiers on anindividual basis, while the DWPS supplied their needs through intermediaries such as the Red Cross or the PatrioticGuild. In addition, the former groupdealt with men overseas, while the latter concerned itself primarily with returned veterans. Early in the war effort,the D’VPS had a comfort committeewhich provided each departing soldier

B.C. Historical News - Fall 1994 6

with a comfort bag containing articlessuch as pyjamas, socks, mitts, shoelaces,toothbrush and toothpaste, tobacco, anda prayer book or Bible. This, however,was a one-time connection with the individual soldier, and there is no evidencethat this activity continued after the appearance of the Comfort Club. In fact,the committee was disbanded at the1917 annual meeting of the group.

A report published in June 1918 detailed the number of different items thatthe Delta Women’s Patriotic Society hadshipped to the Central Red Cross Depot, Vancouver; the Women’s PatrioticGuild, Vancouver; and to the MilitaryAnnex at the Vancouver General Hospital, since the group’s inception in September 1914, a perod of less than fouryears. The amount of money raised issubstantial, amounting to $7,141.79, butthe list of items is fascinating:

3421 pairs hand-knitted socks,392 suits of pyjamas,200 day shirts,200 night shirts,75 French caps,100 nightingales,80 cholera belts,25 pairs knee caps,54 scarfs [sic],100 pairs slippers,75 comfort bags,500 pillow cases,12 large pillows,36 sheets,600 handkerchiefs,500 knitted wash clothes [sic],250 women and children’s gar

ments,large consignment of surgicalsupplies(including compresses, slings,bed boots, etc.)355 sacks of potatoes andmixed vegetables,38 sacks apples,525 quarts preserved fruit,88 dozen eggs,25 pounds butter,1 dresser [sic] hog,6 roasts of beef.40 Christmas cakes,

100 mince pies,9 quarts mince meat,25 Christmas puddings,100 tins canned milk,1 large case of candy, nuts, etc.,1 large case of Children’s toysand games

By the time the DWPS disbanded inOctober 1919, these numbers had increased to 4,281 pairs of socks, 420 suitsof pyjamas, and 250 day shirts, and thetotal amount of money collected hadgrown to $9,136.33.

The above list of items draws attention to another interest of the DWPS:supporting the wives and children ofmen who had volunteered for service.The women in the society made newclothes for these dependants, as well ascollected used clothing for them. Thereis no indication that food was also distributed to these families, but certainlyan extra effort was made at Christmastime to have something special to givethe children, such as toys and games.When required, financial support forthese women and children caine fromthe Delta Patriotic Fund, one of the mainreasons for the latter’s establishment.

Both the Comfort Club and the DWPSrelied on the community at large for contributions of both money and goods. Various groups donated money raisedthrough the efforts of their own mem

ar-

Margaret Tarnboline like some other women in the district, pitched in to dofarm workShe is shown here cutting oats with a team of horses on thefarm of herparents, Jamesand Rose Frew, on Westbarn Island in 191Z Margaret was the eldest of two girls in thefamily and bad married William Tamboline in December 1915

Photograph courtesy ot Margaret Tambotine, niece of the subject

Hazelgrove, the borne of tbe Hutchersons, was the scene ofmany of the activities of theComfort Club. Weekly meetings, as well as morepublicfunctions, such as gardenpartiesand “comfort showers,” took place here. Located near Ladner east of the CbiluktbanSlough, Hazelgrove was a convenient meeting placefor womenfrom either the village orthefarms.

Photograph courtesy of Mary Smillie


bers. For example, the Delta PatrioticChoir gave the net receipts from theirconcerts to the DWPS. The dramatic clubturned over the proceeds from their theatrical productions to both groups on analternating basis. Owners of businessespitched in. One year, women from theComfort Club sold subscriptions to TheWeekly Gazette, from which their organization received a share of the money. In1915, when the DWPS had had the fieldall to itself, it had sold subscriptions, realizing $93.25 for its efforts. The owners ofthe Ladner Hotel sponsored a dance inJune 1915; the proceeds, amounting to$68, went to the DWPS.

In addition to the activities of thesetwo groups, there appeared to be anunending parade of other communityevents intended to raise funds, whichalso required women’s participation, invarying degrees. Each church had awomen’s organization which made demands on women to raise money ormaterials. When the Ladies’ Aid of theMethodist Church met for its annualthanks-offering, each woman was askedto bring “a ready packed box of soldier’s comforts to be sent to some boyat the front for Christmas.” The Anglican minister and his wife opened themanse to an afternoon musicale, afterwhich a collection was taken for theDWPS, raising over $30. Women’s community organizations such as the WCTU,which was a strong presence in Delta,also organized activities relative to thewar effort. At WCTU meetings, regularcollections were taken “for the militaryward supported by them in the NewWestminster Hospital.” Also, collectionswere taken among WCTU members forthe Cocoa Fund for soldiers at the front,an attempt to offer them a non-alcoholicalternative. In addition, the WCTU madefortnightly donations of fruit, vegetablesand clothing to the Relief and Employment Bureau of Vancouver.

Schools also held various events, theproceeds from which were channelledto war relief. For instance, a Christmasconcert given by the students ofWestham Island school in 1916 earned$76 for the Belgian Relief Fund. Thechildren at Gulfside school also held aconcert and party in December of thesame year and collected $17 for the samecause. Undoubtedly, such events necessitated the involvement of mothers on

behalf of their children, at least in theareas of baking and costume-making.

It is unlikely that any woman was ableto avoid these public displays of patriotism, since the demand to be visiblyparticipating was unrelenting. Whetherthis took the form of donating fancy-work or baked goods or other items, orworking at a table, or attending andmaking some token purchase, if onlyan apron or a chance on a raffle, involvement to some degree was expected. How much societal pressure wasbrought to bear on women to producehomemade articles for the men overseas and for sale to raise money is difficult to determine. Certainly women whoproduced were publicly recognized. Forinstance, one issue of The Weekly Gazette in June 1918 listed the names often women who had knitted one hundred or more pairs of socks for the boysat the front since war broke out. Sincethis was a relatively small community,the lack of privacy meant that people,especially women, could be prevailedupon fairly successfully to take part, bygiving of their time, their labour, andtheir money.

Furthermore, people were beingurged almost constantly to save itemsfor the community-wide collection ofmaterials. In the summer of 1915, thecall went out for second-hand razors tohe collected and sent to England, wherethey were to be repaired and then sentto soldiers at the front. “A couple ofdozen razors” were reported to havebeen handed in at the collection depot,in response to this request. Residentswere requested to save paper for thewar effort, and the first attempt in 1917yielded two-and-one-half tons, for which$48 was received by the DWPS. Donations of white cotton and old linen, fromwhich to make surgical supplies, suchas dressings, slings and mouth wipes,were solicited from the public. Tea andcoffee tins were always in demand bythe Comfort Club, as they made the bestcontainers in which to ship soldiers’comforts overseas. Later, the soldiers’camp at Boundary Bay, when in needof reading material for the convalescents,sent out a plea for people to save magazines and paperback novels.

This camp was a community projectof a different sort, set up late in the war.In the summer of 1918 and 1919, the

Camp for Returned Soldiers was operated at Boundary Bay, a resort area southof Ladner, where many local families hadsummer cottages. This was initially aproject of the women of Delta, althoughthey do not seem to have come specifically from any one of the groups alreadyin existence. The facility was located onproperty offered for the purpose by aLadner family, but the actual operationwas carried out by these women, except for the provision of some suppliesby the Red Cross, presumably medicalsupplies. Each week a different districtin the municipality was canvassed by aresident for contributions to the foodsupply for the soldiers. Even transportation from Vancouver to Boundary Baywas supplied by Delta citizens. Somefunding also came from the Delta Patriotic Fund, which collected money bysubscriptions from Delta residents.

However, volunteer work did not constitute the whole of women’s war experience. Women have often been treatedas a “reserve army” of labour, calledupon when shortages occur and thenexpected to return to their traditionalsphere when the crisis has abated.9 Inthis locale, single women, at least, tookon paid employment of a sort traditionally done by men. When her olderbrother enlisted in 1918, Ethel Barry tookover the driving of the delivery truckfor her father’s grocery business and did“general man’s work” around the store.Another young woman, Carrie Eyton,whose father was in the salmon cannery business, drove the horse-drawnmilk wagon and delivered bottled milkfor Mr. Robinson, a local dairyman.

Women stepped into other kinds ofmen’s jobs as well, particularly in thebanks. In late 1917, Hazel Hutchersonwas being congratulated on her promotion to teller at the Ladner branch of theRoyal Bank of Canada. This was considered a landmark achievement, whichthe newspaper made a point of emphasizing by noting that she had been promoted “entirely upon her own merit.”In this same category might be includedthe women who served overseas asarmy nurses. One woman from this district, Leona Whitworth, was amongthem. Following her departure in ,July1915, her letters appeared periodicallyin the weekly newspaper, from anumber of locations, one being Egypt.


Women also pitched in when circumstances demanded their participation inother areas. In the fall of 1917, a groupof single women from Ladner, under thewatchful eye of a chaperone, travelledto Vernon to pick fruit at the ColdstreamRanch. They were part of a larger projectorganized by the B.C. Consumers Leagueto make up for the shortfall in availablelabour for the harvesting season in theOkanagan. For six weeks, these youngwomen endured extremes of temperature, picked fruit, and carried heavyboxes and ladders, manual labour thatwas much harder than anything they hadpreviously experienced. Young womenfrom the village of Ladner, as well asfrom Vancouver, also helped out withthe picking of small fruit, namely strawberries and raspberries, on the farms ofDelta, when labour was hard to find laterduring the war.

The shortage of labour on the farms,especially for the fall harvest, was anongoing problem throughout the waryears. A number of solutions were attempted. Chinese workers were employed, but they were resented by manyresidents. District school boys were recruited into an organization called Soldiers of the Soil, but their youth andinexperience limited their usefulness.Newspapers tell us nothing aboutwhether farmers’ wives did their shareof field work, but family photographsand oral histories reveal that a few didhelp out, with pitching hay into stacksor driving the horse that operated thehay fork into the mow. Milking wasanother kind of farm work that a fewwomen could and did perform whenhired labour was scarce. Elder daughters in some families also were conscripted into farm work, for the duration.

What, if any, were the long-term effects of women’s brief entry into publiclife during this period? Changes did result, and while they may appear minimal to observers in the late twentiethcentury, in this rural community theywere meaningful nonetheless. Many ofthe women who had been active in thewar effort returned to traditional women’s organizations with a lower publicprofile, although some joined the auxiliary to the Great War Veterans’ Association, which set up a short-lived localbranch. Those who had been activelyinvolved in the Delta Women’s Patriotic

Society tended to re-surface in thebranch of the Imperial Order of theDaughters of the Empire that wasformed in Ladner in 1922. The womenof the Comfort Club appear to have returned to active duty in the WCTU,where their energies were channelledinto combatting the prohibition question, and then the establishment of local liquor stores.

Women were in the forefront of thedrive to erect memorials to the sacrificesof the Great War. In Ladner this took theform of membership in the Delta Memorial Park Association, whose goal was thecreation of a park containing not onlyplayground equipment for the health andenjoyment of children, but also a cenotaph naming the war dead.

More importantly, women began toappear in a small way in public officestraditionally occupied by men. In 1920,women directors were elected to theboard of the Delta Agricultural Society forthe first time, and that innovation continued into the future. In 1924, the name ofa woman was put forward from severalquarters to stand for a vacancy on theschool board. Although Mrs. HandfordLewis declined to allow her name to stand,the suggestion would have been unthinkable in the community prior to the war. 10

The years of the Great War constituteda rare instance in the history of thewomen of this rural region when considerable public attention was focusedon their activities. While it is true thatwomen’s activities supported a maleadventure overseas, their work wasgiven an unusual prominence in newspapers of the time, so that other concerns, suffrage, for example, were alsoviewed as legitimate. When scholarshave studied the First World War in thepast, the tendency has been to explorethe activities of men. It is time that historians took seriously into account thevolunteer work of women during thewar, not least of all for the vast sums ofmoney which the Dominion Government was able to save through the useof this unpaid labour force.

Women achieved more than just knitting thousands of socks and rolling milesof bandages, although they did thosethings as well. More importantly, theyproved themselves capable of organizing, planning, raising money, allocatingit judiciously among a number of causes,

and making decisions. They could, inshort, perform competently in public life.For a patriarchal rural society that previously had perceived a woman as possessing an identity only in relation to aman, and where birth announcementshad appeared naming only the father ofthe newborn, that was progress.

Gwen Szycbter is a local historian inLadne, whose thesis on the work offarm women was completed in 1992. Sheis presently working on a history ofLadner and Delta in the early twentiethcentury, along with several projects inlocal women’s history.

FOOTNOTES

This article appeared earlier as a paper presented bythe writer at the Qualicum History Conference,January 1991. It also forms the basis of a lecture!slide presentation given by the writer at the DeltaMuseum and Archives, October 1993.

1. There are exceptions. See Ceta Ramkhalawansingh,“Women during the Great War,” in Women at Work185O-193 ed. Janice Acton, Penny Goldsmithand Bonnie Shepard (Toronto: Canadian Women’sEducational Press, 1974). Also Carol J. Dennison,“They Also Served: The British Columbia Women’sInstitute in Two World Wars,” in NotJust PinMoney; Selected Essays on the History of Wo,nenWork in British Columbia, ed. Barbara K. Lalhamand Roberta J. Pazdro (Victoria: Camosun College,1984).

2. Henderson Greater Vancouver City Directoryfor1913 Embracing the area of Greater Vancouveycovering the City Proper North Vancouvet PointGrey South Vancouver New Westminster and theFraser Valley District (Vancouver: HendersonDirectory Co., 1913), pp. 1764, 1767, 1770—1773,1778.

3. 1911 Census,

4. Except where noted otherwise, the source for thisarticle has been The Weekly Gazette. Thisnewspaper appeared under a number of headsduring the war years: The Point Grey Gazette;Richmond, Delta and Point Grey Weekly Gazette;Richmond, Point Grey, Delta and Fraser ValleyWeekly Gazette and Home News; Weekly Gazetteand Home News. After the local newspaper inLadner ceased to publish in November 1914, TheWeekly Gazette filled the void until another localweekly appeared in March 1922.

5. Dennison, p. 212,

6, It is not known whether this number also includedthe Young Girls’ Auxiliary to the Delta Women’sPatriotic Society, which appeared to have abouttwenty to twenty-four members.

7. Robert Craig Brown and Ramsay Cook, Canada1896—1921; A Nation Transformed (Toronto:McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1974), pp. 222—3.

8. The British Columbian, 21 November 1914.

9. Alison Prentice et al., Canadian Women; A History(Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Canada Inc.,1988), p.141.

10. The Weekly Optimist, 14 February 1924.


Sunday School Vansand Their Drivers

by Naomi Miller

“I feel sorry for the many children wholive on isolated farms never receivingany religious instruction. We should sendteams of trained women out in gypsycaravans to begin-Sunday Schools, trainteachers, and in winter provide SundaySchool By Post. The vans could beparked on a farm, then moved by horsesvolunteered by the hosts.”

The speaker was a Canadian lady, MissAlymer Bosanquet of Kenaston, Saskatchewan. The listener was Miss EvaHasell of Carlisle, England. The two hadbeen classmates at St. Christopher’s College, London, taking training in modern teaching techniques in programs ofreligious education in 1913—14.

Eva Hasell rejected the use of horsesas “too slow,” besides being difficult toobtain during seeding or harvesting time.She proposed a motor van similar tothose she had known as a volunteerambulance driver during World War 1.She had also driven her family’s car, andbecause the chauffeur had enlisted, hadof necessity learned to make runningrepairs. The first Sunday School van wasbuilt in Winnipeg to her specificationson a Ford Model T chassis, paid for outof her own pocket. Miss Hasell and hercompanion, Winnifred Ticehurst, “brokein” the vehicle on the 400-mile trip toRegina. What is now a six-hour driveon the paved Trans Canada Highwaytook six days over rutted, pot-holed prairie trails. On May 21, 1920, Eva Haselland Winnifred Ticehurst left Regina ona trip that took them 3,000 miles in threemonths over unbelievable prairie roadsin the Diocese of Qu’Appelle. Theystarted Sunday Schools, taught in dayschools and farmyards, visited pioneerhomes, and enrolled members in Sunday School By Post. They survived everyhazard that the prairies could create thatsummer: dust storms, cloudbursts, roadwashouts, cyclones, mosquitoes ... andamorous bachelors. The van, christenedPioneer was presented to the

Qu’Appelle Diocese to be used by another team of workers during subsequent summers.

The caravan idea created enthusiasmamong frontier Bishops eager to supplement their meagre ministry to scattered English and Anglican settlerspouring into the West. It was hoped thateventually Miss Hasell would arrange forat least one Sunday School van in everywestern diocese. Eva Hasell did not disappoint them. A new van with a trainedteam followed: to Calgary in 1922, Edmonton in 1923, Cariboo 1924, Brandon1925, Kootenay 1926, Caledonia 1928,Athabasca 1929, and an extra van forQu’Appelle.

Miss Hasell insisted on pioneeringwith each new van in each locale. Sheand her sister Dorothy worked in theCalgary Diocese in southern Alberta. Shetried the roads in the Kootenays and wasknown to ask her partner to walk whenan especially tricky piece of road confronted them. “There’s no sense in twopeople being killed,” she would remark.

(She had more than one accident in herfifty-two years as a van volunteer.) Shealso learned where it was more suitableto park and walk to a destination. Eachvisit was recorded, with landmarks notedfor future seekers of the welcoming family, names, ages of children, names ofteachers at local one-roomed schools,and general information such as “fiercedog but friendly people.” Lonely farmwives often poured their hearts out tothe vanners, who were the first womenthey had seen in many months. TheBritish settlers sometimes requested thatMiss Hasell convey a message back tosomeone in England. The commissionwas always done and a letter sent backto the settler. The Sunday School vanmeant a great deal more than a stodgyBible lesson.

Each van was cleaned inside and outabout theend of October; then it wasstored for the winter. The team ofvanners might stay in a community toteach an active Sunday School group,plus sending, receiving and marking

Rev. Canon WF. Busbe, rector of SL Paul’s Church, Kamloops, chats with two vannersand aparisbioner This could be the commissioning ofthe vanfor work in the summer of1940.

Photo courtesy the Archives of the Diocese of Cariboo


papers of the SundaySchool By Post pupils. Miss Hasell wenton a speaking tour ofeastern Canada andparts of the U.S.A.and back to Englandfor a brief Christmasvisit, followed byfund-raising efforts.Always she was alertfor “well trainedgentlewomen” (preferably with independent means ofsupport) who mightsign up as summerworkers on the vans.This was a time whenmany British ladieswere resigned tospinsterhood becauseWorld War I had decimated the populationof eligible males. MissHasell sought workers with a Canadianconnection first, but the majority wereEnglish. Following World War II, fewerand fewer English women came overfor an eighteen-month stint (two summers on the road in a van with winterin an isolated mission outpost). Latervanners were either students or teachers from Canada or the U.S., some ofwhom had been visited by a van whenchildren.

