1. No category

O r i g i n and Development o f Newspapers
i n Vancouver
by
B e s s i e Lamb
A T h e s i s submitted
in Partial
Fulfilment
The Requirements f o r the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
i n the Department
of
HISTORY
The U n i v e r s i t y
of B r i t i s h Columbia
September, 1942
T a b l e of Contents
Preface
Page
i i i
Chapter
1
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
The Vancouver Weekly H e r a l d and North
P a c i f i c News
1
The Vancouver D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r
6
The Vancouver News
14
The News-Advertiser
23
The World
34
The D a i l y Telegram
44
The Vancouver D a i l y Province
49
The Saturday Sunset and J.P.'s Weekly
60
The Vancouver Sun
67
The Vancouver S t a r
73
The News-Herald and the Vancouver News
81
Development
Conclusion
i n t4*k*-**p
""
'
86
9
4
Bibliography
A.
Books
97
B.
Periodicals
100
C.
Pamphlets
102
D.
Newspapers
103
I
T a b l e of Contents
Appendices
Page
I
Excerpt o f l e t t e r r e F. L. C a r t e r - C o t t o n
1.06.
E x c e r p t of l e t t e r r e J". P. McConnell
106
L e t t e r from Charles Campbell
107,
II
III
IV
V
Heading from e d i t o r i a l page of the
"Morning S t a r "
109.
A r t i c l e i n connection with some of
Vancouver's s m a l l e r p u b l i c a t i o n s
111
VI\ ^ G e n e r a l l o c a t i o n of Newspaper f i l e s
ii
112
Preface
I t i s t r u e that the h i s t o r y of Vancouver i s s t i l l
spann-
ed by the memory of l i v i n g c i t i z e n s , yet as the years pass
i t w i l l be to the l o c a l newspaper f i l e s that h i s t o r i a n s must
turn f o r much source m a t e r i a l .
files
journalistic
are a d a i l y d i a r y of i t s h i s t o r i c growth.
papers are p r i c e l e s s .
and
Vancouver's
The
editorials, political
l o c a l news items provide
a very
Vancouver's e a r l y business and
T h i s t h e s i s i s a pioneer
Vancouver newspapers.
intimate
social
The
earliest
articles,
p i c t u r e of
life.
study i n the f i e l d
of
I t can not t h e r e f o r e attempt a
complete study of the c o n t r i b u t i o n s made by the newspapers
to the economic and
s o c i a l development of Vancouver.
does i t deal w i t h the s o c i o l o g i c a l aspects of
The
"press"
on the l i f e
as a whole has
of the c i t y .
doubtless
To
had
Neither
journalism.
a real
influence
attempt an assessment
and
i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of that i n f l u e n c e w i t h a l l i t s p o l i t i c a l
d i s t o r t i o n s has
of her
The
seemed to the w r i t e r to be beyond the
subject.
aim
i s simply
to c h r o n i c l e the h i s t o r y of news-
paper e n t e r p r i s e i n Vancouver, s k e t c h i n g
c h i e f papers v/ith r e f e r e n c e
and
scope
the general
management.
No
h i s t o r i e s of the
the h i s t o r y of
to the personnel of t h e i r
t r e n d of e d i t o r i a l p o l i c y and
attempt has
staffs
business
been made t o i n c l u d e
c i t y ' s more than f i f t y s m a l l e r
the
publications
such as the " K i t s i l a n o Times", the "Point-Grey Gazette",
iii
the
and
the " B r i t i s h Columhia Worker's News" as they do not
p e r t a i n to Vancouver as a whole hut t o s p e c i f i c d i s t r i c t s ,
labor organizations
or r e l i g i o u s
denominations.
Thanks are due to the members of the H i s t o r y Department
for t h e i r
c o n s t r u c t i v e c r i t i c i s m and k i n d l y
Gratitude
i s a l s o extended t o the v a r i o u s
w i l l i n g l y gave Information v a l u a b l e
this
B. L.
October, 1942.
iv
other
people who
t o the w r i t e r
study.
Vancouver, B r i t i s h Columbia,
suggestions.
i n making
Summary-Vancouver Newspapers
Newspaper
Published
Founder or Owner
The H e r a l d
1886-1888
W i l l i a m Brown
The A d v e r t i s e r
1886-1887
John Hay & W i l l i a m
Macdougall
Daily
J . Ross &
N. Harkness . .
Daily
Daily
The Vancouver
News
1886- 1887
Issued
Daily &
Weekly
The NewsAdvertiser
1887- 1917
F. L. C a r t e r - C o t t o n
1910 J.S.H. Matson
The World
1888- 1924
Daily
J . C. McLagan
1901 Mrs. J.C.McLagan
1905 L.D.Taylor
1915 John Nelson
1921 Charles Campbell
The Telegram
1890-1892
W.J. G a l l a g h e r
Daily
The Vancouver
D a i l y Province
1898-
Hewitt Bostock &
W. C. N i c h o l
1924 Southam Co.
Daily
The Saturday
Sunset
1907-1915
J.P. McConnell &
R.S. Ford
The Vancouver
Sun
1912-
J.P.McConnell &
R.S. Ford
1914 F.C.Wade K.C.
1917 R . J . Cromie
Daily
The Vancouver
Star
1924-1932
Charles E. Campbell
1924 V i c t o r Odium
Daily
1933-
Co-operative Organization
Daily
The NewsHerald
v
We e k l y
Chapter 1" '.
The Vancouver Weekly H e r a l d
and
North P a c i f i c News
On January 15, 1886,
destroyed by f i r e ,
f i v e months b e f o r e i t was
Vancouver
greeted i t s f i r s t
newspaper.
Copies o f the paper, a weekly, were placed i n the Deighton
House, the Sunnyside H o t e l , Joe Mannion's G r a n v i l l e H o t e l
and other f a v o u r i t e rendezvous, and o l d - t i m e r s
in
drifted
eager t o see what k i n d of a paper " B i l l " Brown had
produced from h i s hand-press brought from T o r o n t o and so
recently i n s t a l l e d i n h i s C a r r a l l Street o f f i c e
P o w e l l and Oppenheimer S t r e e t s
As G r a n v i l l e was
changed
(Cordova S t r e e t
between
East).
i n the process of having i t s name
to Vancouver
the new
paper was
called
the
Vancouver Weekly H e r a l d and North P a c i f i c News.
Major J . S. Matthews, c i t y a r c h i v i s t
i s s u e of the H e r a l d .
has a copy of
the
first
I t i s thought that t h e r e
may
be another copy somewhere as a copy of the World,
Souvenir E d i t i o n , dated June 1896
the
first
i s s u e of the H e r a l d .
show that i t was
Archives.
the
c o n t a i n s a f a c s i m i l e of
Markings on the f a c s i m i l e
not made from the copy now
T h i s copy
i n the C i t y
(Volume 1, Number 1) now
f r a g i l e at
age of f i f t y - s i x years has had a strange p r e s e r v a t i o n .
I t went down at sea i n the s i n k i n g of the S. S. P r i n c e
Rupert i n Swanson Bay, September 1920,
1:
and i t was
found
The Vancouver j Weekly !%alch
N O R T H
i* *U « * * » _ , _ » • ! c.P. a H<;tc(,
PAOTFIC:
NEWS.
"'
0« Me site where The Vancouver Daily Province now stands, 56 years
ago stood the offices, pictured at top, of the city's first newspaper, the
Vancouver Weekly Herald. Lower picture shows a portion of Page 1 of
the first edition of the Herald.
Tremise^
Tacsirotle
of
Vancouver's
print of
-First
l/ancoui/ers
newspaper
first newspaper.
still
i n t a c t and without b l u r to mar
i t s r e a d i n g when that
l
s h i p was
r a i s e d i n January 1921.
the f a c t that the "Herald"
was
The
s i g n i f i c a n c e of
t r u l y Vancouver's
first
newspaper becomes apparent when the reader glances over
the advertisements.
Some of the a d v e r t i s e r s are not
accustomed to g i v i n g t h e i r p l a c e of r e s i d e n c e
"Vancouver" and
"Granville".
use
The
little
first
and
G r a n v i l l e H o t e l gives i t s address as
i n brackets,
"Vancouver H e r a l d "
journal.
as
the o l d e r names of "Coal Harbor"
Water S t r e e t , Vancouver, and
The
yet
The
pages had
was
"Coal Harbor".
a four-page hand-set
seven columns.
Merchants
l a v i s h l y used nine columns f o r advertisements i n the
first
issue.
i n the
Probably the most important n o t i c e
f i r s t paper was
t o the e f f e c t that at the
appearing
next
s e s s i o n of the L e g i s l a t u r e a p p l i c a t i o n would be made t o
incorporate
the c i t y .
as Chairman and A. W.
page had
I t was
signed
by P.. H.
Ross as s e c r e t a r y .
The
Alexander
editorial
a f u r t h e r a r t i c l e d e a l i n g w i t h the f a c t
" G r a n v i l l e " was
s h o r t l y to become " V a n c o u v e r " — t h e
t e r m i n a l c i t y of the Canadian P a c i f i c Railway on
Pacific
coast.
that
The
a r t i c l e p o i n t s out that the
the
beauties
1. Vancouver D a i l y Province,
Dec. 13.
1941.
» Vancouver H e r a l d ,
January 15,
1886.
3. (a) R. H. Alexander was s e c r e t a r y and l o c a l
manager of the B r i t i s h Columbia M i l l s , Timber and T r a d i n g
Company. He became t r u s t e e and S e c r e t a r y of f i r s t s c h o o l
board.
(b) A. W. Ross was Real E s t a t e Broker, Water S t r e e t
L a t e r he became M. P. i n the Manitoba L e g i s l a t u r e .
2
2
of B u r r a r d I n l e t w i l l s h o r t l y be d i s t u r b e d by the march
of progress and the r u s h of the i r o n h o r s e .
Mention was
a l s o made of a meeting addressed
by
Honourable John Robson, p r o v i n c i a l s e c r e t a r y , and the
quotes him as s a y i n g , " I t i s impossible t o form
c o n c e p t i o n of the f u t u r e of t h i s new
Dominion and England
editor
any
c i t y but with the
at i t s back the p r o b a b i l i t i e s are t h a t
i t w i l l soon become a p l a c e of importance.
c i t y on the P a c i f i c Coast and
I t i s the
towards i t many eyes are
turned."
Other a r t i c l e s of i n t e r e s t
i n the f i r s t
"Unemployment problem of 1886," "Railway
paper included',
Company B u i l d i n g
F i r s t Dock," and "Indians h o l d dance near H a s t i n g s
S h i p p i n g news recorded 36 s h i p s i n the harbor
and t h a t lumber shipments aggregated
Mill".
during
1885
20,000,000 f e e t .
Another news item r e p o r t e d t h a t some primroses had been
plucked i n George B l a c k ' s garden at Hastings
s
Sam
by
Brighouse.
W i l l i a m Brown's venture
very p r o m i s i n g at f i r s t
and
i n the newspaper f i e l d
i n a few months he was
looked
able
t o equip h i s establishment on C a r r a l l S t r e e t (east s i d e
between Powell and Oppenheimer) with a new
H i s i n t e n t i o n was
when the f i r e
printing
outfit.
to p u b l i s h h i s paper t r i - w e e k l y but
occurred which l a i d the c i t y i n ashes and
the "Herald" went \ip i n smoke, Brown l o s t e v e r y t h i n g
i n c l u d i n g h i s investments
i n new
equipment.
Following
4. Vancouver H e r a l d . January 15, 1886.
5. Note: George B l a c k was p r o p r i e t o r of B r i g h t o n H o t e l .
:-3
the f i r e ,
arrangements were made to p r i n t a s m a l l weekly
e d i t i o n i n the Columbian o f f i c e , New
Westminster,
a new
procured.
p l a n t and a b u i l d i n g c o u l d be
The
f i r e was
a great f i n a n c i a l blow to the " H e r a l d "
but by September 3, 1886
weekly from a l i t t l e
of
until
Brown resumed p u b l i c a t i o n of h i s
frame b u i l d i n g on the southeast
H a s t i n g s and Cambie S t r e e t s .
The
"Weekly H e r a l d "
corner
was
continued up to June 1, 1887,..when a d a i l y "•edition-"The
D a i l y H e r a l d was
Sunday.
to
added and p u b l i s h e d every a f t e r n o o n
except
C o n s i d e r a b l e space i n the d a i l y paper v/as given
advertisements.
The name, Evening H e r a l d was
Wednesday, October 12,
1887
u n t i l June 1888
used from
when p u b l i c a -
t
t i o n ceased.
necessary
T h i s was
l a r g e l y due
to the f a c t t h a t a r i v a l
daily,
the
(the amalgamated News and A d v e r t i s e r )
o f f e r i n g too s t r o n g an o p p o s i t i o n .
r e t i r e from p u b l i c l i f e ,
his
support
to continue p u b l i c a t i o n on a paying b a s i s .
News-Advertiser
was
Brown d i d not r e c e i v e the f i n a n c i a l
Brown d i d not
however, but continued to serve
c i t y f o r many y e a r s as an alderman, as a s c h o o l
t r u s t e e , and as chairman of the waterworks committee.
A N a t i v e of F i f e , S c o t l a n d , W i l l i a m Brown was
in
1827.
born
A f t e r m i g r a t i o n to Canada he owned and p u b l i s h e d
the Walkerton H e r a l d , Bruce County, O n t a r i o .
He became
known as the "dean of the p r i n t i n g i n d u s t r y " from h i s
6. Evening H e r a l d ,
October 12,
7. P r o v i n c i a l A r c h i v e s - Notes
4
1887.
work i n Vancouver.
F o l l o w i n g h i s r e t i r e m e n t from the
p r i n t i n g b u s i n e s s and from an a c t i v e career as one of
Vancouver's
pioneer business men, he spent the remainder
of h i s l i f e q u i e t l y a t h i s home, 21£3 Main S t r e e t ,
Mount P l e a s a n t .
He died i n September 1917.
S. News-Advertiser June 29, 1913.
9. P i l e s
Vancouver P u b l i c L i b r a r y .
5
Chapter IT
The Vancouver D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r
The second newspaper to appear was the Vancouver
Daily Advertiser.
The f i r s t
i s s u e was
and had the honour of being,
p r i n t e d May
not only the f i r s t
published
i n the c i t y o f Vancouver but the f i r s t
published
on the mainland of B r i t i s h Columbia.
8,
1886
daily
daily
i
o f f i c e was
l o c a t e d on the north
west of Columbia, the s i t e being
The
first
s i d e o f Powell S t r e e t
about opposite
and
t o where
a.
the Europe h o t e l now
the A d v e r t i s e r was
stands.
simply,
The l o c a t i o n as p r i n t e d i n
Burrard
The o r i g i n a l D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r
John Hay,
J.
Inlet, British
s t a f f was
composed of
owner; W i l l i a m Macdougall e d i t o r and manager}
J . Randolph, foreman; " J e r r y " Maxwell, W.
E. Peck,
W. B. M i l l e r , C o l o n e l P h i l l i p s and E. K. S a r g i s o n ,
The paper was p u b l i s h e d
being used as a proof
4
Printing Office.
printers.
each morning on a Washington
press, which, a f t e r an a c t i v e l i f e of 56 y e a r s ,
was
Columbia.
press
hand-
i s today
i n the Vancouver Sun Job
The s u b s c r i p t i o n p r i c e of the A d v e r t i s e r
e i g h t d o l l a r s per year or f i v e cents a copy.
The D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r began as a f i v e - c o l u m n four-page
j o u r n a l . At l e a s t h a l f of each page was devoted to the
1. Vancouver D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r , May 11, 1886.
2. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e ,
September 2, 1917.
3. Loc. c i t
4. C i t y A r c h i v e s — F r o m l e t t e r — G e o r g e B a r t l e y .
6
d i s p l a y o f c l o s e l y packed advertisements.
complete page was given t o a d v e r t i s i n g .
Occasionally a
F r o n t page news
i n c l u d e d a number o f m a i l and t e l e g r a p h despatches from
important
world
centres.
Of s p e c i a l importance i n the A d v e r t i s e r of May 11,
1886
i s the complete r e c o r d of the f i r s t meeting o f the
Vancouver C i t y C o u n c i l h e l d on May 10, 1886.
This
i n c l u d e s the i n a u g u r a l address of Vancouver's f i r s t mayor,
M. A. MacLean.
Civic
Macdougall names the address "The F i r s t
Spike".
The
i n s i d e pages of the A d v e r t i s e r which c o n t a i n sev-
e r a l a r t i c l e s copied from other newspapers, a l s o r e p o r t t h
a r r i v a l and departure
of steamers and s t a g e s .
The l a s t
page i s devoted to the c i t y news and i s l a b e l l e d , "Our
D a i l y L o c a l G r i s t of I n t e r e s t i n g Items i n and about Town"
The
first
item of t h i s nature
Rain'.'. Rain'.'.'."
f
i n the above i s s u e i s , "Rain
Then . f o l l o w <-. numerous p e r s o n a l
notes.
On May 14, 1886 the editor,. W. B. Macdougall*.
announced through the A d v e r t i s e r t h a t a great
Indian
" P o t l a t c h " v/ould take p l a c e at the Second Narrows
opposite
s
to
George Black's H o t e l the f o l l o w i n g week commencing on
Sunday and t h a t a Tyee, known t o h i s f r i e n d s as " B i g
George" planned t o g i v e away b l a n k e t s and b i s c u i t s t o h i s
numerous f r i e n d s .
The e d i t o r suggests i t w i l l be an o l d
I n d i a n custom worth seeing, e s p e c i a l l y as the a u t h o r i t i e s
have f o r b i d d e n any more c e l e b r a t i o n s of t h a t n a t u r e .
5. The B r i g h t o n H o t e l , H a s t i n g s , B. I .
7...
The j o u r n a l d e s c r i b e s the P o t l a t c h ~ i n the i s s u e o f May
1886.
22,
There were over 4000 Indians present and the
program c o n s i s t e d of dancing, y e l l s and screeches as the
grabbers fought and t u s t l e d f o r the h i d e s and b l a n k e t s .
Macdougall announced on May
of
31, 1886 t h a t i n p l a c e
the evening paper a morning d a i l y would be i s s u e d .
reason g i v e n was that the j o u r n a l was
The
determined t o keep
pace w i t h Vancouver's p r o g r e s s and t h a t a morning paper
was an advertisement f o r a c i t y .
That the above paper
was p r o g r e s s i n g with the c i t y seemed e v i d e n t i n the l a r g e r
"Current comment" a r t i c l e s and i n the announcement t h a t
an enlarged newspaper would appear at an e a r l y date.
The announcement was f u r t h e r emphasized i n the " C i t y News"
column which c a r r i e d two s m a l l news items announcing the
above change i n a p l e a s i n g manner—one, "Good morning
Vancouver D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r , " and the other "Last day of
May,
1886.
newspaper."
First
i s s u e i n Vancouver of a morning
I n c i d e n t a l l y the f i r s t
morning d a i l y , the News was
i s s u e o f a new
daily
rival
to be p u b l i s h e d the f o l l o w i n g
day.
The D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r p a i d i t s r e s p e c t s to the News
on June 2, 1886.
The e d i t o r wrote,
"We r e c e i v e d yesterday morning the i n i t i a l number of
the Vancouver News a morning l o c a l competitor but a
c r e d i t a b l e sheet. Any i m p e r f e c t i o n s w i l l be remedied of
course, the f i r s t number being always a t r i a l and t r i b u l a t i o n t o the poor p u b l i s h e r .
I f Vancouver w i l l stand i t ,
the c i t y has a t h i r d good a d v e r t i s i n g medium. The
d e s c r i p t i v e matter r e f e r r i n g to our c i t y ' s l o c a l prospects
was e x c e l l e n t and. throughout the new paper i s a c r e d i t to
any community.
".8
W.
B. Macdougall was
always c l e a r through h i s columns
as to h i s p o l i t i c a l a f f i l i a t i o n s .
ter
of the Macdonald government and
"rousing G r i t " p o l i t i c i a n s .
C i t i z e n , published
He
was
had
a d e f i n i t e suppor-
little
for
i n the D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r , the
former
first
daily
on the mainland of B r i t i s h Columbia and
added
that they knew t h e i r o l d f r i e n d Macdougall would be
supporter
of the present
a
government.
An amusing e d i t o r i a l appeared i n the A d v e r t i s e r
June 10,
ion".
1886
w i t h the t i t l e
Macdougall had
of New
Scotland
and
the
In an a r t i c l e hy the Ottawa
paper expressed every encouragement to the
published
use
little
"Nova S c o t i a ' s Cry
sympathy f o r the
s t a t e d t h a t they were a
on
of Secess-
inhabitants
"psychological
7
study".
He
secede was
concluded by s a y i n g that t h e i r d e s i r e to
nothing
outstanding
a r t i c l e s r e l a t e d to the Canadian —
F i s h e r y D i s p u t e and
progress and
l a t t e r was
but a touch of s p r i n g f e v e r .
prospe.cts
f i r e which destroyed
and
1886,
the
of Vancouver's i n d u s t r i e s .
e s p e c i a l l y w r i t t e n i n order
noon June 13,
American
a l s o to a d e t a i l e d h i s t o r y of
Vancouver t o the E a s t e r n p r o v i n c e s
The
Other
and
The
to p u b l i c i z e
to the'United
States.
Vancouver on Sunday a f t e r -
completely destroyed
p l a n t of the D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r .
the
J u s t s i x t e e n days
6. The D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r . June 6, 1886
(1st Sunday p u b l i c a t i o n )
7. D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r ,
June 10,
1886.
9
premises
l a t e r , however,
on Tuesday June 29, 1886 the A d v e r t i s e r
was again i s s u e d from i t s own p l a n t i n a tent which had
been e r e c t e d
Hastings.
on C a r r a l l S t r e e t between Cordova and
W i t h i n a short time i t moved i n t o a frame
b u i l d i n g on the east s i d e of C a r r a l l S t r e e t
Cordova and Water S t r e e t s .
between
The A d v e r t i s e r was the f i r s t
paper p r i n t e d and i s s u e d i n Vancouver a f t e r the f i r e .
Though the News was s e l l i n g on the s t r e e t s at an e a r l i e r
date i t had been p r i n t e d i n New Westminster.
The
e d i t o r i a l i n the j o u r n a l of June 29, 1886 contained
"
these o p t i m i s t i c words, "Our immediate prospects are
indestructible.
difficulties.
We w i l l r i s e again s u p e r i o r t o a l l
Fortis i n arduis."
In September
the d a i l y paper was dropped f o r a
weekly e d i t i o n of the A d v e r t i s e r , which had the a d d i t i o n a l
t i t l e of the P a c i f i c Coast Canadian.
Macdougall s t a t e d
t h a t the amount of news a v a i l a b l e at that time d i d not
seem to warrant the p u b l i c a t i o n of a d a i l y but t h a t a
d a i l y would be resumed a g a i n s h o r t l y .
doubt, however,
There i s l i t t l e
but t h a t the absence of the d a i l y paper
was due to the f a c t t h a t Macdougall's s t a f f were at the
time d i s s a t i s f i e d .
Wages had not been forthcoming.
The weekly A d v e r t i s e r , l i k e the d a i l y was
composed
8. D a i l y News-Advertiser June 6, 1913.
9. D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r
June 29, 1886.
10. Vancouver D a i l y Province,
June 20, 1936.
10
of f o u r pages o f f i v e columns
each.
I t was p u b l i s h e d
on Thursday and s o l d a t the y e a r l y r a t e of two d o l l a r s .
The d a i l y i s s u e was resumed December 20, 1886 and
p u b l i s h e d as the Evening A d v e r t i s e r .
There was a d e f i n i t e
change of p o l i c y and a change of s t y l e .
