-VOL. A -NO/ 32;- ,'. SOUTH FORT GEORSE, g^C.% SATURDAY; APRIL 11. 1914. The informal linking up^of steel on; Canada's greatest transcontinental railway took place at a point near Mile 373, about 2 miles east of Fort Fraser, on Monday, April 6, at 12:30. About twenty railway officials from Winnipeg arrived on' the scene early in the day by special tram, and although no public amiouncement had been made and invitations issued there were over 1500 persons present at the history-making cer Th tcklaying gangs had preil d JS Eighty thousand acres of land, to the Grand Trunk vy. p peent at the historymaking cerejaoivy. The track-laying gangs had previously arranged to have a mile1 of grade lefJSpen for 'a speed contest between the gangs from east and west. Both teamsitarted off together, but it was" soon evident that the men from the east had moreirder and system i their work and were easy winners with 14 mit t Al fl l the official photographer were headed by Iforeman in their work and were easy winners with 14 minutes to spare./& large flag pole was (jreeted at the" centre post where the large^crov/d gathered, and moving picture man got into position. The eastern Dempsey. When they cam,e.togethertfiere was a. speke of great enthusiasm'and the Union Jack. was hoisted to the top of the pole, jprffe remained still about half a length of rail to connect and this was cut and setfes^Mr.jEgan in about 'three minutes. The last spikes, about nine on each rail, wpre driven. by the several officials attending. Th>special containing the G.T.P^pnicials left immediately after the ceremony on its way to Prince Rupert.; The personnel of.the party was as follows: Morley Donald vie'e-president and g £is£ant to -presidenj^H. H. Han-)licitbr^Mr. the, company; W. I/eB 3ss, 1og£\1 treasurer, of Wirihi^g; J.Rosevear, auditor of iufrsements, Montreal. J. A. 'Hoaman, assistant to chief engineer; G.. W. Robb, superintendent of motive power. Tram scona;Man.., J. L. Holgson,master car builder, Transcona, H.E.Bis-' sell, right-of-way and claims agent. Winnipeg; Guy CJvDunn, divisional engineer, Winnipeg B. B. Smith, manager ot tele-i. graphs, Montreal;'James Gorman, superintendent t^ «-.. and sleeping cars,/Winnipeg. H. A. K". Drury,J engineer of the board of railway commission ers, was^also/a member. Other wt'll-kn'own officials, including B. B. Kelliher, chief engineer. in an interview before the ceremony -Vice-president Don-aldsoj/ was optimistic of /the Canadian west. He said/that duri^ the,past week,the G.jl.P. had shfpped., to Prince George alone no less tnan seven thousand tons of settlers' effects. This statement.\yffl give some idea to file of the rapidity w'hich settlers are potir|ng fiTo the country, - Donaldson expres^d the opimoh\that the great* dfvelop-ment withiTK^he next few years would be withrn^ radius of >five hundred miles west, of 'Edmonton^V^Ke. made especial mentioipoT one district, that, lying djagonally across from the south^of the Nechaco river i n to, Ahe Peace ri yer co.un try. ';lt is splendid, country, well "watered, picturesque and with . an unlimited amount ot good"serviceable lumber,--said the general manager of the G.T. P. Continuing. Mr. Donaldson said 100 miles of the Pacific and Cieat Eastern railway had I been completed from- its western end and that Foley, Welch and Stewart would shortly begin construction from Prince George end of the line. He expressed the opinion that this line, which is being financed by the 'British Columbia government, would be completed by the spring of 1916, ^Directinghis conversation along commercial lines, Mr. Donaldson spoke of the ill. effects that every city experienced following aboom. He hopedlhat Prince George and other Western cities, would not , .be "boomed" too^nuch, buUhat -they would undergo steady and substantial developments He believed that conditions' j/would' he a great deal brightertliis year and that money Would not be so tight. — r- , -. x He considered that the completion of the G. T!. P. and i.especially the line being financed \ 9-V the McBride government ^vould mean a greatdeaLtoi the of western'Canada. ' r EW4LK TO DEPOT !A /NOW UNDER WAY Hoy, the Nechaco valley i . Within the next^veek the sidewalk frorn South' /Fort George to the railway depo,t at the foot of George street will, be an accomplished fact, that is the prediction of Superintendent Jack Hefry, who has charge of. the work.. This four-foot;plank highway will join,'the,vvalk already built to the Government.offices and continue via Bowser and Queen streets to connect up with the George street sidewalk. The warkmen commenced on the George street end and are working this way. Funds^for this public convenience were all contributed locally, and/the completed job will be joy/iisly hailed by the hundreds who have occasion daily to travel .between here and Prince George. •BASEBALL LEAGIIE Competition for Championship Cup Promises to Produce Goo ¦ Baseball This Season : Plenty of Talent. Seven teams will be inline race for the' Northern Lumber & Mer-cantitie Gup, emblematic of the Baseball i-hampion B. C. >This is t recently receivecKby up of new information the trustees of the cup. teams will, re- present Fort/Fraser, McBride/ VANCOUVER MERCHANTS -:. PROMISE ACTION tdmontcn, April 8. — The inter- Willow Fort Central I Geort River, Quesnel, South ¦e, Prince George and George. The 'trustees wW meet during the' next few days to draw.up a schedule for tjie season. / uth Fort George has held the cup for three seasons'against the earns of Qusenel/and Central, and have never been forced to extend themselves to retain the championship./This year, however, there promises to be keen cornpetitioir-atfdown the line'for the possession of the coveted trophy. Prince "George and Central right now have reserved view given by Willis J. West, superintendent of the British Columbia'ExpressCompany, who.