19820209_Cariboo Observer-1.pdf - the Quesnel & District Museum ...

S3
4 - QUESNEL CARIBOO OBSERVER. TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 9. 1982
B.C. Winter Games. Quesnel R C M P reported
A l l the hundreds of absolutely no problems at all
volunteers kept the athletes with the 2,000 or so visitors to
moving from event to event, the city, as revelry was kept to
The
Just because it hasn't been
mentioned for a little while
shouldn't mean that the issue
has been accepted and forgot­
ten.
The matter of the Cariboo
Regional District rotating its
meetings in the three major
Cariboo communities on an
equal basis, that is.
Almost exactly a year ago,
Quesnel city council passed a
motion asking the C R D to
rotate its meetings equally bet­
ween the region's three
municipalities.
The C R D , true to form,
turned the request down.
But since then, the city
council has been very quiet on
the matter, being more oc­
cupied (distracted?) with
Cariboo Centre rezoning and
other matters.
Directors of surrounding
electoral areas have rolled
over and are playing dead on
the issue. With that kind of at­
titude, it's no wonder little
progress has been made.
We're not that much into
the new year yet, and pressure
should he hrousht to hc*ir on
lit I il lit t i i) tti '\
easy way out
and vocally advocate that at
least four monthly meetings
be held in Quesnel every year
by the regional district board.
Businesses and individuals
should at least privately lobby
their representatives, and civic
groups should forcefully be
heard in letters to the editor
and in letters to the board
about the lack of a presence of
the C R D in this city.
Out of sight, out of mind. It
simply must not happen.
the participants.
Over all, the weatherman
was reasonably co-operative,
except for opening
ceremonies, when snow fell as
the torch was lit.
It is impossible to single out
the hundreds of individuals,
both known and unknown,
who did their little bit to make
the Northern Winter Games in
Quesnel the resounding suc­
cess that it was.
But. know that thousands of
northern athletes and
residents will remember for a
long, long time the genuine
hospitality, friendliness, and
good time that they experienc­
ed in Quesnel in February,
1982.
Not very poplar
"It says here that Keith Blackwell
is grinding up poplar trees- and
feeding the mash to cows," I said
without looking up.
Gramp Wiley and I usually read
our morning papers together. One
of our unwritten rules is that we can
comment on what we're reading
without expecting or hearing an
answer.
That's why I was surprised and
somewhat annoyed when Gramp
dropped his paper on the floor and
asked to see the column I had just
started to read.
He studied the story for ten
minutes or so before he nodded in
agreement with himself and said, "I
wondered how long it would be
before that caught on." *
"I've never heard of feeding cows
wood mash, Gramp. I thought it
was something new."
"Daow," said Gramp. "My Uncle
Ern fed Maggie The Cow poplar
before the First World War."
"He discovered it by accident.
Made Maggie a tie-up in the barn
out of small green poplar poles.
Within two days she'd chewed the
tie-up down to her knees. When he
realized he'd never seen so much
thick rich milk before, he started
feeding her poplar poles as a steady
diet."
"But, like so many other men
who have a good thing, Uncle Ern
wanted to make it better. He could
€5 JUS
h
Jfumble
Robert Skoglund
see that all the time Maggie was
wasting in chewing up the stick
could have been used in producing
more milk."
"That's probably why they grind
it up into mash," I said.
"Well, there's other good reasons
why cows shouldn't gnaw on the
raw log."
"Uncle Ern, who could do most
anything, made Maggie a first class
set of case-hardened steel teeth.
They worked so well she was soon
eating half her weight in wood every
day."
"The only drawback was that the
younger children were afraid to help
out with barn chores—she looked
and sounded terrible when she was
eating. Even Uncle Ern took to
wearing safety goggles when he was
around her for fear of getting a flying
splinter in his eye."
"That's why they grind it into
mash today?" I persisted.
"No. When you fit a cow with
steel teeth they undergo a serious
to SO
personality change—an identity
crisis."
"It didn't take Maggie long to
discover she could bite right through
a barbed wire fence like it was candy.
Uncle Ern said he could have lived
with that, but one afternoon they
found her out in the woods, gnawing
down poplar trees, and trying to
dam up the brook."
While I was still thinking about
that, Gramp continued.