The arrangement
of m a t e r i a l was a l i t t l e more, modern and the p r i c e was
now seven d o l l a r s per y e a r .
The e d i t o r i a l i n the new
evening i s s u e mentioned the advantages of an evening
paper over a morning paper and made r e f e r e n c e t o the
Morning News.
There f o l l o w e d a b r i e f review of the
A d v e r t i s e r * s p r e v i o u s experiences t o g e t h e r v/ith i t s
i n t e n t i o n t o i n c r e a s e the s i z e of the paper i n order t o
more adequately s e t f o r t h s e l e c t e d r e a d i n g matter and the
l a t e s t world news.
The i s s u e of December 21, 1886 r e p o r t e d that a new
era i n the h i s t o r y of i n t e r n a t i o n a l communication had
dawned w i t h the completion of t h e " T e l e g r a p h i c
known as the "Mackay--Bennett
Circuit"
and Canadian P a c i f i c
13
Railway System." A c t u a l l y t h i s was t h e Canadian l i n k
with the A t l a n t i c Cable.
On December 20, .1886 New
Westminster and "Old" Westminster used the cable
s e r v i c e t o exchange
greetings.
The messages and s t o r y
11. The Vancouver A d v e r t i s e r and P a c i f i c Coast
Canadian September 2, 1886.
12. D a i l y A d v e r t i s e r ,
13.
Ibid
December 20, 1886.
December 21, 1886.
of the i n s t a l l a t i o n of the t e l e g r a p h system are,.also
r e p o r t e d i n the News of the same date.
The A d v e r t i s e r v/as never very prosperous, i t s short
l i f e being one
embarrassment a f t e r another.
At one
time
the employees grew t i r e d of not r e c e i v i n g t h e i r wages and
s t a r t e d an o p p o s i t i o n paper c a l l e d the Evening R e g i s t e r ,
of v/hich two
i s s u e s appeared i n October 1886.
" B i l l y " Macdougall
to f i n d some funds.
existence
Meanwhile
(known as Wandering W i l l i e ) managed
The
s h o r t - l i v e d R e g i s t e r went out
and the employees went, back to t h e i r o l d
of
jobs
on the A d v e r t i s e r .
Newspaper competition
and
1887.
was
extremely keen i n
1886
Something of the r i v a l r y t h a t e x i s t e d between
the A d v e r t i s e r and
the News can be n o t i c e d
throughout
many i s s u e s of the former as the e d i t o r d i r e c t s remarks
and
at
c r i t i c i s m s at the News.
The
population
the time could not adequately support
l o c a l paper.
of Vancouver
more than
Macdougall made a desperate e f f o r t
r e - e s t a b l i s h h i s paper on a sound b a s i s but the
proved too g r e a t .
He was
to F. L. C a r t e r - C o t t o n
who
one
to
strain
o b l i g e d to s e l l h i s i n t e r e s t
on March 51,
the A d v e r t i s e r and the News which he had
1887,
amalgamated
a l s o purchased,
under the name of News-Advertiser.
14. Vancouver D a i l y Province
12
June SO,
1936.
Macdougall was never a s u c c e s s f u l
Previous
journalist.
t o h i s experience w i t h the A d v e r t i s e r he had had
some j o u r n a l i s t i c work e d i t i n g the Nanaimo, Westward H o i
When the A d v e r t i s e r was f o r c e d t o cease p u b l i c a t i o n
Macdougall was f o r a time employed by
H i s name does not appear again
it
Carter-Cotton.
on a v a i l a b l e r e c o r d s and
i s b e l i e v e d that when he l e f t Vancouver he a l s o
public
15.
left
life.
I n t e r v i e w — R o y W. Brown.
13-
Sun P u b l i s h i n g Co.
Chapter I I I
The Vancouver News
The Vancouver News appeared as a morning d a i l y ,
June 1, 1886. I t was p u b l i s h e d by N. Harkness and J . H.
i
Ross, w i t h W. Rogers and Percy Whitworth as p r i n t e r s .
The o f f i c e was l o c a t e d on the west s i d e of Abbott S t r e e t
between Water and Cordova.
The News which began w i t h
four l a r g e pages s o l d a t e i g h t d o l l a r s per y e a r .
first
The
o f the f i v e columns on the f r o n t page was used t o
d i s p l a y a d v e r t i s e m e n t s , — t h e remainder r e p o r t e d the news
of Vancouver.
The i n t r o d u c t o r y e d i t o r i a l i s c o n c l u s i v e
proof o f the e d i t o r ' s f a i t h i n the young c i t y .
I t reads,
"For the News we have only t o say that i t i s a b u s i n e s s
enterprise
. Understanding that i n d i v i d u a l p r o s p e r i t y
depends upon g e n e r a l p r o g r e s s , t h e i r primary aim w i l l be
to advance and m a i n t a i n the i n t e r e s t s o f the c i t y o f Vancouver; t o make known t o v i s i t o r s and impress upon r e s i r
dents i t s s p l e n d i d p r o s p e c t s and u n p a r a l l e l e d
possibilities.
I n p o l i t i c s the News w i l l be independent, the organ
of no p a r t y or f a c t i o n ; aiming simply t o promote honesty,
economy and p r o g r e s s i n m u n i c i p a l , p r o v i n c i a l , and
Dominion a f f a i r s .
We s h a l l always be on the s i d e of
m o r a l i t y and law and order and opposed t o the e v i l
i n f l u e n c e s which too o f t e n become predominate i n new
and r a p i d l y growing towns.
Our aim w i l l be t o improve
as the town improves, to keep pace with i t s progress,
however r a p i d ; t o make the paper a t a l l times worth i t s
price.
The p u b l i c s h a l l judge whether t h a t e f f o r t i s
s u c c e s s f u l . " *•
Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e ,
September 2, 1917.
2. The Vancouver News,
June 1, 1886.
1-4.
On the f i r s t page of the i s s u e June 1, 1886, coupled
with an o u t l i n e of the h i s t o r y of t h a t great n a t i o n a l
undertaking, the b u i l d i n g of the Canadian P a c i f i c
Railway,
there i s g e n e r a l i n f o r m a t i o n about the c i t y and i t s
prospects.
There i s a l s o the s u g g e s t i o n t o American
c i t i z e n s t h a t hex*e a r e inducements f o r c a p i t a l and
e n t e r p r i s e unequalled elsewhere
on the c o n t i n e n t .
Another
item of s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t t o j o u r n a l i s t s i s the h i s t o r y o f
Vancouver newspapers t o date.
This a r t i c l e
by s a y i n g t h a t the News was the second
concludes
d a i l y and t h a t
they b e l i e v e d i t was the i n t e n t i o n o f W i l l i a m Brown t o
commence p u b l i s h i n g a d a i l y a t an e a r l y
date.
The News continued t o be an e n t h u s i a s t i c booster o f
Vancouver u n t i l i t s p u b l i c a t i o n ceased.
advocated
the promotion
I t continually
o f the young c i t y .
following headlines are t y p i c a l .
Canadian P a c i f i c Railway.
The
"Vancouver Terminus
C e n t r a l P o i n t on the Great
Route from L i v e r p o o l t o Hong Kong." "The most p r o m i s i n g
Young C i t y i n America",
"Vancouver's d e s t i n y enwrapped
with the g r e a t e s t u n d e r t a k i n g of the 19th Century."
To
i l l u s t r a t e the value of e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y s u p p o r t i n g
home i n d u s t r i e s , the News dated June 8, 1886, d i s p l a y e d
a copy of a Northern P a c i f i c r a i l r o a d t i c k e t w i t h a
coupon s t a t i n g , "Good f o r Three meals and one n i g h t ' s
l o d g i n g a t the "Taeoma H o t e l " , Taeoma, W. T.
3. The Vancouver News,
June 8, 1886.
The News
c o n s i d e r e d the l a t t e r was good a d v e r t i s i n g .
Vancouver papers d i d not f a l l
f a r short
of t h e i r
American neighbours however, i n a d v e r t i s i n g t h e i r
business p r o s p e c t s .
Among some o f the advertisements
appearing i n the News a r e
(a) "Vancouver H o t e l , C a r r a l l S t r e e t
Thomas McDonald, P r o p r i e t o r .
Superior Location.
Meals .25$
Lodging .25# t o .500 F i r s t - C l a s s
accomodation i n every r e s p e c t .
S p e c i a l f a c i l i t i e s f o r the
traveling public.
No Chinese employed."
(b) "C.P.R. H o t e l — H a s t i n g s S t . D. McPherson Prop.
T h i s new and commodious h o t e l i s now
open f o r the r e c e p t i o n o f guests. The
t a b l e s u p p l i e d w i t h the best the
market a f f o r d s . Bar s u p p l i e d w i t h
choice l i q u o r s and c i g a r s . " V
Day
appear.
a f t e r day more and more r e a l estate
There i s a l s o a very n o t i c e a b l e
advertisements
v a r i a t i o n of
p r i n t and s p a c i n g i n the advertisements t o draw t h e
attention.
I n f a c t the p r i n t becomes so s t a r t l i n g w i t h
i t s v a r i a t i o n s i n s i z e , shape, and h o r i z o n t a l ,
and
curving
diagonal,
l i n e s that the r e s u l t s become most d i s t o r t i n g
to the eye. No doubt t h e r e were a d v e r t i s e r s who f e l t
some form o f r e l i e f was necessary i n the advertisement
columns f o r on F r i d a y , August 9, 1886 a C i g a r
Store
Advertisement appeared with a good-sized p i c t u r e o f i t s
proprietor.
T h i s was the f i r s t use made o f p o r t r a i t s i n
4. The Vancouver News,
June 8, 1886
16
Vancouver's l o c a l newspapers.
Some o f the " C i t y notes" i n the News are q u i t e
amusing.
E v i d e n t l y James Ross v/as l i v i n g up t o h i s
promise to r i d the c i t y of e v i l when he p u b l i s h e d , "A
p l a i n drunk was r u n i n t o the c o o l e r y e s t e r d a y . "
S e v e r a l l a t e r papers made mention of the use made of
the"cooler".
The News had only i s s u e d twelve
c o p i e s when i t was
destroyed by the great f i r e , y e t on June 17, 1886 j u s t
four days l a t e r , a s m a l l e d i t i o n was s e l l i n g i n Vancouver.
I t s t i t l e was simply, The D a i l y News. The
paper a double
sheet approximately
e i g h t by ten inches
had been p r i n t e d i n New Westminster on the B r i t i s h
Columbian presses by " S i d " Peake, the type being s e t by
"Bob"
Matheson, now a d e n t i s t i n Kelowna.
The
f o l l o w i n g item i n the f i r e i s s u e of June 17, 1886,
shows what a t e r r i b l e d i s a s t e r had b e f a l l e n Vancouver.
The News ' g r a n d i l o q u e n t l y " s t a t e s , "Probably
never s i n c e
the days of Pompeii and Herculaneum was a town L*Wiped
Out Of E x i s t e n c e * so completely and suddenly
Vancouver on Sunday."
then t o l d i n d e t a i l .
as was
The s t o r y of t h e catastrophe was
The r e p o r t was f o l l o w e d by an
o p t i m i s t i c a r t i c l e s t a t i n g t h a t the d i s a s t e r could
5. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e ,
June 13, 1926.
Note:
Sidney Peake worked as compositor f o r the D a i l y
News-Advertiser i n 1888 and f o r the Vforld i n 1889.
He
l a t e r went as a m i s s i o n a r y t o t h e O r i e n t .
Vancouver C i t y D i r e c t o r i e s March, 1888 and
Jan. 1889.
,„
s c a r c e l y impede the progress of Vancouver a t a l l and that
i n a few months or even weeks i t would he r e s t o r e d .
page l i s t s
One
s e v e r a l b u i l d i n g s , i n c l u d i n g a new o f f i c e f o r
the News, which were already under c o n s t r u c t i o n .
l e a s t f o r t y names are given,
nature o f b u s i n e s s .
together
At
w i t h l o c a t i o n and
The l a s t page c o n s i s t s e n t i r e l y o f
small n o t i c e s and a p p l i c a t i o n s f o r l i c e n s e s f o r h o t e l s
and
saloons.
Mr. B. A. McKelvie w r i t i n g about the June 17 copy
of the News s t a t e d that i t was a s t o r y of Vancouver's
s p i r i t , her courage and e n t e r p r i s e o f f o u r decades ago,
for
i n that f i r s t
appearance of the paper a f t e r the
d e s t r u c t i o n of the c i t y were r e c o r d e d
already
the p r e p a r a t i o n s
made t o r e c o n s t r u c t Vancouver from her ashes.
James Ross again p u b l i s h e d
a l a r g e s i z e d paper on
J u l y 2 3 , 1886 from h i s new o f f i c e i n Vancouver.
The
name of Harkness does not appear i n t h i s i s s u e .
He
had s o l d h i s i n t e r e s t and had l e f t
time before
f o r C a l i f o r n i a a short
the p r i n t i n g o f the News was resumed
i n Van-
7
couver.
The i s s u e of J u l y 26, 1886 r e p o r t e d Maurice E .
Kenealy as c i t y e d i t o r .
The paper which was now an
evening j o u r n a l c a r r i e d the former t i t l e
News.
of The Vancouver
James Ross expressed h i s a p p r e c i a t i o n o f
.6. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , June 13, 1926
7. C i t y A r c h i v e s — G e o r g e B a r t l e y ' s l e t t e r t o
Ma j or Ma thews, Ar c h i v i s t.'
August 13, 1940
18
Honorable John Robson i n the e d i t o r i a l o f J u l y 23, 1886
when he wrote,
"In p o l i t i c s we s h a l l pursue an independent course
g i v i n g our g e n e r a l support t o the present P r o v i n c i a l
Government and t o Hon. John Robson who so f a i t h f u l l y
r e p r e s e n t s the New Westminster d i s t r i c t i n which Vancouver
i s i n c l u d e d . So f a r as the Dominion Government i s
concerned we s h a l l do i t f u l l j u s t i c e , s u p p o r t i n g i t
when we consider i t i s on the r i g h t s i d e , and s h a l l not
f a i l when i n our o p i n i o n i t i s pursuing the wrong
to c a l l attention to i t s short-comings."
r
Mention was made i n the same i s s u e of the approaching
e x t e n s i o n of the Canadian P a c i f i c Railway from P o r t
Moody t o Vancouver and of the prospect o f a v i s i t
from
W i l l i a m Van Horne, general manager.
The News became a morning paper again on J u l y 29,
1886.
A Vancouver weather r e p o r t reached the press and
was p u b l i s h e d i n the News August 6, 1886.
r e p o r t s f o l l o w e d i n the succeeding papers.
Thursday, September
D a i l y weather
The i s s u e of
14, 1886 begins the i n t e r e s t i n g
story
of "Gassy Jack", which i s continued i n the next i s s u e .
The e d i t o r i n i n t r o d u c i n g the s t o r y o f the e c c e n t r i c
char-
a c t e r who gave G r a n v i l l e the name o f t'Gastown" s t a t e s
that he i s w r i t i n g the s t o r y f o r the b e n e f i t of f u t u r e
h i s t o r i a n s , s e e k i n g the t r u t h of "Gassy Jack's"'.career.
T h i s a r t i c l e i s w e l l worth r e a d i n g .
Ross quotes
Deighton's own e x p l a n a t i o n f o r h i s voluminous conversation.
8. The Vancouver News.
J u l y 23, 1886.
»9. Note:
JeUh DoV^Min vuwi mcknem*<J CraMf Jack
19
The h i s t o r y of the Vancouver News would not he
complete without a more p e r s o n a l r e f e r e n c e t o t h a t p i o n e e r
J.
p.
Ross who with h i s partner N. Harkness
couver's second d a i l y newspaper.
Ross spent h i s boyhood
i n B e l l e v i l l e , O n t a r i o , but as a young man
c a l l e d him.
He went f i r s t
began Van-
t o Winnipeg
the West
where he worked
i n a p r i n t i n g o f f i c e and then l a t e r h e l d a p o s i t i o n
w i t h the Winnipeg
Free P r e s s .
He
before the r a i l s had reached i t .
came t o Vancouver
He was
i n charge of the News when the f i r s t
May
23, 1887
i n Vancouver
train
arrived
c a r r y i n g so many d i s t i n g u i s h e d
of the Canadian P a c i f i c
Railway.
Ross f a c e d many t r i a l s and d i f f i c u l t i e s
stay i n Vancouver.
officials
He was
during h i s
a t t e n d i n g church s e r v i c e
the morning of the f i r e , when h i s p a r t n e r came and
him that t h e i r home was
out, Ross was
in^immediate
danger.
on
told
Rushing
j u s t i n time t o a s s i s t h i s w i f e and baby
daughter to escape to H a s t i n g s M i l l wharf.
His residence
and a l l h i s e a r t h l y p o s s e s s i o n s i n c l u d i n g the p r i n t i n g
plant f e l l
before the flames that swept on l e a v i n g
d e s o l a t i o n i n t h e i r wake.
He
spent that memorable
Sunday n i g h t s i t t i n g o u t s i d e a fisherman's shack at
M o o d y v i l l e , j u s t a c r o s s the I n l e t , while h i s wife and
c h i l d s l e p t on the fisherman's c o t .
Next morning he
went to V i c t o r i a and purchased a p r i n t i n g p l a n t
J . B. Ferguson who
that c i t y .
from
owned a book and s t a t i o n e r y s t o r e i n
Ross a l s o c o n s u l t e d h i s f r i e n d John Robson
20
and through h i s i n f l u e n c e generous arrangements were made
whereby the "Columbian" i n New Westminster would p r i n t
the
D a i l y News u n t i l such time as Ross c o u l d get h i s
own p l a n t f u n c t i o n i n g i n Vancouver.
The next day Ross
r e t u r n e d t o Vancouver, borrowed a horse and rode bareback t o New Westminster.
He a r r i v e d there i n the
evening, worked a l l n i g h t w r i t i n g up the s t o r y of the
f i r e and on the a f t e r n o o n of the t h i r d day he had h i s
paper s e l l i n g i n Vancouver.
Ross continued t o p u b l i s h i n t h i s strenuous manner
for
a few months but the s t r a i n was great, r i d i n g t o
New Westminster t o get the paper out, working f e v e r i s h l y ,
then r e t u r n i n g t o s e l l
it.
By J u l y 23, 1886 he had a
new p l a n t f u n c t i o n i n g i n Vancouver.
The o f f i c e was s i t -
uated i n a one-storey b u i l d i n g about where the Manitoba
H o t e l now stands on Cordova S t r e e t .
The investments made by James Ross were not v e r y
p r o d u c t i v e f i n a n c i a l l y and i n the s p r i n g of 1887 he
decided t o s e l l out t o M e s s r s . C o t t o n and Gordon.
A
The
l a s t copy of the Vancouver News dated March 30, 1887,
c a r r i e d the n o t i c e of s a l e .
Ross went east a f t e r h i s business d e a l was completed,
w i t h the i n t e n t i o n o f r e m a i n i n g only a s h o r t time but i t
10.
11.
12.
13.
Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver
Daily Province,
Daily Province,
News,
News,
2
*. .
December 20, 1935.
December 5, 1926.
July
23, 1886.
March 30, 1887.
wasn't l o n g before he found h i m s e l f engrossed i n j o u r n a l i s m
i n Smith F a l l s O n t a r i o , where he bought out the Independent.
He c o n t i n u e d t o c o n t r o l and e d i t t h a t paper f o r s e v e r a l
years.
When he e v e n t u a l l y s o l d h i s i n t e r e s t s i n Smith F a l l s ,
Ross bought the Winchester Press, at Winchester, O n t a r i o .
T h i s weekly he c o n t r o l l e d u n t i l h i s death on December 18,
1935.
The l i v e s of p i o n e e r s are c o l o r e d w i t h many i n t e r e s t ing incidents.
The l i f e
of Ross was no e x c e p t i o n .
I n an
e a r l y paper he d e s c r i b e d the scene when Hon. John Robson
came to Vancouver and addressed an open-air meeting.
As
the speaker d e l i v e r e d h i s address from a l a r g e burned
stump he was c o n t i n u a l l y i n t e r r u p t e d by a man named "Moody"
from M o o d y v i l l e .
The next morning the News s a i d some severe
t h i n g s about the i n t e r r u p t e r .
The remarks
so angered
Moody, that he came over from M o o d y v i l l e i n the a f t e r n o o n
w i t h a b i g horsewhip i n t e n d i n g t o t h r a s h t h e e d i t o r .
F o r t u n a t e l y Ross was i n V i c t o r i a and escaped chastisement.
Moody e v i d e n t l y "cooled o f f " f o r he d i d not r e t u r n the
second time.
14. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e . December 20, 1935.
15. The i d e n t i t y of the man "Moody" now appears t o
be unknown. He was not "Sue" Moody of M o o d y v i l l e . The
l a t t e r was drowned i n 1874.
16. Vancouver D a i l y Province, December 20, 1935.
22
Chapter fK
The News-Advertiser
In
the s p r i n g of 1887
the News-Adverti ser
hy the purchase and amalgamation
formed
o f the two e x i s t i n g
j o u r n a l s , the News and the A d v e r t i s e r .
a s s i s t a n c e of R. W.
was
daily
With the f i n a n c i a l
Gordon, F. L. C a r t e r - C o t t o n , became
the
proprietor.
Under the l a t t e r ' s managing e d i t o r s h i p
the
News-Advertiser a c q u i r e d the r e p u t a t i o n of b e i n g the
most - r e l i a b l e j o u r n a l i n B r i t i s h Columbia.
p o l i c y was
Carter-Cotton's
t o p u b l i s h the news as he r e c e i v e d i t .
had any comment he made i t through the e d i t o r i a l
The paper commenced p u b l i c a t i o n March 31,
under the t i t l e The Vancouver News and
Daily Advertiser.
first
columns.
1887
(sub-heading) the
The l a t e r s e r i e s e n t i t l e d The
News-Advertiser v/as begun May
13, 1887.
I f he
Daily
The paper, at
four pages, soon became an eight page seven column
journal.
L i k e i t s p r e d e c e s s o r s , the NewrAdvertiser
became an important a d v e r t i s i n g medium.
B r o k e r s and
r e a l e s t a t e agents sometimes used as much as h a l f a page each
in
order to boost Vancouver's
were p l a c e d on the market.
new
s u b - d i v i s i o n s as they
There were numerous small
advertisements and the reader notes that they begin to be
l a b e l l e d ahd p l a c e d i n v a r i o u s columns a c c o r d i n g to t h e i r
nature.
T h i s i s the f i r s t
s t e p toward c l a s s i f i e d
v e r t i s i n g as we know i t today.
23.
ad-
C a r t e r - C o t t o n was a remarkable man.
by b i r t h and had l i t t l e
itions.
He was E n g l i s h
knowledge of Canada and i t s t r a d -
He had no p r e v i o u s newspaper t r a i n i n g but he had
an unusual business a b i l i t y coupled w i t h r i g i d i d e a s of
honesty and e t h i c a l conduct.
I t was the above f a c t o r s
which entered i n t o the management o f the News-Advertiser
and made o f i t such an o u t s t a n d i n g paper i n the p r o v i n c e
f o r many y e a r s .
The News-Advertiser was above a l l ,
noted f o r i t s
p a i n s t a k i n g accuracy, i t s h i g h l i t e r a r y s t y l e , and i t s
h a r d - s h e l l e d Conservatism.
I t exerted a strong p o l i t i c a l
i n f l u e n c e i n every phase o f c i v i c and p r o v i n c i a l
affairs.
So voluminous were i t s r e p o r t s o f the proceedings of t h e
p r o v i n c i a l l e g i s l a t u r e that the News-Advertiser was n i c k a.
named the "Hansard"
of B r i t i s h Columbia.
