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THE REVIEW Stories that shaped the last century

1912-2012

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Saanich Peninsula’s Memory Makers! Thank you, Peninsula News Review, for recording a century of memories for Saanich Peninsula residents. Our local seniors have helped to shape our community today, and Sidney SeniorCare is proud to support these memory makers so that they can continue to thrive and contribute to their neighbourhoods. At Sidney SeniorCare, we are creating milestones of our own. As the 2011 Crystal Award Winner for Business of the Year, SSC is proud to provide superior home support service to seniors and their families that is the most ﬂexible, most responsive, and the most economical, ensuring that seniors remain a vital part of our communities.

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The District of North Saanich

Congratulations from the Town of Sidney! On behalf of the Town of Sidney I would like to congratulate our own, hometown newspaper, the Peninsula News Review on their 100th Anniversary! Thank you for your century of dedication to the people of Sidney and the Peninsula in providing us with interesting stories, accurate news accounts and commitment to the community. We wish you another 100 years of growth and prosperity!

Mayor Larry Cross

Congratulations on your 100th Anniversary and your continued service on the Peninsula.

On behalf of the District of North Saanich and our Council, I extend sincere congratulations to the Peninsula News Review, its staff and publisher, on the occasion of its 100th Anniversary. This historical edition is a wonderful reminder of the paper’s varied publications and it is a pleasure to look back upon them. The presence of local news coverage, including regular attention to Council meetings of the three peninsula municipalities, is important to our residents. My good wishes for future years.

1620 Mills Rd., North Saanich, B.C. V8L 5S9 Tel: 250-656-0781 Fax: 250-656-3155 E-mail: admin@northsaanich.ca Website: www.northsaanich.ca

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HERE’S TO 100 YEARS OF NEWS

FROM THE EDITOR As much as the purpose of a newspaper is to tell stories and inform folks of what’s happening in their community, its overarching mandate is to record history. The Review has done just that for a century, consistently focusing on the development of Sidney, the Saanich Peninsula and the Gulf Islands. The paper’s name has been altered a handful of times over the years, but that commitment to community news has never changed. Not only that, but The Review in all its forms has unwaveringly taken the position of promoting its community as an ideal place to live, do business and enjoy everything our slice of Vancouver Island has to offer. It’s been my pleasure to read and edit the stories compiled by former Review editor Judy Reimche. She worked tirelessly for months upon months to scour through old editions of the newspaper, seeking out eyebrow-raising details, important facts, and the events and decisions that helped shape our history. In addition, none of this research would have been possible without the endless knowledge and passion of Brad Morrison, manager of the Sidney Archives. His dedication to the preservation and education about our history is something to be admired. Hundreds of hours of his and Judy’s time went into this special publication. The philosophy behind this magazine is to remind us all of how far we’ve come. From Sidney’s birth as a modest settlement that had to ﬁght for decades to be recognized by the province as a town worth incorporating, to one of the most spectacular places on earth to live in and visit, the development of the region is a tale to be read, shared and appreciated. As with all things, the history of the Peninsula isn’t complete. Stories of the people and events based here will continue – stories the Peninsula News Review will continue to report.

Erin Cardone

The more things change, the more they stay the same. That old adage repeated itself as I mined stories and facts from 100 years of The Review’s editions. Headlines from the early 1900s could have been plucked from current newspapers. Throughout this first century, the communities on the Peninsula were concerned about transportation – trains, ferries, airplanes and the automobile – and about health care, education and the moral standards of their communities – just as we do today. As I learned about the area’s struggles to be recognized by the provincial government and their fights to get services for the Peninsula and the Gulf Islands, it was the character of those early settlers that shone through. When government told them “no”, they asked “why not?” and then found ways to make their needs be met. They ignored the obstacles, or they found ways around them. And they often did it with humour. There were tough times, but people continued to meet for card games, choir practice, church services, charity benefits and school plays. They raised funds for those who had less than they. They looked after one another. In the end, of course, this is the history of a newspaper that has survived the ups and downs of the economy and world events. But as a newspaper is the barometer of its place and times, it’s also a story about

the formation of the Saanich Peninsula and the Gulf Islands . This is not meant to be a complete history of the area. Instead, it tells the tale of how a newspaper was born, its awkward adolescent years, and its road to maturity. There are many things left unsaid, but space and time constraints mean there will be some I have missed; for that, my apologies. Since I was doing the research at the Sidney Museum Archives, in the bowels of the Town Hall, I found myself surrounded by the history I was researching, and with people who understood that history, some of them closely related to the people about whom I was reading. It made the stories come alive. My thanks to Brad Morrison, Harry Nunn and all those who encouraged me through this venture. Even though there were a number of editors, publishers and owners at The Review over the years, I found one thing in common – and I can speak from personal experience, as I served as editor there for more than eight years. Each one, as they walked through the door of The Review, underwent a change. They became a fan of the area, they tried their best to see the municipalities grow and the people prosper. They believed great things could happen here. They were right. Here’s to another 100 years of the Peninsula News Review.

Judy Reimche

PUBLISHER Jim Parker EDITOR Erin Cardone WRITTEN BY Judy Reimche ADVERTISING Adam Somers GRAPHIC DESIGN Lily Chan Photos and historical materials graciously provided by the Sidney Museum Archives Published September 19, 2012 by the Peninsula News Review, a Black Press newspaper Contact us at 250-656-1151 or www.peninsulanewsreview.com Printed by CentralWeb

The Review

1912

THE BEGINNING OF A HISTORICAL TALE From the start, The Review was a voice for the people on the Peninsula P976.286.1 Sidney Mills Ltd. on the waterfront. A man rows a boat in the foreground.

P985.21.1 Two men stand on springboards falling a large tree with axes. credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

Local news • A new sanitarium is under construction with 42 bedrooms and 28 baths. • The Board of Trade petitions to have the B.C. Electric Railway extended to Sidney and for construction of a breakwater. • It is predicted that incorporation will be approved quickly. (As it happened, Sidney waited 40 years for incorporation and nearly 70 years for a ﬁnal solution to the water problem.)

f you were reading the newspaper in 1912, you would have found the writing at times flowery and at times cruelly graphic. Tragedies were stated very differently, for instance a death might be announced on the front page, stating “Mrs. Jones was called by God” or “called by The Lord.” That’s not all that’s changed. What began as a conversation with the readers has become more removed and politically correct. For instance, some of the stories in the early editions were written in the first person – something no journalist would do now, aside from column writers – and most articles, whether covering international, national, provincial or local events, had a smattering of editorial comment throughout. The newspaper of the day reflected on the formation of Sidney as a town, and the Peninsula as a defined area. Writers often referred to visitors from Victoria as though they had come a long way to get here, and in fact they had. Often, those visitors stayed overnight as, having travelled on horseback or in horse-drawn buggies, it was too far to return home the same day. From the beginning, The Review acted as an advocate for the area.

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Stories that shaped the last century

P981.20.16 John Ward’s grocery store was in business from 1880 to 1941. Shelves are ﬁlled with canned goods, and a man and woman stand behind the counter.

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

That began from the first issue, on Friday, December 13, 1912, where, under the heading: “Sidney’s Strength, Assured by a Peerless Site on Saanich Peninsula” the author says: “Many are the false and fanciful reports of Sidney, but this declines to be classed among them. Though very many years ago this city-site was well realized, yet the trend of the years has

reserved for later times fulfillment of the hopes of its pioneers. Hence Sidney is now in the making and will shortly make good. What this means to the people of the place can scarcely be imagined.” Some stories would not get past our present day editors, such as the incident of Wong Gim (known as “Kip” and referred to in the story as

a Chinaman), who was killed when he went to check on an explosive charge that didn’t go off. The report was extremely graphic in its description of what was and was not found of the body, ending with a comment that the fatigued team “was compelled to partake of refreshments several times during their strenuous exertions of recovering the body from the water …”

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1912

ABusiness NEWSPAPER IS BORN dreams in a new settlement make way for the Sidney and Islands Review

King George V is on the throne, Sir Robert Borden (Conservative) is Prime Minister, and Premier of B.C. is Richard McBride (June 1, 1903 to December 15, 1915). In the Dominion of Canada, the ﬂag is the British red ensign, the national anthem is “The Maple Leaf Forever,” and the beaver is not yet the national symbol.

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he story of the Peninsula News Review, originally the Sidney and Islands Review, began in 1912 when the settlement at Sidney was in its infancy. Its streets were unpaved, there were no sidewalks and its citizens lived without the luxury of a water system, sewers or electric lights. Governance came from the provincial government seated at Victoria, a long dirt road away. The settlement had some essential services: Sidney Trading Post (with the bank in rear of store); Berquist’s Hall and machine shop – and Post Office; Saanich Canning Co.; James Critchley’s store; Craig’s blacksmith shop; J.B. Kelly’s store; Munro’s Bakery; and Mackenzie’s butcher shop. There was also a section of the town, stretching from where the old Post Office building now stands at Beacon Avenue and running between Fourth and Fifth Streets, known as Chinatown. The B.C. Provincial Police headquarters (with two jail cells) was in a small building across from the Sidney Hotel. To gain at least a semblance of control over their own destiny, a group of visionary businessmen formed the Sidney Board of Trade, operating as a de facto council, holding the first meeting on January 31, 1912, at J.B. Kelly’s store. They immediately asked B.C. Electric to route its railway line through Sidney and to provide power and light there. They also prepared a bid to have a breakwater built – an amenity that wouldn’t happen for another 70 years. The initial group of nine businessmen who formed the Board of Trade – J.B. Kelly, J.G. Bilings, C.C. Cochran, H.G. Hannan, H.A. McKillican, F. North, F.W. Bowcott, S.A. Kelly and F.W. Anderson – were joined by J.J. White, H.A. Dennis, P.N. Tester, G.A. Cochran, T.C. Conocise, A.J. Brown, A. Harvey, L. Adamson, J.J.

Johnson and A.R. Kierstad. A core number of that group put up the money to found the Sidney Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd. The press was set up in J.J. (James) White’s cannery building at the wharf. It began as a fourpage paper that came out every Friday and grew to eight pages. It was called the Sidney and Islands Review.

irates had been active around the Gulf Islands and continued to be a problem. On Friday, January 3, 1913, it was reported that the thieves took “every moveable thing” from Mr. Henry Ruckles’ gasoline launch on Salt Spring Island. It is believed this was the same organized gang, known to have a fast steam launch, that had been stealing sheep on Saturna Island and large quantities of stores such as rope, gasoline and tools on Prevost Island. The Board of Trade was just one year old, but the businessmen behind that organization were already trying to boost Sidney from an unincorporated village to town status. A visit to the ministry in April to ask for incorporation of the area by Mssrs. Buss, Clark, J. White, Hannan, B.D. White, J. Brethour, Capt. Byers, J.B. Kelly,

Congratulations to the Peninsula News Review on 100 years in our community! At Tanner’s Books we are proud to have served readers in our community for 30 years! We want to say thanks you to writers, especially our many local writers, to publishers, and to all our wonderful customers! On behalf of our friendly and knowledgeable booksellers, it’s been a pleasure and we look forward to serving you soon!

