South Fort George has now a licensed hotel, arid should be the means* of destroying the "blind" auxiliaries. > „ iMi ¦VA . The red stage Coach marks toother gpxh jk our history. It wul-Jbe-the ebonjM)fficered Pullman to roll along n«jct! 1, NO. 63 SOUTH FORT GEORGE, B. C;, OCTOBER 2L,:\xill $3DOLLARS PER ANNUM Former Reserve Deal a Fake— Apparently F. G. D. Durnford, an ex-em-nloyee of the Department of the Interior, who obtained a properly executed option on Indian Reserve No. 1 here for the-sum-oT $i, under the-guise of purchasing under proper authority, is an arrant four-flusher and would-be get-rich-quick artist. A special stage which arrived here on Tbursdny last brought in J. G. Ramsden, Chief Indiim Commissioner for the Dominion of Canada, accompanied by T. W. McRae, of the G. t. P. Legal Department, to make a fina} at- way Officials now Here to Act tempt to close a deal on behalf of the railway company for the reserved Next week we will printa a full report^)! the proceedings. Runners have been sent out after the Indians and they will gather here immediately to meet the G..T. P. representatives. It be- hooves the business interests here to use whatever influence they may have with the Indians to; assist the railway company in the acquisition of the land. There has been too maich interferance already by irresponsible outsiders and flim-flam townsite con- cerns in the Indian reserve matter. C. C. VanArsdel, chief engineer of the western division was also an arrival on the stage. He is waiting the arrival of J. W. Stewart, managing director of Foley, Welch & Stewart, who is on his way here from Tete Jaune Cache, accompanied by B. B. Kelliher, cnief engineer of the road. They will proceed from here to Hnzelton by the trail. ¦ * Local and Provincial II. P. MacMalwn, Superintendent of the Western branches of the Traders Bank of (lunada, arrived here on the Steamer Chil-cd'tin on Monday last. Mr. MacMahon expressed considerable surprise at the develop-ment of South Fort George, and is favorably impressed with the future assured tho place. Mr. MacMahon. stated that he would recommend the bank] to erect a creditable building here some time next year, as their Ijresent premises in the Fort George Lumber mid Trading Company's building would, by that time prove inadequate for their purpose here. Mr. MacMahon was vastly pleased with the showing of the bank under man-utrer Seannan here, during the past year. For the first time in history the stages ol the* British Columbia Express/Company rolled into South Fort George onThursday, lust. The big red Coaches^drawn by^four splendid horses showed signs of the hard trip they had made over the rough and uncompleted roaa between here and Quesnel. Drivers Fred Peters and Al. Young do not (•oriiplain of that portion of the road which lies betwedh South' Fort George and Black-wiiti»r, but they state that for the big (•onclwsJ the road between Blackwater • and Quesnel is altogether impracticable-and ¦dangerous. Both the drivers are, experts-at handling the ribbons and ope^ld-timers on the Cariboo road service. The stages brought in twenty-iive bags of mail and jajveri passengers^TThe service will noti be so (liflk-ultttf'run With the smaller sleighs the vomptiny wjll use on their winter service, -'hut t\to wheel rigs which they have impressed into the service* during the interrupted navigation will have great difficulty in making thejrip on any kind of schedule. The stages made good time on the road, leaving Quesnel on Monday morning and landing here Thursday at 4. p.m. Bold, bad burglars • entered the general merchandise store otf 'Williaun Blair & Co., lust Thursday night between the hours of eleven aod twelve and cleaned the establishment of thirty six watches, a large high power rifle, a couple of shot guns and other articles of lesser value that the burglar men wanted. The robbery was very crudely executed, the men gaining admittance by breaking in the corner of the glass door and turning the catch. The noise of the men in the store was heard in the Bank of B. N. A. across the street, but it was thought that Mr. 151 air was perhaps working late. The apprehension of the theives should not be a difficult matter, as the authorities have evidence which points to the identity of the culprits. / ¦ " . Johnn tributed a^ fine of twenty dollars, to the trown, and costs amounting to ten more. He was tried on a charge of drawing a.gun with intent jto do-greyiou8 bodily harm to »y. White in an .altercation in the latter Kentleman's officeT Foil this offence he was fined twenty samoleons. On a charge of carrying concealed weapons he was^dischar-tfed, the Court ruling thai the .evidence was «ot sufficient. There are Łob, many men '"•Mahouts,,carrying-. guh« _|n their hip-Pocket. It is a dangerous habit and ahould .be vigorously prosecuted, *$ preyentionjs; TO READJUST TAXATION ON "WILD LAND" The provincial government are now dealing, with the question of raising the wild land tax. We advocated over a year ago, tihat such a