From the Archives of Western Newspapers

By Samantha Johnson
Southern Alberta Newspapers
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

November 19, 1908 – The Crossfield Chronicle

We understand the demand for railway cars in Saskatchewan has slacked earlier than expected and the railway company is able to place more at the disposal of Alberta farmers. With the wheat crop being so great and cars scarce, this information will be pleasing to all farmers.

Grossly exaggerated reports of weather conditions in the Canadian West – of mythical terrific storms tying the country up and bringing transportation to a standstill – have recently been sent out to the American press by correspondents in Winnipeg and Medicine Hat. It is understood the government will take vigorous action to punish the culprits. For a similar offence last year, a correspondent was fined $20.

Two farmers were up before the magistrate on charges of fencing up a trail and neglecting to put on a top rail as protection for anyone driving along it at night. They were ordered to pay expenses.

November 19, 1910 – Bow Island Review

Relief agent for the Dominion Immigration Department came through the area southwest of Medicine Hat, covering 54 townships and only finding two cases requiring assistance. The first is a widow with five children who is successfully homesteading a claim. Neighbours have displayed unusual generosity, helping to break ground and harvest more than is needed to prove her claim. The other family had hard luck with a horse and some cattle.

Representative of Alberta at the International Prison Congress in Washington, DC said, “probation has proved a most powerful factor in the moral reform of adults, for too often a man errs more in judgment than in intent, and the sound advice and kindly help of a probation officer not infrequently is all he needs to steady him on his feet.”

Caddies, as everyone knows, often become expert golf players, and trotting around the links at more than one local course are youngsters who could put it over men whose clubs they carry. It often happens an amateur draws one of these characters only to find himself playing in a mysteriously depressing atmosphere when the caddy is unable to withhold his contempt.

November 22, 1911 – The Wainwright Star

A volcano on the island of San Salvador serves the purpose of a lighthouse and requires no keeper. It is about eight miles inland and provides a pillar of cloud to guide by during the day and a flash of light, where a burst of flame emits about every seven minutes, at night, which has been invaluable to mariners for years. A lighthouse fee is collected of all vessels putting into harbour nearest the volcano and no skipper objects as the novelty of the light is worth the price charged by the government.

From all appearances, winter has decided to hang on until the time when it should have started in earnest. The thermometer has registered as low as 25 below and much snow has fallen in most parts of the province. Farmers were entirely unprepared for it with threshing only three-fifths complete in many districts.

It is surprising to note that little interest has yet been displayed for the upcoming municipal elections. Nominations will be announced next week and there has not been a release about who is running. Even the three councillors, whose terms expires at the end of this year, have not expressed whether they will stand or not.

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