Beginning in 1916, a teacher workingin Vernon, Miss Iris Sayle, became partner to Miss Hasell. The two were still ateam in 1972. Records of two of theirsummers highlight circumstances facedand problems solved. The new van ordered for the rugged Caledonia Diocesedid not arrive when promised so MissHasell and Miss Sayle walked the sixty-mile pack trail into the Peace Riverblock. For two months, carrying knapsacks, accepting rides and borrowinghorses, they penetrated an area of 10,000square miles where there was one Anglican church and no clergyman. Theymanaged to cover fifteen to twenty milesa day, sleeping in whatever shelter wasoffered. When at last the van was delivered, they covered another section ofthe diocese. The report for that summerstates: “912 miles walked, 1,608 by van,and 1,633 by other means.” They talkedto families of all nationalities and reli

gious inclination and were almost alvv ayswelcomed. The vanners watched thedevelopment of the Alaska Highway.Miss Hasell and Miss Sayle took the“eleventh visit to the Alaska Highway”in 1959. There are many incidents in thereport of that summer which are worthy of sharing with our readers.

“Iris and I lectured all acrossCanada appealing for workers,especially drivers. At last allthirty-one vans were in thefield. I inspected the caravansto see that all repairs had beendone satisfactorily. I also visited the Bishops and clergyabout itineraries.

The sects seem to be growing and new training collegesare being built by them to traintheir missionaries who go outin large numbers all across thewest. Why the Anglican Churchcannot start a Training Collegefor women in the west I cannotunderstand. In despair a fewAnglicans are training in colleges of the sects.

At the beginning of June, after a meeting in Vancouver, Irisand I went by the PrincessLouise, a C.P. ship, from Vancouver to Skagway. We stoppedfor an hour in Prince Rupert and

tic.

went to see theDean and hiswife. (She hadbeen a vandriver inAthabasca Diocese.) We werevery pleased tosee them andtheir children.”

They arrived atWhitehorse, Yukon,on June 15 and werewelcomed byBishop Greenwoodand his wife.

The Dioceseof Yukon is fivetimes the size ofEngland yet hehas only fourclergy, one ofwhom is stationed at OldCrow in the Arc-

“We first went to the Diocesan Synod at the old capitalDawson City 300 miles fromWhitehorse, travelling with oneof the Indian W.A. delegates inMiss Matthews’ car to avoid using the van. Miss Matthews wastrained at the Anglican Women’s College in Toronto andcurrently works in Carcross. Wewent across three ferries on theway, one beside a large, almostfinished bridge. The meetingswere held in the old St. Paul’sHostel that had served as anAnglican Hostel for Indian children so that they could go toPublic and High School. Themeals were served there andmany of us were billeted there.This Hostel has been replacedby St. Agnes in Whitehorse. Ofparticular interest was one oldchief who had travelled by canoe then by plane to attend. Hisaddress had to be translated. Inthe early days missionaries fromEngland had to come in viaAlaska, had to learn four different languages and translate theBible and Prayer Book intothese. One evening we weretaken up the steep hill behind

:•

•

-

Two Sunday School vanners in trouble near Clinton; RC The photo was taken by Rev.John A. Lloyd in the 1930s.

Photo courtesy the Archives, Diocese of Csriboo in Kamloops

11 B.C. Historical News - FaIl 1994

the town looking over the Yu-kon and Kiondike Rivers, to seethe sunset at 2 am. ArchbishopClarke, Primate of all Canada,conducted concluding servicesending a productive gatheringin a land where people still usedogsleds for winter travel.

We started out in the van.South on the Alaska Highwaywe were needed more thanever, owing to the shortage ofclergy and the great activity ofthe sects, Jehovah Witnesses,Mormons, Pentecostals andmany more. They are all so active and have so many missionaries and money. This made ussad to think of so few clergyand the hundreds of miles upand down the highway. Havethe young men in Canada andBritain lost the spirit of adventure which the early Bishopsand clergy had, who came toYukon and the Arctic, or is itmaterialism?

At Brook’s Brook Camp onTeslin Lake we received theusual warm welcome from children and parents. ‘ took theservice (as there is no clergyman). The wife of one of theDOT. operators played theorgan. We next held a VacationSchool at Watson Lake, and another at the Air Station, eightmiles off the highway. The fathers of the children who livedfurther away brought the children, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman. AtCoal River Camp the attendancewas better than ever. The families on Sunday School By Postbetween the camps are moreisolated and wanted us to staylonger.

We heard that the Queen andDuke of Edinburgh were visiting Whitehorse, therefore wereturned the 500 miles visiting,teaching and taking services aswe went. On the main street ofWhitehorse there was great activity. The Bishop, in May, hadbeen offered by Town Council,a load of soil so that a lawncould be made around the Ca-

thedral and the Rectory. Thissoil arrived two days before theQueen was expected. The pilessat where it was planned to seatthe extra visitors at service. TheCanadian Engineers under Mr.lsicl Quan came to the rescuespreading the soil and laying alarge army tarpaulin laid overit. Chairs were set on this andall went well during the Sunday service which was broadcast to those outside. We were,however, disappointed thatQueen Elizabeth was ill andunable to attend. (We all understood the illness better whenPrince Andrew arrived the following February.)

North of Whitehorse over thethree hundred miles to theAlaska border we visited thelonely oil pumping stations,taught the children and talkedwith the parents. It was a verysad visit at Haines Junctionwhere Rev. Watson haddrowned a few weeks earlier.We held a Vacation School inSt. Christopher’s Church, memorial to Mr. Watson as he hadbuilt it nearly all himself. MissAbbott and Miss Graves fromEngland who have been on theGrande Prairie van all summer,

agreed to spend the winter inthe Rectory in Haines Junction.We went to Kluane Lake wheremothers were carrying on Sunday School, then to Camp 1202.The snow was coming downthe mountains making it verycold camping each night in thevan. We could not pass by theMaintenance Camps as peoplewatched for us to leave Bibleassignments and handicrafts todo. At last we reachedWhitehorse and it really beganto snow. We cook our mealsand write letters in the parishhall kitchen, a haven of refugein bad weather. We cleaned thevan inside and out, put it in thevan garage and had a mechanicjack it up and put it on blocks.We gave our report to theBishop. We had travelled in thevan 3,798 miles and 770 byother means making a totalmileage of 4,568.”

The report is signed “F.H. Eva Hasell,M.B.E., Founder and Hon. Organiser ofAnglican Sunday School Caravans inCanada.” She was made a Member ofthe British Empire in 1935. In 1965, EvaHasell became the first woman to beawarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, by the College ofEmmanuel and St. Chad, Saskatoon. In1969 she was invested with the Orderof Canada. 1970, the fiftieth anniversary,aw “business as usual” for Miss Haselland Miss Sayle. World War II had heldher in Canada, otherwise she wouldhave had 100 crossings of the Atlanticat the time of the anniversary.

The Diocese of Kootenay stretchesfrom the Okanagan eastward to the Alberta border. The terrain of the diocesewas most difficult, with long lakes,many mountains and rough and incomplete roads, and at that time was servedby only thirty Anglican priests. In 1926Eva Hasell and Iris Sayle worked theOkanagan, mentioning stops at tinyplaces from Monte Creek and Sorrentoto Summerland. They also went downthe Arrow Lake to Deer Park, Renata,Syringa Creek, Robson, Castlegar, Eastand West Arrow Park, Burton, Fauquier,Edgewood and Needles. The van theyused for the western section of theKootenay Diocese was christened “St.

Financial Statement 1927

Travelling Expensesto Vernon & back from England S484

Iris Sayle from Westerncanada Caravan Fund

Dittogiven by E. Hasell for owntravelling expenses S484

Books & pictures fromcaravan Fund S300

Running Expenses raised byWA. of Kootenay Diocese S125

Board expenses May 26 to Oct. 11given by E. Hasell $15

Expenses of Ltrdeau Trip, withoutVan, given by E. Hasell S53

Totals

From From FromWestern Canada WA. of E. HasellCaravan Fund Kootenay Diocese

$784 S125 $552

(signed)F.H. Eva HasellHon Sec & Treasurer


Michael.” While in the KoootenayBoundary area they encounteredDoukhohors; Miss Hasell evincedgreat interest in their history andtells this Story:

We walked five miles up amountain to see a family whohad not been to a service foryears. It was a hot day. I saton a log to talk to the mother(about Sunday School ByPost) as she stood packingstrawberries into boxes. ADoukhobor picker came upwith a basket of strawberriesto be packed. She looked atme and said: “You no work.You lazy. ‘tbu fat!” Then turning to Iris: “You work veryhard. You thin!” After thesecomments I felt that I musteither pack strawberries orgo.

In 1927 Hasell and Sayleworked in the West Kootenay.They had to leave the van andtravel by boat, steamer and worktrains. They note settlements suchas Beaton, Trout Lake (followedby a hike up to the mining campof Ferguson), Gerrard, Lardeau,Argenta, Johnson’s Landing,Shutty Bench (where they weretold by the schoolteacher that allstudents at that time were Roman Catholic, hence no visiting and no servicegiven). They then went by train fromKaslo to Sandon and Three Forks. Thetotal mileage travelled by these two in1927 was 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometres)and 1,190 children were registered forSunday School By Post.

For many years the van St. Cuthbertserved the East and West Kootenay whileSt. Michael covered the many miles inthe Okanagan Deanery. Records in theKootenay Diocesan Archives in Kelownacontain reports by many of the ladieswho served on either St. Cuthbert or St.Michael. There are also copies of theannual letters from Eva Hasell to thesuccession of Bishops of this diocese.The letters always commence with aformal “Dear Lord Bishop” and requestapproval of the workers for each of thevans during the forthcoming season.Apart from one summer when there wasmuffled discord between a youngteacher and a driver “old enough to be

her mother,” the Bishop and attendantclergy must have been thankful that MissHasell continued to recruit, and for alarge part, pay the expenses of thosevolunteers assigned to each SundaySchool van.

Workers within the Kootenay Diocesein later years included:

1935 — Miss de C. Buller and Miss F.E.Garnett, who did a very thorough visitation of individuals and families fromSicamous to Revelstoke, Celista to Eagle Bay, Enderby and Mabel Lake,Shuswap Fails, Creighton Valley. Lumbyand down to Vernon.

1936 — Miss Molly Tatham and Miss F.Garnett appear to have retraced theroute followed in 1935. This very detailed report notes items such as “Mrs.Olsen had twin girls” or “Don is muchbetter after three months in Vancouver(hospital)” or “Smiths moved to theirnew house up the hill behind their oldone.” A summary of their season states:“We left Vernon on 18th of May and

came in on October 8th. At thestart we had a good deal of trouble with the van which was notsent out in good shape. The restof the summer we had no trouble. Mileage in van 4.742.”

1937—40 — Miss Marjorie G.Barlee worked the St. Michaelcaravan with several differentdrivers and teaching companions:Misses Wintle, Calvert, Hawtry,Lloyd, Map Simon, and J.Sharman.

1937 — There were other visiting missionaries in the EastKootenay. The October 1937newsletter, The WEB. Homesteader, aroused the ire of theAnglican faithful by declaring that‘TaTa Creek had no regularChristian work being carried on.”The vanners left it to BishopWalter Adams to protest: “... wehave seven families who regularly receive our literature (Sunday School By Post) and TaTaCreek was visited four times lastsummer.” The Bishop requestedthat arrangements should bemade to avoid this overlap. Asecond letter was sent in May1938 as the first (March 14) appeared to have been ignored.Miss Frances Brook. leader of the

Women’s Evangelistic Band, wrote fromher home in West ‘‘ancouver on June 7,1938, explaining that she had waited forher council meeting before replying. Thelengthy letter noted: “I know you, withus, regret the absence of Bible teachingin B.C. schools. The teaching we hadsought to give is sound and confined toBible lines, not presenting denominational outlook and not alienating thechildren from their present church connection. If our workers have found thechildren following up the Sunday SchoolBy Post, they have sought to encouragethem in it; if they have lost interest, isnot the stimulation of another contestworthwhile to draw their attention oncemore to the word of God? We think itis. It would be impossible to find a geographical area not already covered bythe Anglican and United Church organisation, and yet in the isolated parts (andwe count them our first charge) that canonly mean an occasional, perhaps yearlyor bi-yearly visit. Does it not leave room

Kathleen Townsbend and Elizabeth Philips pose with the vanSt. Cuthbert

Photo courtesy Anglican Church of Canada, General Synod Archives P. 7804-61

A group of vanners en route to Canada, circa 1930. RosaliePennelI Ursula Snowden, Gladys Wise Kathleen Townsben4May Vaughn and Iris Sayle.

Photo courtesy Anglican Church of Canada, General Synod Archives p. 7804-60


for another testimony, another voice,which in our much favored Homelandso often means reaping what another hassown and our Lord has taught us thatsower and reaper can rejoice together?”Then, almost as a P.S., Miss Brooks promised to seek to avoid errors such as appeared in the Homesteader of Octoberlast. Several Anglicans would have toswallow their pride after this tempest ina teapot.

A lifetime resident of Wasa, B.C., whichat that time shared the mailing address ofTa Ta Creek, eagerly volunteered that theSunday School van parked each summerbeside the lake where her brother nowhas his home. “We would bring ourlunches and stay all day. There were abouteight or nine of us. It was the highlight ofour summer.”

1937—?? — Miss Jean Bostock of MonteCreek served as coordinator for thevan(s) and Sunday School By Post inthe Okanagan Deanery. She was Canadian born, schooled in England, the second daughter of pioneer M.P. HewittBostock (later Senator Bostock).’

1931—44 — Sisters Emmaline and JessiePaxton ran the Sunday School By Postout of Nelson and did some summers inthe St. Cuthbert caravan. These two secretaries/markers/mailers serviced 509families (1,089 children) in the Nelson andCranbrook areas in the sample year of1941. When permission was granted in1944 for civilians to book passage backto England, the Misses Paxton movedquickly. Mr. and Mrs. L. Paddon of Nelson volunteered to take care of papersfor Sunday School By Post children untila new secretary assumed responsibility.

Correspondence reveals the recruitingof Margaret Orman whose father wasrector in Rossland. Margaret had beenassistant secretary for Sunday School ByPost for Saskatchewan. It was agreedthat she would be paid $40 per monthin the winter and $50 when out in thevan. Her father sweetened the offer bypromising $10 per month for her to serveas organist in his church, as well as having free room and board ... free but withexpectation to nurse a sick mother!

1932—47 — Miss Margaret Hannah, talland raw-boned, lived and worked year-round with her shorter, equally enthusiastic friend, Dinah “Di” Illingworth. Priorto WWII they paid their own way toEngland or Scotland for the winter

months and returned to St. Cuthbert inthe spring. In the fall of 1939 they wereunable to cross the Atlantic; they choseinstead to stay in Kaslo, B.C., where theystarted a Girl Guide Company andBrownie Pack. These two Guiders/Trainers spent subsequent winters in eitherVancouver or Victoria where Illingworthbecame Provincial Commissioner andHannah, Provincial Training Chairman.

1948 — Misses Sheila Harris and M.Dibben were together on the van St.C’uthbert in 1948. Their schedule wasinterrupted several times by road andbridge washouts in that year of greatflooding. Miss Harris was very young,energetic and capable. Miss Dibbens hadto do all the driving because Miss Harris,20, freshly arrived from England, wasnot eligible for a driver’s licence. Parishioners were not aware of the discord between these two workers, whomMiss Haseil noted “were the only twoof all the 58 from the Pacific to the Atlantic that were not happy. That is whyI did not move one of them as I did notwish to upset the other teams.”

1960 — The volunteers found by MissHasell to serve in each diocese wereintroduced to the local bishop with references such as: “Miss Helen Holmes,aged 28, a Solicitor from Carlisle is avery experienced driver and a keen Sunday School teacher. She is giving up agood salaried post in England to comeand do this work. She has a very goodreference from her Vicar, and is nowdoing a running repairs course. Also shehas a good Doctor’s Certificate (i.e., ismedically fit).” This was written in anApril 1960 reference, in a letter with apostscript that “Mrs. Craft who servedearlier on St. Michael for two years, isprepared to come out in May.”

While most of the work by the vannerswas appreciated, there were a few parishes where the incumbent reverend didnot cooperate before or after the vanningseason. Reports might contain mentionof disappointment that recommendations from the previous year had notbeen acted upon. This might be omission of training willing candidates forconfirmation. Or, although many ofthese ladies were granted Lay Readerstatus and were prepared to conductservice for adults as well as children,rarely were they permitted to do this,even in unmanned churches. Miss Hasell

clearly insisted that the caravans wereto be manned by women, even when aminister suggested that he and his wifetake a route for that summer. The vanseventually outlived their mechanicalendurance; volunteers were increasinglyhard to find. Sunday School By Post wasdisbanded in 1969.

Miss Hasell was unable to come outin the summer of 1973 but four vansoperated in Qu’Appelle, Caledonia,Calgary and Saskatchewan dioceses. EvaHasell passed away in May 1974 andIris Sayle died shortly after. Miss Sayleleft £500 to the mission and Hasell£10,000 from her estate, worth £200,000before taxes. A Canadian organizationnamed “Western Canada Sunday SchoolCaravan Fund” was established fromwhich individual dioceses could applyfor funds for special programs. EvaHasell’s original program served well inits day; present needs are met withmoney set aside because of this inspiring lady from Carlisle, England.

The author received Sunday School ByPost papers as a cbil4 met some of thevanners and thought the history ofthesepioneer women worth sharing with ourreaders.

FOOTNOTE

Gentleuvnwn ofMonte Creek by Eleanor WittonHancock.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Frontier Od,scei Canadian Sunday School Cjrava,,Mission Z92O—J97(. published by the Diocese oQu’Appelle.

Ups and Downs of caravan Work The Eleventh Visit tothe Alaska Highway by Eva Hasell, 1959.

Missionart’ on Wheels by Vera Fast, pp. 35—41.

Selected reports 192(l967 from Diocese of Kx)tenayAnglican Church Archives. Special thanks to archivistsGail Greenhaigh and Bert Billesherger.

Archives, Anglican Church of Canada, 600 Jarvis Street,Toronto. Thanks to Dorothy Kealey.

lnterviesv with Barbara Roberts of Wasa.


A major upheaval confronts the Canadian Museum of Flight which is being ejected by a Surrey Council that seems unappreciative both ofhistory and the contribution to tourism made bythis collection which brings in visitors from allround the world.

Started in 1971 by a group of enthusiasts disturbed at Canada’s loss to foreigners of important historic aircraft, the museum was in 1977incorporated as a non-profit charitable society.

Its collection at Crescent Beach grew to someseventy aircraft, some flyable, many complete,others awaiting restoration. Covering the 1930—1950s, they include jet fighters, WWII bombersand trainers, bush planes, helicopters, light aircraft, all with some story of our past. There arealso many other artifacts and the largest aviation library in B.C.