Stories that shaped the last century

1913 P012.1.187 The Victoria and Sidney (V&S) train. credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

A.L. Wilson, H. Brethour, Sears, Beckett, Humber, Bowman, G. Cochran, Billings, McKillican, North, St. Barbe, Spencer, Critchley, Hewitt, Armstrong, Brennan, Turnbull, Lopthan and Roberts was unsuccessful. The executive council responded that Sidney wasn’t ready for incorporation, to which The Review replied in a headline: Opposition to the Incorporation “Based on Spurious Statement.” In his editorial, The Review’s editor wrote that the town “cannot enter the present, never mind plan for the future, until control of its finances and planning criteria is centred in Sidney rather than the province.” The editor laid the blame for the government turning down the town’s request at the feet of Conservative leader James Critchley, writing: “It is not Sidney Mr. Critchley cares about, it is merely James Critchley and what James Critchley can get out of it.” B.C. Premier Sir Richard McBride refuted that, saying the Board’s petition was refused because Sidney was not yet in a position to undertake the financial responsibility it would have to incur as

a municipality. It was a time of unprecedented industrial growth here. In January, the first barge load of an instalment of 50,000 to 60,000 feet of plank and 10,000 to 12,000 of square timber was unloaded for Canadian Southern Timber Company by Jack Ormond and his crew, using heavy horse teams. The lumber was barged to Mayne Island to build a large wharf. Canadian Lumber Co. installed a new lighting plant to supply electricity to the mill and Beacon Avenue. In June, thanks to the B.C. Electric Railway Co., the electric lights came on in Sidney for the first time. A test was done during the afternoon at the Sidney Trading Company and at the Popular Restaurant, D.M. Evan’s tailor shop, Bowcott’s pool room, Scottish Stores, Smith’s electric supply warehouse, Merchants Bank of Canada and other premises on Beacon Avenue. That summer, Mr. Moorehouse’s four months’ service in turning off the streetlights at midnight was recognized, for which he was given compensation of $2.50.

Local news • Two panthers are killed on Salt Spring Island. • The Dean Brothers’ 100-acre farm at Saanichton and Keating (in line of the proposed right-of-way of the Canadian Northern Railway) is called a model of workmanship. • Royal Canadian Militia makes its annual camp on John Brethour’s property. • Locally, the Boy Scouts form a troop. One of their ﬁrst duties is to unfurl the Union Jack at the opening of Deep Cove School. The school has a capacity for 150 children. • The Sidney Cricket Club is in full swing. • Capt. George Johnson has returned from a trip to California. • F.J. Simister made a business trip to Vancouver on Wednesday. • Capt. Ceightly of the SS U.B.D. was registered on Friday at the Sidney Hotel. • Capt. and Mrs. Adamson have left for Los Angeles, accompanied by their two sons. They will be away about a month. • Cows in Saanichton are being put down due to a suspected tuberculosis outbreak. • The seller of a property on Vancouver Island has invoked the Lord’s Day Act to allow him to back out of the deal. However, at the Supreme Court at Victoria, debate has arisen whether the Act applies to Vancouver Island. Under the Lord’s Day Act, any agreement written or otherwise, made on a Sunday is invalid. • New telephone cables are laid across the inlet, the last link in the new VictoriaVancouver long distance line. • A conveyor used by the Canadian Southern Lumber Company collapses into the water, closing down the entire plant for at least a week.

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The Review

1914-1915-1 1914-1915-1 WAR AND OTHER STORMS As the Great War surged overseas, people on the Saanich Peninsula rallied to support soldiers IN THE REVIEW

A story that year, headed: “Boys Become a Nuisance on Beacon Avenue,” shows that times don’t change too much. The story is about young boys hanging around the streets and causing damage, even to the point of breaking into some unused buildings. The newspaper posted a rallying cry of “where are the parents?” and recommended taking the boys and their parents to court if the situation continued. James Island commenced operations of its plant in 1913 and with the onslaught of the First World War, by 1915, had 500 men employed. More than 800 people were on the payroll by war’s end, giving James Island a population of in excess of 1,000. Early in 1914, Provincial Police raided a gambling den in Sidney. The headline in The Review read: “Gather in Twelve Celestials and a Large Quantity of Wines and Liquors, also an Opium Bed and Smoking Outﬁt.” An editorial comment in the story predicted the sentence passed by the court was “to be light.” Celestial was a term used to describe Chinese immigrants to the United States, Canada and Australia during the 19th century. The term is from Celestial Empire, a traditional name for China.

ar was brewing in Europe, and volunteers from the Peninsula and the islands were signing up for the coming fight. In April, a one-cent war tax was levied on letters. At the start of the First World War, a large training camp was established on both sides of the street (where Mary Winspear Centre and the Travelodge are presently). Socks for Soldiers was the rallying cry from the Red Cross during the summer. Pairs of socks were used as admission fees to an event held September 8, in anticipation of another winter of conflict. Business was still booming. The Board of Trade refused permission for the Sidney Shingle Mill Co. to develop foreshore lands, but in November of 1914, the new Saanich Canning plant started up, with The Review writing that it “will employ white labour.” This issue became clouded during the war years when most of the available labour was Chinese, but resurged at war’s end. The Canadian Northern Pacific railway had inaugurated a new Gulf Islands service in Sidney in January 1912, and to accommodate its new ferry, the SS Queen City, the Great Northern Pacific Railway in 1914 constructed a new ferry slip facing south into Bazan Bay. Early in 1915, the Sidney Rubber Roofing Company plant restarted and the Genoa Bay Lumber Company set a new record for quick loading of a ship, loading 1.5 million feet of timber onboard the Ocean Queen in just 22 man hours. Canadian Potash and Algin Co. Ltd., taking over from the Sidney Trading Co. Ltd., started kelp industry operations in Sidney in its cannery at the end of the wharf on Beacon Avenue. But there was more than war and business news

in The Review. In September, the first Prohibition committee meeting was held at Wesley Church and Sidney’s Grand Festival of Art played to packed houses. Presented by the North Saanich chapter IODE, it included orchestras, “living pictures,” recitations, singing and plays. But the war overseas dominated the news. The Victoria Volunteer Reserve was formed in Saanichton with Sergeant-Major McIntyre and Cpl. Cantwell in charge. No. 3 Company, the Machine Gun Section, the Scouts and the 32-piece military band of the 17th Battalion Western Scots (more than 300 men) under the command of Capt. George Nicholsen, spent two days in Sidney. As the year ended, the Board of Trade’s demand for repairs to be made at the wharf went unanswered, as the Ministry of Finance was dedicating

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Stories that shaped the last century

FORMERLY FANDANGO DESIGN

-1916-1917 -1916-1917 P993.6.1 P993.6.1 Military Militarytroops troopsarrive arrivein inSidney, Sidney,1913. 1913.

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

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all money to the war effort.

he Sidney and Islands Review headlines in January 1916 tell of near epic snow storms on the Peninsula. The snowdrifts continued “to impede the milkman, butcher and baker, who are compelled to be abroad no matter what the weather.” Drifts of more than 18 feet covered the present airport area – rail and transport to the area was halted for eight days with no mail or supplies from Victoria. “There has been no mail arrived in Sidney since Tuesday morning. We have a water route from Victoria to Sidney, but the author-

ities have not yet discovered that fact,” The Review’s editor wrote. The rail lines remained blocked for nine days. Supplies were finally sent to Sidney with Capt. Robertson on the SS Queen Bee. In early February, heavy snowfall caused the James Island launch to lose its way back to the Island, running aground in Bazan Bay. The men on board were forced to jump overboard into several feet of water to make it to land. “Snowdrifts made the train more than an hour late Tuesday, and that has been the case at other times this week, plus snow blocked roads,” The Review reported. “There is concern about people who are trapped in their homes across the Peninsula.”

War news continued to dominate the pages of the newspaper. In February funerals for local soldiers were held, and a former Sidney boy, Pte. Robert Brethour, 27th Battalion, had been reported as wounded. An advertisement in The Review told people a sure way to make the soldiers happy: The Best Battle Tonic for the Boys was apparently tobacco. For one quarter, you could send 50 Canadianmanufactured cigarettes, one-fifth pound tobacco, a box of matches and a postcard addressed to the giver so that the soldier receiving the gift could express his thanks. The ad was by Canada’s Tobacco Fund (organized by the Overseas Club). The article goes on to say there is still a great need to fill the requests: “… it takes more than eight tons of tobacco and four million cigarettes every week if each of our Canadian soldiers is to have a supply.” The Review took donations. B.C. Electric opened an electrical shop on Beacon Avenue and the B.C. Electric Railway Company built a new six-room section house on Meadlands Farm to accommodate the two gangs of men employed at the northern end of the road. There was a buzz of excitement when the pile driver arrived and work began to replace the missing piles under Beacon Wharf. “This wharf has now been closed to heavy traffic for well on to six or seven months and in fact repairs were needed to it long before that, and it is doubtful even now had it not been for the untiring efforts of the Board of Trade if the repairs would have been even thought of this winter,” The Review’s editor wrote. The West Saanich Women’s Institute called for the institution of lower fares for rail lines to the Peninsula, saying that could attract more settlers and those already living here would use the train more often. Also, children, after passing the entrance exams for high school, must take the train to Victoria to attend school. High fares were “a barrier their parents can’t afford, so that their education comes to an end at a critical stage.” Those who liked to imbibe were annoyed when Prohibition was voted in by just 20 votes (292 to 272).

Congratulations Peninsula News Review on 100 Years! Michell Bros. Farm Circa 1930s

Circa 2012

PROUD TO BE PART OF THE COMMUNITY FOR ALMOST 150 YEARS.

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1918-1919-11 CLASSROOM BATTLES As neighbour sparring over schools creates delays, the paper’s editor, fed up, departs ADVERTISEMENTS

Merchants Bank of Canada encourages men to set up a bank account for their wives, as “more and more are the wives of today running their homes on a business basis – systematically and efﬁciently. Many wives have a monthly allowance for household expenses.” B.C. Tel: “That Line Is Busy” – Do you ever doubt the operator when you get this report on your call? … The ad continues to talk about the operator’s responsibilities and that it’s easier for her to complete the call than to report back to the caller. It also talks about how “each operator senses her unusual responsibility and is appreciative of every evidence of consideration accorded her earnest effort.”

Local news On April 14, 1921, the Sidney Roofing and Paper Company plant had a serious fire that destroyed a portion of its roof. The fire equipment available to the Sidney Fire Brigade proved inadequate to the job, just as a recent editorial had predicted. All stock at the site and much of the machinery was destroyed. The Sidney Mills crews helped firefighters put out the blaze, but damage was estimated at between $50,000 and $60,000. As the Sidney Roofing and Paper Company’s plant was the only one of its kind north of San Francisco and west of Quebec, the plant was rebuilt.

