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Fa 4 18 THE OSHAWA TIMES, Pridey, October 20, 1961 ~ \Leaves Wealth Views Dawson Creek ForRC Cloth Progress Over Years DAWSON CREEK, B.C, (CP) Vic Rimbey. remembers when Dawson Creek had hitching rails and big board sidewalks and only three gasoline pumps. "Somebody'd hitch his team in front of the gas pumps and you couldn't get near to get gas," he recalls. That was 23 years ago when fewer than 500 persons lived here and farmers brought grain to the elevators by horse and wagon over dirt trails from as far north as Fort St. John, to have it shipped by rail to Ed- monton. ; Today, the city has 52 service stations and garages with three times that number of gas pumps, Its population is near 12,500. The 50 miles of road to Fort St. John are paved, rail lines run to Edmonton and Vancouver and major highway links head in three directions. Mr. Rimbey worriés more about seeing that enough school classrooms and teachers are available to meet the demand, which for several years has in- creased by 10 classrooms and 10 teachers a year. This fall there are 170 teachers on the payroll of the school board, of which Mr. Rimbey is chairman: MADE BY HIGHWAY These things illustrate the suddenness with which this com- munity 370 road miles north- west of Edmonton has grown, rising in two decades from a fledgling agricultural centre to the largest city in the entire Peace River region. its past is divided into two/ eras -- before and after the) Alaska Highway. | "The highway certainly made a tremendous difference to Dawson Creek,'"' said Wes Har- per, who came to the area as a lad of 17 in 1914 and watched the United States Army move in 15,000 men in 1941 to push and secretary-manager of the Thamber of Commerce, says simply: "The highway made} us."" The two-year highway con- struction period provided the initial boom. Truckers and high- way maintenance kept things humming until mid-1945 when, with the Japanese threat to Alaska ended, the U.S. Army pulled out. Population, which had spurted from 800 in early 1941 to more than 15,000 at the height of the highway boom, dipped to 3,700. It soon began to rise again, however, as post-war farm set- tlement, encouraged by the new MONTREAL (CP) -- Gerard Bakker was 63 years old and the father of eight children when he abandoned wealth and socia! standing in his native Holland to become a Roman Catholic priest. Msgr. Bakker, now 70 and with 16 grandchildren, is spend- ing the years most men reserve for retirement as a missionary fighting leprosy in the steaming French Cameroons. He was interviewed while passing through Montreal on a campaign to raise funds for BROADER ECONOMY eee i Boiivnas Today, the oil boom has moved farther north and Daw- son Creek is settling down to| a firmly based economy. It is a modern community, supporting radio and telvision stations, two weekly newspa- pers, more than 500 businesses The city, with a modern water and sewage disposal sys- tem a legacy from the U.S. Army highway days and many of the old army buildings read- ily convertible for »ousing, was better prepared for the influx than other communities of the! Peace. highway facilities, moved far- ther north. ~ Then in the early 1950s came the oil boom. "The oil boom brought the town up to a peak unmatched by the highway, said Mr- Leach. "There was more loose money at its peak than during the highway era." The oil rush brought more lasting growth to Dawson Creek, too, as the major com- panies made the city their head- quarters for the far - ranging northern petroleum hunt. To- and broad recreational facili- |ties, including the $250,000 as- jsets of the, Dawson Creek Ath- letic Association which prospers from sale of three-quarters of a section of land it purchased from the U.S. Army for $30,- 000. Its economic bow now has many strings, the major one jcontinuing to be agriculture. "Transportation, with two major truck lines located here and| Itwo railways terminating here,| is a major factor. Lumbering jand the petroleum industry also jhospitais, schools and churches, When the Allies liberated Nij- in the equatorial republic. megan, Bakker turned his home | He has raised nearly $500,000\over to the Red Cross and in his seven years as a priest.|helped nurse the sick and "Deeds, not words," is the|the wounded. rp oh ge B gem os "Later in the quiet and se- inds words of little help to the|.,,.: 30,000 lepers in whose F veltare|"lusion ut a seppes prayed for] he is interested. guidance on what to do with my| Msgr. Bakker was director of|life, and the grace of God came| a combined bank - insurance|to me," he says, "I had to serve| company in Nijmegan, Holland,|wherever humanity needed help | jwhen the Second World War|most, and where more than started, He says constant fear|among the suffering bodies and for the children during Nazilsouls of Africa?" air raids destroyed his wife's! This was in 1949, when he health. : . ,. Was 59 and three of his six sons She died of a heart attack in pag joined the Jesuit order. 