April 27 – May 3: Compiled by Dave Humphrey from the archived newspapers held at the Cranbrook History Centre and Archives
1918
Liquor restored to owner in Buchanan case … Application was made before Police Magistrate John Leask on Monday for the return of the liquor seized by the police on the night of the 30th March last at premises on Van Horne St.
James Buchanan claimed to be the owner of the liquor, the liquor was his own personal property, paid for by him for his own private use; he had been in the habit of consuming liquor practically all his life and now that prohibition was in effect he had laid in a stock of liquor to last for some time.
Chief of Police Hersey described the premises from which the liquor was seized and suggested to His Worship that according to the Act the question arose as to whether the premises was or was not a private dwelling house.
Magistrate Leask remarked that he thought the quantity of liquor was perhaps somewhat excessive for private consumption, but that the premises was a private dwelling house within the meaning of the Act, therefore he made an order that the liquor was to be returned forthwith to the owner, accordingly the liquor was returned.
Wardner news … About eight or ten car loads of Cranbrook people motored to Wardner last Friday night to attend the dance there. Parker’s orchestra furnished the music, and all reported a splendid time.
Seriously wounded … Lieut. Percy Adams, Ex-Chief of Police of this City, was seriously wounded in the withdrawal from Albert on March 25th: he was with the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade which played a gallant part in this withdrawal.
Lieut. Adams is suffering from seven gunshot wounds in the thigh and a fractured hip bone and is in a hospital at Sonthmead, Bristol. England.
WI tea … A delightful tea was served by the Women’s Institute on Tuesday afternoon from 3 to 6 o’clock in the, refreshment room of Little & Atchison’s store. The tables looked very inviting with their dainty linen, china and flowers.
Mrs. Greer, who has been demonstrating for the past ten days in the store, furnished a number of different kinds of bread, biscuits and cake free of charge, which were greatly appreciated and enjoyed by all who attended.
A little over $10.00 was realized, which will be used by the Institute towards buying wool.
Wardner news … The big dance given for the benefit of the Wardner Baseball Team last Friday evening April 26th, proved to be a great success. The music was furnished by the Parker’s Orchestra from Cranbrook and believe me boys, talk about music, we sure had it. It was really excellent, and we wish to thank the players for their kindness in introducing such good music in Wardner. It sure was greatly appreciated by all.
A luncheon was served to all during midnight hour. At an early hour in the morning “Home Sweet Home” was played and the many people departed each for their respective homes.
For sale … 5 acres on Lot 3912, vegetable garden, 6 roomed cottage in first class condition, water in house, small stable, workshop 10 x 12, chicken house 10 x 24, mile and half from town, price $1,100, terms in easy monthly instalments. This is a snap; Apply to Beale & Elwell.
Thistlebeak musings … Jim Thistlebeak, who was a Cranbrook visitor last week, says the town is so dry that young bull-frogs don’t get a chance to learn to swim.
Water notice … Take Notice that C. B. Garrett, whose address is Cranbrook, B. C., will apply for a licence to take and use one second foot of water out of New Lake and Dickson Creek in lot 8914, which flows north easterly and sinks.
The water will be diverted from the stream at a point at lake in Lot 8916 or at spring in Lot 8914, and will be used for domestic and irrigation purpose upon the land described as western half of Lot 6248.
This notice was posted on the ground on the 24th day of April, 1918. A copy of this notice and an application pursuant thereto and to the “Water Act., 1914,” will be filed in the office of the Water Recorder at Cranbrook, B.C.
Objections to the application may be filed with the said Water Recorder or with the Comptroller of Water Rights, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C., within thirty days after the first appearance of this notice in a local newspaper. The date of the first publication of this notice is April 25, 1918. C. B. GARRETT, Applicant
At the Rex Friday & Sat … “A Daughter of the gods,” appearing at the Rex. Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4, comes to Cranbrook as a mammoth theatrical road attraction rather than a motion picture production.
This is positively a rare and daring work of art in the history of the screen and would be impossible to reproduce such a spectacle in its entirety on any stage.
The motion picture has made it possible for an entire family to witness such a performance for the price of a single theatre ticket to a road attraction.
The contract on seven of the largest (territorial rights) features will shortly be announced for the Rex Theatre.
Miss Annette Kellerman, the Central figure of the drama, is a veritable maiden of the sea. She is the most daring and graceful water nymph the world has ever seen, and her aquatic feats have entranced thousands. With her adventure follows adventure.
“A Daughter of the gods” appeals with great force to all classes. There never has been a display of its kind that is so laden with human interest as this million dollar production of the William Fox Film Corporation.
Fall fair dates … A meeting of the Directors of the Cranbrook Agricultural Association was held in the Secretary’s office at the City Hall on Thursday last at 8 p.m. The object of the meeting was to discuss various matters in connection with the Fall Fair.
The Directors had decided some time ago to apply to the Department of Agriculture for the privilege of holding this year’s Fair at a later date than usual and the Secretary instructed to request that Wednesday and Thursday, October 2nd and 3rd be set aside for the East Kootenay Fall Fair.
The Secretary informed the Directors that he had received the sanction of the Department to hold the Fall Fair on these dates.
East Kootenay’s Fall Fair will therefore be held this year on Wednesday and Thursday, October 2nd and 3rd.
