From the Archives of Western Newspapers

By Samantha Johnson
For Southern Alberta Newspapers

April 29, 1884 – Brandon Daily Sun

A party left Winnipeg yesterday on their proposed Hudson Bay Exploratory Survey. They go by CPR express as far as Swift Current, then overland until the South Saskatchewan River. A guide will be hired to take them down the river to Prince Albert in canoes where they will board a steamer on the North Saskatchewan River. It is hoped Lake Winnipeg will be open by the time they reach it. They intend to cross the lake by steamer to Norway House, which is where the real work of exploration will begin.

In Virden our correspondent writes the machine man, booking agent and lightning rod man are after us with a vengeance. With this last affliction and many other grievances, the poor farmer’s cup of bitterness is full.

From Vanity Fair in Chicago, they write bribery is not confined to this side of the line and in Canada at present they are having a very pretty washing of dirty linen. Wholesale bribery is charged against many who have hitherto borne a spotless name. The latest is Hon. Macpherson, lately speaker of the Canadian Senate and now Minister of the Interior. He is an imposing man who is immensely wealthy and often visits the other side, where he is expected to be knighted soon, although this little affair might put an end to that.

April 29, 1894 – The Daily
Telegram (Nanaimo, BC)

The government is expected to dismiss 200,000 soldiers for the coming summer with a view to facilitating the gathering of the harvest. They are also expected to make a reduction in the military budget.

In Mexico City, Jack Redding and David Harper, both wealthy and prominent mining men of the Don Cabezas camp, quarrelled and shot each other dead.

Rudyard Kipling, who is currently in London, is quoted as saying, “There is a dyspepsia epidemic in America. They don’t understand our comfort. Everything is too temporary for that. They are in a railway waiting room stage of civilization, and it is hardly worthwhile for anyone to settle down and be solidly comfortable. America feels like one vast camp.”

April 27, 1916 – The Yorkton
Enterprise

There was another accident involving the short .22 rifle when a 10-year-old boy was shot by his 15-year-old brother. The charge entered the neck and was taken out through the back from behind the shoulder blade. The bullet narrowly missed a large blood vessel. The short .22, or toy rifle has caused many accidents, one fatal, in this district over the past few years and should be prohibited by law.

Chairman for the Highway Commission admitted in evidence to the Royal Commission that 19 of the 35 contracts were fraudulent. Of the $88,000 spent on roads, $55,000 appears to have gone to grafters.

Winnipeg timepieces were pushed ahead an hour at midnight on Sunday with a view to inducing the people to utilize an extra hour of sunlight and abandon another hour of darkness.

A break in the water main on North Front Street, caused by the pipe freezing, necessitated shutting off all consumers along that street, including the Balmoral Hotel. The fire chief put two shifts of men to work to repair the damage and they have been busy day and night. It is expected the break will be repaired by this afternoon.