Stories that shaped the last century

918 began at the Sidney and Islands Review and Saanich Gazette with a change in editors. A. Emory Moore, who had been with the newspaper since August 1, 1913, informed readers in his editorial that he and his family would leave Sidney because he didn’t “believe Sidney will ever have a proper, up-to-date school system.” His concern came in part from the protracted discussions by the school board about where to build a new school (originally to be placed centrally between Sidney and North Saanich) and when they did come to a decision, Sidney ratepayers shot it down, insisting the school be in Sidney. The wrangling prompted Moore to pack up his family and move. In January, the newspaper was reduced in price (to $1 per annum, payable in advance) and in size, being a small tabloid of just four pages. That was due to the First World War, which had stripped the country of workers, therefore slowing the production of paper and raising the price of newsprint. As the war escalated, there was a period when the paper’s owners even contemplated shutting it down, but decided to reduce the size of the paper instead. However, there was some optimism for the future, as The Review got a new Model L Mergenthaler linotype machine. By September, The Review was again a full-sized tab. And there was a new manager and editor, “who takes up office in Sidney under the awkward condition of having been a total stranger to it until a week ago, when he arrived here from London.” That new lessee and editor was Alfred Cunningham. A site for the new school in Sidney was finally selected and agreed upon by what the editor referred to as a disappointingly small group of people. The school was to be built on property at the rear of the present Sidney school; people were unhappy to find out this would be a two-room school, rather than the five rooms requested. Although new to the town, Cunningham was bold in his editorials, in one taking a shot at the people of Sidney, writing “the lack of pubic spirit is striking and regrettable.” He said he realized that most of the young men are away at war, but those who were left were “men of an age and experience who usually take an active interest in civil affairs,” and “it is regrettable that these men should just allow themselves to vegetate and the town to rust.” Then, in November, the war was over. In 1919 Sidney Mills Ltd., after undergoing

extensive alterations and repairs, was running at maximum capacity, cutting 100,000 feet of lumber, 10,000 lath and 30,000 shingles in each nine-hour run. Sidney Rubber Roofing Ltd. contemplated expansion, as did the James Island Powder plant. The local clam cannery was processing 42 boatloads of mollusks. Thirty people worked at the cannery, with a monthly payroll of $1,200. Cunningham advocated in his editorial that Sidney was ripe for a new movie theatre since the equipment was already in place at Berquist Hall, and within weeks a new theatre opened. The Victoria and Sidney Railway discontinued its operations in April 1919, which was a blow to local manufacturers such as Sidney Mills Ltd. Faced with the possible closure of that mill the Board of Trade worked to have the Canadian Northern Railway linked to the old V&S rail line at a cost of $500, then asked that the CNR begin passenger service between Sidney and Victoria. In May 1919, there was yet another change of management at The Review, with Mr. F. (Fred) Forneri of Victoria moving to Sidney to take charge.

he look of the newspaper had changed. Rather than having headline news on front, or even editorial comment and letters to the editor (quite common in earlier years), the columns were filled with news

19 1920-1921

Local news

P976.137.1 Critchley’s Store, 1915.

• January 16, 1920: a violent gale that week submerges 150 feet of the railway track and all trafﬁc is halted temporarily. A huge barge of the CPR breaks adrift with eight heavily laden cars on board. After careening round the harbour, it comes to a rest off James Island. The entire telephone system also goes down. • Daylight Saving Time comes into effect in B.C. on April 2, 1920. • The James Island boat begins two trips a week to Sidney (Tuesdays and Saturdays). • New Packard “6” are being used between Sidney and Victoria by Davey and Hobson deliveries. • Rest Haven will become a sanitarium. Mr. D. McNaughton buys the property for $40,000 and sells it to the Seventh Day Adventists for $20,000 for use as a sanitarium based on nature’s cure and devoted to the principles of hydrotherapy and physiological therapeutics.

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

from around the area and divided into specific places (Keating, Patricia Bay, West Saanich, Tod Inlet, James Island, Salt Spring, Galiano, etc.), all submitted by people in those areas. One of the biggest issues of the day was an announcement by the Board of Trade showing taxes collected by government in the past three years in this district amounted to $88,005.63, but monies expended here in that same period were $15,963.40. Those funds came from gun licences and the dog tax, for example, and did not include funding from school taxes or any other taxes. This was seen as another good reason for the town to be incorporated as a municipality, for which the Board of Trade, supported by a large portion of the community, continued to lobby. Again, the government ignored their pleas. The First World War was over, but its legacy lived on with several committees and agencies offering services to veterans. A committee was formed on the Peninsula to build a War Memorial Hall. At a well-attended meeting which, according to the writer “no one would complain … lacked ginger,” it was decided the hall would be called North Saanich Community Hall. However, a suggestion that a memorial wall be added was scotched, with people saying the plaques should not be placed next to a place of gaiety; instead they would erect a separate monument

to hold the names of those lost in the war. In December 1920, the entire Sidney School teaching staff resigned because of a board request that two of the staff be fired. Members said they felt it necessary to take that step “to protect ourselves against the danger of dismissal without stated cause (as witnessed your board’s action toward two of our staff ) and without the opportunity to defend ourselves.” Fred Forneri suggested in his editorial that if complaints come to the board in future, perhaps they should call a meeting with the complainant and teacher and work it out before matters escalate. An inquiry by the Ministry of Education resulted in the two teachers resigning, but Mssrs. Hoyle and Jones, the principal and vice principal, each withdrew their resignations. In 1921, new columns were added to the paper. One, Gay by “Firefly” took a romantic turn, with a Southern Belle writing about her love for Roger. The young lady took a course on home nursing, with the columns following her adventures. The other was Some Tales of the Indians and Their Half Brothers: Related by one who dwelt long amongst them — picturesque traditions and legends of the natives of the

Western plains. Another new item was called Pithy Paragraphs for Busy People – This Week’s News in Terse Terms (briefs, in other words). These news items came from across the country and around the world. The most important matter dealt with by the Sidney Board of Trade, apart from incorporation, was for an automobile ferry service between some point on the Saanich Peninsula and Mill Bay. The suggestion for the ferry service came from Mr. Hugh Savage, president of the Duncan Board of Trade, and was endorsed by Sidney’s membership and by The Review. It took some time, but the service was established and still continues.

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The Review

1922-1923-1 UPS AND DOWNS AT SEA People cheer the arrival of the ﬁrst Anacortes Ferry while pirates pillage the liquor runs

n 1922, F. (Fred) Forneri was the editor of what was now called the Sidney and Islands Review and Saanich Gazette. The newspaper was a standard tabloid size again, as newsprint was not as difficult or expensive to buy after the Great War ended. In 1922 and 1923, the front page was dominated many times by photographs obtained from the local movie theatre (or picture houses, as they were called). These extolled the wonders of the movies and listed that week’s offering. For Feb. 25 to 28, 1922, it was Charlie Chaplin in A Dog’s Life. Forneri was a persuasive figure and strong supporter of the area. In the early months of 1922, his editorials were all about buying locally and encouraging the production of B.C. products and manufacturing efforts. For the most part, he had an extremely optimistic outlook for the province and for the Saanich Peninsula in particular. After several months of pushing people to at least consider buying locally, he turned to the manufacturing sector, asking them to increase production at their facilities and to concentrate on selling those products in B.C. rather than exporting them all. Keeping those items in the province, he maintained, circulated money within B.C.’s borders and allowed local people to take advantage of local expertise. Exporting, he wrote, stripped people’s ability to spend any discretionary funds they might have, slowing the growth of the local economy. Forneri felt B.C. should strive to be more self-sufficient and should only import goods that could not be produced here. For the most part, the news was submitted from around the area. Each area of the Penin-

sula and many of the islands had correspondents who sent in news; mainly written in first person, it was purely local, such as who visited whom, the state of people’s health and the appalling condition of roads after snow or rain storms. Those items filled the front page of each paper and flipped inside. Sports continued to be a focus of front page, as well. Depending on the season, hockey, lacrosse, rugby and baseball were covered extensively. Seasonal ferry service between Anacortes and Sidney restarted in April, when the Harvester King, owned by Capt. Harry Crosby and W.H. Kasch, started on the run. The 30-car capacity ferry charged $6 for cars and $2 for each passenger. The passage took about three and a half hours. For its official inaugural journey April 21, Sidney Mills shut down in anticipation of its arrival and school children got the day off. Board of Trade members from both towns were on hand and had a tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria later.

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ooze traffickers were held up by pirates in Peter’s Cove in March of 1924. The four pirates got $10,000 in whiskey and took the Canadian gas boat Hadsel. It made the front page, along with local weddings, deaths, social and club news. The editor had significant influence on business and industry in the area. In his editorial, Walter Wakefield warned against a fish oil and fertilizer plant rumoured to be going in at Roberts Bay and urged the Hon. J.A. Motherwell at the provincial capital not to issue a permit. Transportation in all its forms continued to be at the forefront. In April a new ferry service between Brentwood and Mill Bay was established by the Cascade Towing and Freighting Co. Ferry traffic using Sidney’s port was increasing, but service was still sporadic and didn’t continue year-round. In May of 1925, the CPR ferry Motor Princess commenced its Sidney-Bellingham run and the Princess Patricia operated

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Stories that shaped the last century

-1924-1925 -1

P976.157.1 Inauguration of the Sidney Anacortes ferry, 1922.

P985.3.1 The ﬁrst run of the ferry from Anacortes, Washington to Sidney on April 29, 1922. credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

on the Nanaimo-Vancouver run. The Mount Vernon was the first steamer to open the ferry service, making one round trip a day from Anacortes. Each was urged and then lauded by The Review. The newspaper underwent some changes after November 1, when Hugh McIntyre took over. No longer were the regional writeups spread across the entire page, now there were writer-generated stories with the more modern headline styles. McIntyre’s first editorial showed his enthusiasm for the area. He asked: “Are you helping to make Sidney a bigger town and extol the advantages this area offers?” He said more industry should be induced to come here, adding “that should be easy, given the cheap sites, low taxes, railway access and deep water facilities.” The Board of Trade continued to act as an unelected council. In January of 1925 readers learned the Mill Bay ferry was a reality; the light committee had success-

fully maintained the street lights; the public works department had looked after roads and sidewalks; rural mail service was extended to Roberts Bay; the new Automobile Club of B.C. had a permanent information bureau office at the ferry wharf; the CNR signed a new lease for the auto park; and the Ford Products Ltd. was established here – all assisted by the Board of Trade. In 1925 the Board recommended that all automobile drivers should be registered and become provincially regulated. Under their guidance the Dominion Government wharf on Beacon Avenue was repaired and a breakwater was constructed, again at the insistence of the board and The Review. McIntyre also toyed at changing the format of the newspaper, in June making the pages smaller, more like a magazine. While readers liked the change, the paper reverted to its original style and size, because the machinery on which the paper was printed was more suited to the larger pages.

Local news • A record clam catch in December 1925, due to the lowest tide known for years, saw the Saanich Canning Company can in excess of 200,000 pounds. More than 50 workers did the harvest. • Vancouver Island Egg-Laying Contest continues and a Sidney pen is in the lead. • B.C. Telephone Co. has been in service for 10 years. On January 1, 1912, the Sidney exchange had 59 subscribers. On May 1, 1922, they have 165. On January 1, 1912, Keating exchange had 38 subscribers; on May 1, 1922, there are 132. • A women’s association on the coast wants the word “obey” stricken from the marriage vows. Editor F. Forneri suggests a compromise: Love, Honor and Behave. He feels that would beneﬁt both parties.

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The Review

1926-1927-1 1926-1927-DAYS OF GROWTH The Review remarks upon new homes, businesses popping up as the Peninsula economy ﬂourishes In The Review, 1927

SWEEP UP THE GLASS

Owing to the heavy trafﬁc on Sundays many autos come to grief in collision and considerable broken glass covers the pavement in places. We have observed several thoughtful citizens sweeping up glass after a smash. These citizens deserve the thanks of all motorists. Nothing is more unpleasant than to discover all of a sudden that you are driving through a road full of glass. It should be a recognized rule of the road that when a crash occurs all glass should be at once removed from the highway; if there is a serious accident and the glass has to be left for a time the ﬁrst motorist along discovering the glass should feel it his or her duty “to stop and clean up the tires’ worst enemy.” Carry a short-handled broom in your equipment. Let’s get the habit of keeping the highway clear of glass.

