In this week’s Throwback Thursday, our weekly dive into the Prince George Citizen archives, we start with a story showing how hiring to fill top administrative positions at the City of Prince George was quite a bit different 100 years ago than it is now.
Mayor Roy Alward had to cast the deciding vote as a divided Prince George city council had trouble picking who would fill the combined jobs of city clerk, treasurer, assessor, and collector, according to the front-page story in the Feb. 28, 1924, edition of the Prince George Citizen.
Council finally picked Stanley George over D.G. Tate, the former city clerk.
The deciding factor was money.
George offered to do the job for $185 per month, while Tate wanted to be paid $200.
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Adolph Hitler was already front-page news in Prince George during the winter of 1934.
In the March 1 edition of the Citizen, under the top of the page headline ‘Dictator Hitler is in Agreement with Dollfuss,’ the story explained that the German Nazis had agreed not to meddle in the domestic affairs of Austria.
That lasted four years until Germany annexed Austria without firing a single shot on March 13, 1938.
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“Acute overcrowding at Prince George Regional Hospital may force the hospital board into a crash program in order to accommodate patients,” read the lead paragraph in the top front-page story in the Feb. 28, 1964, edition of the Citizen.
Overcrowding started shortly after the hospital opened, the story explained. There were 29 extra beds set up in hallways and other rooms, along with the 165 beds already in the facility.
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The first day of the compulsory Autoplan insurance program for B.C. drivers under the newly-founded ICBC took effect on March 1, 1974, and not everyone was happy about it.
The Citizen’s front page photo from that day featured Dieter Schlaffke riding his horse Fleeko on the Hart Highway with a protest sign.
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Big news on the front page of the Feb. 29, 1984, edition of the Prince George Citizen.
‘Trudeau calls it quits!’ blared the top headline about Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announcing his plan to resign after a new Liberal Party leader was named.
Below that was a story and photo about the RCMP investigating fights and broken windshields at Finlay Forest Industries in Mackenzie as log truckers crossed the picket line in the 28-day-old lockout for the third consecutive day.
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This week, we’re looking for Todd Taylor and his sister Kimberley. Todd was pictured on the Citizen front page on Feb. 28, 1994, standing on the roof of Kimberley’s car parked on the sidewalk in front of Amigo’s Taco Shop, removing snow hanging over the edge of the roof that could fall on pedestrians below.
Kimberley, did you find out from the paper what your brother was doing with your car? Todd, how did you make out with the snow removal?
Drop me a line at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you.
The Prince George Citizen archive can be found online at pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca.
