LK OMI ECA HERALD

THE OMINECA HERALD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14,1934

NO. 32

PF ACT. Sawle, comptroller of Northern
Hraders, Ltd., with headquarters in
7 Bilmonton, has recently returned from
his second annual mid-winter flight to
le conipany’s posts on the McKenzie
‘ far north as Aklavik, and around
mcreat Slave Lake and Liarl River,

letter’ received by the editor, a brother,
ight prove of interest to many read-
mers throughout this country, most of
a hom have a more or less pioneer
B spirit. ~

‘T left Eamonton Tecember 26th, by
Strain, and left. McMuray on December

ways Co. piloted by “Wop'’ May, the
sume qlot who took me Inst winter.
Ife is one of the most experienced fliers
th the north, and one of the first pilots
Rito fly commercially in the MeKenzie
f istrict. In writing in highy favorable
terms T doe net in any way discredit
Faauy of the other northern pilots, as
they are all gad. but Wop is just pos-
voxsodt of. a little more: of that charac-
teristic. termed in Holywood as “It”.

The trip was kome ten days longer
Mm than anticipated. dne to“an unnaveid-
wile delay, lut T covered 5,000 -miles
ina little more than four weeks, and
visited ench of the fourteen : trading
toasts of one company, The Northern
| ‘Traders, Limited, and spent at least 1
night at most of them. By the ald
oll nethod of transport in the nerth—
= dogs—these posts could not posibly be
A visited by one person in one winter.

The weather throughout the north
this winter has heen the most severe,
4 in both storms and low temperatures,
éxperienced in many years. The air-
plane Pilots have not had such a win

have been operating in ‘the north.
Temperatures went below 60 on several
days, and strange to relate, at 40 hélow:
snow storms ‘were frequently encoun-
tered.
§ more moderate - temperatures. Sixty
proved too cold for the plane to operate
The engineer, who was very efficient,
lind no trouble in heating the engine in
this temperature, and starting it, but it
=m was ford thet when the plane obtain-
a. cd flying speed, in 60 below, the revol-
utions drupped and she would not lift.
We stayed at trading posts on days the
temperature was €0 below, Fifty be-
Tuw was. quite alright for flying. Sueh
. perfornnmmee is a eredit to the machines
One might wonder how a: traveller
keeps comfortably warm tn such @x-
trome temperatures, bnt £ night give
you some idea by telling you that when
E Towis preparing gor a bath on my re.
tien home 0 founds silt ot-aiderwear
ot E looked. for in.vain tendys previous:
of Tx. and thought it was lost.
| Tider the continnal siermy wenth-
” | or conditions so prevalent, the yossi-

vA

Al, Dility of forced landings presented new
interest to me, and T closely. watched
for smooth stretches on the McKenzie
ai river, and found they were no more
iNentifui flinn hen's teeth. fn flylng
through the same territory in the sum-
mer the waters of the MeKenul:, af-
‘fard excellent landings for the pontoon
equipped plines, but these waters when.
freezing in winter throw up great jag-
vod ice cakes os to challenge any plaue
ty attempt a landing, even though skt-
equipped. It is only behind islands.
where the river current is slack, and
the waters freeze level that planes ent
lund in safety, on the river ice. There
are’many stretchew of river fifty or
hundred. miles without Islands, and
without good landing sites, Landings
at the Trading Posts are made at neny-.
hy’ islands, or a lake, adjacent to the
settlement, or in the mouth of a smail-
wow river. emptylng into the main river,
and which is usually.a good landing
site.

1 believe that landing a plane ‘on
Great Slave Take always presents 2
_ wrablem te the pilots, particularly just

Ee
A

Mid-W.*, er Fligt
Arctic Experienced Severe
-. Cold and Many Storms

AC

28 in a Reliatica, ‘of the Canadian Air-! i

Usually snow falls only during|

ght to the —

from the luke sweep in and continual-
ly change formation and location of
the snow drifts, und what might be o
good landing site one day. might he
turned, over night, into an impossible
one, for safe landings, aud vice versa.
Iven at hest such sites: are rough.
The tuxi-ing for the take-off on such
snow drifts requires skilful -handling,
and I am often surprised how. the un-
dercarringe of the planes stand the
. fjolts, nt the speed of forty-fie miles an
hour or more, which is necessary for
the “take off". The strength of econ-
‘atruction of the undercarriage, which
appears slim and: frail, is frequently