REh VMIcEInWty:re E H T T A 1926itor/owner Hugof the paper

Ed ame nds d the n the Isla change Sidney and azette to e from th and Saanich G Gulf Islands w ie ld v la and e R eninsu unced it wou P h ic n o n d Saa n n a a Bay , and Review er Brentwood v o c . w ell no ak as w Royal O

Stories that shaped the last century

he lack of water on the Peninsula was a constant concern. The year 1926 began with a battle about piping in water for irrigation on the Peninsula. In a letter to the editor on the front page in January, J.B. Tighe of Deep Cove suggested, as piping water from afar would prove too costly for the consumer, that the provincial government provide a well-boring and drilling plant that each user could access for his property. F.A. Thornton, however, pointed out that going into debt for a comprehensive water system now would be worth the expense, as the debt could be paid off within about 60 years. In the meantime, area residents would all have water and there would be sufficient water for farm lands as well. It was common for letters to the editor and editorials at the time to be printed on the front page. In his editorials, Hugh McIntyre continued to be a Sidney booster, putting out ideas for business and industry. As were his predecessors, he was a member of the Sidney Board of Trade and made sure people knew what that group was working on, since the area was still unincorporated and still ruled from Victoria. That the province continued to deny the district’s incorporation continued to be a bone of contention for many of the area’s citizens. In January the Board of Trade’s president Rev. M.W.J. Bruce called together all the fruit growers in the area to look at ways of strengthening the marketing of their goods. The board also looked at having game laws that could be enforced, “it being pointed out that shooting from automobiles was more prevalent last season than ever and this is not only a dangerous type of shooting, but decidedly unsportsmanlike.” A committee was appointed to talk to the Game and Fish Association. In the midst of this, there was a building boom going on between Sidney and Victoria. McIntyre pointed out: ”From the East Saanich Road and Quadra Street, one can count in the neighbourhood of 20 [new residences] at the present time, and there are also a number under construction in other parts of the Peninsula.” He said every winter a number of new people relocated here from the East. The local business community was growing, too. In May Fred Bowcott opened his ice cream parlour and refreshment booth in Mr. Stacey’s building at the corner of Sixth Street and Beacon Avenue. Jack Greenwood, proprietor of the Sidney Hotel and the Fairy Lunch, and manager of the Sidney Automobile Park, added a new business just outside the area, the Mount Douglas Tea Rooms. On Beacon Avenue, there was more construction, with J.B. and B.J. Readings of Bazan Bay Road build-

ing a new up-to-date automobile service station at the corner of Fifth Street. The Flying Line Stage started operations with a large garage on the north side of Beacon between Fourth and Fifth Streets, for overnight storage of their buses, and A.W. Hollands built a new meat market on Beacon, on the south side, west of the Imperial Gas and Oil Station, between Second and Third. The Flying Line was then sold to Empress Taxi Co. and new stages were added. James J. Wright of San Francisco was looking for 500 to 600 acres of suitable land for his $10 million project, Cinema City, and North Saanich was suggested as the ideal spot. That didn’t come to fruition, despite the push from the newspaper and Board of Trade. 1927 began on a high note, with McIntyre predicting the business outlook was better than ever, as new capital poured into the country from Britain and the U.S. With that belief firmly in place, he purchased a new Model Fourteen linotype for the newspaper. Calling it a mechanical marvel, McIntyre wrote, “It has four sizes of Cheltenham blackface (8, 10, 14 and 24-point),” which they demonstrated in the story. From then on, all the typefaces were used throughout the paper, giving it a lively appearance. The year ended the way it began – with discussions about getting water for irrigation for the Saanich Peninsula. It seemed opposition to the idea had perhaps died down.

-1928-1929 -1 Local news

P976.142.1 People stand outside the Sidney Trading Co. Ltd.

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

In December of 1927, McIntyre used his 24-point font to announce that circulation of The Review, with the December 9 issue, had hit 2,000 copies.

ire ravaged Berquist Block, demolishing it at the start of 1928. Firefighters were able to save some buildings, but the local butcher shop, government liquor store, Gilman’s Barbershop and Poolroom and the Local Grocery were consumed in the blaze. A good outcome was that the Board of Trade held a fundraiser for the fire department to buy new equipment and to meet the expenses incurred in the fire. It had quickly been determined that current equipment wasn’t adequate to fight this large a blaze. There was a mini-boom going on in North Saanich, with a number of homes being built and more inquiries coming in from across Canada and the U.S. about waterfront properties and home sites. Among the new construction was that of Col. C.W. Peck, who built an eightroom home just off Beach Drive, overlooking Roberts Bay. There were new businesses and business expansions, as well. In October, a new marine gas station opened at the boat-building firm of Copeland & Wright. This was the first marine

service station in the area, putting Sidney on the map as a seaside town. Gas was 24 cents a gallon. Depot Coffee Shoppe opened in the bus depot of the Vancouver Island Coach Lines, and Sidney was chosen as the terminal for the new CPR automobile ferry, Motor Princess, to run between the Island and Steveston, a threehour trip. 1929 began on a more positive note, with McIntyre’s enthusiasm for the Saanich Peninsula jumping off the page of each issue. There was a new, boxed feature called Opportunities in Sidney and North Saanich, in which The Review outlined new business opportunities available. McIntyre’s optimism wasn’t misplaced, as there was a lot of activity in the business community. Mrs. J. F. Simister announced she would open Roberts Bay Inn on Third Street, and Sidney Lumber Company was expanding and adding new equipment. It also established a retail yard. Despite that, the newspaper must have been experiencing some financial difficulties, as it was still just four pages. In September, the B.C. Coast Steamship Service announced it would revert to a former Gulf Islands service, routing the sailing to the islands via of Sidney, instead of Victoria. That meant mail service would go from Sidney instead of Victoria as well.

• E.S. Wise leases land from owners of Mallowmot farm for the construction of a nine-hole golf course. • The breeding of chinchillas is going strong. • September 27: Mrs. Akerman, the ﬁrst white woman on Salt Spring Island, celebrates her 90th birthday. • North and South Saanich Agricultural Society stages a Diamond Jubilee show and establishes the fact that it is the oldest of Canada’s agricultural societies functioning continuously west of the Great Lakes. • Dr. William Newton, plant pathologist, and two assistants are permanently located at the Experimental station. • Sidney hotel adds a number of log cabins for the accommodation of tourists. • Mr. Douglas Horth debuts in the grand opera in Milan, where he was given the leading tenor solos of La Boheme by Maestro Caronna.

After October’s stock market crash it must have been hard for McIntyre to maintain his enthusiasm. Then in November 1929, Sidney had another big blaze in the business section of town. Hard work by firefighters saved the Seagull Inn and adjoining buildings from a fire that wiped out Sidney Service Station Garage and Showroom for Radios Etc. and real estate offices. The fire, again cause unknown, started in the radio business at about 4:30 a.m. Those noticing the fire alerted the Sidney Lumber Company’s night engineer and the mill whistle soon sounded the fire call. Four cars were saved from the fire and the safe was rolled out of Mr. Roberts’ office at the garage and stored in the Bank of Montreal. Losses were estimated at $15,000. The year ended with the ongoing push for a breakwater for Sidney, an idea that garnered support from several local businesses, including the Canadian Pacific Railway B.C. Coast Service, Vancouver Island Tug & Barge Company and the Canadian Explosives Limited of James Island. The breakwater would protect the wharves and ferry boats from the southeasters that battered the waterfront, bringing 50,000 passengers through Sidney each year.

The Review

1930-1931- 1 GIVING BACK As tough times hit the Peninsula, those who were better off helped those who struggled

Local news • Tennis courts ofﬁcially open at Memorial Park. • Judge Lampman, after a few appropriate remarks, declares the new Ardmore Golf Course open. • Fifteen Cent Store opens in Wesley Hall. The event is put on by the United Church, with funds collected earmarked for improvements to the church basement. • Stacey’s Hall on Fifth Street is completed in 1932 after a couple of months construction. It’s the largest hall in the area, at 17 feet by 50 feet, without pillars or obstructions of any kind and laid with 1 ¼ inch ﬂooring. The stage is 24 by14, three feet high. • The Imperial Daughters of the Empire (IODE), Allies’ Chapter, in North Saanich has more than 35 members, who are currently collecting warm clothing for needy families.

aanich Peninsula and the Islands Review continued to run just four pages at the beginning of 1930, a situation that would persist for many months to come. It was a result of the stock market crash of 1929, as well as a forerunner of the Great Depression to come. While Sidney’s Board of Trade continued on its quest to have a breakwater built along Sidney’s waterfront, a circumstance seen by many as a new threat to small businesses reared its head. Editor Hugh McIntyre came out keenly sympathetic to local independent merchants when the question of allowing chain stores to the area arose. He posed arguments that are echoed by small towns today, that the chain stores would undercut the mom and pop ventures and put them out of business. His opinion likely came from the fact The Review was also a small independent business, born in Sidney out of local support. But changes were coming, and not too far from the Saanich Peninsula’s borders. A new super gas station was being built in Royal Oak by Union Oil Company. There was a small outcry raised because the Royal Oak Hotel, formerly a roadside tavern (before wartime prohibition and government control came into play) was being torn down to make way for the super station. Some businesses were thriving. Sidney Cannery was expanding, installing a 70-horsepower steam boiler to replace the old 25-horsepower one, and a Dutch oven was being built to use the sawdust from the Sidney Lumber Company as fuel. Ferries were still big news. A twice-daily automobile ferry service between Swartz Bay and Fulford, using the MV Cy Peck, (formerly named the Island Princess) started in June 1930. Connecting with that Gulf Islands Ferry Company service, the Vancouver Island Trans-

portation Company Limited operated a 14-passenger bus on Salt Spring Island, linking with the ferry sailings. Along with that, J.S.H. Matson, owner of Island Freight Company (and the Cy Peck), operated a new truck specially equipped for the Salt Spring Island service. It made one trip a day to Victoria and returned with freight collected from all parts of the Island, the service subsidized by the provincial government to the extent of $7,000 annually. In June of 1931, a new launch service started between Sidney and Galiano and Gossip islands by Mr. O.H. New of Galiano. While the Board of Trade and Saanich council were petitioning the provincial government to classify East and West Saanich roads as arterial highways, editor McIntyre was advocating for a high school to be built in the district. With three feeder schools in Sidney, Deep Cove and North Saanich with populations equivalent to those of other small towns (2,500 to 3,000), the area warranted its own school, he said. Currently students had to travel to Victoria High School each day, and taxpayers were paying a per capita cost for those students, money McIntyre thought should stay in this district. By 1931, businesses were beginning to feel the downward pull of the slowing economy. The Review remained at four pages, still loaded with local news from around the region. In January 1931, Col. Cy Peck stepped down from his elected position in the B.C. Legislature, opening the way for new blood. Later Macgregor F. McIntosh of Salt Spring Island was nominated at the Conservative convention, and was to be Peck’s replacement. He beat Mr. George Clark, North Saanich (who ran unsuccessfully in 1920), Robert D. Harvey of Knapp Island and W. Miller Higgs of Galiano Island. The front page of The Review vividly reflected community activities. People played tennis, bridge and Military 500 – boxing was a big draw – and a front page story in February 1930 again promoted the proposed breakwater for Sidney.

