The Way We Were

In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.

Oct. 24, 1912: Charles Benjamin, who has had the entire management of the Cash Store since former owner F.C. Miles went back to California last November, has recently purchased the property and the lot facing Front Street, which will soon be occupied by a two-story addition to the store which will give a much needed Front Street entrance and plenty of room for a growing business. Work on the addition started Monday under the supervision of W.G. Brown.

Oct. 22, 1937: E. W. Harrington, who for the past eighteen months has been investigating the mineral possibilities of the Dease Lake district, which includes the Little Muddy in the Cassiar, took passage on the Canadian Pacific liner Princess Louise Saturday night for his home in Vancouver. Mr. Harrington went into the Klondike in 1897. From 1903 to 1926 he followed placer mining in the Fairbanks and other interior Alaska camps. With over 30 years of placer experience he stated while in Wrangell that his impression of the Dease district is that it is one of the most highly mineralized and richest gold zones he has seen in the North. He deplores the fact that it has been so greatly neglected by the Canadian government. “Government mining engineers have done much to retard development in the Little Muddy,” said Mr. Harrington, “for their general reports have been very misleading to the public. Their assertion that the district has been extensively prospected in the past by old prospectors is entirely false and a great detriment to the country as an investor whose attention has been called to the district on reading these reports naturally would be adversely influenced.” Instead of having been extensively prospected, Harrington declares it is only the exceptional valley which has been bedrocked.

Oct. 19, 1963: At a special City Council meeting held for the purpose of adopting the 1962-63 General Fund budget last Saturday evening the council unanimously approved and accepted $155,350 as the amount to be expended during the new fiscal year starting Oct. 1, 1962. On motion of Councilman Don House, seconded by Councilman R. H. Armstrong, the Council unanimously approved an 18-mill tax levy on all real and personal property on the 1962 assessment roll. The tax levy for 1961 was also 18 mills.

Oct. 22, 1987: Hunters killed 48 moose on the Stikine River and 21 at Thomas Bay this year for a good - if not record-breaking-harvest. Butch Young, Fish and Game Department wildlife biologist said two citations were issued during the season, one at Thomas Bay and another on the Stikine. The kill of 21 at Thomas Bay matched a record set in 1979. But Young said officials were surprised so many moose were killed at Thomas Bay this year because it is the first year an antler restriction has been in effect - and fewer hunters participated in the hunt this year than in 1986. The kill of 48 on the Stikine River came in behind last year's record kill of 50, Young said. Hunting pressure on the Stikine was about the same as last year, with about 100 hunters participating in the month long hunt despite extremely rainy conditions, he said. The water level in the Stikine River also fluctuated wildly during the season from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, Young said primarily because of the heavy rainfall. “There were bulls left in both places that people were seeing but not able to shoot,” Young said. “It was, I would say an exceptionally good year.”