In the early 80s the museum was faced withpossible eviction when the land on which it livesrent-free was slated for expropriation by SurreyCouncil. From then on long-range planning wasimpossible, valuable aircraft stood out in all

weathers, and the future of the museum itselfwas in doubt. Now, after several appeals, Surreyhas finally confirmed the museum must move,perhaps as early as next June.

Of the possible altemative sites, at presentBoundary Bay Airport in Delta seems the mostlikely. The immense task of moving anywhere isonly a small part of the huge costs involved andthe museum fears it may have to sell perhaps asubstantial part of its exhibits to raise the necessary capital. These will almost certainly go out ofprovince, out of Canada. The vultures are alreadyhovering.

The museum has always been entirely volunteer-run, with no help from governments at anylevel, other than a few make-work grants someyears ago. The only aviation museum on the B.C.mainland, it looks at the five flourishing Albertaones, and the much smaller one at Pat Bay onVancouver Island, all of which have had officialsupport, and wonders at its own treatment.

Aviation took over in Canada where the railways stopped. Without aircraft, much of the B.C.

The Canadian Museum af Flights Hsndley Page Hampden is the Only one at its kindrottrewonld çanother retriennd from Finnish bog will soon be restored at RAE Museumktenctor, UK). Hamens were part of RAF Bomber Command’s 1939-41 front line.Thfr Canaetan-beitt version, eperahng hoer Pat Bay, aashed into Sasnka inlet in1942 when on a trepede-dropping enerctoe. E%scovereri in the SOs in 600 feet ofwater by museum volunteers, the wreckage was lifted, taken to Crescent Band, andover the yearn painotakinpiy rebudit piece by piece.

coast and north might never have been openedup. It is vital this part of our history continues tobe made known to future generations.

Interest and support — financial, moral or practical — is urgently needed from anyone concernedwith our history or with aviation (receipts for taxpurposes are available). CMFT is determined tostay alive and grow, even if this has to be from asmaller base. It welcomes new members (currently there are some 2,000, not all active).

At the end of October public display will closefor the winter but it is hoped to keep at least thegift shop open until the move. Write to 13527Crescent Road, B.C. V4P 1J5, telephone (604)535-1115.

The Marine Building RevisitedIn the Spring 1994 issue (Vol. 27:2), Robin Ward’s photograph of the Burrard Street entrance of the MarineBuilding was reproduced without acknowledgement.Your editor apologizes for this omission. The picture isshown below with the missing credits ... this time withthe kind permission of Mr. Robin Ward. Here, too, wepresent, with permission, Mr. Ward’s drawing of theMarine Building. This drawing is featured in RobinWard’c Heritage West Coast by Harbour Publishing,based on his weekly column on architectural heritagein The Vancouver Sun.

This photograph of the Burrard Streetentrance to the Marine Building was takenby Robin Ward for the book ExploringVancoswe

Photo courtesy Robin Ward

The Canadian Museum ofFlight and TransportationbyJack Meadows


Helen Gregory MacGil4First WomanJudge in B.C.

by Dolly Sinclair Kennedy

Helen Gregory MacGill, B.A., MA,,Mus.Bac., LL.D., 1864—1947, was the firstwoman to be appointed as a judge inBritish Columbia.

Helen’s father, Silas Gregory, was arare political figure of Victorian Canada,a completely and ardently bilingual Anglican Tory. He had been born in Montreal, Quebec, but later moved toHamilton, Ontario, and became theowner of a successful grain company.His daughter Helen was born in 1864 atthe family home.

________

Helen grew up in a socialworld where girls were privately educated, usually athome, and at the age oftwelve it was assumed thattheir formal education wasover. However, at the age ofnineteen, Helen announcedthat she wanted to become aconcert pianist. She persuaded her parents to allowher to go to Toronto andstudy with a renownedteacher, Arthur Ficher.

Helen’s fight for women’srights began with her owncareer. In 1884, Helen wasthe only person to receivefirst-class honours in theCambridge music examination at the University of Toronto. However, Helen wasdenied a degree because shewas female.

________

In 1886, Helen’s grandfather fought a successful court battle tohave her enrolled at the University ofToronto. She subsequently became thefirst woman undergraduate of TrinityCollege, Toronto, and the first to takethe Mus.Bac., the BA., the M.A. and,indeed, she was the first womanMus.Bac. in the British Empire.

In his article “Historical Toronto,”Donald Jones describes Helen as a smallattractive woman with an oval face and

a mass of hair the colour of corn. Hegoes on to say that throughout her journalistic career, she was dubbed by herfellow reporters as “The Pocket Venus.”

In 1890, at the age of twenty-six, shewas invited to speak to the CanadianClub in Washington, D.C. One of themen in the audience was the editor ofCosmopolitan magazine. He was so captivated by Helen that he offered her ajob as one of the magazine’s first femaleforeign correspondents.

Helen’s first assignment was to Japan,a country that had recently created itsfirst representative parliament, the Diet.Helen was to interview the leading members of parliament.

Armed with letters of introduction, sheleft Toronto by train, en route to Vancouver and Japan. Helen was lugging acamera, tripod and photographic platesbecause she had persuaded a Canadianeditor to assign her the job of taking

photos of the immigrant families nowpouring into the prairies, and whom shewould pass on the trip across the prairie to Vancouver. This added assignmentwould help pay her expenses. Little didshe know how this prairie assignmentwould change her life.

At one of her train stops, Helen met ahandsome young man, the son of a landagent. She spent the next week in hiscompany, and at the end of the weekthey were married.

________

Helen persuaded heryoung husband, Lee Flesherto let her complete her assignment in Japan. When shereturned he was at the dockin Vancouver waiting for her.

While she was away,Flesher had sold his land,and when Helen returned heinformed her that they weregoing to start a new life on afarm in California. The venture was a total failure, andher husband confessed thatthe only career that he hadever wanted was that of being a doctor.

Helen insisted that he enrol in medical school, andtold him that she would support the two of them. Armedwith copies of her Cosmopolitan articles, she soon gota job as a reporter.

_________

There were now two smallchildren in the family, and

to help run the house, Helen’s mothercame from Hamilton. With the aid ofmoney from her mothe the two womenstarted a local newspaper which provedto be highly successful

When Flesher graduated from medical school, he received an offer to become a general practitioner and thefamily moved to Minnesota. Helen wasproud of her conscientious and dedicated husband but the long hours he

-m_i41-’

—_________

Helen Gregory MacGillDoctor ofLaws, Universfty ofBritish Columbia, 1938

Photo courtesy UBC Archives


devoted to his practice made him ill, andwithin a few years he was dead. To support her family, Helen now returned tojournalism, this time in St. Paul.

Over the years Helen had been receiving letters from a former classmateat Trinity, James MacGill. He was now aprosperous lawyer in Vancouver; withina few years they were married. Immediately after the marriage, he broughthis wife and the two boys to their newhome in Vancouver.

They took a rented house on ComoxStreet near Burrard, in the new residential district, the West End. This was aframe house, two-storied, with piped-in water and electricity. They had a Chinaman named Gong who, like his fellowdomestics, slept in “Chinatown” andcame early to work, wages fifteen dollars per month. About 3,000 Orientalslived in communities on Pender andCordova Streets in those days, principally Chinese labourers from the yearsof the CPR railroad construction in theRockies. The family later had a houseon Greer’s Beach, renamed Kitsilano.

In Vancouver, Helen turned to thewomen’s societies for friendship andcharitable duty. She joined the University Women’s Club which had been organized in 1907. There she found loyaland enthusiastic support for her work.The members were a cosmopolitan, articulate and erudite lot. They believedthat an educated woman had a publicduty as well as a private one.

Shortly after joining the club, Helenbecame chairman of the Laws Committee. Club members were shocked tolearn how debased was domestic legislation in B.C. These women dared theimpossible by boldly resolving to petition the government for changes.

Helen turned to history to trace theprovincial law to its source. She learnedthat an Imperial Proclamation in 1858,promulgated when the B.C. mainlandbecame a Crown colony, declared: “Thecurrent law of England was to prevailin the Colony subject to change by theColonial Legislature.”

No one had been concerned over lawsaffecting women and children and theyhad remained largely unchanged.

Turning to the minutes of the University Women’s Club: December 9, 1911,moved by Farris/Fuller “that $10.00 expended in the purchase of copies of laws

be refunded to Mrs. MacGill.”On January 10, 1912, Mrs. MacGill

reported interviewing Mr. Bowser, theAttorney-General, in Victoria, and presenting to him the amendments to existing laws concerning women andchildren, desired by the club.

Helen made every effort through existing organizations to rouse public opinion. During the winter months of1910—11, they arranged a series of lawlectures open to the public and delivered by judges and barristers. One wasthe court magistrate, Alfred E. Bull.

Turning to the club minutes of February 27, 1912, we note:

The Club decision to ask for legislation to remove disabilitiesfrom women desiring to practise law in this province hadbeen followed by energetic action. The editorial support ofthe Province and the News Advertiser had been secured, andMr. Bowser was to bring in theBill as a Government measureif favored by the Benchers; ifotherwise, a private memberhad been secured to introducethe Bill.

In February, the University Women’sClub was informed that a bill permittingwomen to practice at the bar in B.C. hadpassed into law on February 27, 1912.

Early in her career Helen had campaigned for women’s suffrage. As well,she became a founding member of theVancouver Women’s Press Club in 1909,at Glencoe Lodge on the corner of Georgia and Burrard. This was followed byHelen becoming a founding member ofthe Vancouver Creche, a free nurseryfor children of working mothers.

In 1913, at her own expense, Helenbrought out a little book, Daughters,Wives and Mothers in British Columbia,Some Laws Regarding Them. Helen soldthe book privately for twenty-five cents,to anyone who wanted it. She dedicatedthe book to the Countess of Aberdeen,“Whose Deep and Abiding Interest inthe Welfare of her Sex, has Endearedher to Women of all Nationalities.”

Helen pointed out in her book thatwhen our local legislature had passed nocivil law, and the federal Parliament nocriminal law, then reference was alwaystaken to English law as it was in 1858.

AgeforMarriage: A girl oftwelve or a

boy offourteen may contract a legalmarriage in B.C. with the consent ofthefather orguardian appointed by thefather. The motherc consent is not necessary fthefather is living.

For many years the University Women’s Club, the Local Council of Women,the Political Equality League, and otherorganizations, has asked that the law giverecognition to the right of the marriedmother to share equally with the fatherin the guardianship of their children.

Under thepresent law, while the childofan unmarried mother belongs to hetthe child of the married mother belongsexclusively to thefather during his 4fe-time. lJntil 1913, the father could willaway from the mother the child unbornat the time of his death. Mothers in B.C.were living under an Act passed in thetime of King Charles II.

In the lifetime of the father, the motherhad no right to the child’s person orestate, either against the father or theguardian he may choose to appoint.

The Official Guardian Act: If thefather has not appointed a guardian to actafter his death with the mothei the Courtmay appoint the Official Guardian toact jointly with the mother The OfficialGuardian is entitled to receive by wayof commission 5% of the gross value ofthe estate under his guardianship, andsuch commission is aftrst charge on theestate.

Divorce: By an Act coming downfromColony days there is in B.C., Jurisdiction to grant divorce. This Act entitles ahusband to divorce his wifefor a singleact ofadultery. The wfe may not obtaina divorce for adultery alone howevernumerous the husband offences maybe. This despite the light that medicalresearch throws upon the auful dangerof infection and consequent suffering.

When this English Act was passed in1857, Mr. William Gladstone spoke 29times in a 10 hour debate, in eloquentprotest against a clause so immoral andso unjust.

The DowerAct: In B.C. the home maybe sold mortgaged, or otherwise disposedofwithout the wife consenl her signature or even her knowledge. The husband by will, may leave his wifepenniless.

Helen began spending more of hertime fighting for the right to vote.

When B.C. established a Minimum


Wage Board, Helen was the only womanon its first board.

On March 19, 1913, a special editionof the Sun newspaper came out, TheWomen c Extra. This edition was published to help raise money to build aVancouver Women’s Clubhouse Building. Helen wrote an article in which shesaid: “So far as we know, nowhere inthe history of women’s work, has therebeen a project of housing together under one roof, women’s public serviceorganizations.”

Among the organizations banded together for this common purpose werethe Local Council of Women, the Graduated Nurses Club, the Equal FranchiseSociety, Women’s Musical Club, Daughters of the Empire, Political EqualityLeague, Women’s Canadian Club, andthe University Women’s Club. This Vancouver Women’s Building did materialize at 752 Thurlow Street, thecornerstone being laid in 1926. The affairs of this association of women woundup in 1940, at which time the buildingitself was turned over to the SalvationArmy.

In 1917 Helen was appointed B.C. ‘sfirst provincial woman judge, workingin the Juvenile Court.

Helen also found time to becomepresident of the University Women’sClub, 1917—18, and throughout the restof her life she enjoyed their friendshipand support. In 1938 she was awardedan honorary Doctor of Laws degree fromthe University of British Columbia.

Helen’s daughter, Elsie GregoryMacGill, P.Eng., a consulting engineer inaeronautics, wrote a book about hermother in 1955, MyMother thejudge. Elsiesuggests “that throughout the life of eachof us runs a dominant trait that revealsour moral purpose and dictates a recurring pattern of thought and action, clearlydiscernable in our work. Helen’s goldenthread was a passionate yet objective sympathy for the hurt, the helpless, the exploited, and throughout her life it traceda recurring pattern of public service directed toward their succour.”

Helen retired in 1945, having seenmost of her personally urged reformsbecome law. She developed during hertwenty-three years in the Juvenile Courts,standards that gained general acceptance. This remarkable woman died atage eighty-three in 1947.

On May 4, 1947, a memorial servicewas held for Helen in the library of theUniversity of British Columbia, The service was arranged by the University Women’s Club in her memory and the clubpresented a plaque which was to beplaced in the east wall of the readingroom. During the service, Helen’s children returned her LL.D. robes to the University of British Columbia.

Alexander M. Manson, formerly Attorney-General and at that time judge ofthe Supreme Court of the province, gavethe address. He acknowledged the contribution Helen had made to society byusing her skill as a journalist, her knowledge of the law, her influence withwomen’s groups. She managed to rousepublic opinion so that necessary stepswere taken by the government to enactlaws for improved conditions for womenand children.

The Hon. Justice Manson said: “Under the auspices of the University Women’s Club of Vancouver, we areassembled this afternoon to pay tributeto a life rich in service, and to mark theesteem in which she was held by thoseof her day and generation, by placing atablet to her memory in these Halls ofLearning.”

The writer is a member of the University Women’s Club in Vancouver whereshe spends volunteer time organizing,and using, the archives.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Jones, Donald, ‘Historical Toronto,” Toronto Globeand Mail, september 21, 1985.

Minutes from the Archives of the University Women’sClub, Vancouver.

MacGill, Helen Gregory, Daughters, Wives and Mothersin British Columbia, Sonic Laws Regarding Them. TheMetre Printing Co. Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., 1913.

MacGill, Elsie Gregory, Mi’ Mother theJudge, Toronto,Ryerson, 1955.

1993 ENTRIES

B.C. HISTORICAL FEDERATION

WRITING COMPETITION

Rough and Ready Times: Port Mellonby Eileen Frith with Peter Trower

Stanley Park by Mike Steele

North Coast Odyssey by Kenneth Campbell

The Legacy and The Challengeby Richard Rajala

Women of the West Coast Then and Nowby Mamie Anderson

* Taku: The Heart of North America’s GreatWilderness by Allison Mitcham

/* Women Volunteer to Go to Prison: TheElizabeth Fry Society by Lee Stewart

A Traveller’s Guide to Historic B.C.by Rosemary Neering

Vancouver’s Many Faces by Kevin Griffin

Vancouver: A History in Photographsby Aynsley Vogel and Dana Wyse

Land of Dreams: Photos of B.C. Interiorby Meredith Bain Woodward

Craigflower CountryEdited by Maureen Duffus

The Wild McLeans by Mel Rothenburger

The Beaver by James Delgardo

Coasters by Rob Morris

The Port of Vancouver by Jim Lyonwith Barbara Duggan

People of Terra Nulliusby Boyce Richardson

The People’s Railway by Donald MacKay

From Maps to MetaphorsEdited by Robin Fisher and Hugh Johnston

Ships and Memories by Eric W. Sager

Comox Valley Memories by Judy Hagen

The Sculpture of Elek lmredyEdited by Terry Noble

They Write Their Dreams on the RockForever by A. York, R. Daly and C. Arnett

Fields of Endeavour by Albert E. Field

The Tokens of Greenwood and Phoenix,B.C. by Ronald Greene

Fishing for a Living by Alan Haig-Brown

Grace: The Story of Grace Maclnnisby S.P. Lewis

Grizzlies and White Guys by Clayton Mack,Edited by Harvey Thommasen

My Father, My Friend by Arthur Mayse

Raincoast Chronicles 15: Stories andHistory of the B.C. CoastEdited by Howard White

Robin Ward’s Heritage West Coastby Robin Ward

* Whistle Punks and Widow Makersby Robert E. Swanson

A Shadow Passes by Ursula Surtees

More Tales from the Outer Gulf IslandsEdited by Douglas Harker

Reviewed by this magazine* Winners


Adelaide Bailey:Exemplary Teacher 1857—1949

by Carolyn Cross

Adelaide Susan Steinberg Bailey was apioneer woman in British Columbia’s history. She grew up in Yale, yet she managedto obtain the skifis and knowledge to become one of the first frontier teachers inBritish Columbia. She taught for thirty yearswith excellence and enthusiasm, and contributed much to the establishment of seversl new communities.

Adelaide Bailey was born in San Francisco on December 11, 1857, the firstchild of Benjamin Bailey and SarahMargaret Paterson. Her father, bornin Boston, came to California luredby the promise of gold. Similarly, herrnother with her parents Captain andMrs. Paterson, travelled from Hobart,Tasmania, aboard her father’sschooner to the California gold fields.In 1860 Benjamin Bailey was drawnto British Columbia by better prospects in the new Cariboo gold rush,and had the foresight to establish afreight trading business in Yale wherethe road through the Fraser Canyonwas under construction. A year later,his wife and two children sailed toBritish Columbia aboard the steamerBrotherJonathan to join him. After abrief stay at the Colonial Hotel inEsquimalt, they obtained passageacross the Strait of Georgia and upthe Fraser River to Hope: There theywere met by Mr. Bailey and travelledupstream to the bustling frontier townof Yale — the gateway to the Cariboo.Mrs. Bailey never was favorably impressed with Yale, despite being assured by Governor Douglas that“there will be trails and wagon roads,even a railway built through here before long.”’ There were times that shehad to close the curtains to preventAdelaide and her siblings from seeinglawbreakers hung. ft was in this roughtown that Adelaide grew up. The Baileys lived in Yale for twenty years andtwelve of their fifteen children were bornthere, including a set of twins, which

incited great celebration among thewhites and much curiosity among theIndians. However rustic this communityhad been, Adelaide managed to acquireeducation and was knowledgeableenough to pass the Teachers Certification examination in Victoria in June of1875 at the age of seventeen. She alsobecame proficient at playing the piano,a talent that was very advantageous infuture years.