"When fall came Maggie started
to drive deer. That's when Uncle
Ern knew he'd have to take some
kind of action."
"He hated to lose her, for he'd
discovered that if he poured her
cream out in a large flat pan, when
it set up he could sell it for particle
board.
"But the neighbors were telling
their kids that if they were bad,
Maggie The Cow would get them.
And Uncle Ern was afraid that even
if they were good, perhaps Maggie
The Cow would get them. So he
finally butchered her."
"I'll bet a cow that lived on
poplar tasted like one of those fast
food hamburgers," I said.
"Well, I don't know," confessed
Gramp. "I wasn't there. But I heard
tell instead of the 600 pounds of
meat they'd expected. They ended
up sawing her into enough two-byfours
to frame up a new summer kitchen."
The Crow rates must be revised
By Bruce Pepper
President
Vancouver Board of Trade
Wouldn't it be great if we could
still pay nineteenth-century prices
for the things we want today? It
seems a very good idea but probably
an impossible dream.
the service and facilities they know
are necessary.
While they have been losing approximately
a million dollars per
day in grain-handling for years,
their ability to cope, and to avoid a
capacity crunch, is coming to an
end.
one? No, but we are sure that this is.
not a problem to be solved by the
band-aid help to the railways from a
deficit-ridden federal government.
A lasting solution must be sought
through the co-operation of the
railroads, the grain producers and
the government.
A revision of the Crow Rate is
vital. Our railways must be made
commercially viable. If this causes a
large rate increase for the grainproducers,
so be it.
Any subsides needed for the hauling
of grain should be paid to those
producers and not to the operators
of the transportation facilities. We
believe in a user-pay policy.
It is very surprising, therefore, to
find that the rate that prairie graingrowers
are paying the railways to
carry their grain to the coast was
established in 1897 by government
decree.
For the record, the rate is 16
WILLIAM REGAN.../or our Portrait Gallery
1
A FORESTRY WORKER, William Regan helps, among other things, to thin out bush areas to allow young
trees to grow tall and straight. He has lived in Quesnel for 34 years. He likes the country and especially visiting^
..old friends but as for the be far behind?.;
The Games...a local success storv
It's not always easy to pat
the field of competition and to
oneself in humble fashion on
private homes.
the back but... Dignitaries, including His
EDITORIAL Excellency, Lieutenant-
From all the comments
Governor Henry Bell-Irving,
from both out-of-town com­ all the hundreds of billets kept
mayors and aldermen, and
petitors, coaches, and the athletes fed and warm,
Japanese visitors from
parents, Quesnel can be justly and events officials kept to the
Shiraoi, Quesnel's sister city,
proud of itself for being the schedules almost like
graced the proceedings and
perfect host to the Northern clockwork.
joined in the enthusiasm of
c
There is only so much that can be
achieved through making small improvements
such as better track,
better signals and longer, heavier
trains.
The continuing drain created by
per this anomaly of grain transportation
bushel or half a cent per ton per makes the proper maintenance of
mile.
branch line services and the pur­
Originally the rate was agreed to chase of new rail cars impossible.
by the Canadian Pacific Railways in With the growing deficit on one
return for concessions of land.
The Minister of Transport, the
hand, and an inability to raise
Since the,1920s, it has been en­
Honorable Jean-Luc Pepin, has ex­
. capital; on> the. other, the railways
dorsed by the Canadian, National
pressed concern about the problem
have not been able to finance thcex
- and it is the operating rate today.
"'of trie'Crow Rate. He understands
pansion projects needed to cope
~ Think of it, an 1897 freight rate
that a desperate shortage of railcar
with the growing demands of the
still in effect!
capacity is all too likely and would
Canadian economy, particularly the
Why has it remained immune
damage our export trade ir­
movement of bulk commodities.
from the ravages of inflation and
reparably.