procedure at that time would have, the effect of curtailing the acquisition of great areas of land under the "purchase clause" of the Land act, which has since been amended by the placing of vas* reserves'. The retroactive features of the land Before the representative of the Winnipeg Post landed here accompanied by George J. Hammond's right-hand-man some weeks ago, we had sent Knox McGee, the real editor and the owner of The Post, an article, which, out of fairness to The Herald he should have published..The article referred to was intended to show the Post readers why the Fort George Herald had ever attacked the townsites promoted by George Hammond on the Nechaco Biver here, for the" promoter had written and had been fortunate enough to have published in the Post a letter, bewailing the attitude which that paper had assumed towards his operations at Fort^George and endeavouring to lay- the J^Utine1 therefor at the door of this office, and on the head of The Herald's editor, whom, according to Hammond^was a blackmailing publisher. McGee, however, had suffered his puppet to be led up here by one of Hammond's J>unco-steerers, who was paying the bills.-That was a bright outlook for a continuance of the expose commenced by the Post upon observations' of their own anent the pavement lot-peddling methods of the gang's Winnipeg apents. Some sort of an arrangement was evidently arrived at in Vancouver and the Post man went back to act amendments have borne harshly upon, the operators who were proceeding under the act to acquire lands, and the Raising of the Wild Land tax at this time would add a further injustice, j.. At a session of the provincial commission to inquire into the assessments and taxation, late last month, the meeting was devoted principally to the question of how best trt assess and tax the wild lands o! the province. The'proposition that the present tax on wild land should be increased was strongly opposed by Manager Lewtbwaite, of the Nechaco Land company. He favored a fixed charge instead of ten cents per acre on all lands. Senator Macdonald, who was present and testified, gave it as his opinion that all persons who contributed $25 a year in tax- es, should be relieved from, a revenue tax. He considered that a personal property tax was very difficult to collect at all fairly. He was for placing a heavier tax on wild land than-on ordinary land. W. J. Sutton, in his evidence, considered that the holding of wild land was detrimental to the development of the provinco and should be taxed accordingly. A. suggestion that wild land be taxed on e four per cent, basis, however, lie thought would be prohibitive. „" THE WINNIPEG POST AND HAMMOND Winnipeg to fix things up for Hammond and as a fitting and just denouement to pile a residue of blaim, construed as malice, hatred and all uncharitableness upon the Fort George Herald and its editor. n:e-jcan't believe that all newspapers have their pric'e,--but how are we to explain the sudden changes of poljcy that1 affects some of our contemporaries afterHhe.y_ have become bettor acquainted with Mr. Harnmond or his agents. We know that he bribes, aJui-^can prove this as he tried to bribe The HeraUT* to quit attacking himself and his townsites. We know him as a smooth and crooked promoter, and a clever and rather dangerous man. He has succeeded, in spite of exposures in peddling, through an organization of agencies liberally assisted by great expenditures in advertising, more than twenty odd thousand lots in his conglomerated Fort George townsites, and the big percentage of investors will not realize enough interest on their investment in the next five years to buy any of tl«e back numbers of The Herald, which would have put them wise; . The article we sent to Knox McGee ex- plained our attitude. It told of the rotten promotion methods we had and were ex-poBing. It showed the enormity of the Fort George townsites promoted by the Natural Resources Security Company. It cited some of the many letters we are receiving all the time showing that people are being let to purchase under gross misrepresentation. ,We also told'how, on assuming an attitude detrimental to Hammond and his interests, we, had been subjected to an organized attack upon our business. Their methods led us to investigate the past of the promoters .and we found that Hammond had been identified with get-rich-quick schemes since he left his native town on Lake Erie. He had been run out of Woodstock,,Ont., for crooked work. His name in Chicago and Minneapolis ys a stench in the nostrils of thousands of those whom he had defrauded. In the interests of The Herald our correspondent in Chicago was shown a rogues/ gallery picture of the man, taken in Indiana where he ran into the arms of the law on a charge of wire-tapping, and in a bygone issue of Everybody's Magazine we note a reference to him as a "get-rich-quick swindler, wire tapper and gaol-bird." We are not delving into the past of this man out of pure cussidness, or in any sense of retaliation