Adelaide was well suited for her cho

sen career as a public school teacher.As the eldest child, “Addie” had the responsibility of helping her mother withthe care of her siblings. This allowedher to develop a stern, but caring character. She was described as “a strong,forceful woman, though underneathvery kind.”2 Her tall and angular physi

cal appearance complemented her personality to provide the overall impression of being an authority figure. Shewas known to make a decision thatwould not, under any circumstance, bealtered. A clear example of her steadfast decisions was her eighteen-yearchilling reception to advances by JohnFingal Smith. Adelaide’s early experiencemay have influenced her not to marryyoung, nor to have any children of herown. She was a career woman and did

not want children to confound herability to make a living for herself.Once a woman was married, herchances of maintaining a job werevery slim as “married women wereseldom deemed suitable to be in theclassroom.”3 These aspects of hercharacter, combined with her dedication to education and conscientiousattitude, allowed Adelaide Bailey tobecome an excellent teacher whogained the respect of the people inthe communities where she taught.

Miss Bailey began teaching in FortHope in August 1875. The school was“held in a very dilapidated, old house

and [had] for a long time beenpropped up to prevent its falling.”4Despite the decrepit state of theschool facility, Adelaide provided anexcellent education for the childrenof Fort Hope. When Miss Bailey leftFort Hope her “departure was muchregretted by all interested in theschool, which [there] meant the entire population.”5

The journey to Yale, the locationof her new teaching assignment, fromFort Hope was an adventure she

wrote about years later. She and Mr. JohnJessop, Superintendent of Schools, whohad finished inspecting her formerschool, “went together to Yale by canoe which had to be towed along thebank of the Fraser in many places bythe Indians on account of the swiftnessof the current. In one instance, the tow

Adelaide Bailey. This studio portrait, taken inVictoria circa 1888 was given to George A. Ciafrof Yale and Vancouver as a Christmas g/2L Thecollection of George A. Clair is now in theVancouver archives.

Photo courtesy City of Vancouver Archives No. Port P.45


rope broke and [theyl shot back withgreat velocity. The Indian crew managedto take them safely to Yale.”6

Miss Bailey taught for three years inYale before being transferred to Lytton.During her time in Yale, she probablytaught her younger brothers and sisters,making for an interesting and possiblyawkward situation. She provided exceptional education as one of her students,John Shaw, later became the principalof the Nanaimo Boys’ School. She taughtin Lytton from 1880 to the fall of 1884when the Lytton school was accidentally burnt down, and she was releasedfrom her contract.

During the time she spent in theCariboo, she braved the rigors of stagecoaches, sleighs, canoes, and travel onhorseback. One description she left says:“On my first trip to I.ytton I started fromYale at 3 am, by Barnard’s Express. Idrove behind a team of six horses, theleaders being the only ones unbroken,much to my terror. The driver, SteveTingley, entertained the passengers bypointing out the dangerous parts of theCariboo Road such as Jackass Mountain,Hell’s Gate, and Roaring Canyon etc. Inthe winter we had to travel by sleighsand often the road was in very dangerous condition with ice and snow. Onetime the runner broke and we were lefthelpless and had to walk over a mile toa ‘stopping place’ while the runner wastaken back to Yale, a distance of 20 milesfor repairs. C.P.R. Engineer Eberts wasa passenger on this occasion and shortlyafter met a tragic death when climbingthe steep side of the Fraser. During theC.P.R. construction the mode of crossing the Fraser at Cisco Flat was in a carslung on a cable extending across theriver at a high elevation, large enoughto carry a few passengers and a bale ofhay. When the cantilever bridge at themouth of the Thompson was completedI rode horseback from Lytton, in company with Engineer Hannington, his wifeand others to be present at the opening. This was the second of this type ofbridge built on this continent and linkedthe section of the Onderdonk contractbetween Kamloops and Yale. Mr.Onderdonk, with a party of friends,came from Yale on a construction traindecorated with bunting and evergreens.We walked over the bridge and got onboard the train so as to be able to say

we were among the first passengers tocross the Fraser on the C.P.R. train. Mr.Onclerdonk had an elaborate champagneluncheon provided for us.”7 Thus MissBailey experienced train travel as soonas it was available in British Columbia.

After losing her job in Lytton, Adelaidequickly acquired the position of principal at the Nanaimo Girls School. Whenshe resigned from Nanaimo she wastold, “We would rather have the wholestaff of teachers resign than yourself”8.a testimonial she cherished until herdying day. She then taught briefly in aone-room school in Cadboro Bay, nearVictoria, in 1885.

Adelaide was the first teacher at Bonaparte Creek (in the southern Cariboo)in 1886. About that time a teacher atAshcroft, John Fingal Smith, becameacquainted with her brothers, who hadbusiness at the railhead there, and alsomet Miss Bailey. When she was transferred to Clinton, he was able to visitduring holidays and weekends. WhenAshcroft school closed due to lack ofsufficient enrolment, Mr. Smith quickly

found work in Clinton. In 1894, Adelaidewas chosen to be the first teacher at theburgeoning East Kootenay town, FortSteele.

Miss Bailey began teaching twelve students in a one-room school in Fort Steelein 1895. The school was a new building“neatly furnished with desks, maps,blackboards, etc.”9 The school washeated by a large wood stove; however,the heating was not sufficient. MildredMather. one of Miss Bailey’s students,remembered Miss Bailey coming “toschool wearing one buttoned boot andone laced boot. She would sit up at herlittle table with her feet resting on a hotrock — the floors were that cold!”10

Miss Bailey joined the Anglican Women’s Guild and soon held the positionof vice-president. She inspired the ladies to raise funds for an organ. Churchservices for all denominations were heldin the schoolhouse, initially with layreaders, then trained clergy for both theAnglicans and Presbyterians in 1898. Forweddings, funerals and social services,Miss Bailey volunteered as organist until 1899 when she resigned from theposition as organist.

By 1897 the school population hadgrown significantly and a new schoolhouse was constructed; the formerschoolhouse became exclusively St.John’s Anglican Church. In January 1898Miss Bailey, along with an assistant“rrlonitor” Mrs. James Clark, providededucation in the new one-room school.Adelaide was promoted to the positionof principal. The report by Mr. WilliamBurns, inspector of public schools fromNelson, was “much pleased by the proficiency of the pupils and the work doneby the zealous teacher, Miss Bailey. [Helwas surprised at the large attendance.”The school population continued togrow. Another room had to be built ontothe schoolhouse and another teacherwas hired to teach in the senior room.John Fingal Smith was the first to holdthis new position. He, along with hissuccessors, took over the principalshipand were paid $70 a month. Adelaide’swage decreased to $60 a month; a wageidentical to her initial teaching wagestwenty-three years earlier. During thesefinal seven years of Miss Bailey’s teaching career, she remained as a teacher atFort Steele school under several maleprincipals, including Mr. King, Mr. W.L.

J .-‘

John FingalSmith. Thisportrait appearsto have been taken in the same studio inVictoria as Addie’s 1888 picture, andwas also in the George A. Clair collection.Photo courtesy City of Vancouver Archives No. Port P.54


Tompkins, Mr. Reid, Mr. Jas Hislop, Mr.Tupper Blakeney and Mr. A. Holland.Adelaide’s teaching ability was far superior to that of her male colleagues.Her pupils were making “fair progress”whereas the senior grades teachers’ students were “not advanced in problemwork, land] backward [withl apparentlylittle progress made.”12

During the summer of 1897, Miss Bailey was granted a permanent teachingcertificate. This Length of Service certificate was granted to only two teachers, both self-taught. This meant thatAdelaide did not have to go to Victoriato write teacher examinations each summer. However, most summers she returned to Victoria to spend time withher family who moved there from Yalein 1885.

John Fingal Smith obtained a job as aclerk in the government office after hisshort teaching career in Fort Steele. Hehad a house in the next block to thecottage occupied by Miss Bailey. Heescorted her to whatever dances, musical performances or social gatheringswere taking place. In December 1895,their names, along with the “elite” ofFort Steele, were listed among those attending a ball held in Wasa. They participated in fund-raising performancesfor either the Presbyterian Church or theAnglican Church. They also raised funds

for the school when it needed a newbell. Miss Bailey encouraged community involvement in school events sheplanned, such as Christmas school concerts and picnics. Miss Bailey and a fewothers threw themselves into fund-raising for a hospital at Fort Steele. Oncethe hospital was operational, Adelaidewas one of the board of directors andMr. Smith became the hospital secretary-treasurer. Citizens either donated fundsor materials, or subscribed to a prepaidinsurance plan. Whatever Miss Baileyput her efforts into, she was praised,with comments such as “with names likeMiss Bailey connected with it, it meanssuccess.”13

Miss Bailey and Mr. Smith’s relationship continued throughout their time inFort Steele. A story handed down byneighbours claims that Mr. Smith cookedporridge every morning and took a hotbowlful of this to Addie. These sameneighbours had been told in confidencethat Adelaide chose to avoid marriageuntil she was past child-bearing age. By1902, public criticism about their long-term relationship was printed in the social column in The Prospectot the localnewspaper. “There is an old bachelorin this town who has been waiting onthe same girl more than twenty years.He must lack a great deal of nerve.”14

In January of 1905, the government

- office and staff, includingJohn FingalSmith, were transferred from FortSteele to Cranbrook. Adelaide taughtuntil June, and while she was visiting her family in Victoria, she submitted her resignation from FortSteele school. John Fingal Smith andAdelaide Susan Steinberg Baileywere married in St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Victoria on December 11, 1905. Adelaide wore a navyblue suit while her sister in attendance wore a cream-coloured ensemble. The newlyweds returned hometo Cranbrook and resided acrossfrom present-day Baker Park on 14thAvenue.

Mr. Smith worked as the Government Agent for Cranbrook between1906 to 1918, then he retired on asmall pension. Adelaide took advantage of her spare time to do thingsshe never managed to do in earlieryears. She took swimming lessonswith a group of twelve-year-olds at

the Cranbrook pool. She went skatingon the community rink and enjoyed taking turns around the ice with teenagerswho sought her as a partner. Adelaideis remembered for wearing feather boas,a fashion accessory popular after WorldWar I.

Mr. Smith bought an early Ford car asa gift for his new bride. The vehicle was

This was a postcard sentJanuary 1904 from A.S..a (Aunt Addie) to a nephew in Asbcroft, 1CThe picture was takenfrom the original water tower in Fort Steele, showing the remains oftheMountie barn and the board sidewalk along Riverside Avenue.

Two great-nephews with “AuntAddie” inVernon in January 1937. Bill Baldwin,left, andJack Baldwin.

FThoto courfesy George Baldwin’s family album

21 B.C. Historical News . Fall 1994

10. Schoolhouse File. p. 6.rarely used as he preferred to walkwithin town and use horse and buggyfor more distant errands. Mrs. Smith, alady, was not allowed to drive the car.Young men around watched this carwith envy, especially when Mr. Smithtook it out of the garage to clean andpolish every feature on it.

Adelaide and John remained very active members of the church. John became a parishioner at Christ AnglicanChurch in Cranhrook shortly before hemarried Adelaide, as well as maintaining his ties to the Presbyterian Church.They worshipped at the Anglican Churchon Sunday mornings and at the Presbyterian on Sunday evenings. Adelaide alsotaught Anglican Sunday School. Johnwas an elder and the church secretaryfor the Presbyterian Church for severalyears. He represented the East Kootenayat national meetings, one of which sawthe creation of the United Church ofCanada in 1925.

Adelaide’s mother became ill in 1924.She spent several months in Victorianursing her mother. However, hermother succumbed to her illness in September of that year.

In October 1936, a fire destroyedmuch of the library in the Smith’s home.Mr. and Mrs. Smith were rescued by Mr.and Mrs. Erickson, then taken to thehome of Anglican Reverend Harrison.John Fingal Smith died a few days lateras a result of shock. After his memorialservice in the Presbyterian Church, hewas laid to rest in Cranbrook Cemetery.Adelaide erected a tombstone on herhusband’s grave which reads: “JohnFingal Smith, Born PET. 1846, Died

Cranbrook, B.C. 1936. A Faithful Loverfor 18 years and a Devoted Husbandfor 31 years.” There is a plot beside thiswhich is unoccupied.

Adelaide remained in Cranbrook forabout three years, then went to live withor near relatives at the coast. She waswith her sister Amy, Mrs. Sinnott ofWhite Rock, when she passed away onJanuary 22, 1949. She was given an Anglican service at a funeral chapel andlaid to rest in Surrey Center Cemetery.The grave has a simple marker: “SusanAdelaide Smith 1857—1949.”

The author prepared a study of MissBaileyfor her History ofEducation assignment at the University of Victoriathree years ago. Since that time newdetails have been uncovered and areincluded in this article.

ENDNOTES

1. The CranhrookHerakl Vol. 26, No. 32. October 3,1924, p. 6. Obituary ot Mrs. Bailey.

2. Schoolhouse File. Fort Steele Archives, p. 6.

3. Jean Barman. Pioneer Teachers ol BritishColumbia,” Brbish Cilt,,nbia ThstortcalAbus. Vol.25, No. 1. p 16.

4. Annual Public school Reports 1874—1875, p. 25.

5. Ibid.

6. Adelaide Bailey. Records of the Pioneers of theColonies of Vancouver Island and BritishColumbia. British Columbia Archives, p. 88.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. Alt. Grace. The Prospector (Fort Steele). November7, 1896.

11. Grace. October 8, 1898, p. 8.

12. Public School Reports 1899—1900.

13. Grace. December 14, 1895.

14. Ibid. May 24, 1902, p. 2.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Annual Public School Reports of British Columbia andPublic School Reports, 1874—1875 to 1904—1905.

Bailey, Adelaide. Records of the Pioneers of the Coloniesof Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Britisholtt ,nhia Archives, pp. 87—90.

ltarman. Jean. “Pioneer Teachers of British Columbia,”British Colombia Historical News. Vol. 25, No. 1, pp.15—IS.

Broadland, T.R. ‘Fort Steele: British Columbia’s ‘Instant’Ghost Town,” Beaitqfiil British columbia. Vol. 9, No.2, Fall 1967, pp. 22—30.

The Cra,zhrook Herald. Vol. 26, No. 32, October 3,1924, p. 6.

Grace, Alt. The Prospector (Fort Steele). 1895—1905.

House, Candice L. The Gaibraiths and the Kootenaj’s.Vantage Press Inc., New York: 1969.

Inwoixi, Datniart. Fort Steele: The Golden Era. SunfirePublications Limited, Langley, ll.C.: 1988.

Johnson, F. Henry. “The Ryersonian Influence on thel’ublic School System of British Columbia.”

Johnson. F Henry. John Jessop’ Gold Seeker andls€lttca!or. Mitchell Press Limited, Vancouver: 1971.

Johnson, F. Henr.’. A Histo?j’ ofPublic Education inBrittsh Colombia. .Morris Printing Company Ltd.,Victoria: 1964.

Leigbton, Douglas. Fort Steele Reborn,” Canadtan

GeoRraphic. Vol. 104, No.2 ApriL/May 1984, pp. 34—41.

Miller, Naomi. Various correspondence.

Schoolhouse File. Fort Steele Archives.

White, l)erryl. Fort Steele: Here History Lives. HeritageHouse I’ublications Limited, Suffey, B.C.: 1988.

The Sutton Lumber & Trading Co. Tokenby D.M. Stewart

A friend, John Cheramy, quicklycaught my attention when he showedme a worn twenty-two-millimetrealuminum trade token (enlarged in theillustration on the following page). It isthe first known token from Meares Island, Clayoquot Sound, and the reverseis printed in French. Is this evidence thata large group of Quebec lumbermen hadworked in west coast forestry, just assome three hundred Quebec mill workers had been employed at the Fraser

Mills sawmill? The history of the settlement at Maillardville in 1909 and 1910has been well documented, but who hadheard of a similar settlement on MearesIsland? My curiosity was aroused.

Consulting Vancouver Island’s WestCoast by George Nicholson, I found thathe had written: “William and JamesSutton took up a large tract of land inthe early 1880s and their shingle andsawmill was then the only one beyondAlberni. Surplus logs they sold to the

Alberni mill for $6 per thousand feet b.m.They also opened Ucluelet’s first store.Their holdings, which embraced mostof the timber around Kennedy Lake, wassubsequently disposed of to Seattle Cedar, using the name Sutton Lumber Co.Ltd. in its future operations on the westcoast of Vancouver Island. One enterprise was an export shingle mill at Mosquito Harbour, Clayoquot Sound.”

Next I turned to the British ColumbiaArchives for assistance and was handed


Sutton, Victo- a million feet.”

ACKNOWIJIDGEMENTS

& Trading Co., at Mosquito Harbor, onthe west coast, suffered from the recentgale. The wind and the high tides carried away some teredo weakened piles,which released timber estimated at about

a file folder which contained a Memorandum of Association under the Companies Act, 1897, Section 5, of the SuttonLumber and Trading Company Limiteddated 17th November, 1902. This wassigned by William Johnna, B.C. Geologist;James Edward Sutton,Ucluelet, B.C. Merchant; and FannieKeyworth Sutton, Victoria, B.C. Spinster.The articles of thememorandum arevery broad and include all phases oflogging, lumberingand sawmilling, all

(Jf)

0. C

in Seattle had therefore been in Englishand French. It seems likely that the tokens would be struck in sets of fivecents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fiftycents and one dollar.

A reply from Ken Gibson of Tofinoacknowledged his interest in local history and told of several visits to the site atMosquito Harbour where there had beena large number of Chinese workers. Also,that a friend had the payroll ledger andsome old mill records. The final verdictwas rendered and my hopes dashed.Sutton Lumber would have been betterserved by striking their tokens in Englishand Chinese. The store at Mosquito Harbour included a post office in the years1906 to 1908, which coincide with SuttonLumber’s most active period.

The company continued operationson the west coast in a small way untilthe 1930s and retained their timberrights. In 1954 the ownership was withAird Island, Inc. of Albany, New York;the English Lumber Co. of Seattle; andSeattle Cedar Lumber Manufacturing Co.of Seattle. The company wound downwith a final distribution of $4,232,549.07to the shareholders in the two yearsending in 1957.

The author is a keen numismatist livingin Victoria. He is also a diligent researcber

rights for the production of power andinclude dealing in seals and seal skins,operating fish canneries and trading ingeneral merchandise, among otherthings. The capital of the company isstated to be $100,000 divided into 1,000shares of $100 each. It is also noted thatthe memorandum is for the purpose ofre-incorporation and registration ofSutton Lumber and Trading Company,Limited Liability, a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1890.Ownership from 1898 to 1901 was heldin varying amounts, mainly by familymembers. By October 3, 1903, this hadchanged and the shares were owned byWilliam Hunter McEwan and AlexanderFraser McEwan of Seattle, Washington.