his, the 20th anniversary of The Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Island Review, was seared with the Depression and news of hard times across the country and through-

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Stories that shaped the last century

1932-1933 MILITARY 500 CARD GAME

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P981.28.4 J.J White and Doris Blackburn leaning on a car, circa 1930s

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

out North America. But as always, life went on, with the people of the Peninsula and Gulf Islands living their lives as normally as possible. There were still bridge and Military 500 card games, sporting events and the Saan-

ich Fair to entertain everyone. Sidney Day was still held, along with many other community events. On December 14, 1932 The Review published its 20th anniversary edition. In his editorial, Hugh McIntyre looked

back at 20 years of accomplishment in the village, writing they “now had good roads all over the Peninsula, paved and hard-surfaced, and now many miles of good roads on the Gulf Islands.” “It was only a few years ago that the town got first class sidewalks. Beacon Avenue has wide boardwalks and other streets, paved walks. There has been steady building activity, and many new businesses erected.” So even if times were tough, there had been bleaker days on the Peninsula. He also wrote about the Depression, although there didn’t seem to be an emphasis on the hard times in most issues of the paper. In December 1932 he wrote: “At the present time you may seem a little down-hearted and discouraged with so much unemployment in our district and business at a low ebb, but it cannot always be thus and with a little cooperation and sympathy for those a little less fortunate than ourselves, we will weather the storm and come out a lot better men and women to guide the destiny of the famous Saanich Peninsula and the beautiful Gulf Islands.” However, the Depression was felt sharply here in January 1933, when Sidney Lumber Co. Ltd. closed. In March of 1933, a new Victoria and District Employment Plan was introduced, asking all those who were more fortunate to find work that those who were unemployed could do. The Peninsula community embraced the Give a Job plan, raising more than $20,000 in a month. Work that would not have gone ahead otherwise was done, including the new double tennis courts at the Memorial Park (using about $900 already raised separately by the Memorial Park Society). Other news wasn’t as upbeat. In August of 1932, it was announced that 29 male Doukhobor prisoners were taken from Oakalla penitentiary to Piers Island, the new Dominion penal colony. “The women will not be brought over until a separate encampment is completed for them, which is underway,” the story said.

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The Review

GOOD CUSTOMS A new Customs Ofﬁce and whispers of an aerodrome deliver optimism

lower and garden shows, the Shrine Band, musicals, concerts, men’s club meetings, Military 500 cards, Lucky Lindies dances, rifle club shoots – who says there’s a depression? You’d hardly know it from the Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Islands Review’s front pages. The other big news on January 26, 1934, was the announcement that the first “talkies” ever to be heard in Sidney were presented at Stacey’s Hall, when Sir Walter Scott’s immortal romance, the Lady of the Lake, was shown. Later that year, the talkies were shown at the Auditorium Theatre, later known as the Capital Theatre (now Empire Theatres Capitol 6). The first show there was the Masquerader, with Ronald Coleman. But there was ample evidence that the economy was stagnant. The Review ran with just four pages each week, at the reduced subscription price of $1 (paid in advance) per year. Advertising was at a premium and was obviously highly prized as, for the first time, there were ads on the front page. Often there were no editorials, simply reports from around the district and the islands. Most of that news was about local business and events, and tended, as always, to be positive. There was more emphasis on agriculture and sports than there had been, with stories about more than 2,000 people attending the Second Annual Sheep Breeders’ Show and Handicraft Exhibition getting front page placement. The show was opened by Hon. K.C. MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture in Ottawa. There was still a strict Victorianism in the outlook of many of the people of the area. Temperance meetings continued, despite the reversal of the liquor prohibition laws a decade earlier.

P976.604.1 Old Katie, an Indian princess and the ‘white man’s friend’ passed away in 1934 at nearly 100 years old.

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

At the end of 1934, Hugh McIntyre must have felt some optimism for the future, as he purchased a new press and the paper was larger. His promotional theme had changed, however. Now, instead of boosting the industrial aspect, he was advertising Sidney as “The Garden Spot of Canada.” That changed again in 1935, when he asked: “Are you a Community Booster?” and ran stories about people in

In The Review, 1934

SEA SERPENT OBSERVED AT PATRICIA BAY

Early Tuesday morning, September 11, Miss May Williams was awakened by a great commotion in the water at a point just north of the Bradley-Dyer Estate, at Patricia Bay, and going to the bedroom window observed a sight that seemed hard to comprehend. Some 300 feet away from the window at a point about 200 feet from the shore was a giant snake-like monster battling with a large number of black ducks that usually rest peacefully on the bay’s quiet waters. She says that the monster was in sight for approximately 15 minutes, and that she had a very clear view of its head and four or five coils. The head was like that of a giant snake, about twice the size of the neck, and was raised four or five feet above the water, the coils were arched similar to the common “measuring-worm” we are all familiar with, each coil being separated by about 10 feet of a submerged section, while the exposed “coils” were about five or six feet in length, the thickness of the humps or coils as near as could be judged, were about two to three feet. She figured the entire length at about 70 to 80 feet. The monster finally left, travelling at great speed toward Salt Spring Island. There are rumors that the monster was seen that afternoon near Mill Bay. the area who were making a difference economically and socially. The rumblings of war in Europe were hinted at on the front pages of The Review, but there was not yet any speculation of trouble ahead. Instead, the district was looking at ways to protect itself

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Stories that shaped the last century

from the ever-present threat of fire. Fire protection plans were being sought for the whole district. To start, Chief Critchley decided to organize the fire brigade in units, divided into nine areas. Construction of an incinerator began June 17, in conjunction with the fire survey of the area. That decision was justified when Sidney Lumber Co. had another huge setback, with a fire destroying the large sawdust bin and damaging the roof of the boiler room – about $5,000 damage. On the positive side, the Staff-of-Life Bakery on Second Street, just off Beacon Avenue, got new owners when Mr. H. Rowbottom and his son Arthur purchased the business from Mr. H. Ingamells. Businessmen saw a need to band together to face the still-feeble economy and a businessmen’s organization was formed. The possibilities of building an airport were discussed and a committee was appointed by the Sidney Businessmen’s Association to investigate the options. As the year drew to a close, some of the town’s history disappeared when Chinatown in Sidney was torn down.

t was official. The Dominion government was scouting the area to build a new aerodrome. The Sidney Businessmen’s Association, which had been advocating for just such a facility, was feeling optimistic about seeing the aerodrome built here. While the country was in the depths of the Great Depression, people on the Peninsula continued to start new businesses and government contracts were being handed out. A contract was let for the new Sidney Post Office with the building opening for business on December 11, 1936. The Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Islands Review editor Hugh McIntyre was writing about the state of the economy and later, in 1937, turned his attention to pensions and health insurance. As ever, he was looking to the future. The Review had also continued to fight for better ferry service to and from the Gulf Islands and in

P986.5.1 Ralph Marshall drives a truckload of ﬁrewood at Bazan Bay brickyard, circa 1930. A large pile of bricks towers in the background. credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

March of 1936, it was announced the Sidney to Anacortes ferry would go three times a day that season. Unfortunately, all such ferry service was seasonal and short-lived, and the fight continued for regular, year-round service both to the islands and the mainland. Another piece of good news was that the longawaited Customs Office was to go ahead opposite Saanich Canning Co. It culminated many years of talks with the Dominion government. The site chosen was located at the foot of Beacon Avenue, across from the Saanich Canning Co. Ltd. and the Sidney Hotel. On December 8, 1936, the Silver Jubilee edition of The Review was printed. It consisted of 16 pages of a seven-column paper with 2,240 column inches of reading material and advertisements. Hugh McIntyre boasted that the pages of The Review of that issue, laid side by side, would reach more than six miles. In 1937 the North Saanich Consolidated School District was formed and one of the

first duties was to oversee the rebuilding of the North Saanich School, which had been destroyed on January 14. On Salt Spring Island, five of the eight school districts there were consolidated to form a rural high school area. This was a year of firsts. The first lamb show ever to be held in the area was opened by MLA Norman Whittaker and was likely attended nearly as well as the rest of the local fairs. McIntyre must have been pleased when the game he invented, Diamond Ball, was played here for the first time and involved a league of six local teams. For the congregation of St. Andrew’s Church in Sidney, there was jubilation at the sound of chimes being rung at their church for the first time. These were a gift from the old cathedral in Victoria. And on Salt Spring Island, there was light – electric light – carried for the first time ever through cables laid from Crofton to Vesuvius Bay by the Nanaimo-Duncan Utility Co.

- 1936-1937 Congratulations Peninsula News Review on 100 years of reporting our local news “Notaries serving Sidney since 1968”

Laurie Salvador & Lisa Ehrlich

Suites 101 & 103, 9830 Second Street, Sidney, BC, V8L 3C6 Phone (250) 656-3951 Fax (250) 655-0878 s-d@salvador-davis.com www.salvador-davis.com

The Review

1938-1939-1938-1939-1 BACK AT WAR The Peninsula gets an aerodrome and

soldiers take to the battle fronts in Europe

he world was swiftly moving closer to all-out war and by 1939, Canada was involved. People here rallied around the cause, with young men signing up to fight and the women starting fundraising drives. Site A, a large area extending from Patricia Bay to near the Town of Sidney, was chosen as the site for a defence base. It was to be one of the largest aerodromes in Canada, with room for expansion at the site. The contract was let by the Department of National Defence on June 21, 1937, with the $69,500 contract later awarded to Messrs. Mannix & Davidson of Vancouver for clearing and grading the RCAF aerodrome site. In July, the HMCS Fraser and the St. Laurent steamed into Sidney, discharging troops for the camp here. Hundreds of residents turned out to welcome the soldiers and sailors to the area. The men marched to headquarters north of Fifth Street, between Beacon and Oakland Avenues, where about 1,200 would be under canvas until the end of the week. The pages of The Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Islands Review again reflected the thinking of the day. Today it would be seen as racist, but at

SULA N I N E P H AANIC : 1938 AT S ISLANDS0R0 hEoVmIeEsWand AND GUieLFw goes into 1,0,200 people v 6 The Re proximately ap s e h c a re

the time, it was considered fair comment when MLA Capt. Macgregor Macintosh, at a meeting in Sidney, suggested there be a census taken of Japanese living in B.C. He believed that many local people weren’t able to get employment, as the jobs were held by Japanese. The next week a headline in The Review asked: “Is this Province to be for the White Man or for the Oriental?” The answer was, as expected, that the Orientals should go, showing, in part, how the incarceration of the Japanese during the Second World War happened and was generally accepted. In 1939, Hugh J. McIntyre was president of the Sidney Businessmen’s Association. He continued, both in the Association and in print, to push for more industries in Sidney, such as sugar beets, which were just coming into popularity with growers on the Peninsula. It was a time of growth in the area. Work on the aerodrome re-commenced, now that the weather had improved, Saanich Canning Co. was sold to B.C. Packers, who would operate it as Saanich Canning Co. (1939) Ltd., and several new stores were being built or completed. H.J. Readings of the Bazan Bay Cash Store on the East Road had a large, new store nearly completed at the corner of East Road and McTavish Road. Walter Patten Murphy of Chicago, millionaire manufacturer of railway equipment, purchased Mira Loma, the former Nichol estate in Sidney. In the meantime, in July, tenders were called for the hangar at the aerodrome. This was a massive undertaking, estimated to cost at least $750,000, including resurfacing the runways ($300,000), building the hangars ($295,000), working on a seaplane base ($104,000) and a further $50,000 for an apartment block for fliers. As 1939 drew to a close, the North Saanich

branch for the Canadian Red Cross had raised more than $900 for the overseas campaign. The drums of war beat ever louder and McIntyre wrote about the re-arming of Germany. “One country after another has been wiped off the map through deliberate treachery and the display of force. Poland is the latest victim. “Will Hitler become the master of the world?”

anada was at war, and the Peninsula and Gulf Islands rallied to do their part for the war effort. Area MLA Capt. Macgregor MacIntosh answered the call to service, joining the Princess Patricia Regiment, MP Alan Chambers joined the Air Force and the people of the region answered their own call to contribute to the war loan drive. This region was asked by the Canadian Legion to raise $500,000 in a national drive (and did so), with another appeal asking for donations of blankets and cash for blankets for refugees.