for his own fight against The Herald, but the promoter, whose operations are hurting legitimate investment in the district, stands in a spot-light of self-directed and cash-created bona fides^ and covered with a veneer of business integrity gathered from &n ill-advised bank president who had his cash to keep, and from the hoorahs of his personal organs when he dedicated a 'phony hospital or added aa eclesiastical prop to his scheme of promotion, a.nd by similar methods he adds to his standing, and with every lot sold he adds his own personal guarantee. We wish the public to. -know and appreciate the intrinsic, value of George^J. Hammond's "personal guar-antcey As to his townsites, the basis of our contention is that they are magnificently 'misrepresented. They consist of thousands upon thousands of pegs planted twenty-five feet apart on some two thousand acres of land behind the Indian Reserve here. They are, with the exception of-the townsite company's development and itsTinduced busi>/ ness houses, bare, empty, undeveloped and desolate, as we believe it will remain for many years. "FRASER LAKE" TO BE TOWNSITED BY THE 6. T. P. SLR. A despatch from Vancouver, dated October 7, states that G. U. Ryley, land com-missioner of the Grand Trunk Pacific _rail-_ way, has announced that the company are putting on the market at. once the townsito of Fraser Lake. Fraser Lake, is situated on the company's main line in British Columbia, 120 miles west of tliis place, and on the west end of the lake from which it derives its name. The townsite is situated on the homestead and pre-emption of Malcolm Me-Novin, the local road superintendent, being Lots 2011 and 617, range 5, Coast district. Mr. Riley says that this will be one of the much better than cure in gun-fights. most important points on the compMiy's. line in the interior of British Columbia, as it is situated tributary to a magnificent farming and grazing country, and in a district of unlimited natural resources, and on account of its excellent location on the shore of Fraser Lake, which lake is at the head of one. thousand miles of navigable water. Mr. Brownlee, the well-known British Columbia ,and Manitoba surveyor, who laid out Fraser Lake townsite, brought his supplies in by tike steamboat from Soda Creek and unloaded, them direct from the . boat on the townsite. He also speaks highly regarding the townsite and surrounding district. The British American ^Trust company, of Vancouver and Victoria, and MacMillan & Vollans, of Winnipeg, will,have charge of the sale of lots for the company. Information and plans may be hud from these two firms, or from G. U. Byley, land commissio-er, care the Grand Trunk Pacific railway, Winnipeg. All contracts for sale and deeds are issued to purchasers by the Townsite & Development Co.,,of the G.,T. P7 A unique feature in the sale of this town? .site is the depositing by the company of 5 per cent, of the gross sale of lbts in the townsite with a trust company which will be turned over to a committee appointed ' The frosty mornings give warning of-the approach of winter and. the community at large is planning ways and means of amusing itself during the long sunny winter days when the thermometer registers degrees below zero. The South Fort George Skating club was organized -.this week for the purpose of building, a standard sized rink on the ground^used during the past summer by the' tennis club. The following officers were elected: ^^ " ' ¦ • >%< ' i Hon. President, ,J. A. Fraser, M. 1>A. President, M. C. Wiggins. Vice-President, Russell Peden. ^ecy.-T^es. F. O'Flaherty. . Committee, W. Thorne. J. Flynn. W. F. Co|>ke. i .. The rink is tfi be surrounded by a fence eight feeŁ in height to protect it from any wind and to help to keep it dear of snow. Season tickets will be sold f^r $10, ladies being admitted free at all times. The committee have charge tho arranging for band nights, hockey matches and carnivals, and they are now planning a Halloween Dance, to be held on October 31st.) which will probably be in the nature of a nmaquerade or a calico dance, the proceeds from which will go, to the rink |fnnd. ___-----__L-------'o------------¦—!—- • . - Tho opening services of tl*> new, Knox Presbyterian Church will be held tomorrow, Sunday, conducted by the ministor, Rev; C W. |Wright. The dedicatory service will be held at 3 p. in- and t!he evening'service at 7 p. m. Special music is fveing arranged for the occasion. \ ~ \ The work of building has been rushed with commendable'energy under the direction of Contractor D. A. Brewster, the foundation having been laid less than twoiweek. ago, on October 9. The building prwentt an at- Inspecting Willow River Timber Limits J. McKay Anderson, of the Willow River Timber Company, accompanied by J. W. Gordon, of St. Catharines, Ont., arrived here from Stoney Lake on the Willawi Eiver, this week after a long lwird trip from tho upper reaches of the river, on account of tl*3 very low water. The down stream trip on the Willow River, made by the