From the Archives of Western Newspapers

By Samantha Johnson
For Southern Alberta Newspapers

January 3, 1881 – The Edmonton Bulletin

Meetings are being held at various places in which the terms of the Pacific Railway are condemned. The Conservative papers are urging their friends to get up counter demonstrations on the subject without any response. 

Three men and a young woman were instantly killed in Ontario when the sleigh they were riding in was struck by a train on Christmas Day. 

Nine men deserted from the police force at Fort Walsh in early November and eight of them have been recaptured. A craze over newly found gold digs in Montana prompted the desertion, although it seems the reduction in pay the force recently endured likely has something to do with it, if we may venture an opinion. 

Whiskey seizures are the rule at Fort McLeod, the heavy penalty not seeming to deter the speculation in the least. 

January 5, 1909 – Western Globe (Lacombe)

The elevator and warehouse of the Western Milling Company were utterly destroyed on Saturday night by one of the fiercest fires that have visited Calgary for some time. The loss is fixed at $50,000, which will be fairly well covered by insurance. 

On Dec. 28, 1908, a devastating earthquake hit Italy and Sicily, wrecking multiple cities and obliterating towns and villages. Adding to the horrors was a tidal wave that followed the earthquake and swept along the Strait of Messina. Fires, which are still burning, then broke out in the devastated cities. 

A stricter enforcement of the council bylaws is required. Horses cross and recross sidewalks at will, cows roam freely and unlicensed dogs prowl about and do much mischief. 

January 5, 1911 – The Blairmore Enterprise

Tuesday was another interesting day at Bellevue, it being the day to which the coroner’s inquest into the explosion was adjourned. The first jury met at 10 a.m., were immediately discharged and a new jury given place. Owing to the train, which was running late, not arriving, the inquest was adjourned until 3 p.m. The new jury contains members who are in no way connected to the workings of the mines in the Pass. As the day had advanced by the time everyone was assembled, evidence from witnesses was not called and the inquest was adjourned until 9:30 a.m. the following day. 

All the Marys, Marias, Mays and Marians of the British Empire are being asked to contribute anything from one penny to one pound towards a coronation present for Queen Mary. This delightful idea has been put on foot by the Marchioness of Bute. Among the duchesses there are four Mary’s. In addition, Lady Lamington and Lady Trefusis, two of Queen Mary’s Women of the Bedchamber, are also named Mary.  

What O’Brien might have done and what he did do in Edmonton are two very different things.