I t was C a r t e r -
Cotton's b u s i n e s s i n s t i n c t which prompted him t o adopt
every means p o s s i b l e t o guard h i s e n t e r p r i s e
competition.
against
He accomplished t h i s by s e c u r i n g a monopoly
of the p r e s s s e r v i c e f u r n i s h e d by the T e l e g r a p h Company
3
to morning newspapers.
The value of such a c o n c e s s i o n i n
a new c i t y can e a s i l y be understood.
I t became almost
impossible f o r a r i v a l t o g a i n a. f o o t h o l d .
With
such
s e c u r i t y a g a i n s t c o m p e t i t i o n i n the morning f i e l d he was
1. K e r r , J . B. " J o u r n a l i s m i n Vancouver,"
The B r i t i s h Columbia Magazine,
V l l June 1911
2. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , September 2, 1917.
3. Note: Research not f o l l o w e d up r e the Telegraph
Company. B e l i e v e d t o be the'Canadian P a c i f i c Railway T e l e graph.
24
a b l e t o t u r n h i s a t t e n t i o n t o l o c a l and p r o v i n c i a l
affairs,
becoming one of the p r o v i n c e ' s most i n f l u e n t i a l men.
The News-Advertiser
the H e r a l d b u i l d i n g .
belonged
operated a b i n d e r y business i n
The l a n d on which the b u i l d i n g
t o t h e Canadian P a c i f i c Railway
stood
and as t h i s
company r e f u s e d t o grant a l e a s e the owners of the Ne'wsA d v e r t i s e r were compelled
t o purchase i t .
The o l d H e r a l d
b u i l d i n g was l a t e r occupied by the l a t e M. S. Rose, as a
plumbing and t i n s m i t h ' s shop.
I t had v a r i o u s other
u n t i l i t was f i n a l l y demolished
tenants
t o make way f o r the C a r t e r -
Cotton B u i l d i n g .
The
first
o f f i c e o f t h e News-Advertiser
was a one-
s t o r e y frame b u i l d i n g on the spot now covered by the r e a r
p o r t i o n o f the Dominion Bank.
I n 1890 the o f f i c e was
moved i n t o a b u i l d i n g at the n o r t h - e a s t corner o f Cambie
and Pender S t r e e t s .
News-Advertiser
T h i s b u i l d i n g was c o n s t r u c t e d by the
at a cost o f some $20,000.
Although a
b a r n - l i k e s t r u c t u r e i t was c o n s i d e r e d a n o t a b l e a d d i t i o n
to
t h e c i t y i n those e a r l y days.
at
the corner o f Cambie and Pender S t r e e t s , Mr. G. A. Roedde,
still
The bindery was l o c a t e d
i n business i n Vancouver, was i n charge of t h a t
department.
The l a t e John L. Powell was the foreman of
the job p r i n t i n g room which was l o c a t e d behind
The
business o f f i c e was s i t u a t e d t o the l e f t
W i l l i a m Keene, one of the f i r s t
the b i n d e r y .
o f t h e entrance.
s e t t l e r s i n North Vancouver
4. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , A p r i l 5, 1924.
25
was the bookkeeper.
charge
of c i r c u l a t i o n
The l a t e H. N e v i l l e Smith-was i n
and d e l i v e r y , and many l e a d i n g
p r o f e s s i o n a l and business men of today gained an i n t i m a t e
knowledge of the business as route boys.
The e d i t o r i a l room was next to the o f f i c e .
room f o r many years C a r t e r - C o t t o n v/ould be found
In this
every
n i g h t remaining at h i s desk u n t i l the paper had gone
safely to press.
The e d i t o r i a l room too, served as a grand
r a l l y i n g p l a c e f o r prominent p o l i t i c i a n s
d u r i n g those
s t i r r i n g e l e c t i o n s o f the 90's.
The
r e p o r t e r s ' room with J . B. K e r r i n charge
l o c a l work a d j o i n e d t h e e d i t o r i a l room.
"Husky" J a c k
Wilson, k i l l e d i n the Boer Vfeir was p r o o f r e a d e r .
Spink, l a t e r
of the
Thomas
of P o r t Haney was the foreman i n the composing\
room.. Between the composing room and the job room was the
press room, the l a t e
George Pound b e i n g i n charge
of that
department, while o l d "Pete" A t k i n s o n r a n the newspaper
press.
Among the other p i o n e e r s o f the s t a f f were R. E .
G o s n e l l , W. A. Calhoun,
C o l o n e l Wornsnop, J . Powell,
G. F. Pound S r . , D. Jameson, J . Wright, H a r r y
Dodds,^^
Robert Holloway, George Bartley,'Thomas Spink,^W. S.
Armstrong, J . A. C l a r k , W. M . Waters and W. J . G a l l a g h e r .
S t i l l others who were a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the News-Advertiser
i n c l u d e d Senator T a y l o r of New Westminster., Mrs. J u l i a
Henshaw, p i o n e e r woman j o u r n a l i s t ,
26
N. C. Schon, f o r many
/
y e a r s reeve of Burnaby,
J . H. MacG-ill, l a t e r a p r a c t i s i n g
b a r r i s t e r , E. J . H a r r i s o n , who
l a t e r became correspondent
f o r the London Times and f o r the Harmsworth press i n Japan,
Roy W. Brown, l a t e r of the World, of the P r o v i n c e f o r over
t h i r t y y e a r s , and now
of the Sun, and F. J . Burdr managing
d i r e c t o r o f the P r o v i n c e .
J . D. McNiven who
M i n i s t e r of Labour f o r B r i t i s h Columbia
the News-Advertiser.
John Nelson who
became Deputy
a l s o worked w i t h
was managing
director
of the News-Advertiser f o r f i v e years under the ownership
of J . S. H. Matson w i l l r e c e i v e f u r t h e r mention i n connect i o n w i t h the World.
Soon a f t e r i t s establishment the News-Advertiser opened an agency i n New
Westmenster w i t h F. Bourne as agent
and correspondent.
He was
l a t e r of North Vancouver.
each morning
to New
succeeded by Alexander P h i l i p ,
The News-Advertiser was
Westminster
drawn by two h o r s e s .
conveyed
i n a two-wheeled c a r t
The v e h i c l e was
d r i v e n r a i n or s h i n e
if
f o r many y e a r s by " C h a r l i e " Jones.
" C h a r l i e " and h i s r i g may
E x c e l l e n t p i c t u r e s of
be seen i n the C i t y A r c h i v e s .
The s t o r y o f F. L. C a r t e r - C o t t o n ' s f i r s t and
" S p e c i a l E d i t i o n " i s o f t e n r e f e r r e d to by
early j o u r n a l i s t s .
specialist
only
Vancouver's
John Warren, the v e t e r a n news and job
of Western Canada had a r r i v e d i n Vancouver i n
February 1889.
He had heard of the proposed new
5. Vancouver
Daily Province,
2?
June, 1936.
street
passim
car
system which was to have c o n s i s t e d of horse c a r s .
he walked
around he saw the new News-Advertiser
and mistook i t f o r the s t r e e t c a r s t a b l e s .
As
building
On enquiry,
however, he found that i t was the spot he was s e e k i n g .
George Pound, the pressman, was there w r e s t l i n g w i t h the
1888
Christmas Number of the News-Advertiser.
extreme c o l d the Christmas e d i t i o n was s t i l l
Due t o the
i n the p r e s s .
C o a l - o i l lamps were used to keep the presses warm.
That
was the l a s t " s p e c i a l e d i t i o n " ever attempted by
Carter-Cotton.
I t was no easy task t o p u b l i s h a newspaper i n the
e a r l y days of Vancouver's
history.
There were both f i n a n -
c i a l and mechanical d i f f i c u l t i e s t o be f a c e d . •In 1890
and f o r many years afterwards Vancouver's
population of
15,000 had no l e s s than three d a i l y papers.
Competition
was keen and the f i n a n c i a l d e p r e s s i o n of the e a r l y 90's
which f o l l o w e d t h e r a i l r o a d boom days made t h e p u b l i s h i n g
of
a d a i l y paper a very r i s k y v e n t u r e .
The f i r s t
type was s e t by hand and the paper was
p r i n t e d on a "Country Campbell"press, two pages at a time
so that an eight-page paper had t o be put through the press
f o u r times and then the sheets f o l d e d by hand.
at
Power was
one time s u p p l i e d by an e l e c t r i c motor, the News-
A d v e r t i s e r making the undisputed c l a i m of being the f i r s t
paper on t h i s c o n t i n e n t to use e l e c t r i c i t y f o r i t s p r e s s .
r
6. Vancouver
Daily Province.
28
April
5, 1924.
A f t e r the s t r e e t cars v/ere s t a r t e d , however, the c u r r e n t
v/as of too great a Voltage and c o u l d not he used.
wheel v/as then i n s t a l l e d i n the Cambie S t r e e t
7
A v/ater
building
w i t h a steam engine f o r r e s e r v e power.
I n January 1893 Vancouver
experienced one of the
coldest periods i n i t s h i s t o r y .
The thermometer went down
to f o u r degrees below zero and the News-Advertiser
missed p u b l i c a t i o n .
S e t t i n g type by hand i n a b u i l d i n g
not c o n s t r u c t e d f o r c o l d weather was
of i c e w i t h bare hands.
l i k e h a n d l i n g chunks
The type cases had t o be crowded
i n t o the r e p o r t e r s ' room where the men
the type w h i l e Tom
f r o s t was
managed to set up
Spink wrapped up i n h i s overcoat made
up the forms i n the c h i l l y composing
paper under
almost
such c o n d i t i o n s was
room.
P r i n t i n g the
a difficult
task.
The
on the r o l l e r s and use had to be a g a i n made of
the o i l - l a m p s p l a c e d under
the i n k w e l l s .
the paper, though some hours l a t e f i n a l l y
Nevertheless
appeared.
T y p e s e t t i n g machines were f i r s t used i n 1893 by the
V i c t o r i a Times and the News-Advertiser, These papers.- were the
„ B r i t i s h Columbia
paper*to use them.
p r i n t e r s o c c u r r e d i n Vancouver
A s t r i k e of the
and l a s t e d a week, but not
a s i n g l e i s s u e of the News-Advertiser was
paper was
missed.
brought out by members o f the e d i t o r i a l
business s t a f f .
The s t r i k e was
The
and
r e a l l y an i l l - a d v i s e d
attempt
to prevent the use of the "Rogers" t y p e s e t t i n g machines
7>.
C i t y A r c h i v e s Notes.
29
and was staged with, r e l u c t a n c e hy the News - Ad v er t i s er s t a f f ,
as Garter-Cotton* s r e l a t i o n s w i t h h i s employees were a t a l l
times
o f t h e most f r i e n d l y n a t u r e .
The "Old Man" as he
was termed, was h i g h l y esteemed hy a l l members o f h i s s t a f f .
An
e r r a t i c and expensive
t e l e g r a p h s e r v i c e was
obtained i n t h e e a r l y days over the government t e l e g r a p h
l i n e s t o the U n i t e d S t a t e s , v i a New Westminster t o Vancouver,
but as soon;.as the Canadian P a c i f i c Railway had completed
t h e i r t e l e g r a p h l i n e t o the coast i t p r o v i d e d good news
service.
U n t i l the o f f i c e on H a s t i n g s
s t r e e t was b u i l t
the Canadian P a c i f i c Railway t e l e g r a p h operators were
l o c a t e d on the top f l o o r o f the New York Block on G r a n v i l l e
Street.
Messages were d e l i v e r e d at n i g h t by a man some-
what advanced i n y e a r s .
d u t i e s to perform
The messenger u s u a l l y had many
and very o f t e n the d e l i v e r y of press
despatches t o the News-Advertiser was delayed.
too, on the o c c a s i o n of some important
Very o f t e n
news item a member
of the paper s t a f f made s e v e r a l t r i p s from Cambie to
G r a n v i l l e S t r e e t and climbed up to the f o u r t h f l o o r
were no e l e v a t o r s ) t o secure
publication.
1896
(there
the despatches i n time f o r
T h i s was q u i t e a.task on stormy n i g h t s .
In
on the o c c a s i o n of the Dominion e l e c t i o n which
r e t u r n e d S i r W i l f r e d L a u r i e r t o power f o r the f i r s t
time,
the News-Advertiser had a Canadian P a c i f i c Railway
t e l e g r a p h wire s t r u n g i n t o i t s b u i l d i n g and r e c e i v e d the
returns d i r e c t .
The l a t t e r was considered a great
achievement.
8. See f o o t n o t e P.24:„
'
9. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e A p r i l 5, 1924.
30
Space w i l l not permit the r e c a l l of a l l the many
trials
fully
of e a r l y j o u r n a l i s m that the News-Advertiser
overcame.
success-
S u f f i c e i t t o say that w i t h the r e t u r n e d
p r o s p e r i t y of the years 1897 and 1898 the newspapers
r e c e i v e d t h e i r share of s u c c e s s .
The News-Advertiser
expanded t o t h e i r new b u i l d i n g on the corner o f Pender and
Hamilton i n 1907. T h i s b u i l d i n g was l a t e r occupied by the
Morning S t a r .
J . S. H. Matson purchased the newspaper
from C a r t e r - C o t t o n i n A p r i l 1910 and John N e l s o n became
manager with S. D. S c o t t e d i t o r .
L a t e r A. Lineham was
appointed manager and h i s s u c c e s s o r v/as P. J . S a l t e r .
The p l a n t was moved to Pender S t r e e t
j u s t . o p p o s i t e the
present "Sun Tower".
The p o l i c y of t h e paper
changed with the ownership.
Although always C o n s e r v a t i v e i n p o l i t i c s - i t .-now-became'the
official
organ of the P r o v i n c i a l C o n s e r v a t i v e p a r t y .
The
e d i t o r i a l s were o f the o l d s c h o o l o f Toryism s a t u r a t e d
with S i r John A Macdonald's n a t i o n a l p o l i c y .
When the
Bowser government v/as thrown out of o f f i c e i n the e l e c t i o n s
of 1916 the News-Advertiser
A l l former patronage
l o s t a g r e a t d e a l of i n f l u e n c e .
from the government v/as cut o f f and
i t was p l a c e d i n circumstances where i t must sooner or
later collapse.
Competition becoming s t r o n g e r , Matson
s o l d out, on September 1, 1917, t o the Morning Sun, then
owned by R. J . Cromie.
The News-Advertiser
dated August
31, 1917 c a r r i e d
i n i t s e d i t o r i a l the announcement o f s a l e .
Matson wrote,
"I have s o l d the News-Advertiser to the Sun P u b l i s h i n g
Company, and t o d a y ' s _ i s s u e w i l l be the l a s t of t h a t paper
which i s t o be amalgamated with the Sun.
I t has been
known f o r some years that one morning paper would f u l l y
supply the demands of the c i t y of Vancouver and I'm sure
the Sun w i l l meet the requirements."
He expressed h i s g r a t i t u d e t o the patrons of the paper, to
his
business s t a f f , and t o the e d i t o r S. D. S c o t t whose
l o y a l t y , devotion, mature judgment, and f o r c e f u l
had guided the paper f o r so many y e a r s .
articles
He added that i t
was h i s ov/n i n t e n t i o n to devote h i s e n t i r e time to the
V i c t o r i a C o l o n i s t v/hich he owned and
It
controlled.
i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o note C a r t e r - C o t t o n ' s prominence
o u t s i d e the realm of j o u r n a l i s m .
For 26 years save f o r a
b r i e f i n t e r v a l he was member of the p r o v i n c i a l
being the r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of Vancouver
Richmond i n 1903.
legislature
i n 1890-1900 and f o r
During that p e r i o d he h e l d at v a r i o u s
times the o f f i c e s of m i n i s t e r of f i n a n c e and
1898-1900, c h i e f commissioner
agriculture,
of l a n d s and works 1899-1900
and p r e s i d e n t of the c o u n c i l 1904-1910.
In 1913 he became
p r e s i d e n t of the Board of Trade, of which he v/as a c h a r t e r
member.
He was
commissioners
chairman of the f i r s t
i n 1913.
board of harbor
He v/as a l s o , i n 1912,
the
c h a n c e l l o r of the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia
first
and
although not a c o l l e g e graduate, he devoted h i m s e l f to i t s
support.
He
d i e d i n Vancouver,
J . S. H. Matson, who
November 20,
1919.
owned the News-Advertiser f o r
seven_years 1910-1917, died suddenly November 1, 1931, i n
32
Victoria.
Ontario.
Matson was born A p r i l E l , 1869 i n York County,
He was educated
a young man h
e
i n t h a t p r o v i n c e but when
still
went t o Michigan with the purpose o f
l e a r n i n g the lumbering
b u s i n e s s . He met with an a c c i d e n t
while i n charge of a l o g g i n g o p e r a t i o n and when he had
s u f f i c i e n t l y recovered he l e f t
Victoria,
B r i t i s h Columbia.
and brokerage b u s i n e s s .
He then entered the insurance
On J u l y 13, 1906, Matson a c q u i r e d
c o n t r o l of the C o l o n i s t .
his
that o c c u p a t i o n and came t o
He decided i n 1910, t o expand
o p e r a t i o n s i n the j o u r n a l i s t i c
of the News-Advertiser
of that c i t y .
f i e l d by the a c q u i s i t i o n
i n Vancouver and the Nanaimo H e r a l d
A f t e r seven years he disposed of both the
l a t t e r p r o p e r t i e s , c o n c e n t r a t i n g h i s newspaper endeavours
upon the development of the C o l o n i s t .
10. The D a i l y C o l o n i s t , V i c t o r i a , B. C.
November.3, 1931.
33
Chapter V.*..'.
The World.
The Vancouver World was e s t a b l i s h e d September
1888 by J . C. McLagan who
29,
had p r e v i o u s l y a s s i s t e d i n the
establishment of the V i c t o r i a Times.
was l o c a t e d i n the o l d Masonic H a l l ,
between Homer and Cambie S t r e e t s .
The o r i g i n a l
office
on Cordova S t r e e t ,
I t moved i n t o i t s own
b u i l d i n g near the corner of Pender and Homer on May
24,
1891 from which p l a c e i t continued to be p u b l i s h e d
until
it
again moved i n t o i t s l a s t home, the s t a t e l y World
B u i l d i n g at Pender and Beatty
McLagan was
streets.
a s s i s t e d i n the above e n t e r p r i s e by
O'Brien and R. A. Anderson, ex-mayor.
O'Brien, who
J.M.
had pre
v i o u s l y been a s s o c i a t e d with D. W. H i g g i n s on the C o l o n i s t
V i c t o r i a , became e d i t o r .
He was
a c l e v e r w r i t e r but
u n f o r t u n a t e l y i l l n e s s f o r c e d him to leave the World and
r e t u r n to h i s n a t i v e New
Brunswick where he d i e d .
The World, i n o p p o s i t i o n to i t s morning r i v a l the
News-Advertiser. tedded t o be L i b e r a l i n p o l i t i c s .
C a r t e r - C o t t o n had a s t u t e l y secured a monopoly
Since
of news
s e r v i c e s the World had many d i f f i c u l t i e s to f a c e .
McLagan
made the World a standard both f o r the c i r c u l a t i o n of i t s
- news and f o r the e x p r e s s i o n of o p i n i o n that has to do with
1. News-Advertiser, June 29,
1913.
2. I n t e r v i e w with Roy W. Brown,
The Vancouver
Sun.
34
the
shaping of p u b l i c thought and
e d i t o r i a l he
action.
In h i s
s t a t e d that the World proposed to conserve
the very best i n t e r e s t s of Vancouver and
more e s p e c i a l l y to Vancouver c i t i z e n s .
that i t would
He
that the World would endeavour to b u i l d up
moral, and
first
s o c i a l l i f e of the
city.
H i s widow, Mrs.
added f u r t h e r
the
McLagan
adhered to t h i s p o l i c y u n t i l h i s death i n
McLagan w i t h the
cater
material,
strictly
1901.
assistance
of
brother F r e d MeClure from Matsqui assumed charge of
her
the
4
paper from McLagan's death u n t i l 1905.
business manager and
during
paper.
the
V i c t o r i a Colonist
and
O'Brien continued as e d i t o r i a l
time that Mrs.
H i g g i n s who
had
McLagan was
been at one
p e r s o n a l i t y wrote w i t h a powerful pen.
McLagan
outstanding
He
had
had
journal-
founded the San
Francisco
Chronicle
some y e a r s earl^-
While a c t i n g as e d i t o r f o r the World he
also
served
as speaker of the L e g i s l a t u r e f o r approximately two
H i g g i n s was
noted f o r h i s a b i l i t i e s as an author.
s e v e r a l books on B r i t i s h Columbia, two
important s t u d i e s .
"The
the
experience before coming t o B r i t i s h Columbia i n t h a t
he had
ier.
the
time the owner of
H i g g i n s , an
as
writer
i n c o n t r o l of
a l s o served as e d i t o r f o r Mrs.
l a t e r f o r L. D. T a y l o r .
istic
MeClure a c t e d
Mystic
They are
"The
of which
World,
Files.
September 29,
35
He
1888
wrote
are
P a s s i n g of a Race"
Spring."
3. The
4. Sun
years.
and
Mrs. McLagan had the honour.of being the f i r s t woman
e d i t o r i n Canada of a d a i l y paper.
For four
strenuous
years she f o l l o w e d the dictates, of a h i g h i d e a l as t o the
educative and r e g u l a t i v e f o r c e a paper should s t r i v e t o
exert f o r the good of a community.
She maintained the
standard her husband had s e t , d e s p i t e o p p o s i t i o n . The
s t o r y i s t o l d t h a t a t one time, i n order t o prevent r
unauthorized
w l
copy f i n d i n g i t s way i n t o the paper
s u r r e p t i t i o u s l y , Mrs. McLagan e x e r c i s e d a vigorous
censor-
s h i p as proofreader and i n t h i s matter she r a n counter t o
an i n t e r n a t i o n a l law o f the T y p o g r a p h i c a l Union,
s
s t i p u l a t i n g the employment o f a union worker.
I n 1905 the World was purchased
by Ex-Mayor L.D.
T a y l o r and Mrs. A. H. Berry, the daughter o f Jonathan
M i l l e r , the c i t y ' s f i r s t postmaster.
V i c t o r Odium, shared
i n the f i n a n c i n g of the t r a n s a c t i o n whereby he became a
p a r t n e r i n the ownership o f the paper.
Apparently
were numerous f i n a n c i a l c o m p l i c a t i o n s which t h i s
w i l l not attempt t o s o l v e .
there
essay
I t can be s a i d however, t h a t
General Odium's share i n the World as p a r t n e r and as
r e p o r t e r was h i s f i r s t venture
i n the newspaper b u s i n e s s .
In 1924, as owner o f the S t a r he took a more a c t i v e p l a c e
i n Vancouver's j o u r n a l i s t i c
field.
When the r e a l e s t a t e boom came t o Vancouver about
5. B i o g r a p h i c a l ,
Vancouver.
36
IV: 1191
1910 the World q u i c k l y became a money making p r o p o s i t i o n .
Business and c i r c u l a t i o n grew r a p i d l y .
The paper was
filled
w i t h d i s p l a y a d v e r t i s e m e n t s . R i d i n g on the " c r e s t o f the
wave" the p r o p r i e t o r s of the World b u i l t one o f Vancouver's
first
s k y s c r a p e r s i n 1912.
T h i s s t r u c t u r e , l a t e r known
as the Bekins B u i l d i n g , and now as the "Sun Tower" was
-
named the "World B u i l d i n g " . - For many y e a r s the World
boasted t h a t t h e i r 17-storey s t r u c t u r e was the h i g h e s t i n
the
British
Empire.