(window space for the cup, while was in the city a few days ago, |uR at Willow River and McBride has.arcused' the ire of the Van-1 the arnr^chaiir athletes are wind- eouver merchants. R.. S. Grimes., of Vancouver, arid a member of the board of ¦trade of that city, is at the King-Edward, and is authority fpr.,tlie statement that the business men ^reports from the different camps of the coast city will give the are all to tire effect that the base--biggest. straggle of their lives ball .boys- are working out at for the trade of the country in every opportunity and that plenty ing up the season with a batting aveVage of at least .998.- Base> ball games are not won before the sea'son opens, ..however; and it; is encouraging to learn that Railway, which is to be completed from ocean to ocean during the coming Summer, large proportion bordering ofn the railroad, will be open tO/pre-emption in the valley p-i the South Fork of the Fraser River 6 an announcement made b/ the Hon. William R. Ross,/Minister oi Lands, When the worit of building the Grand Truril/ Pacific Railway was begum/this valley, which contains a/large amount of agricultural land, favorably situated, was placed in reserve. In 1907 ,a reserve was created, under which a strip of six miles, cohering the valley, was reserved fdr Jme pre-emptor. Now that the railroad is complexed, the agricultural lands are being opened to the settler. / ' The land/being opened to settlement/is in two. parts, the EasternIhalf stretching on either side of McBride, the young city ninety/miles from the eastern border of the province, where a divisional point has been created car shops, large yards, etc., are /being biiilt, and-a city is in its infancy. The western' half stretches from Willow station,_on the G/.T, P., not far east from Prince George, to join the other part of the trac^ The lots in the Eastern half will be opened to entry by preemption on June 1, at 9 a. m., a special office being opened there give/1 FOR PRE V.."; ¦;»;¦; ;.;, by the larid commissioner of the ¦'district for one week, in order to hose who seek a homestead an/opportunity to file their, records at the nearest city to the land. After a week records will be made at the -office of the Government agent at South Fort GeoWge. The lots in the Western, half will be opened to entry by pre-emption on June 15, at 9 a. m., at the office of the Government agent at South Fort George. N .McBride where the lots in the Eastern half will be opened for a week, beginning at 9 a. m. on June 1. was the first townsite, laid out in the district, and the first post-office in the district was created there. It is a bustling young town, and, as it lies in the heart of the agricultural land, it is expected to become a great centre. It is 145 miles from; Prince Gsorge, 90 miles from the Eastern border of the province, and 345 miles from Edmonton. The town, named "in honor of British Columbia's Premier, is both the passenger and freight divisional point, and a large amount of money has been expended by the railway company to make preparations for the future,.all its construction being of a large type. The yards cover eight miles, and the station, yards, roundhouse, shops, etc., or ing houses and three well stocked .stores.;" V" The valley of the South of the Fraser, in which the 1 frge area of land, set aside when the railroad was begun and heidtintil transportation fiicilitiea were provided for the pre-emptor, varies in width from one to two miles in its upper part at Tete Jaune Cache to five milea at McBride, six at Goat River, and about ten at the canyon. It lies at a mean altitude of 2,250 feet above the sea level. The main industry of a great part of the valley, other than farming, will be lumbering, and this should reach considerable proportions. > There is a large amount of good ^imberr-and the lumber mills built to handle it, together with the towns along the railroad between Prince -tbwn this week and left oivTuesday's stage for Quesnel, where his company's boats are being fixed up for the coming sea'son. He states that as, soon as the river is^fit for navigation, which from its present appearance is likely to be .within the next fortnight, the steamer B X willTesurne her old run of last year, bringing in the mail and passengers on Mondays -an Thursdays. _The ..first load/6f her sister ship, the B C^Jxpress will consist of.some^thirty head of the best.hdrses^in possession of the comply which will.be used inipfoving the Millar section^of Prince George and also for sale. the Department of lands. WASHING'GOLD FROM SANDBARS Washing/gold from the Fraser river sandbars was once a profitable form of employment" .in Cariboo, and ten dollars in dtist was not considei-ed a big day's production from crudely-fashioned rockers; Yesterday a Chinaman was observed about a mile belo\v town industriously .washing the bars which the low water has laid bare.