sets Nu AT "> Do BD Me Psapp. mA Bs WT be PRINCE RUPERT TAXI AND TRANSFER PHONE 112 PHONE FOUR CARS ON CALL DAY AND NIGHT STAND OPPOSITE THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA Prince Rupert, B.C. THE INLANDER ROOMS and LIGHT HOUSEKEEPING Prince Rupert, B.C. ALBERT & McCAFFERY LIMITED Domestic and Steam Coals, Lumber, Shingles, Lath, Cement, Lime, Plaster, Brick, Sand and Gravel PRINCE RUPERT, B. C. THE ROYAL FISH CO., LTD. JOHN DYBHAVN, Manager Packers and Shippers of Fresh, Smoked and Cured Fish PRINCE RUPERT, B. C. THEY KNEW BILL MINER By GEORGE D. BROWN, Kamloops RESIDENTS OF Kamloops were greatly surprised in May, 1906 to greet the posse returning to Kamloops from the Douglas Lake country with three train robbers, and to find the ring-leader known as Bill Miner was none other than George Edwards, familiarly known as a prospector in the Kamloops and Aspen Grove district. Resident at Kamloops today is Alonzo Roberts, former farmer at Aspen Grove. Mr. Roberts says Miner stayed with him two months. He found the desperado a likeable chap, and was not adverse to telling him of his mines in Argentine, South America. Miner had money and displayed ten and twenty-dollar gold pieces. Colqu- houn and “Shorty” Dunn (who later turned out to be partners in the train robbery near Bill Miner. —Photo courtesy Provincial Archives, Victoria, B. C. Ducks) arrived at Aspen Grove, giving Roberts the impression they, with Edwards (or Miner as he was known in the U.S.A.) were going out prospecting the creeks, in the district between Merritt and Princeton. When the robbers were afterwards caught, Kamloops newspapers were found in their effects bearing Roberts’ name, and he was under suspicion. Roberts today says George Edwards (Miner) was a decent chap, loved riding and hunting and rode a large black horse, hanging out in the district between Princeton and Merritt, for some time. He would judge Miner would be about age 62. The previous winter the train had been robbed at Mission and Miner apparently was “laying low.” Miner camped out, pros- pecting with Roberts and a partner. Roberts claims Miner used opium pills, ate them, and called it his “Poppy Root.” Miner also was a heavy smoker, and used “Black Strap” tobacco in his pipe. Mr. Alexander G. Brown, of Field, was a gaol guard in the Provincial gaol at Kamloops for fifteen years. He guarded Bill Miner for two weeks, waiting trial in 1906 and had long conversations with him. Miner told Mr. Brown he had a son as old as he was. Two weeks previous to the train hold-up east of Kamloops, near Ducks, Miner stabled his black horse in Milton’s barn, and while out rounding up horses on Rosehill, directly southeast of Kamloops, about nine miles, Miner preached a fine sermon at the school house there, in the absence of a preacher. Mr. Brown as guard, carried “Shorty” Dunn (partner of Miner’s) on his back to the goal yard at Kamloops to have his photo taken, as Dunn had been shot in the knee when captured near Douglas Lake. Brown asked Dunn how it felt to be shot, and “Shorty” said, “Well, did you ever get a tooth pulled? It’s just like that.” After the trial at Kamloops, when Miner, Colquhoun and Dunn were being taken to the penitent’ary at New Westminster, with the ground west of the C. P. R. Depot crowded with people, “Shorty” Dunn made a specch as follows: “Good-bye, ladies and gentlemen. You have treated me very kind- ly since my stay in the city. Next time I pass through, I will stay off and visit you. Dunn was going down with Miner for a life sentence, and Colquhoun for 25 years. WISHING THE B. C. POLICE MAGAZINE EVERY SUCCESS CANADIAN FISH & COLD STORAGE CO LTD. PRINCE RUPERT, B. C. Page Fifty THE SHOULDER STRAP