The boom b u r s t i n 1913 and as d e p r e s s i o n s e t i n the
1
big
b u i l d i n g was f o r c e d i n t o bankruptcy.
The World news-
paper was purchased by a group o f men l e d by the l a t e John
Nelson.
Nelson had had previous newspaper e x p e r i e n c e . He
was f i r s t
c i t y e d i t o r of the V i c t o r i a Times and when
Matson bought the News-Advertiser i n Vancouver he brought
Nelson from V i c t o r i a to manage i t .
Nelson remained
managing d i r e c t o r o f the News-Advertiser u n t i l 1915 when
he became p u b l i s h e r o f the Vancouver World.
The purchase of the World May 4, 1915 was completed
only a f t e r many l e g a l d i f f i c u l t i e s ,
and i t s f i n a l
acquisi-
t i o n came a f t e r a dramatic " f i n a n c i a l episode" famous i n
the
h i s t o r y of j o u r n a l i s m i n Vancouver.
In one n i g h t
John Nelson and s t a f f moved the whole p l a n t , machinery,
6. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e .
» Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e .
* Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e .
7
8
37
June 20, 1936.
June 20, 1936.
January 25, 1936.
books, and equipment from the o f f i c e s i n the famous "World
B u i l d i n g " t o new headquarters at Hastings and R i c h a r d s
Streets.
D u r i n g the year i t again moved to a more spacious
l o c a t i o n at the corner of R i c h a r d s and Pender S t r e e t s .
Under Nelson'a management the World claimed to be independent i n p o l i t i c s .
The D a i l y P r o v i n c e , January 25,
1936
s t a t e s however, that f o r a time i t became the o f f i c i a l
organ of the P r o h i b i t i o n p a r t y which was an important f o r c e
in British
Columbia p o l i t i c s .
On May
1, 1921 Nelson s o l d the World to C h a r l e s E.
Campbell who had a l r e a d y h e l d s e v e r a l newspaper
positions.
Campbell was unable t o r e v i v e the paper on a paying b a s i s
and on March 11, 1924 he s o l d out t o the Morning Sun which
took over the World's evening f i e l d .
to
The f o l l o w i n g n o t i c e
the p u b l i c and signed by Campbell (owner and p u b l i s h e r )
appeared on the f r o n t page of the World's l a s t
issue.
" R e a l i z i n g the advantages to r e a d e r s and the economies
to a d v e r t i s e r s of a c o n s o l i d a t i o n of newspapers i n Vancouver
I have today accepted an a t t r a c t i v e o f f e r f o r the Vancouver
D a i l y World..from Robert Cromie, e d i t o r , and p u b l i s h e r of
the Vancouver Sun/'
Campbell thanked the p u b l i c f o r past support and wished
his
readers and the new Vancouver Evening Sun every s u c c e s s .
9. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e . March 11, 1924.
10. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e . January 25, 1936.
11. The World, March 11, 1924 s t a t e s that the World
has been s o l d to R. J . Cromie f o r $475,000 and t h a t
Charles E. Campbell had purchased that naper i n 1921 f o r
$250,000.
c
38
In
a h i s t o r i c a l sense the p a s s i n g of the World was
an o u t s t a n d i n g event i n Vancouver.
A v e t e r a n paper, a
s u r v i v o r of the e a r l i e s t days o f the c i t y had disappeared.
But what of i t s noted pioneer
journalists?
John C. McLagan, the World's founder had d i e d A p r i l
10,
1901, but o l d - t i m e r s i n the c i t y l o v e t o r e c a l l the
s t e r l i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of h i s l i f e .
T h i s beloved p i o n e e r ,
as s t a t e d e a r l i e r , was f o r many years a c e n t r a l f i g u r e o f
j o u r n a l i s m , as the founder, p u b l i s h e r , and e d i t o r o f the
Vancouver World.
McLagan was born i n P e r t h s h i r e S c o t l a n d ,
J u l y 22, 1838 and came t o Canada i n e a r l y l i f e .
He began
j o u r n a l i s m as a p r i n t e r i n the S e n t i n e l o f f i c e a t Woodstock,
O n t a r i o , and from"1862 u n t i l 1870 was a s s o c i a t e d w i t h
James Innes i n the p u b l i c a t i o n of the Guelph Mercury.
After
s e v e r i n g connections with the Mercury he e n t e r e d the
sewing machine business i n Guelph.
McLagan came west t o
Winnipeg i n 1880 and w h i l e there he operated the job p r i n t ing
department of the Free P r e s s .
I n 1882 he came f u r t h e r
west t o V i c t o r i a where he not only a s s i s t e d i n the e s t a b l i s h
meht o f the Times and became i t s e d i t o r but he a l s o formed
a p a r t n e r s h i p and s e t up a r e a l e s t a t e and brokerage
business under the name o f Robertson
and McLagan. H i s
connection w i t h j o u r n a l i s m i n Vancouver began with the
founding of the World.
McLagan gave the World readers the best that circumstances would j u s t i f y .
H i s energy up t o the time o f h i s
f a t a l i l l n e s s was remarkable.
39
Even when he was dying he
-
had h i s correspondence sent to h i s bedside so n o t h i n g would
go amiss.
He had f a i t h i n Vancouver
faith, by h i s works.
always honorable.
and he j u s t i f i e d h i s
As a c i t i z e n McLagan's purposes were
He was a Mason of h i g h order, a. member of
the
o l d S t . Andrew's Church, and an honorary member o f
the
Vancouver
Board of Trade and o f the L i b e r a l A s s o c i a t i o n .
He never f o r g o t h i s S c o t t i s h o r i g i n and became one of the
first
members o f the S t . Andrew's and the Caledonian
S o c i e t i e s of Vancouver.
L o u i s Dennison T a y l o r , now l i v i n g
a v i g o r o u s l i f e as mayor o f Vancouver
i n retirement l e d
f o r s e v e r a l years
and as owner of the World f o r n e a r l y eleven y e a r s .
This
pioneer j o u r n a l i s t u n i v e r s a l l y known as "L.D." was born
>z
in
His
the then s m a l l u n i v e r s i t y town of Ann Arbor, M i c h i g a n .
first
t a s t e f o r the p u b l i c a t i o n business came, as a
boy, by way of d i s t r i b u t i n g almanacs f o r a s m a l l p r i n t i n g
establishment of the Ann Arbor C o u r i e r .
The l u r e f o r
p u b l i c a t i o n a c t i v i t i e s l e d him on u n t i l a f t e r many experi e n c e s , he found h i m s e l f i n Vancouver
c i r c u l a t i o n department
In
working i n the
of the P r o v i n c e f o r Walter N i c h o l .
1905 L.D. T a y l o r became deeply i n v o l v e d i n j o u r -
nalism when he took over the p u b l i s h i n g of the World.
12. Vancouver
Dally Province
February 28, 1939.
40
He
forged s t e a d i l y ahead though the path was o f t e n stormy.
Through h i s e f f o r t s i n combatting
the o r i g i n a l Canadian
P a c i f i c monopoly on news f o r Canadian papers,
finally
suggested
a conference—the
that r a i l w a y
outcome of which was
/a
the formation, of the Canadian P r e s s .
The World became one
of the o r i g i n a l s h a r e h o l d e r s and was the f i r s t paper i n
Canada t o o b t a i n d i r e c t wire
service.
While owner o f the World T a y l o r experienced
boom years and d e p r e s s i o n y e a r s .
both
He was always a f r i e n d o f
labour and i n that connection he took a s t r o n g stand i n
h i s paper.
He took the same stand as the c i t y ' s
m a g i s t r a t e f o r eleven y e a r s .
i n h i s mayoralty
u s u a l l y found
15,
chief
He was not always s u c c e s s f u l
campaigns,- but i n h i s younger days he was
i n the midst of c i v i c
1936 he made h i s seventeenth
elections.
On December
attempt to be e l e c t e d
mayor.
T a y l o r has been the host f o r many r o y a l
visitors—
h i s autograph book, now being one o f h i s p r i z e d possessions.
When speaking of h i s own p u b l i c l i f e
"L.D." r e c e n t l y wrote,
" I have had a l o t o f g r i e f and a l o t of f u n .
I have made
enemies but I have made more f r i e n d s . "
John Nelson who c o n t r o l l e d the World i n the y e a r s
1915-1921 occupies a warm place i n t h e hearts of a l l who
knew him,
not only i n Vancouver, but across Canada and i n
other l a n d s . He made h i s i n f l u e n c e f e l t i n many i n t e r 13. Note: L.D. T a y l o r ' s e f f o r t s were accentuated
by the f a c t t h a t the Canadian P a c i f i c Railway o f f i c i a l s had
r e f u s e d to cash one of h i s cheques.
14. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , September 18, 1936.
n a t i o n a l f i e l d s and d i e d i n January 1936 w h i l e a t t e n d i n g
a t r u s t e e s m e e t i n g o f the Rotary I n t e r n a t i o n a l Foundation
in
Chicago.
Nelson was born i n P a i s l e y , O n t a r i o , and came to the
coast i n 1898 where he became f i r s t c i t y e d i t o r of the
V i c t o r i a Times.
Mention has a l r e a d y been made of h i s
j o u r n a l i s t i c work w h i l e i n Vancouver.
When he s o l d the
World i n 1921 he d i d not immediately leave the p u b l i s h i n g
field
but remained
f o r a short time i n the weekly f i e l d as
p u b l i s h e r of the B. C. U n i t e d Farmer.
ink"
T i r i n g of " p r i n t e r ' s
i n 1925?' he became s u p e r v i s o r of the p u b l i c
department
relations
of the Sun L i f e Assurance Company of Canada.
T h i s p o s i t i o n took him t o Montreal h i s p l a c e o f r e s i d e n c e
when he died January, 1936.
At
the
one time Nelson conducted a r a c i a l survey c o v e r i n g
e n t i r e P a c i f i c coast from the Mexican boundary
including Alaska.
t o , and
As d i r e c t o r o f t h e Western A s s o c i a t e d
Press he took a foremost p a r t i n the c o - o p e r a t i v e movement
of
Western Canadian d a i l y newspapers f o r the c o l l e c t i o n and
d i s t r i b u t i o n o f news.
of
the B r i t i s h Columbia
fold.
He was i n s t r u m e n t a l i n the b r i n g i n g
d a i l y newspapers i n t o the "W.
A. P."
A l t o g e t h e r h i s work took him around the world, t o
Honolulu and t o Japan i n 1929.
Nelson had a p l e a s i n g p e r s o n a l i t y .
He was an e x c e l l e n t
c o n v e r s a t i o n a l i s t and a good p u b l i c speaker w i t h an i n e x h a u s t i b l e fund of s t o r i e s .
H i s c o n t r i b u t i o n t o Canadian
42
>'
*
and i n t e r n a t i o n a l l i f e w i l l long be remembered.
G h a r l e s E. Campbell, owner and manager of the World
during the l a s t three y e a r s of i t s l i f e
journalist.
his
He was
born May
16, 1885
i s another noted
i n Des Moines, Iowa,
p a r e n t s having migrated from W o o d v i l l e , O n t a r i o f o r a
short time.
Campbell came t o Vanoouver w i t h h i s p a r e n t s
i n May,
and attended the Vancouver
his
1898
schools.
He began
newspaper career as a newsboy s e l l i n g papers a f t e r
s c h o o l hours.
As a young man
he worked w i t h h i s f a t h e r ' s
business, "Campbell's Storage Company, L i m i t e d " from
January 1910 u n t i l the b u s i n e s s was s o l d i n 1921 to the
Mainland T r a n s f e r Company.
Campbell became a s h a r e h o l d e r i n the Vancouver
i n 1912 and l a t e r became one of the d i r e c t o r s .
a q u a r r e l with Cromie i n 1921 over p o l i c y ,
Sun
Following
Campbell
purchased the Vancouver World from i t s then owners,
"Cameron and Davidson" c o n t r a c t o r s .
He s o l d the World to
Cromie i n 1923 and i n 1924 he founded the S t a r but s o l d i t
to V i c t o r Odium a f t e r a month and a h a l f .
purchased the Edmonton B u l l e t i n i n 1925
Campbell
and has remained
owner and p u b l i s h e r of that paper t o the present time.
#
SeoL
-tke
Sun
January
15. See appendix
Edmonton B u l l e t i n .
AT
I13L
L e t t e r from C h a r l e s E. Campbell,
:43
Chapter VT '
The D a i l y
Telegram
An i n t e r e s t i n g paper i n Vancouver's
e a r l y days was
the Telegram which began about June 7, 1890. W. J .
G a l l a g h e r , a former member o f the News-Advertiser
organized the company which supported the v e n t u r e .
staff
The
Telegram was f i n a n c e d by Mayor David Oppenheimer, J . W.
Home ( an ex M.P.P.), C. D. Rand and other prominent
c i t i z e n s who were annoyed
by the i n s i s t e n t a t t a c k s made
by the News-Advertiser upon the p o l i c y pursued by t h e
c i v i c government.
The Telegram was designed t o c o u n t e r a c t
C a r t e r - C o t t o n ' s i n f l u e n c e with the p u b l i c .
The e x i s t e n c e of the Telegram was not j u s t i f i e d by
the p o p u l a t i o n of the c i t y , then about 17,000, but the
men behind the paper b e l i e v e d that i f the paper was w e l l
managed i t might o b t a i n a f o o t h o l d and e v e n t u a l l y
at the expense
thrive
of both the News-Advertiser and the World.
The Telegram however, could not e x i s t by p o l i t i c a l
animosity alone.
The p u b l i c was unimpressed.
As i s
u s u a l l y the case when an e n t e r p r i s e i s under the c o n t r o l
of a committee,
no c o n s i s t e n t p o l i c y was pursued and t h e
Telegram o r g a n i z a t i o n l a c k e d p e r s o n a l v i g o r .
1. News-Advertiser June 29, 1913.
2. K e r r , J . B. J o u r n a l i s m i n Vancouver
The B r i t i s h Columbia Magazine
V I I 576-579
June, 1911.
44
Ill-feeling
arose among the d i r e c t o r s due t o p e r s o n a l a t t a c k s made by
the
News-Advertiser a t the c i v i c government, the important
members o f which were members o f t h e Telegram.
the
first
Gradually
enthusiasm o f the Telegram s t a f f d i m i n i s h e d .
A f t e r two years d u r a t i o n W. J . G a l l a g h e r found h i m s e l f
doing the work o f the o f f i c e boy and y e t being unable to
make even an o f f i c e boy's s a l a r y .
Telegram q u i e t l y
The f i r s t
l a t e - i n 1092' the :
ceased":publication.,,
copy o f the Vancouver
...
D a i l y Telegram to be
preserved i n the P r o v i n c i a l A r c h i v e s i s number 47 and i s
dated J u l y 31, 1890.
T h i s j o u r n a l , comprised of f o u r
l a r g e pages was i s s u e d d a i l y from i t s o f f i c e on Homer
S t r e e t u n t i l J u l y 3, 1891 when i t was moved t o the New
Horne Block, Cambie S t r e e t .
A l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n of the f r o n t
page of each i s s u e c a r r i e s l o n g l i s t s
of s m a l l a d v e r t i s e -
ments under such headings as l e g a l , s o c i e t y ,
l o s t , t o r e n t , and f o r s a l e .
professional,
Many l a r g e advertisements
appear on the i n s i d e pages, s e v e r a l occupying the f u l l
width of the paper and from one q u a r t e r t o one t h i r d of
its
depth.
The i s s u e dated October 12, 1891, as w e l l as s e v e r a l
succeeding i s s u e s d i s p l a y a very l a r g e advertisement
advocating the use of "Home R e f i n e d Sugars".
I t emphatic-
a l l y d i s c o u r a g e s the use of "Chinese sugar" by d e p i c t i n g
3. I n t e r v i e w — L y n n Brown o f K i t s i l a n o
4. The Telegram, J u l y 31, 1890
... 45
Times.
two l a r g e i n s e c t s with numerous l e g s , and w i t h the
s u g g e s t i o n that they are only one of the many f o r e i g n
e n t i t i e s to be found i n that brand of sugar.
ment s t a t e s f u r t h e r t h a t t h i s u g l y l i t t l e
The
animal may
c a r r y i n g l e p r o s y or some other e q u a l l y loathsome
disease.
There seems l i t t l e
advertisebe
Oriental
doubt but that r e a d e r s of the
Telegram would immediately d i s c o n t i n u e the use of Chinese
sugar.
Other advertisements show a d e f i n i t e
t i o n i n form, type, and g e n e r a l arrangement.
i l l u s t r a t i n g the b e n e f i t s to be d e r i v e d from
experimentaPictures
certain
patent medicines are e q u a l l y amusing.
The Telegram resembled the two
e a r l i e r papers, the
News and the A d v e r t i s e r w i t h i t s g e n e r a l e d i t o r i a l s
a r t i c l e s d e a l i n g with the commercial
Vancouver.
A little
and
p o s s i b i l i t i e s of
of the f e e l i n g of enmity which
between the Telegram and the News-Advertiser
existed
i s revealed
S
in
the i s s u e of October 13, 1891.
In t h a t paper W.
J.
Gallagher p u b l i s h e d a l e t t e r to Thomas F.McGuigan, C l e r k
of
the C i t y of Vancouver.
News-Advertiser was
of
The l e t t e r - s t a t e d that the
s p r e a d i n g i t s advertisements i n s t e a d
keeping the words s o l i d and thereby i t was u s i n g more
space and r e c e i v i n g h i g h e r revenues from the p u b l i c
was
just.
than
G a l l a g h e r , not o n l y charged the News-Advertiser
with i r r e g u l a r i t i e s but persuaded the World t o do l i k e w i s e
through the columns of the Telegram.
5. The Telegram,
October, 13,
•46
1891.
The weakening of the Telegram became apparent
October 14, 1891 when a n o t i c e of a g e n e r a l meeting of
the
s h a r e h o l d e r s f o r purposes of i n c r e a s i n g the c a p i t a l
s t o c k of the Company, was
the
called.
The n o t i c e appeared i n
Telegram dated October 14, 1891 and was
J . W. Home, W.
J . G a l l a g h e r and R. W.
s i g n e d by
Harris—trustees.
S o r t l y a f t e r the date of n o t i c e the Telegram d i d not
appear.
I t had f a l l e n i n t o the hands of a r e c e i v e r
a s t r u g g l e which l a s t e d n e a r l y two y e a r s .
The
had made the mistake of i s s u i n g as a morning
the
Telegram
paper when
News-Advertiser already had a monopoly of the r e g u l a r
morning news s e r v i c e and so was
for
after
a special service.
f o r c e d to pay a h i g h p r i c e
The decease of the Telegram made
it
e a s i e r f o r the World and the A d v e r t i s e r but they d i d
not
begin to enjoy any r e a l p r o s p e r i t y u n t i l the Yukon
gold rush occasioned a business r e v i v a l .
W.
the
J . G a l l a g h e r d i d not cease newspaper work w i t h
p a s s i n g of the Telegram.
He brought a weekly
The Monitor i n t o being i n the autumn of 1892
r
l a s t e d a few i s s u e s .
paper,
but i t only
G a l l a g h e r then moved to Nanaimo
where he operated a paper there by the name of the
1
Nanaimo D a i l y Telegram.
Some time i n 1894 W.
l e f t Nanaimo f o r the Hawaiian I s l a n d s .
6.
7.
8.
9.
J . Gallagher
He p u b l i s h e d a
The Telegram,
October 14, 1891.
Kerr,.op c i t . •
579.
The News-Advertiser J u l y 6, 1913.
B r i t i s h Columbia D i r e c t o r y
1893. P r o v i n c i a l
Archives.
47
paper i n Honolulu
known as the F i n a n c i a l Times,
Honolulu December 1898.
H i s w i f e , and
son "Rex"
He
died i n
who
was
la
born i n Honolulu May
2, 1897
The Telegram was
paper.
r e t u r n e d to Vancouver i n
1899.
never very o u t s t a n d i n g as a news-
I t s h i s t o r y does p o i n t out, however, something of
the c i v i c
s t r u g g l e that took p l a c e i n Vancouver's e a r l y
a d m i n i s t r a t i o n and something of the d i f f i c u l t i e s of the
c i t y ' s early journalism.
1875
10. I n t e r v i e w J u l y 10, 1942. Rex V. G a l l a g h e r
Yew S t . Vancouver and Major Matthews, C i t y A r c h i v i s t .
48
Chapter I I I
The Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e
The Vancouver D a i l y Province began p u b l i c a t i o n i n
t h i s c i t y on March 26, 1898.
j o u r n a l The
I t developed
Province which had been e s t a b l i s h e d
four y e a r s e a r l i e r on March 3, 1894,
of A. H. S c h a i f e .
support from Hewitt
who
had
and who,
from the weekly
The
under the
l a t t e r paper r e c e i v e d
Bostock,
in Victoria
editorship
i t s financial
a wealthy young Englishman
come to B r i t i s h Columbia a short time
previously
having p o l i t i c a l a s p i r a t i o n s , regarded a news-
paper a l l y as an important
f a c t o r i n advancing h i s ambitions.
The weekly Province w i t h i t s sub-heading
I w i l l give thee.
Ant. & C l e o . , " was
a bright
"A p r o v i n c e
little
magazine of eighteen pages and about ten by twelve
in
size.
The
first
inches
two and the l a s t two pages were g i v e n
e n t i r e l y to a d v e r t i s i n g , r e s e r v i n g
a l l the two-columned
i n s i d e pages f o r news and e d i t o r i a l d i s c u s s i o n s .
The
first
t
page of the magazine proper was
entitled,
"Men
Under t h i s heading the happenings of V i c t o r i a
and
Things".
were d i s -
cussed i n a g e n e r a l manner.
The Province contained other
a r t i c l e s under such headings
as, "Parliament and
" A g r i c u l t u r e , Commerce and Labor",
"The
Library",
Bar",
"Music
and Drama", " P r i z e P u z z l e s " , and "Short S t o r i e s " .
1. The P r o v i n c e , V i c t o r i a , B. C. March 3,
49.
1894.
The
s a l u t a t o r y appearing i n the f i r s t
March 3, 1894, compares the f i r s t
paper
It
issue,
Saturday
appearance o f the new
t o that o f a g l a d i a t o r e n t e r i n g an amphitheatre.
reads,
"The debut o f a newspaper upon the j o u r n a l i s t i c stage
of today may be l i k e n e d i n some degree t o the f i r s t
appearance of a g l a d i a t o r i n the amphitheatre of o l d
The p u b l i c scan the f r e s h a r r i v a l w i t h c u r i o u s and none
too f r i e n d l y g l a n c e . Should he make h i s entrance i n t o
the arena with, proud and l o r d l y a i r he i s i n s t a n t l y
dubbed an u p s t a r t , presuming upon t h e i r patronage, and
m e r i t i n g a n n i h i l a t i o n . Should h i s demeanour on the other
hand be modest and unassuming he i s a f e l l o w o f mean s p i r i t ,
a c h u r l of low degree, unworthy o f t h e i r support
The P r o v i n c e has a decided advantage over the
g l a d i a t o r . We have entered the l i s t s prepared and
determined t o win our way t o p u b l i c approval, i f necessary
through many encounters
No weekly j o u r n a l , p r e c i s e l y
on the l i n e s l a i d down by our paper i s p u b l i s h e d on t h i s
s i d e of the Rocky Mountains.
We t h i n k there i s room and
f u r t h e r that t h e r e i s need o f such a p u b l i c a t i o n . The
outcome of our o p i n i o n i s the present i s s u e of the
Province.
Untrammelled as we a r e by t i e s of p a r t y , u n i n f l u e n c e d
by v e s t e d or other i n t e r e s t s , bound to no s p e c i a l
denomination we t r u s t t h a t our pages may prove of g e n e r a l
u t i l i t y and o f f e r a medium f o r the v e n t i l a t i o n of o p i n i o n s ,
from whatever source they may emanate, p r o v i d e d only that
they are put forward w i t h a view to the advancement o f
B r i t i s h Columbia.
