VOL. 3,.NO. 3.
SOUTH FOKT GEORGE, B. C, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBERJi 1912.
J3 PER ANNUM
A party of men arrived in town thiS week from the upper river, brnging down two* scow loads .of Bu'pplies for Engineer Gill and his surveyors on the Indian Reservation.
Sam McGoffln left for his contract ,flbove the Grand Canyon for two montusj absence this week. Hiv camp tight miles above here is shut down
until the spring.
Miss Oliver, who has been visiting Mends at Vancouver, returned here on Monday last..
No'trace has yet been discovered of.the man Wright who broke out of jail here some two weeks ago.
The Fraser River is ve.y low.. The mail steamer "B. X." which was due here on Thursday. afternoon, has not come to port up to the time of our Koing to press. On her last trip the mail steamboat struck a rock in the Poit George Canyon, and although no damage was done the boat was delayed for several hours. Manager West has issued instructions for the placing of two-hcrse stock at the road houses and relay places along the winter stage route between here and Quesnel, in anticipation of having to s:nd one mail a week in over -the road unless the water raises.  ¦
A Vancouver daily r.eproduc:s an article we published about Bill Freeman, the "River-hog", under the following capticn: "Bmporer Absolute of Dynamite Force: Official Who is Paying Havoc With Gorges and Canyons That Give Trouble: Is Working in Silence: Man Who Scarce-. ly Ever Speaks But Who is Smashing Up the Earth."
No water—thanks.
J. B. Daniell leaves for the coast next weak on business. He will return about October the fifteenth.
McGag'.iren & Thornejs building now stands on its new location next to Wesley & Wiggins' office on Hamilton Avenue.
October the second. Two of the October the second. Two of the most important- cases will be the criminal libel case brought a?alast this paper by one George J.' Hammond, a townsite promoter, which case will not be prosecuted by the Crown, and the case against a man named Sealey, who is accused of shooting with intent to kill.
A message was received here this w?ek stating that Mr. Frank O'Flah-erty, of Stratford, Ont., and Miss Dora Dixon, of Vancouver, B. 0., will be united in the holy bonds of matrimony in Vancouver on Thursday, September the nineteenth. Both Parties are very well known here, and it was in South Fort George that they became engaged. Mr. O'Flaherty was accountant in the local branch of the Traders Bank of Canada here from the time the branch opened until two weeks ago, when, with the changes made by the amalgamation of the Royal and the Tteders Mr. O!Flaherty was transferred to Vancouver. His m*ny 'riends here are glad to le:rn that he has now left the employment of the ^ank to accept, a position offered »y the Northern Lumber Company of this place before he left. The Herald ions with the host of friends the young couple have here and elsewhere >n wishing them every happiness.
The treatment given the visitors by the people of South Fort .George, 8 ys the Quesnel Observer, referring to the visit of the Quesnel ball team, *il long b3 remembered by those *no made the trip.'Nothing was left undone which could add to thetf"en-Wment. Meals were as^fret, as the Jir' ai»d the boys wereiwt allowed, knowing',, tojiptend a ceit. In the JNening a^dance was held, at which
e JJueanel people were the guests ^honor. in fact the visitors had a
08t enjoyatle time, and cannot say *0lJgh jn praise of the hospitality 01 the South FortvQeorff cltiiens. J
A REFERENCE WITHOUT AUTHORITY.
FEAUD.
¦ The following communication throws some interesting sidelights upon the methods employed by the promoters of that delectable proposition "Port George Heights" :
Editor Herald,—I notice in your last issue in an article attacking a proposition called "Fort George Heights" a refer-?J^u tothe Fort George Board of Trade in the following terms:
The Fort George Board of Trade, an organization started by a townsite manager of Hammond's and now chiefly composed of his hired help and run iri his interests."
As a member of the Fort George Board of Trade I Would take exception to your reference in so far as it does not apply to the organization and is unfair to a large proportion of the Board's membership, in your strong criticism of promotion method* it appears unnecessary that you should drag in such sections of the public as may appear to be assisting in such promotions unless you are sure of your ground.
The Fort George Board of Trade has. a large membership, and it is not conceivable that you should imagine that it can be swayed by any one man, or by his employees, for the ultimate benefit of his interests. I am a constant attendant at Board meetings, and have referred the matter to several of the officers, and can not find that the promoters of the "Fort George Heights" proposition have any authority from the Board of Trade whatsoever to use the name of that body, as a reference, so you Will, therefore, see the forge of my argument and will, I trust, in fairness to the Board, give this communication prominence ill your valuable paper.                               MEMBER,
It has never been the intention of The Herald to injure in any way the property values of the actual residents which may not meet with our approval, or to cast disparaging remarks at people who go about their own business and do not allow themselves to become a cog in the machine for the promotion of the townsites of the Natural Resources Security Company, Ltd., up the Nechaco River here. There is a small portion of these sites, lining the bank of the Nechaco River, to which reasonable values will attach, but behind them lie the great banks of lots which, in the opinion of The Herald, will not^ sell in the local market to any extent for the figures they are now fetching in the distance, for many years to come.
