The Chilliwack Progress from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada • Page 3

THE CHILLIWACK PROGRESS, Feb. 2fi, 1058 3 Camp River Vancouver, were week the Red Crpss. Cadet Corps At Peak Strength Winners in the regular whist Quilting last Wednesday at the home of Mrs. R. Creber were Mrs.

E. Pederson, Mrs. W. Muir, Mrs. J.

Lee, Mrs. C. Hamilton, drive last week were ladies' first, Mrs. J. Dyck, consolation, Mrs.

W. Muir; men's first, Bob Camp- Mrs. S. Keefer, Mrs. J.

Derksen, Haul out your odds and ends they'll bring you a profit througl Oliver and Mrs. II. Ger- beI1- men's consolation, J. Dyck. Westminster Regiment cadet! Mrs.

A quilt was completed for Mr. and Mrs. W. Mullet and Want Ads. corps, which meets every Monday man.

evening in Chilliwack armories, now at its highest strength since early 1955. loildbirs Natural Gas In addition to regular Monday parades, the corps is now running an NCO's course each Friday. Major events in whigh the cadets will participate during the next few months include a shooting competition at Mission in April. Cadets from five different corps sponsored by the Westminster Regiment will take part. In May the Corps, with assistance from the Regimental Association, will hold a Melfa supper to which parents will be invited.

The Melfa is an Italian river where the regiment took part in 'distinguished action during the. Second War. June has been slated as a month in which the annual general inspection of the Chilliwack corps will be held. Immediately afterwards a reception will be held by the parents' auxiliary. Also scheduled for June is a sports day for all corps sponsored by the regiment.

Hi AT I i 30 Only ODIN Natural Gas Water Heaters 30 Gallon Capacity. es 00 each Fully Automatic Guaranteed TAKING THE SALUTE as they march past the reviewing stand Friday were members of the RCE Band, who headed a parade of 125 sapper apprentices to mark the actual anniversary of the city's incorporation. With Mayor T. T. McCammon on the reviewing stand were Col.

J. Carson and Inspector C. W. Speers. The mayor unfurled the centennial flag at city hall A large crowd watched the sappers parade down from the fairgrounds to the hall, then past the Five Corners and along Well BIBBY'S PROPANE Staff Photo.

ington avenue where the reviewing base was set up. Valley Firemen To Meet Here Fire fighters from West Vancouver to Hope will converge on Chilliwack March 4 when the Fraser Valley Firemen's association meets in the municipal fire hall. Firemen's pensions are expected to constitute a major topic of discussion at the meeting. (CHILLIWACK) LTD. It's real fun to clean out the The Clean Blue Flame attic when it means quick cash for you.

Dial 2-9311 today. 306 YALE ROAD WEST PHONE 2-3341 Really Grew City's Boom Traced Chilliwack After Turn Of Century NATURAL GAS Flashback to the earliest years of the twentieth 1901. "True, the dyke had been start ed in the late 1890's, but it was not finally completed until 1901. The importance of that develop ment to the city of Chilliwack is difficult to calculate in dollars. SAVED CITY i century A downtown block in Wellington avenue was levelled by fire because a couple of hose nozzles couldn't be 1 found.

The late Sir Richard McBride, then premier of B.C., took 10 swipes at the last spike in the BCER line from New Westminster to Chilliwack and missed six times. The Chilliwack Telephone Company went out of existence because it couldn't get insurance against sleet storm damage. These and other sidelights on Chilliwack's history "What a shambles this city would have been had there been no dyke in 1948! You will say, 'Oh, we would have built a Perhaps. But I am very grateful to the citizens of the valley at the time of 1894 flood that they did not wait for us to do it. The Board of Trade, he recall were detailed Friday, a man who has participated in the growth of the town since he came here as a teen-ager ed, was formed in 1903.

"Through good times and bad times, the Board of Trade has carried on always seeking what in the some time in its career, nas naa its baptism of fire. Chilliwack did opinion of its members was for You can have Gas Heating installed in one day. No need to be without warmth! not escape this. What had been predicted would surely happen, the good of the entire com munity," he said. The following year, he went on, the Chilliwack Creamery associa did.

Fire broke out early one morning and despite the valiant efforts to control it, the north side of Wellington avenue from Mill tion was tormed. the prime in 1900. In a speech marking the city's 50th anniversary, W. Lyle Macken told Rotary club members that the foundations laid in the century's first decade did more for the social and economic life of the town than any succeeding decade. Listening to his address were city council members and- many local dignitaries.

Macken swept aside the idea that the city started as a "lusty, bawling infant." Instead, he declared, it was like a- child grown old before it was born. mover in this organization was treet to the Henderson store, Thomas R. Whitley, a farmer banker who subsequently became went up in smoke. bank manager in London, Eng land. "This was the first 100 per cent dairy farmer milk marketing association to function in the province.

It was the forerunner of the Fraser Valley Milk Producers' association. "We had plenty of water, plenty of fire hose and there were ample nozzles to direct the streams of water, but unfortunately or might I say fortunately, all these could not be located so that only one end of the conflagration was under any semblance of controL "The missing nozzles were "Already it had many yearsJ i i a njn.l.nnnl 'Mr. Macken also recalled the beginnings of the Chilliwack Power Light Co. formed found a short time after in an unused small room in the old Court House. I will not enlarge about by an energetic Baptist clergyman from the Kootenays.