There i s , however, one p o i n t upon which we d e s i r e
t h a t there should be no mistake as t o our view. We a r e
opposed t o p r o t e c t i o n i n every shape and form, and we
advocate the adoption of f r e e t r a d e , or as near an
approach t o i t as may be c o n s i s t e n t with the requirements
of revenue on a b a s i s of g r e a t e s t economy."
F i n a n c i a l l y , the P r o v i n c e proved a heavy
burden.
Bostock was c a l l e d upon t o c o n t r i b u t e to the extent o f
$10,000, a year to keep up the r u n n i n g expenses of
p r i n t i n g and machinery.
He was keenly f e e l i n g the d r a i n
on h i s purse when, i n the s p r i n g of 1897 a young
2
*
T
h
e
Province,
V i c t o r i a , B. C.
J
S0
Canadian
March 3, 1894.
j o u r n a l i s t W. C. N i c h o l , ; f r o m O n t a r i o , 'appeared.on the
scene.
The l a t t e r had been a t t r a c t e d to the West by the
gold rush.
S c h a i f e , t i r i n g of the p r o p o s i t i o n was
the p o i n t of l e a v i n g f o r England and Bostock was
on
desirous
of s e e i n g i f a t r a i n e d newspaperman could not t r a n s f o r m the
paper i n t o a f i n a n c i a l s u c c e s s .
A f t e r some n e g o t i a t i o n s
N i c h o l was persuaded to take over the e d i t o r s h i p of the
3
Province.
He assumed that p o s i t i o n on October 1,
1897.
S h o r t l y a f t e r N i c h o l took over the e d i t o r s h i p of
the P r o v i n c e , he and Bostock d e c i d e d i t would be of
advantage
it
to t u r n the weekly paper i n t o a d a i l y and
i n Vancouver,
i t was
publish
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the former
that at the time t h i s d e c i s i o n v/as reached he had a l l h i s
plans made w i t h - f r i e n d s i n the East t o begin the i s s u e , of
a d a i l y newspaper i n Vancouver whether Bostock came i n
with him or not.
As i t was,
the ownership o f the
p u b l i c a t i o n was evenly d i v i d e d when on March 26,
the f i r s t
number of the new
d a i l y paper was
new
1898,
i s s u e d i n Van-
couver from the P r o v i n c e b u i l d i n g on H a s t i n g s S t r e e t .
Although both were newspapermen, the b a s i c
interests
of Bostock and N i c h o l ran i n d i f f e r e n t d i r e c t i o n s .
former was
engrossed i n p o l i t i c s and p u b l i c
generally.
L a u r i e r , who
3.
He was
a strong L i b e r a l and was
problems
esteemed
l a t e r appointed him to the Dominion
Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , January 9,
*51
The
by
Senate
1904.
where he u l t i m a t e l y became speaker
and government l e a d e r .
N i c h o l , on.the other hand, although
p u b l i c a f f a i r s was
deeply i n t e r e s t e d i n
p r i m a r i l y a newspaperman.
He
foresaw
t h a t the s u c c e s s f u l p u b l i c a t i o n s of the day would be
those which maintained t h e i r independence of a l l p a r t y
o r g a n i z a t i o n s and gave unbiased p u b l i c i t y to the views
. a c t i v i t i e s of a l l .
Circumstances
which l e d to Bostock*s
arose w i t h i n a few
and
years
i n t e r e s t s being thrown on the
market where they were immediately
a c q u i r e d by N i c h o l .
The
l a t t e r then became s o l e owner of the D a i l y P r o v i n c e
for
a quarter of a century.
When the f i r s t
number of the D a i l y P r o v i n c e
was
p l a c e d on the s t r e e t s i n Vancouver the r e s i d e n t s regarded
the undertaking as f o o l i s h i n view of the f a c t t h a t the
c i t y was
already served by two
A d v e r t i s e r and the World.
d a i l y papers,
The D a i l y Province
the Newspresented
i t s e l f n e v e r t h e l e s s , i t s owners f i r m l y convinced t h a t
here i n Vancouver was
a t h r i v i n g expanding
population.
The
d a i l y paper proved
ten
boys were s u f f i c i e n t to d e l i v e r the f i r s t
c i r c u l a t i o n went up
p r i n t the paper f a s t
The
first
a success from the b e g i n n i n g when
issue.
Its
so q u i c k l y t h a t the press c o u l d b a r e l y
enough.
e d i t o r i a l bears r e c o r d of i t s g e n e r a l
independence, making no promises
and s o l i c i t i n g no f a v o r s .
* Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , May 18, 1933.
Note: An a r t i c l e concerning Bostock*s L i b e r a l i s m by the
" P a c i f i c Monthly Magazine" was r e w r i t t e n and p u b l i s h e d i n
the Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , January 9, 1904.
4
52
It
states,
"The Province has no o c c a s i o n t o i n t r o d u c e i t s e l f
to the p u b l i c . Everybody knows i t and i t i s hoped that
everybody w i l l come to l i k e i t i n d a i l y form so w e l l t h a t
l i f e without i t w i l l seem f l a t and w o r t h l e s s .
I t has no
promises t o make as to what i t means to be and do
no
e l a b o r a t e programme and d e c l a r a t i o n of p r i n c i p l e s t o f l y
at the e d i t o r i a l masthead. I t s own pages from day to day
w i l l form the best evidence of i t s i n t e n t i o n s and of the
z e a l and courage and a b i l i t y which i t s duty to the p u b l i c
i s performed. Whatever i t s m e r i t s and demerits be, t h e r e
i s t h i s t o be s a i d f o r the paper and t h a t i s , that i t i s
f i r s t and l a s t a business e n t e r p r i s e . I t i s b e l i e v e d that
there i s room i n Vancouver and B r i t i s h Columbia f o r a
paper of t h i s c h a r a c t e r , f o r a paper that w i l l always
endeavour t o p r i n t the news of the day b r i g h t l y and
a t t r a c t i v e l y ; that w i l l t r y t o take the world p h i l o s o p h i c a l l y and good-naturedly as i t f i n d s i t and seeks t o get
the best out of l i f e t h a t l i f e a f f o r d s . If. people expect
to see t h i s paper going around a l l the time with the
corners of i t s mouth drawn down as i f i t had a p a i n i n
i t s stomach, they are very much mistaken."
r
The
f r o n t page of that f i r s t
the h e a d l i n e ,
D a i l y Province
"Mr. Gladstone Dying".
To present
those words seem symbolic of the p a s s i n g
age.
carried
readers
of the V i c t o r i a n
Some o f the names of the a d v e r t i s e r s appearing i n
that f i r s t
i s s u e have remained well-known a d v e r t i s e r s i n
the P r o v i n c e
o f today.
Such names as Hudson's Bay Company,
W. H. M a l k i n and Company and McLennan, McPeely and Company
are q u i t e f a m i l i a r .
N i c h o l confessed
that h i s g r e a t e s t
source o f worry
i n those e a r l y days was over the s e c u r i n g of an adequate
t e l e g r a p h i c news s e r v i c e .
At the time the o n l y
telegraphic
channel between Eastern and Western Canada was s u p p l i e d
5. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e ,
53
March 26, 1898.
by the Canadian P a c i f i c Railway
of a v e r y inadequate
character.
t e l e g r a p h i c communication was
of the South A f r i c a n
The
t e l e g r a p h system and
was
The n e c e s s i t y of ampler
accentuated by the
outbreak
War.
s i t e chosen f o r the D a i l y P r o v i n c e i n 1898,
was
s t i l l p a r t l y covered with f o r e s t and f a c e d a narrow
v e h i c l e road, now
Hastings S t r e e t .
O c c a s i o n a l l y the p o s t -
master, Jonathan M i l l e r , would use t h i s r o a d as he
through the suburbs with h i s f a s t horse.
a c q u i r e d by the P r o v i n c e was
The
drove
first
building
a p o r t i o n of the o l d e r s e c t i o n
of i t s present premises,
l o c a t e d midway between Abbott
and Cambie S t r e e t s .
b u i l d i n g was
The
then used as a l i t h o -
graphing establishment t u r n i n g out salmon canning
labels
and s i m i l a r work on the ground f l o o r while the second
was
rented to roomers.
The Province opened t h e i r
o f f i c e on the ground f l o o r .
floor
business
I t c o n s i s t e d of a room ten
by twelve f e e t and out of t h i s was
a s m a l l corner
o f f f o r N i c h o l ' s p r i v a t e use.
composing room, press
The
built
room, and e d i t o r i a l o f f i c e s were above.
I t was
needed.
not long before l a r g e r q u a r t e r s were u r g e n t l y
The remainder
of the second
and the e d i t o r i a l s t a f f was
s e c t i o n by a p a r t i t i o n .
The
f l o o r was
taken
separated from the
over
mechanical
p r e s s continued t o be
operated u p s t a i r s f o r s e v e r a l y e a r s .
In 1916
the e i g h t -
s t o r e y C a r t e r - C o t t o n b u i l d i n g a d j o i n i n g the P r o v i n c e
and f r o n t i n g on Cambie and Hastings S t r e e t s was
office
purchased
and used
to house the p r o d u c t i o n departments.
b u i l d i n g which f r o n t s on Cambie and extends
was
purchased
i n 1925.
The two
The
Edgett
back to Pender
b u i l d i n g s were
connected
by b r i d g i n g the a l l e y and t u n n e l l i n g under the l a n e .
Historically,
the P r o v i n c e occupies what may
ed a "newspaper c o r n e r " .
by the H e r a l d which was
The
s i t e was
be
occupied i n
p u b l i s h e d i n a one-storey
term-
1886
frame
s t r u c t u r e on the corner of H a s t i n g s and Gamble S t r e e t s .
The News-Advert!ser used the o r i g i n a l b u i l d i n g before the
e r e c t i o n of the C a r t e r - C o t t o n and Edgett b u i l d i n g s on these
lots.
The
first
i s s u e s of the P r o v i n c e were p r i n t e d on a
second-hand f l a t - b e d Wharfdale press which had a c a p a c i t y
of
1000
c o p i e s per hour.
T h i s machine was
replaced after
a few months by a more modern Goss p r e s s .
V/ith the Goss,
the f i r s t
r e g u l a r eight-page
on June 50, 1898,
six-column paper was
although an eight-page
issued
paper had
p r e v i o u s l y been p u b l i s h e d on the "death of Gladstone"
on May
14,
purchase
1898.
Necessary
betterments
r e q u i r e d the
of a t h i r d p r e s s — a Campbell-Potter,
before the
end of the year and w i t h t h i s press the f i r s t s i x t e e n
page Province. was
issued.
Many other presses were secured
and t r i e d as business expanded.
In 1918,
32-plate T u b u l a r
p l a t e p r e s s e s were i n s t a l l e d .
Expansion
has a l s o been notable i n the composing
6. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , March 26,
55
1918.
room.
The Province had s t a r t e d i n 1898 with one l i n o t y p e ,
one man s e t t i n g the advertisements
apprentice.
while
a c t i n g as an
There was, w i t h i n a few y e a r s , a b a t t e r y . o f
l i n o t y p e s and many men employed i n day and night
B i g p r e s s e s , worked by e l e c t r i c i t y ,
c o u l d be seen a f t e r
t w e n t y - f i v e years through p l a t e - g l a s s windows.
bore evidence
had
shifts.
The s i g h t
to Vancouver c i t i z e n s t h a t the pioneer
days
passed.
N i c h o l was born i n Goderich,
1866.
H i s boyhood was spent
Ontario,
i n his native
October 15,
province
where he very e a r l y showed an i n c l i n a t i o n towards
journalism.
H i s f i r s t attempt was the e d i t i n g o f a s m a l l monthly devoted
to c y c l i n g .
A t the age of f i f t e e n he j o i n e d the s t a f f of
the Hamilton S p e c t a t o r and i n the years t h a t f o l l o w e d he
formed a f r i e n d s h i p with W i l l i a m Southam o f t h a t j o u r n a l .
A f t e r l e a v i n g Hamilton, N i c h o l went t o Toronto where
he
j o i n e d the s t a f f of the News and l a t e r the s t a f f of the
Saturday Night.
He won f o r h i m s e l f on the l a t t e r p u b l i c a -
t i o n , an e n v i a b l e r e p u t a t i o n as a w r i t e r of humorous prose
as w e l l as commentator on more s e r i o u s t o j j i c s .
r e t u r n e d t o Hamilton i n 1889 and accepted
of the H e r a l d .
Nichol
the e d i t o r s h i p
He h e l d t h i s p o s i t i o n e i g h t years
went t o London, O n t a r i o ,
and then
as manager o f the London News.
While i n London he met Miss Quit a. Moore, daughter of Dr.
C. G. Moore, a well-known p h y s i c i a n .
They were
married
i n 1887. N i c h o l d i d not remain l o n g w i t h the London News.
He decided to come to B r i t i s h Columbia, and s e t t l e d at
56
Kaslo
i n the Kootenay D i s t r i c t .
He
l e f t Kaslo
to form
a p a r t n e r s h i p with the f u t u r e Senator Bostock of
Though N i c h o l ' s
personal
and
greatest
i n f l u e n c e was
public welfare.
cause of the
i n t e r e s t was
felt
"Victoria.
i n journalism
along the l i n e s
of
his
education
In r e c o g n i t i o n of h i s work i n the
former he was
honoured by
the U n i v e r s i t y of
B r i t i s h Columbia with the degree of LL.D.
Nichol
was
appointed to the p o s i t i o n of Lieutenant-Governor of B r i t i s h
Columbia i n 1920
D a i l y Province
The
and
s h o r t l y afterwards s o l d the Vancouver
to the Southam Company.
Vancouver D a l l y Province
had
w r i t e r s , namely, Dr. S. D. S c o t t , Roy
D. A. McGregor.
staff,
the News-Advertiser the day
He
education
was
he
Sydney
came to the- Province
from
f o l l o w i n g that paper's l a s t
u n t i l his
Born at Westbrooke, Nova S c o t i a
College.
He
higher
h e l d many i n f l u e n t i a l
p o s i t i o n s i n the Maritime P r o v i n c e s
before
the s e r v i c e s of the News-Advertiser i n 1910.
e d i t o r of the H a l i f a x M a i l from 1882
became e d i t o r of the S t . John Sun
that paper f o r 21 y e a r s .
p e r i o d he r e p o r t e d
his
And
Snowdon Dunn S c o t t r e c e i v e d h i s
at Mount A l l i s o n
journalistic
entered
1851,
editorial
Brown,
remained with the Province
death on December 9, 1923.
on January 6,
W.
able
Dr. S c o t t , f a t h e r of C e c i l and
S c o t t of the present
publication.
other
the
The
last
sessions
to 1885.
In
he
Scott
1885,
and remained head of t h
s i x t e e n y e a r s of that
of Parliament at Ottawa f o r
paper as w e l l as f o r other Maritime
journals.
Dr. S c o t t became deeply i n t e r e s t e d i n h i s t o r i c a l
57
r e s e a r c h as a very young man, and never missed an
opportunity
t o hear Joseph Howe speak d u r i n g the Confed-
e r a t i o n campaign.
He became p r e s i d e n t of the S t . John
H i s t o r i c a l Society
i n l a t e r years
a f t e r w r i t i n g numerous
a r t i c l e s on e a r l y e x p l o r a t i o n s i n the M a r i t i m e
provinces.
S c o t t had an i n t i m a t e knowledge of Canadian p o l i t i c a l and
constitutional history.
The l a t t e r was r e f l e c t e d i n h i s
column of c a s u a l comment, "The Week-End" which he had
begun i n the iMews-Advertiser i n 1915 and which h e wrote
under the pen name o f " L u c i a n " .
He continued
to w r i t e
the same column f o r the P r o v i n c e .
S.D. S c o t t was granted
an honourary degree o f L L . D
i n 1913 a t Mount A l l i s o n C o l l e g e .
He was a d i s t i n g u i s h e d
member of the Board o f Governors of the U n i v e r s i t y of
B r i t i s h Columbia f o r a number of y e a r s .
He remained a
c l a s s i c a l s c h o l a r throughout h i s e n t i r e l i f e
too busy t o keep up h i s r e a d i n g
Dr. S c o t t was recognized
and was never
o f Greek and" L a t i n t e x t s .
as one of the a b l e s t
editorial
w r i t e r s i n Canada.
D. A. McGregor, c h i e f e d i t o r i a l w r i t e r of the
Province
succeeded Dr. S c o t t .
He was born i n Ottawa,
October 50, 1881, and came west as a young man t o
Vancouver.
McGregor was awarded the/\gold medal i n 1927
f o r the best e d i t o r i a l d e a l i n g v/ith Confederation, i t s
purposes and o b j e c t s .
He has a l s o made h i m s e l f an
a u t h o r i t y on P a c i f i c a f f a i r s , having
i n connection
with P a c i f i c R e l a t i o n s .
' 58
a t t e n d e d ^ _ ^ ' ' s ess ions
5
F o r more than a
g e n e r a t i o n he has wielded a powerful and understanding
e s p e c i a l l y i n p o l i t i c a l matters
An exceedingly modest man,
pen,
of which he i s an a u t h o r i t y .
Mr. McGregor has
couver P r o v i n c e f o r n e a r l y f o r t y years.
served the Van-
Something of Roy •
Brown's c o n t r i b u t i o n t o j o u r n a l i s m w i l l be d i s c u s s e d i n the
chapter d e a l i n g w i t h the Vancouver
Sun.
The Vancouver P r o v i n c e of today belongs to the
Southam Company.
The Southams now
own,
besides the D a i l y
P r o v i n c e , the Ottawa C i t i z e n , morning and evening,
the
Hamilton S p e c t a t o r , the Winnipeg T r i b u n e , the C a l g a r y
H e r a l d and the Edmonton J o u r n a l .
These papers
vary
i n d i v i d u a l l y though they are i n the hands of a f a m i l y
corporation.
supported
F i v e of the Southam papers have i n g e n e r a l
the C o n s e r v a t i v e p a r t y .
F i v e c a r r y the
f o l l o w i n g wording a t t h e i r "mastheads".
paper) aims to be an independent,
home, devoted
to p u b l i c s e r v i c e . "
no masthead d e c l a r a t i o n .
"The
(name of the
c l e a n newspaper f o r the
The
Calgary H e r a l d makes
A l l the Southam papers
are
des-
c r i b e d i n newspaper d i r e c t o r i e s as e i t h e r Independent or
Independent-Conservative.
59
Chapter V.III
The Saturday Sunset
and
J.
P.'s Weekly
The B r i t i s h Columbia Saturday Sunset, a b r i g h t '
weekly commenced p u b l i c a t i o n June 15, 1907,
l o c a t e d at 711 Seymour S t r e e t .
from i t s o f f i c e
The p u b l i s h e r s were John
P. McConnell e d i t o r , and R. S. Ford, b u s i n e s s manager.
^
e
Saturday Sunset was
a c r e d i t to i t s publishers.
contained twenty pages and i n c l u d e d many columns
e s t i n g matter t o u c h i n g p o l i t i c s ,
and western l i f e and development.
the
It
of i n t e r -
society, finance,. f i c t i o n ,
McConnell had been i n \
employ of the Toronto Saturday Night b e f o r e coming to
Vancouver
and he modelled the Saturday Sunset a f t e r the
Toronto paper which he admired.
The f o l l o w i n g
articles
p u b l i s h e d by the Walkerton Telescope and the P e t r o l l a
A d v e r t i s e r and which were quoted i n the Saturday Sunset
of
J u l y 6, 1907,
serve as e x c e l l e n t i n t r o d u c t i o n s t o the
founders of the l a t t e r
paper.
"Our v e r s a t i l e but somewhat r e s t l e s s f r i e n d , John
P. McConnell i s i n t o a new venture, that of founding a new
paper at Vancouver, B. C. Some y e a r s ago Mr. McConnell
h e l d a p o s i t i o n on the Toronto Saturday Night and that '•
paper so impressed him that "Saturday Night"-may'.be
d i s c o v e r e d i n every page of the new p r o d u c t i o n from the
c a r t o o n on the f r o n t page to the bucking broncho on the
l a s t page.
"Saturday Night" made E. E. Sheppard, who
s t a r t e d i t , a r i c h man i n a very few yearf:, and the
^Saturday Sunset* w i l l we hope do the same f o r Mr.
McConnell. Mr. Sheppard always wrote i n the f i r s t person
s i n g u l a r , t h a t i s i n s t e a d of u s i n g the e d i t o r i a l "we"
60
i n r e f e r r i n g t o h i m s e l f , he used the pronoun " I " and i t
seemed t o give f o r c e t o e v e r y t h i n g he wrote.
Mr. McConnell
i s doing t h e same. Mr. Sheppard used "Don" f o r a pen
name. Mr. McConnell i s doing honour to the o l d county i n
which he was r a i s e d by s i g n i n g h i m s e l f "Bruce".
We wish
Mr. McConnell every success i n h i s new venture."
Walkerton T e l e s c o p e .
"There i s a new weekly p u b l i s h e d a t Vancouver on
the l i n e s o f the Toronto Saturday N i g h t . What makes i t o f
more than o r d i n a r y i n t e r e s t t o our reader and us i s the f a c t
that i t i s p u b l i s h e d by the Ford-McConnell Co., and t h a t
means Mr. R i c h a r d S. F o r d who f o r s e v e r a l years conducted
here the best dry goods business i n O n t a r i o west o f London,
and who l a t e l y s o l d out t o Mr. Ferguson, i s r e s p o n s i b l e
l a r g e l y f o r the new p u b l i c a t i o n , the f i r s t i s s u e of which
appeared on the 15th i n s t . and has j u s t come to hand. I t
c o n t a i n s the k i n d of r e a d i n g matter that w i l l g a i n the
paper much f a v o r and make i t i n d i s p e n s a b l e t o the people o f
the P a c i f i c p r o v i n c e , and we s h a l l be much d i s a p p o i n t e d i f
i t f a i l s t o meet remarkable s u c c e s s . Newspaper people w i l l
be much suz-prised to read i n the columns of the "Sunset"
t h a t i t i s on a paying b a s i s from the s t a r t and to f i n d
t h a t i t proves i t by p o i n t i n g t o i t s advertisement columns
and r a t e s . We who know Mr. Ford, t h e business manager f e e l
no s u r p r i s e at the statement f o r he has f o r years been the
s t r o n g e s t b e l i e v e r i n a d v e r t i s i n g t h a t we have met, and
amply j u s t i f i e d h i s b e l i e f s by a c t s and r e s u l t s . He could
not f a i l to i n s t i l h i s b e l i e f s i n t o the business men on
the Coast and having done that he and the Saturday Sunset
cannot be other than a great s u c c e s s .
Every business
man and person i n P e t r o l i a was s o r r y t o l o s e Mr. F o r d from
the business l i f e of t h i s community i n which he stood so
h i g h i n the e s t i m a t i o n o f a l l c l a s s e s .
Petrolia Advertiser.
The f i r s t
i s s u e o f June 15, 1907, d i s p l a y e d a
l a r g e a p p r o p r i a t e cartoon on the f i r s t page.
p i c t u r e of the b i r t h of the Saturday Sunset
I t was the
p o r t r a y e d by a
s m a l l c h i l d w a l k i n g out o f the sunset on the rays of l i g h t ,
across the mountains and t h e water t o Vancouver and
B r i t i s h Columbia's o u t s t r e t c h e d hands.
The remainder o f
the f r o n t page was given over t o a l e n g t h y e d i t o r i a l by
McConnell,
who signed i t with the pen name "Bruce".