aimee

MONEY AND THANKS SENT

Department of Agriculture at Victoria
Expresses its Appreciation. of
"District B

Mr. 7. B. Munio, deputy mtnlster of
agriculture at. Victorian wrote District
B. Institutes as follows :—‘“In forward-
ing this contribution to your institnte,
I wish to express through you to Dis-
trict B.’ Institutes, the appreciation of
the B. C. department of agvieultura
for the excellent support they have
given agriculture, and their hearty ‘eo-
operation with the department in the
past. year. In spite of unfavorable
conditions the Farmer's Institutes
have remained active and useful and
with improved eonditions already be-
coming apparent, I sincerely trust that
your district institute will continne to
take a lead in agricultural progress

proven. I am stire when you and I
‘were young ne vehieles were manufac-
tured that would bang together for
long. With such tsnrge,

One would expect the.pllot and en-
fincer woukd Ie glad of-n Pest in the
evening, after a day's travel under win-
ter cpnditions—not the cuse—they are
never idle, When Wop got into what-
ever honse furnished accommodation
during his stoy. he peeled off the outer
conple of layers of clothes and looked
around for a gun that did not function
property. and in no time had it apart,
adjusted and re- nssenbled, ready for
higeer and better caribou. He invari
why fonnd a fun: needing attention,
and ended each day in Peace and. Hap-
piness, The enginer, Rudy, spent his
evenings visiting (always visited homes
with n radio) and on the least sign of
faulty reception, he pulled out his
screw driver and in a short time had
the radio ‘spread out over the ‘floor,
No youngster ever took 4 Christmas, toy
Apart faster-thar Rudy did radios.
eee STi iaieveTHSr ideratihids:, iansie |
us he once turned off the bag pipes and
tuned in. ona: sax orchestra. However
he. always managed to’ dispose of all
pieces.. when re-assembling - the radio,
and they were invarlably improved in
tone. when. he. finished with them:
Such is the spare time life of these air
plane crews,

A very peculiar change of tempera-
ture was encouutered during our sonth
hound trip. near Fort Good Hope, just
south of the Arctic Circle, The ground
temperature nt Fort Good Hope was 25
helow. Soon after onv take-off and
nhont three or four thousand feet. up
the temperature registered 30 ahove
Tor about five minutes, aud then drop-
ned tu 20 below and when we landed a
Lhalf hour Jeter the ground temperature
wis 30 below. ‘

Owing to the elandy and = stormy
weather the scenery en route was not
fas Interesting as I had nuticipated.:

off on the horizon the greater part of
the trip wh'eh made visibility poor.
On one or two mornings: howerer, in

north of the Arctic Circle, we did see
the ristug sou at noo lor when we
were severnl thousund feet up. I do
not know any sky seene that enn oe
inove Lonntiful than” the sing sin in
the winter, In the north, as * viewed
frm an airplane four or "tive thousand
feet up.

- A wonderful view of low hanging
clots: wits seen an the trip from Me-
Murray ote Edmonton. From Mellur-
ray we followed, closely, the Athabasca
river until neny the town of Athahasea
‘For npproximately o half hour we
passed to the west of and some foue

Rlor five thousand fest above a heavy

cloud bank floating low over, a very
large nvea, These clouds,., with, the
beltht moming sun shinkig on them
were pure white, an in great drifts.
giving uw very’ renlistic appearance of
real snow, The extreme eastern cdge
of the field was rugged, like ice cakes
driven up by stormy waters, and the
distant hills showed up dark blue like
open water, The entire. sceno was .a
yery vivid picture of a lake in early.

off, Fort Resolution. Tere the, winds

wintor,: with snow wiveady, aitted ¢ on

rT.

There seemed ta he snow in the air;-or |,

the lower stretches of the McKenzie, | °

during the coming year.”

SCREACHING RADIOS ON THE AIR

There {s a good deal of camplaining
in the district-about the - sereaching,
serearmming, whistling radios of late. It
is apparent some one needs to either
fix their radio or throw it out. It fs
reported that quite a number of com-
plaints have gone to Ottawa about it
as the radio commission ts particularly
anxious to avoid dll those avoidable
noises. It is bad enough to have to
put up with unavoldable noises. The
commission also takes the stand . that
those who have radio licenses are en-
titled to protection from  screaching
sets. A vood citizen would not. know-
ingly interfer with his neighbors.

