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Vol. I

JANUARY, 1921

No. 4

CAMPING OUT AT 40° BELOW

A HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY'S Post Inspector camping for the
•** night near Great Slave Lake. Defying the snows, these hardy
men "mush" with dog teams from Fort to Fort across the vast
silent spaces of the great North, keeping H.B.C. communications
open and taking account of furs traded at each post of the district.

JANUARY, 1921

Bidding for World's Fine Furs
at London Auction Sales

Four Weeks' Annual Selling of Pelts Draws Cosmopolitan

Crowd of Buyers from All Quarters of the Globe—

H.B.C. Auction of Chief Interest.

By J. D. J. FORBES (London Fur Warehouse)

IF a stranger were to ask where the
fur quarter in the City of London is
situated, perhaps the simplest answer
would be to tell him to make for the
Guildhall, and then to walk due south
towards the River Thames. He would
proceed along King Street (which is
continued as Queen Street after Cheap
side is passed) and in less than five
minutes would be at his destination.
What the Rue d'Aboukir is to Paris
and the Bruehl to Leipzig, Queen Street
is to London. It stands for the heart
and centre of the London fur trade.
Except for the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's warehouse, which stands apart,
all the most important fur merchants
and commission houses are located
within a stone's throw of the College
Hill Public Saleroom — the entrance to
which is in Queen Street — where the
world's fur produce is periodically put
up for aucti9n.

World's Buyers Assemble in
Saleroom

In the saleroom itself there is little to
suggest a fur market; no skins or pelts
are to be seen ; no samples are displayed
to catch the eye of possible buyers;
there is no odour of furs or naphthaline.
The saleroom reminds one of a large
classroom with its rows of desks and
forms facing a narrow rostrum whereon
the selling broker and his assistants sit.
Here three times a year assemble fur
buyers from all over the world. The
typically English features of the brokers
contrast strangely with the faces of the
cosmopolitan crowd which throngs the
saleroom benches; and when in the
intervals of selling a buzz of conversa-
tion is heard, it seems incredible that
one is in the heart of London and not in
some Levantine port.

Selections Are Made From
Catalogs

Each buyer brings to the saleroom his
catalogues, containing valuations and

descriptions of the pelts he has in-
spected at the various fur warehouses.
For the most part, only a very small
proportion of the lots catalogued are
seen by the prospective buyer; these
are "show" lots and represent the bulk,
which could not be properly examined in
the short time at his disposal. There
are usually about twenty catalogues —
some of which contain only a few
hundred lots but most of which run
into thousands of lots — and as the fur
collections are distributed amongst a
dozen different wharves and ware-
houses, where the skins are lotted and
placed "on show," only a few days
before the sales takes place, it will be
appreciated that the thorough-going
dealer who wishes to acquaint himself
with the whole collection of furs on the
market has plenty to do!

The Order of the Sale

At one time the order of selling was
rather haphazard, but in recent years
the sale arrangements have been revised
and co-ordinated. Catalogues are now
divided into definite sections, and the
entire market supply of furs contained
in section 1 of the various catalogues is
offered for sale before section 2 is dealt
with, and so on — the brokers balloting
among themselves for precedence. In
accordance with long-established cust-
om, the first goods to be put up for sale
are those coming from China and the
far east (these auctions are referred to
as the "China sales"); next comes the
catalogues of Australian furs, followed
immediately by any offerings there may
be of fur seals.

H.B.C. Auction Premier
Attraction

Although these auctions occupy the
whole of the first sale week, they are of
secondary importance when compared
with the sales of the choicer North
American and Siberian furs, which
commence on the Monday of the second

JANUARY, 1921

week with the Hudson's Bay Company's
sale. Needless to say, the Company's
auction always proves the greatest
attraction of the whole series and never
fails to draw a crowded room. The
Company's catalogue is the only one
now sold in its entirety without a
break, and this for the very good
reason that it provides the most
reliable basis for comparison of values
and enables the experienced buyer to
appraise market fluctuations with con-
fidence.

The rest of the week following the
Company's sale is taken up with the
disposal of "fine" furs (such as beaver,
ermine, foxes, marten, otter and sables)
from other catalogues; the third week
sees the "staple" lines (such as skunk,
opossum, musquash and raccoon) of-
fered for sale; and in the fourth and
final week sundry South American and
lower grade skins are offered.

The Flexible Eyebrow An Aid
in Bidding

The method of bidding at the fur
auction is by what is known as the
"silent" system. The auctioneer usual-
ly starts the bidding himself at a
moderate figure and the buyers in-
terested signify their bids by various
methods — such as by a nod, or a wink,
or even a flick of the pencil; sometimes
indeed a buyer will merely look at the
auctioneer whilst the bids are being
taken and only remove his gaze when
his limit has been exceeded. It is often
amusing to notice the tactics adopted by
two bidders, each of whom wants a
particular lot : one may may perhaps be
seated in the front row and he will
perhaps bid by raising his eyebrows',
the other (seated further back) will not
look at the broker at all but will
narrowly watch his rival's hat (the
movement of which betrays the bidding)
whilst he records his own bids by
moving his little finger!

As a rule, bids advance by a definite
amount, which varies with the value of
the article in question: bids for beaver
skins, for example, may start at 50s.
and advance by 2s. steps to 100s.,
beyond which the advance is by 5s.
steps; in the case of musquash an
advance of 3d or 6d per bid is sufficient.
When demand is keen and bidding
brisk, buyers frequently discard the
silent method, and the broker is assailed
with a chorus of "up! up!" from all

parts of the room. As it is often
difficult in such cases to distinguish
between bidders, the possession of a
good pair of lungs is a decided ad-
vantage for a buyer.

Furs Sold at "Per Skin'' Rate
Most lots are sold "at per skin" —
that is to say, when a lot of musquash
containing 1600 skins, for instance, is
put up, the auctioneer needs to register
the price of only one skin — the value
of the lot being 1600 times that figure.
Although sitting for weeks in the
saleroom buying sundry lots of skins
from this catalogue and that may seem
a dull job, yet the buyer with imagina-
tion finds the fur trade fascinating.
He realizes that the skins he buys have
taken months of patient toil and care-
ful handling to assemble from the
uttermost parts of the earth.

To him, the sale mark "MKR"
denotes not merely a particular quality
of fur, but suggests the mighty river of
the great Northwest threading, its
lonely way from the plains to the Arctic
Sea. It is this sense of the world-wide
ramifications of the fur trade, and the
knowledge that the Company's organi-
zation has played, and still plays, a
notable part in its development that
make one feel proud to belong to the
Hudson's Bay Company.

An American Account of an
Ancient Selkirk Settle-
ment Caravan

THE Public Archives of Canada
at Ottawa contain the following
characteristic description of a Red
River Caravan from the old Selkirk
Settlement, as printed in the Wisconsin
Herald of September 15th, 1847:

"On the 10th of July, there appeared
at the village of St. Paul, on the Upper
Mississippi, the most novel and original
caravan that has ever appeared since
Noah's ark was evacuated. Our read-
ers are aware that there is an isolated
settlement of several thousand in-
habitants in a high latitude of British
North America, known as the 'Selkirk
Settlement.' Cut off from the com-
merce of the world, they rely entirely
upon their own resources, their farms,
their flocks and fishing for support —
being a community, so to speak, of
Robinson Crusoes. Their crops having

JANUARY, 1921

Bailed the last two seasons, they have
been forced to break out of the wilds
again and seek food in the markets of
the great brawling world. Formerly
their chief point of contact with com-
merce was Toronto; but now, owing to
the increase of supplies on the Upper
Mississippi, and the abundance of
game and forage on that route, they
trade at St. Paul, and the head of
steamboat navigation on the Mississippi
River.

"Into St. Paul they came, on the 10th
of July, a caravan of one hundred and
twenty carts, in a single file, wearily
moving along by moonlight. Long
after the head of the caravan had
reached the village, the lengthened
train of followers could be seen moving
over the undulating prairie, partly
visible and partly hidden between the
billowy ridges of the extended plain,
crawling onward like some huge serpent,
the extreme rear still invisible and
partly hidden in the dimness of the
distance. They had travelled south-
ward over the prairie six hundred miles,
having been nineteen days on their
way, through a region abounding in
buffaloes — encamping at night in a
tent, around which the carts were
drawn in a circle, to fence in the cattle.
. They brought along a large
elk, a bear, and some other animals they
had captured on their way — and many
packages of furs. They had a very
choice lot of buffalo robes, well dressed,
which they sold at St. Paul by the lot
at $3.50 each.

"They had with them also an abund-
ance of specie, and waited a few days
at St. Paul for the arrival of a steam-
boat load of flour and groceries. The
caravan was made up of men and boys
of all ages, kindreds, tongues and com-
plexions. . . . Their dresses were
as various as could be imagined, being
uniform in only a single article of
apparel — all wore mocassins. The
carts were made wholly of wood and
hides, the hubs being covered with
bandages of green hide, drawn on while
soft and then shrinking until they
became nearly as tight as bands of iron.
Some of these odd two-wheeled vehicles
were drawn by little horses, and others
by oxen, each animal — horse or ox —
being geared in a harness of green hide.
They are now again on their way back
to the frozen wilds of the North, many
of them probably never again to com-
mune with the great world."

How Smith's Landing Be-
came FitzGerald

Heroic Sacrifice of R.N.W.M.P.

Officer Led to His Name Being

Given to H.B.C. Landing

FITZGERALD, originally known
as Smith's Landing, is at the end
of the Athabasca River navigation,
approximately three hundred miles
below McMurray. It is an important
point in the transportation system, as
cargoes are there discharged and port-
aged sixteen miles to Fort Smith,
where they are loaded into other
steamers navigating the Mackenzie
River.

In 1910, a commissioned officer of the
mounted police named FitzGerald,
along with three members of the force,
left Fort McPherson for Dawson.
The party encountered severe storms,
and lost their way in the mountain
passes. After wandering for several
weeks, they decided to return, but
owing to lack of food and inability to
procure game of any kind they suffered
great privation. Finally, they were
obliged to kill their dogs for food. One
of the members of the party died and
the position of the survivors was
desperate, as two of the remaining
members were unable to proceed. Fitz-
Gerald left these men with all the
clothing and whatever else they had
that might benefit them and continued
alone in an endeavor to get back to
Fort McPherson and bring help. On
reaching a point about twelve miles of
the Post — which was then actually in
sight — he was too exhausted to travel
further and was frozen to death.

Meanwhile, the non-arrival of this
patrol in Dawson caused the mounted
police to send out a search party from
that end on the assumption that Fitz-
Gerald's party might have been held up
nearby, but the search party had to
continue within this short distance of
McPherson before finding the evidence
of the tragedy.

FitzGerald was held in high regard
by all the people in the Northwest
Territory in which he served and ap-
plication was made to the authorities
at Ottawa to change the name of
Smith's Landing to Fort FitzGerald to
commemorate his worthy but un-
fortunately unsuccessful effort to secure
relief for his party.

JANUARY, 1921

"Uplands," the Ancient H.B.C.
Farm on Vancouver Island

Onetime Natural Park and Grazing Ground Now Being

Subdivided at Victoria
By C. H. FRENCH, District Manager for B.C.

WHEN Victoria was established
by the Hudson's Bay Company
in 1843 all that tract of land between
Cadboro Bay and The Willows was
a park, being studded here and there
with beautiful oak trees and plentifully
supplied with grass in which the elk
loved to scamper about.

Farm Required to Support Post
At all Hudson's Bay Company's forts,
the self-supporting feature was always
given first consideration. At Victoria
it was not only necessary to raise suffi-
cient grain, butter and beef to support
the Fort, but also sufficient to supply
Russian America, or Alaska as we now
know it. Uplands was one of the first
farms established to gain those ends.

The farm buildings were always just
where they now are, but the road lead-
ing to them was different, in that where
it now takes a bend where the golf
links association put up their sign,
it continued straight through the culti-
vated fields to the farm buildings. An
examination will show the trees and
rocks still marking this road.

Riding to Uplands for the View

The officers at the Fort had saddle
horses and it was to the uplands they
went when desiring a ride on horseback.
Many officers of Her Majesty's ships
immediately on landing made arrange-
ments for a horseback ride to this
wonderful piece of country.

It has an elevation — without seeming
to climb — sufficient to present perhaps
the finest marine view to be found
anywhere. The view was obtainable
from almost any part of the thousand
acres contained in the farm.

The handsome oak and maple trees
were just sufficiently scattered not to
obstruct the view of the Olympic
Mountains to the south; San Juan
and other islands to the east and south-
east, which were overlooked by glorious
Mount Baker, always standing out as if
a sentinel clothed in white, guarding a

country so rich in minerals, lumber and
fish that its equal has yet to be dis-
covered.

Looking north, towards James and
Salt Spring Islands, one is almost
speechless with admiration of the
beauty that is stretched before the eye.

Indian Villages Are at Strategic
Points

Indian villages were in earlier times
established only at points where the
food supply was abundant, but in this
particular instance the village was
established for strategic reasons. There
were two points occupied by Indians;
one toward the northern side of the
bay, where the present Cadboro Bay
Hotel is today located, and the other
just inside the point, east of the presetn
Yacht Clubhouse. Those living on
the north side of the bay were the
custodians of a portage from Telegraph
Bay to Cadboro Bay, while the Indians
on the south side of the bay were the real
defenders of the tribe as a portage from
there to Rock Bay had to be blocked to
all enemies as it was to this point that
retreats were made and where also was
stored their winter supply of food.