In our recent article, criticising "the promotion literature of what we believe to be a subsidiary compaay to the Natural Resources Security Company, Ltd., of Vancouver, which operates under the name of the British Columbia Estates, Ltd., in their sale of a tract of land called "Fort George Heights" on the north side of the Nechaco river near here/^we endeavored to show that the promoters of this proposition gave as their references certain businesses and organizations Vhich past history has shown to be a part of the machine for the\promd-tion of townsites and the like. We,can not "very well apologise to the Fort Geprge Board of Trade as a body, for we belWe that we can prove the gist of our statement with regard to the fact that that organization is run in the interests of the man Hammond we referred to, who is a townsite^promoter of remarkable ingenuity and resource, If, however, there exist in the Board of Trade of Fort George other gentlemen of similar calibre to the writer of the above communication, we tender to them our regrets that inadvertently we have placed them in a category that is beneath them. We would venture to recommend to these gentlemen the simple expedient of kicking the townsite heelers who would make the Board of Trade of Fort George organization for the benefit of shady promoters, out into the cold gray world without the doors of the Board's building and keep them there.
So much by wayf of apology.
The letter, however, goes forcibly to prove the fact that 'the Board of Trade of Fort George is used—and used without even applying for the formality of their permission—as a prop in the promotion of totynsite properties. Here we have a letter from a member of the Fort George Board of Trade in which the member states that NO AUTHORITY WAS GIVEN TO THE PROMOTERS WE REFERRED TO TO USE THE NAME OF THE FORT GEORGE BOARD OF TEADE AS A REFERENCE IN THEIR ADVERTISING LITERATURE.
HOW THEY WORK IT
The Fort George Tribune reminds us of that latest popular song success "That Mysterious Rag." For weeks past it ha3 been featuring some of the most arrant bunt that was ever conceived and committed to paper by/the crowd of come-on men who write the rag-time for its columns.      .   ,                               -}
We would like to refer speciftcaly to some of the misleading statements it has lately given publicity to. On the 24th. of August it stated that a contract had been let for the cleaning of yards adjoining Port George. That was bunk, but we wish, sircerely, that it were true. Railway yards do not tend to beautify any portion ot a city and^ are as a rule shovef off somewhere" to one side where the land i« not of muc!i value. However the idea of the . Nechaco organ in publishing this material is to give thrirataide puilic the idea that there must be something doing in railroad
circles every minute near the town-sites of the Natural Resources Security Company Ltd. For a number of years past the man behind the Fort George Tribune has been juggling with the station site on his advertising maps etc. and he has made a number of cracks about the station being 1900 feet west of the eastern boundary of his townsites. Finally, getting nervous about the proposition, hex went before the railway commission with an application for the location of the G. T. P. depot at a point on the Indian Reservation in close proximity to his town, and although lie has tried to create an impression that this application was granted we can say right now—and we have a certified copy ot the minutes of the, railway commission's session—that it was not granted. The "Herald hat always contended that the station would be located on the eastern portion of the reservation, and we still believe bo. In the opin; 'ion of this paper the O. T. P. depot on their   towntlte wil^ U situated
about one fourth of the distance across the reserve, now the Grand Trunk townsite, from the Fraser River. However the location of the station might be decided it could not assist the development of a great portion of the townsites owned' by the Natural Resources Security Company, 8. 8. Taylor, K. C. et al, for whose benefit the Tribune fills Its columns with, ravings and bunk, for these townsites extend back into the woods for miles, and are sub-divided into 25-foot lots which are, in the main, absolutely undeveloped.
In the last-issue, apparently being rather nervous about the effect which the decision, for a decision may now be shortly expected, may have upon its record, the Tribune dishes up another station site on the other side of the townsites owned by George J. Hammond, S. 8. Taylor, et al. This is the imaginary location for the depot of the Pacific and Great Eastern railway. What sort of a fool is the boy who allows such statements to appear in the Nechaco sheet. Considering the fact that the man behind the operations of the townsite promoting gang is a really clever crook we can not understand how he permits his puppet to print such material, which, sooner or later he will have to swallow. The idea of a railway that is not yet even located- clearing land for its depot is very funny. A school-boy, one of the kids at the bottom ot his c'ass, might commit this sort of material to paper, but a newspaper man-never.