As plans went ahead for a cedar shakeand sawmill operation at Mosquito Harbour, which is located seven and one-half miles northeast of Tofino on the eastside of Meares Island, it is likely thatthe owners were actively seeking amarket for their production. It may havebeen part of an arrangement to sell inthe New York area that resulted inBenjamin W. Arnold of Albany, NewYork, becoming one-half owner ofSutton Lumber in 1905.

The September 1907 issue of WestCoast Lumberman reported that: “TheSutton Lumber Company’s mill nearClayoquot has shipped the first cargoof cedar lumber for a foreign port thathas gone from this part of the Province,destination being New York.” This wasa shipment of 3,500,000 feet of cedaraboard the Earl of Douglas. A furthermention in the February 1908 issue ofthis journal noted: “The Sutton Lumber

All this was interesting but it made nomention of French-Canadian workers.The MacMillan Bloedel Story stated thatSutton Lumber had employed 400 menbut no further details were given. JohnParminter, the Alberni District Historical Society and the Roman CatholicChurch were all very helpful but knewof no large group of Quebec workers atMeares Island. Nor did Mrs. J. Hansonof the Municipality of Tofino, but shesent copies of interesting Mosquito Harbour photographs which did show Chinese workers. A letter to Pierre-LouisLapointe, Reference Archivist at the Archives Nationales du Quebec, broughtwelcome information about the strikeat Buckingham, Quebec, in October1906, and the blacklisting which followed the strike would have made manyexperienced men available for employment at Mosquito Harbour. There was,however, no mention of any leaving forthe west coast. The Forests Library inBastion Square, Victoria, put me in touchwith J.M. Duncan, a Division Foresterwith MacMillan Bloedel Limited, who inturn suggested that I write to Ken Gibsonat Tofino. By this time I was becomingskeptical of a French-Canadian presenceat Mosquito Harbour and was furtherdiscouraged by consulting the AlberniElectoral District voters lists for 1907,1908 and 1909 which held only onename which appeared to be French.

Reluctantly, I came to accept thethought that the American owners mighthave taken it for granted that any forestoperations in Canada would employ alarge number of Quebec foresters. Theorder for trade tokens from Mayer Bros.

The writer wishes to express his deep appreciation toall those people whose assistance is mentioned in thisarticle and also to R.A. Greene and anyone else whowas consulted.

Empire of Wooth The MacMillan Bloedel Story Douglas& Mcintyre, Vancouver, B.C., 1982.

Vancouver Isla,zdc West Coast 1762—1962 by GeorgeNicholson. Morriss Printing Company Ltd., Victoria,B.C., 1962.


The Stolen Church — Windermereby Naomi Miller

St. Peter’s Church at Windermere isalso known as “The Stolen Church.” Itwas built at Donald, B.C., when thatcommunity was the divisional point onthe newly completed Canadian PacificRailway line. Donald had a sawmill andwas home to many railway workers. Thecommunity had stores, a school, and St.Peter’s Church, buik by Anglicans butserving other denominations as needed.The records of St. Peter’s baptisms, marriages and funerals are in the archivesat the Golden and District Museum, aswell as at the Anglican Archives,Kootenay Diocese, in Kelowna, B.C.Hotel owner Rufus Kimpton and his wifeCelina were two of the builders of thatchurch. (Celina was organist for mostof the services held in Donald.)

The CPR changed the planning fortheir divisional points in 1898. At thistime, too, a forest fire decimated the timber reserves supplying the Donald sawmill. Residents were offered transfers toGolden or Reveistoke. Many houseswere stripped and their walls loadedonto flatcars to take them elsewhere forreassembling. It was decided St. Peter’sChurch would be moved to Reveistoke(where it could serve as a hall for thenew Anglican Church to the west).

Rufus Kimpton moved to Windermerewhere he expanded an existing storethat he owned. Their home was transplanted from Donald, via Golden on the

railway, and up river on a barge. CelinaKimpton was heard to say, “I miss myneighbours of those years, but, evenmore, I miss my church!” Rufus Kimptonwas a man of action. He caught the nextriverboat to Golden, hired a crew ofworkmen, went out by train to Donald,and proceeded to dismantle the church.The pieces were loaded onto a flatcarand taken to the waterfront in Golden,where they were loaded onto a barge.At nightfall, the eighty-pound bell givento the Donald church was lashed atop

the load. Next morning, when the steamermoved upstream withthe barge, the bell wasmissing. The churchwas reassembled wellabove high water atWindermere. On asubsequent trip toGolden, RufusKimpton dropped into see the magistrate,“Judge” Griffiths.“Griff,” he said, “somedanged thief stole mybell!” Griff retorted:“Some one stole a

whole church. Get out of my office orIll lay charges.” Several months later,St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Golden, hada belfry built with a bell, weighing eightypounds and inscribed as a gift fromBaroness Burdett-Coutts, hung in thatnew belfry. The parishioners atReveistoke eventually moved to claimthe building from Donald, and learnedthat it had been moved elsewhere. Theycomplained to the bishop, who wroteto the Windermere congregation that thechurch could not be consecrated because of its illegal move. Kimpton gleefully replied that they could worship justas well without the extra blessing of thebishop. The feud continued for a fewyears, then Bishop Sillitoe capitulatedand arrived to dedicate St. Peter’s onAugust 27, 1906.

The church with the stolen bell did arepair of their bell tower in 1956 — andparishioners from Windermere grabbedthe bell for a few hours. It was returnedto Golden under RCMP guard and stillserves to call the congregation to service or to celebrate special events suchas weddings and baptisms. St. Peter’shas been carefully preserved and is apopular site for weddings to this day.

— r

-,

The Stolen Church, Windermere BCSketch courtesy of the artist. Marcile Campbell

The church with the stoZen belt SL Pau1s Church, Golden, BCReproduced courtesy of Golden Anglican Women’s Guild


A CWAC in Victoria1942—1945

by Phylis Bowman

When I was a kid, I used to think thatanyone who could remember thingswhich happened fifty years ago wasready for the Glue Factory. But now thatI am older and can remember that longago, it doesn’t seem that way at all.

For I can vividly remember the summer of 1944, fifty years ago, which wasa very happy one for me andhas lingered long in mymemory after some otherhappenings have long sincebeen forgotten. Because itwas while I was stationed inVictoria as a member of theCanadian Women’s ArmyCorps during the SecondWorld War that I spent thatparticular summer as dutydriver at the Military Hospital on Lansdowne Road —

the large, imposing buildingnow known as CamosunCollege.

When I first arrived in Victoria in 1943, I was assignedto the Royal Canadian Corpsof Signals orderly room as a clerk atWork Point near our barracks, and spentseveral uneventful months making upnominal rolls, typing out orders, andgenerally working at humdrum jobs. Iwas then transferred to the TransportOffice at the Woollen Mills on DallasRoad; it was still called the Woollen Millseven though the mills had long beenmoved out of there and it had beentaken over by the government as a hugegarage for Armed Forces vehicles. Myjob was to keep track of the many assorted kinds of vehicles which came infor repairs and paint jobs, etc., and Iloved working there for I got to knowall of the drivers and would often getpicked up when waiting on the cornerfor a streetcar, and thus whisked homeor out to barracks without the tiresomewait and the long ride on a crowded,swaying public vehicle.

For when I started to work at Woollen Mills, I had to live out of the barracks — “out on subsistence” it was called— as the distance between the Mills andWork Point at that time was too far tocommute. And so another co-worker,Anne, and I moved into the BalmoralLeave Centre which was on Douglas

Street in the heart of downtown Victoria until we could find quarters somewhere near our work to rent. Findingsuitable accommodation wasn’t all thateasy for the city was pretty crowded,with every little basement, attic and extra bedroom rented out to constructionworkers and Armed Forces personneland their relatives. We looked at several places, including a sleeping roomwhich we rejected because it wouldhave cost us eight dollars a week (thatwas a lot in those days), and then others which were cheaper but were toofar away from our work. And then weluckily latched onto a room in a big oldmansion on Dallas Road, a few blocksaway from the Mills, with a fantastic viewof Juan de Fuca Strait. The owner, anolder widower, had rented out all therooms so there were about fourteen ofus staying there, sharing the two bath-

rooms and the large upstairs kitchen.Ours was the front room with a fireplace which we much enjoyed, a tableand chairs where we had our meals, adresser, a double bed, and a large baywindow overlooking the road andocean, and ornate double doors whichhad formerly opened up into the dining

room which were then barricaded up, for there wereothers living in that room. Itwasn’t a bad set-up and nottoo expensive, but the cooking arrangements left something to be desired. For,according to my old diary,in which I meticulously detailed my hopes and dreamsand joys and sorrows andups and downs all duringthose years in the Army,some of the other tenantsworked at a nearby fish cannery and often brought fishhome for their supper, cooking it, naturally, in the community kitchen while we

were cooking ours there.Now I have nothing against fish or its

smell. Quite the contrary, in fact, for Ihad downed a great deal of it whilegrowing up in Prince Rupert, the acknowledged Halibut Capital of theWorld, so I don’t mind fish smelling likefish. But not pork chops or hamburgeror sausages, or any of the other dishesthat Anne and I concocted up. Butmany’s the dish of those we ate whichsmelled strongly of fish after it had beencooked in that fish-smelling communitykitchen, but as we were young andhealthy — and hungry — little things likethat, and also being short of hot waterfrequently, were small things to be reckoned with and we greatly enjoyed ourstay at this place and our walks to andfrom work along windy Dallas Road andwatching the waves and boats bounceby. Buying food was no problem. We

The autbo, Pte. Phylis Hamblin was a member ofthe Canadian WomensArmy Corps when she was duty driver at the Military Hospital in 1944.

All photos courtesy of the author


shared the cost of the groceries and ateoften at the Leave Centre Canteen or atthe little Tea Room which used to bebeside our digs in the big old house,or sometimes at the mess hail at WorkPoint if we had to be there for lectures or drill practice, etc. Once whenwe were dead flat broke just beforepayday, we took our last fifteen centsand five milk bottles to turn in at thelittle corner store to get a tin of soup,and begged some bread and eggsand milk from the small artillery outpost positioned near us on Dallas.

Then when I was transferred intothe Royal Canadian Army ServiceCorps, I went back into barracks andbegan a new life motoring aroundthe district in jeeps and sedans andtrucks, taking mail and personnel andofficers to the heavily guarded fortsalong the coastline — Duntze Head, MaryHill, Rodd Hill, Albert Head, WilliamHead and Christopher Point, where theyhad mock guns set up as camouflage inthe bush near the beach. We girl driversnot only had our driving duties, but wehad to take turns helping out in themen’s kitchens, for the Service Corpsalso ran the mess halls and it was oneof the duties of the CWAC drivers toserve in the kitchens, a week each inturn. So for that week, instead of arising as usual at 6 am. and going to breakfast with the others, we got up at 5:30and reported to the kitchen by 6. Wesliced hundreds of loaves of bread (by

hand, as electric slicers had not yet beeninvented) and helped dish up the foodand clear off the tables after meals. Therewas lots of time off and you could always sit down whenever you wantedand enjoy a cup of coffee from the always-full pot on the huge stoves.

But, on the whole, it wasn’t that muchof a hassle taking kitchen fatigue. Wehad 200 men in our mess, some members of the Midland Regiment from Ontario who were stationed there at thattime and Dental Corps and Signal andService Corps, and they filed by ourcounter for their food, cafeteria-style.They each had their own silverware andwe supplied the plates and the food andtea and coffee and stacks and stacks ofbread. But not butter, as it was rationed,as was sugar. As each fellow filed by, itwas one of my duties to give him onesmall pat of butter and, since the quartermaster-sergeant was standing there,keeping a stern, watchful eye on everything, no one complained.

But I left all that behind when I wasassigned to the hospital — the great building on Lansdowne Road which had beenconstructed as the ProvincialNormal School. When it wasofficially opened on January 4,1915, with about fifty students,its purpose was to train teachers for the elementary and highschools of B.C. and it had become a famous landmark inVictoria with its tower andclock which could be seen formiles in any direction. It hadbeen converted into a militaryhospital in 1942, with studentstransferring to CraigdarrochCastle for their lessons. It was

a grand old place, with tremendousgreen lawns and colourful arrays of rhododendrons and other showy plants inmulti-coloured flowerbeds flanking it onall sides, and an ornate rock area andsundial in the front yard. Quonset hutshad been set up at the rear to house themedical staff and schoolrooms had beenconverted into wards full of beds or administration and consulting offices. Ilived in barracks but ate most of mymeals at the hospital.

The three men drivers had the ambulance and trucks, while I had the lighterstation wagon for routine and other runs.There was one-way traffic around thebuilding after driving up the wide frontdriveway, with all vehicles going to theright of the building, around the back,and exiting around the left-hand side.We drivers were allocated the first smallroom on the right of the lower floor,with a well-equipped, sterile laboratoryin the large room across the hail and abig refrigeration room down the hall.

The huge kitchen was on the left atthe very end of the top floor andwe would enjoy our delicious mealsthere with the afternoon and eveningsun just pouring in the windows —

in fact, to me, in my memories, I’llalways refer to that place as the“Place with the Golden Windows.”And I often went with the duty driverin the truck to pick up dozens ofboxes of Dixie cups from a nearbyoutlet, and that was another happymemory — sitting in the front seat ofthe large truck, eating one — or perhaps two — little cups of ice creamas we rode up Hillside. For that was

our standard joke: that I eat some of theice cream to “test” it before it reachedthe hospital and, of course, I never found

Driver Phybs Hamblin sat on the runningboard of the hospital ambulance to have berpicture taken in 1944 with anotherdrive,; Re4and CpL Gerald Pagan behind the wheel andanother member ofthe Royal Canadian ArmyMedical Corps staff

There were dozens ofbeautzfulflowers in the showy gardensofthe old hospital in 1944 and also round the unique sundialwhich kept fine time there.

This picture, taken from the front steps of the MilitaryHospital on I.ansdowne Roa4 shows the patients in bedsrolled out onto thegrounds to enjoy the music ofthe GarrisonBand which often came to entertain them.


anything wrong with it!

It was like being in a great big family,working there. It was a huge complexrunning itself. None of the patients werevery sick — all of the heavy surgery wasdone at Royal Jubilee Hospital, with thepatients coming to our hospital for convalescence and treatment. During the hotsummer afternoons and long evenings,the beds would be rolled out onto thelawns and placed under the trees andthe up-patients in their hospital-issue“blues” — blue suit, white shirt, red tieand their own field caps — would strollaround the grounds and chat with otherpatients and visitors.

My job was quite interesting: therewere designated runs to Jubilee Hospital with blood and other samples, andtrips to Work Point and other camps withrecords, supplies and patients, or totrain, boat or bus stations to pick up ordeliver personnel. And in between runsthere were visits to the canteen in thefront large room on the lower floor atthe extreme left of the building, withdelicious cups of coffee for five centsand jam tarts (two for a nickel) or othertasty treats. Sometimes in the eveningswe drivers would go to Cedarhill Crossroads Golf Course to play golf — noneof us were experts at the game but wehad a heck of a lot of fun and usuallyended up stopping along the way for amilkshake before dropping me off atbarracks. Sometimes the Garrison Bandcame to play, with the musicians seatedin a circle on the wide cement walk infront of the buildings with all the windows open so those who had to stayinside could hear and enjoy the musicas much as those who had beenwheeled outside in beds and wheelchairs. Sometimes concert parties wouldcome to entertain the patients in theassembly hail, and the floor and balconywould be jam-packed with men in beds,wheelchairs, on crutches and on chairs— there were no seats such as there arenow — and the corridors would ring withmusic, songs and laughter. There wasanother kind of music filling the lowerhail, too — the lilting music of that oldband leader, Vaughn Monroe, and hisdulcet voice singing the lyrics along withhis band, just like Rudy Vailee and otherleaders of their time. Vaughn had a special place in our lives for one of ourbutchers, Jake by name, had a stack of

records which he left in the drivers’ roomfor us and him to play on our breaks.

Jake was a great little guy but had anawful inferiority complex because of along jagged scar across one cheek, theresult of a childhood accident. He sureliked Vaughn Monroe’s music andclaimed if he could only sing like hishero, then all the girls would like himand he would be a most popular fellow. So he played his records over andover and over again till we knew thempractically by heart: There, I’ve Said ItAgain; Yours; There’ll Be Some ChangesMade; Dardenella; Thanks, Mr. Florist;Dance, Ballerina, Dance; and myfavorite, Racing With The Moon, whichhad kind of corny lyrics but a most delightful, melodic tune.

Early in August it was announced thatGorden Head Military Camp was goingto be made into a retraining casualtycentre and not Harrison Hot Springs, ashad been originally planned. Officersand inspection crews swarmed into thearea and the empty, sagging huts atGordon Head were renovated. Soonafter that, casualties who had beenwounded on D-Day and in other battles began to arrive and the sheer senselessness and horror of the war struck usanew as we saw those shattered limbsand crippled youths with the lines ofsuffering on those young fellows’ faces.I remember one in particular who hadbeen stationed in Prince Rupert with theCanadian Scottish before going overseas.He had been shot in the leg by a sniperwhen parachuting onto the Normandybeach. He ruefully told us he had beenfed and clothed and trained by the Armyfor five years, only to be shot down ashe landed to take an actual part in thewar. And now he was crippled for life.

After all the patients and facilities hadbeen moved to Gordon Head, the oldNormal School was turned back to thegovernment and extensively renovatedback into schoolrooms and now ithouses hundreds of students in its roomsand laboratories. But to me that statelyold building with its windows of goldat sunset will always bring back memories of that happy summer of 1944 whichI spent there. Instead of the noise ofscurrying feet and the chatter of studentsthroughout the halls as I wander throughthe place on visits to Victoria, for methe corridors will always carry the de

lightful scent of the canteen’s five-centcups of coffee and the echoes of thesyrupy voice of baritone Vaughn Monroesinging with his orchestra.

Several years after the war, I sawMonroe on a television program fromSeattle and he, like the rest of us, hadgrown a little older and a mite slowerwith these many passing years. Butwhen he swung into his theme song, Iwas right there, back at the old MilitaryHospital, singing along with him:

Racing with the moon,High up in the midnight blue;And then all too soon,Its lostfrom view.Racing with the moon,That is what I’ll always do,Till I overtake the moon — andyou!

North coast writer and historian Phylis(Hamblin) Bowman has written numerous articles about her years as a“CWAC” — a member of the CanadianWomens Army Corps during the SecondWorld War and has detailed many ofheramusing and interesting experienceswhen stationed in Victoria and PrinceRupert in one of her books, called WeSkirted the Wat She has written ands4(published thirteen books on the northcoast area.

BCHFCONFERENCE

1995

CHILLIWACK IS HOSTINGTHE 1995 CONFERENCE.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BEA MEMBER TO ATTEND.

WATCH FOR DETAILS INTHE NEXT ISSUE OFTHEB.C. HISTORICAL NEWS.