The Songhees Had a Magic Spring
The Songhees on the southeast end
of Vancouver Island had, I believe, the
most strategic situation of any tribe on
the coast. From their central village
at Concordance Arm the all-important
route was by Cadboro Bay, principally
because the great spring that was
regarded by them as possessing certain
medicinal qualities was located at that
point.

This spring was surrounded by wil-
lows and was so carefully camouflaged
that one could hardly find it, excepting
that the ground from the spring to the
waterfront was more or less wet. In the
improving of Uplands, this spring was
drained in some way and, I am told,
does not show on the surface now, but
probably is diverted to the sea beach.

JANUARY, 1921

Hoot Mon! Th' Roarin' Game is
on Wf Lads o' the H.B.C.

Land, Retail and Wholesale Departments at Winnipeg

Get Away to Fast Start — Some Already Displaying

Mid Season Form

By OUT TURN

AT Winnipeg, the respective Curling Associations
of the Land Department, Retail Store and
Wholesale Depot are making up for lost time, the
season having started late. Extent of the en-
thusiasm displayed in the Company's Winnipeg
establishments for the grand old game is indicated
by the hundred and ten yelling, sweeping adherents
who turn out once and twice a week. Ice has been
good and the weather just cold enough to induce
lively work behind every skip. It is to be noted
that more rocks are getting across the "hog" than
the first part of last season.

If ice holds after present schedules are completed,
it is planned to bring the victorious rinks together in
an H.B.C. "bonspiel" for a decision on the Company
Curling Championship for Winnipeg.

Sketched are two
well-known "skips"
heading land de-
partment rinks and
one "skip" who cuts
a lot of ice in

wholesale circles. Our staff artist caught him
as he was shooting his first rock of the season,
using the follow-through system. He is usually
more dignified than as portrayed (on next page)
and the editor remarks a terrific shift of latitude
here as this arctic "skip" was but lately a strutting
Toreador. The two land department "skips"
pictured on this page wear no disguise and need
no introduction but we'll give a Madebeaver to
anyone who'll guess their identity.

It is of course too early to make predictions as
to probable winners in the various departmental
associations. We cannot get any sort of a prog-
nostication from our usually very opinionated
Sporting Editor. For next issue, he promises
to analyze the performance of the leading rinks
and tell Messrs. Harman, Vesey and Sparling
exactly what their respective chances are.

On the following page is the standing of the
"Draw Weight, We'll Sweep It ! " rinks as at 10th January:

"Meet Me Face to Face"

JANUARY, 1921

lie

Wholesale Boys ! "Do You Know Him ?"

— /// Sweep
Her -Up— She'll
Never Reach

H.B.C. CURLING ASSOCIATIONS,
Winnipeg, 1921

Land Department

SKIP

Games
Played

Won

Lost

Stand-
ing

Harm an
McDill ..

3
2

1
2

.750
.500

Bellingham

.250

Joslyn..

.250

Retail Store

MacGregcr
Mills
Scott

2
1
2

0
0
0

1.000
1.000
1.000

Pearen
Parker

1
2

0
1

1.000
.500

Healy.

.500

Tait..

.500

Sidey...

.500

Sparling
Ogston
Pugsley
Bowdler .

2
1
2
1

0
0
0
0

2
1
2
1

.000
.000
.000
.000

Wholesale Depot

Swan

1.000

A. Thompson.....

1.000

Iveson

1.000

Veysey.. . ..

.666

Poitras..

.666

Phelan

.500

Brock

.333

O. Thompson

.000

iMcMicken

.000

Ross....

.000

How Many "Advertisers "
Has H.B.C.?

By MRS. JACK HAWKSHAW

SOME one will answer, "there's one
ad-man in Winnipeg, one in Ed-
monton, one in Calgary, one in York-
ton, one each in Lethbridge, Nelson,
Vernon, Kamloops and Vancouver."
If that is all, then I am afraid it's time
to be up and doing. Each employee
in the Company's service should be "on
the advertising staff," to promote
good feeling and optimism. Think
what a great thing it would be right
now at the beginning of a New Year
and on the threshold of a new season,
if the company's thousands of employ-
ees took a leading part in the advertis-
ing of the Company's stores.

Tree 95 Years Old Bears
Apples

Vancouver, Washington, Dec.
18th (Special) — Two apples grown
on the famous old apple tree in Van-
couver barracks were picked to-day by
A. A. Quarnberg. This apple tree is
the oldest in Pacific Northwest, if not
the United States, having been planted
in 1826 by Bruce, the gardener for the
Hudson's Bay Trading Company. This
makes the apple tree more than ninety-
five years old.

The seeds were brought around the
Horn in a sailing-vessel by an Hudson's
Bay Trading Company official who
carried them in a waistcoat pocket.
The tailor was cleaning out the pockets
and found these apple seeds and he
gave them to the gardener who planted
them. Many trees were raised. All
have died except one.

More than 100 Benefits
Paid in 1920

The Hudson's Bay Employees' Wel-
fare Association at Winnipeg Retail
continues to flourish despite the many
demands made on the "exchequer"
during the past twelve months. Up-
wards of one hundred individual em-
ployees have received benefits during
1920 and the Secretary, P. Harrison,
reports that the balance in hand at
present is larger than at any time since
the inception of the plan.

JANUARY, 1921

C H. French Has Long Exper
ience in H.B.C. Fur Trade

British Columbia District Manager Entered Service in

Lake Winnipeg District, 1887; Sent to New Caledonia

on Important Mission in 1894

By F. S. GARNER

Mr. French in the B.C. District Office

CH. FRENCH, District Manager of
the Company's British Columbia
fur trade district, is a man whose
experience in the service during 33
years, from Lake Winnipeg to the
Pacific Coast and north to Alaska, has
excellently fitted him to narrate count-
less stories of brave adventure and
stern duty under the H.B.C. flag in
the great Northwest.

Mr. French, though 53, carries his
years lightly. True, his hair is grizzled ;
upon his face is delineated the tale of
dangers met and hardships overcome.
Yet one would not place his age at over
45, if even that. Seasoned as an oak,
with hard and healthful living in a cli-
mate which elimintes all but the fittest,
Mr. French, now in lovely Victoria, may
know at least a measure of the relaxa-
tion and joy of living such as is seldom
granted the fur trader. The "spring" in
his step and the active interest he takes
in the life and development of Vancouver
Island identify in him a youthful spirit
which well might be envied by many
men under thirty.

Mr. French was born in Markham
township, twelve miles north of Toronto,
Ontario, on 23rd July, 1867.

He served a full apprenticeship at
printing. Then he acquired a fair
knowledge of bread-baking, fishing and
sailing, which experience he says stood
him in good stead after entering the
service.

In 1887 Mr. French joined H.B.C.
in the Lake Winnipeg District, doing
work of various kinds, one job being the
sailing of the boat "Beaver" under Mr.
W. J. McLean at Lower Fort Garry, and
afterwards Mr. Flett at Fort Alexander.

During this period he brought the
body of Chief Factor Belanger in from
the lake and delivered it at the Selkirk
Roman Catholic Church. The Chief
Factor was drowned at Norway House.

Fur Trade Commissioner Wrigley
went out of office and while his succes-
sor, Mr. C. C. Chipman, was Com-
missioner, he had the able support of
such men as William Clark. It was
with William Clark that Mr. French
engaged to go to New Caledonia
District, British Columbia (March,
1894) to break up a ring that was
pilfering merchandise from the Babine,
B.C., warehouse. This was success-
fully accomplished, and Mr. French was
given charge of Babine Post, remaining
there until 1901, when installed as
fur buyer at Victoria, under Mr.
James Thomson. He was in charge of
that work until February, 1914, when
he was made District Manager for
British Columbia.

SEND IT IN

If you have a bit of news, send it in.
Or a joke that will amuse, send it in.
A story that is true, an incident that's new,
"We want to hear from you," send it in.
Never mind about your style,
If it's only worth the while, send it in.
Will it make a paragraph? Send it in.
If some good your words can teach,
If some distant reader reach,
If you have a glowing speech, send it in.

MISS D. L. BENS,
Winnipeg Retail

JANUARY, 1921

How the Eskimo Hunts the Musk-Ox

Description of Eskimo's method of hunt-
ing mask-oxen in the Arctic regions as
given by Cap*. French, R.N.W.M.P., one
of the patrol who went north to investigate
the killing of Messrs. Bradbury and Street,
sent out by Smithsonian Institute and
National Museum at Ottawa.

THE ESKIMO, sighting a small
band of musk-oxen — usually a bull,
cow and one or two calves — lets loose
two or three husky dogs (part dog and
part wolf) which encircle the animals.
The bull and cow turn their heads
towards the dogs, with the calf or
calves in the centre, and prepare to
give fight. Once the oxen are
"anchored," the Eskimos turn loose
all their dogs which serve to keep
the oxen "anchored" instead of taking
to their heels, and proceed themselves
with bow and arrows and dispatch the
animals.

These musk-oxen are very fierce and
warlike animals, hence the necessity
of the Eskimo protecting himself with
dogs. In the case of a wounded bull
charging an Eskimo, the dogs im-

mediately rush to attack it and with-
draw its attention from the Eskimo
who may thereby find time to string
another arrow to his bow and then
dispatch it. — W.E.A.

Holding the Musk-Oxen at Bay

There9 11 Be No More Slacker Contributors If They All Read This

Bar tier e Post, Ontario,
Editor, The ''Beaver," Winnipeg.

It is, I think, the duty of all of your readers
to wish THE BEAVER a very happy New Year.

You cannot realize what the magazine
means to us who live in the silent places far
removed from social intercourse with our
fellow creatures.

We who have access to such little reading
material to interest us in our lonely lives
will look forward eagerly to the arrival of
THE BEAVER.

And I can assure you that I wish it every
success in the years to come, and I trust that
all the readers will recognize the fact that it
is their bounden duty to contribute either

in writing or photographs from time to time.

I think that it is not to our Commissioner
alone that we should look for guidance nor
to our District Managers, but to our friendly
intercourse one with another, which can
only be accomplished through the medium
of THE BEAVER and I sincerely trust that
this friendly intercourse will grow stronger
and stronger as the years roll by, and
so help to strengthen and firmly cement
together the bonds of good fellowship.

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Yours obediently,
(Signed) ASHTON ALSTON,

Post Manager,

JANUARY, 1921

Issued Every Now and Then in the Interests

of Those in the Service of the

Hudson's Bay Company

The Beaver

"A Journal of Progress"

Address all communications to Editor,

" THE BEAVER," York and Main Streets,

Winnipeg, Canada

Vol. I

JANUARY, 1921

No. 4

Fortunate Canada!

THE big war is all over but the
paying. A whole "bale" of little
wars, however, have been engaging the
attention of the world until recent
settlements were effected.

Famine in China. Russian chaos
and Irish thunderclouds. Inoculation
against the "bolshevik bug" in every
quarter of the globe.

Fortunate Canada!

Industrial depression, unemployment
and foreboding grips the United States.
Canada has had a tinge of this malady,
too, during price convulsions — but Can-
ada is sound. Canada — especially
Western Canada — is busy, optimistic
and possessed of a confidence un-
bounded. A happier or more prosper-
ous Christmas and New Year's that
just past in Canada, never has been.

For twelve months ending October,
1920, Canada's volume of trade was
up five hundred million dollars
over the year previous. Canada is
fortunate. To the sweet uses of Peace,
she is applying herself assiduously.

The Yankee Balloonists

BEAVER refrains from elabor-
ating upon current newspaper re-
ports about the U.S. Navy balloonists
who drifted from New York City to
Moose Factory and were rescued by
H.B.C. men at James Bay — until the

report of our Associate Editor at Moose
Factory and his photographs have been
received. It is expected these will
come out to Mattice by next packet,
and The Beaver will then be able to
give authentic details.

Ambition

A MBITIOUS men raise themselves
jfjLlike the tallest trees high above
the shrub growth of somnolent spirits
and so are "most in the power of the
winds of fortune."

Your chance for Success is not lack-
ing as long as the spark of Ambition
is alive within you. With some men,
Ambition dies between thirty and
forty; with others it remains un-
quenched. Some men have made for-
tunes and lost them at forty-five, then
have turned in and made other for-
tunes before retiring. Scores of great
Successes have been recorded after
the age of fifty; cases where Ambition,
the "divine discontent," was never
downed.

Without Ambition, the fire under the
boilers of Industry would die and the
pop-valves of Commerce would cease
to reveal live power that drives the
pistons of progress.

A Martian at the Rink

PICTURE a man from Mars, just
descended, as he steps into an
H.B.C. curling rink during the ninth
"end" — when Scottish excitement is at
its hottest. Try to comprehend his be-
wilderment as he hears frenzied shouts
of " SWEEP, SWEEP, SWEEP 'er up!
GET IT across the hog! ' ' And again
— "out turn, Mac; draw-weight
and a wick off this one. Just come
TO it!"

And sweatered, mufBered figures con-
tort themselves in fantastic fox-trots
on the ice as they swing mad brooms
in the van of the skidding stones.

The grey rocks curl and thump —
or twist uncannily to a berth behind
guardian stones. ' ' WE LIE, ' ' bursts
in raucous chorus from steaming
throats. "A marvelous confession
thinks the man from Mars."

The roarin' game of Cur-r-r-lin' is in
full fling at many of the Company's
branches. Young and old all become
younger in a fast and furious "draw."

JANUARY, 1921

Buy a broom and a pair of ' 'galoshes"
and get on the ice. Forget business,
bid dull care begone. Curl ten "ends"
and then you'll say "where's that pack
of worries that was hounding me this
afternoon?"