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Stories that shaped the last century

-1940-1941

”

Local news

P981.11.18 Riders on horseback carrying two ﬂags at the Saanich Fair.

• North Saanich recreation centre opens January 7, 1938. • Salt Spring Island’s development association now has 369 members. • The Princess Mary is to transport residents of the Gulf Islands to see the King and Queen when they visit Victoria on May 30. • Rest Haven Hospital and Sanitarium inaugurates its Plan for Hospital Care. • Sidney Businessmen’s Association starts its sixth year. • Provincial Police inform The Review that cars that don’t pull over to allow ﬁre trucks to pass when sirens are sounding will be prosecuted.

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

The Review reported that the first war fatality in the district was Edward Lomas Skinner, Able Seaman, who sailed on the HMCS Margaree. In the spring of 1940, it was reported that an appeal by The Review for books and magazines for crews of the Merchant Marine leaving British Columbia ports for the war zone received good response. Local Constable S.E. Thomson was responsible for getting the books to the sailors. When called to do their part, residents were quick to agree, so when they were asked to cut their gas consumption by 50 per cent, they did. Women preserved food at home, so commercially canned fruits, fruit pulps and vegetables could be shipped overseas to the troops. As a concession, the Canadian government made available large stocks of sugar for the preserving process. North Saanich School, built near the airport, was taken over by the military and

the last student assembly held December 15, 1941. When classes began after Christmas, students met in locations outside the school such as the Scout Hall, Wesley Hall, and Sidney School. In his editorials Hugh McIntyre gave some indication of the financial state of the newspaper. In October, two pages were added to the weekly offering (it had remained at four pages for many months). According to McIntyre: “There is a huge development going on in our midst, millions of dollars are being spent and already hundreds of new families are in the district, with many more to come as soon as accommodation is made available. “The Review now has the largest circulation in its history – approximately 1,500 homes on the Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Islands receiving same each week. This means that in the neighbourhood of 7,500 people read The Review,” he wrote.

EDITORIAL

Halloween, as the feast of apples, has a special signiﬁcance this year. It will afford an opportunity to support the appeal of the Government of Canada for co-operation in bringing about a larger consumption of apples during the next few months. An abnormal quantity of apples has been thrown on the Canadian market through the curtailment of shipping space as a result of the war. The association of apples with Halloween comes from the pagan festival where children went from house to house asking for Pomona apples; Pomona was the Italian goddess of fruits, particularly apples and at her festival the ducking for apples in tubs of water was a distinctive feature of the celebration. At the same time, on the eve of the 31st of October, and the preceding days around the end of the month were the occasions of harvest and other ceremonies in various countries.

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The Review

1947

P981.8.12 Sidney Review ofﬁce interior, showing the ﬁrst press to print The Review in 1912. It could be operated by foot or motor power.

CHANGING PLACES An editorial by Fred Ford outlines the

P981.8.14 Linotype in The Review ofﬁce, operated by Jim Wakeﬁeld. credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

lighthearted effort that went into moving a newspaper

July 16

s soon as the Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Islands Review was “put to bed” last week, and the last of the addressed copies “in the bag,” the task of moving the entire plant of the weekly newspaper began. This issue will be the first to be set up and printed from the new and thus far, rather jumbled premises. That is, of course, if the press drive is rigged, for as this is written certain complications in the press room are being attended to by Gardner and Levar and their strong men with hammers. Moving a plant such as is required to produce even such a humble effort as The Review is no light task. The Herculean efforts of the entire staff, all six of us, still would not have budged the “old lady,” the loving term we have bestowed upon the press which prints the paper.

Bestowed, we hasten to add, in acknowledgment of the magnificent efforts of old ladies at large in doing a great deal of heavy labour uncomplaining and well. The aforementioned crew of Gardner and Levar did the job, of course, with the sole assistance of the twitching finger of Arthur Gardner. You will have noticed that upraised finger. It is ever-present when a heavy, yet delicate moving operation is in hand. Gardner places himself in a strategic spot, the strain is put on with the winch and everyone watches the finger … it twitches, off goes the strain; the load rests. It really is an important finger. We found that we were almost hypnotized by it, so much so that when the same finger delicately searched for and found a small itch on the Gardner ear, we watched while the itch was removed. But tsk, tsk, we wander. The thought in writing this piece was not to deaden you with cumbersome details concerning our move, although it may well be that

Congratulations to the Peninsula Review on your 100th year milestone. 26

Stories that shaped the last century

you are interested. Rather let us give you a few details concerning the past associations of this, your home weekly. The Review, as a newspaper, is ripening … it has published steadily from Sidney since 1912. While our research is not complete on this – at least to us – interesting subject, we know that one, Arthur Moore, was the first editor. Then followed Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and in 1919 Mr. and Mrs. F.F. Forneri took over. They are now retired and living on Third Street. In fact, we still prevail upon the good offices of Mr. Forneri at least once a week in producing The Review. At the end of 1922, W. Wakefield and his son, James, took over. Jim, linotype operator par excellence is of course, still with us. In 1924 McIntyre and Fadden assumed ownership of the business and shortly afterwards Mr. and Mrs. Hugh J. McIntyre assumed sole ownership. In 1944 the present incumbent bought the business. As far as we can ascertain, this is the third

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P012.1.4 The press is removed from the old Review ofﬁce.

The Review staff working in the ofﬁce in the late 1940s.

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

move in all of those 35 years. The last move was made by F.F. Forneri, who, assisted by almost every merchant in the village, moved from the Berquist Block (next door to the Local Meat Market) to the former location on Third Street, next door to Green’s Shoe Repair. Mr. Forneri still chuckles when he thinks back to stories he wrote in support of Incorporation. “By golly, some readers threatened to throw me in the ocean,” he says. We sincerely hope that those days have now passed and that a more reasoned approach is given to such topics of general interest. Before we close this piece, let us take the space required to say just a word of thanks for those of the staff who laboured long after the working day was over to make the move a success. This business relies, more perhaps than any other, on many vital small pieces. The larger pieces of equipment, presses, linotype, stones, cutting machines, are all moved as a simple but heavy operation. It is the little things which matter so much – the “sticks,” the cases, the hundred and one things which are used almost constantly by those

who labour in these now spacious halls. To move the multitude of small things, and the big things, in just two days, and to have the machinery in shape to operate in three days, was a wonderful job. Joe Musclow was in his glory. He was forever finding things tucked behind old boards which had been lost years ago. He’d pick up a piece of steel rule, fondle it like a mother, and tuck it in his pocket. Result was that at the end of the day Joe looked like a kangaroo with young. Jim Wakefield, who is equally at home with a type keyboard or carpenter’s hammer, was a whirl of activity, and Al Cormack, with one eye on the linotype and the other on the aforementioned “bits and pieces,” showed an unholy delight in having the machine set up and being the first to yell for “copy.” Phyllis Segalerba and Bill Walton were interested enough in the movements of the heavier stuff which I looked upon with mild concern, but found the hundreds of trips “across the road” a trifle tedious. They did a wonderful job. Our thanks cannot be adequately expressed for the work done.

There have been a few things left undone which we should have done. But those of our customers who have been delayed in their printing orders have been very kind in not jumping on us. We are now, of course, imbued with a desire to raise hob in general … but alas, the pains-taking process of producing fine printing is not done by wishful thinking alone. The job printing department will, however, be able to function this week-end and early delivery on all work whose delivery date has passed will be made. There are still lots of odds and ends to attend to … Joe has every inch of wall space ticketed for shelves. Al and Jim have placed a reserve sign on a likely spot for a work bench for the linotype … a good-sized bindery table has yet to be arranged and the publishers uttering small cries of anguish, flutters about trying to keep his litho and etching room inviolate! … At this writing it looks as though that is where the heating plant is going to go. But … what was that again, please … oh, an ashtray … ahem … “Oh, Jooooooe … where’s the bucket?”

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The Review

1942 P985.20.12 Four Bolingbroke bomber aircraft with airmen standing in front at 115 Squadron RCAF, in 1942. credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

AIR BATTLES War comes and ends as the Saanich Peninsula ﬁghts to be the region’s air transportation hub

s 1942 wound to a close, McIntyre wrote: “The Review has come through periods of boom, war, depression, etc., and at this time wonders what the next 30 years will bring forth – in fact what the next 30 months would hold. “There have been great wars in the past – world-shaking events – but the present worldwide struggle is so immense, so destructive, so costly, that it is impossible to forecast the extent of further sacrifice we will be called upon to make to aid our war effort. Restrictions on business have reached a point where it is expected that thousands of small businesses throughout Canada will cease. “However, despite difficulties, priorities, rationing, new forms of taxation, etc., The Review plans to carry on. With this idea firmly in our minds we feel the present great job at hand is to help win the war. We feel that we speak for the Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Islands when we say, ‘Canada and the United Nations can count on consistent loyalty, aid and co-operation from this area until victory is assured’.” The editorial summed up a year of shortages and personal sacrifice. Rationing was in full swing – to conserve metal, only one licence plate per vehicle was being issued, to be placed on the rear of the vehicle. Gas stations started

Stories that shaped the last century

closing at 6 p.m., figuring that would soon be the law anyway. Gas ration books were issued and the rationing of liquor went in to effect. Ads appealed to people to mail their application card for coupon rationing at once. After July 1, 1942, no one would be able to purchase sugar for regular domestic use without turning in a ration coupon. A local Ration Board was appointed in 1943 for the district and the Gulf Islands, with chairman Reeve E.C. Warren. A Home Guard Unit had been established in North Saanich district by the military and all men who wished to volunteer, and who were deemed physically fit, could join. A platoon of the 3rd Battalion Canadian Scottish Regiment was being formed in North and South Saanich, with headquarters in this district. The Bundles to Britain campaign continued and a second Victory Loan got good support, with several thousand dollars again collected from the district. The Bank of Montreal had closed its offices in Sidney a few years earlier, but with people conserving gas, it was decided to hold banking hours in the village for a few hours each month. Early in 1942 the bank offered Saturday banking at Sidney Trading Co. between the hours of 1 and 3 p.m., “but not every week.” Locally, the community was dealing with drought. Wells were depleted and the Sidney

Businessmen’s Association had asked the federal and provincial governments to assess the issue. Emotions were running high across the country and in October, the Nanaimo Federal Progressive Conservative Association requested the government see that there was not one Japanese left in Canada after the war and that the government not allow them ever to immigrate to Canada again. The Review must have felt the need for renewal, as in August, McIntyre had BomacFederal Engravers of Montreal create a new drawing and name plate to update the paper’s heading. Part of that new nameplate has been used on the front of the Peninsula News Review throughout its 100th anniversary year.

he Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Islands Review was sold in September of 1944 to F.C.E. (Fred) Ford, who had been a senior apprentice to Jim Wakefield when the latter was serving his indentures. Ford was also an active member of the community and was an earnest worker for the Sidney Volunteer Fire Department. Ford ran the paper until July 1949, when he had to sell it due to ill health. During his time with The Review, the paper was seldom larger than four pages, with the exception of 1945, when the files averaged about 10 pages. His August 15, 1945 edition had WORLD PEACE in letters three inches high on the front page. Victory Loans were still in high demand and this district gave generously, each time surpassing the set goals. The Seventh Victory Loan quota was $480,000 for the district, and another, following hard on its heels, was for $150,000 – they had 10 days in which to collect for that one. The final total collected in this

district (including the Gulf Islands, which also exceeded quotas each time) was $1,068,000. At the same time, more than 22,312 ration books had been distributed here. A map of Sidney was produced and the house numbers marked. Credit went to the meter reading department of B.C. Electric for doing the work. The company uged people to display the numbers on their homes.

ditor Fred Ford in his editorial called for a bus shelter to be built in Sidney so that bus travellers could wait somewhere out of the weather. By year’s end, the Sidney Businessmen’s Association was talking with Vancouver Island Coach Lines Ltd., operators of bus privileges in North Saanich, to provide adequate facilities for passengers – the immediate need was for a waiting room with rest rooms. There had been some grumbling from other parts of the Greater Victoria region about the location of the airport; Gordon Head residents felt it could be located there and the West Shore also put in a bid. Reeve Lambrick opposed the building of an airport at Patricia Bay, saying he wanted it closer to the major centre. Ford called his statements ludicrous, writing: “There is no reason to build another airport within 10 miles of the existing one.” The government obviously agreed, as in January of 1947, Ottawa indicated that the new jet aircraft ordered could well be stationed at the Patricia Bay airport. Despite all efforts, Sidney was still not incorporated as a village (although the village of Qualicum Beach was incorporated that year), so the Sidney Businessmen’s Association continued to act as a de facto government. In March of 1946 the association also decided to assess each merchant a set sum each month to provide money for street lighting and to pay a man to look after the streets. In April, 1947 a petition for permission to hold a vote for the sale of beer by the glass in Sidney was circulated. Stringent government regulations controlled the taking of the plebiscite covering the sale of beer by the glass in licenced premises. In the initial petition, 35 per cent of the voters had to sign before the vote could be taken. A full 55 per cent of affirmative votes was necessary for the measure to carry. The vote didn’t come until April of 1950 and then voters approved the plebiscite by 68 per cent. In July 1947, The Review plant was moved.

1949

milestone for The Review: The August 10, 1949 issue was printed for the first time on a modern Miehle press purchased and installed to better handle the growing requirements of the newspaper. A “most pleasing ceremony took place at The Review office on Saturday last when the new press was put into operation for the first time. Three former publishers of the paper were on hand for the event: F.F. Forneri of Sidney, H.J. McIntyre of Vancouver, F.C.E. Ford of Sidney and W.J. Wakefield, a valued employee of The Review and a son of the late W. Wakefield, a former publisher.” So wrote the new publisher, J.S. (Claire) Rivers, who bought the newspaper on July 6, 1949. 1948 and 1949 were years of change in the district. Sidney stepped up push for incorporation that had first been made in the early 1900s. In 1949 a group of Sidney residents recommended to the Chamber of Commerce that village status should be strongly sought. George Baal chaired several meetings leading up to the decision. The area in question extended from Ocean Road (two blocks south of Beacon Avenue) to the junction of All Bay Road at Marine Drive. The western boundary would be Seventh Street. The Chamber pursued the idea, but when it was clear it would cost about $19,000 to incorporate, the measure was postponed for six months. The school board was asking for boundaries for the school district to be changed. In what was to become Central Saanich (then called Ward 6, and at the time contained within the borders of Saanich), residents wanted to secede and become their own entity. Saanich council wasn’t in favour, but the provincial government said the people of Ward 6 should have their say. They did, and in October 1949 a majority council vote of 6-2 put an end to the ward system in Saanich, in place since its incorporation in 1906. Trustees voted unanimously to ask the province to take Ward 5 out of the district and marry it to the Greater Victoria school district, eliminating three schools from the district. The board temporarily took over the airport school as a high school and in September of 1949 two new schools were approved for the district. But in September, a school bylaw to allow the building of three new schools was narrowly defeated, with just 36 votes between the two sides. Sidney’s Chamber of Commerce recommended that the old CNR train track from Victoria to the

Local news • Subscription rates rise from $1 to $2 per year. They had been reduced in the 1930s because of the Depression. • In 1942 the Dominion government estimates it will spend $3.9 trillion this year – equal to $339 for every person in the country. War accounts for $3.2 trillion of that sum, or $278 for every Canadian. Taxes have risen sharply and the standard of living has fallen. • Brackenhurst Farm has one of the world’s most outstanding herds. The Canadian Jersey Cattle Club has named A.W. Aylard with his Jersey breeding cows as one of the best anywhere. • Knights of Pythias overseas cigarette fund committee sends 20,000 cigarettes overseas every month. • Marian Gardner is crowned May Queen 1944. • British Columbia gives Asian-Canadians the vote; federally, a similar vote is held on June 27, 1948. • Part of Glamorgan Farm is purchased, and work begins for a $50,000 horse track. Horse racing will begin this year. The track, reportedly to cost $300,000, will be ﬁve-eighths of a mile long.

airport be used for the proposed “speed highway” and that was supported by the Saanich Chamber. In 1949, the government declared the East Road would be fourlaned as a highway.

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The Review

1950

AJ.S.LIFE’S STORY Rivers puts to ink pressman Joe Musclow’s remarkable feats

ne member of the staff has been with The Review far longer than all the rest put together and any analysis of the employees is of necessity a page from the life story of Joe Musclow. Joseph Dickson Musclow is The Review’s pressman. He’s not only intelligent and hardworking but he possesses that rare talent of skilful hands which few men can equal. Joe was born in Vancouver and moved to Sidney at an early age, continuing his schooling here. The family is well and favourably known throughout the Saanich Peninsula and four generations live here today. In 1927 he joined The Review staff and he has never left it. That’s close to a quarter of a century of faithful service to one firm. He learned the business from the ground up. He swept the floors and washed the windows. He has made himself a vital part of The Review in every department, not just in the composing room.

“Joe Knows”

The public is well aware of this. Each year countless “jobs” are brought to the newspaper office with only this instruction: “Will you please print this job as you’ve done in the past. I really don’t know the size or colour or quantity, but Joe knows.” So far as many residents of this district are concerned, that’s all the instruction that’s necessary. Some statistics on Joe Musclow’s service with The Review might be of interest to readers. He has worked on approximately 1,200 issues of this newspaper. This task, together with his work of job printing, necessitates him lifting about eight tons of paper each year. All through the years that totals in the neighbourhood of 192 tons of paper alone. But don’t think for one moment that’s all he has lifted. Metal is used extensively in printing and that’s heavy stuff. In the production of this newspaper he has carried from one point to another around 1,400,000 pounds of metal – that’s somewhere around 700 tons. Fully half that amount or something around 350 tons, he’s carried in connection with job work. That comes to around 1,050 tons of metal.

A Hercules?

But we must glance even closer at his prowess. Every time metal is used, it must be melted down again. So if we add this figure to the

Stories that shaped the last century

P012.1.53 Stanley Coward and Joe Musclow.

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

weight he’s carried in newspaper and job work, the grand total comes well over the 2,000 tons mark. Joe has put a good many pounds of ink onto pieces of paper since the far-away day in 1927 when he started the newspaper career. Averaging it out at only one pound per day, which is low, he’s lifted over three tons of ink. How many pieces of paper of all sizes has he handled? An estimate of 3,000 pieces of paper per day is low but even using that figure the total number since 1927 is 18,720,000. Of course when he’s printing something in two colours that means an additional press run and doubles the amount of handling. His longest printing job? It was labels for the old Sidney Cannery. The one job ran 250,000 in several colours. How many miles has he walked in The Review office? He’s on his feet and on the move all the time. Three miles a day isn’t very far. That indicates that he has walked 18,720 miles in the plant of this newspaper – and at the same time carried 2,000 tons of metal and 192 tons of paper. It’s incredible, isn’t it? One thing he’s not burdened with is spectacles. Although his work has been exacting on the eyes for a quarter of a century, he still scorns the aid of glasses.

Wide Experience

All the other members of The Review staff are far junior to Joe Musclow in the work of this particular newspaper, but many of them have enjoyed wide experience with other publications. W.J. “Jim” Wakefield is a typical example of this. Jim operates the linotype machine and knows the operation inside and out. He’s the senior staff member from a newspaper standpoint. He started to learn his trade prior to the First Great War and interrupted his training long enough to travel to the battlefront and sustain severe wounds. On discharge from hospital and the army, he resumed his printing career. He printed in Toronto, Winnipeg and Prince Albert before coming to join his father in producing The Review a number of years ago. He set type in Victoria and Vancouver and Winnipeg again before returning to Sidney to reside just prior to the Second Great War. Mr. Wakefield’s long experience at his trade has made a permanent contribution to the quality of The Review.

A Combination Man

A.A. “Al” Cormack isn’t exactly inexperienced either. He started his apprenticeship in Winnipeg, serving with Stovel Co.,

nd ow.

1950

The press room.

Laying out The Review.

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

981.8.10 The Sidney Review press being moved into the new ofﬁce in the War Assets Building.

large scale job printers. He’s never left the trade but extended his knowledge constantly. He has worked in large newspaper plants in the eastern States and served for some time in large printing establishments in Great Britain. Mr. Cormack brought a wealth of experience to The Review when he came here in 1947. He’s what’s known as a “combination man”. He is responsible for the “making” of The Review’s pages and fills in when needed as a first class linotype operator. He also brought to Sidney a real bonanza for The Review. Mrs. Cormack in Winnipeg served her apprenticeship as a bindery worker. She superintended a bindery department employing scores of girls. She’s an expert in handling paper and many of the first class printing jobs produced by this plant show evidence of her ability.

She’s appreciated

Next in line of seniority on The Review staff is Esther Berry. She’s the accountant and she’s been an efficient staff member for over two years. She is the one who meets the public; she greets them with a smile, hears the problems of each visitor and endeavours to solve them. No matter what pressure she’s working under, Esther is painstaking in the attention she gives each Review visitor. Her modest efficiency is appreciated within the newspaper office and without. J.S. “Claire” Rivers is the publisher. He arrived here just slightly over one year ago. His experience previously was solely in the

editorial office, principally in the daily field. He has handled “copy” in the news room for 24 years and the credible showing The Review made this year in the “local news” classification may perhaps be partially traced to his general knowledge of the writing and handling of news stories. C.T. “Theo” Overman stands next in the seniority scale. He’s been on the staff for one year as advertising manager. The Review, as every reader is fully aware, carries its full share of local and national advertising. With few exceptions, local business houses have entrusted their advertising to this newspaper. It stood top in Canada in the “classified” section judging – a feather in the cap of its advertising department.

ent in every issue of The Review. Seldom does a week pass without some reader voicing his pleasure at something Frank has written. He has aided materially in boosting this newspaper to top place in the “local news” category. Most junior member of the staff carries the unenviable title of “printer’s devil.” There is one in every printing shop. He is Jim Elliott, a graduate earlier this year of the North Saanich high school. Jim’s ability as an apprentice to the printing trade is growing daily. Some day he will be a journeyman printer and a credit to the shop where he learned his trade.

