From the Archives of Western Newspapers

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Sunny South News

By Samantha Johnson
For Southern Alberta Newspapers

April 22, 1882 – Edmonton Bulletin

The school trustees now owe $150 in salary for teachers in the past three months. Part is due to the estate of the past teacher and the other to the current teacher. As the government money is not available at present, the entire amount needs to be raised. Almost $100 has been collected and those who are interested in education are encouraged to take notice and act accordingly.

A telegram to the Globe states that a lieutenant colonel in the Mounted Police sent a friend in Kingston a nugget of gold he claimed to have found in the Saskatchewan River. As gold is only found as dust and not as nuggets in this river, there must be a mistake somewhere.

The New York World building burned in January with an estimated loss of one million dollars. The Scottish American Journal, Scientific American, Turf, Field and Farm and several newspapers that occupied the building, lost everything.

April 22, 1905 – The Ymir Herald

On Saturday morning last, Constable Fraser sat in state up at the goal for one hour waiting for an excited crowd of voters to come and nominate and elect fire wardens for the town. As the hour was coming to a close, Mr. Buckworth was seen sprinting up the hill, the only citizen, it seems, who takes an interest in the welfare of the town. The three men nominated by Mr. Buckworth were elected by acclamation since there were no other candidates. The three new fire wardens can’t turn their attention to the needs of the situation too soon to suit property owners, despite the apathy and carelessness displayed by town residents in the matter of this election.

The safe crackers who operated on the depot safe last week were evidently novices at the job, including in the use of powder. As most local men are up on the art of using powder, it can be concluded they were likely strangers. They only succeeded in giving themselves much trouble for nothing and the station agent lost an overcoat, a pipe, one ancient chair, several crosswords and a lot of trouble in cleaning up the mess. The burglars succeeded in blowing off the outer door of the safe but either ran out of fuse or were interrupted because they failed to get the inner door open, which presents less difficulty than the outer one.

One of the first turbine powered steamers to cross the Atlantic has done so in record time. The Allan Line turbine steamer Virginia, on her maiden voyage, took six days, 22 hours and 45 minutes to make the crossing from Liverpool, England to Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Note: on June 16, 1905, the Virginia would set a new record, covering the crossing from Moville, Ireland to Cape Race, Newfoundland in four days and four hours.)

April 24, 1908 – Didsbury Pioneer

Dr. Grenfell, who is attempting to acclimatize the reindeer in Newfoundland, will remain in St. Anthony this winter to study the problem of domesticating and caring for the reindeer. The female deer will also be used to supply the hospitals with milk for patients, a necessary arrangement in a region where there are no cows, sheep or goats.

George Randall undoubtedly holds the record for breaking a section. We are told that last week, with the help of four oxen, he failed to finish a single furrow in two hours. Slow but sure, eh, George.

The literary society held a mock trial in which the prisoner was charged with stealing the wheels off Henry Hoffman’s buggy on the night of April 5 and concealing them under the ice of Mr. Reinhart’s lake. The judge determined the prisoner, witnesses and plaintiff were all untruthers and a verdict of not guilty came back by the jury. The plaintiff had to distribute two bushels of peanuts to the residents to atone for the damage done to the good name of the prisoner.