- Inquiries as to his luck w.ere met by an iniom6-bile countenance and a gpufic "no savvy." He doubtless"'was encouraged by the/result of his labors for hej.-rback on. .the¦ job today. -Here is the. solution of the unemployed proble.n. NO WESTWARD TRAFFIC Nothing can be learned at the Grand Trunk. offices as to the probable date of passenger and raffic-openind: jfrom here westward. Scores of people are now ier.e eagerlVawaiting the oppor-;unity of tr?ai|v travel ^to points >etweefi • Here and Prince. Ru-part. The consensus of opinion among railway menls that travel wiil not be public for at least two months. '¦•". . . Bronger._&i ractors, will' commence:' early next y, Nechaco valley „............... rancher; isJn town this week. taurant is being built therein today reek on the construction of a 20,000 ;allon water tank at the foot of Four-h street. The structure will be built 'pr-the Hotel Northern, and will be onnected with the hotel by pipes laid •long Fourth street; ^ Laborers Flock to r R G. E. Construction During the past few days the town has received an influx of hundreds of men who came' in anticipation1 of work^on the Pacific Great Eastern starting south from here at once> The men almost without exception, are 'of the better class of rail way Jabor-ers, and no destitution is. evident among them as the reports of. many outside papers would lead-toiaelieve. The warm weather is a boon to these men and manj^ are living in outdoor camps ad-, joining: the town, while the lodging houses are filled to capacity. Just when the,work will com mence southward from here no one> at headquarters seems to l iHINAMAN CONFESSES MURDEITIIfMISTRESS Brutal Deed Committed at Van couver Hoine While Head of . The House is Away. know. Mr. h e E. Carleton, n. ^ whose company has the con tract for the first Similes, is expected to j-arriye on Monday from the coast where he has been in consultation toith the;ehginigers and omcialiof the railway. ^Qn his returnA something definite will probably be known. Vancouver, April 4. —Jack Kong: the 11 year ol'd^Chinese boy-suspected- of the. murder of -Mrs. Chas. J. Millard, confessed this morning- that he conimitted. the crime. The chief feature of the story was that at ybreakfast on Wednesday morninp: his mistress had found fault with hitn. He struck her with a chair and'must have stunned her, for then he choked her to death. He says He later took her body to the basement where he cut it up and put it into the furnace piece by piece. He.is said tcr have admitted that he^ hid ,tlie clothing in order to convince Mr. Millard that his wife had gone out in the thorn ing. Two hand fuls of bones identified by an analysist as those of a human being were discovered this morning in the bottom of the furnace, and the skull and other Bonel were found tuckedaway in the chimney be-yorid the furnace'. > Wesley & Wiggins have opened realty office on Queen stifeet RIVERS PROMISE EARLY OPENING ¦ • mmmmmmm* Steamboats Being Early Launching—T Bridge Does i^iU PassageuofBoats;"* V At the^oiey; Welch & Stewart cache/on the Nechaco riyeiv^ workmen are now busily engaged in preparing tKe company's three steamboats, the Conveyor, Operator and the^ jRobert C. Hammond, for^ launching. If the i warm weather of the past few days con tinues another week tiie rivers will be ctear of ice and the busy season of river transportation will get off to an early start. Thousands of tons of contractors' equipment and supplies are now lying in the big warehouse at Prince George and on cars in the yards awaiting shipment down river to the contracts already let on the Pacific Great Eastern, and train loads oi additional supplies arid material will bis rushed from eastern outfitting centres as soon as the word goes forth that navigation on the Fraser is open, -"- Commodore Johnson, of Foley's fleet, has discovered that the temporary, bridge spanning the Fraser at this point will not) allow ¦^^•tetji^'-tJ.'eiaiiMi from their quiet retreltf up> theV> Nechaco, so a span of the structure must be^removed tof allow the big boats to pass, Thejiana of the steel structare now being built alongside*, the teinpoipr^: bridge, provide for a lift to allow the passage of boA^i. but ^ as it will probably be mid-season before the big^bridge is completed, ^iver traffic will necessarily ae confined to points below the bridge except for the small gas^ line boats. A landing depot where trains can unload their cargo for shipment down jriveip^ will; therefore be necessary at some point bekfwtJie bridge, and l^^ line £tp; Prince George. ^^ le tp some suitable landing on tht a realty office on Queen stifeeti- Fraser will probably be^oramenc' ed within a few days.