October 2003 - Vol Three, No.11

GREETINGS!

In October 85 years ago, the Spanish Flu epidemic was striking down its first local victims, as reported in this item from The British Columbian, 23 October 1918, page four:

"FLU IN LADNER

Telephone Girls Are Visitors -- Fifteen Cases Reported in Delta.

LADNER, Oct. 23 -- The Spanish Flu struck Ladner a hard blow on Saturday. Three of the telephone operators being victims at once entailing the closing of the office and fumigating of same. Mrs. Jeffreys of Steveston and an assistant arrived Sunday evening and business was resumed Monday morning.

About fifteen cases are now reported. The schools, churches and all public assemblies were ordered closed by the health officer.

The D. W. P. have postponed the calico dance set for Friday evening."

Learning From Subscribers

After the last issue of "History Helps" was sent out, I received a query about the first item referring to the re-opening of schools.

"According to the new School Act the summer vacation has been extended to the second Monday in August. The public schools will, therefore, not reopen until Monday, 11th inst. [sic]"

Source: The Daily Columbian, 03 August 1891, page four.

The question related to the use of "inst." in the body of the item. I didn’t know, but turned to my trusty old Concise Oxford Dictionary dating back to the early 1960s. A quick check of a more recent edition revealed that these archaic usages are still included.

The word "inst." is, as used frequently in writings in the 19th century, an abbreviation for "instant", but meaning in this case, "of the current month."

The other tiny word that we see used frequently in the 19th century is "ult." which is an abbreviation of "ultimo" and means "in the month preceding that now current".

While not immediately obvious, these definitions are useful to any researcher poking around in the 19th century, as these abbreviations appear frequently in writing from that period. However, I do wonder how inst. came to have that meaning; ultimo is somewhat more straightforward being the Latin word meaning "last." Thanks, Don.

The Public Library Commission

"PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMISSION

The Public Library Commission, with headquarters in the Parliament Buildings, at Victoria, and a North-Central Branch at Prince George, provides public library service for those people in the Province who do not have the advantages of a local public library.

Operations are carried on under two divisions:

THE OPEN SHELF DIVISION provides service to individuals by mail from a non-fiction collection of about 35,000 volumes which embraces every field of knowledge. These books are sent by post with return stickers that permit the reader to return them post free -- an absolutely free public library service for people throughout the length and breadth of the Province. Over 40,000 books a year are circulated in this way. Special features of the Division are the Teachers’ Professional Library, one of the best in the Province, available to teachers in the cities as well as in isolated districts; and the Elementary Correspondence School Library, specially selected to provide an adequate library service for some thousand students enrolled in this School.

THE TRAVELLING LIBRARY DIVISION supplies two great needs: local library service to small isolated communities and to one-room schools, in addition to the Open Shelf service by post. Boxes of from 50 to 200 books (fiction and non-fiction) are sent out on loan for four to six months under the care of local committees and local teachers. More than 650 such libraries are sent out from Victoria and Prince George yearly to communities which, without Public Library Commission service, would be starved for good reading.

Proof of the value of this service is provided by the scores of readers. Expressions of appreciation come in continuously from people in isolated places; from lighthouse keepers, from miners, from trappers and farmers, and from residents of smaller cities and villages where there is no local public library.

Library service is available to individuals and communities in response to a postcard addressed to the Public Library Commission, Victoria. Freight on travelling libraries is the only cost to communities and schools. Open Shelf service is absolutely free.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, VICTORIA, B.C."

Source: The [Ladner] Optimist, 04 March 1943, page three.

A Website to Explore

Here's an inspiring (or simply entertaining) website, called Famous Quotes and Quotations. You can find it at http://www.famous-quotes-and-quotations.com/index.html

The Popularity of the Bicycle in the Late 19th Century

We undoubtedly have little understanding of how important the popularization of the bicycle (usually referred to as the "wheel") as a means of transportation was to ordinary people. For women in particular, it was an opportunity to expand their experience beyond the household and the neighbourhood, a fact which had its outspoken critics. The following refers to it as a "craze," which sounds too negative in view of the benefits.

"THE BICYCLE CRAZE

The immense establishments in the east, say a contemporary, devoted to the building of bicycles, are running day and night to the full capacity, and are still unable to keep up their orders. The wheel has the call and the horse is retired to pot and oblivion, a sad fate for the animal that has served man since the world began, and since recorded time.

Some idea of the cycle craze may be formed when the statement is made that 3,300 wheels were in line in the Chicago parade last week. The craze is universal -- they have it bad in every village, in every hamlet and in every city; it pervades all classes, conditions and sexes, and it has evidently come to stay.

The postal department of the Government being among the first to discover the merits of the bicycle, is adopting it in the larger cities, and is giving it general encouragement in the smaller places where the carrier system prevails. It is found to give speedier and more frequent service in the outlying districts and saves time in the gathering and distribution of mails. The district telegraph companies are also introducing the wheel, and the messenger boys are speeding their cycles in a satisfactory manner in many cities. Where good roads are the rule, and not the exception, bicycles are apparently supplanting all other methods of locomotion where quick and rapid work is required.

Millions of dollars are invested in large plants devoted exclusively to their manufacture, and large fortunes are being made by the companies engaged in the business. To-day there are the busiest manufactories in the United States and they continue to multiply in every manufacturing centre in the country."

Source: Vancouver Daily World, 20 June 1895, page six.

Self Publishing as an Adventure

... is not recommended for the faint of heart. And I don’t usually give space in this newsletter to commercial websites. But, having self-published my books on Ladner, I was intrigued to discover a company called Trafford Publishing at http://www.trafford.com/

Since the sub-title of its website reads "On-Demand Publishing Service," someone reading this might find it’s just the thing for getting a family history or other compilation out into the world.

All Hallows’ School, Yale, B.C.

The home page of my website at http://www.ladnerslanding.com/home.html for much of this year has featured a postcard of All Hallows’ School at Yale, B.C. I was quite taken, therefore, with finding the following item in The [Weekly] British Columbian, 19 October 1920, page 27:

"ALL HALLOWS SCHOOL CLOSED

TUESDAY, OCT. 12

Last week witnessed the passing of one of the landmarks of education in this province, the closing of All Hallows school at Yale, which has been operated as a boarding school for girls during the past 30 [sic] years. Yesterday the Sister Superior left for England to join the main body of the order, her departure becoming necessary owing to increased distress and community work of the sisters in England, the headquarters being at Ditchingham, Norfolk, adjoining the estate of King George at Sandringham.

The school was established by the Anglican sisters in the ‘80’s, at a time when Bishop Acton W. Sillitoe was head of the diocese of New Westminster, and at a time when there was a demand for a private boarding school for young girls by the leading families of the lower mainland. Originally the sisters came out to this province for work among the Indians, but later attention was turned to educating the whites."

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