Why are we concerned? Because
from practical considerations? The the economy of Vancouver is highly Mr. Pepin believes that a solution
generally accepted theory is that no dependent on the health of the Port should be sought through revising
federal government has dared to of Vancouver. Through the port the Crow Rate with the agreement
enrage the prairie farmers by chang­ moves an ever-growing quantity of of the three parties involved.
ing the rate.
bulk commodities: coal, grain, Before this happens, however,
The question naturally follows: potash, sulphur and phosphate there will need to be a concerted de­
why should the government in­ rock.
mand from all Canadians, partervene
if everyone is happy? Unfor­ If rail service to Vancouver is curticularly those of us in the west. We
tunately everyone is not happy tailed through lack of railcar capaci­ cannot afford to sit still and let the
NOW and, certainly, will not be ty, our economy is threatened, the entrenched Crow Rate remain un­
happy in a few years time.
provincial economy is similarly changed for another hundred years.
Railways are hauling grain at threatened and so is the economy of The time to make representation
uneconomic rates. So much so that Canada.
to the Minister and the government
it is impossible for them to provide
Do we have an answer? A simple is NOW.
Quesnel Cariboo
s
102-246 St. Laurent Avenue.
Quesnel, B.C. V2J 2C9
Telephone: 992-2121
VOL. 73 NO. 59
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mi
A valuable message to eveyone
By John Gorman
Much has been said during the
past 18 months about the cost of
Canadianization of the oil industry
versus the benefits, and so far no
one has made a compelling case for
Canadianization.
It's nice to be able to wave the
flag, but a slumping economy with
high unemployment rates is a heavy
price to pay.
Horst Schmid, the diminutive
fireball who represents the province
of Alberta as Minister of State for
Economic Development and International
Trade, put a perspective on
Canadianization in a recent speech
which has obviously been overlooked
by the policy makers.
Speaking to a Chamber of Commerce
group in rural Alberta,
Canada's only immigrant cabinet
minister was extolling the merits of
salesmanship in the international
area and he gave some examples.
Apparently some Alberta
manufacturers recently participated
in an oil and gas exploration
technology and hardware trade
show in Houston, Texas.
Based on that one week of exposure,
the Alberta group returned
to the icy north, their pockets bulging
with firm orders to the tune of
$21 million.
B.C.
Follow-up contacts have indicated
they can look forward to a
harvest of about $260 million from
this one show.
"I was asked by some American
friends, how it was that Alberta
technology and hardware could be
so popular with U.S. customers, in
the heart of the country where all
good oilfield technology is
spawned," said Mr. Schmid.
"Simple," I replied. "We bought
it from you in the first place, improved
it, and now we're selling it
back."
It seems to me there is a valuable
message in all of this.
Here we are reaping the benefits,
not just for Alberta but for all of
Canada, of improvements and innovation
related to technology the
Americans taught us in the first
place. And it also seems that this is
the healthiest kind of trade conditions
between two countries.
It shows that Canadians have
benefited greatly from their
American brothers who introduced
us to the oil business in the first
place. And now we are gaining further
benefit because we have added
a few Canadian wrinkles which have
served to improve the product.
In a word, it's called competition
and without it nothing improves.
lis!
WW?
Mr. Schmid went on,to say that
since the Alberta government began
pushing for provincial trade in the
international market, the various
trade missions have resulted in the
sale of $488,757,000 worth of
Alberta-made goods.
Currently negotiations are under
way with certain foreign countries
on the sale of $7 billion worth of
contracts on enhanced recovery of
oil technology, all developed in
Alberta.
Enhanced recovery refers to
methods by which more oil can be
produced from conventional oil
wells by use of chemicals or other
methods.
But it was the Americans who
first worked with enhanced recovery
techniques. And the Canadianization
policy imposed along with the
National Energy Program says let's
discriminate against Americans and
send them back where they came
from. We have no further use for
them.
First of all they have always been
our friends, and they have been
pretty good customers to boot. It's
nice to be able to invade their territory
and sell them back their own
mousetrap with a few Canadian improvements
on it.
by johnny hart
WARMING TO THE GLOW of a huge Christmas tree bonfire set by Quesnel volunteer firemen following the opening of
the Northern B.C. Winter Games, crowds were oblivious to the heavy snowfall as they packed the cleared areas and climbed snow
mountains of LeBourdais Park.
Readers write
Pear Sir:
The illness of the
downtown core seems
to be taking a good deal
of time and worry.
I would like to offer
a few suggestions that
may be of interest.
As the merchants
and businesses of
downtown Quesnel
desire to make their
area more attractive
and competitive, may I
suggest...