Egotism

THE large proportion of the human
race which is afflicted with "Self
Importance" can draw pointed conclu-
sion from the facts that:

(1) Michelson the scientist has dis-
covered an accurate method of measur-
ing the distant stars, by which it is
determined that one star in Orion is
twenty-seven trillion times as large
as the earth, and twenty-seven mil-
lion times as large as the Sun. (It's
no use trying to visualize this tre-
mendous planet. Even a billion is
incomprehensible to the human mind;
a trillion simply cannot be embraced
in our thought.)

(2) Latest available figures indicate
that there are about two billion
people living on the Earth, despite
the slaughter of war. We are some-
where in that crowd.

If we ever feel ourselves getting
"chesty in the head," let us repress
even the faintest stirrings of Egotism,
for we're only one in two billion (never
would be missed!) riding to an un-
ticketed destination on a "pin-point
planet" that swirls every day a million
miles nearer to that gigantic sun,
Alpha Orionus (see it any clear
night in the heavens) which is so tre-
mendous in dimension that our poor
little earth at the instant of contact
would sputter out like a tiny drop of
grease on a big stove.

Our Reporters

THE BEAVER should be all-see-
ing, all-knowing — as far as H.B.
C. events are concerned. If a single
incident which affects the Company or
its employees escapes being reported
to this journal, we are not fulfilling our
mission. If any other publication tells
of an H.B.C. event or reports any
H.B.C. employees' activities which do
not reach The Beaver — then we're
' "scooped," in the parlance of the
press.

You faithful readers of The Beaver
who daily are giving your time and

thought to H.B.C. affairs — you are
the eyes and ears of this journal. We
have a good many "live-wire" re-
porters, but need more. Let every
member of staff take a personal in-
terest in forwarding to The Beaver
intelligence of every description that
might interest H.B.C. people.

The Wanderers

lure of exploration has not lost
its power since the two main
prizes — both Poles — were achieved. Re-
cently it was announced that a con-
siderable number of new expeditions
would set out in 1921 to various re-
mote quarters of the globe — one to
Baffins Land, one to the north of Si-
beria, one to Central Africa and so on
down the list. Amundsen is now
trying to drift across the North Pole.
The Challenge of Discovery ever has
greater power than strong drink to
inflame the blood of daring men, par-
ticularly of the British and Scandi-
navian races. They will never tire
until the last "back-lot" of the earth
has been carefully scanned, mapped
and staked for science and civilization.

Reputation

A MAN may live a lifetime of virtue
and honesty; then by one false
step destroy the delicate structure of
Reputation which he has so painstak-
ingly constructed.

The Good Name of H.B.C. has taken
two hundred and fifty years to build.
Yet one year's departure from H.B.
C. ideals and H.B.C. standards would
serve to corrode the foundations under-
lying this priceless Reputation.

When acting or speaking in the name
of the Company, employes who apprec-
iate the insecurity of Reputation think
twice before saying or doing any-
thing that might be adjudged un-
Hudson's Bay.

The Prize Contest

HOW I Earned My First Dollar"
Contest is stirring up much
interest among "old timers" in the
ranks. First letters are beginning to
come in. Please do not delay in send-
ing the facts about your early start.
Two hundred words are enough to give
the main details — and are soon written.

JANUARY, 1921

Some People in the East and

the West are Whimpering

and Whining!

Pessimistic over the outlook for spring busi-
ness.

Some people think the bottom has fallen out
of things, when the fact is things are as good as
ever they were. Only that with the getting
back into the condition that prevailed before
the war prices are falling, and many people
have contracted a fever which was very pre-
valent in the States a short time ago called
Pessimania.

We've Got to Do Our Part to Create a
Spirit of Optimism, for if we all join the army
of pessimists, it's going to be bad for ourselves,
bad for the Company, and bad for the country
too. Besides, we have every reason to be
optimistic and here are the reasons —
First, there is the good news of lower prices on
nearly all kinds of goods, and people who have
been doing without can now buy freely again.
Second, the government has abolished the un-
desirable luxury tax. Encourage your customers
and friends to buy now, for prices cannot jump
down below what they are now for the spring,
and the more they buy the more it will add
prosperity to the country. No country's pros-
perity was ever built up on fear, but faith. The
low prices are here now. People have money
for necessities and we must do our part by talk-
ing and thinking hopefully for the coming spring.
That's it! Have you ever stopped to think of
the wonderful power of thought. Like the
pebble dropped in the lake, ever widening in

circles, your tiny thought of hopefulness and
helpfulness will have an ever-widening effect.
Every word that you say with belief behind it
stimulates other people to be optimistic, and so
your influence increases. This is what makes
power.

Every added sale that we make will not only
increase our own record but it will add its quota
to the prosperity of Canada.

Let everybody think good times, talk good
times, and buy for good times' sake, then the
ranks of the unemployed will melt before the
sunshine of prosperity!

Won't we make a resolution to start being
peptimists to-day? — F. S. Garner.

MOTTOE FOR YE NEWE YEARE

Modernized by A. Seymour
H.B.C. Post, D-14

There arre noe Byrdes
In Nexte Yeare's Neste.
In Nexte Yeare's Creame
There arre no Flyes.
Noe Vaine Regrettes
Disturb my Breaste
For Aught yt in
Ye Futurre lyes
Ande Laste Yeare's Flyes
Ande Laste Yeare's Byrdes
Arre paste ye reache

Of Tearres ande Wordes. i ' '

— Chaucer.

START THE
NEW YEAR WELL

by joining the vast and ever increasing multitude of
those who find in Life Insurance the one sure way of
protecting dependent ones — while making timely pro-
vision for their own future at the same time.

Join the ever increasing number who have found, in the
Policies of The Great-West Life Assurance Company,
all that can be desired in profitable Life Insurance.

Thus you will obtain protection at low cost, and will
secure a share in the remarkable profits that are being
paid to Policyholders of

The Great- West Life Assurance Company

Dept. "D.305

Head Office: WINNIPEG

JANUARY, 1921

C.W. Veysey Always Pushed the
Work— Never Let It Push Him

General Manager of Winnipeg Wholesale Developed Himself So

Consistently With H. B.C. at Vancouver That He Was

Called to Fill a Big Man's Shoes

By A. BROCK, Associate Editor

career of Mr. C. W. Veysey
Manager H.B.C. Wholesale, Win-
nipeg, furnishes an excellent example
of the Company's appreciation of, and
reward for, faithful service and ability
to apply one's business
acumen in the Com-
pany's interests.
A Nova Scotian Who

Early Came West

Born in the little town
of North Sidney, Nova
Scotia, of English par-
entage, Mr. Veysey was
privileged to spend the
first years of his life in
that country and com-
munity which produced
so many of the leading
business men now in
the West.

When he was thirteen
his parents decided to
move to British Colum-
bia. They arrived in
Vancouver in October,
1888.

A few years spent at
the west end and Cen-
tral Schools, Vancouver,
brought Mr. Veysey to that stage
where he decided that it was about
time he was learning to paddle his own
canoe.

Began Business Life in B.C.
Refinery

The B.C. Sugar Refinery was the
scene of his first labors, given in ex-
change for what at that time seemed
the magnificent remuneration of $12
per month, with the promised reward
of an increase to $15 in three months,
providing the service he rendered was
satisfactory to his employer.

It is interesting to recall that the
Company's present general manager
at Vancouver, Mr. H. T. Lockyer, was

C. W. VEYbEY, Esq.
General Manager, Wholesale Department

at that time also connected with the
B.C. Refinery in the capacity of ac-
countant; and Mr. Veysey was for-
tunate in forming a friendship in those
days which later proved to be a source
of great help when the
experience and assist-
ance of an "older head"
were needed to straight-
en out, oftimes, the
rough business road he
had to travel.
Joined H.B.C. Service

in 1896

A period of five years,
however, completed Mr.
Veysey's connection
with the refinery. During
this time Mr. Lockyer
had entered the H.B.C.
service as accountant
and perhaps in view of
the association begun
at the refinery it was
not strange that an op-
portunity should shortly
present itself enabling
Mr. Veysey also to join
the Company's service.
On 1st November, 1896,
he commenced his duties in the Van-
couver office.

Mr. E. J. Cuchinay was the Com-
pany's accountant at Vancouver at
that time, but on account of ill health
was being transferred to one of the
Company's steamers as purser. Con-
sequently, his position at Vancouver had
to be filled.

Mr. Lockyer Got Him a New Job

Feeling, as Shakespeare says, that
there is a "tide in the affairs of men,"
Mr. Veysey decided to approach Mr.
Lockyer (who by this time had at-
tained the position of general manager)
and ascertain if he could not be allowed
to show his ability for the position.

JANUARY, 1921

Mr. Lockyer informed him that he had
already wired Commissioner Chip-
man, recommending his appointment
and showed him the wire. Mr. Veysey
experienced anxious days while await-
ing the reply from Winnipeg; but
eventually word was received approving
the appointment.

Mr. Lockyer Gave Him Lesson in

Self-Reliance

Perhaps a little incident that oc-
curred soon after Mr. Veysey's ap-
pointment will be appreciated by a
great many of the present aspiring
accountants of the Company. The
time of the month had arrived when
the famous "Form 20" had to be com-
piled and with the help of Mr. Lockyer
this task was successfully accomplished.
The next month, however, the young
accountant found not a little difficulty in
completing this form unassisted. He
thought of Mr. Lockyer's kindly assist-
ance the previous month and again
approached the general manager for
help; but much to Mr. Veysey's sur-
prise, he was met with the reply, "Why,
Charlie, I showed you how to do that
last month. Go back and do it."
And back he went, and what is more
important, he did it. Mr. Veysey
often remarks that that was one of
the best turns Mr. Lockyer ever did him.

Handled Big Business During
Yukon Rush

Mr. Veysey has many pleasant
reminiscences of the days of the Yukon
rush and what it meant to Vancouver.
H.B.C. business was so great at that
time that it meant working every
night until midnight for five months.
Mr. Lockyer will also remember this
strenuous time, as he bore his share
with the rest. Midnight would often
come and find him still on the job.

Promoted to Assistant Managership

Promotion again was the order of
the day, and Mr. Veysey was made
assistant general manager at Van-
couver. In 1908, however, he was
approached by Messrs. Kelly Douglas
and Company to join their firm as
credit office manager, which position
he filled until 1913, when he was asked
by the Hudson's Bay Company to go
to Winnipeg in the capacity of general
manager of the Depot and Wholesale
Branch, which had been rendered

vacant by the death of that valued
servant of the Company, Mr. G. W.
Cochrane.

Became Wholesale General
Manager

Mr. Veysey arrived in Winnipeg in
July, 1913, and immediately applied
himself diligently to the task of build-
ing up a wholesale business which should
be second to none in the West. It was
by no means an easy task, but per-
severance eventually prevailed and
H.B.C. Winnipeg Wholesale has regis-
tered great gains. Since Mr. Veysey's
appointment at Winnipeg, wholesale
branches of the Company have been
established at Saskatoon and Regina,
Saskatchewan, under his management.
The H.B.C. candy factory, at
Winnipeg, owes its inception to his
efforts for expansion of the Company's
business.

Serves Fur Trade and Stores
Efficien tly

One of his greatest ambitions has
been to operate the depot so efficiently
that the service given both to the fur
trade posts and retail stores would be
as near perfect as it was possible to
make it. The Company's many dist-
rict managers and store managers all
over Canada acknowledge and appre-
ciate the efforts which have been put
forward in this direction by Mr.
Veysey's organization.

Amongst the staff it may be said
without fear of contradiction no man
could be held in higher esteem than
Mr. Veysey. Exacting, but human,
he is and always ready to lend a help-
ing hand. Having climbed up from the
foot of the ladder himself he believes in
employes' earning every step of their
advancement, but he is always prepared
to recognize and reward merit where
demonstrated.

Mr. Veysey Always Active in Sports

In the world of sport, Mr. Veysey is
an ardent devotee of the ancient and
honourable game of golf, and many
predict that some day the Burbidge
cup will be seen reposing in his office.
Mr. Veysey also takes a wholesome
interest in curling. His enthusiasm
and ability as a "skip" usually helps
place his rink "on top of the league"
at the wholesale.

JANUARY, 1921

Rupert's House Notes

Staff Changes

J. S. C. WATT, late in charge of Fort

Chimi, succeeds Mr. A. Nicolson,

retired.

R. J. SHERLAW, late in charge of

Mistassinny Post, to charge of Rupert's

House Post.

A. BREBNER, of Aberdeen, Scotland,

apprentice clerk.

Mistassinny Post

F. McLEOD, late clerk at Albany
Post, succeeds R. J. Sherlaw in charge
of Mistassinny Post.

Woswanaby Post

H. HAWKINS, late clerk at Rupert's
House, succeeds D. M. Stuart, in
charge of Woswanaby Post.
MR. STUART left on board the S.S.
"Nascopie," for a holiday in England.

Buffalo River Post News

WE have had considerable sick-
ness among the people of this
district but are glad to say that only a
few are now incapacitated. A con-
siderable number died during last
summer.

MR. J. M. CUMINES, manager of
H.B.C. Buffalo River, recently made a
very pleasant trip to Toronto, to visit
his mother, who was ill.
Lamson Hubbard Canadian Fur Com-
pany have opened their new store at
Buffalo River. (But H.B.C. is still
here doing business.)