'Air. Macken said he himself was later the fuss that was made over this. He described this event as "the a change of name, at one time being known as Centrcvillc. "But was a peaceful community. The devastating impact of the automobile had not yet been felt.

Travel by air was still in the suicide era. Radio was a lunatic's dream; not even a Jules Vcrne.imagination could conjure up television, and satellites and space ships were fantasies of the diseased moods of drug addicts, or those who had indulged too greatly in'alcoholic beverages." Viewed from the distance of 50 appointed secretary of the com pany with no salary attached. spark needed to put real steam behind the idea, of incorporating Chilliwack as a city." The firm obtained a franchise from the council, which also was insistent that the company take HeiYs why thousands are switching to natural gas! gas heat is fully heat is economical! gas heat is gas heat is dependable! GAS HEAT is qidct! GAS HEAT is clean! gas heat ends delivery problems! gas heat is safe! gas heat ends storage problems! gas heat gives a wide choice of space-saving models! gas heat costs less to install, lessto maintain, and gas equipment usually costs less to buy than other out a franchise to build a tram Enjoy the benefits of clean, economical natural gas heating now and pay nothing for equipment until October. That's the special plan now offered by natural gas heating dealers. Later in the year dealers will be rushed with orders now they can give you good service and top value.

If you live adjacent to a gas main, dealers can plan their work so that the heating equipment can be installed in one day you won't be without warmth for more than a very short time. Last year, natural gas heating equipment was installed in over 17,000 homes in the Lower Mainland. Many people who delayed in placing their orders had to wait for service. It's to your advantage to act now natural gas is your best fuel, and now's your best time to install it. For added convenience your cold-weather fuel costs can be spread overmost of the year with the B.C.

Electric's Budget Billing Plan. For further details about gas service, and a free estimate of the cost of heating your home with natural gas, call the B.C. Electric Heating Advisory Service. Mr. applauded the even, sensible growth which had transpired since that time.

"In' the decade in which years, he said, hc reasons why line from Chilliwack to New Westminster. "This, of course, was an impossibility for a company with the meager resources this little concern commanded. However, the clergyman threw himself into the Chilliwack city was born, more developments took place bearing upon the social and economic life the village wanted incorporation as a city now seemed trivial. NOT GETTING SHARE of the new city, than in any sub effort to sell stock and he did succeed in signing up quite a lot of "There was, as there always has been in similar circumstances, the people up and down the valley. sequent decade of our history.

"We take so much for granted, but when in the year 1948, I flew over the flooded parts of the Fra-ser Valley and looked down on the thin green line that separated feeling on the part of village dwellers, that they were not get A start was also made on a right-of-way for the power ting their just share of municipal expenditures; that their municipal brothers looked upon them the sullen, muddy flood waters of the Fraser river from the green sort of supercargo on the line. BCE TOOK OVER "When it became apparent that the clergyman could not float the (Continued on Page 8) grass of the land inside, I was municipal s.wp ui sunt, i.u uu rcmind((1 that (hat vcry thin jinc or the efforts and suppor becn finjshcd the on inu iuiiu me vuiiiyi; dweller would starve. automatic heating units. B.C. ELECTRIC 1 HOW CITY HAS GROWN -THEN AND NOW Statistics illustrating Chilliwack city's spectacular growth over a fifty-year period were detailed by W.

Lyle Macken at Friday's Rotary club meeting. Here is the comparison he made between the year 1908 and 1957: 1903 1957 Assessed value, land 501,835 320,000 Assessed value, improvements 2,344,172 12,054,156 Get full information about modern gas equipment and the convenient "Why should good municipal money be spent to provide fire protection for village storekeepers, to keep village streets passable, or to build sidewalks to enable pedestrians to keep out of the mud? As for street lights, even of the coal oil burning vari: cty, let them carry lanterns if they want to go out at night stead of 'going to bed. "Now, to be fair, I should say this was not the official attitude of the municipal government. The men who administered the affairs of the whole community did appreciate the value to the community of the business enterprises domiciled in the urban area. Kut then, as wc know, votes were powerful reasons in assisting public men to make up their minds." Mr.

'Macken said the need for fire protection was a paramount issue. When Elk Creek made Install now -pay later" plan from any of the following dealers: DUNN'S GAS SERVICE Chilliwack Plumbins Sheet Metal Co. 233 Gore Avenue Phone 7936 21 Main Street l'hone 1 $13,175,116 386,267 17.19 mills 15.19 (75 imp.) 215 989.741 7500 79,392 152,510 23.493 42,256 177,318 1,087,712 Assessed value, total 2,846,007 Taxes levied 69.543 Mill rate general 6'L mills schools 4 (50 imp.) Building permits, number 21 Building permits, value 33,500 Population 1200 Administration expenditure 5,526 Public works expenditure 4.573 Fire and light expenditure 3.516 Police 5,593 Schools 8,608 Capital assets 165,368 water under pressure available, it' HARPER SHEET METAL Chambers Heating And Sheet Metal was felt that a proper system of fire protection was due. BAPTISM OF FIRE "Practically every great city at 231 Yedder Koad, Sardis Phone 2-30S1 Phone 2-1' 102 Young Street North.