1944, Msgr, Bakker was ordained be- Slowly, his life began tojfore any of them after four ichange. lyears' training in Rome. 4-day treatment $135 One ORNFAL capsule brings you 12 hours of continuous relief day, eight companies have ex-|are important cogs along with ploration offices here and em-|the city's role as a distribution ploy nearly 400 person in the|centre for an area of 150,000 from stuffy nose, city. isquare miles ' weepy eyes, and sinus pressure. * REG. Con. 1.M. Off. through the highway from here to Alaska. "This was a farming area, the end of steel. We were a service centre and drew from a large area and the town was growing a bit. But from the time this area opened for home- steading in 1912 until the high- way, it was a pioneer district. "Now we've got everything that a big city has--television, good water supply, power, paved streets and all the rest." Don Leach, retired tire dealer Dreadnought Now Lethal War Ship LONDON (CP)--In 1901 Brit- ain's first submarine wallowed awkwardly in the water at Lan- cashire's Barrow Shipyards looking like an embarrassed baby whale. Today in those same waters a nuclear leviathan christened HMS Dreadnought, the Royal Navy's first atomic - powered sub, is being fitted out as Brit- ain's most lethal ship of war. Between the first sub, unro- mantically named Holland No 1, and Dreadnought lie two world wars and 60 years of heroism, endeavor and some- times tragedy during which the invention proved its potentiality time and time again. Yet in its infancy the sub- rine nearly didn't get under e water at all. Most high-ranking naval of- fess were dubious about the whole project. One dismissed tte sub as a "plaything" and another remarked that what little military future it had was "underhand, unfair and damned un-English."' SAW POTENTIAL One of the few chavopions of underwater craft was Sir John Fisher, later to become first sea lord. In an attempt to gal- vanize an apathetic admiralty board he wrote in 1904: "I have not disguised my opinion in season and out of season as to the essential, im- perative, immediate, vital, pres- sing, urgent . . . necessity for more submarines. .. . "I don't think it is even} faintly realized the immense im- pending revolutions which the submarine will effect as offen-! sive weapons of war." The adjectives rained on deaf ears and the submarine re- mained in British eyes purely a defensive weapon. It took the near-victorious campaign waged] | by German U-boats during the First World War Fisher's prophecy correct. The Holland type boats were| | powered by a ffour-cylinder gas- line engine and a tiny battery.| | They could stay under water' for a few hours only and their periscopes were not magnified. Caged mice were used as warn-| | ings against dangerous fumes. The Hollands' firing power was limited to one bow torpedo with short range. The rudimen- tary periscope made navigation| and aiming almost a matter of luck. By contrast Dreadnought will live indefinitely under water at depths that would have crushed the. Hollands' shells. She will be capable of speeds matching the fastest surface ship of 1901. Above all from the ocean floor she will be capable of delivering with deadly accuracy nuclear devastation to places to prove} | > half a continent away. .- the arrival of your daily newspaper sets time in motion Ottawa, 1961, \ * Boys in business who practise politeness and kindness enhance their opportunities for success. Moreover, a simple "thank you" for favours received, large or small, is *A statement by THE RIGHT HONORABLE JOHN G. DIEFENBAKER, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA and a c harter member of the Newspaperboy Hall of Fame ever the mark of a gentleman. g Little Girls' Bulky Knit "ORLON" CARDIGANS Fancy stitch design in soft, easy-care "'Orlon". Matching buttons to neckline. In gold- colour, willow green, lilac. Sizes 4,6, 6X. EATON Special Price, EATON'S UPPER LEVEL, DEPT. 210 PHONE 725-7373 Men's and Young Men's Goodyear-welted calf leather Oxfords, "Sanitized" for lasting freshness _ We've shown three styles from our distinguished "'Eatonia'"' range. 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For a free demonstration of this midget aid -- and for a thorough audiometric hearing test, also without charge, see our trained Hearing Consultant, Mr. W. E. Lang, in the Hearing Centre, EATON'S UPPER LEVEL. PHONE 725-7373 EATON'S Hearing Centre, For An Appointment Special 'Floor Beauty' Offer ! 3 Ibs. "HAWES" PASTE WAX | Plus 1-01. FLOOR CLEANER Gives an extra hard, gleaming finish to your wood and linoleum floors . . also protects from wear. Excellent, too, for furniture and woodwork, EATON Special Price, EATON'S LOWER LEVEL, DEPT. 275 2 for 2.45 PHONE 725-7373 'Store Hours: 9.3:0 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday. 'Open Friday Nights until 9 silk i. wa A lh Oa i mi hi iri