From the Archives of Western Newspapers

By Samantha Johnson
Southern Alberta Newspapers
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Thursday, September 23, 1910 – The Blairmore Enterprise and Frank Vindicator

Now that the contract for waterworks has been let, we shall soon be able to have a semi-annual bath, instead of making it an annual affair.

Give some persons in your employ a promotion and they would have people believe they now own the business and act as though they are little gods. We must admit that there are some exceptions to this.

Several capitalists have turned their attention to Oatville and propose to build a mammoth toothpick factory on the property. There is sufficient underbrush in that vicinity to supply all the Pass with tooth diggers.

Over a mile of sidewalk has been put down in Frank and the foundations for seven new cottages.

The Frank Hotel barber was arrested last Saturday on the charge of being an accomplice in the recent train robbery. He was taken to Macleod forthwith to stand preliminary hearing.

Friday, September 24, 1915 –
The Empress Express

Our postmaster has formulated several rules for the benefit of his patrons. No letters are given out until they are received. If you don’t get a letter or paper on the day you expect it, have the postmaster look through all the boxes and down in the cellar also. It ought to be there somewhere and he likes to hunt for it just to please you. If your friend doesn’t write, rave at the postmaster as he is to blame. He is probably hiding your mail for the pleasure of having you call for it. If you are buying stamps, make him lick them and put them on as that’s his business.

 The aged mother of Vilhjalmur Stefansson finally received word on Sept. 18 that her son was alive. A year and a half has passed since the Dominion government received any messages from Stefansson. The explorer has been successful in finding a large area of new land. His mother is now 90 years old and lives in a claim shack near Wynyard, SK.

The Jordan Harbour Peach Ranch will pack and ship 100,000 hospital sized cans of peaches through the Red Cross to hospitals in the British Isles, Belgium, and France. Each can contains about 7 lbs of peaches, will make up 50 carloads of fruit and will require 200 men and women to pick the fruit and pack it up.

Thursday, September 23, 1920 – Bassano Mail

Fire losses for 1920 may exceed any so far recorded. The past few weeks have seen disastrous fires on the west coast, out east and in the prairies. Taking averages from the first five months of 1920, the Commission of Conservation estimated losses could amount to $28 million, although now it seems likely to exceed that figure. 1918 saw the destruction of several munitions plants and presently has the highest dollar figure of losses due to fire.

The opinion has been brought forth that the letter ‘e’ is the most unfortunate character in the English alphabet. It is always out of cash, forever in debt, never out of danger, and in hell all the time. We argue that ‘e’ is never in war, always at peace, the beginning of existence, the commencement of ease, and the end of trouble. It is the centre of honesty, makes love perfect and without it there would be no editors, devils or news.

The 100-mile-an-hour face has arrived. People who meet passengers by the air ferry in Paris say these aerial voyagers breathe deeply with wide open eyes as they set foot on ground again. When they take an auto to their hotel, they have a look of pitying impatience at the crawling vehicle. “Crossed the Channel in ten minutes,” they say, “and it’s taking us more than that to get to the end of this street!”