It is the intention of the Directors to make this year’s Fair bigger and better than ever, and if the same assistance given them by the business men of the town last year is forthcoming, the task will undoubtedly be an easy one.
In order to stimulate production the prizes this year will be increased in every department particularly in the Live Stock and Field Products Departments.
The Secretary is in communication with several Amusement companies with the object of booking some side show attractions for the two days of the Fair.
The Prize List Committee for Cranbrook’s East Kootenay Fall Fair held a meeting in the Secretary’s office in the City Hall on Wednesday evening and made considerable progress classifying and arranging the prizes in the Live Stock Departments.
There will be a great many more prizes than usual offered in these departments. It is the intention of the Committee to have the Prize List ready about the 1st of June.
Invermere news … It is not long since the annual meeting of the Windermere District Association of Stock Breeders was held and the affairs of the Association for the past year gone over. The reports read, while gratifying, showed that a decrease had been made in the number of the members owing in part to the exigencies of the war.
The receipts were shown to be about on a level with the expenditures.
The chief matter which had been handled by the directors during the past year were the condition of finances along he right-of-way of the Canadian Pacific Railway Kootenay Central branch, Owing to floods and for various other reasons these had been allowed to remain down in parts and no special efforts were made to put them in a state of repair. An order by the Board of Railway Commissioners of Canada was issued last year and it is hoped that this may result in the matter receiving more attention.
There was also brought up and acted upon, the vexed question of compensation for cattle killed by trains on the railway many of the cases being due to the fault of the fences being in a poor state of repair. The report of the doings showed also that the directors had been urgent in asking that the Indians be forced to have their brands registered and that they make regular use of them upon the cattle which they own.
The non-combatant … By Capt. John MacNab, 2nd Divisional Artillery.
The dugout measured seven feet, by ten, the man measured less, but the spirit of the man was immeasurable. The dugout was just an ordinary dugout. Steel sheeting overhead, then sandbags, brick, and still more sandbags. It differed from others of its kind only in that it had a canvas sign.
Other dugouts too had their sobriquets inscribed but this was not “Maggie Murphy’s Home” nor “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” nor “Lyddite Shelter” nor “The Mudlark’s Nest”, but “Y.M.C.A.”
Its position was decidedly precarious. On one side of it was a battery of Canadian howitzers, on the other side a battery of 18-pounders. The ground all round was torn up by high explosives. Even the sandbags were ripped and torn by shrapnel, and the canvas sign was splashed by shell splinters. Up the road was Ypres — Ypres, the storm centre of the war’s wildest passions — Ypres, where the first poisonous gas clouds floated over the Allied trenches — Ypres, with scarce one stone standing on another — Ypres, once a city of princes, now a smouldering Gehenna. This dugout was close to Ypres.
The Non-Combatant in charge of the dugout had been a minister in peace time, a native of the breezy western plains of Canada. He had joined the ranks as a stretcher bearer and was later transferred from the banner of the Red Cross to that of the “Red Triangle”. He was serving as indefatigably in this branch to help men as he had in the other, and the sergeant’s stripes indicated that his work was being appreciated.
Once again the Ypres salient was resounding with intense artillery fire. The British regulars had blown up six craters in the enemy’s lines at St. Eloi, and the Canadians were holding the captured territory. But the ground was held at great cost. Our men were returning wounded, broken and weary. In those days both the man and the dugout were needed.
Early and late he toiled over a troublesome gasoline stove to prepare hot cocoa for the wayfarers. A constant stream of heroes came down the road. The Non-Combatant always had a hot drink ready when they passed by. There he toiled all alone, serving hundreds of cups of cocoa daily, stoking the stove, washing the mugs, and by his cheery presence and kindly word comforting the passing men. He stayed there through a furnace of shells whizzing around him.
There was an unearthly stillness on the front that spelled mischief. About midnight the explosion of a mine sent the gun pits quivering. In an instant every gun the foe had, was going from “Whizz-bangs” to “Jack-Johnsons”. The reply was staggering, and the Canadians gained superiority of fire.
The Non-Combatant got busy in the dugout. Soon the procession began. Men, wet with blood, dodged the shrapnel to gulp down a hot drink. The high explosives were searching, like wild beasts in anger, for the batteries, and the ground was pock-marked until each shell hole dipped into the other. One shell, dropping not ten feet from the dugout, churned the earth, the next went crashing through the steel sheeting.
A party left the battery to search for the Non-Combatant. Clambering through the shell hole, they saw the fruit cans gashed as if by a hundred chisels; the stock scattered and destroyed; the mugs broken; the cocoa urn overthrown; and when they had thrown the debris aside they found the Non-Combatant with a dark red stream coming from his head, still smiling, but sleeping his last sleep
The Padre was sent for, and while they waited, a shell hole was prepared for the remains. He came as the first streaks of dawn were tinting the sky. Wrapped in a blanket the Non Combatant was placed in his last dugout. As the Padre prayed, the party stood staring into the unknown. Death faces them so frequently that they have no fear of it.
Then came his simple sermon, reiterating their thoughts: “Death has severed us from our comrade, but out here face to face with the great realities, we have learned that death is but the portal to a larger life Ay, it would take more than death to stop Harry; he will “carry on.”