MARK MAY 4, 5,6, 1994ON YOUR CALENDAR AND

PLAN TO ATTEND.


Pioneer Postmistressby Kelsey McLeod

In the early years up the British Columbia mainland coast, Eliza (Granny)Young was terrified of the southeastgales.

‘It’s coming! It’s coming!” she wouldcry, wringing her hands. From the distant ocean, roaring up through WelcomePass, the wind was climbing through theforest, reaching upward over the easyterraces of the land that was in a fewyears to be re-namedLang Bay. The voice ofthe wind would increaseand at last slam into thetrees edging the clearing,bending the tree tops,making the unfinishedtwo-storey house shudderunder the impact.

Granny could be forgiven her fear, for nothing in her years inLowland Scotland hadprepared her, a womannow well into her fifties,for a life of isolation in aWest Coast rain forest,seventy miles north ofVancouver, in the earlyyears of this century. Nothing to prepare her for a primitive home withoutrunning water, electricity or bathroom,a home set amidst what would todaybe called old-growth trees.

Eliza Vessie Young and her husband,John, had a few years earlier settled firstin Vancouver. Then the prospect of freeland lured them up coast, for the areawas beginning to open up to settlement.Son Jack was a cook in the logging campof Brooks, Scanlon and Obrien on theGordon Pasha Lakes and was the reason for choosing a homestead far inland, so he could come home atweekends.1

Long years after, each summer someof the family would hike to this long-abandoned homestead. It was a sobering experience. I always went first to asmall shed at the edge of the overgrownclearing. It was full of horse collars andreins, all mildewed and stiff. A rusty

buggy crumpled into the earth floor inthe farthest corner. John Young had understood so little of what he was goingto face that he had thought a horse andbuggy feasible. What he found werewinding, rock-strewn, root-crossed trailsthrough the forest, worn into place bydeer or Indian feet. Even a quarter of acentury later, no one else had seen fitto live here.

In spite of neglect, the unfinishedhouse stood for many years and the diminishing clearing remained mossy. TheFirst World War had disrupted all. JackYoung joined the Canadian ForestryBattalion and went overseas; Jimmy, theyoungest son, went into the woods as awhistle punk at eleven; Jenny, theyoungest daughter, worked in PowellRiver as a mother’s helper. Money forthe finishing of the house was not forthcoming and on those visits to the property afterwards, the most poignantmemory is of climbing the wooden stairsand reading the newspapers that hadbeen pasted on the bedroom walls tokeep draughts out. The papers had long,endless lists of the names of the Canadians killed in action in France. Drearyreading for anyone lying in those bedrooms listening to the winds.

When eldest daughter Maggie marriedin 1917, the isolation became too much

for the Youngs. Fortunately this coincided with the departure ofJack Mullen,Lang Bay’s first resident, which left hishouse at the beach vacant.

john and Eliza moved into the Mullenhouse,2 perched on its headland andcabled to the granite so it would not beblown into Malaspina Strait. Shortly after, the government saw fit to establisha post office at Lang Bay and the cou

ple became postmasterand postmistress, poststhey were to keep till1939. Granny had had astore in Scotland and Johnalso had his own business,so they were wellequipped for the positions.

At least on the headlandwas not the claustrophobic crowding of trees, because of the rocky terrain,and the view of the oceanwas panoramic. But thefew neighbours weremiles distant and waterhad to be carried from awell down by today’sPalm Beach.3 Yet, after

the first house, this one seemed a refuge to Granny, particularly as she nowhad people, few as they were, comingand going. Here at last was a homewhere the family’s many books and thefurniture they had brought from Scotland could be settled in, where the ornaments and china could be enjoyed.

The one way in or out was by boat.There was a pole-line trail to PowellRiver, but Granny was too old to makesuch a hike. The highway was the rolling Malaspina Strait, and an unpredictable highway it could be. Early on therewas a boat strike that lasted six weeks,and it was at its beginning thatJohn tookill. He had to wait for the strike’s end toget to Vancouver for treatment. Grannynursed him as best she could, but bythe time he was hospitalized his condition was so critical it was eighteenmonths before he returned home.

In spite of it all, it is certain that once

GORDON PASHA LAKES

POWELL RIVER

‘8’- LANG BAY ç

5 JERVIS INLET

MALASPINA STRAIT .

TEXADA ISLAND

The numbers on the map correspond with footnote numbers in the article.


he did so, Granny felt life was muchimproved. Settlers were trickling in, therewas a local logging company, morenames on lists of mail that arrived. Thewinds no longer frightened. The timewas one of optimism and hope, a timewhen the true pioneer spirit prevailed.There was little talk of doom and gloomin those days. People were too busygetting on with life.

Then came the devastating forest fireofJuly 1922. Where the home had beenwas now a ruin. Twisted metal, bedsteads, stove and heater bent and ruined. Against a wall that contained bookshelves were now rows of grey, de

stroyed books, looking at first intact butwhich crumpled at atouch. Nothing hadbeen saved. All thatremained of the family’s original possessions were a steamertrunk and a paisleyshawl that had beenGranny’s grandmother’s wedding shawl —

items that had beengiven earlier to daughter Maggie. Gonewere all treasured reminders of a safe andcomfortable life in theOld Country. The oldcouple had but theclothes they stood in,and those werescorched and burned.Granny talked after —

once — of how “thefaither,” as she calledher husband, had satfor long hours motionless in the weeks afterthe holocaust in theshell of the buildinghe had used as aworkshop.

There were no disaster funds then, butthe Red Cross steppedin. It was strange tosee Granny and Johncamping in a tent bythe beach, Grannycooking over a campfire. All the equipmentseemed to have a red

cross on it. such as a first aid kit in khakidrill, doubtless leftovers from the war.

John set about building a new house,and soon a small, two-room dwellingwas ready to move into. Not on theheadland, but on fLat ground above thecurving bay where the fire-damagedwharf was.5 One room was for living,the other for the post office. And herewas established the store that was tobecome the core of Granny’s existencefor the remainder of her life. As timewent on, John added a section for storage with a cellar underneath to keepitems cool, a workshop area and, finally,a further good-sized living area with a

large living room with fireplace and twobedrooms. Whenever John and Elizawent to Vancouver for their once-yearlyholiday of one week, they replaced theburned furniture, and Granny once morehad “good” dishes and “good” linen.

Eliza’s salvation was the store. It isstrange, in retrospect, when one listensto today’s endless whining litanies oneverything, to recall with surprise andgratitude that neither John nor Eliza evertalked about their misfortunes or theirhardships. If they had regrets they nevervoiced them.

That store was Granny’s life. She lovedpeople and her existence became serving in the store and post office, meetingthe mail boats. She knew every UnionSteamship crewman by name and earlyon they gave her a Union officer’s capwhich she always donned when meeting the boats. As John had but one leg,the boat meeting fell on her and all fivefeet of her, pristine in a starched cottondress, officer’s cap perched on her silvery hair, rejoiced in this errand. If Ibrought her flowers from our garden,or wild flowers, she made nosegays ofthem and handed them to a chief steward she nicknamed “Sweet” William,6sothat he could have flowers on his dining-room tables.

During the twenties there was a southbound and a north-bound boat each dayand later it was a three-times-a-weekservice. Whether the boat arrived at sixp.m. or ten p.m., the mail was sorted at

Eliza Vessie Young, Lang Bay postmistress, 1920s.Photos from the famy album L

Granny Young, in officer’s cap, with herdaughter Maggie and granddaughterVeima Young, 1933.


once and handed out. Mail — that linkwith the outside world — was too precious for waiting. It never occurred to theYoungs to keep people waiting for it.

Eliza was known as “Granny” Youngto everyone. And no matter who theywere, what time they arrived at the store,they were served and made welcome.She listened with sympathy to many aharrowing tale of hardship, such as thatof a Mrs. Watt who lived way back atthe foot of the mountains in a shack.Mrs. Watt had set out for the store andbecame lost in the woods. She had wandered for two days before finding herway out. It was hilarious to hear Grannywith her Scottish accent conversing withthe settlers from Kelly Creek, who wereUkrainians. Her good nature rarely faltered. When a summer visitor (this visitor had had all her provisions shippedup from Vancouver) grandly stumpedin and asked in a pseudo-English accent for “one-quatah pound of brownsugah, if you please, Mrs. Young,” Granny’s smile wavered but she opened aone-pound bag of sugar without cominent, adjusted the counter scales to fourounces, and weighed out the amount.She made no comment as the customertook herself, her brogues, and her tinypacket in the direction of Maitlandsbeach.7.

Granny loved flowers, and every tiger lily, every branch of flowering currant, every star flower and violet I spiedI took to her. It must have been sadnesswithout measure for her to live in thedevastated landscape that followed theforest fire.

She was Lang Bay’s only careerwoman. She spent a minimum of timeon household chores and meals weresimple. A family member was paid todo the washing and ironing. No preserving of fruit, no kitchen garden forGrandma. She made no pretense thathousewifery was her reason for being,though she did bake and she knit furiously at socks every moment she wasnot busy in the store. The click of hersteel needles was always present, andyears after her death her socks were stillkeeping feet warm. She had, she said,been taught to knit at the age of three.She did keep chickens, birds thatscratched busily in the dust around thebuildings, and which produced largebrown eggs on schedule. She gave up

on this finally. One morning, when sheopened the henhouse door, the henswere dead on their roost. A weasel hadkilled the lot.

More important to her was the business of taking and despatching messageson the community’s one phone. Moreimportant was the business of makingsure on mail nights that no boy, hovering about waiting for the boat, damagedthe fragile fir saplings that had miraculously sprung up on the bank oppositethe store after the fire. Anyone whotouched one of those tiny wisps of greenwas instantly the object of Granny’swrath. Today those trees arc her memorial — they stand tall and green anddense, a symbol of nature’s ability tosurvive and of a small Scotswoman’sconcern and protection.

As the 1930s dawned, as the new roadto Powell River8 drew more and morepeople to shop in the paper town, theYoungs’ store still was an important community asset, for not everyone had acar. Stillwater had a store, but even after the road went in, Granny’s store wasthe only one between Stiliwater andWestview. The Depression was a difficult time. She even took quilts from cashless settlers as payment (a practice thatfailed to provide funds to pay the Vancouver wholesalers).

Eliza maintained as long as possiblemany traditions. Periodically, during thesummers, the weekend Union boatwould hoist a dripping wooden tub fromhold to dock. The children watched itsswinging progress with taste buds already in action, for it was that rare treat,ice cream. (In a refrigerator-less world,ice cream was but a dream.) The tub saton the shallow step in front of the waiting room-library till the mail was distributed. Then the container of cones,scoops, Granny and a helper appearedand everyone ate ice cream till the metalcontainer, surrounded by its packing ofrock salt, was scraped clean.

John Young died of a stroke in February of 1939, well into his.eighties. Bysummer Granny was ailing. After morethan fifty years of marriage and the longroad they had travelled together; his losswas traumatic for her. The Harry Laudersong Keep Right On To The End Of TheRoad played so often on the phonograph at Sunday family gatherings, became her motto. When World War Two

broke out, Grandma was in hospital withcancer. Yet eighty-odd or not, dying ornot, she avidly read reports of the war’sprogress till she went into a coma anddied in November.

You can speculate on what strangefate brought Eliza Young to Lang Bay ata time when a store and post office wasneeded. The fact remains that she wasa vital part of the early years of the area.She was neither famous nor learned, norprovincially influential. She was simplyone of the host of unsung women pioneers without whom our communities,our province, Canada itself, could nothave been built.

The writer grew up in Lang Bay but hasspent most of her adult life in Vancouver. She has u,orked many hours as avolunteer at the Vancouver Museum andthe Maritime Museum.

FOOTNOTES

I. The location of the Youngs pre-emption.

2. The headland where Jack Mullen had built hishouse.

3, Bob Simpkins, svho had a sense of humour, namedthis beach ‘l’alm” ileach. Today there is aprovincial park where Mullen had his garden andwell.

4. See B.C. Historical Netus, Summer 1991 issue.

5. The location of the nesv house was more shelteredthan that on the headland.

6. William Gardner

7. There were a number of “summer” homes on“Maitlands” beach.

8. It svas fifteen miles to Powell River, over a winding,dusty, pot-holed road. See Road Mania’ in B.C.Historical News, Summer 1989 issue.

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British Columbia Women’s Institute:A BriefHistory

by Estelle Lefurgy

To begin to tell the story of the B.C.Women’s Institute one must leave theprovince momentarily and visit the smallrural town of Stoney Creek, Ontario, inthe year 1897.

Because of the vision of Mr. ErlandLee, an active member of the local Farmers’ Institute, together with the moralsupport and literary skills of his wifeJanet, the beginnings of a women’s organization were created on February 19,1897, in the local Farmers’ Institute hail.This cold and stormy night was host toone of Canada’s greatest public speakers, all the more notable because theorator was a woman.

Adelaide Hunter Hoodless had workedtirelessly for the education of women,particularly in the area of home economics. Her presentation so greatly motivatedthe women, they decided to immediatelyassociate a women’s group with the Farmers’ Institute. However, it was evident thatas the movement quickly grew, a separate organization was required, and withthe support of the Ontario ministry ofagriculture, the Women’s Institute organization was established.

By 1909 the province of British Columbia was experiencing a great surgeof migration from other areas of Canadaand from Europe. The B.C. ministry ofagriculture recognized that to assurepermanent settlement in these newlyopened regions, the settlers must becontent, particularly the women.

Having heard of the great success ofthe Women’s Institute, the B.C. ministryof agriculture arranged with the Ontarioministry of agriculture to have a MissLaura Rose travel throughout BritishColumbia establishing branches of theWomen’s Institute.

Over the past eighty-five years, morethan 200 B.C. communities have beenhome to branches of the Women’s Institute, the first being established inGordon Head on Vancouver Island in1909 and the most recent addition be-

ing Wildwood WI outside Westbank in1994.

Outstanding achievements accomplished by the Women’s Institute in British Columbia over the years usuallybegan as a response to a need of localrural women.

In 1922 a woman wrote to the thengovernment-appointed WI superintendent, Mrs. V. McLachlan, asking for helpfor her young niece who was sufferingfrom spinal tuberculosis. Although shedesperately needed medical attentionwithin a hospital environment, there wasno facility at that time in British Columbia that specifically treated children.When Mrs. McLachlan informed the B.C.WI members of this letter requestingassistance, the response was overwhelming.

After many meetings, letters, fund-raising events, etc., together with the support and cooperation of otherogranizations, the first Vancouver Hospital for Crippled Children was founded.Today that institution is known as theB.C. Children’s Hospital.

The reputation of the institute as anorganization capable of “getting thingsdone” prompted a Dr. Cyril Wace ofVancouver Island to ask Mrs. McLachlanto mobilize the efforts of the WI members to establish a residential medicalfacility for children on Vancouver Island.Once again the members set about thework required to “do the impossible.”As a result of those efforts, the QueenAlexandra Solarium was established.Today it is known as Queen AlexandraCentre for Children’s Health.

With the monies remaining from theseventures, the institute created the OthoaScott Fund, so named in honour of thelittle girl who was the catalyst for themembers’ efforts. This fund continues todisperse monies to assist B.C. families inmeeting non-medical costs for an ill child.This has been particularly helpful to rural and isolated families as they are oftenrequired to make regular trips to B.C.Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.

Many rural communities have the Women’s Institute to thank for their local libraries, early medical and dental clinics,regular public-health nurse visitations,mobile tuberculosis X-ray vans, etc.

The two world wars saw B.C. WImembers organizing jam-making sessions for export to England and quilts,handmade socks, goody parcels andother items were prepared, donated andshipped overseas to less fortunate families during these conflicts. Upon the return of local servicemen, many branchesorganized welcome home socials,dances and parties.

Frequently the institute and theschoolhouse were the only constants inthe social life of small communities. Asa result, the institute stood on the doorstep of the school with assistance ofscholarships, bursaries, awards, books,activities, costumes, etc. Many of thesebranches, together with the provincialWomen’s Institute, continue to supportthe needs of our students today.

Letterhead (top) and badge oftheWomens Institute in British Columbia.


It has always been the belief of the pushed by the Women’s Institute in Brit and skits written by WI members andWomen’s Institute that “a nation cannotrise above the level of its homes; wewomen must work and study togetherto raise our homes to the highest possible level.” Throughout the years andcurrently, workshops. seminars, information meetings and/or resolutions onfamily violence, child abuse, pornography, illiteracy, pensions for homemakers, child care, Canadian unity, have allsupported the institute’s dedication tothis belief.

Initiatives to educate and informwomen throughout B.C. have been carried out in the form of small gatheringsto large provincial conventions. Theseinclude the volunteer Agriculture in theClassroom program, the Adolescent Lifestyle Choices program, and self-confidence programs. The institute developedand offered to women throughout theprovince forums to learn skills to access decision-makers, to present briefs,to make a difference.

Outstanding achievements accom

ish Columbia over the years began as aresponse to a need of local women. Thisalso applied to those small acts of kindness carried out by a local branch thatmay only be known to the givers andthe receivers.

The strong sense of self-reliance andresourcefulness that is very much a partof rural folks and rural communities isvery much a part of the B.C. Women’sInstitute. The self-effacing style of thisorganization reflects the basic values ofits members. Because of this, the B.C.WI did not feel the need to ‘announceits achievements or to seek reward.”

This, however, is beginning to changeas the B.C. WI is learning that it mustkeep the greater community informedof what can be accomplished by a groupof ordinary women who have done, andcontinue to do, extraordinary deeds.

1997 is the centennnial of the Women’s Institute movement and the B.C. WIwill be celebrating in a number of ways.

A booklet containing poems, plays

performed thoughout the years by WIbranches and others will be published.

A centennial quilt with historicalblocks being prepared by each of thefifteen B.C. WI districts will be exhibited at the 1996 B.C. WI triennial convention.

Also, each WI community will beasked to officially declare February 1997as WI Month; also, the B.C. Premier willbe asked to proclaim February 1997 asWI Month provincially.

Local museums will also be approached to assist WI branches withhistorical displays during 1997.

The motto of the Womens Institute —

“For Home and Country” — is as relevantin the 1990s as in the 1890s; stronghomes make for a strong country!

**********

The autbo, who lives in Langley, is thecurrent president of the Women’s Institute in B.C

Music of the Titanicby Thelma Reid Lower

When the Vancouver Maritime Museum was planning its 1993/94 exhibit featuring the Titanic, it wasdecided to add a further dimensionto the usual Titanic displays.

On the walls of the orientationroom at the Start of the museum’sTitanic walkabout, there wereframed covers of sheet music whichfocused on two aspects of Titanichistory: (1) the music popular beforethe sinking on April 14/15, 1912, andwhich was part of the social historyof Titanic passengers and (2) musicwritten after the sinking which hasnow become part of global musichistory catalogued under “Disastersat Sea.”