61
McConnell f o l l o w e d a s i m i l a r p l a n f o r every f r o n t
page of the i s s u e s which f o l l o w e d .
The cartoons were
u s u a l l y i n keeping w i t h the e d i t o r i a l s .
A good example of
the l a t t e r i s to he found i n the i s s u e f o r June 13,
The
cartoon was
1907.
e n t i t l e d , " S h a l l we gather a t the r i v e r
where the milkman's f e e t have t r o d ? "
The e d i t o r i a l i n t h i s
case r e l a t e d t o a c u r r e n t m i l k problem.
McConnell made h i s p o l i c y c l e a r i n h i s f i r s t
e d i t o r i a l when he wrote,
"For the b e n e f i t of the would be wise ones who l i k e
to f o l l o w clews and pose as the c u s t o d i a n s of mysterious and
u s e l e s s i n f o r m a t i o n I w i l l here make a p l a i n statement as
to the ownership of the B r i t i s h Columbia Saturday Sunset,
although i t i s not n e c e s s a r i l y a p u b l i c matter. But f o r
the b e n e f i t of one or two b l a t h e r s k i t e s who have had
something to say about i t I w i l l say that f o r the present
i t belongs to R i c h a r d S. F o r d and the undersigned, s o l e l y ,
e x c l u s i v e l y , and as much s t r o n g e r as i t may be s a i d . . . . . .
Our f u t u r e course w i l l be t o simply p u b l i s h the B r i t i s h
Columbia Saturday Sunset, making i t as i n t e r e s t i n g ,
r e a d a b l e , and welcome to the homes of B r i t i s h Columbia as
we know how t o make i t .
As e d i t o r of the paper I s h a l l
keep i t s columns c l e a n and f i t f o r decent people to read .
and without b i a s or cant."'
In a l l h i s e d i t o r i a l s "Bruce" threshed out c u r r e n t and
l o c a l problems, never once h e s i t a t i n g t o say what he wished.
The i n s i d e pages were devoted to a v a r i e t y of
interesting topics.
The f o r m a t i o n of the Vancouver
Symphony O r c h e s t r a was
first
paper.
r e p o r t e d and e l a b o r a t e d upon i n the
A page e n t i t l e d "Be
i t Ever so Humble There's
no P l a c e l i k e Home" gave the news i n E a s t e r n s o c i a l
circles.
No doubt t h i s page would be e a g e r l y sought and read i n
1. The B.C. Saturday Sunset., June 15,
62
1907.
Vancouver's
e a r l i e r days.
given to f i c t i o n ,
otherwise.
"My
C o n s i d e r a b l e space too
was
jokes, and v e r s e , both humorous and
Many l i t t l e
ditties
such as :
Bonnie l i e s under the auto
My Bonnie l i e s under the car,
P l e a s e send to the garage f o r someone,
For
i t s lonesome up here where I a r e . "
appeared i n the ".lighter v e i n " s e c t i o n s .
Many of the
longer poems most l i k e l y made e x c e l l e n t r e c i t a t i o n s f o r
use i n the " l i t t l e
r e d schoolhouse."
Apart from these more e n t e r t a i n i n g magazine a r t i c l e s
the
Saturday Sunset d i d not a v o i d the s e r i o u s problems
the
day.
"Bruce" was w e l l known by h i s breezy but
comments on men
to
on
Such comments were a j o y
the r e a d e r s , even i n c l u d i n g those who
w r i t e r ' s barbs.
caustic
and events, and by h i s f u r i o u s t i r a d e s
what he conceived to be wrongs.
of
N a t i o n a l news was
s u f f e r e d from the
also discussed.
'An
a r t i c l e e n t i t l e d "French crowding us on the East C o a s t —
Japs g a t h e r i n g on the West C o a s t — t h e l o t of E n g l i s h
speaking r a c e s i s a n y t h i n g but promising'.', quickly, draws
the
a t t e n t i o n of the p r e s e n t day r e a d e r .
McConnell's e a r l y L i b e r a l tendencies v/ere apparent
throughout the Sunset as he d i r e c t e d many a t t a c k s
the
McBride government.
his
later editorials
toward
E s p e c i a l l y i s t h i s so i n one of
i n which "Bruce" urges the L i b e r a l s
2. The B. C. Saturday Sunset, J u l y 13,
63
1907.
to organize i n order to e f f i c i e n t l y
government.
The o r g a n i z a t i o n was
by McConnell and Ford, who
oppose the McBride
c a r r i e d out and headed
gave up' t h e i r i n t e r e s t s i n the
Saturday Sunset and founded the Morning Sun February 12,
1912,
f o r the express purpose of more e f f e c t i v e l y
setting
f o r t h the p o l i t i c a l t h e o r i e s of the L i b e r a l o r g a n i z a t i o n
to the p u b l i c .
The Saturday Sunset continued to appear
J u l y 17, 1915,
until
but not w i t h McConnell as e d i t o r .
In
1911
the Saturday Sunset had passed i n t o the hands of the
B u r r a r d P u b l i s h i n g Company and became s u b j e c t to the
5
c o n t r o l of a board of d i r e c t o r s , mostly lawyers.
Wade, K.C.
was
was
p r e s i d e n t of the company.
F.
C.
As McConnell
not i n agreement w i t h the B u r r a r d P u b l i s h i n g Company,
he ceased e d i t i n g and ex-Alderman Walter Hepburn took over
that duty u n t i l the Sunset e v e n t u a l l y
died.
McConnell, l e f t the Sun i n the autumn of 1914
and
a l l y withdrew from the L i b e r a l p a r t y March 30, 1915.
itically
and f i n a n c i a l l y there had been "wheels w i t h i n
formPolwheels"
and McConnell t o g e t h e r with W i l l i a m C a r s w e l l , a newspaperman
i n the Sun o r g a n i z a t i o n who
had a l s o severed connections
with that paper, founded an o p p o s i t i o n weekly
J.P.'s Weekly.
was
manager.
McConnell was
paper known as
e d i t o r , and W i l l i a m C a r s w e l l
In the l a t t e r j o u r n a l McConnell s t a t e s that
3. The B. C. Saturday Sunset, A p r i l 29,
4. P r o v i n c i a l A r c h i v e s , V i c t o r i a
5. J.P.'s Weekly, January 1, 1916.
(Mr. R. L. Reid's L i b r a r y )
64
1911.
"Bruce"
i s again f r e e to w r i t e what he wants and how
without
f e a r of any party r e s t r a i n t s .
l a r g e s t p r o p o r t i o n of J.P.'s Weekly was
discussions.
freely.
"Bruce"
he wants
d i d so.
devoted
The
to p o l i t i c a l
Numerous p o l i t i c a l c o n t r o v e r s i e s were a i r e d
Though McConnell claimed to have no party
t i o n s there were no more opposing
administration.
affilial
remarks about the McBride
McConnell's p o l i t i c a l support had
been
e n t i r e l y withdrawn from the L i b e r a l o r g a n i z a t i o n .
former p a r t n e r R. S. Ford, from whom he severed
His
connections,
remained w i t h Wade and h i s a s s o c i a t e s .
J.P.'s Weekly composed of s i x t e e n pages of three
columns each, continued p u b l i c a t i o n u n t i l October 7,
when i t b i d "au r e v o i r " to i t s readers f o r the time
The
reason g i v e n was
t h a t owing to the war
i t was
1916,
being.
imposs-
i b l e to buy good paper and the e d i t o r r e f u s e d to use
newsprint
i n a weekly
plain
journal.
McConnell j o i n e d the s t a f f of the Vancouver P r o v i n c e
i n the autumn of 1916,
for
where he again d i s p l a y e d h i s t a l e n t
short story w r i t i n g .
As a columnist f o r the
Province
he made frequent t r i p s i n t o v a r i o u s d i s t r i c t s of B r i t i s h
Columbia where he s t u d i e d the n a t u r a l resources and
problems.
Many of h i s a r t i c l e s d e a l i n g with
Columbian pioneer l i f e
Province.
his
He was
local
British
appeared i n the columns of the
very fond of outdoor
life
and many of
t r i p s i n t o the h i l l s were made on a packhorse.
7
One
7. Note: J.P. McConnell f i r s t came to Vancouver by
packhorse, having c r o s s e d the mountains and the P r o v i n c e
that means.
65
of
by
his
e x p e d i t i o n s v/as over the Hope mountain t r a i l and
the
data he secured on t h a t o c c a s i o n served him as m a t e r i a l
for
a s e r i e s of a r t i c l e s where a p u b l i c d i s c u s s i o n arose
8
as to the best r o u t e f o r the K e t t l e V a l l e y
At a l a t e r date McConnell
the Canadian heavyweight boxer,
p e d i t i o n to A n t l e r Creek.
but both men
went with "Tommy" Burns,
on a p l a c e r mining
ex-
No m i n e r a l s were o b t a i n e d
r e t u r n e d , the r i c h e r i n experience f o r the
winter spent i n the Cariboo h i l l s .
mining
line.
episode McConnell
S h o r t l y a f t e r the above
went east where he entered the
a d v e r t i s i n g business i n Toronto, under the f i r m name of
McConnell
at
and Ferguson.
He
d i e d i n Toronto, J u l y 8,
1926,
the age of 53, f o l l o w i n g a sudden c r i t i c a l o p e r a t i o n .
8. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , J u l y 8, 1926.
9. L e t t e r , from h i s daughter E d i t h Denton
(Mrs. Ivan Denton) Vancouver.
66
9
Chapter zl
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver
Sun c l a i m s the honour o f being the
o l d e s t newspaper p u b l i s h e d i n V a n c o u v e r , — t h a t
i s oldest
by i n h e r i t a n c e through the a b s o r p t i o n of the News-Advertiser
and the World.
May,
I t thus dates back through the Advertiser~ t o
:
1886. The a c t u a l founding of t h i s paper, however, goes
back only to February 12, 1912, when the Morning Sun was
first
o r i g i n a t e d and p u b l i s h e d by J. P. McConnell and
i
R. S. F o r d , who had e a r l i e r founded the Saturday Sunset.
Briefly,
the succeeding h i s t o r y of the Sun (morning
and evening) may be t r a c e d as f o l l o w s .
E a r l y i n 1914 the
Morning Sun passed i n t o the hands of i n t e r e s t s r e p r e s e n t e d
by F. C. Wade, K. C.
I n 1917 i t was purchased by Robert
J. Cromie who a l s o purchased the News-Advertiser September
1, 1917 and amalgamated that paper v/ith the Sun.
After
s e v e r a l y e a r s ' s u c c e s s f u l o p e r a t i o n of the Sun as a
morning
1924
paper, Cromie purchased the evening World, March 11,
from C h a r l e s Campbell
and p u b l i s h e d both morning and
i
afternoon e d i t i o n s f o r a p e r i o d o f two y e a r s .
On February
1, 1926, n e g o t i a t i o n s took p l a c e by which Cromie s o l d the
Morning Sun t o Major-General Odium and bought and
1. The Sun F i l e s .
2. Reference made to the t r a n s a c t i o n s i n p r e v i o u s
chapter.
3. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , March I I , 1924.
67
r
amalgamated the Evening S t a r which
i n g with the Evening Sun.
Odium was
S i n c e the l a t t e r
the Sun has gone s t e a d i l y forward.
death i n 1936,
manager.
then p u b l i s h transaction
F o l l o w i n g Cromie's
P. J . S a l t e r became p r e s i d e n t and g e n e r a l
Other members of the management i n c l u d e d Robert
Cromie I I v i c e - p r e s i d e n t , Roy W.
Brown, e d i t o r i a l
H e r b e r t S a l l a n s , managing e d i t o r , Herbert Gates,
director,
circulation
manager, and A. H. M i d d l e t o n , n a t i o n a l a d v e r t i s i n g manager.
Some changes i n management were announced r e c e n t l y .
P. J . S a l t e r , p r e s i d e n t s i n c e 1936
ment on J u l y 4, 1942.
Robert E. Cromie,
r e s i g n e d the same day.
the Vancouver
announced h i s r e t i r e -
The new
vice-president
p r e s i d e n t and p u b l i s h e r o f
Sun i s Mrs. W. R. McKay, widow of Robert J .
Cromie, w h i l e Donald Cromie, younger
b r o t h e r o f Robert
E.
L
Cromie, has now
become g e n e r a l manager.
Donald Cromie has
spent four of the past f i v e years i n v a r i o u s e d i t o r i a l
c a p a c i t i e s with the Sun.
He was
on the s t a f f of the
Toronto S t a r d u r i n g 1941.
One name of the Sun management, that of Roy W. Brown
deserves s p e c i a l mention.
He began mewspaper work as an
o f f i c e boy on the News-Advertiser.
He a l s o served f o r a
time as cub r e p o r t e r on the World but r e t u r n e d to the
News-Advertiser.
As a youth he gained the a t t e n t i o n of
4. Vancouver Sun, February 1, 1926.
5. The Sun F i l e s .
* Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , J u l y 6,
6
6,8
1942.
W.
C. N i c h o l of the P r o v i n c e , by h i s accuracy and
w r i t i n g , and N i c h o l persuaded
i n May
1901.
Roy
fine
him to j o i n the P r o v i n c e
Brown l i t e r a l l y
staff
grew up with the P r o v i n c e
and served t h a t paper f o r over t h i r t y - f i v e y e a r s , f o r the
g r e a t e r p e r i o d being v i c e - p r e s i d e n t and
He r e t i r e d from the Province May
26,
months the Vancouver Sun persuaded
editor-in-chief.
1938,
but a f t e r a few
him to r e - e n t e r the
a c t i v e newspaper f i e l d as e d i t o r i a l d i r e c t o r of t h a t
paper.
He took up h i s new
1938,
d u t i e s w i t h the Sun,
September 3,
where he continues t o be known f o r h i s t i r e l e s s
his
v a s t understanding
of human nature, h i s e x c e p t i o n a l
knowledge of p u b l i c a f f a i r s and h i s remarkable
The
energy,
n 7
memory.
s t o r y of J". P. McConnell's e a r l y connection with
f
the Sun has a l r e a d y been w r i t t e n but i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o
trace..the l i f e and work of the j o u r n a l i s t s who
followed
McConnell
as owners or p u b l i s h e r s o f the Vancouver
Sun.
Wade, who
became e d i t o r and p r e s i d e n t of the Vancouver
Sun
Company e a r l y i n 1914y- holds a prominent p l a c e among the
names of Canadian lawyers, statesmen,
was
and
born i n Bowmanville, O n t a r i o , February
a f t e r a broad
journalists.
26,
1860,
He
and
c o l l e g e e d u c a t i o n became a b a r r i s t e r i n the
p r o v i n c e of Manitoba, 1886.
In 1897
he v i s i t e d Dawson C i t y
f o l l o w i n g which he s e t up an a c t i v e , lav/ p r a c t i c e i n . Vancouver,
becoming the head of the l e g a l f i r m of Wade, Whealer
« The D a i l y C o l o n i s t , V i c t o r i a . May 17, 1938.
8. See Chapter X.
7
'69
and
McQuarrie.
He
attaching
was an a c t i v e p o l i t i c i a n from h i s e a r l y y e a r s ,
himself
t o the L i b e r a l p a r t y .
dent of the Young L i b e r a l A s s o c i a t i o n
he a l s o came to be p r e s i d e n t
I t was as p r e s i -
i n Vancouver
of the Vancouver Sun, the
e a r l y mouthpiece of the L i b e r a l o r g a n i z a t i o n .
many f i r s t
As
place
positions
that
i n l o c a l clubs
Wade h e l d
and o r g a n i z a t i o n s
a c i t i z e n he was deeply i n t e r e s t e d i n benevolent and
c h a r i t a b l e p r o j e c t s and gave them h i s whole support.
took the i n i t i a l steps i n a movement, i n 1903,
He
f o r the
e r e c t i o n of a memorial t o General James Wolfe a t the tomb
of the hero i n S t . A l f e g e s
He
Church i n Greenwich, England.
was agent-general i n London f o r B r i t i s h Columbia i n
1920.
He died November 9, 1924, a f t e r a very a c t i v e
As
a newspaperman F. C. Wade d i d h i s f i r s t
editorial
w r i t i n g f o r the Toronto D a i l y Globe, while he was
college.
He became, i n Winnipeg, the c h i e f
attending
editorial
w r i t e r f o r the Manitoba Free Press, and he remained
and
president
life.
editor
of the Vancouver Sun from 1914 t o 1917
when the Sun was purchased by R. J . Cromie.
Robert J . Cromie secured c o n t r o l o f t h e Sun l a r g e l y
through the f i n a n c i a l backing given t o him by the Company
known as "Foley,
Welch and Stewart," b u i l d e r s o f the P a c i f i c
Great E a s t e r n R a i l w a y .
as p r i v a t e s e c r e t a r y
Foley,
As a young man of a b i l i t y he worked
f o r General Stewart i n the o f f i c e of
Welch, and Stewart, r a i l w a y
active-Liberaloinapolitipspossessed
contractors.
a.large
The l a t t e r ,
financial
share of the Vancouver Sun, which v/as then p u b l i s h e d i n
o p p o s i t i o n t o the Conservative morning, News-Advertiser.
General Stewart s o l v e d h i s problem of what to do w i t h the
Sun w i t h i t s c i r c u l a t i o n of 10,000, by t u r n i n g i t over to
Robert Cromie, who c o n s o l i d a t e d i t w i t h the News-Advertiser,
September
1, 1917, under the name Vancouver Sun. H i s
purchase of the World came March 11, 1924, and w i t h i t he
began a morning and an evening p u b l i c a t i o n with a t o t a l
c i r c u l a t i o n of 41,800.
the
to
The f o l l o w i n g e d i t o r i a l appeared i n
evening Sun Wednesday, March 12, 1924.
"The c o n s o l i d a t i o n of the World, o l d e s t and one o f
the most h i g h l y r e s p e c t e d d a i l i e s i n the West, i n t o the
Evening Sun, does not mean t h a t the o l d i s bowing i t s
head t o the new. I t means r a t h e r that the o l d i s being
r e b o r n i n the new."
Cromie, as mentioned e a r l i e r , disposed o f the
morning Sun February 1, 1926, by some n e g o t i a t i o n s with
Odium whereby the l a t t e r bought the morning Sun and i n r e t u r n s o l d h i s evening S t a r t o Cromie.
By t h i s
consolidation
Cromie made a b e t t e r evening paper f o r h i s readers and l e f t
the morning f i e l d
open t o Odium.
The o r i g i n a l l o c a t i o n of the Sun was 711 Seymour
S t r e e t , i n a s m a l l b u i l d i n g l a t e r t o r n down to make way
f o r the Strand T h e a t r e .
I t s next l o c a t i o n was 125 West
Pender S t r e e t , where the p l a n t was swept by f i r e
which
damaged i t to the extent of $200,000, on March 22, 1937.
On May 17, 1937 the Vancouver Sun purchased the Bekins
B u i l d i n g . T h i s 17-storey s t r u c t u r e which was onee the p r i d e
9. The Vancouver Sun, May 12, 1936.
10. The Sun P i l e s .
71
of the World i s now the home of the Sun and i s known as the
"Sun Tower."
72
Chapter X.
The
* The
Vancouver S t a r
Vancouver S t a r had
evening f i e l d ,
June 2,
1924.
I t was
E. Campbell as s o l e owner and
the l a t t e r had
Company.
i t s b e g i n n i n g i n the
founded by
publisher
a few months a f t e r
s o l d the World t o the Sun
Publishing
T h i s d a i l y c a r r i e d the heading, "The
Independent D a i l y Newspaper i n B r i t i s h
Charles
Only
Columbia",
immediately below the t i t l e The Vancouver S t a r .
as an eight-column paper of ten pages.
pay
The
words "lo" only,
no more" appeared i n l a r g e p r i n t i n brackets
upper r i g h t hand corner
Charles
of the f i r s t
I t began
on
the
page.
Campbell h e l d that a moderately p r i c e d
paper would be supported.
H i s announcement, which
appeared on the f r o n t page of the f i r s t
l a t t e r fact clear.
He
i s s u e made the
s t a t e d t h a t , the p u b l i s h e r
planned
to p u b l i s h a "Peoples' Paper" that would enable every
person i n Vancouver and B r i t i s h Columbia t o o b t a i n a
modern d a i l y paper at a modern p r i c e .
f u r t h e r that he
He
intended
l e g i s l a t i v e measures.
and
that
as they arose with
he
no
to support a l l p r o g r e s s i v e
Campbell added t h a t the S t a r was
paper f o r the masses,' i t s only creed
. 1. The
editor stated
supported no p o l i t i c a l party,
would be d i c t a t e d by e x i g e n c i e s
party f e a l t y .
The
Vancouver S t a r , June 2,
'••7-3
being,
1924.
"The
a
greatest
good f o r the g r e a t e s t number".
Pie used the s l o g a n , " I f
i t w i l l help to make a g r e a t e r Vancouver the S t a r i s f o r
it."
Charles E. Campbell b e l i e v e d i n the support
wage earner
to
as well- as the men
who
develop the n a t u r a l resources,
f u r n i s h e d the
of
the
capital
and. he made t h i s t r u t h
c l e a r through the columns of the S t a r .
He v/as opposed to
f u r t h e r i n v a s i o n s of B r i t i s h Columbia by O r i e n t a l s and
advocated the e l i m i n a t i o n of Asiatic's from a l l i n d u s t r i e s
d e a l i n g with
the n a t u r a l resources
World news was
w e l l covered
of the
province.
i n the S t a r
p u b l i s h e d i n a more or l e s s condensed form.
but i t was
The
editorial
columns were r e l a t e d to v a r i o u s phases of the growth
and
development of B r i t i s h Columbia's i n d u s t r i e s as w e l l as
to
current happenings of the world.
L. D. T a y l o r had
column on the e d i t o r i a l page f o r the f i r s t
a
fev/ i s s u e s
together with h i s photograph.
T h i s column doesn't appear
a f t e r the f i r s t week.
the world news and
the S t a r had
Besides
editoria
s p e c i a l f e a t u r e s f o r everyone, i n c l u d i n g
a r t i c l e s by noted v / r i t e r s , s o c i a l news, and p i c t u r e s ,
comic s t r i p s and p l e n t y of a d v e r t i s i n g .
The
Star apparently
d i d not o f f e r
attractive
f i n a n c i a l prospects
because a f t e r a p e r i o d of a month
a h a l f Campbell had
f i g u r e d i n a s e r i e s of deals which
made V i c t o r W.
Odium, the manager of the paper.
' 0<j/u»n
. \: i h a d been a p a r t n e r of ex-Mayor Louis
7:4
and
D.
Taylor
i n the property
years e a r l i e r .
He
had
f o l l o w i n g which he had
again
felt
gave him
of the o l d fJorld newspaper twenty
dropped out to enter
gone to war.
other
After his return
the urge to handle p r i n t e r ' s ink and
the
The
business,
the
he
Star
opportunity.
i s s u e of the S t a r dated J u l y 19,
the f o l l o w i n g announcement signed
1924,
carries
by V i c t o r Odium.
" I have today with the f i n a n c i a l a s s i s t a n c e o f my
f a t h e r , P r o f e s s o r E. Odium, completed the purchase of the
Vancouver S t a r from i t s owner and p u b l i s h e r (Charles E.
