December 2004 - Vol Five, No.1

History Helps, Volume Five, Number 1, December 2004
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Christmas in Years Gone By

“White Christmas Cause of Much Trouble on Delta

The snow which started falling on Christmas Day, and which gave Delta its first white Christmas for some years, was greeted with whoops of joy by many a youngster ...

To the linemen of the B. C. Telephone Company and the B. C. Electric Company it meant many hectic hours repairing lines blown down or damaged by the high winds of the the eve of Christmas Day ...

During the high winds of Tuesday and Wednesday a large number of telephone and electric light wires were damaged causing great inconvenience when the telephones would not work and the current went off.

Boundary Bay and Westham Island were completely cut off from telephone communication and service was not restored until Thursday morning.

Electric power failed twice on Wednesday once in the morning and once in the evening. Patrons attending the Community Theatre in the evening had to sit in the theatre until service was restored. A few left the theatre but [the] patience of the majority was awarded [sic] when the light came on and the show was continued...”

Source: The Weekly Optimist, 27 December 1934, page one.

Websites on Canadian History

All the following have interesting stuff to explore, maybe even something about British Columbia:
http://www.civilization.ca/hist/histe.asp
http://www.ualberta.ca/~bleeck/canada/
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/topics/index-e.html
http://www.historysociety.ca/index.asp
http://www.histori.ca/default.do

A Find From eBay

I’ve already admitted to hanging out at eBay, and I can also admit to finding the occasional gem there. A booklet called “Opportunities in British Columbia 1915: Containing Extracts from Heaton’s Annual” was one such treasure. It purports to be a guide to those wishing to immigrate to Canada, and was one of a series called “Provincial Booklet Series of Canada.” The following is a quote from same:

“LADNER, chief town of the Delta district, on s. arm of Fraser River, on G.N.R. Steamers from New Westminster (15 m.), and Steveston (8 m.), connecting with B. C. Elec. Ry. to Vancouver. Govt. free ferry direct to Vancouver (7 m.). Hotels, Delta, Ladner $2.50. 5 churches, 6 schools in district, bank, local and long dist. telephones. Large saw mill, salmon canneries, evaporated fruit factory, 2 grist mills, milk condensor co., wagon works, elec. light. Municipality owns complete water system. A fine mixed farming district. Good pheasant and other shooting under Game Protective Assn. Summer resort and bathing at Boundary Bay, 5 m. Pop. 800. Pop. of district, 2,000.

SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES -- B. C. Elec. Ry. Co. supplies elec. power to manufacturers. Write Sec. Delta Bd. of Trade, Ladner.”

Crown Grants at the Land Registry, Victoria

A totally spiffy website, sent in by a subscriber, and well worth sharing.

http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/rd/index.html

Thanks ever so much, Annette.

Bootlegging in the 1920s

“A STRANGE CROP

Mr. Charles Arthur discovered a strange crop on his place two and a half miles from Ladner, while taking a Sunday morning stroll. He found thirty-five cases of Bourbon whiskey in a field of standing grain.

Nearby on the road was an 8-cylinder Cadillac automobile of late model, with one wheel smashed. Mr. Arthur notified the Delta Police, who took charge of the Bourbon and the car.

It is assumed that the auto [sic] was heading for Point Roberts where the booze might be trans-shipped to some other point in Washington and that it hit a milk stand, probably about 5 o'clock in the morning; that the booze-runners then attempted to hide the whiskey and abandoned the car.

The car is the same as one which was held up a year ago by the guards on the New Westminster Bridge. The car then belonged to Mr. Smith of Seattle and was loaded with liquor. It was caught, and held for some time, the constable who stopped, having to fire his revolver after it before it was brought to a halt. The bullet is still to be seen in the rear of the car.”

Source: The Weekly Gazette and Home News, 19 June 1920, page two.

A Website for the Curious

This one, I have a feeling, could be really useful, and definitely deserves to be bookmarked. Enjoy.

http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml

Here’s what the website has to say about itself: “OneLook's reverse dictionary lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be a few words, a sentence, a question, or even just a single word.”

Request from a Subscriber

Janet White, who is a member of the Heritage Committee of the Burnaby Retired Teachers Association, is interested in Burnaby school history (I guess that didn’t need to be pointed out), and would like to hear from anyone with photos, stories, annuals (aka yearbooks?) to share from Burnaby’s past. She can be contacted at jwhite@telus.net.
By the way, I’m happy to post requests such as this for subscribers.

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Gwen Szychter, M.A.

P.S. Here's a favour you can do for me: If you liked this newsletter and found it helpful or just interesting, please pass it on to a friend or colleague. Thank you.