For the enjoyment of first and second class passengers on the Titanic,a band of eight musicians playedselections from the White Star MusicBook listing 350 titles popular at thattime. The most frequently listed composer in the White Star Music Book

was the “English Waltz King”Archibald Joyce, whose waltz masterpieces were advertised widely as“popular in every London ballroom.”Among his romantic waltzes wereSalome, Dreaming, Sweet William,A Thousand Kisses, Boating, Visiond’Amour, and Songe d’Automne.Songe dAutomne is the waltz reported by some survivors to havebeen chosen by Bandleader WallaceHartley to play as “the last waltz”while the Titanic was sinking.

Challenging the popularity of theEuropean waltz in three-quarter timewas the new music in syncopatedrhythm called “ragtime.” The American composer Scott Joplin’s MapleLeafRag (1902) was soon followedby his Fig LeafRag. During the lastagonizing throes of the Titanic’sfoundering, the Canadian MajorArthur Peuchen, rowing in LifeboatNo. 6, recalled hearing AlexandercRagtime Banc4 which appears at the

kss OFihEliLWOMDS AND MUSIC

ARmUR S LEsLu- Price5Ocerts

Pu61keJ 1uARTHUR S. LESLIE.

31INnp.t.t 5tNEW WE5TMN51ER. BC. CANADA. .-


top of the list of novelty dances in theWhite Star Music Book. Written in 1911by Irving Berlin, Alexanderc RagtimeBand has become the most famous ofall popular rags. (This author was notable to find a first edition of this rag.)

Peaks of romanticism and sentimental music on the Titanic came from thewaltzes of Franz Lehar’s oper

_______

etta The Merry Widow. AtDaly’s Theatre in 1907, the premiere performance in Londoncaused a sensation in fashion.Wide-brimmed hats trimmedwith flowers and feathers appeared on every woman’shead, while lovely waltz tuneswere hummed on every lip.The light-hearted joyousnessof the couple-dancing waltzera made the sudden and unexpected disaster of the Titanic all the more grievouslyshocking.

Afterwards, an outpouringof immediate grief was followed by a deepening, almostspiritual, fascination with themysteries of the Titanic. In1985 Samuel Goodman andJoseph C. Hickerson, Head,Aschive of Folk Song, Libraryof Congress, Washington, D.C.,compiled a list of over 400song titles inspired by the Titanic disaster. The list includesThe Loss of the Titanic composed in New Westminster in1912 by Drum-Major ArthurSimpson Leslie.

Drum-Major Leslie had arrived in New Westminster in1893. Born in Wellington Barracks, London, England (his father being a sergeant-major in an Englishregiment), Drum-Major Leslie servedwith the 12th Lancers and was for tenyears stationed in India. After securinghis discharge with pension from theBritish forces, he came to New Westminster where he joined the local company of the Duke of Connaught’s OwnRifles.

Later he was put in charge of the drumand bugle band of the 104th Regimentof Westminster Fusiliers, during whichtime hundreds of local boys passedthrough his hands as buglers and drummers and paraded through the “Royal

City’s” colourful events.During World War I, when the 131st

Battalion was formed, Drum-Major Lesliewas placed in charge of the bugle bandand went overseas with the Westminster unit. In England the authorities refused to allow him to proceed anyfurther because of his age. Returning to

New Westminster from England, heagain joined up and was in charge ofthe 47th Battalion bugle band at the timeof his death in 1923. An elaborate funeral procession with full military honours testified to the respect in whichDrum-Major Leslie was held by NewWestminster citizens. It was not unlikethe massive funeral in Come, England,for another musician, BandmasterWallace Hartley of the Titanic.

The author is the archivistfor the Vancouver Bach Choir. (See B.C. HistoricalNews 24:2, Spring 1991, pp. 14—la) Sheand her husband are active members ofthe Vancouver Historical Society. MrLower is currently Honorary Presidentofthe BCHF.

SELECrEI) SOURCES

National Library of Canada, MusicDivision, Ottawa, Ontario.

The British Library, Music Division,London, U.K.

Britten’s Music Ltd.. Mail Order 0111cc,West Byfleet, Surrey, U.K.

Titanic Disaster Music, Archive of Folksong, Library of Congress, Washington,D.C.

Royal Westminster Regiment Museum,Armoury, New Westminster, B.C.

Irving House Historic Centte, NewWestminster, B.C.

Vernon Museum, Vernon, B.C.

Vancouver Maritime Museum, Vancouver,B.C.

DedIcated o Miss FIDrEnce Roberts.

.

\

FILE CopyQ 8E .ETURED “

:IbRLD]OYC.rVISION , .SSLQ 3W1ET MEMORIESs.s,t.rt

REFERENCES

Goodman, Samuel and Hickerson,Joseph C. Titanic Disaster Music, Libraryof Congmss, Washington, D.C., 1985.

Klamkin, Marion. Old Sheet Music, APictorial History Hawthorn Books, NewYork, 1975.

Lower, Thelma Reid. Titanic Exhibit,Music on the Titanic, Vancouver MaritimeMuseum, 1993.

McCann, Leonard, Curator Emeritus.Summary Reports, Vancouver MaritimeMuseum.

C”py’yAr

Express

Prints


David Douglas:Botanist and Explorer

by Win Shilvock

History often has a way of playingtricks on people — recording in somedetail numerous facts concerning nonentities and then, turning around, almostcompletely ignoring a person worthy ofbeing remembered. This is the story ofa man who falls into the latter category.

David Douglas, who was born in OldScone, Scotland, in 1799, is one of ourgreatest but least known explorers andbotanists. Even the Douglas fir treewhich is named for him is often thoughtto be ascribed to Sir James Douglas, thefirst governor of British Columbia.

Although his formal education endedbefore he was twelve, Douglas had aninnate and intense interest in plants. Fortunately this was recognized by the manager of the Scone Palace gardens, whooffered a botanical apprenticeship to theyoung man. Then a series of events happened that would change his life.

Before long he came to the attentionof the brilliant botanist at Glasgow University, Dr. William Jackson Hooker,who was so impressed with David’swork that a position was arranged forhim with the Glasgow Botanic Gardens.

This prestigious appointment attractedthe attention of the Royal HorticulturalSociety of London and for the eleven yearsthat were left of David’s life, the societywould sponsor his scientific explorations.

In 1823, at the age of twenty-four,David Douglas’ first assignment was asix-month plant-collecting trip to thenorthern United States and UpperCanada. The trip’s success was recordedby the Royal Horticultural Society: “Thismission was executed by Mr. Douglaswith a success beyond expectation.”

Douglas’ greatest adventures began,however, when he arrived at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River in April1825.

For twenty-three months he exploredup the Columbia basin for 220 miles andsouth as far as northern California. Inall, he collected 499 different specimens

of plants and over 100 varieties of seeds.During his wanderings he continually

came across the fir tree that would carryhis name and he noted in his journalthat it was “one of the most striking andtruly graceful objects in nature.” A further comment unknowingly presagedthe vast northwest lumber industry. “Thewood may be found very useful for avariety of domestic purposes

In March 1827 Douglas decided toreturn to England. Accompanied by hisfaithful servant, William Johnson, andhis beloved dog, Billy, an incredible journey got underway.

The expedition went north throughthe upper part of the massive OregonCountry, which sixty-two years laterwould become Washington State. Aftera rest at Fort Colville (north of today’sSpokane), the three continued north,arriving at what are now the Arrow Lakesin British Columbia’s West Kootenaycountry. Leaving the lakes, they passedwhere Revelstoke is and at the site ofthe Mica Dam veered east to AthahascaPass, about thirty miles south of today’sJasper, Alberta.

Here David Douglas made the firstrecorded ascent of any of the peaks inthe Rocky Mountains. One, the name ofwhich is still retained, he named MountBrown in honour of Robert Brown, abotanical friend in the British Museum.The other, Mount Hooker, honoured hisclose friend Dr. Hooker. The HookerIcefield today bears the same name.

It was near here, too, that he caughtand preserved a species of grouse whichhe named Franklin grouse after his Arctic explorer friend, SirJohn Franklin. Thisbird is now in the Royal Scottish Museum at Edinburgh.

After crossing the Rockies, Douglastravelled over the prairies by foot, horseand canoe, and on September 15, sixmonths after leaving Fort Vancouver, hearrived at Hudson Bay and took shipfor England.

His reception at home was akin to thatgiven a returning hero. The HorticulturalSociety noted that more plants were introduced into England by Douglas thanby any other individual from any othersingle country. It also stated: “ ... thatnothing could surpass the zeal and spiritwith which he (Douglas) bad executedthe trust he had undertaken.”

Another pleasing aspect was that theexpedition, which had encompassedtwo and one-half years, had been completed at a cost of less than $2,000, including Douglas’ wages.

It’s an interesting note that among theseeds brought back by Douglas weresome from the fir tree that so fascinatedhim. One was planted in his borne townand it grew to a gigantic, magnificentDouglas fir.

After two years of being feted andhonoured with membership in almostevery learned society in l3ritain, DavidDouglas became “nervous and irascible”and yearned to return to North America.A nineteen-month tour of the ColumbiaRiver area between June 1830 and January 1832 appeased him somewhat, buthe had a much larger plan in mind.

In October 1832 Douglas again arrivedat the Columbia River, prepared for agigantic feat of endurance. Assured bythe Russians they wouldn’t interfere, theplan was to travel north to Fort St. Jamesin New Caledonia (British Columbia),cross what is now Alaska, and workacross Siberia to Europe.

On March 20, 1833, he set out on theinitial leg of the 1,1 50-mile stretch to FortSt. James, a route that would take himthrough the Okanagan Valley.

Travelling the Hudson Bay Fur Brigade Trail, he arrived sometime in Aprilat the mouth of a swift-flowing creekthat emptied into the Great OkanaganLake. This is generally conceded to beBear Creek, the site of our modern government campsite.

During his two years in England in


the late 1820s, he’d studied how to takegeographical positions and elevations.Using this knowledge, he spent a couple of days taking sightings in theKelowna area. He also found gold atthe creek mouth — “enough to make aseal.” This was the first discovery of goldin the West — fifteen years before thestrike in California and twenty-threeyears before the finds on the FraserRiver.

Continuing on the Brigade Trailthrough Fort Kamloops, Douglas arrivedat Fort St. James to find the next part ofhis journey would be extremely hazardous, if not impossible. The journeywould require 500 miles of travel overlittle-known trails and rivers just to reachFort Simpson at the mouth of the NassRiver. Then would come a 300-milestruggle over similarly rough terrain toget to the Russian fort at Sitka on BaranofIsland, where he hoped to winter.Threatening along the entire route werevery hostile Indians.

This appeared to be too much for eventhe indomitable David Douglas, so theoriginal plan was aborted. Turningsouth, he arrived at Fort George (PrinceGeorge) from where he, WilliamJohnson and his dog Billy set out in acanoe for a descent of the Fraser River.

They’d hardly started when the canoewas wrecked on a small island in FortGeorge Canyon. Johnson and Billy werewashed up on shore but David was carried into a whirlpool where he spunaround for an hour and forty minutesbefore escaping.

Everything was gone. According toDouglas,” ... my canoe was dashed toatoms — I lost every article in my possession.” Worst of all, he lost “The journal of my occurrences,” a year’s worthof scientific notes, and more than 400

species of plants.Gone, too, were thedetails of his sojournat Bear Creek.

Eventually he madehis way back throughFort Kamloops and theOkanagan Valley toFort Vancouver, wherehe hoped to get a shipto Sitka. But the expedition had been sostrenuous that hishealth deteriorated andhe decided to go to theSandwich Islands (Hawaii) for a rest.

In December 1833he arrived on the BigIsland and for eightmonths leisurely collected some 2,000 species of ferns. He alsoscaled the peaks ofMauna Loa and MaunaKea, the first haoli todo so.

In August 1834 disaster again struckDavid Douglas. Whilewandering around theisland with his dogBilly, he inadvertentlyfell into a wild cattlepit and was gored todeath.

Although he wasonly thirty-five, DavidDouglas had compressed into those fewyears a lifetime of sci- —

entific achievements.These live on today in dozens of gardens throughout the world. His name,too, lives in the Douglas fir tree.

ADVERTISEMENTS FROM AN 1883 DIRECTORY

David Douglas

The author is a retired businessman living in Kelowna.

NAN AIMO !RE’ERY,1ILL STREET,

___IIv, - c_JOHN MAHRER, PROPR1ETOR

BASTION STREET,Opposite the Literary Institute Hall,

.J. E. JENKINS, Proprietor.

GOOD ACCOMMODATION FOR TRANSIENT AND PERMANENTBOARDERS AND LODGERS.

Li p1i ith th Best bath f Wiz ad ciais

NANAThIO, B. C.


NEWS&NOTES

Fort Steele Heritage Town in the EastKootenay offers hands-on history to schoolclasses and other youth groups. They sleep onstraw-filled mattresses, attend an old-fashionedone-roomed school, pan for gold, learn a bitabout grooming and harnessing a horse, chinkbetween logs on a building wall (with mud),participate in butter churning, ice creammaking and laundry, pioneer-style. Two IdahoGirl Scout leaders had to suppress a gigglewhen one of their small troop, up to her elbowsin sudsy water scrubbing clothes on a washboard, declared: “This is fun! I wish Mum wouldtrade in her washing machine for this!”

Canadian Historical AssociationCertificates of MeritThe Regional History Committee of theCanadian Historical Association invitesnominations for its Certificate of Merit awards.Two awards are given annually for each of fiveCanadian regions, including British Columbiaand the Yukon: (1) an award for publicationsand videos that make a significant contributionto regional history and that will serve as amodel for others; and (2) an award to individuals for work over a lifetime or to organizationsfor contributions over an extended period oftime. Nominations, accompanied by as muchsupporting documentation as possible, shouldbe sent no later than December 15, 1994, toDr. John Douglas Belshaw, Department ofPhilosophy, History and Politics, UniversityCollege of the Cariboo, Kamloops, B.C. V2C5N3 (fax: 604-371-5510). The 1993 awardswere presented to (1) Dianne Newell for herTangled Webs of History: Indians and the Lawin Canadas Pacific Coast Fisheries (seereview p. 38 this issue) and (2) Keith Ralston,historian. Congratulations to Keith, who wasrecently the Honorary President of the BCHF.

Nikkei InternmentMemorial CentreA group of citizens in New Denver, B.C.,conceived the idea of preparing a display as amemorial to Japanese-Canadians interned inthe interior of British Columbia during WWII.This collection of shacks represent the draftybuildings, each occupied by two families, inthat cold winter of 1942—43; the outhouse; asomewhat improved cabin c. 1957, with familygarden; the first community hail adapted toinclude a Buddhist temple; and a new community hall with photographic and other displays.The courtyard is planted with a Japanesegarden symbolizing the past, present andfuture. This memorial centre was officiallyopened on July 23, 1994. The guests on theplatform each spoke briefly to convey his or herfeelings on the value of this centre. They wereBishop Matsubayashi of the Buddhist Church;Mayor Gary Wright of New Denver; Sakaye

Hashimoto of the Kyowakai Society; theJapanese consul-general from Vancouver; Dr.Henry Shimizu of the Japanese-CanadianRedress Foundation from Edmonton; Chair ofB.C. Heritage Trust Ardyth Cooper; DonJohnston of the Vancouver Foundation; MLACorky Evans of Nelson; Minister of Tourismand Culture Bill Barlee; MP Jim Gouk; R.lnouye of the National Association of Japanese-Canadians; Miss Yoshiko Godo of theJapanese-Canadian Citizens Association; TomShoyama, retired federal deputy minister offinance, now living in Victoria; Dr. JohnShintani; and Rev. Noshiro of the UnitedChurch. Dr. Shintani, a dentist, made a briefaddress in the Japanese language taught tohim as a boy by Mrs. Chie Kamagaya. Mrs.Chie Kamagaya came to Canada to instructJapanese-Canadians in their ancestral tongue.She was evacuated to Kaslo and lived there formany years before moving to New Denver. Sheworked steadily and quietly with volunteers andcontractors to ensure that details of this displaywere correct. Mrs. Chie Kamagaya saw thecompletion of this project and was thanked forher role. She thanked all helpers in their turn.She passed away in her sleep on August 18,1994, at the age of eighty-five. A Buddhistfuneral was held in the memorial centre in NewDenver and a service to honour her memorywas conducted in Toronto, with hundreds of herformer pupils attending. The Nikkei InternmentMemorial Centre is open for viewing dailyduring the summer and by appointment yearround. It is a most commendable heritageattraction. Travel on Highway #6 and/or #23 toreach New Denver.

Aquam Communily Care HomeSt. Mary’s Band has long wished to keepelders close to their culture in their decliningyears. This is now possible. A home to providenursing care for fifteen elders was officiallyopened on August 4 on the St. Mary’s Reservenear Cranbrook. The first five residents wereKtunaxa (Kootenay) residents of the St. Mary’sReserve, who were joined by two fromVancouver Island. Those eligible for care at thiscentre must have lived on an Indian reserveanywhere in Canada. Rosemary Nicholas hasdirected this project since its inception in 1990.It was financed by CMHC as a special servicesproject and is the first full-term facility on areserve in Western Canada.

Yellowhead HighwayAnniversaryOn September 4, 1944, the highway betweenPrince Rupert and Terrace was officiallyopened. Both the provincial and federalgovernments had been promising this road butit was the perceived threat of a Japaneseinvasion that caused the United States to pressfor a land route to move their troops. For thirtyyears the railroad was the only overland linkbetween Prince Rupert and the rest of Canada.The war-time emergency road was built asquickly as possible. Today, fifty years after theofficial opening, the original narrow windingroad has been almost totally rebuilt. An articlegiving details of the history of this highway,written by Dirk Septer of Telkwa, will appear ina future issue of the B.C. Historical News.

Cutting the ribbon at the Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre in New Denvei: Left to right: GaiyWright, Mayor of New Denver; Di: H. Shimizu of the Japanese-Canadian Redress Foundation; Mrs.Chie Kamagaya; and Sakaye Hashimoto of the Kyowakai Society. July 23 1994.

Photo courtesy of The Valley Voice, New Denver


BOOKSHELFBooks for review and book reviews should be sent directly to the Book Review Editor:Anne Yandle, 3450 West 20th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6S 1 E4

Robin Ward ‘.s Heritage West CoastRobin Ward. Madeira Park, Harbour Publishing, 1993. 128 p., illus. $32.95

Robin Ward came to the west coast asan adult immigrant from Scotland. Thefirst book of his drawings produced byHarbour Publishing was Robin Ward’sVancouver (1990).

Like the first, Robin Ward’s HeritageWest Coast is based on his weekly column in The Vancouver Sun. It is a mix ofpleasing sketches of older, mainly Vancouver, structures, capsule histories, and usually apt, sometimes scathing, commentary.

Inevitably one is drawn to compareWard’s output with that of MichaelKiuckner. Perhaps this is unfair, given thatKluckner is an artist in watercolours anda native of Vancouver to boot. One couldhardly expect Ward’s work to match therichness of Kluckner’s Vanishing Vancouver (1990) in any respect — historicalrecord, detail, captured ambience, deepfeeling. Nevertheless, Ward’s too is aworthy record of “built Vancouver.”