B.C. District Office News

MR. AND MRS. C. H. FRENCH
received congratulations on the birth
of a fine daughter on December 1st.
MR. F. B. WOMBWELL, B.C. District
accountant, returned from a visit to
Mayo Brothers, Rochester, Minn.
DURING the past month the H.B.C.
Victoria office has had the pleasure of
visits from:

Captain Evan J. Edwards, of Montreal,
H.M. Senior Trade Commissioner in Canada
and Newfoundland; Mr. L. B. Beale, of
Winnipeg, His Majesty's Trade Commis-
sioner, Department of Overseas Trade,
London; Captain Louis Knaflich, of the
Kuskokwim Fishing and Transportation
Company, from whom the Hudson's Bay
Company chartered the "Ruby" for West-
ern Arctic District; Captain J. Bernard.

Requires Long Trip to Inspect
B.C. Posts

TO those of our readers who are
"city folk" or whose travel is
limited, the following might prove
interesting:

To make an inspection trip to the
Hudson's Bay Company's Posts in
British Columbia District alone a
distance of 3758 miles must be covered
as follows:

404 miles by trails.
974 miles by rivers.
56 miles by lake.
80 miles by automobile.
976 miles by railroad.
1268 miles by steamboat.

A Seaplane Visits Moose
Factory

AUGUST 27, 1920, will be well
remembered by the natives of
Moose Island, as it marks the arrival of
the first air machine to any H.B.C.
post in James Bay district.

A high-pitched, droning noise herald-
ed the approach of the machine; and
soon the 'plane came into view, flying at
an altitude of about three thousand
feet. A fine sight it was to see the great
bird coming nearer, suddenly "bank,"
and, with a great flash of silver, as the
sun's rays glinted on the tilted planes,
it nose-dived and planed down to the
"landing" stretch of water, which had
been previously marked with a buoy
and red flag. This channel of deep
water runs between Moose Island and
a smaller island, the river at this point
being of delta formation.

Meanwhile the inhabitants and the
Company's staff had gathered on the
bank, the latter all armed with cameras.
A canoe shot out from the river side and
the airmen were soon exchanging greet-
ings with us.

The seaplane to the Indians was a
matter of great mystery and for long
bands of them stood gazing at the
craft which the white men had handled
so dexterously.

During their subsequent trips to
their base near Cochrane they very
kindly carried our outward mails.

The object of the seaplane's journey
was the recording by motion pictures
the life and customs of the inhabitants
of northern Canada. — G.F.

JANUARY, 1921

FAMOUS TRIPS BY H.B.C. DOG TEAMS

107 Miles from Dawn to
Dark

By H. M. S. COTTER, Cumberland House

IN the year 1896 I was in charge of
H.B.C. Northwest River Post on the
Labrador. It was customary for the
post managers to assemble annually
at district headquarters which at that
time was located at Rigolet on the coast.
This council was usually held in April
on a specified date. Rigolet is ninety-
two miles from Northwest River by the
winter trail. The trip occupies two
days as a rule, and when we left the
Post it was the intention as usual to run
the first fifty miles and camp for the
night at a place named the Lowlands.

broke into a mad pace. No sooner had
they run down one batch of seals than
the leaders would scent others long
before they were visible. In this way
the speed of the whole team was main-
tained at a high rate.

As the local saying was, the dogs
were "seal mad" and getting out of
hand. I had been over these sealing
grounds many times, but never had
seen so many seals as on this day.
Around the seal or blowing holes they
were not in large numbers, but along the
cracks which opened across the bay
and ran for fifteen or twenty miles, the
seals were literally in thousands. It
was good sport chasing them. We
stopped several times and speared four,
adding about three hundred pounds

The feet of the dogs are protected by deerskin moccasins from laceration on sharp edges of the ice

We had the ordinary length of sled
or "komatik," which is about twelve
feet long and weighs about a hundred
pounds. We carried a load of about six
hundred pounds, which in that part of
the country is considered light.

We left the Post at 4.30 a.m. April
7th, 1896, just before dawn. The sky
was somewhat overcast and a light
wind was blowing from Southwest.
The travelling was good, particularly
in the early morning, as the melted
snow of the previous day had dried
up during the night.

Our nine dogs were in the very pink
of condition. They displayed a fierce
eagerness to reach the sealing grounds,
nine miles below the Post.

"Lieutenant" was the leader's name,
and second leader, "Friday." Both
these dogs were famous as seal hunters.
There was "nothing on four legs," it
was claimed, ever approached them
either in respect of speed or ability to
scent seals at long distance. After we
reached the sealing grounds the team

to our load. But this seemed to make
no difference in the speed of the dogs.

Finally we got into the Lowlands
just before noon, having covered fully
sixty-five miles of our journey. As it
was yet early and the dogs appeared
fresh as when they started, we decided
after having a light lunch, to go on to
the next stopping place seventeen
miles below. The going was excellent
and we did the first twelve miles in
ninety minutes; but coming to rough
and hummocky ice we had to bear in
towards the shore to get around it.
The wind had swept the rocks clean
of snow. Just as we got on land some
caribou appeared across our course im-
mediately ahead. Well, talk about
dogs moving! Their former speed
seemed slow in comparison. They
raced over the naked rocks like wolves.
I remember looking behind and seeing
a stream of fire flying from the steel
shoeing of the sledge like a shower of
sparks from a high-speed emery wheel.
The caribou moved off into the valley

JANUARY, 1921

and we had a tough job to get the
team onto the ice again* Here we
came in sight of more seals. Off we
went again from our course and past
the stopping place we had planned;
so we decided to go right on to our
destination.. We arrived at Rigolet
before 8 p.m.

The Postmanagers came out and
greeted us warmly, remarking however
that we had made slow time, arriving
so late in the evening. They thought
we had left the previous day.
When I announced that we had left
only that morning they said "like —
you did." We had lost two hours, but
in the fourteen and a half hours we had
been actually travelling we had covered
a hundred and seven miles. I am not
claiming this is a record, but it is one
of the fastest trips ever made by an
H.B.C. dog team with full load.

Editor's Note — Mr. James Eraser,
who later became H.B.C. District
Manager in Esquimaux Bay, made
the trip from Rigolet to Northwest
River in one day on a previous occa-
sion, but as he lost a twenty-eight
pound keg of white lead on the way
up much of the glory vanished. The
foregoing is the first of a series of
authentic stories which The Beaver
plans to carry in a regular depart-
ment which may be styled the
"Dog Column" — just plain DOG.
Men of the Hudson's Bay: bestir
your "recollection equipment" and
let us know if you have a better dog
story than Mr. Cotter's. Particu-
larly are we expecting to hear from
J. J. G. .Rosser, of Isle a la Crosse,
and Ashton Alston, of Barrieref
both famous "dog skinners."

LITTLE JOURNEYS TO THE HAUNTS
OF CANADA'S FUR-BEARING ANIMALS

THE BEAVER

(Continued from last Issue)

have their young during
JL June. When one year old they
have two or three only, the next year
as many as six, but in after years the
average number is four. The young
stay with their parents for two years
and in the third year they leave and
make a home or mate with others who
are making homes for themselves. Under
the old unwritten laws of the Indians,
a trap must not be set closer than two
hundred yards from a house, because
the young beaver never go that far
away from home, therefore only the
two years and older ones would be
caught.

Method of Drowning Beaver
Owing to their custom of immediately
using their teeth on anything that
interferes with their liberty, a trap must
be set in such a way that the animal
drowns or he will in a very few seconds
cut his imprisoned foot off close to the
shoulder. The system of drowning is

as simple as it is effective. Every trap
chain has a ring on the end of it and is
usually set on the edge of fairly deep
water with the chain ring over a stick
that has about half an inch of each
branch left on, and has been shoved in
the mud out in deep water. The first
thing the beaver does when caught is to
spring out into the water, taking of
course train and trap with him, and
the ring easily and naturally slips down
the pole and when it reached the bottom
immediately checks the flight of the
beaver and does not allow him to even
come to the surface again. Con-
sequently, he is drowned in a very few
moments. Ordinarily he can stay
under water for about ten minutes, but
when excited and fighting as he would
do when caught, will drown quickly.

Beaver Tail Useful

Implement

The beaver uses its tail to steer with
while swimming and to carry the mud
necessary to construct his house. He
will scratch a little pile of earth up with
his fore paws, then turn around and
scoop his tail under the loose mud,
holding it stiff and straight out behind

JANUARY, 1921

Two fine, fat, 35 pound beaver

on the level of the water while he swims
off to where building operations are
going on.

How the Beaver Stores Food

The beaver's winter store of food is
not put too close to the house, but
usually a considerable distance off;
sometimes in deep water in the middle
of a pond or under a bank where the
water is too deep to freeze to the bottom.
Sticks of cotton wood, cut as large as
can conveniently be handled, are pulled
or even carried on their shoulders while
they walk in an upright position to the
water, then floated to the spot selected.
These sticks are not shoved into the
mud as has often been stated, but are
piled up or built up just as we would
build a raft — the first layer lying one
way, and the second layer crossways
on top, each layer having all crevices
filled up with mud until the larder is
sufficient for his winter's needs, and is
weighed down level with the top of the
water. When he starts to draw from
this store, he pulls a stick out from the
bottom and takes it off to his tunnel
leading to the bank close by his house
where meals are served.

Easy To Approach Beaver From
Windward Side

Animals usually can detect the ap-
proach of danger if it comes from the
windward side. The beaver is not an
exception, but one can be within a few
feet of them when the wind is blowing
in the opposite direction, and they fail
to get the scent. For example, an
Indian wanted a beaver to eat and as
just before camping for the night he
had passed some cuttings only a little

way back on the trail, he decided to go
back after dark and see what luck there
was for him. He was careful to ap-
proach the workings from the windward
side and after listening attentively he
could hear a beaver cutting trees up on
the hill side above him. He selected a
sheltered spot in some brush on the
windward side of the slide or the road
that was used by the beaver to skid
down the cut wood. Presently along
came the animal, struggling with a
large piece of cottonwood. The Indian
waited until after the beaver had
passed him, then reached out and
caught the stick, holding it firmly, and
as soon as the beaver was satisfied that
it was caught it walked back with the
intention of cutting it loose only to get
hit on the head with a stick and killed
by the Indian.

The Beaver a Castorum
Factory

Both male and female have a pair of
glands lying lengthways on the inside
of the skin at the lower extremities,
which does not appear to be controlled
as other organs are, but are emptied
with the hand by a downward pressure.
The secretion contained in these two
bags is a solid from which oil is ex-
tracted and is completely emptied once
each year. Close by every house a
handful of dry grass is gathered up and
the castorum deposited, then a few
tailfuls of mud are put on top of it.
What this is done for I am not certain
but think it is like a challenge or a sign
that all trespassers will have to fight.
When the bags are emptied in the fall
the beaver visit jackpine forests and eat
largely of the gum, I am told by the
Indians, for the purpcse of replenishing
the castorum supply, and this is likely
true, because the odor and character of
the deposit is not unlike pine gum.
Castorum has a peculiar attraction for
all wild animals, and the Indians put it
to account by using it as a trap scent.
Another advantage is has is that
though an oil substance it is of such a
nature that when rubbed on iron traps
and set under water it will not leave the
trap and float up like all other oil sub-
stances will do. Commercially it is
used as a body in perfumes, likely also
on account of its being able to retain the
perfume for such a long time.
(To be continued}

JANUARY, 1921

G. L. Bellingham Won Way
From Clerkship in Land Dept

Assistant Land Commissioner — A Man to Whom Accuracy
is Next to Godliness — Has Earned Continuous Pro-
motion Through 18 Years.

By B. A. EVERITT, Associate Editor

MR. G. L. BELLINGHAM, assist-
ant to the land commissioner,
hails from Wales but he has been so
long in Canada and has for so many
years dealt with H.B.C. farm lands
that he knows his adopted country
possibly better than his native soil.
Mr. Bellingham is so intimately in
touch with the Company's widespread
land holdings that he can almost tell
one the value, topography, the soil
and the tonnage of wild hay on any
H.B.C. parcel out of several thousand
dotted over the prairie maps.

Likes to See a "Square Deal" All
Round

Mr. Bellingham is keen, active and
earnest, with a typical British tempera-
ment, which often reminds one that
he is a righting man all through —
prepared to hold his own in any trans-
action. Those who know him best
admire his faculty for getting at the
"root of things" quickly and his in-
sistence on absolute justice being meted
out to all concerned.

Insists on Clear Understanding

Any arrangement made with Mr.
Bellingham could not possibly be mis-
understood or confused. His mastery of
details and clearcut registering of all
salient points — always followed by a
careful recapitulation — makes issues un-
forgettable, whether the occasion be the
sale of a section of land or the arrange-
ment of a curling match. He is as
careful in even the most unimportant
dealings as if making a legal contract.

Mr. Bellingham was born at Newport,
Monmouthshire, Wales, June 17th,
1875. Educated in London and North
of England, he entered a Lancashire
stockbroker's office in 1889, where he
remained for two years. For ten years,
subsequently, he was in the employ of
the town council, resigning the position

of assistant secretary in 1902, to embark
for Canada.

Has a Try at Tilling the Soil

The desire to get "back to the land"
had got a strong hold upon him, and
Canada's great West presented the
most alluring prospects to the young
and adventurous agriculturist.

One week of the farm's hard labor
sufficed. Mr. Bellingham's illusions of
the joy of currying the prairies as a
means of enticing wealth broke and
died as the proverbial bubble. His
first farm job was either too "hefty"
for Mr. Bellingham or he was not
powerful enough for it.

Joined H.B.C. as Clerk in 1902

In Winnipeg, May 16th, 1902, he
applied for and obtained a junior
position in the Company's land depart-
ment, of which Mr. Montague Aldous
was chief clerk and Mr. C. C. Chipman,
Commissioner.