timber men, usually occupied about two days, but the distance was covered only with great difficulty and exertion by Messrs. Anderson and Gordon Tii*nine days, for*seven of which When a town is situated geographically three hundred miles from the nearest railroad point, which is a condition affecting this place today, every convenience that can be afforded it by the governments should be forthcoming; freely and dependably, as a reasonable measure of assistance to the pioneers who are developing by their energy and ambition', the Hinterlands of the country which those governments are administering. For two-solid weeks the people.here did not receive their mail until the mail contractors sont in the congested accutnul^ ation over the waggon road by their stages. The mail contractors have no-Nmore legal right „to • delay the people's^mail than a Chinaman has to vbte in^Canada. They do thesii thingsion purejgtfli, and needlcriticisn^. for the display,;but it would be a pungent criticism- that would rectify tlko mail delivery system as conducted by the British Col-timbia Express Company. The late John Houston's criticism of the initial*service-*led ^¦active appearance and the whole equipment is of the highest order,-The auditorium is 20x30 feet with higb octagon-ceiling arid^ the vestibule 8x8 feet. The enterprise has been made possible by, generous friends oft the church Avho arc contributing through they were practically out of food, living off a straight diet of dried apples. After crossing the canyon portage on the lower Willow River they smashed their canoe and came in to town over Leask's winter trail which strikes the Willow some miles above the mouth of Eagle Creek. - The Willow River Timber Company have 52 sections of timber on- ¦the-^iver._They were located in 1308 by Mr.- Anderson. The Barkerville and Willow River Railroad are surveying a line in close proximity to the from a properly constituted, board of trade,' when such boajW has a bona fide membership of twenty-five, or over residents of Fraser Lake. Said trust funds to be used for improving the streets, laying sidewalks, the erection of town hall, etc. It is expected there will be a rush of buyers to get locations and investments is this townsite, and the opening prices are considered exceptionally low. Mr. Ryley was asked regarding the railway company's connection with Fort Ira? ser, a townsite east of the lake, now being advertised and sold by the Dominion Stock & Bond Corporation, of Vancouver, and he stated they were in ho way connected with this promotion, and the railway did not even have a siding at that point. ,-\>" holdings. The railroad survey reached a point below Stoney River this summer, about 30 miles from the mouth of the River. They were obliged^tcrreturn to Barkerville from that point/however, as the party had run short of provisions. Messrs. Anderson and Gordon were accompanied by Ą, H. Youdell,' a Vancouver Provincial Land Surveyor, who is laying out the limits. When they left the ground Mr. Youdell'a partyj^had already surveyed fifty sections and himself and party-were expecteh-here;~ Mr.r-Youdell also' surveyed 25 sections for Alexander Mann, a brother of Dann Mann, James M. Anderson and others in'the syndicate. ABOUT MAIL Senator Hewitt Bostock to take the matter up and-bring .it "to g successful conclusion for the time being, and instead'of the citizens of the town havings to pay for tiheir own mail service. the^:gdvernmeht, sicked on by Houston and--Senatbr Bostock, consent^ ed to do. JPhyea upon us, but in the home mission board, a i dollar for every dollar raised locally. It is expected that in this way tha full required amount, about $1500, will be realized and the church left free of debit.~ , H, '^r~~ t-^i^' Regular service, will be held in the church the interim our mail service is rudely disrupted whilst the express conripany are wondering whether the watef^will raise or not. This sort of management does not reflect much creditufjon the company. If ail con-tractors should be prepared to deliver nail either'by land or water to South Port .George on time, or as nearly so as circumstances would reasonably permit. Although as we have pointed out, the B. G. Express Company is the only outfit that can handle the mail properly on the Cariboo road, it will not be many months before an alter- -v native route is presented for mail delivery by the advent of steel at Tete Jaune Cache. Things have also changed at Ottawa, and the new Postmaster General | should look mioihe deliyery of mail into the remote* ... districts, where the people depend upon the mail service for their sole means of communication with the "highways and byways . that radiate from the steel permanent way, and the centres of industry around it. , p every Sunday evening at 7\o'clock. AH are invited to enjoy the priveleges which the establishment of a progressive church will " ' afford and it is hoped that many will share "In^the^developmient of an orgauization_tq_ j serve the higher needs of-the i \ \