From the Archives of Western Newspapers

Posted on May 28, 2026 by admin

By Samantha Johnson
For Southern Alberta Newspapers

May 28, 1897 – Macleod Gazette

A delegation, consisting of Mayor Grady and Councillor Cowdry, have returned from Ottawa and presented their reports to council last week. Sending these two individuals cost the town just under $500. After careful consideration, the paper has concluded there was nothing accomplished that could not have been done by correspondence and the money spent could have been expended to much better advantage in needed improvements to the town.

Dr. Mary Walker is now in Washington and there is no busier person. She is the most successful lobbyist and, if truth must be told, she makes it a point to know what she is talking about and has a fine wit that gives her point force. (Dr. Walker was a surgeon during the civil war, the first female surgeon in the US Army and the only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor. The medal, along with many others, was revoked in 1917, although she refused to return it, and then restored in 1977, long after her death in 1919.)

It was rumoured the other day that a telegram was received from the Mayor of Lethbridge saying the government and the CPR have come to terms regarding the building of the Crow’s Nest Pass road and construction would begin at once. No confirmation of the report has been received. If any work is to be done this year, there is not much time to waste.

May 26, 1910 – The Bowden News

May 24th was another red-letter day for Bowden. The weatherman ordered perfect climatic conditions and residents from our sister towns all gathered here and did their mite to make things hum. We can justly say the races, ball games, sports and dance were all enjoyed and everything went off in an orderly manner.

To study the effects of Hayley’s Comet on the earth, an expedition to Iceland is being organized from the university in Gottingen, Germany. The members of the expedition hope to decide the question concerning if passage of the earth through a comet’s tail causes electro-magnetic disturbances to our atmosphere. The German expedition will cooperate with one from the Carnegie Institute, who are travelling to Alaska, and another from Norway, who are going to North Cape.

It is understood the Vatican will forward a protest to the Prince of Monaco due to his recent visit to the Quirinal. It practically repeats the argument set forth at the protest sent to President Loubet after his visit to the Quirinal in 1904.

May 21, 1914 – The Coleman
Bulletin

After receiving instructions from Ottawa, the noted naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton announced he was on a mission to save antelope in the west from annihilation. Seton will be spending the next few years securing land for an antelope sanctuary and has stated their numbers are very low and they are facing extinction due to over-hunting.

The Royal United Service Institute received an interesting historical souvenir from the Bank of England. It is the one -thousand-pound Bank of England note Lord Cochrane paid to secure his release in 1814. He was imprisoned on false charges of swindling in connection with the Berenger frauds. After being in jail one year, he was persuaded to pay the fine and the note was generated by the admiring public donating two-cent subscriptions.

The only case in police court this week was a chap who got a little warm under the collar and gave vent to his feelings by using good English words in a way they were never intended to be used. Chief Ford, having a fond regard for the poetical beauty of the language, couldn’t stand for any of the rough stuff and he gathered the careless one in and charged him.