local news City editor: 562-2441, local 503 Thr Citizen Wednesday, July 27, 1983 — 3 WOOD Pioneer pharmacist mourned Funeral services for pioneer pharmacist Gordon Stuart Wood will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. from Assman’s Funeral Chapel. He was 92 at the time of his death and had been in failing health for three years. Born in Kamloops, he opened a pharmacy on George Street in 1925 after operating a pharmacy in Burns Lake for five years. An avid sportsman, he was the goalie for one of the city’s first hockey teams and was often called to judge ski-jumping competitions held at the jump once located on Connaught Hill. He also won many awards and trophies in shooting competitions. He was a former director of the board of the Prince George Regional Hospital, president of the Prince George Board of Trade, a charter member of the Rotary Club of Prince George and an original member of the Prince Georg** Golf and Curling Club. Professionally he served on the council of the Pharmaceutical Association of B.C. for 14 years where he held the office of president from 1965 to 1966. He is survived by his wife. Hazel, and brother. Ronald, and sister-in-law, Mary Helen of Richmond College launches campaign A fund drive to raise $450,000 for Prince George College officially kicks off in its cafeteria today at 7:30 p.m.. but parents have already raised about $100,000. The fund drive is to raise money to pay off a $300,000 debt which has accumulated during the past three years and to provide money for building maintenance and renovation. Areas in need of improvement are the senior science lab. water disposal system, lighting and heating, and the computer science room, where expansion, ventilation and sound-proofing are needed. The video teaching area is crowded and has no blackboard, the French language class has no lab and the chapel is considered too small and does not present a focal point for the Roman Catholic private school. The debt, with $30,000 annual interest, arose when Bishop Fergus O'Grady could no longer continue his practice of underwriting the school’s costs because of recent economic conditions. said Bob Parker, fund campaign manager. The coming year’s enrolment is expected to exceed 350. the breakeven level. This represents a 24-per-cent increase over the past three vears. Prince George College retains its name from its founding, 25 years ago when it provided high school and two years of college. After about four years’ operation the college function was dropped. Parker said the school’s success rate, with 49 per cent of its graduates going on for post-secondary education. is higher than the 13 per cent average for public schools. In the school's 25 years of operation more than 500 students have graduated. PAINTER KILLED Inquest expected An inquest is expected to be called next month into last week’s death of a 73-year-old Prince George painter at Tumbler Ridge. James Dunwoodie Fraser was working from scaffolding at the Quintette mine site when he fell 17 metres to hard-packed ground below. He was pronounced dead by investigating RCMP, said Fort St. John coroner Bob Trobak. July 19 was Fraser’s first day on the job and he fell less than three hours from the time he started. said Trobak. Terry Vaughan-Thomas. investigating officer of the Department of Mines in Prince George, said investigation is continuing and it remains unclear if Fraser had declined to wear a safety harness. Fraser had worked from high job sites before, he said. 'Hospital routine won't be altered' A massive sled plough inches its way along Canadian National’s north line while raising the track, levelling the grade, and kicking out the bad ties. Meanwhile, laborers haul old ties away from the plough. NORTHEAST COAL ROUTE CN gangs upgrading line by BOB ROWLANDS Staff reporter Canadian National is digging up the past and preparing for the future in northern B.C. That future is a vastly-improved rail line that can withstand the powerful locomotives in unit coal trains that will roll along the north line from Prince George to the coast this fall. The workers only have eight hours’ track time a day because regular trains are still travelling through. During that time, they have to remove old ties, put in new ones and have them spaced, spiked and anchored before anything can move again, says program supervisor Richard Rinaldi. But they’ve got the most modern machinery available and they’re covering about two kilometres a day. About 40 laborers and 20 machine operators work in each gang, who live in a camp on rails about a kilometre away. CN provides their room and board. The number of people in each gang varies slightly from week to week: many of them are laid-off railway employees who have come from all parts of the country for the job. he said. As the economy improves, they’re returning to their regular jobs in their home towns and local people