THE REVIEW

PAGE FIVE.

(CENTENNIAL
An old prospector came out of
the northern back country in 1872
and. told.of a gold strike in the
Cassiar. It was the start of an
excitement that lasted eight
years and saw more than $4
million in gold brought out.

The Cassiar’ was the name
given to the area of the Liard
River basin and by June 1874
there were 1,400 men working the
stream beds there, plagued by
mosquitoes in. summer,
threatened with. freezing each
winter .and. always -coping with
near starvation and scurvy.

The ‘‘diggins”’ often were deep
and tunnelling difficult because
thé ground was frozen to a depth
of 80 feet, even: in :July ‘and
August. Sometimes a miner had
to heat rocks and wheel them into
his mine to thaw the dirt. And’as
it was in the earlier gold rushes,
most: of the miners won small
reward for their suffering.

One. of the exceptions. was
Alfred Freeman, who in 1877
uncovered a large boulder and
tossing it aside, noted its .ex-
ceptional weight. Hetook a closer
look and found it to be a: giant
nugget, weighing 73 ounces and
worth $1,241, the - largest. ever
found:in British Columbia until
that time.

The usual route into the Cassiar
was from the coast, up the Stikine
River before spring break-up,
pulling your gear. and supplies on
a sled. Others came up overland

_from Quesnel]. But the trail was a.

path of suffering marked by dead

-animals and cast-off equipment.

‘The scattered towns of. the
Cassiar, some of them consisting
of only two or three log buildings,
offered a man cheap liquor (25¢ a
“drink) while a. plate. of brown

‘bread, beans. and coffee cost $2.

“And a day’s wages would only

~-buy_a pair of gumboots:

Some of these stopping places

~ were: Takla Landing, Sylvester's.
Landing and Lake House. Larger.”

villages known. to ‘the -Cassiar.:
miners. were Hazelton,- Glenora,
Centreville. and Laketon, which.

a dozen stores; two or three hotels.

~ with saloons, government offices;

“a courthouse and: ‘jail and 3.

houses and shacks. :
The .towns: ‘shrunk to” ‘almost

o ‘nothing in winter. In the winter of ©

nn

-"75 wrote one resident, there were.
“two hotel- -keepers, three. but-"
chers, three storekeepers, one
tailor, °12.: woodchoppers,. 18

miners, four whip-sawers,..one

‘teamster ano our enlightened and

well-informed recorder,. besides

-seven.. petty-larceny poker

Players, wasting their, time at

* four-bits limit.”’

~ Cassiar’ was too rough a.

‘was the metropolis of the north =

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‘IL FEATURE)

country for women and very few
summered there prior to.1880 and
only one went back after a first
experience. She. was Miss Nellie
Cashman, a young and pretty
blonde who kept a saloon and
eating house at Laketon.

A correspondent for the British
Colonist said she was a “real
energetic Yankee"’ who went
north from. Victoria in 1874 in
April and stayed until November.
In 1875 she left Victoria again for
Laketon with the first crowd of
miners and. went. up. the frozen
Stikeen in. February with a sled

‘and 200 pounds of freight. alone

on 18-day journey.

The Cassiar rush. didn't rank
with the: Cariboo or the Fraser
gold rushes in importance,
caused hardly a ripple in the

‘outside world and did little to aid

in the development of- the
Province.

But. it did provide some
geographic. knowledge -of . nor-
thern British Columbia. and
brought: in some people who
stayed to prospect. further. to
farm and to trap and to trade
with the Indians.

THE JACK SCOTT COLU/

iN

If, in’ a.. week moment. of
senility, I should ever decide to
go and live in Sun City, Arizona,
will you kindly tuck the muzzle of
a .38 Webley in my right ear and
quickly, humanely, pull the
trigger?

Surely not- since those pre-
civiliation days when the shaman
of certain primitive tribes booted
out the elders from the camp (for
very practical economic reasons)
has there been such a dismal fate
for the old folks as this ‘‘modern"’
solution to the problems of the so-
called sunset vears. That it’s a
voluntary banishment, in. this
case, doesn’t make it any the
more attractive.

A friend. just back from. that
region tells me that the deserts of
California, Nevada, Arizona.and
New Mexico are now strewn with
Sun Cities, luxury-ridden village-
subdivisions exclusively for the
retired ‘who've. an income. of
$10,000 or more.

They live in handsome, pastel-
tinted homes on wide, palm-lined
avenues with parks, golf courses.
swimming pools, ‘community
buildings. for hebbies and
recreation. Children are barred
except as visitors and no one

younger than 50 is eligible. I is.

in ‘short, a kind “of gigantic

Happier Old Age Club idea and
such a success as a real estate
venture that there are dozens and
dozens of them.

They are designed as geriatric

paradises. it seems, and just
thinking about it giver. me the
creeps.

Accounts of life. in these’ set-
tlements teli of a downright
frantic. activity-minstrel shows.
square dancing, . shuffle-board.
bowling and Lord knows what ~
and it’s hard to escape the notion
that there’s a somewhat
desperate need to find gang
substitutes for the more pur-
poseful individual. endeavors of
the main. stream of society.