Faithful Effort Gains Promotions

Mr. Bellingham applied himself ear-
nestly to learning all there was to know
about land and H.B.C. methods of
doing business. He was assigned one
duty after another and, as his good work

JANUARY, 1921

came to the notice of his superiors,
"graduated" from each new position
to a better one. To-day, he is assistant
to the land commissioner, Mr. H. F.
Harman.

When the Company's Edmonton
townsite sale of 1912 was inaugurated,

Mr. Bellingham was chosen to take
charge of the Edmonton branch, in
which capacity he remained until June,
1916, being then recalled to Winnipeg
to deputize for the assistant land
commissioner during the latter's absence
in France.

WHAT HAPPENED AT MOOSE FACTORY DURING
SUMMER AND FALL, 1920

Extracts from the Post Journal from Entries by J. L. Gaudet, Post Manager

July 1st — Our steamer, the "Inenew," left Aug.
this morning on her first trip to
Charlton Island, taking the District
staff to the island for the summer,
as this is our summer distributing
point. Dr. Stewart and Rev. W.
G. Walton were passengers.

July 6th — The steamer returned with a cargo
for Moose Factory of Charlton
Depot stock. The steamer re-
turned to Charlton with a load of
lumber which I am shipping to the
Straits. Aug.

July 14th — The steamer returned with her
second cargo from Charlton, and
took another load of lumber for the
Strait Posts. Mr. Johansen of the
Biological Branch of the Naval
Department of the Canadian Gov-
ernment, was a passenger on his
way to Fort George. Mr. Fred Aug.
McLeod and family were also
passengers on their way to Wos-
wonaby Post. Mr. McLeod is
going there in the capacity of Post
Manager.

July 21st — Mr. F. D. Wilson arrived here to-
day with two apprentice clerks,
Messrs. Beveridge and Findlay,
both from Aberdeen, Scotland.

Aug. 3rd — Mr. Aurey, the government treaty

paymaster, arrived here on his Aug.
annual trip, paying treaty to the
Indians. Mr. Aurey is assisted by
Dr. Baker.

Aug. 10th — Mr. Russell and family, Mr. John Aug.
Louttit and family, arrived with the
schooner "Fort George." These
gentlemen are on their way out to
civilization. Mr. Russell was in
charge of Fort George Post.

Aug. 14th — Mr. Romanet, general fur trade in-
spector, arrived here with Mrs.
Romanet and two children. Mr.
Romanet says he is here on an Sept.
official visit from the Fur Trade
Commissioner's Office. Inspector
Phillips and Sergt. Joy, of the
R.C.M. Police, also arrived today.
They are on their way to the
Belcher Islands to investigate some
Eskimo murder case.

Aug. 17th — A large seaplane, "The Caaz," with
Capt. Maxwell as pilot and Mr.
Doan as engineer, landed here this
afternoon. This is the first flying
machine to come to Moose Factory
and was quite a sight for our Sept.
Indians.

19th — The general inspector left on the
schooner "Fort George" for Charl-
ton Island this morning at 7 o'clock.
A canoe carrying the ship's papers
and two apprentice clerks, Mr.
Gregory and Mr. Bremner, arrived
at 1 p.m., just a few hours late to
catch the schooner which I was
holding for that purpose, so I had
to get busy and send off out hay-
boat with this mail to Charlton
Island.

23rd — The seaplane landed here to-day on
her second trip from Remy Lake,
which is a few miles from Cochrane,
with two moving picture men, Mr.
Blake and Mr. Tash. They claim
that they are being sent by the
Ontario Government to take
pictures.

26th — We had a visit from Capt. Mack
to-day. He came with our schoon-
er "Fort Charles" from Charlton
Island, and states that they had a
hard and trying trip coming through
the Straits. Mr. and Mrs. Maver
were also passengers. Mr. Maver
is our worthy Post Manager at
Great Whale River and is on his
way out to civilization on a few
months' leave.

27th — The seaplane "Caaz" brought us
some newspapers from Cochrane,
dated Aug. 25th, with the latest
news.

31st — We have at last managed to ex-
tinguish the bush fire which was
started by the Rev. Mr. Haythorn-
thwaite on the 25th inst., after
working day and night since it
started. This will be quite a relief
to the many families who are still
camped across the river, as they
were afraid to come back.

2nd — Our steamer "Inenew" landed here
to-day with our District Manager,
Mr. Rackham, Mr. Romanet, the
general inspector, Mr. Griffith,
manager of Albany Post, who is
acting as private secretary to the
general inspector, Messrs. Blake
and Tash, movie men, and the Rev.
Mr. Walton were passengers. The
seaplane "Caaz" also arrived from
Remy Lake with Mr. Griffin, re-
presenting the Toronto Star, as
passenger.

21st — Mr. A. Nicolson and family ar-
rived this evening from Rupert's

JANUARY, 1921

House, after a hard and trying trip
around the coast. Mr. Nicolson
has been in the employ of the
Hudson's Bay Company for forty
years. It is with much regret that
we see Mr. Nicolson severing his
active services with the good old
Company.

Sept. 23rd — Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Anderson and
child landed here to-day after
spending a few months' holiday in
civilization. Mr. Anderson is on
his way to his Post, which is
Attawapiskat.

Oct. 1st — The steamer "Inenew" landed here
to-day with the District Office staff
and the balance of our outfit. This
finishes our season's transport.

Oct. 7th — Capt. G. R. Redfearn, A. Guibeau,

engineer, Inspector Phillips, Sergt.

Jpy, Mr. Johansen and Mr. Sains-

bury left this morning for Clute.
Oct. 9th— Hauled out the S.S. "Inenew" to

winter quarters and stored away

the hauling gear.
Oct. 27th — Packet canoes returned from the

line to-day and by them received

the first issue of our magazine, The

Beaver.
Oct. 29th — Mr. G. R. Ray, fur trade inspector,

and Mr. J. B. Neil arrived here

to-day at mid day.
Nov. 10th — The river is frozen over, and hardly

any snow on the ground as yet

We are having fine weather. — J.L.

Gaudet, Post Manager.

The Ghost is Foiled in Lac
Seul's Haunted Room

By R. O. OTTEN

IT was Christmas at Lac Seul Post,
that historic place, well known to
men of the North. Quite a number
of the Outpost managers had come in
to spend Christmas with the Post
Manager and his family. The last to
arrive was Mr. R. He had travelled
over 200 miles by dog team and
cariole to get there. After the hand-
shaking was over, Mr. M., the Post
Manager, drew Mr. R. aside and asked
if he believed in ghosts. Mr. R.
laughed and said he didn't believe in
any kind of spirits, except the kind they
used to have at Christmas in the old
days, but wanted to know what the
joke was. The Post Manager told
him that he had only one room left
vacant, and nobody had slept in that
room for years as it was supposed to be
haunted.

The story was that on two different
occasions at the usual Christmas gather-
ing of the Outpost managers, there had
been tragic endings to several guests
who had occupied that room. Both
had died from having their throats cut
from ear to ear — and no one had slept
there since. Mr. R. said he didn't
believe in such nonsense as ghosts, and
wanted to be shown to the room, as he
wanted to get a shave and clean-up
before dinner. He said any kind of a
room would look good to him after
sleeping in the snow for the past week.

The Post Manager showed him to the
room which was situated at the rear of
the large dwelling house, away from the
rest of the guests. Mr. R. had just

laid out his "glad rags" and was com-
mencing to shave — he had the razor in
his hand — when a feeling came over
him that he was not alone in the
room. Looking into the mirror, he
was horrified to see there the reflection
of a horrible face peering over his
shoulder. He felt his wrist grasped by
a claw-like hand. His hand was being
forced slowly up and up, towards his
throat. Mr. R. tried to call out for
help, but he was powerless to utter a
sound. The hand was still forcing the
razor towards his victim's throat, then
it started to draw it across. Mr. R.
gave himself up for lost, when he felt
the grip on his wrist loosen and a
baffled expression came over the hor-
rible face. That ghost was up against
modern science. Mr. R. was using a
safety razor.

SASKATCHEWAN DISTRICT
OFFICE NEWS

CONGRATULATIONS would ap-
pear to be in order for Mr. and
Mrs. Armstrong, of Fort a la Corne
Post, and their daughter Norah on the
success attained by the latter at the
recent St. Alban's College (Prince
Albert) term examinations. The follow-
ing is a quotation from the local paper:
"Miss Norah Armstrong, the gold medalist
of the year at St. Alban's college, Prince Albert,
holds an enviable record in the college. Miss
Armstrong has been a student at St. Alban's
for the past four years, taking her grade 8
diploma in 1917. She was successful in passing
her junior matriculation examination in June,
and now holds the St. Alban's scholarship to the
University of Saskatchewan. In addition to
her marked progress in her studies, Miss Arm-
strong has found time to distinguish herself
along athletic lines, having won the tennis cup
in singles, and also with Miss Phyllis Clarke in
the doubles."

Beaver

JANUARY, 1921

"SKIPPERING A SCOW" ON THE
ATHABASCA

(Continued from last number)
By N. A. Howland

WHEN the men in the scow
realized their position they did
not shout frenziedly for help. To them
the most important business of the
moment was to get a smoke.

They Smoked While Facing Death

The frenzied people were all on
shore. Under the calming influence of
tobacco, the wrecked crew surveyed the
damage. The boat was intact though
leaking a little. It was impossible for
them to extricate themselves. Even if
any of them could swim, an attempt to
make the shore would have proved
fatal. They relied on us. Their hope
was founded on a rock as surely as their
craft.

Getting Ready for the Rescue
It was not long ere some of the sixty
odd men, at Mr. Cornwall's direction,
on the island had run to the warehouse
to get rope. Fortunately being on the
scene, he took matters in hand, and as
soon as the necessary tackle had been
brought, essayed to rescue the en-
dangered crew. The only way that
this could be done was to get a line
aboard the scow and pull her off. The
distance from shore was too great to
permit of a rope being thrown, but
there was a rock standing well out of
the water about half way between,
from which it might be possible to hurl
a stick; so Cornwall, taking a club in
his hand to which was attached a long
cord held by the men on shore, started
to work his way out to the vantage
point through the rock-studded stream,
struggling from boulder to boulder, the
swirling water gripping and tearing
at his legs in an effort to sweep him
away.

Fighting the Torrent

To the tense crowd of men watching
it seemed impossible that he could
attain his object, but in spite of the
great physical strain slowly and surely
the figure — now waist deep in the
current, now pulling himself up on to a
rock, clinging always to the meagre
support with a tenacity that the raging
torrent could not break — reached its
goal.

Getting A Line Aboard the

Wreck

A sense of relief came to those who
watched, but not for long. He rested
for a moment to recover his breath;
then cooly gathering the small rope into
a coil he made the first throw. A gasp
went up from the crowd on shore.
The distance was too great; the stick
hit the water fully twenty feet short.
Again and again the attempt failed.
Sometimes the missile fell so close that
the rope could almost be reached but
they had no boat-hook aboard. The
thrower could not stand up with good
footing to do his work, but from a
precarious position threw with arms
alone. He rested, tired by his exertions.
Suddenly he gathered all his strength
and at imminent hazard of hurling
himself into the river sent the stick with
unerring aim over its mark.

We Pulled the Scow Off the Rock

A mighty cheer went up from all the
watchers. It was but a moment's work
to haul in the cable and make it fast to
the end of the scow; every available
man on shore found a place on the line,
and pulled with might and main to the
cry of "Yo heave ho!" that she creaked
in every seam and her square end was
drawn bow-shaped under the strain on
that fragile rope. Pull as we might,
our efforts to dislodge her were un-
availing. Something had to give, how-
ever. It was the line which parted with
a snap, hurling us to the ground. A
groan went up from those in danger,
for in a moment they fell from the high-
est hope to the lowest depth of despair.
They were in worse plight than before,
but steadfastly the business of renewing
communication with the scow pro-
ceeded with without delay. Cornwall's
efforts were again crowned with success.
Little by little our task was accomp-
lished and we were gratified to see the
men who were in the water scramble

JANUARY, 1921

aboard in great haste, as with a rousing
cheer we let go the cable.

A Tenderfoot Spectator

When we had first arrived at the head
of the rapids the previous day, a little
man with a large outfit was found en-
camped on the river bank unable to
proceed any further, waiting for some-
thing or somebody to turn up. Ten
days had passed before help arrived.
He had been brought hither by a
gasoline engine and canoe, his only
companions so far as is known being two
spaniels. This gentleman styled him-
self a prospector ostensibly bound for
Fond-du-Lac to investigate the silver
strike there; but his proceedings and
appearance belied the assertion, for if
there were a man who should not have
left the shelter of the paternal wings, it
was he. The impression gained was
that he was one of those helpless useless
atoms of humanity that are misfits any-
where, but in the North, where one
must be self-reliant, doubly out of
place. He having arranged with Mr.
Cornwall for a "lift" from there to Fort
McMurray, lay all day on his bedding
in the sand surrounded by his goods and
chattels, playing with his dogs, bestir-
ring himself only to take a photograph
occasionally or get a bite to eat.

Fondled His Spaniels and
Looked On

He was apparently oblivious to the
tragedy being enacted within a hundred
yards of him. This man called down
upon himself the contempt and scorn
of all men present by remaining inert,
lazily fondling his spaniels whilst men's
lives trembled in the balance. His
hand upon the rope would not perhaps
have helped much, but we should at
least have known that he was a man.
The sequel to his apathy was that next
day he was deposited on the main land
below the rapids and where it was
intimated to him that his company was
no longer desirable.