are gradually taking their place. Gangs have been working their way east from the Prince Rupert area. They’re near Isle Pierre now and they should reach Prince George around Labor Day. “Their production has been excellent and they might even arrive here a bit sooner than that,” said John Butterwick, the railway’s project engineer. At the start of the work gang is a winch car that pulls a 18-metre long machine called a sled plough, which takes ballast from under the track and makes the grade even. The sled also lifts up the track as it moves along, a hydraulic arm kicks out bad ties and laborers haul them out of the way. A wheel at the rear marks the place for new ties. “Twenty years ago. we did all this by hand, but we’re modernizing just like everyone else,” Rinaldi says. Between 620 and 740 new ties are being installed every kilometre. The railway used to have 20 ties every 13 metres or so, but heavier coal trains will require 23. After the bad ties are removed, a small powered rail car with a crane on the front lifts new ties onto the track and another machine called a tie inserter puts them underneath. Then more machines known as rail lifters come and raise the track again along so laborers can install the plates. The men set the spikes by hand and a track-mounted air hammer called a spiker knocks them into place. Behind these machines are rail anchor applicators which install anchors to prevent the rails from "running.” Butterwick says. Rails tend to bunch up when trains run over them or if there are temperature variations, but the anchors restrain these movements, he said. After all the spikes are in place, a work train dumps new ballast and another machine called a tamper lifts the track, aligns it with a laser beam and consolidates the ballast the under the ties. The work near Isle Pierre is just part of the railway’s $105 million upgrading program in northern B.C. this year. The company may spend $125 million in this region in 1984 ’ Al Husband, administrator of Prince George Regional Hospital, says he has been assured by the Health Ministry the 1983 - 1984 hospital budget will allow present levels of service to continue. He said the budget doesn't allow for any extras like reopening of beds closed last year or increases in service. “In one way it’s a relief knowing further reductions or cutbacks are highly unlikely, but it’s also a bit disappointing we won’t be able to do a bit more." said Husband. The local hospital budget last year was $32.2 million. A letter from Peter Bazowski, deputy minister of health, to Husband states “We believe that with skillful management and continuation of your restraint controls, these funding allocations will permit your hospital to maintain present levels of service. In accordance with existing funding policy the ministry will not fund hospital deficits." Asked about additional funds through increased hospital user fees, Husband said it’s difficult to estimate amounts, but he believes additional Police hunting drug suspects Dawson Creek RCMP are continuing to search for four residents wanted in connection with a $19,000 drug roundup last week. RCMP say 13 people have been charged with trafficking in LSD. marijuana and cocaine after a six-week undercover operation. Police say a joint raid by undercover police and uniform officers resulted in several arrests at the time and more were picked up Tuesday. costs may reduce emergency visits. “At $4 per visit there were a lot of people dropping in. but at $10 they may decide to wait until tomorrow and go to the doctor’s office instead.” Strike vote for groups Two groups within the British Columbia Government Employees Union arq taking a province-wide strike vote during the next nine days, a union representative says. Union members in administrative services and hospital and allied services groups have been without a component agreement since July 31, 1982. Dave Lee said. These local agreements, which are a refinement of the master contract, pertain to occupational groups and cover hours of work, layoffs, recall rights, in-service training and the like. About 402 people belong to these groups in the Prince George area. Lee said, adding voting will end Aug. 5, results will be tallied by Aug. 8. and union members will be in a legal position to strike by Aug. 10 Lee said nine observers appointed by the Labor Relations Board will be involved in the vote, adding there are more observers than for the vote on the Master agreement, which covers about 2,200 people in this area. Lee claimed the government is waiting "for anything that could be construed as an irregu larity so the vote can be declared null and void.’’ The union's master agreement expires Oct. 31. After a morning of hard, steady work, one of the laborers wipes perspiration away before taking a lunch break beside the tracks. Citizen photos by Hrock Gable After the new ties are installed, a spiker slowly goes along the track, knocking now spikes into place. Judge unmoved by breath tale 0NLEY THIS A provincial court judge dismissed a Prince George man's evidence Tuesday that he sprayed an alocholic-based mouthwash into his mouth before providing brcathalizer readings and found him guilty of driving with over .08 blood alcohol content But Judge J. H. Kenney did not dismiss evidence by an alcohol expert that Amway Sweet Shot would affect breathalizer readings by as much as .05 if sprayed within minutes of a reading on the RCMP machines. "I cannot believe that.” said the judge of the man's evidence that he “surreptitiously" sprayed the freshener into his mouth while waiting to give breath samples. Following this logic the judge ruled that an RCMP member would have noticed him spray- ing something into his mouth. “All the officers know you can’t put anything into your mouth,” said the judge of the man’s testimony that he asked to have a cigarette and was refused. The arresting officer admitted to defence council Dave Jenkins he didn’t search Melvin Cassidy before he entered the booking room and did not constantly watch him before he provided two breath samples. The incident began for 37-year-old Cassidy when he drank six bottles of beer over three hours with a friend. They then set out for the man’s home but were stopped by the RCMP officer within minutes of leaving. Zela Samila, an alcohol absorbtion expert called by Jenkins to form argument for the defence, testified that Trapper's yarn doesn't help A Prince George trapper spun a long yarn about hunting bear when two neighbors saw him carrying a dead muskrat and the tale earned him a stiffer penalty than the original one. Judge J. H Kenney remarked before raising Clifford Lorlng’s $ loo fine to $250 that his being a trapper and committing the offence is “somewhat worse than the ordinary sod who may not know what he’s getting into." Two brothers told the courtroom — admist bursts of chuckles from all in attendance — that they heard a single rifleshot last April on their property near a swamp just outside of the city. Upon investigation the two men met Loring. who both testified to knowing, carrying a rifle on a beaver dam. When he saw them he dropped a carcass which looked like a samll beaver or muskrat into the water. Both told the judge Loring said he was shooting muskrats But Loring testified, after acting in his own defense, that he set out in the late afternoon in mid April to hunt a bear a neighbor had spotted. Loring has a trap line — but far away from the swamp — and was in possession of a bear licence. He said he fired three shots at a target and heard about a dozen other shots. He denied shooting or carrying a muskrat. Both brothers testified Loring asked them to tell the “warden" he was hunting rabbits and not to “turn him in.” "I am assuming you disagree with my decision,” dryly remarked Judge Kenney. “I guess I should have paid the $500 for a lawyer," Loring muttered at the judge's decision amount of liquor for the 190-pound man would have put his breath readings at the borderline level — between .07 and .09 mg of alcohol per litre of blood. Cassidy provided readings of .14 and .13. However Samila testified the Sweet Shot is alcohol-based, and if sprayed into the mouth within minutes of. providing a breath sample, could affect the breathalizer reading by as much as .05 mg per litre of blood. “How high the reading depends on how soon before the reading is taken the Sweet Shot is sprayed in the mouth,” said Samila. Another witness called for the defence testified he had known the man to use Amway Sweet Shot for four years. “It’s as bad as his cigarette habit,” said Dennis Laybourne. Laybourne said his friend used the Sweet Shot to quell a nervous habit. Judge Kenney will pass sentence Friday. Cleanest Cars In Town Check & Compare Connaught Auto Sales 562-1341 1795 Victoria St. J. Ian Evans A Associates OPTOMETRISTS J. IAN EVANS D O S., F.A.A.O GREGORY E. EVANS B.SC..O.D, ALANE D. EVANS B.SC.,O.D. J. SPENCER CLARK D O S.. O.D. FRANK E. DECKER O.D. Opttcaf Wing 401 OuMmc St Fan* Building Pr1nc* Gaorga. BC 562-1305 Attention Members Of The B.C. Government Employees’ Union Who Were Terminated During The Recent Weeks: A strike vote will be taken for members of the Administrative Service Component in Prince George at the following times: PRINCE GEORGE AREA OFFICE, 1046 - 4th Avenue. July 27 9:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. July 28 9:30 a.m. - 1.00 p.m. 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. July 29 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. August 3 9:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. August 4 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. August 5 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. If you require further information, please contact the Prince George Area Office, 563-1116.