A Vocalist

Vera Charlesworth, known through the Saanich district as a most talented vocalist, has been a valued member of The Review staff for the past year. In this newspaper office she’s a capable press feeder and bindery worker. Outside, her services are constantly in demand as a soloist. She hasn’t lived here long but there are few residents who do not know her and admire her. F.G. “Frank” Richards, reporter, stands low on the seniority scale but exceedingly high in ability and the contribution he has made to The Review’s success in the past year. He was stationed at Patricia Bay airport with the RAF during the Second Great War, returned to Birmingham long enough to marry and then hastened back to Sidney to live. A born writer, his wit is appar-

Editor J.S. (Claire) Rivers.

The Review

A NEW MUNICIPALITY Central Saanich breaks away

ard 6, later to become Central Saanich, was struggling to secede from Saanich, with Saanich council and the province each insisting the other make the final decision. An election in November 1950 saw Sydney Pickles, a former Saanich councillor, become reeve of the new municipality. Councillors elected were Ray Lamont, W.W. Michell, Lorne Thomson and Harold Andrew. But what to name it? The province asked the ratepayers to come up with a name and they insisted on Central Saanich. However, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, R.C. MacDonald, ruled the new name must not contain the word “Saanich,” as it would cause confusion. There was a vote by the public and … it became Central Saanich. Reeve Pickles convinced other members not to take any salary, but they asked that decision be reconsidered at the end of the year. Central Saanich was the first district municipality to be formed in British Columbia for 28 years. But problems arose immediately. Ottawa told the new council the RCMP would not police the Central Saanich area, nor would Saanich provide building, plumbing or electrical inspections. So the provincial electrical inspection service would inspect electrical installations, but the province wouldn’t do building and plumbing inspections. And it seemed not all council members were enamoured with Pickles. Councillor Harold Andrew told his fellows Central Saanich council was becoming a laughing stock in the outside areas and he called for a vote of censure on any member of the council who should release statements to the press of a nature likely to cause unfavourable comment on the municipality. His motion passed unanimously. Then, in October, a non-confidence vote against Reeve Pickles was made by Councillor Andrew. It was passed with the reeve

The ﬁrst council for Ward 6, which seceded to become Central Saanich.

credit: The Saanich Pioneer Society

and Councillor Ray Lamont in opposition. The reeve then put his veto on the motions, which were then held back 30 days at the reeve’s discretion. A new election was held December 15, and the 1,068 registered voters in Central Saanich exercised their franchise. However, it took weeks before election results could be issued officially because of an injunction against the returning officer, J.W. Ismay. A court battle ensued over how votes were cast, preventing Ismay from declaring the results and naming the successful candidates. Parents of the district were pleased to learn that a new, one-room elementary school was to be built on Amity Drive near East Saanich Road to meet the growing need; it would be named Sansbury Elementary School in honour of trustee R.A. Sansbury, who had served for 14 years. In the midst of it all, in August 1951, much to the Chamber’s and The Review’s surprise, Hon. Ernest Crawford Carson, Minister of Mines for B.C., ironically called for “early incorporation” of the Village of Sidney. He asked what they had been waiting for and told members of the Businessmen’s Association they should take immediate steps towards the incorporation of the Village of Sidney.

HE 1950 AT T REVeIERWev:iew earns

Th ee t of thr two ou on its class in s trophie adian Weekly the Can pers Associaa Newsp ning best all in t s w e , nd b tion paper a d n u o r l page. editoria

1950-1951 Congratulations on 100 years in the community!

6800 Veyaness Road, Saanichton 32

Stories that shaped the last century

250-652-3090

odd sightings

The press room at The Review in the late 1940s.

credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

February 27, 1952

IS EARTHQUAKE SEASON OVER?

Residents of this area are now under the impression that the spring earthquake season is past. The last trembler was felt on Thursday morning last. No damage has been reported. Epicentre of the quakes was reported to have been in the Orcas Island area, but two tremors were plainly felt on North Pender Island, one at 11 a.m. on Wednesday and another at 1:40 a.m. on Thursday. In both cases, subterranean rumblings were heard.

February 1950 LARGE ‘SNAKE’ SEEN OFF SHORE

K. Stuart Wakefield and his family were staying at the home of Col. and Mrs. A. Berryman while they were away. As the Wakefields were seated at the living room, overlooking the water, they saw what they believed was a partly submerged log. The “log” suddenly commenced to move around and showed itself to be somewhat larger than a whale and of a shape more like an immense snake.

April 12 1950

Local news

• The British Columbia Telephone Company and Paciﬁc Telephone and Telegraph Company Was it a “flying saucer?” undertake a new telephone Whether or not it was one of the mysterious “somethings” link from Seattle to Port from this or some other planet, it was clearly seen by a numAngeles to Victoria ber of responsible North Saanich adults last Sunday evening. on February 11. The The Review is informed that the object was observed for underground cables travel some 10 to 15 minutes by a group of people about 8:30 p.m. of April 9. Skies were clear and the object, throwing off a yelfrom Seattle through the San low light, was noticed at a great height. Juan Islands across Haro It travelled in a zig-zag manner, generally in a north-eastStrait. erly direction over the Saanich Peninsula. • A three-legged duck born The light eventually disappeared over Salt Spring Island. May 28 at Sidney Duck All who observed the phenomenon agreed that it was defiFarm is said to be hale and nitely not an orthodox aircraft but they would not hazard a hearty. Capt. and Mrs. Harold guess to what it might really be. Kennaird, proprietors, have named the duck Tripod. • First annual Saanich KaaKa-Thut (Indian Festival) is staged August 6 at Deep Cove waterfront at the Chalet, organized by the An editorial told readers that a number of people had Sidney and North Saanich confirmed seeing the sea monster, “and it must be accepted Chamber of Commerce. as a confirmed fact.”

MYSTERIOUS LIGHT SEEN IN SIDNEY

April 26 1950

THERE’S NO DENYING THE SEA MONSTER

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1952-1953TIME FOR RECOGNITION The Review’s campaign

for better ferry service to the Island continues; Sidney is ﬁnally incorporated as a village

P997.3.7 A street dance is underway on Beacon Avenue in 1953 to celebrate the village’s new electric street lighting. credit: The Sidney Museum Archives

n Central Saanich, the injunction was lifted and municipal clerk J.W. Ismay was finally able to declare the winning candidates in the December 15 Central Saanich election. Along with Reeve Sydney Pickles, elected were Councillors Harold Andres, Brentwood, and H. Rupert Brown, Brentwood; Police Commissioners E.J. McLoughlin, Brentwood, and R.D. Moody, Brentwood; and School Trustee Robert Derringberg, Saanichton. Other councillors were Lamont and Michell. Editor Rivers wrote an editorial outlining The Review’s campaign to get more and better ferry service in the region. While he lauded the CPR for stepping forward with the Princess Elaine – and the government for upgrading wharves on several islands – he warned that the battle wasn’t over. Saturna Island still didn’t have effective service. In The Review office itself, there were some changes. The composing room was further modernized by the purchase of new and modern

typefaces for The Review’s linotype machines. They were put into operation for the first time the week of April 23, 1952. There was further evidence that spring that the voice of The Review’s editor carried some weight. After a seething editorial published April 30 that no work had been done to upgrade Sidney Wharf, work proceeded. “It practically rained pile-drivers and by noon, two machines were busy in the area,” wrote the editor. The work had to be done quickly to accommodate the 30-year-old Anacortes-Sidney international ferry service resuming May 26. The new municipal office at Saanichton was opened by Hon. W.D. Black, B.C. Minister of Municipal Affairs. Reeve Sydney Pickles stressed that the new municipal hall was entirely free of debt. And finally, after more than 40 years of making the request, the Village of Sidney was incorporated by the provincial government by order-in-council on September 30. Five people were appointed as temporary commission-

ers: James Johnston White, Gentleman; Harry Michael Tobin, Immigration Executive; Harold Fox, Merchant; George Louis Baal, Gentleman; and George Arthur Gardner, Merchant. The new Village of Sidney already had a village hall, gifted to them by the provincial government. This was the old courthouse building then located on First Street. In October, J.J. White was unanimously elected chairman for the Village Commission. December 17 was the date of the first ever election in Sidney. The results: H. Bradley, S.G. Watling and H. Fox (two-year terms), R.C. Martman and G.L. Baal (one-year terms). Mr. Baal and J. Bilgeri tied for fifth place and the returning officer, village clerk J.A. Hymers, cast his ballot for Mr. Baal. 404 ballots were cast in the vote; three were spoiled and one rejected. When the CPR announced in January 1953 that it would extend service to Sidney, editor Rivers wrote: ”We have won a battle, not a war. The campaign for modern ferry transportation in this district cannot be concluded until the Elaine, or some larger ship, travels from Vancouver, through the Gulf Islands to Sidney and returns, every day the year round.”

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Stories that shaped the last century

- 1954-1955 T

he mid-1950s were, again, all about ferry service. In early January of 1954, Transportation and Highways Minister Phil Gaglardi promised government support to a subsidized ferry service between the Gulf Islands and Saanich Peninsula in an address to Sidney and North Saanich Chamber of Commerce and members of the Gulf Island Improvement Bureau, and The Review’s editor, J.S. (Claire) Rivers, promised to hold him to it. So it was with some hope that Rivers reported in February that the provincial government would subsidize a new ferry service linking Galiano, Mayne, Saturna and North sand South Pender islands with Swartz Bay, to be in operation before March 1. The service would allow islanders to come to Vancouver Island in the morning and go home at night. New routes sprang up – the Lady Rose, built in Scotland in 1937, began a new run from Steveston four days a week – but the CPR pulled the Princess Nora off the route when the Lady Rose began. Rivers chided Gaglardi when he told Gulf Islanders that he would step in to deal with ferry service if there was an emergency, but he didn’t consider the fact the MV Lady Rose couldn’t carry automobiles to be an emergency. After Sidney and North Saanich Chamber of Commerce invited Gaglardi to accompany them on a trip on the Lady Rose, he reversed his decision. For the three-month season in the summer of 1954, three ferries from Anacortes arrived at Sidney wharf each day, where previously there had just been two. In May, the CPR began daily service between Vancouver and Sidney, operating from June 1 to September 12. But in 1955 the province withdrew its subsidies for ferry transportation from Swartz Bay to Fulford Harbor and to Port Washington on North Pender. Tenders were let to private firms to provide those services. Delegations from the two Penders went to Gagliardi, to fight for reinstatement of the subsidies, and in Decem-

ber, Gaglardi reversed his decision. Subsidized ferry services at Salt Spring, Pender and Swartz Bay would be extended to include Galiano, Mayne and Saturna. Dissension in Central Saanich exploded in August, when Thomas G. Michell, works superintendent, resigned because of dissatisfaction over the pay he received under his classification as district foreman. Council was also upset about the cutting of the $600 per annum expense account for the fire chief, but Reeve Sydney Pickles retorted that he was trying to save money for ratepayers. Rumours were circulating that the entire fire department was set to resign en masse. The matter was taken to the Firemen’s Association, and as a result, the fire chief got his expense account back, with only Pickles voting against it.