Given the state of the city’s official heritage efforts as described, it is doubtfulthat few, if any, of Vancouver’s large heritage structures will survive much longer,let alone the gentleness of establishedneighbourhoods in the “residential city”recorded by Kluckner. Ward has a fineflow of words to describe what most distresses him — “aberration,” “fiasco,” “grotesque banality.” Though he is oftensurprised by what he happens upon,even delighted, he can be seriously depressed by the “blinkered attitudes” ofsome developers and councillors. He refers to several failed or wrongheaded attempts at heritage preservation, and notesalso that the City of Vancouver, incredibly, allowed the removal of the distinctive and powerful Canadian Nationalneon sign, even though it had receivedthe city’s heritage designation.

Can Ward’s public and caustic commentaries save his sketch subjects? Surelythey will help.

Mary RawsonMary Rawson, a town planne isa member

of the Vancouver Historical Society

No Ordinary Journey: John Rae, Arctic Explorer 1813—1893Ian Bunyan, Jenni Calder, Dale Idiens,Bryce Wilson. Edinburgh, National Museum of Scotland, Montreal & Kingston,McGill University Press, 1993. 166 p.,illus. Cloth $42.95, paper $19.95

This is a seductive book. The illustrations are glorious, from the numerousreproductions of early sketches and paintings to the modem photographs of theever-photogenic Arctic. The text is equallyenthralling — the authors draw John Raein epic proportions from the young Hudson Bay Company surgeon/trader to theretired Arctic expert living in late 19thcentury London. The book, which waspublished to coincide with an exhibitionof John Rae’s Arctic collection at theNational Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, richly evokes the exhibition andJohn Rae’s life.

The book was published last year tocommemorate Rae’s death and its purpose is stated in the preface: “The contribution of Dr. John Rae and the nativeCanadians he learned from was not appropriately acknowledged in his lifetimeand he has never been given due weightby Arctic historians.” There are few earlyArctic travellers who can be comparedwith Rae and perhaps only Stefanssonequalled him in ground covered and dedication to learning from the natives.Stefansson’s life has been well documented by himself and others, but published information about Rae is scant. Forthat reason any publication about JohnRae is welcome.

No Ordinary Journey is not a biography of Rae but is a compilation in fivesections of aspects of his life, from hischildhood in the Orkneys to a description of his considerable collection of native artifacts. These five chapters arewritten by four different authors with appropriate backgrounds in history and ethnography. Having been written in thisfashion, though, the text does lack theunity that would come from a single author, but the reader can be assured thatindividual chapters do have an authori

tative voice. The book is a bit o a curiosity as it seems to have created its owngenre: its format and content place itsomewhere between what one wouldexpect from a coffee table book and ahistory of the Arctic in Rae’s era.

Perhaps the main problem with thebook lies with its thesis: that the lack ofrecognition given Rae in the 19th century has continued into ours. In Rae’sown time he was certainly denigrated bythe Admiralty and naval Arctic explorers,but that feeling was reciprocated. Then,for a number of reasons, he was severelycriticized by the press when he returnedto England with the relics of Franklin’sexpedition and proceeded to claim the£10,000 reward that had been offeredfor information about the lost expedition.And, finally, he was chastised by many,notably by Charles Dickens in HouseholdWords, when he suggested that Franklin’sofficers had been reduced to cannibalism. But Dickens was more journalist thannovelist when he wrote in his periodicaland was simply echoing the general sentiments of the public; in fact, Rae washighly respected by the HBC and byGeorge Simpson in particular. As well,the Royal Geographical Society acknowledged his Arctic exploration in 1852when he was presented with its Founders Medal. In his later life, the authors tellus, he lectured on the Arctic and wasgiven an honorary degree by the University of Edinburgh. Today, as then, he isacknowledged as a pioneer in Arctic exploration and travel; someone whom20th century explorers like Stefanssonadmired and emulated. He may havebeen briefly pilloried by the press, but hehas hardly been forgotten or denied hisrightful place in Arctic exploration.

One wonders, therefore, if it’s necessary in a book about John Rae to writethe kind of panegyric that characterizesthis book. If one accepts Rae’s contribution to Arctic history then the elevationof Rae into heroic proportions seemsneedless: his feats of endurance in theArctic and in southern Canada are wellknown by anyone familiar with the published Rae material that is available. What


BOOKSH ELF

seems to be needed now is a more balanced view of Rae, perhaps the publication of the manuscript autobiography atthe Scott Polar Institute or, even better, abalanced assessment of the man in a well-documented biography. Even the photographs of Rae in No Ordinary Journeyseem to present a number of sides of theman: from the young, ambitious surgeonto Rae in old age, but the one in whichhe is portrayed with his wife Catherineshows a man in his prime, casually posedbut with a strong suggestion of latentpower and virility. It would be interesting to know more about that man.

The book, unfortunately, has someflaws, some of which probably would nothave occurred had there been a singleauthor or, at least, a strong editorial presence. Considering that there is not asmuch information about John Rae as onewould like, it’s unfortunate the book doesnot contain endnotes, index or bibliography. There are some internal referencesto sources but these are too unspecific tobe useful. There are too few dates; attimes one has to go back or forward numerous pages to discover the times ofevents being described. Also, at times, intheir enthusiasm for Rae, the authors failto acknowledge others who had travelledand mapped in areas before Rae; particularly the slight reference given toDease and Simpson’s mapping of thecoasts of Victoria and King William Islands years before Rae appeared. Finally,although the ethnographic chapter onRae’s collecting provides informationabout Rae’s activities, the text does notmention that the Admiralty also requiredits officers to collect native artifacts, partof the scientific activity that was requiredof all HM ships of the period.

Despite these omissions, which canprobably be attributed to the nature andpurpose of the book, No Ordinary Journey is a welcome addition to the scarcepublished material on John Rae and onehopes that it may be a harbinger of manymore to come.

Maurice HodgsonMaurice Hodgson isa member of the

English Department Douglas College.

Tangled Webs of History: Indians andthe Law in Canada’s Pacific CoastFisheriesDianne Newell. Toronto, University ofToronto Press, 1993. 306 p., illus. Cloth$60, paper $23

Dr. Newell appears to have entangledherself in her recent publication TangledWebs of History. She declares a desire tomake a scholarly contribution to the debate on fishery politics by publishing herresearch, having found the courtroom “aninadequate, even hostile, environment forexplaining the tangled webs of history.”

Her attempts to inform public opinionthrough the judicial system were not impressive. Under cross-examination incourt she was unable to answer simplequestions on fishing technology. Althoughclaiming to be an historian of technology,Dr. Newell’s inability to master the basicmechanics of the industry is evident inthis work. Her descriptions of purse seinenets and gilinet and seine drum technology are riddled with mistakes.

To those unfamiliar with the subject,Tangled Webs appears to be a good synopsis of the historical development ofIndians and the law in Canada’s Pacificcoast fisheries, but this work is in fact anexample of what much history and an

..thpQ1qgy have become when dealiwith aboriginal topics — client cenffedscholarship. The research is geared to th

6cument one side of an argument, either for court cases (the reason, Ibelieve, for this book’s publication) or forbroader propaganda purposes such asreading material for university courses.

Dr. Newell’s introductory observationthat “the state and its administrative agencies and courts, backed by private industry and non-Indian fishers characterizedPacific Coast Indian fishing traditions asdestructive and demonized Indian foodfishers as predators” is simplistic, biased,and provocative. Throughout the bookNewell builds her arguments on somequestionable premises: that themarginalization of natives in Canada is aresult of political (rather than economic)activity and that pre-contact natives wereactually conservationists.

In her introduction, for example, Dr.

Newell states that there is no evidence ofIndian overfishing or of large illegal salesof Indian-caught food fish. In fact, for thelower Fraser area there is strong and extensive evidence of this, especially for thepost-1920 period. Recent court evidencestates that up to ninety per cent of Indian-caught food fish is illegally sold inthe lower Fraser area.

Dr. Newell acknowledges the Department of Fisheries as a major factdr in thisdebate but makes little use of the department’s records in the research for thisbook, probably because she realized itwould not support the native claims. Sheselects only evidence of the DFO’s failures to preserve certain salmon resources,but fails to mention great successes suchas the Fraser’s sockeye stocks and theAlberni spring stocks.

Her use of the word “industrial” ratherthan “commercial” for the modern commercial fisheries and providing her owndefinition of “exchange commodity” (allthe while ignoring other scholastic workon export commodity theory, whichwould not have supported her thesis) indicates a desire to manipulate establishedterminology to fit native claims for fish.

Another example of either ignoring thehistoric record or of selecting informationis her claim that seine licenses were notgranted to Indians before the 1920s as amatter of departmental policy. Such issimply not true. Dr. Newell claims thatcannery operators preferred the Japaneseas fishermen because they were more“dependable and cooperative,” ratherthan the fact that as a racial group, Japanese gillnet fishermen were by far themost productive. Dr. Newell downplaysthe importance of mechanization insalmon canneries after 1900, which Ibelieve is misleading, and when discussing the Babine Barricade Agreement sheneglects to mention that the so-calledagreement was never signed.

One final example of slanted analysisis Newell’s account of a case in which sheclaims that an Indian community’s attempt to expand its involvement in theherring spawn on kelp industry wasblocked by the Department of Fisheriesarid Oceans and the Pacific Fishermen’sAlliance through a federal court sympa


BOOKSHELF

thetic to the latter. Having also been involved in that court case (Reid vs. HMthe Queen, 1990), I cannot find either inthe transcripts or in my recollection ofevents any prejudice toward either sideby the trial judge. Newell neglects to inform her readers that this community wastrying to expand its role in this fishery atthe expense of a neighbouring Indiancommunity and that the spawn on kelpindustry already has the highest participation of natives of any Pacific fishery.

The book does raise some interestingpoints, one being that the federal assistance programs tend to help the Indianfishers who are already doing well, andshe gives a good exposition of the different objectives of various Indian groups.

I would recommend this book not for 1its content, but as an example of a newtype of history that is being written forpolitical correctness, that is a heavily biased interpretation of the historic record,tailored to the political needs of a particular interest group. While it may be oneway to survive as an historian, let us hopethat a balanced and scholarly work onthis subject will be producedojy_

Duncan StaceyDuncan Stacey, a former fisherman and

now an industrial historian, has donecuratorial work for the National Museums ofCanada, Parks Canada and the Vancouver

Maritime Museum, and is also an expertwitness for the Department of Fisheries on

aboriginal fishing claims.

Wilderness Wandering on Vancouver IslandWalter Guppy. Tofino, Grassroots Publication, 1993. 136 p., illus. $9.95

A better title for this self-published bookwould be “Wilderness Prospecting” because it is not about wandering in the realsense of the word, but about an endlessodyssey of climbs, hikes, sorties, mainlyafoot, by the author, all in the interest ofthe search for minerals on Vancouver Island’s west coast.

The incredible hardships, the mind-boggling difficulties, the many dangeroussituations faced by Guppy in the years

between the Dirty Thirties and 1993 overwhelm the reader, yet are reported in analmost ho-hum, downplayed manner.Many a movie has been made of a lessdangerous situation than that in chaptersix, where men are landed from a floatplane on a sandbar at the mouth of theTsitika River. They are cut off from landby a tidal slough and the tide is comingin. The chapter on bears and chroniclesof other wildlife could be made into adocumentary. (Though Guppy bear-proofed his cabin with steel rods and steelbedframes, the bears still got in.)

This could be called a comprehensivehistory of mining in the area, for alongwith telling of the claims staked, there arecountless details of early mines from acentury ago to the present day. Also inthis telling one learns of the immense differences between prospecting before theSecond World War and today. In the earlydays it was feet, and sometimes horses;today it is helicopters, instant communication with the outside world, drops offood and supplies.

Many maps give insight into the territory explored, but only those familiar withthe formidable terrain of the Island’s westcoast, its central area, can appreciate the“wanderings” here detailed.

Yet much of the detail is repetitious andthe chapter on Guppy’s sojourn in Scotland seems out of place. The pictures,however, are excellent.

One is left in awe of the wanderings ofthis man. He has no modem counterpartsin today’s packsack and hiking-bootcrowd for he was born into the Depression era which denied him extensive education and training. He made up for thelack of both with grit and determination.It is fortunate he chose to publish thisbook. Its contents will be invaluable asan information source regarding mininghistory on Vancouver Island in the yearsahead.

Kelsey McLeod

Raincoast Chronicles 15: Stories andHistory of the BC CoastHoward White, ed. Madeira Park, Harbour Publishing, 1993. 80 p., illus.$10.95

Raincoast Chronicles Fifteen will notdisappoint the wide audience who havecome to look forward to the latest editionof our coast history. The coloured backand front covers alone are so evocativeof our coast they bring nostalgia: boatsand more boats.

The spectrum of stories is wide, ranging from the fantasy (truth?) of sasquatchencounters and a tale of Paul Bunyan tomatter-of-fact reportage of the lifestyle oftwenty-four colonels at Shawnigan Lakeand an intern at Bella Bella.

There are tales you can choose to believe, or not, such as Visitors, with its eerie quality. There is a sample of loggingtall-tales humour in One-Arm Willy andthe tongue-in-cheek story of The By-PassValve by Alan Haig-Brown is an entertaining sample of West Coast life andhumour.

The styles of the storytelling are as varied: Grizzlies and Sosquatches is in theslightly fractured English of Clayton Mack,whose stories they are, while Voice Fromthe Inlet, telling of the telephone in B.C.,is prosaic. Summer Intern at Bella Bella,1947 should be compulsory reading forthe segment of today’s professional whiners whose specialty is medical services.(Aside from that, doubtless the medicalservices available to the Raincoasters inthe past helped develop the wry humourdisplayed in many of the stories here.)

Much of the coast is covered — fromDollarton to Bella BelIa, from the GulfIslands to Shawnigan Lake. The picturesare excellent. The one addition thatwould make the book more enjoyable tothose not familiar with coast geographywould be a map showing the exact locations of places mentioned.

This Raincoast Chronicles Fifteen is aworthy addition to those that have preceded it. Don’t miss it!

Kelsey McLeodKelsey McLeod is a member of the

Vancouver Historical Society


BOOKSHELF

The Unknown Mountain by DonMundy, including Behind the UnknownMountain by Angus M. GunnExpanded edition. Lake Louise, Alberta,Coyote Books, 1993. 275 p., illus.$17.95

One of the classics of mountaineeringliterature is The Unknown Mountain, anaccount of Don and Phyllis Munday’s attempts to climb Mount Waddington. From1925, when the Mundays first sighted thepeak of an unknown mountain in the CoastRange of British Columbia, until 1936,when the narrative ends, they were obsessed by the desire to reach it

The Unknown Mountain, published in1948, was not only about mountaineering but about exploration of the almostunknown fjords, valleys and glaciers ofcoastal British Columbia. As such, it hada wide appeal and soon went out of print.It was not readily available until 1975when The Mountaineers, Seattle, reprinted it.

Now Coyote Books had reproducedexactly the text of the original 1948 edition and expanded it to include an eighteen-page introductory essay, Behind theUnknown Mountain, by Angus M. Gunn,which fills in many details of their livesand evaluates the many contributionsthey made to Canadian life. A three-pageappendix contains a comprehensive listof articles and books published by theMundays.

Coyote Books is to be commended forpublishing this expanded edition of amountaineering classic.

Elizabeth WalkerElizabeth Walke an avid mountainee is a

member of the Vancouver Historical Societj

A Century of Sailing 1892-1992: AHistory of the Oldest Yacht Club onCanada’s Pacific CoastTerry Reksten. Victoria, Orca Book Publishers, 1992. 242 p.

Terry Reksten is one of the best socialhistorians writing in Canada today, Shecombines excellent research with an eminently readable style that melds the best

features of academic and popular history.The Royal Victoria Yacht Club chose

well when she was commissioned to writeA Century of Sailing to commemoratethe centenary of the club’s foundation.What could have been a hackhagiographic exercise only of interest tothe membership is, in fact, a portrait, likeCromwell’s “warts and all,” that showsthe club and its relationship to Victoriansociety through the past one hundredyears.

The club was founded rather late incomparison to others in eastern Canadaand the United States, which is quite surprising considering that regattas had beena feature of the Queen’s Birthday celebrations since the 1860s. The founders weremen who made their living from the sea,such as sealing captains, officers of theCanadian Pacific Navigation Companyand ships’ chandlers, who were galvanized into action by the challenge ofAmerican yachtsmen from Puget Sound.This connection to the sea has been maintained to the present day, and one of thethemes throughout the book is the tension between those who are yachtsmenbecause they love sailing and the sea andan element who look upon the yacht clubas merely a vehicle for demonstratingsocial position. The clubhouse may bephysically located in the Uplands, but thatis more an accident of history than thedefining factor of the club’s place in Victoria. Indeed, the relations between theclub and its neighbours have not alwaysbeen easy.

As an example of warts which have notbeen hidden is the colourful story of theconnection between the yacht club andrum running. The club earned a handsome profit supplying gasoline to the rumrunners until sales were stopped due tothe objection of private firms in the fuelbusiness. Commodore Harry Barnes andother prominent members had to avoidlong-distance races to avoid crossing intoAmerican waters where their boats wouldhave been seized by authorities.

The book will be of value to both thoseof a nautical bent interested in boats andsailing as well as those interested in thesocial history of Victoria. The relationshipbetween the club and the society in which

it has existed is well presented. The illustrations are a carefully chosen mix ofportraits of the major figures in the history of the club, pictures of boats andbraces, and related images which catchthe eye of even a casual browser. Due tothe nature of its origin, the book is notfootnoted but anyone familiar with theauthor’s other works will realize that ACentury of Sailing is the product of thorough research and can be trusted for accuracy. This book belongs on the shelfof anyone interested in the history of Victoria.

Michael EH. HalleranMichael Halleran is a member of

the Wctoria Historical Society.

ALSO NOTED:Cariboo-Chilcotin Pioneer People andPlaces. From historical files and thememories of those who were there, pioneer days in Williams Lake, Dog Creek,Likely, Soda Creek, Horsefly, RiskeCreek, 150 Mile and other areas of Central Cariboo-ChilcotinIrene Stangoe. Surrey, Heritage House,1994. 128 p., illus. $11.95

A collection of some of Irene Stangoe’s“Looking Back” columns from TheWilliams Lake Tribune.

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WRITING COMPETITION

The British Columbia Historical Federation invites submissions of books for the twelfth annual Competition for Writers of B.C. History.

Any book presenting any facet of B.C. history, published in 1994, is eligible. This may be a communityhistory, biography, record of a project or an organization, or personal recollections giving a glimpse of thepast. Names, dates and places, with relevant maps or pictures, turn a story into “history.”

The judges are looking for quality presentations, especially if fresh material is included, with appropriateillustrations, careful proofreading, an adequate index, table of contents and bibliography, from first-time writers as well as established authors.

NOTE: Reprints or revisions of books are not eligible.The Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing will be awarded to an individual writer whose

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