Campbell), I am assuming p e r s o n a l d i r e c t i o n of the paper
f o r t h w i t h . My f a t h e r w i l l be a s s o c i a t e d w i t h me as
p r e s i d e n t of the Company and as c o n t r i b u t o r to the S t a r ' s
columns."*
Odium then r e c a l l e d h i s f i r s t
r e p o r t e r on the World when i t had
McLagan and
newspaper work as
been owned by
Mrs.
added that he welcomed the o p p o r t u n i t y
to
r e t u r n to newspaper work a f t e r an absence of s e v e r a l
He
a l s o s t a t e d that the S t a r would r e t a i n the
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s with which Charles
it,
years.
chief
Campbell had
endowed
that i t would continue to be a popular p r i c e d
j o u r n a l and
supporting
democracy.
that i t would remain completely
no p o l i t i c a l p a r t y
The
l y planned was
read,
independent,
but advocating
only modern
only change which General Odium immediateto a l t e r the motto s l i g h t l y so as i t would
" I f i t makes f o r a g r e a t e r ,
a b e t t e r , and
a
cleaner
Vancouver the S t a r i s f o r i t . "
The
S t a r dated Monday, J u l y 21,
names P r o f e s s o r
E. Odium, P r e s i d e n t
1924,
and V i c t o r W.
2. The Vancouver S t a r , J u l y 19,
7.5
bore
1924.
the
Odium,
Managing D i r e c t o r ,
The
new
management continued
from the same l o c a t i o n , 303
t o operate
Pender S t r e e t West,
charged the same r a t e of 300
a month or one
and
cent per
copy.
Odium c a r r i e d on the Evening S t a r
p u b l i c a t i o n f o r nearly^ two
n e g o t i a t i o n s took p l a c e .
Sun
years when another s e r i e s of'
T h i s time R. J . Cromie of the.
and V i c t o r Odium of the S t a r decided
publications.
R.
J . Cromie bought the Evening S t a r
c o n s o l i d a t e d i t with h i s own
Evening Sun.
t u r n bought Cromie's Morning Sun
;
the morning f i e l d .
Notice
evening newspapers was
February 1,
to exchange
and
V i c t o r Odium i n .
i n doing
so took over
of the c o n s o l i d a t i o n of
published
and
i n the Evening
the
Sun,
1926.
A s i m i l a r announcement signed by V i c t o r Odium
appeared i n the f i r s t i s s u e of the Morning S t a r .
s t a t e d , " I t g i v e s me
announce the
great pleasure
successful termination
Odium
today to be a b l e
of the
to
Star's
n e g o t i a t i o n s t o purchase Vancouver's e x c l u s i v e morning
3
newspaper f i e l d . "
had
He
continued
by s a y i n g that the
been consummated on the preceding
i n p l a c e of the Morning Sun,
Saturday and
deal
that
the Morning S t a r would hence-
f o r t h make i t s appearance r e g u l a r l y , b r i n g i n g the
world's
news f r e s h to the b r e a k f a s t
man
t a b l e of the business
to people i n every walk of l i f e throughout the
3. The
Vancouver S t a r ,
February 1,
and
province.
1926.
Odium a l s o expressed h i s r e g r e t of l o s i n g h i s o l d subs c r i b e r s but added that they would now r e c e i v e the Evening
Sun.'
The general
i n that paper was
a l s o accurate,
of a l l .
I t was
p o l i c y o f the Morning S t a r as s t a t e d
to be f a i r i n a l l t h i n g s , even p o l i t i c s ,
and t h o r o u g h l y B r i t i s h but Canadian
first
the i n t e n t i o n of the Morning S t a r to b u i l d
a strong l o c a l o r g a n i z a t i o n v/hich would p u b l i s h a complete
morning news by means of f u l l t e l e g r a p h i c s e r v i c e s .
The
paper would a l s o i n c l u d e a great assortment of s p e c i a l
features
s i m i l a r to the f e a t u r e s p r i n t e d i n the r e c e n t
Evening S t a r •
The p r i c e was t o be r a i s e d to 750 monthly.
The heading of the Morning S t a r e d i t o r i a l page i s
worthy of s p e c i a l mention f o r i n i t the e d i t o r now
traces,
by means of a diagram, the h i s t o r y of that paper through
i n h e r i t a n c e and amalgamations
the News of 1886.
back to the A d v e r t i s e r
The c l a i m i s based upon the f a c t
and
that
the above papers became the News-Advertiser i n 1887., that
the Morning Sun absorbed the News-Advertiser in.1912 and
f i n a l l y that the Morning Sun had become the Morning S t a r
in
1926.
The e d i t o r wrote t h a t the Morning S t a r had taken
up the t r a d i t i o n s of the past and the task of the f u t u r e .
On December 11, 1926, "Victor Odium t r i e d the
experiment of adding i t s f i r s t r o t o g r a v u r e
to the Morning S t a r .
supplement
T h i s c o n s i s t e d of a 32-page
4. See appendix.
p i c t o r i a l presentation
of the province
of B r i t i s h
its
basic i n d u s t r i e s , n a t u r a l resources,
and
i t s social,
The
Sun
civil,
and
scenic a t t r a c t i o n s
recreational l i f e .
Morning S t a r , l i k e i t s predecessor now
evening f i e l d was
Columbia,
destined
to a checkered
i n the
career.
Continued l o s s e s attended the e n t e r p r i s e , making i t impossi b l e to o b t a i n more than a modest l i v i n g .
Indeed
the
e d i t o r , doubting the f u t u r e success of the paper s o l d out
to George B e l l , p u b l i s h e r of the Calgary
Albertan
on •
t,
September 14,
1929.
B e l l had
newspaper career as p r e s i d e n t
Company of Regina i n 1922,
Saskatoon S t a r and
in
1926.
The
had
a long and
successful
of the Leader P u b l i s h i n g
as one
of the managers of
the
as owner of the Northern M a i l i n Le
Pas
p u b l i c a t i o n of the Vancouver S t a r under
George B e l l ' s management proved "rough going" and
after
l o s i n g something l i k e f300,000, i n h i s venture B e l l
handed
the paper back to i t s former p r o p r i e t o r and
to
the
s o l e management of h i s home paper i n
retired
Calgary.
Odium resumed c o n t r o l of the
i n May
1931
but
due
to the
he was
unable to ever get
e x i s t i n g depression
that only by a cut of 15%
could the paper be kept g o i n g .
5. The
6. The
i n business
i t back on a p a y i n g b a s i s .
severe d i d the l o s s e s become t h a t e a r l y i n 1932
management decided
Star
Vancouver S t a r ,
Vancouver s t a r ,
:78
The
So
the
i n wages
p r o p o s i t i o n was
December 11,
September 14,
put
1926.
1929.
before
the s t a f f but the unions r e f u s e d
reduction
i n the wage s c a l e s u f f i c i e n t
to agree to a
to meet the
situation.
Odium appeared adamant.
He had decided
that
unless
he c o u l d p r a c t i c a l l y "balance the budget" he would not
attempt to continue o p e r a t i o n
of the paper.
He s a i d t h a t
as he d i d not choose t o operate w i t h a non union s t a f f he
had
no a l t e r n a t i v e but t o cease p u b l i c a t i o n .
Province
The D a i l y
o f February 12, 1932, c a r r i e d the news that the
S t a r might not i s s u e the f o l l o w i n g day, and added t h a t i f
the paper f a i l e d t o appear i t would be the f i r s t
time i n
more than f o r t y y e a r s that Vancouver had not had i t s
morning news.
The
entitled,
next day the Province
"Adieu t o the S t a r " .
published
an e d i t o r i a l
The Province
paid t r i b u t e
to the S t a r by saying t h a t i t had been a decent,
self-
r e s p e c t i n g newspaper, g i v i n g the news without c o l o r or
misrepresentation,
and g i v i n g i t s o p i n i o n s
s i d e of the decent and honest t h i n g .
honestly
The Province
f u r t h e r t h a t the S t a r had i n s p i t e o f i t s t r o u b l e d
existence,
placed
i t s name among the l i s t
p r i n c i p a l newspapers.
Unfortunately
hard times and thus f o r a great
losing
oh the
stated
brief
of Vancouver's
i t had had t o face
p a r t of the time was a
concern.
Journalism
sideline.
f o r V i c t o r Odium however, had only been a
Speaking of the S t a r a few years l a t e r he
79
remarked
t h a t t o him newspaper work had been an i n t e r e s t i n g
form of r e l a x a t i o n and t h a t he had f u l l y enjoyed a l l h i s
press c o n n e c t i o n s .
F o r the most p a r t h i s has been, and
remains a m i l i t a r y c a r e e r .
As a youth under m i l i t a r y age
he went as a p r i v a t e t o the South A f r i c a n War.
off
He went
t o the Great War as second i n command of a b a t t a l i o n
and r e t u r n e d i n command of a b r i g a d e .
During the f i r s t
Great War he became B r i g a d i e r General Odium, G. B.,
G. M. G., D. S. 0.
At the present time he i s s e r v i n g h i s
country i n A u s t r a l i a as Canadian High
having f i r s t
division.
Commissioner,
gone t o England as commander
of the second
He was r a i s e d "ot.©- tne-".r;afik-3pf>iMa>^or*Ge.ne6ail i n
England i n 1940.
In
the i n t e r v a l of peace 1918-1939 Odium h e l d
many p o s i t i o n s other than j o u r n a l i s t i c .
He was i n t h e
employ of the Canadian P a c i f i c Railway Company i n v a r i o u s
c a p a c i t i e s and he was a. p a r t n e r i n the bondhouse of
V i c t o r W. Odium, Brown, and Company.
L i b e r a l r e p r e s e n t a t i v e f o r Vancouver
1924,
He became the
i n the L e g i s l a t u r e i n
and a member of the board of governors f o r the
U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia
i n 1935.
. .'Victor
Odium was never without numerous business i n t e r e s t s .
When i n 1932, the S t a r which he owned and e d i t e d ceased
p u b l i c a t i o n he turned h i s a t t e n t i o n elsewhere.
8Q
Chapter XI
The
News-Herald
and
The Vancouver News
All
of the newspapers d i s c u s s e d i n the p r e c e d i n g chapters
o r i g i n a t e d and were operated as p r i v a t e f i n a n c i a l
C a p i t a l was
enterprises.
s u p p l i e d hy the owners and backers who
sought patronage through "party p o l i t i c s " .
which have s u r v i v e d now
Those
usually
papers
openly disavow any p o l i t i c a l
i a t i o n s and term themselves "independent".
The
affil-
News-Herald,
founded on A p r i l 84, 1935 began however, as a j o i n t - s t o c k
company composed o f the s t a f f of the paper.
Most of the
founders had been former members of the recent S t a r organization.
When, on the night o f February IE, 193E,
Odium had t o l d them that p u b l i c a t i o n was
of
h i s ex-employees
Victor
suspended
a number
decided to organize a newspaper..
This
group p r o j e c t came i n t o being i n A p r i l of the next y e a r .
Meanwhile another group, headed
by G. S i v e r t z ,
managing d i r e c t o r and J . Edward N o r c r o s s , e d i t o r ,
been former members of the S t a r ) had begun a paper
The Vancouver News.
This l i t t l e
(both had
called,
morning paper commenced
p u b l i c a t i o n from 614 ?\fest Pender S t r e e t , on November 1,
81
193S
but succumbed A p r i l 8, 1933
a f t e r a p e r i o d of o n l y f i v e
i
months.
The News had s a l u t e d the p u b l i c i n i t s f i r s t
with the e x p l a n a t i o n of the obvious need of a new
Vancouver.
The owners s t a t e d that they had
issue
daily in
come to-remove
a reproach t h a t Canada's t h i r d c i t y had no morning paper,
and furthermore they were going to f u r n i s h employment to a
number of former employees of the defunct S t a r .
T h i s attempt
Business men
advertising.
was
by the News was
doomed to f a i l u r e .
d i d not support the endeavour w i t h
The paper which was
sufficient
i s s u e d Saturday, A p r i l 8th,
r e a l l y an e l e v e n t h hour appeal f o r more f i n a n c i a l
support.
I t was
not forthcoming and the Saturday
issue
was
the end of the News e n t e r p r i s e .
But what of the f i r s t mentioned group headed by
Roy H a r o l d Eobichaxd and J . Noel K e l l y , who
on a c o - o p e r a t i v e paper?
had
determined
F o r t y i n number they had combed
Vancouver f o r funds, c r e d i t , advertisements, and
circulation.
For s e v e r a l weeks p r i o r to p u b l i c a t i o n the News-Herald s t a f f
had the d i f f i c u l t
that d i d n ' t e x i s t .
assignment
of t r y i n g to s e l l
something
The p s y c h o l o g i c a l element p l a y e d i t s
p a r t and set people t a l k i n g , making many decide to give
the sponsors a chance.
signed up,
At l e a s t 10,000 s u b s c r i b e r s had
even before they had any n o t i o n of the s o r t of
paper they would r e c e i v e .
1. The Vancouver News,
2.
Ibid
82
November 1, 1932.
A p r i l 8, 1933.
Walter Sampson, w r i t i n g i n Macleans Magazine s a i d of
the founders,
"They r e n t e d a s m a l l downtown o f f i c e as headquarters,
r o l l e d up t h e i r s l e e v e s , cleaned, scrubbed, dusted and began
I t was
a step i n the dark with l i t t l e
to g a i n .
A l l who
to share i n the
j o i n e d the e n t e r p r i s e had an equal chance
profits.
The Mews-Herald which had
A p r i l 1933,
to l o s e and e v e r y t h i n g
i s now
such a modest b e g i n n i n g i n
a l e a d i n g morning d a i l y .
I t enjoys the
f a c t that i t has proven i t p o s s i b l e to s t a r t a m e t r o p o l i t a n
newspaper on a " s h o e s t r i n g " and that from the b e g i n n i n g the
paper has been a
-.j.oint-stock b u s i n e s s .
At i t s masthead
every day the News-Herald p u b l i s h e s the l i n e ,
c o n t r o l l e d by t h e . s t a f f . "
When the f o u n d e r - s t o c k h o l d e r s
made a f i n a n c i a l r e p o r t i n November 1936,
they d i s c o v e r e d
t h a t from t h e i r o r i g i n a l $5,000, investment
103
"Owned and
they then
employees e a r n i n g $125,000, annual p a y r o l l , 250
had
carriers
e a r n i n g $3,000, a month, an annual b u s i n e s s turnover of
$250,000, and a c i r c u l a t i o n of almost 20,000, l a r g e s t of
4
any Canadian morning paper west of Toronto.
Besides Roy H. Robichand
and James Noel K e l l y ,
the
o r i g i n a l business o r g a n i z a t i o n i n c l u d e d such names as Major
Gus S i v e r t z , David Duguid, H a r o l d B e l l , H. E. Bendie'kson
AI.Williamson.
In a d d i t i o n to the above t h e ' e d i t o r i a l
3. Sampson, Walter, "Owned by the S t a f f , "
Maclean's Magazine L I : 23,51
4. Time, December 14, 1936
V o l . 28, 49.
83
and
staff
c o n s i s t e d of Evelyn.. A. C a l d w e l l , B e a t r i c e Green, E v e r e t t
L e s l i e , A. Cromar Bruce, Jack S c o t t , Himie Koshevoy
and
Jimmie Dyer.
The founders of the News-Herald had to f a c e many t r i a l s
and h a r d s h i p s before success was t h e i r s .
Lacking finances •
they had to s t a r t p r i n t i n g with an a n c i e n t press which they
dug out from under a p i l e of r u b b i s h and bought from a job
p l a n t on terms f o r $1,100.
it
They turned i t over by hand when
f a i l e d to f u n c t i o n on the f i r s t
paper's f i r s t r u n .
1,000
copies of the
Another d i f f i c u l t y which the young
paper o r g a n i z a t i o n had to contend, l a y i n the f a c t
that
w h i l e i t s e d i t o r i a l and business s t a f f worked on boxes and
k i t c h e n t a b l e s i n one b u i l d i n g , i t s composing room was a
block away, and i t s o l d press and m a i l i n g room were o u t s i d e
the c i t y .
Business was c a r r i e d on i n t h i s manner u n t i l
f i n a n c e s allowed the
Q.ompony
.. to purchase a s u i t a b l e
b u i l d i n g and adequate mechanical equipment.
The e d i t o r who
p i l o t e d the News-Herald through i t s
7
most d i f f i c u l t
the I s l e of Man
days was James Noel K e l l y .
He was born on
and had been a world wanderer u n t i l he
s e t t l e d i n Vancouver.
E d i t o r K e l l y gave h i s s t a f f a
d e f i n i t e formula i n connection with l o c a l news.
Realizing
that s u b s c r i b e r s t o the morning paper were a l s o r e a d e r s of
5. News-Herald f i l e s .
6. Time, December 14, 1936.
7.
Ibid
49.
84
V a l . 28, 49.
at l e a s t one of the e vening ^papers, K e l l y s a i d at the beg i n n i n g that they would c a r r y no " r e w r i t e s " and that the
morning paper would be a new paper.
He d e c l a r e d
that the
News-Herald would avoid p o l i t i c s and long continued
Instead,
articles.
a l l news items v/ould be b r i e f and t o the p o i n t and
thereby s u i t e d to the h u r r i e d morning
reader.
I t i s n e a r l y t e n y e a r s s i n c e the News-Herald was founded
as a combined s t a f f e n t e r p r i s e but i t has not remained on
that business b a s i s .
Approximately three years ago t h i s
o r g a n i z a t i o n found i t s e l f unable t o meet i t s f i n a n c i a l
o b l i g a t i o n s and accepted a s s i s t a n c e
from D. A. Hamilton
who now owns the major p o r t i o n of the shares.
the o r i g i n a l founders are s t i l l
85
shareholders.
S e v e r a l of
Chapter X I I
Development i n Make-up
r
A study of Vancouver newspapers r e v e a l s g r a d u a l but
constant progress i n g e n e r a l form and appearance.
movement may be observed
Forward
from y e a r to year i n the i n c r e a s e d
number of pages making up an i s s u e , i n the number of
columns on a page, and i n the s i z e and v a r i e t y of type used.
Change i s evident too i n the use made of blank space and
illustrations.
The p a r t of each'paper r e s e r v e d f o r adver-
tisements, e d i t o r i a l s ,
evidence
and news items, a l s o p r o v i d e s
of t h e i r r e l a t i v e importance as f a r as the owner
of the paper was concerned.
A few o b s e r v a t i o n s w i l l
now
serve t o i l l u s t r a t e the above changes.
Each o f Vancouver's e a r l y papers,
the H e r a l d , the
News, and the A d v e r t i s e r was simply a f o l d e d sheet making
four pages i n a l l .
The News-Advertiser
added more pages as
a d v e r t i s i n g grew and as world news became e a s i e r t o o b t a i n .
L a t e r newspapers, the Yforld and the P r o v i n c e a l s o made
modest beginnings
as f a r as the number o f pages was
concern-
ed, but w i t h i n a r e l a t i v e l y short space of time the number
of pages i s s u e d f o r each paper was c o n s i d e r a b l y i n c r e a s e d .
By the end of the f i r s t years' o p e r a t i o n i n Vancouver the
D a i l y P r o v i n c e was i s s u i n g a s i x t e e n page paper.
Today the
Province and the Sun p u b l i s h papers which c o n t a i n t h i r t y or
more pages.
The present morning paper, the News-Herald i s
86
r
not so l a r g e .
I t averages twelve
pages.
E a r l y p r e f e r e n c e s o f p o r t i o n s o f papers to be used f o r
advertisements seem to i n d i c a t e t h a t newspapers were read
for
t h e i r news r a t h e r than f o r t h e i r f e a t u r e s .
v/as
that the f r o n t pages of the H e r a l d , the News and the
A d v e r t i s e r were p l a s t e r e d with advertisements.
The r e s u l t
One of the
main f u n c t i o n s of t h e e a r l y Vancouver papers v/as t o t e l l the
v/orld how r a p i d l y the c i t y was growing and what o p p o r t u n i t i e s
i t o f f e r e d f o r l a r g e c a p i t a l investments.
The A d v e r t i s e r
and the News both c a r r i e d d a i l y columns devoted t o d e s c r i p t i v e matter
concerning the c i t y ' s economic p r o s p e c t s ,
its
geographic p o s i t i o n , i t s m a g n i f i c e n t harbor and i t s s c e n i c
beauties.
These columns and e d i t o r i a l s were c l e v e r l y p l a c e d
between blocks of r e a l e s t a t e advertisements v/hich s e t f o r t h
the great advantages
of the immediate purchase of sub-
d i v i s i o n s and l o t s .
The other advertisements i n the l o c a l
papers of 1886 and 1887 were simply l i s t s o f Vancouver's
business concerns.
Each a d v e r t i s e r
set f o r t h his p a r t i c u l a r
business as b r i g h t l y as p o s s i b l e and mentioned
every
that might
customer.
All
be the means of a t t r a c t i n g another
detail
these advertisements were, arranged i n a compact manner
l e a v i n g very l i t t l e
blank space.
No a t t e n t i o n was g i v e n a t
that time t o the value of form, c o n t r a s t , or i s o l a t i o n , i n
t h e i r arrangement.
As the advertisements grew i n number i t
became more and more e v i d e n t to the producer that the
p u b l i c might
not "Bee- •• h i s p a r t i c u l a r n o t i c e , so use was
87
made of d i f f e r e n t s t y l e s of type.
A t t e n t i o n was
gained
by the p l a c i n g of the typed words v e r t i c a l l y or
across the assigned space.
ment i n the News f e a t u r e d
which n e c e s s i t a t e d
The
the
y e a r s 1887
The
turning
of the
newspaper.
were d e f i n i t e l y years of
On
January 11,
1887
to
the
e v i d e n t l y not
s u c c e s s f u l as i t only
more a t t e n t i o n was
The
Daily
l a s t e d a few
idea
g i v e n to such elements as
i s o l a t i o n , p i c t u r e s , trade-marks,
slogans.
of p i c t u r e s was
The
use
at f i r s t
e s p e c i a l l y i n connection w i t h d e n t i s t r y and
advertisements.
The
World on December 13,
a novel d e n t i s t r y advertisement by Dr.
p h o t o s t a t s of g r a t e f u l p a t i e n t s '
and
noticeably
1913
carried
published
A later dentistry
slogan p r i n t e d i n b i g
" I f i t hurts don't pay."'
demand i n the 1890's f o r l a r g e r a d v e r t i s i n g
occasioned an
crude,
patent medicine
Lowe who
letters.
advertisement c a r r i e d the f o l l o w i n g
red l e t t e r s ,
was
issues.
motion, c o n t r a s t ,
The
be
t r i e d the i n s e r t i o n of business advertisements
a l t e r n a t e l y among the l o c a l c i t y news items.
Gradually
concerned i n
" P o s i t i o n " seemed at f i r s t
the most important f a c t o r .
Advertiser
advertise-
v e r t i c a l p r i n t i n g , the r e a d i n g of
to 1890
l o c a l c i t y papers.
diagonally
H a s t i n g s Sawmill
experiment as f a r as newspaper a d v e r t i s i n g was
the
too
increase
i n the
s i z e of newspaper pages.
space
As
business developed the producer r e a l i z e d that he must
a t t r a c t the a t t e n t i o n of people to h i s s p e c i a l product
1. The
World,
September
:
as
1914.
and
i n f l u e n c e them to buy
it.
R e a l i z i n g t h a t most people
a newspaper h a s t i l y the producer
advertisements
to
the advantage of
which were s h o r t , simple, and
c a t c h the readers' n o t i c e .
space,
saw
More use was
so i s o l a t e d
made of
and i n t u r n such i n n o v a t i o n s as slogans,
trade-marks and money-back guarantees,
to
as
blank
jingles,
but the a d v e r t i s e -
ments no longer occupied a l l the f r o n t page.
becoming s u f f i c i e n t l y entrenched
read
The p u b l i s h e r s ,
i n business, c o u l d a f f o r d
r e s e r v e the f r o n t page f o r news and remove a l a r g e
p r o p o r t i o n of the advertisements
to i n s i d e pages.