Saskatoon hockey team has won the

| world’s amateur championship by de-|

feating n picked tenm from the United

States in Italy on Sunday,
+ *

far played. 80 games ‘fn. Kurope and
won 27, lost land tied twa.
a
Ontario ond Qnebec have been get-
ting a ‘little touch of weather. In
few places it was 59 below; others re-
ported 50 below and in Toronto it was
around 25. That is pretty cold for the
eant where the air is fairly damp. ,
ae
Hon. Mr. Pearson, nvinister of labor,
Victorin, started this week an investi-
ation Into wages and hours and con-
ditions in lugging. camps along the
const. Several camps have been shitt
flown and 1200 men.put ont of work.

,At Courtney. on Vaneouver Island, a

strike is threntened. and as that is one
of the biggest cnmps in the provinee,
the Investigation started there.
RR

The Prince Rupert Presbytery will
ineet In-Prinee-Rupert on’ Febreary 28,
Thin ts. othies “Prekbytery. towhich this
Tistrict belongs and several from here
will attend.

the portion near the shore, whieh was

stilt open water. -TIad I not’ been fam-
iar-with the country over which we
were flying I would, at times, bave be-
Heved the svene to be a lake and not
clonds,

Jt is not beyond the possibilities that
In the near future airway companies
will conduct tours for sight seers, sim-
ilur to the present policies of railway
ind steamship companies, They enan-
not guarantee cloud fields every flight
up, her brillkint sunrises, but no long
trip can be made without some view
being witnessed well worth seeing.

On the return trip we gathered the
fur bales from the. Trading. Posts, to
the full capacity, of ‘the’ plane. Fur fs
very bulky for its; weight; and it is dif-
ficult for. a. pllot to make-a pay load
with fur. alone... Some of the more ex-

‘perlenced pilots have taken’ a post

graduate course in’ packing: in: a Nor-
weglan ‘sardine factory. < None ‘of them | j,

acknowledge. the fact,’ but T ‘have’ seen
both, fur, ‘aid pissenger packed; and fun

Insté

=

satisfied with. my, con

Night Classes

The. -Shanjrneks . of Ottawa... have. 389,

frozen, while the ceutre of the lake was |:

For Prospectors |
Start Tomorrow

ers referred to a week or so ago in this
paper, will be started in Hazelt¢n on
Thursday evening next at.8 o'clock in
the high school building (February 15)
The first lecture wil be a story. on the
fundimental features of the origin of
minerals. Mr."Douglas Tay, resident
mining engineer is the lecturer who is
in charge of the schodl, and he says
this story. is a most. interesting one.
All who propose taking the series of
lectures should be there the first night:
as that will enable them to follow the
course more easily,

The series of lectures have been very
carefully thought ont, and whether it
is your intention to fullow prospecting
or not, a lot of very valuable informa:
tion will be gained. The lectures are
divided into two parts—first the main
lecture itself which will take up about
three quarters of an hour, and the
second part will be devoted to discus-
ving features of the lesson and to an-
swering questions. Another fenture is
that cath member of the class will be
given a copy of each lecture so that if
he saves them he will hnve at the end
a very ‘complete book on minerology,
prospecting and mining.

The classes are free to. all and it is
a wonderful opportunity to geined use-
ful knowledge and to spend. a number
of profitable evenings.

‘the night schoo] wilt be held twa
evenings a week, Tuesday and Thurs-
day, beginning on Thurstay, February
15th,

ONLY LIBERALS NEED APPLY

The school for prospectors aud min:

J. A. Grant will |

Help Organize
Local Markets

itarkets Commissioner J. A. Grant
will be available for the district be-
tween Prince George and Terrace far
two weeks from March 12 to assist
the farmers to organize for marketing
purposes. Now.that a start has been
made ‘for orderly roarketing of interior
products {t.1s- proposed to. carry on
the good work until the interior is pro-
ducing what the coast and Prince Geo-
Tge people want, and. that the various
sections best suited for certain pru-
ducts will produce those products and
niintiin a regular supply so far as ix
possible.

. Mr. Grant is a good organizer and 2
good speaker. He has had years of
experience and knows his business, He
shoul be of great value to the agri-
cultural industry in the north, °

_ Any section that desires to have Mv.
Grant speak to the people are asker to
send their request to D. Sutherland at
Sinithers at once so that an ttinlary
nuiy be arranged, and soa that Mr.
Grant’s services will be used where
they will do the most good.

