Page 2. Cassiar Courier. NOP Report..... Atlin Constituency Association As a long time resident of Cassiar, I am delighted to see some change in political activities in the At- lin Riding, Never before did any MLA show up here, unless it-was shortly before elections on a door to door campaign. With the election of our MLA and MP at the last election, things have changed drastically for the better. People receive reports from our ‘elected’ representives as soon as some issue comes up and is of some concern to the voters. Many complaints have been received in this office and brought to. the attention of Al Passarell, our MLA in Victoria, or our MP in Ot- tawa, Jim Fulton, to pursue the matter in ques- tion in the hope to get positive results or at least an answer or advice. The complaints that mostly concern the people in this riding, e.g. the condition of Highway 37, im- provement in. mail services, health services in the outlying communities , improvement in air ser- vices (emergency) and airports in Cassiar and Dease Lake, have been brought to the attention of the MP and MLA respectively with positive ac- tion on some and negative in others. We obtained some applications for Provincial vot- ers registration and if any person wishes to get registered, provided he or she is a Canadian citiz- en or British subject, 19 years of age or over, has lived in B.C. for the past 6 months, may come to _my residence and receive same at 231 Kennedy ESB PRB INE SE SAE JIM FULTON M.P: of the Stewart- Cassiar Highway The first gravel road was completed in 1972, joining the Province’s most northerly coastal town of Stewart to the asbestos mining town of Cassiar, nearly 325 miles to the north. This road; which cost over thirty million dollars, took nearly 20 years to complete and crossed what was previously wilderness area, with no permanent settlements south of Dease Lake, The need for this transportation link was ostensibly for hauling asbestos ore. from Cassiar to tidewater: at Stewart. However, ore was not hauled until 1978. Historically, the development of the northwestern section of British Columbia proceeded on: an intermittent basis and. was dependent on the resources in demand at the time. Russians exploring the coastal area in the late 1700's dis- covered the fur resources and this spurred further explor- ation activity. (One of the few remains of the Russian days was a stone cairn on the 56th Parallel just north of Stewart along the Bear River but this was covered by flood debris in the early 1960's). i Explorers from British North America moved into the area by land in the early 1800's with the Hudson’s Bay Company, establishing a trading post at Dease Lake, Con- flict between the two rival’ intérésts led to the political boundary beitig established’ by treaty near ‘the heads of the coastal inlets so that when the United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 the boundary was taken near its present position’ The Alaska panhandle effectively sev- ers access from the sea into the area with the exception of the International waterway of the Stikine River and the possible exception of Tarr Inlet in the north, which may afford access if the glacier there recedes sufficiently. In 1865 construction Was started On an overland telegraph line to attempt to connect. Europe and eastern North Am- 3 at Pe PPR, PR TPN PRP ORR A PR, JRF “A 2 OSKAR DAUM BEET SG EN SAVE SE SF ARSE ESE YG REE BENS SBS GIES Street, Cassiar. Any person Wishing to join the NDP may also do so at the same ee pater No one knows what fee in ore in the near. maitre espécially in regards oe politics, Provincial or nationwide. Was the dirty tricks affair a contrib- _uting factor to the Social Credit Party winning the last election? What has this party gained by doing so, what other irregularities have been committed? We, as voters, should be concerned how our Tax $ will be spent — are Government > services adequate? Do we sell our non-renewable resources to the best paying customers and buy them back when we in Canada need them later at a much higher price, since inflation and its trend seems to continue on an upwards scale?Many more questions are not easily answered. Only when these concerns are expressed individually or collectively to the people elected and responsible for their actions, are they made aware of the ef- fects of their actions — justice can be achieved. The large International corporations are looking after their own interests - they have the resources to do so - but the working population does not seem to bother about how their interests are look- ed after. As a note of interest, Atlin New Democrat winner Al Passarell, had the least expensive campaign in the last provincial election — $1300 — while Frank Calder, his Social Credit opponent, spent $10,000 on his