1. Put in publicwashrooms.
Quesnel
serves, in addition to
the urban area, about
18,000 people and such
a facility is a necessity.
There is competition
now and town core
businesses must wake
it's your page
up.
2. Wipe out the one­
9 two-way streets
way streets, with the
parking congestion that
is now so evident.
3. Replace parking
meters and have them
checked regularly.
4. Have lights installed
at the corner of
Reid and St. Laurent
and probably at Reid
and Barlow. I suggest
scramble lights for
pedestrians.
5. Install pedestrian
crosswalks at the Post
Office and at the middle
of 200 block Reid,
and enforce their
usage.
6. Bring in a food
store.
A market the size of
Quesnel should have no
trouble attracting a
'Sacrificial' region for greater good
Dear Sir:
I humbly entreat that
this area (being that
shrouded by the plume,
say roughly a radius of
300 miles from the proposed
Hat Creek Plant)
be designated a
"Region of National
Sacrifice'". -
" ""
• The -concept of-
Regions of National
Sacrifice follows directly
from the notion that
unlimited economic
growth can somehow
be coupled with the
finite resources of the
real world...giving
birth to an ever-upward
spiralling standard of
living.
In this squeeze, it
soon becomes plain
that certain regions
must give their all, and
then somc, ( for the
"Greater Good".
That is—it is not so
unlike the pruning of a
tree; some limbs are not
nearly so desirable as
others (depending firstly,
of course, upon
who's doing the pruning
and secondly upon
which Jimbs. are,; ,mprc %
. .easily... reached'Jo.- --.;. - i v £ '
QUESNEL CARIBOO OBSERVER, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1982 -5
'No price too large 9
Dear Sirs:
I'm a mother of four
children, and like
everyone else, I have
searched the
newspapers and ran to
turn up my radio or
television cverytime I
hear anything on the
Olson case.
Lately there has been
a lot of controversy
over the $90,000 pay
out to Olson for the
recovery of the bodies.
1 can't help feeling if
I had been B.C.'s Attorney
General Allan
Williams, that I probably
would have done
the same thing he did.
I feel there is no price
too big, to recover the
bodies of those children
and to know I would be
putting Olson away
permanently.
As for the $40,000
per year, we as taxpayers
are paying to
know Olson is there,
again to me, is not too
big of a price to pay.
I know I'm only a
mother but, knowing
the love I have for each
of my babies, it makes
me sick how six months
ago, people would have
done almost anything
to see Olson found and
behind bars, and now
that he has been found,
all that is supposed to
change.
This is only my opinion
of course but I
think what Mr.
££k SAVE UP TO
%
on all
I rolls of
CLEARANCE
WALLCOVERINGS
4 pee. Milano
RATTAN
SET
464 Hwy. 97S
747-2191
Williams did was go
one step beyond right
and wrong and tried to
set a lot of people's
minds and hearts at
case, including mine.
\'anielvithhe/d
Quesnel, B.C.
LATEX
EGGSHELL FINISH
CLOVERDALE'S BEST
01143 INTERIOR/EXTERIOR
EGGSHELL LATEX
FINISH Reg 523 96
fnfe,. )»»00
Mabf.1»5J0
NOTICE TO INLAND NATURAL
GAS CUSTOMERS
FROM INLAND NATURAL GAS
Due to excessive snow conditions being experienced
in the Quesnel area this winter, Inland
Natural Gas Co. Ltd. asks your co-operation in
keeping gas meters and related equipment free
from excessive snow build up to ensure I
unobstructed operation.
Operators of snow removal equipment should
determine the location of regulators and meters
prior to removing snow on private premises.
WITH BIG SAVINGS AT
OUR FAMOUS SKOR BRAND JOGGERS ARE
BUILT UP TO A STANDARD ...
NOT DOWN TO A PRICE.
POPULAR BROWN WITH BEIGE OR
NAVY WITH WHITE.
FOR MENS' OR BOYS' SIZE YOU PAY
ONLY $12.90 DURING SKOR SAVING DAYS.
$16.
SALE STARTS TOMORROW
Maple Park
Shopping Centre
THE SHOE MAN
Visa and MasterCard Accepted.
747-3505