My friend got the impression of
a group of people hermetically
sealed from the joys, the
challenges and demands: of real
life. Withdrawn from the joust of
mankind, playing: patty-cake.
making sand castles and seeking
forgetfulness with their boys out
there ‘in. the desert. They are
killing time, the enemy.

The fact that it is by choice
takes the. sting out of it: If this
were a tribal. custom, as it once
was, there'd be howls. of: in-
dignation at the terrible waste of
arbitrarily exiling ‘citizens who

still have much to contribute.

For Ancients Only

The fact that-it is a more in-
direct edict by a-society that has
come to Worship: youth and to
discard the wisdom, knowledge
and counsel of the aged makes it
acceptable and perhaps even
desirable. Yet-it is still oblivion,
however pastel-pink vou tint it.

Project this Sun City concept
into a general way of life. the
colonization of the ancients,
sectarianism by seniority, a sort
of fashionable, painless
geographic euthanasia, and life
would hardly seem. worth living
after 40, much less beginning.

Try as L.will, T can't see how

anyone profits by the theory of

Sun City.
It represents, on the one-hand,

a denial of al) those contributions

that men. and women of. true
maturity can give to the young
and, on the other, the denial of the
zest. and vigor. that comes from
association with the new
generation. Everybody. loses.

Ik seems ta me,
would make a man or woman
older much. swifter than
calendar alone might dictate.

Forever. reminded ‘of this

apartness from the greener

years, conditioned in thought and
action by the aged alone, all too
aware. down .deep. of. a_self-

too, that) it”

“Monday's
the.

imposed sentence of usclessness..
T doubt it’ anv amount. of. self-
conscious. cavorting in. sucha
plush. ‘antiseptic. play-pen. can
hide the feeling that they're on
the tobaggan slide of the years.

I'd give much better odds for
contentment and longevity to the
oldster who clings to respon-
sibilities, who is imbedded in
children instead of barring them
from his life, who ogles the pretly
dollies at the pool instead of
sentencing himself to splash
about with granny. the mean, old
cantankerous, lusty gaffer who
keeps rudely: butting up against
life as. long as he's able: and
wouldn't: be: found dead in ‘the
mink-lined: Old) People’s: Home
that is: Sun City.

VOTE
AGAINST SELF

Only dissenting vote during
meeting of North
Saanich Council was that of
Alderman. Barney Taylor
voting against the appointment of
himself as voting delegate to the
Union of. British Columbia
Municipalities convention. He
was elected.

Loan.

“payment.

construction. :

Previous Gritist

diately preceding the

The Loan can equal but c¢

We’ ll be glad to help with a
$1000 Home Acquisition Grant |
or $5000 second Mortgage —

Go ahead and look around. We can make. it easier for. you
_to-buy a new home of your choice or build one by providing

an outright $1000 Home Acquisition Grant or a $5000 Second

Mortgage Loan that may be used as part or all of your down

To qualify: You must be the first occupant of the new hore
and must have lived in British Columbia for.12 months imme.
date of purchase or complation of

a

oe : | CY
“THE GOVERNMENT OF THE +745.
PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
HON, W, A, C, BENNETT, P.C., Pramier and Minister of Finance

G, S, BRYSON, Loputy Miristar of Finwtow

dannot exceed te "ference be-
tween the cos st of the properly and the first: mortgage.
Columbia Government Annual Home-owner '
' Grants will be deducted from the $1000 Grant, but not if you
choose a Second Mortgage Loan,

ate Aa AAA SAE

$36.90..

Interest lower than on Federal N. H, A.
first mortgages

If payments are made promptly there will be: an annual refund.
“of up to 10%, reducing the affective interast rate on a 25-year.
~ Second Mortgage loan to 742%. For oxamplo, the monthly
~ payment on a.$5000, 25-year Second Mortgage Loan is:
$41,00 but tha 10% % rotund would In ottect reduce this to

All mortgages Fully Insured—
without extra charge -

it the horrower who'ls the principal supporter of the family
dies, tha Government. of British Columbia wilt forgive the
remaining debt, There is no charge for-this insurance = nor
are there any application, {egal or registration {oo8 OF.
. charges. . 7

Annual Home-owner Grants ee eee ene ee
‘reduce your property taxes ss a7

Onco you have purchased your new home you become
oligibla for the British Columbia Government Home-owner
Grant of up to $170 annually~an important factor in holping |
fo reduce the amount of your property taxes, a)

For further Information mail this coupon

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Address.

Second Mortgage Loan,

it he eee oe ee Oe ee ce

Lee Rane ee eb eee

Provinclal Administrator, Homo-ownar Assistance,
Dopartment of Finance,
Parilamant Buildings,
Victoria, British Columbia

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Ploase send me {ull information with regard to tha
$1000 Grant for buying a now home and + $5000, woe
|

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PER RERY Ae eRe de

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cap antibod siabban ts behdoaih ge

For
Outstanding

Olympic Brand,
Government Inspecte

Cryovac Halves.

Chocolate, Coconut,

Banana, Lemon,

or. Neapolitan

Idem. each 20.2 cess. eee

q,

Apple. &
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Prices Effective: May 19th to May 22nd

Tn Your Mstondly .
WE HEBERVE THE RIGHT TO ant ¢ QUANTITIES»

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