An All Night Mosquito Raid

Whether fired by a spirit of reckless-
ness by the events of the day, or whether
the writer was too tired to return to his
camp on the mainland with the men is
of little consequence, but be it known
that his mosquito-bar was there. Need-
less to say, the mosquitoes were
victorious. We needed no alarm clock

that morning because the enemy forced
me out of bed during the night to up-
braid myself for a fool. Not a wink of
sleep for me as a result ; however, we got
an early breakfast out of it.

The Tug "Crester" Wrecked
My Russians were making good
progress removing the rails, the freight
having been all portaged, and the
scows run through the previous day
were being drawn up to the Island and
reloaded. About 10 o'clock Captain
Barber started to run the tug " Crester"
through the rapids without steam,
steering with auxiliary in case of ac-
cident. Disaster dogged the footsteps
of the railroad party apparently. Noth-
ing had gone well so far. The climax
had arrived. Those who were watch-
ing the river gave a shout. All eyes
went to the rapid immediately; there
was the "Crester" shooting down
through the roughest of the water well
over on the land side, out of control.
We learned later that her rudder had
been smashed. We saw her take a few
bad bumps from a distance of two
hundred yards; then with a final heave
she seemed to be lifted bodily and
dashed on the rocks close inshore where
she lay a wreck with her bottom stove
in, broadside to the current with the
waves breaking over her.

The "Crester" Dismantled
There were no casualties. With the
aid of spars, the crew were easily able
to make the land. It was the middle
of the afternoon before it was possible
for me to go over and see the tug. In
the space of six hours the captain,
engineer and boatmen had her com-
pletely dismantled and all her "in-
nards" ashore, whilst preparations were
being made to pull her off and float her
down the rest of the way into the Big
Eddy, where she could be patched up.
(To be continued)

JANUARY, 1921

Moose Island Afire

Clergyman's Bonfire Grows Into

Conflagration, Threatening H.B.C.

Post and Natives' Homes

BY GEO. FINDLAY, Moose Factory

A Journal extract, dated August
25th, 1920, states briefly that:

"The Rev. Mr. Haythornthwaite
while burning old tree stumps at the
back of the Mission allowed the fire
to run on, thereby setting alight the
adjoining bush."

That day, a Wednesday, was ex-
cessively hot, and, as the whole summer
had been very warm, all the bush and
undergrowth must have been per-
fectly dry. At 2 o'clock in the after-
noon the cry of "Fire" went up, and
from the southwest end of the island a
big column of smoke began to darken
the air, blowing in the direction of the
Post.

For some minutes the natives stood
gazing and then the realization that the
Island was afire broke upon them.
Something akin to panic set in. Canoes
were loaded. Food, blankets and tents
were thrown haphazardly into them,
and they were swiftly paddled to the
opposite bank of the river by the fear-
stricken natives.

Imagine the scene : The river dotted
with canoes, with their multicoloured
loads; the roar of the ever-increasing
fire, as it was fanned by a slight breeze,
and the strange stillness that pervaded
the Post, which can be sensed only in a
deserted place.

The servants returned as soon as
their families were safely "entrenched"
on the other side of the river, and each
with his axe hurried to the scene of the
outbreak.

In company with Mr. Gaudet, our
Post Manager, I went to see the progress
made by the fire. Often we were com-
pelled to change our route through the
bush on account of the terrific heat and
the choking, blinding smoke. In many
places great patches of undergrowth
were blazing quite a distance from the
body of the fire, sparks having been
blown ahead by the wind.

The roar of the fire was deafening as
it caught fresh trees, shooting great
lurid tongues of flame up their entire
thirty feet. Darker and darker grew

the air; the heat became fiercer; the fire
advanced as if to satisfy its terrible
hunger by enveloping the entire Island
in its scorching clutch ; and as we walked
back to the deserted Post thoughts of
having to abandon it ran through our
minds.

However the wind dropped, and the
little band of fire fighters worked hard
to accomplish their task. Had the
wind risen, the whole island would have
been devastated.

All that night, and the succeeding
five days and nights, gangs of natives
(who had by this time got over their
fright) and servants watched the fire
until it was successfully stamped out.

Assembly of Indians who received H.B.C.

Long Service Medals at Fort

Alexander

Robust sons of Post manager W. A. Murray,
at Fort Alexander, Manitoba

JANUARY, 1921

WINNIPEG

RESOLVED

Jan. 1, 1921

that New Year's resolutions are not
going out of fashion, as witnessed by
the following answers to the query,
"What is One of your New Year's
Resolutions."

/. H. Pearen — To remain young
that I may laugh with my children.
To be considerate at all times of the
aged and infirm or those in need of
encouragement .

W. Ogden — To think more, talk less
and to go through each day fully
realizing that the opportunities which
come to me lie in the present and not
in the future.

Thos. F. Reith, Cardwriter — That
I try to emulate the well-known Beaver
and turn out heaps of

Bright

Effective

Artistic

Vigorous

Enterprising and

Readable

show cards, tickets and signs during
1921, in which case I expect to
"BE-A-VER-"Y busy cardwriter.
Geo. W. Ashbrook — It is my opinion
that a New Year's resolution, if sincere,
should be confined to the individual's
eye alone and not open to the gaze of
the public.

S. Kaufman — One of my resolutions
for 1921 is to endeavor to reduce my
weight twenty pounds by applying
myself assiduously to the royal sport
of curling during the winter season
and by strenuously playing tennis
during leisure hours in the summer time.
Miss D. Bens — To be true to my word,
my work and my friends. To make all
I can, to save all I can and give all I can.
/. W. Prankish — We are aiming at
100% efficiency in selling our merchan-
dise. It should be sold on the same
basis as we buy it. More attention
by sales staff in introducing all the
new merchandise as it enters the de-
partment. This is our intention in
departments 3 and 5 for 1921.

Chas. Healey — Do it now! This is
my New Year's resolution. It is so
easy to put things off when just a little
"pep," a little extra energy is needed.
So much can be gained and greater
satisfaction can be given to all. Do
it now!

A. C. Dunbar — I will increase my
efficiency — (power to produce) — by
studying, plus analyzing, plus determin-
ation, plus application, equals increased
efficiency.

/. Whalley — That every business act
of mine will be executed with the full
belief that it is for the best interest of
the firm.

Saml. Drennan — To continue placing
more confidence in the washboard
than in the Ouija board.
/. N. Cognito — Not to engage any
more handsome looking salesgirls, as
those I now have are all engaged — and
may get married.

W. R. Ogston — One of my resolutions
for the New Year will be to govern my
actions, thought and speech towards
my fellowmen by the well-known prin-
ciple of "The Golden Rule" and to do
my work in such a way that at the
close of each day I may feel that I
have accomplished something.

Winnipeg Moustache Club

Semi-Annual Report

TUST prior to the closing of the outfit
I ending January 31st, 1920, a care-
** ful inventory discloses the following
state of affairs. The showing is not
entirely satisfactory, but it is felt that
some progress is being made.

Moustaches on Hand — None.

Moustaches on Upper Lip — Twenty
divided among the following "heads of
stocks": Messrs. Prankish, Goody,
Grant, Moore (tailoring), Lade, Fuller,
Hughes, Lackie, Weeden, Blowers,
Leveque, Dickens, Harrison, Hardiman,
Keeley, Chambers, Duckneau, Breitner,
Clark, Pugsley (?).

New Member — Mr. T. Nichols.
(Greetings, brother).

JANUARY, 1921

Under Suspicion — Mr. C. M.
Thomas, Mr. C. Robinson, Mr. Robt.
Cunningham.

The Club's National Anthem —
"The Bonnie Bloomin' Heather."

Legend for Club's New Escutch-
eon—"The Weight of a Hair Will Turn
the Scales." — Shakespeare.

Remarks — All members and sup-
porters are urged to consult Mr.
Saalfeld re irregularities of growth
observed from time to time. Ren-
ovation for spring should be under-
taken early. Special rates to members
for loan of Hoover electric sweepers.
Use of garden rakes or weeders will
result in suspension from Club privi-
leges. Special attention is called to the
alarming recurrence of the grasshopper
plague prophesied for June and July.

Are

Cent

DO YOU REMEMBER

this remarkable aggregation? This is the formid-
able H.B.C. Football Team, Season 1911-12.
From left to right — Madill, Jones, Medland, Isaacs,
Everitt, Paul, Brodie, Dyde, Foulks, Sheldon,
Campbell, Mr. A. H. Doc, Law, Smith, Allan.

Managers' Social Dramatic
Affair

AS merry a company as ever graced
a festal board met at the store
buyers', managers' and assistants' social
in the lunchroom, Thursday evening,
January sixth. The highly edible and
diversified "wittles" were disposed of
with a display of "wim" and "wigor"
which did justice to all traditions.
Entire arrangements for the occasion
were undertaken by the ladies, and the
zest with which the entertainment pro-
ceeded brought down the applause of
the whole assembly.

Speech, anecdote, jest, song and a
three-act drama, starring the celebrated
tragedian, Samuel Drennan, were feat-
ures of an altogether enjoyable and
profitable evening.

We 100 Per
Efficient?

By R. J. HUGHES

I WONDER how many of us could
answer the question at the head of
this article truthfully without a con-
siderable amount of self-study, and if
we did stop and analyze ourselves
would we find that we could say, "Yes,
I am 100 per cent, efficient." Now,
let us consider for a minute what
"efficient" really means.

Turning to your dictionery, you will
find the definition, "capable of produc-
ing the desired results." Are we really
prepared to say "yes, I am capable of
producing the desired results." If you
can't, you are not 100 per cent, efficient
and must find the reason why. It does
not matter what position you hold or
what the nature of your work is, if you
are efficient, advancement is bound to
be waiting.

In a recent issue of The Beaver was
a copy of what was called "A man-
rating chart" and a statement that
stores' staff promotions are governed
by efficiency. Study this chart and
see how many points you can honestly
claim to have mastered. Whatever
you do, don't go round like some people
saying, "I am 100 per cent efficient."
If you really are, the management will
soon notice it and promotion will come
your way. Next month I will tell you
what an important part memory takes
in efficiency.

Y-O-U !

What's the Matter With You,

Anyway?
By ELMER PUGSLEY

'T^HERE are two ways, 'tis said,

JL by which to get into "society "-
either by flattering or shocking it.
But though the writer had the honeyed
tongue of the anteater, this is no time
to coddle and soothe you with some
linseed-poultice sort of caressing lulla-
by. It's New Year's and I am de-
liberately setting out to fire up your
"dander." Of course, you may be able
to prove an alibi, but, otherwise, if
these few plodding lines succeed in
making you really boiling, red-hot
"mad" — (not just angry, you under-
stand) — that will be the best proof that
you're still conscious — and there's hope

JANUARY, 1921

for you. We shudder when we read
of "so and so" being picked up un-
conscious, but I could pick up num-
bers of people in that pitiable predica-
ment any day — people who somehow
got into the business world, strange
to say.

You stand at the outset of a New
Year. Scientists think there have been
living beings on this old planet for 500,-
000 of those time-measures we call
years — but there is only one you can
be sure of — that's this year. It's a
wonder you didn't think of that with-
out being told! Glance back over the
old year's glimmering trail now fading
into whatever such things fade into.
It is strewed with regrets and wasted
opportunities that slipped through your
careless fingers! Aren't you ashamed?

What's the matter with you anyway?
Don't you care much? Aren't you
interested in the big proposition called
"life", more than just enough to watch
the procession of progressive mortals
passing? You'll never keep up with
them if you don't pad right along!
Wouldn't you like to strike out for a
real goal, eh? You have the stuff in
you if you'd just shake yourself a little
to rouse your rusting gifts. Don't turn
over the key to the bailiff just because
you weren't born under a favorable
sign in the zodiac. Even if your
teacup doesn't read right — pshaw! you
wouldn't let a thing like that spoil
your future! Never mind if the bumps
on your head are in the wrong place;
jump into the scuffle and you'll receive
any other bumps you need before you're
through. A chap is said to have ad-
vertised his brains for sale the other
day — "good as new — never been used."
He never served in The Hudson's Bay,
that fellow. No, sir!

The very air is surcharged with
pleas to you to launch out and distin-
guish yourself. Self advancement is
the theme of the age. No one can
do as much for you as you can do for
yourself. You're a regular "power-
house" of possibilities if you have
enough gumption to utilize them. You
remember you turned down a smashing
good chance to get ahead, when, for the
sake of a few paltry frivolities, you
sacrificed that special study course
which you could have mastered in
1920. You know better than that.
You saunter along through life as if

you had a thousand years to put in here.
Train the microscope on your freckled
career and set about to remedy things.
Come now, get hold of yourself! It's
all beginning over again — New Year —
new page — new everything ! Tackle
something that's so much bigger than
you that it scares you! That's the way
to grow accustomed to accomplishing
big things. This is your year! How
do you know that you're going to have
another as good? Make this your
motto — pin it tc your New Year's
resolutions — "This is My Year!" — and
in sooth it will be your year!

MISS McCHEYNE'S name was in-
advertently omitted from the formerly
published list of names of those com-
pleting ten years' service.
SINCE the change in markets Miss
Winslow, our postmistress-in-general,
is worried for fear someone is going to
tear in one of these days and ask what
the new replacement price is on two
cent postage stamps.
SOMEONE turns in an unsigned re-
port about the prevalence of "spark-
lers" getting hard on the eyes around
the bureau of adjustment.

First Snowshoe Tramp
By Land Staff

EIGHTEEN members of the Land
Department staff snowshoed out
to the home of Mr. B. Everitt, our
genial associate editor, at East Kildon-
an, Saturday evening, December 18th.
The party gathered at Redwood bridge
and tramped north by way of Red River.