New President
Canadian N.R.
Knew His Job

Montreal-—The Hon. Chas. P, Fuller-
ton, K.C,, chairman of ‘the trustees.
Canndinn ‘National Railways, has is-
sued the following official circular :—

“Mr. §. J. Hungerford has been a+
pointed president of the National Rail.

Notice Posted in Bella. Coola by. Seerp-
“tary” “Liberal ‘Association.~

‘A notice was boarded in Bella Coola
reniling as follows :—“Applications will
be received by the undersigned until
noon, February 6, 1934, for road fore-
Inan, tractor drivers and truck drivers
in the Bella Coola Valey and district.
Applicant must state qualifications, @x-
perience and what position he desires,
Applicant must be a Libernl and have
his application endorsed by three Lib-
eras in good standing.”

This notice was signed bi A. Bry-
nildsen, * secretary-treasurer of — the
Bella Coola Litheral Association,

While that is pretty raw it is even
an letter system than was adopted in
Skeenn riding where men were appoint
ed aud fired and renppointed, and oth-
ers clilo they were promised the Jobs
and ditwt get them, and there is 9
general disturbance throughout the rid.
ing. About the “only thing that has
vet been definitely settled is that all
Conservatives holding road jobs are out
and little if any hope of getting on,
that is, while the present people are in
chirge ov think they are in-charge,

C.

The minister of public works, when
he sav that despatch from Bella Coola
denied all knowedge of it and said
that certainy there was no authority
for it. We accept the minister's state-|¢
ment. Cer tainly he would not permit
such a notice being put up in public.
But the minfster has a lot to learn yet
ahout that “well ofled machine’ the
present premier boasted of during the
eramprign, The minister wil -have to
throw some sond In the whels to stop
the machine working 80 “smoothly, 1

In Ewope as-& whole, excluding Itus-
sin, whent aereage ts now above the: pre’
war level, ‘The major importing coun
tries, however, have -not reached the
pre-war level but this is’ offset by in-
creases In the rest of Hurope.
ee

It is. believed that grasshoppers. will
he present’ In greater numbers.in the
Nicola Valley. this yeat and-that much

"pofsontng. work: on: the: egg beds will
“have, ta he done’ ‘next pring. : oe

WAYS,, reporting . fo the trustees. The ;

“lappaintment’ covers ‘the Canadian Nii:

tional Railway Company and other raf
way and other companies comprised in
the National Railway. .

Mr. Hungerford bas been acting a=
president of the Canadian National sy?-
tem since July 20, 1932, carrying on at
the same time his former duties a<
vice-president in charge of operation.

Few railroad nen in Canada have
gone more thoroughly “through the
mill’ than has Mr. Hungerford. Tis
story is one of thoroughness in his jo.
of learning every phase of railroading
from the days when, in 1886, he trage:t
along with his dinner pail to the South
eastern railway shops in Farnham.
Que., to start his railway career as nn
apprentice, who in due time became a
michinist and, from that start moved
stendily on until in 48 years he has be-
come president of the largest railwny
system in Americn. It is a story of n
boy earning” éight cents an hour for
ten hours a day—$4.80 a. week—whnu
studied at home every night and car-
ried his books to work with him thit
he might study still more at luneh hour
when the other young fellows arannd
the railway shops were playing foothal:
or haselail It is a story of Jearnins
every part of railway mechanical work
from the days of the old wood-burnine
locomotives to thely modern giant sue
cessors,

Men who worked with him ar for
him in the Southeastern shops nt Farn-
ham: .at Montreal; at Megantic and
MeAdam Junction in the East: or. at
Cranbrook, Calgary or Winnipeg, in the
West, all tell the same story; that 5.
J, Hungerford moved up the Inder
becuure he studied his job thoroughly
from the time he first earried his diu-
net pail into the shops ‘at, Farnham.

'. 8. J.. Hungerford .was born at Beil-
ford, Que, in 1872. His father ded
before he was through schoo} and. ut
fourteen yeare of age, though his wid-
owed mother urged him to continue hiv’
schooling, young Hungerford Insisted
he was going out to get a‘ job. The
Soutthenstem Shops at Farnham furn-
dshed the job. Completing his appren-
Heeship, Mr. Hungerford, became. mna-

_ Cont ined: on Page : 2. ae