campaign. _ Oskar Daum, NDP President, Atlin Constituency Association. [SERA RE SEM RG a RENE NI AT RSE SYS SRS ES RSA NA TSAR NSD SVS BIA A SE YB NG RYE OA BS We wish ald members of ou Con nai o A Mey Soy i, ee ES ‘ALPASSARELL M.L.A ag : UA VN OUT rind Wotson Loxe ~ ein SRS Lower Post — ¢ Ye. din tercjon L. inisken L. zelton ON seaaug >. - SOY, mn. Ze A/kitimar * MAP of NORTH—WEST BRITISH COLUMBIA. : SHOWING ROUTE of STEWART—CASSIAR HIGHWAY SRS SES EAS CSS CES EER EES & = CASSIAR’S NEW FIRE CHIEF BILL RIDDLE was voted in as Cassiar’s new Fire. Chief by the members of the Cassiar Volun- teer Fire Department. Bill has been with the de- partment for four years, serving as a captain prior to. becoming Fire Chief. Blood Donors Needed This is a request from the Doctors and staff of the Cassiar Private Hospital to any resident of Cassiar with a known ‘‘O0 NEGATIVE BLOOD GROUP”, who might be willing to give blood in case of an emergency. We do not have blood bank facilities, nor do we have facilities for blood grouping. Therefore, we are asking only for Group O Negative Blood Types. If you are interested in assisting us, please contact the Hospital Administrator. We will require name, telephone number where you can be reached, and your Red Cross Blood Donotr’s card. Pe Thank you in advance for your assistance. ; L. Patton Hospital Administrator. erica after failure of the first Trans-Atlantic submarine cable. The route of the line passed through Hazelton, Telegraph Creek and Atlin, as shown on the map: Con- struction was stopped the following year when the second Trans-Atlantic cable was successfully laid. Later, during. the Klondiké gold rush, the telegraph line was completed and remained in operation until 1941, when it was aban- doned and replaced by radio communication. The tele- - graph line has a well defined foot trail along it and served as access to the area for trappers and prospectors for a number. of years. It is readily identified on air photos and — the section common to the Stewart Cassiar route served as a reference during reconnaissance and later as foot access in part during the ground survey for the road. - Placer gold was discovered in the 1880's in the Cassiar, — Dease Lake and McDame Creek areas and brought another flurry of activity. The Chinese workings are still visible al- Ong the road in the McDame Creek area, - During the period of railway expansion in the early 1900's a railway was started from Stewart up the Bear River, with plans to tunnel under the Bear Pass glacier to gain ac- cess to the interior.’ However, the line was taken only about twelve miles to American Creek, before being ab- andoned for lack of finances. This same period also saw the beginning of lode mining - in the Stewart area, which has continued intermittently until the present time. During the 1926 period of economic expansion, a road was built by the Province from Telegraph Creek, near the head of the Stikine River navigation, to Dease Lake, a dis- tance of 70 miles. During the war, construction materials and equipment were transported from the Alaskan coast to Telegraph Creek by”tiver, from Telegraph Creek to Dease Lake by this road, and then again by water down — the. Dease, River to.the airport site at Watson Lake.. Con- struction of the Alaska Highway followed shortly, con- ° necting the string of airports from Edmonton ue > Alaska through Watson Lake. Continued on page 19 CASSIAR Bits & Pieces I can feel it. Xmas is in the air. People frantically trying to get everything done, the smell of bak- ing, Christmas lights and decorations, last min- ute buying, and moving. We’d like to wish a very Merry Christmas and Goodbye to Chuck and Laura Gander, Sandy and Leslie Christie, who’ are taking up residence in Princeton, Herbie Storch, Bruce Carey, Chris and Gerry Doran and family who are moving to Stewart, and Brian Clarke who has resigned from the teaching staff at the Cassiar School. Steve says “Goodbye” for now. 556018 BrOverOrOveverer ore Was I ever pleasantly surprised the other day — here I was with newspaper in hand and I didn’t even have to wait in line - Newfie Bullet No.2 (second cash register) was in operation in the Dry Good Store. Welcome to Gary Stratton’s wife Carolyn, and daughter Shana Marie. The new face at the Royal Bank is Gayleen Rat- tray. Gayleen is no stranger to Cassiar, having spent most of her school years here. KOK 9k Ok Ok OX OK OK OKOX OKO OKO ONS Hello to: Brian Moore and his wife. Oscar and Brenda Carneiro and family Dan and Joan MePROGa: and children Daniel, Angus and Alexander. Devon. Tim and Ida Walters, and children Julie, Danny and Jennifer. f ‘We'd also like to welcome to town Dr. Brad Rai- son, who will be taking over while Dr. Trollen and family are holidaying in Scotland, and Dr. Paul Gerard, who will be