This week in Prince George history, Aug. 7-13:
Aug. 9, 1918: The deckhands of the BX steamship landed a record catch from the ship's deck on Aug. 8: a full-grown black bear.
"The bear was seen crossing the river when the steamboat rounded a bend, and coming up alongside the swimming animal one of the deckhands threw a looped rope which landed squarely over (the) bruin's head. Then the fun commenced," The Citizen reported. "The rope had slipped down around the middle of the bear, and amid tremendous thrashing and growling, Mr. Bear was hauled through the lower gangway to the deck."
One of the deckhands grabbed an axe and attempted to finish off the bear with a quick blow to the head, while the other men held the ropes taut. But the bear wasn't going down without a fight.
"(The) bruin sidestepped the blow and countered with a left hook that grazed the side of the deckhand's face, inflicting a nasty mark," The Citizen reported. "The bear (had) risen on his hind legs and was aiming a haymaker at the dazed deckhand when another of the crew landed with the axe on (the) bruin's skull and he dropped to the deck. Bear steaks figured large on the BX's bill last night."
Kids these days with their Pokemons and iPods. Back in my day if we wanted a few laughs we lassoed a bear and fought it with axes on the deck of a moving steamship.
Sure a few fellas got mauled, but it was all in fun -well, not for the bear, of course. But there's nothing like a fresh grilled bear steak to take your mind off having your face half torn off.
Aug. 13, 1925: The Perry family had a brush with death on Aug. 9, after their home was struck by a powerful bolt of lightning.
"H.G. Perry and the members of his family had a miraculous escape from death or serious injury early Sunday morning in the worst electrical storm which has visited this section of the province," The Citizen reported. "Mr. and Mrs. Perry were awakened by a tremendous explosion which drove in the windows of their bedroom, showering them with flying glass. Mr. Perry first got Mrs. Perry into the rear of the dwelling and then rushed to the sleeping porch in the front of his bedroom where his two sons, Sidney and Frank, had been sleeping."
The house was rapidly filling with smoke and Perry could see flames through the broken windows. The door to the sleeping porch was jammed, The Citizen reported, and it took a frantic effort by Perry to open it.
"By the time Mr. Perry got to the porch the boys had disappeared, and the clothing of the bed upon which they had been sleeping, as well as the porch curtains, were burning fiercely," The Citizen report said. "The boys were found in the rear of the house. Both had painful flash burns about the face and head, their hair was singed, and Sidney was bleeding at both ears."
It was later discovered that the lightning which hit the house caused an explosion powerful enough to throw Sidney through the porch curtains into the front garden. Frank, the younger brother, was woken by the blast and fled out the porch steps after seeing the curtains on fire.
After the family escaped, Perry used a garden hose to extinguish the fire, but damage to the home was extensive.
"The front wall of the house was shattered, all the windows in the front portion of the house being cut clean from their sashes, and the flying glass and plaster added to the damage in the interior," The Citizen reported.
A later examination of the damage showed the lightning hit a radio antenna on the roof of the home and ran through the wiring in the front of the house. However, there were two holes burned in the back of a mirror in the bathroom, despite no evidence of damage elsewhere in the closed bathroom.
Damage to the house was estimated to be between $2,500 to $3,000 -about $36,000 to $43,000 in today's dollars -which was expected to be covered by insurance.
H.G. 'Harry' Perry was a prominent local businessman, real estate and insurance broker, and politician in Prince George. He was also the owner and editor of The Citizen, until he sold his interest in the business in 1948.
He was the second mayor of the city -serving from 1917-18, and again in 1920. And then was elected as the MLA for the Fort George region from 1920 to 1928, and again from 1933 to 1945, were he served as speaker of the house and minister of education. The Perry subdivision of Prince George is named after him.
But a stray lightning bolt could have ended all that one stormy summer night in 1925.
To explore 100 years of local history yourself, visit the Prince George Citizen archives online at: pgc.cc/PGCarchive. The Prince George Citizen online archives are maintained by the Prince George Public Library.