It will interest our readers to have an idea of the modus operandi employed by the townsite boomsters up the Nechaco river. The promoter of promoters, George J. Hammond, in order to populate the small portion of his townsites on which his development" work is concentrated, spends a great deal of money in opening up businesses which circumstances without his backing, would not justify for a _tnom*nfc»- - Jlm- ¦iMri:^JnMJtktunnn opens vup these new businesses, or buys a little more development for his townsite, his paper, ..the Tribune features the arrival of the new business men, whom, in reality, are nothing more or less than employees of the promoter, and raves about their
resight and the nice th'ngs they 8ay\about the townsite. The buildings are practically all the property of this^promoter, although they may be veated\with some of his subsidiary compan .. There are n&A mere than/three business houses on the Hammond townsite that do not owe their ei^r {stance to some sort of concession from the big promoter. A general merchant named William Blair, who is well known' all over the^Nflariboo country,., started a branch of Jp6 business on the Nechaco townsites in the early stages ot its development^ The promoter Wishes hinrto move his main store over thejpe'from this place and because of h» refusal has staked a couple of his retainers to a stock-in- trade Jot a new general Btbre. One of these gentlemen, who the Tribune jcites in its article featuring the,ad^ vent of this "new business house" which, it claims is the largest in its town, referred to also as one ot the proprietors, yesterday CASHED TWO WORTHLESS CHEOKB IN TOWN AND WA8 IN DANGER OF BEING ARRESTED...
The Herald will continue to expo3e all the lies printed in the Tribune for jthe benefit of the reading public who will be able to get a clearer idea of the townsite situation as> this paper's circulation continues to increase.
BEAR RIVER COAL FIELDS
The party of coA e;perts that have been examining thi Bar river coal field returned this week, and lett for the south on today's boat.
The Bear river coal field was discovered; and staked about 1907 by I. M. Christie, of Armstrong, who is interested in the proposition. In the fall of 1909 a. Victoria mining expert, Wm. Blakemore, visited 'the coal area and reported on it.
The Natural Resources Security Company, of Vancouver, have now got the property under option, and the  viiit of    the engineers   in the
present instance has been to confirm a report made last summer by the well known coal experts of Vancouver Mr. Hepburn and Prof. Galloway.
James Ashworth, a consulting mining engineer of Vancouver, who is one of the best-known authorities on coal on the continent, returntd from the ccal field this week with Mr. Hepburn, states that the coal basin is of great area, and the seams exceptionally large, one, that outcrops on the Bear river, being seven feet across. The coal is of a quality more suitable for steaming purposes than for domestic use. The basin in which the coal lies is formed by volcanic action, the rim of low hills having concentrated the coal in' the basin formation.
Although the report of Professor Aalloway practically decided the purchase of the property, Mr. Ashworth will place the owners in the position of knowing how great an extent of fuel area they really have.
This coal ba< in is sitratcd, in a direct Una, about 25 miles from South Fort George. The route by which they will likely be opened up, however, will be by way of a pass between the cral fields and the Fraser river.
A PRE-EMPTOR'S PARADISE
That the Fort George section islone of unlimited possibilities, that real e3tate values will keep soaring and that a great deal more capital is likely to be invested in the country thereabouts, is the opinion which Mr. R. D. Pontifex, of Bevan, Gore & Elliot, incorporated in the Western Dominion Land and Investment Company, Ltd., expresses as a result of a six weeks' inspection, says the Vancouver Province.
Mr. Pontifex declares that he did not know of a place where the genuine pre-emptor could do better. As an indication of the financial returns hay is selling at $100 a ton and when it is remembered that an acre yields three tons, it cannot be disputed that the country holds out attractions^ worthy the attention of all thoughtful"^persons, who are considering the advisability of listening to the call, "back^to the land."
From Fort George to^Fraser la'te, a distance of 120 miles, there is rich land on either side of the Nechacpi Mr. Pontifex asserts that if tbe^gov ernment got a little actlvejthis river could be made navigable, for all that was necessary was- to remove the rocks from three or four small canyons.            ,/
The advent of the Grand Trunk Paciflc^Railway into the territory wttlbe the means of greatly enhancing the property values and Mr. Pontifex states that when the company holds an auction sale nest year prices "as good as those secured at the Prince Rupert sale will be obtained.
J. W.'West, manager of the B. Ci Express Company is here on a trip of inspection to arrange for the de-. tails of the winter service. Mr. West states that the company has been able to arrange tor much better accommodation along the road this winter than heretofore. The stopping house at Gob»TLalce~ha8' beenleased by a man and wife who have experience in catering to the public needs, and McKenzle's, the last stop on the road at this end, is also to be improved as a road house. Mr. West is not at all concerned at the detention of the Steamer "B. C. Express" above the Giscomb rapids owing to the low "water/He states that the big boat is equipped with gear by which she can be.pulled out qt >the water at almost any point along the river. The express company have purchased a tract of land at Alexandria, between Quesnel and Soda Creek which they intend to, turn into a ship yard for the berthing of their vessels in winter and for repair yards in the spring.
Foley Welch & Stewart's big hospital scow is unable to get through the Giicomb rapids, and will Have to stay above them.until the spring unless the water raises, vwh'ch is not likely at this time of the year.