here while Dr. Rauch and family are out. Vancouver has nothing on us — we too have opening nights “at the theatre”. Exchanging parkas and boots for “‘dress-up’’ many thorough- jy enjoyed this season’s first Concert Society performance. It was great that the piano arrived just in the nick of time — a few hours before show time. Kudi Stewart’s mom, Mrs. Jean Singleton, will be visiting her this Xmas from Ess Rock. Sue and Dick Chambers are in Kelowna visiting for the holiday season and Edna & George Mil- lar will be visiting friends in Penticton. ‘Mark and Anita Glaab, and daughter Rachel=will ~ be joining John and Dee Ellis in Arizona after Xmas. Even though they are busy sorting out all our - mail and making sure everything goes out the Staff at the Post Office would like to take time out to wish ene a Merry Chas tnas, THANK YOU . To the person who broke into’ the dog ~ pound and let us out.» AR The Does PIERS pia ay) Ba ects ce are Gwen and Terry. ‘Derek and-Judy Walker, and children Tracey and =~ Eee pea ospital | . appenings The hospital staff would liké'to say goodbye to Sandy Crawford and wish her well in her new po- sition at the Warehouse. We would also like to welcome Yvonne Dick to her permanent posit- ion at the hospital. Yvonne is a familiar face here, as shé has been filling in at the front desk, at var- ious times for the past two years. Yvonne is a welcome ‘addition and we hope she can stay awhile! Congratulations to Merle and Claude Diot on the arrival of Andrea Jeanette, November 15th at 6.30p.m. Unfortunately, Claude was not there for the event, but Merle seems to have handled the situation in her own very capable manner. © Congratulations to Laura Tashoots and Stanley Henyu on the arrival of Lawrence William Henyu, November 21st, 1979. Deet is off on a week’ holiday. Hope you enjoy your week Deet, and that you don’t have to spend too much of it explaining the rising cost of fuel. : Dr. Trollen and family will be leaving Cassiar for a Christmas holiday in Scotland. We wish them a happy holiday and a safe trip. Born at the Whitehorse General Hospital on: Ist. December, 1979, Dylan Farrell, a brother for + Born to Claude. and Merle Diot a girl, Andrea Jeanette, weight 7 lb. 8 Oz. on November 15, 1979 at the Red Deer General Hospital. CHRISTMAS MORNING Darkness is falling, The earth fell asleep From under the covers — Expectant eyes peep. Waiting for Santa, His sack full of toys To bring Christmas morning | For all girls and boys. Hearts full of happy, Eyes full of fear, Ears hear the clatter Of tiny reindeer. Tip-toeing gently, °\ Breath held to see All of the presents Under our tree. by K. McCullough MAY THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS BE WITH YOU TODAY AND EVERYDAY THROUGHOUT THE NEW YEAR. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL FROM ALL THE _ GIRLS AND GUYS AT U.S.W.A. LOCALS 6536 AND 8449 POLI II IAA IIIA AI IAAI IIA bos UE Oe nee rerterr keg “Cassiar Courier Page’3 BROWNIE NEWS @ | Brownies are off to an excellent start this year, thanks to the services of our Brown Owl Debbie Van Kippersluis, and our Tawny Owl, Donna McGuire. : On the weekend of November 24th and 25th, two trainers for the Peace River Area came to Cassiar to give us some guidelines for the organization of our Brownie, Pack. While,they were here they held a swearing in. ceremony for jour Brown Owl. We would like to thank Mrs. Colleen Warne and Mrs. Bobbie Larson for making the trip in. Their help and advice is greatly appreciated. Our badge secretary, Mary Elhorn, has a number of. people lined up for testing Brownies. No doubt © quite a number of. Brownies will be working hard towards their badges this year. We wish them every success as they. work really hard and with great enthusiasm. Before the International Year of the Child comes to a close our Brownies. have a project in hand. Each Brownie is contributing one of her own books, to be donated to the local hospital. We hope that any children unfortunate enough to have to stay in hospital will enjoy these books. Some of our Tweenies are ready to be enrolled in Brownies. An enrolment ceremony was held on December 11 at the Brownies Xmas Party. Pic- tures will be available for the next issue of the Courier. Congratulations, girls — we hope you en- joy your guiding experiences. 'Cassiar Fire 3 Department - Remember +o keep Fire Safety on your Crist pee List- ~ Keep the trunk of your tree-well watered. Check the lighting of our tree for frayed wiring, Turn off the lights when your family goes out or retires. — Keep open fires screened. ; Wrappings and decorations area fire. zard. Have plenty of large ash frays for your guests who. smoke. Best Holiday Wishes For Your Home From ~The Firemen’ | FAIAIA IAAI AD ADA IID AID AI .loose connections, and broken sockets . ee rn