About half way it was found neces-
sary to call a halt owing to the guide
being missing. His rejuvenated ap-
pearance upon eventually overtaking
the main party led to some doubt as to
the generally accepted meaning of "air
holes," which were reported to be the
cause of the delay.

While there was not sufficient snow
to make real good tramping, what was
lacking in this respect was more than
compensated for by the enjoyable time
provided by the host and hostess at the
conclusion of the hike. Here games and
dancing were indulged in until midnight,
when the party was brought to an end
with the singing of "Auld Lang Syne."
— F.H.N.

JANUARY, 1921

An Error Rectified

AS some error in the names of the
long service medalists had been
made at the opening of the Anniversary
Celebration, our general manager's
office was the scene the other day of a
pleasant little ceremony when Mr.
Chas. E. Robinson was made the
recipient of his long service medal. It
was presented by Sir Augustus Nanton,
chairman of the Canadian Advisory

Committee, Mr. FitzGerald and Mr.
Sparling being also present. "Charlie"
has been with the Store since June 6,
1904, and is one of the bulwarks.

MR. JAMES THOMSON, former
Commissioner of lands and furs, was
warmly welcomed home at Winnipeg,
December 23rd, after an absence of
several months in the Orkneys and
Scotland.

EDMONTON

LAND OFFICE

(~)UR Photograph shows Mr. J. R. Mclntosh, H.B.C.
*-^ Land Agent in charge of the Edmonton Land
Office, with his secretary and Mr. Henderson
(standing). Mr. Mclntosh and staff who are actively
associated with the Company's housing scheme,
operate from these modern offices in the McLeod
Building.

Retail Store Notes

Recent Changes Among
Store's Department Heads

never seem to come
singly, for since the first appear-
ance of The Beaver no less than five
important executive appointments have
been made in the store; and another is
scheduled for the very near future.

MR. CHASEY, the new buyer for
the men's clothing departments, and

MISS M. DOHERTY, the new buyer
for the hosiery and gloves, are now
firmly established on their feet and are
making noteworthy progress.

We now welcome to our ranks three
more recent arrivals:

MR. PALLETT is another East-
erner who has heard the call of the

West. Mr. Pallett succeeds Mr. Jen-
kins as buyer of the trimmings and
ribbons. He was previously with the
T. Eaton Company for several years.
Mr. Pallett is very favorably impressed
with the City of Edmonton and predicts
a great future for the store.

MR. SECORD is the new buyer of
the ladies' ready-to-wear, and successor
to Mr. Woodman. Mr. Secord was
previously with the Robert Simpson
Co., of Toronto, nine years buyer of
the ladies' ready-to-wear and fur de-
partment. Since coming to the store,
Mr. Secord has won the esteem of the
entire staff and we predict a rosy
future for the department under his
supervision.

MR. J. McLEOD has succeeded Mr.
McKee as buyer of the cigar and candy
departments. Mr. McLeod was re-
cently floor manager on the second
floor and was previously manager of
the grocery department, Hudson's Bay
Company, Retail, Vernon, B.C.

Hail to Our New Assistant
" Chief"

THIS new appointment was ef-
fective on December 13th, 1920.
Besides holding the position of assistant
manager, Mr. McKenzie will also act
in the capacity of merchandise manager,
thereby relieving Mr. F. F. Harker of
a big burden. Mr. Harker has for the
past twelve months acted in the dual
capacity of manager of the store as well
as merchandise manager.

Mr. G. M. McKenzie was born in
Edinburgh, Scotland, serving his ap-

ARY, 1921

prenticeship in the dry goods and men's
wear business. In 1901 he came to
Canada and joined the firm of Jaeger
85 Company, subsequently holding the
position of stores manager and super-
visor of the factory in Montreal. In
1916 Mr. McKenzie heard the call of
his country and proceeded to the front,
serving with His Majesty's forces in
France until March, 1919.

Upon returning to Canada he ac-
cepted a position with the R. J. Tooke
Company as general manager of the
retail stores in Montreal. His recent
appointment as assistant manager of the
Edmonton store will fill a long felt want.

P. A. STONE,
president of the
Amusement and Ath-
letic Association, which
has grown to embrace
a dozen varied athletic
and social activities
since its inauguration
in September, 1919.

MRS. LEWIS recently rejoined the
staff after an absence of two years.
She is in charge of the lace and neck-
wear department. We are glad to
welcome her back.

MISS LAW is also an old member of
the staff who has recently come back
to the store. During her absence she
was with the Company's store at
Calgary. She is resuming her duties
here in the ribbon department.

MISS McADAM, who has been in the
Company's service for the past seven
years, has left us for the coast. Miss
McAdam was a very popular member
of the staff and we regret exceedingly
to lose her.

MR. HOWEY, of the men's furnish-
ings department, is an expert hockey
player. We have no doubt he will be
a valuable acquisition to the store' team.

MR. C. STAPELLS, house furnishings
buyer, and Mr. Hewes are very busy
these days supervising the draperies
and furnishings for the palatial new
Empire theatre.

WE HAVE HEARD that a certain
young lady on the third floor has lost
her heart and is going to sign a life
contract in the very near future.

The A. and A. A. Concert
Reveals Real Artists

ANOTHER of those very enjoyable
concerts which are staged periodi-
cally through the winter months by
the Amusement and Athletic Associa-
tion, was held in the "Hudsonia"
dining room on Thursday evening,
December 2nd, at which about 150
members and their friends were present.

The association was again fortunate
in hearing Mr. R. L. Bateman, who
rendered "She Is Far from the Land"
and, in response to a hearty encore,
"For You Alone" was all that could be
desired.

Miss Kate Hamilton sang "Bird
Songs" in which her beautiful voice
was heard to very great advantage.

Mrs. Roy Carbert sang Tosti's "Good
Bye," and as an encore, "Angus
MacDonald."

Mr. Bert Crockett sang "There's
Life in the Old Dog Yet," which was
very much appreciated, he being vo-
ciferously encored.

All the other artists are members
of the staff and their songs were all
rendered in admirable style.

One exceptionally pleasing number
was the duet, "Tenor and Baritone,"
Mr. T. A. Crockett's tenor and Mr,
Digney's baritone voices blending in
perfect harmony.

Miss Edna Southen and Miss K.
Riddle were two excellent sopranos,
whilst Miss W. E. Crowther's sweet
contralto voice has never been heard
to greater advantage.

Mr. T. A. Crockett and Mr. George
Saunders have fine tenor voices, whilst
Mr. G. Robert's deep base was used
with effect in "Out on the Deep."

Mr. C. Digney was splendid in
"Captain Mack" and later his rendering
of "My Old Shako" was perfect.

Miss Moore acted as accompanist
throughout and in addition gave a
duet in company, with her sister.

One cannot speak too highly of
Miss Moore's assistance, as she is
always ready and willing to help in
any way that will add to the enjoy-
ment of the staff, whether it be as
accompanist or soloist.

Mr. P. A. Stone, president of the
Amusement and Athletic Association,
acted as chairman.

JANUARY, 1921

Community Singing is
Getting Results

COMMUNITY singing for the staff,
which was inaugurated at the
Edmonton store, November 1st, 1920,
is reported to be an unqualified success.

The staff arrive at 8.45 a.m. and sing
usually two songs before 8.55 a.m. bell
sounds, when the covers are removed
preparatory to the day's business.

The initiative was taken by the
Amusement and Athletic Association.
The fact that it is still retaining the
original interest proves that the all-
important co-operation has been ob-
tained; hence the success.

Whilst it is impossible yet to gauge
the full extent of the benefits derived
from community singing, it may be
said that the early morning "grouch"
is dissipated, and that alone makes it
worth while, as it leaves the staff in a
happier frame of mind. This cannot

but conduce to the betterment of the
service afforded to customers.

From community singing to a trained
choir is but a step, since even the un-
trained singer gradually falls into and
holds the time and rhythm of the piece
being sung, so that from an untrained
band of voices a perfectly functioning
choir is created.

This is the aim of the Edmonton
Amusement and Athletic Association,
and with a continuance of the staff's
co-operation that end will be attained.

The Ad. Man's Destiny

MR. JACK PREST was going home one night
in the street car. It was late, and the man
sitting next to him began to talk. " What
business are you in?" he asked. "The advertis-
ing business," replied Jack. "Is that so? Well,
well, I used to be in the advertising business
myself. I gave it up though and went into the
rag-and-old-bottle business. I was a sandwich
man for the Empire Theatre for six months."
"Say," and he leaned over confidentially, "Ain't
it hard when the wind blows?"

CALGARY

The Rank and File

By F. R. REEVE

THE newspapers recently had much
to say concerning the remarkable
honors paid in England and France to
the bodies of two unknown soldiers who
fell on the battlefields.

It was a nation's whole-hearted
recognition of the fact that Victory was
after all due to the efforts and self-
sacrifice of the rank and file.

In the scheme of life each one of us
has a definite sphere to fill. Lest those
who now constitute the rank and file
in the service of the Company should
be inclined to regard their positions
with something of dissatisfaction, as
being of no importance, I would have
them take a lesson from the honors
paid to these two unknown soldiers.

Upon those who constitute the front
rank, those who come in contact with
the public, the whole success of this
great Company depends.

Behind you it is true, stretches a
long line that reaches back from the
junior buyer, through to the Governor

himself, but the work accomplished by
this wonderful organization does not
reach its greatest success except
through your co-operation.

The transaction between a customer
and salesperson is not just so much
money changing hands for a certain
article. It represents the crowning
success of a long series of operations,
that, through your hands as the H.B.C.
representative, reaches the goal for
which it was intended, an appreciative
buying public.

Upon the conduct of the rank and
file — upon the impressions that are
derived from your personality — is this
Company judged.

The courtesy, helpfulness and effi-
ciency that are displayed by you are
the greatest assets this Company has.
To know and to realize that no matter
what your position in the service of
the Company may be, that the Com-
pany is absolutely depending on your
efforts will be to create in you a greater
desire for helpfulness and efficiency
which cannot fail to mean greater
success for yourself and Company too.

JANUARY, 1921

VANCOUVER

Everybody Boost for Our 1921
Hockey Team

IT HAS been asked of the editor why
there were not more attending the
hockey games last winter, and why
the H.B.C. employees were very back-
ward in supporting their own team,
being especially conspicuous by their
absence. We've a dandy team this
year, folks, and the boys sure would
like some "rooters." Come along and
bring your friends and the horn off the
old Ford. Help the team make a name
for themselves in the Commercial
League. The following are the names
of our players:

W. E. Almas (Capt.) /. Gilroy
E. Herbert J. C. Hamm

P. Timmins J. McDonald

Chub Anderson J. D. Barber

R. M. Mair C. Boe

WE WERE very grieved to hear on
December 10th of the death of Mr.
Patterson, husband of Mrs. W. Patter-
son, cashier in our children's shoe
department.

WE ARE ALSO bereaved of one of our
old employees, Mr. James Hallisy,
who passed away at his home on
December 10th. The deceased was on
our night staff, and had been in the
Company's employ since 1918.

THE ARMY and Navy League Hall
again witnessed a popular H.B.C.
dance. Approximately 350 attended
and tripped the light fantastic to the
strains of Garden's orchestra. Mr.
Skelly, chairman, and his competent
committee had charge of the affair,
which was carried off without a hitch
to a very successful ending.

Mr. Lockyer Elected President

of Vancouver Exhibition

Associa tion

Holding their first meeting since
taking office, the directors of the Van-
couver Exhibition Association on Dec.
16th elected Mr. H. T. Lockyer, man-
ager of the Hudson's Bay Company,
Vancouver retail store, as president
for the ensuing year. — Vancouver
Province.

MR. W. W. FRAZER, the popular
buyer for china and glass, left for
Europe in the interests of his section,
early this month. Many laudatory
remarks were overheard by Eastern
and American tourists anent his last
collection of lovely china. Mr. Frazer
apparently knows where to get them.
"Where do they get all these pretty
patterns — there's not an ugly one
among them" — exclaimed a lady from
Ottawa recently, and went on to say she
had never seen a better display in New
York, Montreal or Toronto. But that's
Mr. Frazer's .secret. We wish him bon
voyage and the best of luck this time.

MISS A. K. SMITH, too, buyer of
notions, neckwear, laces, trimmings,
hankies and fancy jewellery, has been
chosen for a trip abroad after the airy
fairy "nothings" - "the stuff that
dreams are made of" — that are so dear
to feminine hearts. Her return from
Europe ladened with spoils will be
looked forward to with interest by her
constituency in Vancouver. You may
be sure Miss Smith will not overlook any
of the cute or smart little knick-knacks
that are being shown in the marts over
there, and we shall all have an oppor-
tunity to be more than ever up-to-date
on her return. Vancouver is to be
congratulated on having two buyers in
whom the Company has so much faith
and confidence as to entrust with this
important foreign buying.

The Tell-Tale Inventory

A Vancouver bailiff went out to levy
on the contents of a house. The
inventory began in the attic and ended
in the cellar. When the diningroom was
reached the tally of furniture ran thus :

One dining room table, oak.

One set of chairs (6), oak.

One sideboard, oak.

Two bottles of whiskey, (full)!

Then the word "full" was stricken
our and replaced by "empty" and the
inventory went on in a hand that
struggled and lurched across the page,
until it closed with:

"One revolving door mat."

'32

JANUARY, 1921

Mr. Greer Gets a Regular
Shower of Good Things

By E. BELL

OF the recent year end festivities
enjoyed by Hudson's Bay employ-
ees perhaps none had more of the
vivre and relish of the days of real
sport than the banquet tendered Mr.
Greer by his staff in the display de-
partment.

This event took place in the Barren
Hotel to begin with and ended at a box
party to the opera to witness the
"Dance Shop." The menu of the
dinner, which was enjoyed both wisely
and well, gives some of the unlucky
individuals who were not invited an
appetizer even to read:

Greer Soap

Goose a /a Greer

Oyster Cocktail, Y.M.C.A.

Celery a la Celestial Citizen

Brussels Sprouts a la Lulu Island

Fried Sweet Potatoes, Brunette

Hot Toasted Rolls, Blonde

Combination Salad a la Display

French Pastry Translated Cake, Devilled

Creme de Chaufroid Cafe d'Hots D'el

(N.B.—S.O.S. Calgary. M. Lapari-
que, please note. Can you beat it ?)

Having done full justice to these
delectable viands the innocent occasion
of so much mirth was next trotted to

the opera, where his friends had taken
the precaution to present him with a
lorgnette or opera glass, we forget
which. (Anyway it was not a monocle.)
Notwithstanding, to the everlasting
credit of the display department, they
all turned up next morning on time and tf
in the best of spirits.

Old-Time Employees Visit
the Store

Among the guests of the Store last
month were Mr. and Mrs. Alexander
J. Baird, both old-time employees of
the Company, who devoted a number
of years of faithful service in the old store
and two or three years in the new store.

Mr. Baird was secretary to the
general manager, Mr. Lockyer. In
1917, he went to Honolulu for a new
field to conquer. He was there but a
little while before he sent for his fiancee,
Miss Beck, then the general manager's
stenographer. As soon as she arrived
in Honolulu they were married. Being
accustomed to speculating and used to
seeing money made out of land, Mr.
Baird (in face of much opposition) A
bought a piece of land and built three
cottages thereon — an investment which
proved a good one and a money maker.

KAMLOOPS

H. B. C. Kamloops Store
Dates Back to 1812

Location Has Changed Several

Times to Keep Pace With

Growth of City

By A. E. DODMAN

THE Company's store at Kamloops
dates back to the year 1812 and
it is therefore one of the oldest estab-
lishments at present existing in the
stores department.

The original location was some dis-
tance from the present store site, as,
like all Western towns, the business
centre has changed several times, and
the Company found it necessary to
change from time to time in order to

keep pace with the natural growth of the
city.

The present premises were purchased
and remodelled by the Company in
1911, and have a frontage of 75 feet
on Victoria Street, extending 125 feet
on Second Avenue with two entrances
on Victoria and one on Second Avenue.

The building consists of two stories
and basement. In addition the Com-
pany also operates a wholesale and
retail tobacco and candy business on
rented premises situated at the corner
of Victoria Street and Third Avenue.

The business at Kamloops comprises
eight departments — general dry goods,
ladies' wear, men's furnishings, boots
and shoes, crockery and hardware,
house furnishing, groceries and to-
baccos.

JANUARY, 1921

MISS BROOKE, of the grocery staff,
resigned her position with the Company
and was married on January 1st, 1921.
She was presented with a travelling bag
by the staff. We wish her all kinds of
joy and happiness in her new venture.
She was a real "good fellow" and will be
greatly missed by us.
MISS MUIR has accepted the position
made vacant by Miss Brooke of the
Grocery Department. We wish Miss
Muir every success.

MISS COZENS says she was never
"locked out" in her life, but she ex-
perienced the feeling of being "locked
in." She says "never again."

THE STAFF presented Mr. A. E.
Dodman, our store manager, and Mrs.
Dodman with a Christmas gift of a very
handsome tea set with best wishes.

A RUMOUR is heard to the effect that
Mr. McDonald, the accountant, has
become an expert dancer, and has ac-
cepted an invitation to teach three
ladies the fine points in dancing. Nice
for Mac, but kind of tough on the
ladies.

AFTER a very busy and most success-
ful Christmas trade the staff have
settled down for the most successful
January sale we have ever had.

VERNON

Entire Staff a Santa Claus to
Mr. Pout, Xmas

ON Christmas Eve, at the close of
the biggest day in the history of
the Vernon Store, the staff gathered for
a few minutes to extend good wishes
and exchange tokens of friendship.
At the conclusion, Mr. Pout was cap-
tured when trying to tip-toe off, set
securely within the smiling circle, and
compelled to listen to the following
effusion which Tom Bone, the store
poet, says he did not compose. It is
now being blamed on Jack Ricketts,
and so far Jack hasn't denied it.

Our dear respected Mister Pout

We guess you guess what we're about;

If not, you won't be long in doubt,

But get the sense,

So we shall quickly put to rout

Your dread suspense.

It's Christmas time, as you well know,
And we have gathered here to show
That years may come and years may go,
With rush and zest,
But our good feelings far outgrow
This timely test?

It gives us joy to give to you

This coffee service, bright and new,

And wish that all things good and true

That hope conjures,

May travel all the next year through

With you and yours.

Mr. Pout was too full for words
(honi soit qui mal y pense), but he
managed to express his hearty thanks

for the splendid support and co-opera-
tion he had received from the entire
staff during the Christmas rush, also
for the kind thought which prompted
the giving of such a beautiful gift.

The coffee pot was one of those long
narrow "prohibition" coffee pots that
you are unable to tell what is inside of
until you taste the contents.

Tom Harrison struck up "He's a
Jolly Good Fellow. ' ' ' ' Arry ' ' thought it
was "Auld Lang Syne" and started off
on his own, while James Henderson, in
an endeavour to put them both right,
commenced "Will You No Come Back
Again."

When the company broke up, those
three were still at it, and nobody could
tell which was winning. — R.W.

MISS CRIDLAND, treasurer of our
Sisters' Sewing Circle, has been absent
from the meeting several week. We
were surprised to see her at the last
meeting. She says her absence has
been due to the fact that she had to
attend "prayer meetings." We have
since learned that a certain young
man's "tin Lizzie" is being overhauled.
May it take all winter — so Gladys will
be at every meeting.

MISS PHILLYS RIPLEY, the girl
with the sparkling eyes, assisted for
several weeks in the hardware depart-
ment but is back once again at her old

JANUARY, 1921

stand tying bows for the kiddies. Her
eyes still sparkle and there are many
beaus waiting for her to cast her spell on
one of them so that two may be tied
into one bow.

"WONDERFUL how popular some men
are," said Watson, when he heard what
happened Christmas Eve. The girls
in the dry goods department placed
mistletoe on the light over Mr. An-
drews' desk — and not one missed him,
even Mabel had hers. Nuff sed.
MR. TOM BONE, assistant manager
of the grocery department, the staff
poet, has changed his vocation and
now spends his evenings making musical
instruments. We wonder if it will be
jazz or operatic music.
WE ARE glad to learn that Mrs.
Griffin, wife of C. Griffin of the men's
department, is home once again after
being confined to the Hospital several
weeks with typhoid fever. We all wish
her a speedy recovery.

Vernon, Gem of the
Okanagan

— and the H.B.C. Store, One of
Its Institutions

years ago, there were only
JL two stores in Vernon, The Hudson's
Bay Company and W. F. Cameron, both
firms carrying a general line of mer-
chandise. The only other stores in
the Okanagan Valley, at this period,
were one at Enderby, Landsdowne,
Okanagan Mission and Penticton, so
that these stores supplied the neces-
sities of life practically to the whole of
the Okanagan Valley, reaching from
Sicamous to fifty miles beyond Pentic-
ton and from Grand Prairie to the
White Valley district. The towns of
Armstrong and Kelowna, at this period,
were not in existence.

Travelling in the early days was by
stage and boat in Summer, the boat
running from Sicamous to Enderby,
thence by stage to Vernon, and the only
method of travelling in Winter was by
stage or pack horse. Mail, also, was
received by these means of transporta-
tion.

The great bulk of trading, at that
time, was done with Victoria, which
was a greater commercial centre than
Vancouver. All merchandise from the
Coast was carried by freight trains to

Sicamous, transferred there to a small
steamer as far as Enderby and thence by
wagon to Vernon.

Business conditions and the manner
of trading in the early days were
entirely different to the present day
method. There were no banks in the
Valley, all banking being done through
Vancouver, cheques often passing a-
round as currency and would have as
many as a dozen endorsations before
reaching the bank.

Yearly credit was the system of
trading. Farmers,ranchers,trappers and
Indians paid their accounts once a year
after they had received money for their
crops and catch of furs; the amusing
feature in regard to the credit in these
days being that the average customer
would ask of his account, simply looking
at the total and settling up without
checking up. Considerable business
was done in the bulk, tea sold by the
chest, flour and sugar by the ton, and
other commodities in similar large
quantities.

Thirty years ago the Valley was
passing through a stage of transition
from stock-raising to wheat producing.

R. P. Rithet & Co. of Victoria con-
trolled a large flour mill at Enderby,
where all the wheat of the district was
taken and milled. Wheat then sold
as low as $18.00 per ton at the mill, the
farmer doing his own hauling. A few
years later $28.00 per ton was con-
sidered a wonderful price.

During the period under review, very
little fruit was grown and it was not
until 1892 that the growing of fruit was
given any serious thought. At that
time, Lord Aberdeen purchased the
land now known as the Coldstream
Ranch and started fruit growing on a
fairly large scale, the land being pur-
chased from Forbes G. Vernon. After
him the City of Vernon was named. He
was, at that time, member for the
Okanagan Valley, also Minister of
Labor and Works.

At this period the population of
Vernon was about 300 and, generally
speaking, were considered prosperous.

A Mr. Gray of Nicola was the largest
cattle buyer and a general round-up of
cattle was made twice a year, when he
would make his purchase from the
ranchers and drive the cattle out to the
coast or prairie markets.

(To be continued)

JANUARY, 1921

The Secret of Success

In the fall a Methodist minister came into the
Edmonton exhibition offices and inquired where
he could purchase a good, reliable horse. He
was directed to R. B. Hill's stables, where, after
a judicious amount of deliberation, he decided
on a horse which suited his fancy and pocket,
and took him home. Two days afterwards he
came back to Mr. Hill and stated that the horse
was blind, and within the rules as prescribed
by the Methodist church he told Mr. Hill just
what he thought of the deal, and asked him why
he had not been informed that the horse was
blind, before purchasing him. Mr. Hill very
modestly replied that he had not thought he
should tell him, as the man from whom he got
the horse in the first place had said nothing
about this defect, and he thought it was a
secret!!

No Wonder

Editor — "We are sorry to lose your subscrip-
tion, Mr. Jackson. What's the matter? Don't
you like our politics?"

Mistah Jackson — "Taint dat, sah; faint dat.
Mah wife jes' been an' landed a job o' work for
me by advertisin' in youh darned ole papah."

Didn't Need To

A young Irishman recently applied for a job
as life-saver at the municipal baths.

As he was about six feet six inches high and
well built, the chief life-saver gave him an
application blank to fill out.

"By the way," said the chief life-saver, "can
you swim?"

"No," replied the applicant; "but I can wade
like blazes!"

He Got the Job

Police Commissioner — "If you were ordered
to disperse a mob what would you do?"
Applicant — "Pass around the hat."
P.C.— "You'll do."

Two Strings to Her Beau

He — "If you could only have two wishes
come true, what would you wish for?"

She (frankly) — "Well, I'd wish for a husband."

He— "That's the only one."

She — "I'd save the other wish until I saw
how he turned out."

^ j^

Well! Well!

say, who was here with you last night?"
nly Myrtle, father."
\11, tell Myrtle that she left her pipe on

Fifty-Fifty

A man from Toronto reported that an African
resident of that city did a rattling business in
rabbit sausages, until some of his customers
began to question the quality of the goods. A
committee waited on the merchant, and asked
him if any meat other than that of rabbits went
into the sausages. He reluctantly admitted
that there was another meat in them, and when
pressed further said that the dilution was by
means of horse meat. The chairman of the com-
mittee then asked him the proportion of the two
ingredients, and he said fifty-fifty. The com-
mittee started to withdraw when a heretofore
silent member raised the question as to what the
merchant meant by "fifty-fifty." "Why, boss,
by fifty-fifty ah means one rabbit and one
bawss."

All Engaged

An Irishman who had lately come over was
sent to call a taxi. In about half an hour he
returned and reported as follows: "Some wan
be the name of Hire has the most of thim in-
gaged, and the only wans he didn't have some
wan else had."

Slim, Slimmer, Slimmest

Last week we read of a firm — manufacturers
of petticoats — which went into bankruptcy.
They stated in explanation that women, in the
shrinking process of appearing taper, had ceased
wearing 'em.

To-day we notice the advertisement of a
ladies' tailor: "Suits made to order, with or
without material."

Without material? Gad Zooks!

We cut out that ad and burned it lest our wife
should find it.

Some Ditty

There was a young man from the city,
Who met what he thought was a kitty;
He gave it a pat
And said, "Nice little cat!"
And they buried his clothes out of pity.

Vaccination Problem

Classical Dancer — "Doctor, I want to be
vaccinated somewhere where it won't show."

Doctor — "Well, miss, I'm afraid I will have
to vaccinate internally."

The Safety Vent

A friend of mine fell asleep in the bathtub
with the water running."
"Did the tub overflow?"
"Nope; luckily he sleeps with his mouth open."

he smoking

tobacco of
yesterday,
today and tomorrow

H.B.C.

National Smoke

The Tin with the Humidor Top

— Obtainable in 1/10,
1/5, 1/2 and
1 Ib. tins at
good dealers
every-
where

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