The manner of d i s p l a y i n g world news v a r i e d v/ith the
e d i t o r s but i n g e n e r a l i t s form underwent a s i m i l a r
to
t h a t of a d v e r t i s i n g .
typed and spaced
little
At f i r s t
the news was
so as not to waste any paper.
change
closely
There
v a r i a t i o n i n the s i z e of type even f o r the
was
titles.
R e a l h e a d l i n e s d i d not make t h e i r appearance i n Vancouver
u n t i l 1904
and 1905.
The World used s m a l l headings at the
top of the f i r s t
page i n 1904
red
s t r e t c h e d a c r o s s the paper.
h e a d l i n e was
but by 1906
year b i g b l a c k h e a d l i n e s v/ere i n use,
to
the use of " r e d " on October 1, 1913
A p r i l 30,
1915.
F o l l o w i n g the l a s t
1, 1915
one
s o l i d large
The f o l l o w i n g
but the World r e t u r n e d
and continued
date b l a c k p r i n t
again used.
From May
u n t i l October 1, 1921
World ceased
the use of h e a d l i n e s , w i t h one
until
was
the
exception.
The words " L u s i t a n i a S i n k s " were used i n the i s s u e of May
1915.
S e v e r a l experiments with the s i z e , number of words,
89
7,
and arrangement
of h e a d l i n e s f o l l o w e d the f i r s t use.
were used i n c o l o u r and i n s c r i p t .
The l a t t e r may
i n the Morning Sun of January 1, 1922,
p l a c e d above the t i t l e
of the paper.
They
be
seen
the h e a d l i n e b e i n g
This
particular
h e a d l i n e reads, "Rule of the Road Changes January 1.
to
the R i g h t . "
Keep
The D a i l y P r o v i n c e began the use of head-
l i n e s on December 24, 1913,
u s i n g three s m a l l headings
a c r o s s the top of the paper.
With a few e x c e p t i o n s f o r
s p e c i a l e d i t i o n s , the P r o v i n c e does not make a p r a c t i c e of
u s i n g too s t a r t l i n g h e a d l i n e s .
No matter how
important or e x t e n s i v e a news event
may
be, however, i t can at best c o n s t i t u t e only a p a r t of
the
contents of a newspaper.
No
s t o r y has ever been
important enough to e n t i r e l y crowd: d out l o c a l
f i n a n c e , or s o c i a l news.
sports,
The wheels of business and
social
l i f e must be kept t u r n i n g even i f the c l a s h of war makes
all
e l s e seem to be of secondary importance.
The s a y i n g
that a l l humanity
i s aboard a lumbering stagecoach bound
for
be t r u e but newspapers have d e c i d e d the
the grave may
t r i p might as w e l l be as gay as p o s s i b l e .
Because the
average j o u r n a l i s f o r c e d to c a r r y a sorry l o t of passengers,
death, murder, s u i c i d e , robbery, warfare and
crookedness,
i t must supply r e l i e f by a r t i c l e s of a l i g h t e r
nature.
August
literary
I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g to r e c a l l at t h i s p o i n t t h a t the3, 1887,
i s s u e of the H e r a l d , Vancouver's
&• The Sun,
January 1,
.9.0
1922.
first
paper, l a b e l l e d the b i r t h , death,
"come", "gone" and
and marriage columns
" f i x e d to s t a y " .
Modern newspaper s t r e a m l i n i n g has meant the i n t r o d u c t i o n
of
more l e g i b l e type, p i c t u r e maps and a c t i o n photographs.
I t has meant the g a t h e r i n g , s o r t i n g ,
world news i n an e f f i c i e n t and
g e n e r a l development has
and r e p r o d u c t i o n of
e x p e d i t i o u s manner.
The
i n c l u d e d the r e s e r v a t i o n of more and
more space f o r s y n d i c a t e d m a t e r i a l s , the most widely read
which are the "comic s t r i p s " .
latter
The
first
"Mutt and J e f f " and
a l s o the f i r s t
appearing
12,
1912.
"Mr.
The
i s s u e of the
s t r i p s p u b l i s h e d were
Twee Deedle".
"Mutt and J e f f "
was
"comic s t r i p " p u b l i s h e d by the D a i l y P r o v i n c e ,
on February
20,
1913,
n e a r l y two years
had
been f e a t u r e d by the Sun.
had
t h e i r beginning l o c a l l y i n 1914.
"Buster Brown" occupied
1914.
appearance of the
i n the l o c a l papers came with the f i r s t
Morning Sun February
of
after i t
Many of the best known s t r i p s
"Foxy Grandpa" with
a space i n the World on February
7,
" B r i n g i n g up F a t h e r " or " J i g g s " as the s t r i p i s
f a m i l i a r l y known appeared i n the P r o v i n c e January 10,
1914.
That paper gave Vancouver readers, " L i t t l e Orphan Annie",
"Gasoline A l l e y " and
The
Sun,
the "Gumps" on September 1,
1925.
"Gumps" had a l r e a d y made an e a r l i e r appearance i n the
February
24,
1921.
Vancouver papers have continued
to
make d a i l y use of the "comic s t r i p s " and have added a
weekly of s e v e r a l c o l o u r e d pages along with the magazine
section.
Cartoons f i r s t
found
t h e i r way
91
i n t o the l o c a l papers as
humorous barbs d i r e c t e d at unpopular c i v i c
policies.
administrative
J . P. McConnell o f the Saturday Sunset made
constant use o f cartoons t o i l l u s t r a t e h i s f r o n t page
e d i t o r i a l s which were o f t e n a t t a c k s a t l o c a l u n d e s i r a b l e
practices.
The f i r s t
cartoon t o appear
i n a daily
paper
was used by the P r o v i n c e i n December 1912 and was r e l a t e d
to
Christmas shopping.
The second t o appear
i n that
paper
r e f e r r e d t o a current F a l s e Creek by-law and was p u b l i s h e d
March 8, 1913. A f t e r t h i s date cartoons began to appear i n
all
the l o c a l papers at frequent i n t e r v a l s .
J.
B. F i t z Maurice, p o p u l a r l y known as " F i t z " was
Vancouver's
first
outstanding cartoonist.
He was born i n
England i n the year 1875 and r e c e i v e d a good e d u c a t i o n i n
t h a t country.
A f t e r t r y i n g many occupations i n Canada he
f i n a l l y found h i s "niche" i n l i f e
Vancouver
Daily Province.
f i n e type of humour.
the
as c a r t o o n i s t f o r the
F i t z Maurice was noted f o r h i s
B i s cartoons p o r t r a y i n g the v o t e r ,
taxpayer, the gardener and a l l the l i t t l e
v e x a t i o n s of f a m i l y l i f e were tremendously
joys and
popular.
More
d r o l l than w i t t y , h i s c h a r a c t e r s seemed t o move on the
p i c t u r e page.
One of h i s best cartoons d e p i c t i n g p i o n e e r
members of the P r o v i n c e s t a f f and i n c l u d i n g h i m s e l f , hangs
in
a prominent
p l a c e today i n the Vancouver
Province r e f e r -
ence room.
F i t z Maurice d i e d i n Vancouver
the
"The
January 17, 1926 at
age of 51. H i s good f r i e n d B u t t e r f i e l d then author of
Common Round" paying him h i s l a s t r e s p e c t s wrote,
92
"One moment he would be d i s c u s s i n g from a h i g h plane
the e t e r n a l v e r i t i e s of l i f e , the r e l a t i o n s o f man and man as
expressed i n r e l i g i o n , c u l t u r e , j u s t i c e , l o v e , and other
h i g h matters and the next moment would f i n d him making mental
mud p i e s with you upon such t r i v i a l i t i e s as p o l i t i c s ,
h o r s e - r a c i n g , b i l l i a r d s , and b o o t l e g g i n g . " Z
Butterfield
c l o s e d h i s humble t r i b u t e with the words,
"Goodbye F i t z " .
Jack Boothe, the present popular and l i v e l y c a r t o o n i s t
f o r the P r o v i n c e i s c a r r y i n g on the work begun by F i t z
Maurice.
There
i s a chunky l i t t l e
which comments on the "goings-on"
owl i n Boothe*s drawings
i n the c a r t o o n s .
i s an amusing, convenient, and unusual
common sense".
have appeared
The owl
symbol f o r " g e n e r a l
O r i g i n a l s o f cartoons by Jack Boothe which
i n the P r o v i n c e have been d i s p l a y e d i n the
Vancouver A r t G a l l e r y .
3. Vancouver D a i l y P r o v i n c e , January 19, 1926.
93
Chapter X I I I
Conclusion
Regarded from the p o i n t of view of t h e i r
o r g a n i z a t i o n , Vancouver newspapers
development.
The f i r s t
business
show an i n t e r e s t i n g
p u b l i c a t i o n s , the H e r a l d , the
A d v e r t i s e r , and the News, were owned, e d i t e d , and p u b l i s h e d
by t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e owners.
S e r v i n g a pioneer
community
thei-e was l i t t l e need f o r an e l a b o r a t e o r g a n i z a t i o n or a
, large e d i t o r i a l s t a f f .
The main ambition
of the owner was
to earn a l i v e l i h o o d , a t a s k which was extremely
difficult
i n a young c i t y only b e g i n n i n g
to e x p l o r e i t s i n d u s t r i a l
and commercial p o s s i b i l i t i e s .
Indeed, when the above
newspapers made t h e i r appearance Vancouver was but a
logging area.
Even i f the community could have supported a
l a r g e r newspaper
i n the years 1886 and 1887, the owner o f
such a paper would have r e q u i r e d c o n s i d e r a b l e c a p i t a l t o
i n s t a l a suitable press.
F e e l i n g the need of s e c u r i t y owners
of a l l the e a r l y newspapers were f o r c e d t o r e l y upon e i t h e r
p o l i t i c a l or f i n a n c i a l i n t e r e s t s i n order to be sure o f
some support.
As Vancouver's p o p u l a t i o n grew and as
commerce developed
the j o u r n a l s continued
f i n a n c i a l backing d e r i v e d from p o l i t i c a l
e s t a t e agencies,
to accept the
interest,
real
and l a n d s p e c u l a t o r s .
Most of Vancouvers e a r l i e r newspapers were a f f i l i a t e d
with some p o l i t i c a l party, some o r i g i n a t i n g as a means o f
p u b l i c i t y f o r p a r t i c u l a r p o l i t i c a l platforms.
94
T h i s was
e s p e c i a l l y true i n the case of the Sun
was
founded
Sunset,
o r g a n i z a t i o n which
by a group of s t r o n g L i b e r a l s .
the Sun's predecessor, was
publication.
Political
Saturday
also a strong L i b e r a l
connections may
h i s t o r y of the News-Advertiser
The
be noted too i n the
and of the World.
w is always a C o n s e r v a t i v e organ although begun by
:
The
former
private
c a p i t a l w h i l e the l a t t e r supported very s t r o n g l y a l l
o p p o s i t i o n to the C o n s e r v a t i v e s .
the present day,
to.be
now
The
two
c h i e f papers
the P r o v i n c e and the Sun,
independent
however, p r o f e s s
of a l l p o l i t i c a l a f f i l i a t i o n s .
This i s
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of most l a r g e m e t r o p o l i t a n papers,
reason being that a newspaper now
of
the
r e q u i r e s a l a r g e amount
of c a p i t a l ; i t i s consequently run on the same p r i n c i p l e s
as any other l a r g e b u s i n e s s .
The
e a r l i e s t p u b l i c a t i o n s of t h i s c i t y
segving as
d i d a. r e l a t i v e l y i s o l a t e d pioneer s e t t l e m e n t , devoted
they
the
l a r g e s t p r o p o r t i o n of space t o l o c a l news, l o c a l a d v e r t i s e ments, and l o c a l p o l i t i c a l arguments.
T h i s seems obvious
i n view of the f a c t that communication w i t h the o u t s i d e world
at that time was
very e r r a t i c .
With improved t e l e g r a p h i c
s e r v i c e , o u t s i d e news began to occupy more and more space
i n the newspapers.
With the i n c r e a s i n g amount of world news
a v a i l a b l e came an i n c r e a s i n g e d i t o r i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y i n
s e l e c t i o n and
reproduction.
Increase of e d i t o r i a l work
1. A n g e l l , ttorman, The Press and the O r g a n i s a t i o n of
S o c i e t y . The Labour P u b l i s h i n g Company L t d . , London. 1922.
95
coupled with the general
expansion i n newspaper equipment
required
T h i s i n t u r n brought a d i v i s i o n
larger s t a f f s .
of newspaper s e r v i c e s i n t o e d i t o r i a l and
ment r e s p e c t i v e l y .
tising,
To
the
business manage-
business s e c t i o n went the
the most p r o d u c t i v e
source of newspaper revenue.
Growing s t e a d i l y s i n c e the f o u n d i n g of the f i r s t
a d v e r t i s i n g i s now
and
d i v i d e d i n t o two
main p a r t s ,
" c l a s s f i e d " . Although the former was
Vancouver's f i r s t
a simple way
adver-
newspaper,
"display"
used l a r g e l y i n
papers, y e t the c l a s s i f i e d s e c t i o h began i n
as e a r l y as 1887
and
t h i s s e c t i o n has
developed i n t o the present d e t a i l e d but
steadily
o r d e r l y arrangement.
Vancouver newspapers have s t r i v e n to keep pace w i t h
constant t e c h n i c a l i n n o v a t i o n s
press everywhere.
large proportion
influences
and
which have a f f e c t e d the
S y n d i c a t e d news has
of each i s s u e .
the p r i n t i n g t e l e g r a p h
importance i n the
daily
come to occupy a
Many other
such as the i n v e n t i o n of the
the
technological
telephone, the
machines have a l l been of
radio,
vital
e v o l u t i o n of Vancouver's newspapers.
The
same i s true of the great news-gathering o r g a n i z a t i o n s ,
the
Associated
Press,
the U n i t e d
News S e r v i c e , which now
news.
Press,
and
the
International
supply the b u l k of the
non-local
Vancouver newspapers, however, w h i l e s u p p l y i n g
their
s u b s c r i b e r s w i t h the l a t e s t d a i l y world happenings never
omit l o c a l economic, p o l i t i c a l and
r e f l e c t the
d a i l y l i f e of the
appeal to l o c a l
s o c i a l news.' A l l these
community and make an
readers.
96
intimate
Books
1. Anonymous
L i s t s of V o t e r s i n the s e v e r a l E l e c t o r a l
D i s t r i c t s i n B r i t i s h Columbia, V i c t o r i a ,
Government P r i n t i n g O f f i c e , September 1876.
.2.
"
The Newspaper as an A d v e r t i s i n g Medium,
New York, The Bureau of A d v e r t i s i n g American
.Newspaper P u b l i s h e r s A s s o c i a t i o n , 1940.
3.
"
Vancouver
City Directory,
1888.
4.
".
Vancouver
City Directory,
1889.
5.
"
Manuscript Volumes, C i t y
•6.
"
Canadian Club of Vancouver, Addresses and
Proceedings.
1909/10—1912/13
7.
"
B r i t i s h Columbia, B i o g r a p h i c a l , The S. J .
Clarke P u b l i s h i n g Company, Vancouver, P o r t l a n d
San F r a n c i s c o , Chicago, V o l . I l l and IV, 1914.
Archives.
8. B l e y e r , W. G. Newspaper W r i t i n g and E d i t i n g , Boston,
New York, Chicago, San F r a n c i s c o , Houghton
M i f f l i n Company (1923).
9. B u r t t , H. E. Psychology of A d v e r t i s i n g ,
Boston, New York,
Chicago, D a l l a s , San F r a n c i s c o , R i v e r s i d e
Press, Cambridge, (1938).
10. D i b b l e , G. Binney, The Newspaper, London, W i l l i a m s and
Norgatel (no date)
. A good d i s c u s s i o n of s y n d i c a t e
s e r v i c e as an important p a r t of j o u r n a l i s m .
11. F l o h e r t y , John J . Your D a i l y Paper, P h i l a d e l p h i a , London,
New York, L i p p i n c o t t Company, 1938.
D e s c r i b e s the g a t h e r i n g of the
news and of the p l a c i n g of i t before the
people.
12. G o s n e l l , R. E. The Year Book of B r i t i s h Columbia,
V i c t o r i a , 1897.
Contains an a r t i c l e "The Reminiscences of the P r e s s " by D. W. H i g g i n s .
13. G o s n e l l , R. E. The Year Book of B r i t i s h Columbia.
Compendium. V i c t o r i a , 1897-1901.
97
Books
14. G o s n e l l , R.
E. The Year Book of B r i t i s h Columbia and
Manual of P r o v i n c i a l I n f o r m a t i o n .
Victoria,
1903.
L i s t s the newspapers of the p r o v i n c e .
15. G o s n e l l , R.
E. The Year Book of B r i t i s h Columbia,
Victoria,
1911
Contains a r t i c l e s on the e a r l y h i s t o r y of
B r i t i s h Columbia.
16. Greene, B. M. Who's Who i n Canada, Toronto, I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Press L i m i t e d ,
1927.
Short biography of W. C. N i c h o l on P.
1481.
17. H a r r i n g t o n ,
Harry F. and Watson E. S c o t t .
Modern F e a t u r e W r i t i n g , New York and London,
Harper and B r o s .
1935.
T h i s book t e l l s what the p u b l i c expects of the
modern newspaper.
18. Henshaw, Mrs. F. G. (-Julian Durham). "The C i t i e s o f
V i c t o r i a and Vancouver" i n Hopkins, J . C a s t e l l ,
Canada, The L l n s c o t t P u b l i s h i n g Co.,
(1895) V o l . 5, pp. 273-277.
19. H i g g i n s ,
D. W. The M y s t i c Spring, Toronto, W i l l i a m B r i g g s ,
1904.
U s e f u l as a source of i n f o r m a t i o n about pioneer
days i n B r i t i s h Columbia. One s t o r y d e s c r i b e s
the s i n k i n g of the S.S. P a c i f i c 1874.
"Sue"
Moody from M o o d y v i l l e was one of the passengers-.
20. H i g g i n s ,
D. W. The P a s s i n g of a Race, Toronto
W i l l i a m B r i g g s , 1905.
U s e f u l only f o r background r e a d i n g on
e a r l y days.
the
21. Howay, F. W. and S c h o l e f i e l d E. 0. S. B r i t i s h Columbia
from the e a r l i e s t times to the p r e s e n t .
Winnipeg, Montreal, Chicago, S. J . C l a r k e
P u b l i s h i n g Company 1914.
V o l s . 1 and 2.
22. Eerr,:-J, B*
B i o g r a p h i c a l , Dictionary, of -.well known
B r i t i s h • Columbians..- • - Vancouver,
Kerr---and-B.eggi--rl'89;0i' ' •
98
Books
23. McMurtie, Douglas C. The F i r s t P r i n t i n g i n B r i t i s h
Columbia, Chicago, P r i v a t e l y p r i n t e d , 1929.
24. McNaught, C a r l t o n .
Canada Gets the News.
Ryerson P r e s s ,
1940
Toronto,
25. Roberts, Charles G. D. and T u n n e l l , A r t h e r L
D i c t i o n a r y of Canadian Biography.
Trans-Canada Press, 1938.
(editors)
Toronto,,- '
-J
26. Ross, V i c t o r , The H i s t o r y of the Canadian Bank of
Commerce, Toronto, Oxford U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s ,
1920 V o l . 1.
Chapter 5 deals with the Bank of B r i t i s h
Columbia. Many f a c t s r e l a t i n g to the e a r l y
h i s t o r y of Vancouver are i n c l u d e d i n t h i s
chapter.
27. Thompson, Denys, Between the L i n e s , or How to Read a
Newspaper, London, F r e d e r i c k M u l l e r L t d . ,
1939.
A good book on newspaper o b s e r v a t i o n .
28. Walkem, W.
W. S t o r i e s of E a r l y B r i t i s h Columbia,
Vancouver, News-Advertiser, 1914.
Contains s e v e r a l extremely i n t e r e s t i n g n a r r a t i v e s of pioneer days. One s t o r y , "Christmas
T h i r t y - E i g h t Years Ago" i s a v i v i d d e s c r i p t i o n of "Gastown" i n 1877.
29. W i l l i a m s ,
R. T. B r i t i s h ' C o l u m b i a D i r e c t o r y ,
, V i c t o r i a , W i l l i a m s ' P u b l i s h e r , 1882-83.
30. W i l l i a m s ,
R. T. V i c t o r i a and Nanaimo C i t i e s D i r e c t o r y ,
V i c t o r i a , Williams Publisher,
1890.
31. W i l l i a m s ,
R. T. B r i t i s h Columbia D i r e c t o r y ,
Victoria,
1892.
32. W r i g l e y ' s B r i t i s h Columbia D i r e c t o r y , Vancouver
Wrigley's D i r e c t o r i e s L t d . 1918.
Contains an H i s t o r i c a l Review.
99
Periodicals
1. Anonymous
2.
1
"
"Coast C o - o p e r a t i v e " , Time, XXVIII, 49,
December 14, 1936
"Twenty Years o f Skeezix", News Week XVII,
71, February 17, 1941
3. Black, Robson, "Canadian J o u r n a l i s m " , The Canadian
Magazine. XXXII, 434-440 March 1909.
4. C l a r k , J . T. "The D a i l y Newspaper", The Canadian
Magazine. V I I , 101-104, June 1896.
5. Coyne, Joan, " F i v e M i l l i o n f o r P i c t u r e s . " S c h o l a s t i c ,
XXXII, 10-11, 32, 37, March 26, 1938.
6. F o r s y t h e , John. " E a r l y Newspapers of B r i t i s h Columbia.
B.C. H i s t o r i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n Reports, 22-8,
1925.
'
7. F o s t e r , Mrs. Garland "The F i r s t Mayor of Vancouver."
A r t , H i s t o r i c a l , and S c i e n t i f i c A s s o c i a t i o n
Vancouver Museum Notes, 111, 11-13,
September 1928.
8. Howay, F. W. " E a r l y S h i p p i n g i n B u r r a r d I n l e t . " The
.. B r i t i s h Columbia H i s t o r i c a l Q u a r t e r l y , 1,
3-20, January 1937.
9. Howay, F. W. " E a r l y s e t t l e m e n t on B u r r a r d I n l e t . "
The B r i t i s h Columbia H i s t o r i c a l Q u a r t e r l y ,
1, 101-114, A p r i l 1937.
10. Kerr, J . B. " J o u r n a l i s m i n Vancouver", The B r i t i s h
Columbia Magazine, V I I , 576-579. June 1911.
11. Lunberg, F e r d i n a n d . "Tomorrows H e a d l i n e s . " P u b l i s h e r s '
Weekly, CXXXIII, 1542-3, A p r i l 9, 1938.
12. Lunn, Jean. "Bibiography of the H i s t o r y of the
Canadian P r e s s . " Canadian H i s t o r i c a l Review
XXII, 416-433, December 1941.
13. McDougall R. J . "Vancouver R e a l E s t a t e f o r 25 Y e a r s . "
B r i t i s h Columbia Magazine. V I I , 597-607,
June 1911.
14. McGregor, Donald. "The Marvel of Vancouver."
B r i t i s h Columbia. Magazine, V I I , 457-472,
June 1911.
15. Morgan, Gene. "Behind the F r o n t Page." S c h o l a s t i c ,
XXXII, 10-15, 32, 37, March 26, 1938.
100
Periodicals
16. Owens, Dewey M. "The A s s o c i a t e d P r e s s . "
The American Mercury XI, 385-393, A p r i l 1927.
17. Owens, Dewey M. "Syndicate S t u f f . " The American Mercury,
XI, 212-219, June 27, 1927.
18. Rudd, M a r t i n , "The World's F r e e s t Press and F o r c e s
t h a t e f f e c t what i t P r i n t s . "
Scholastic,
XXXII, 255-285, March 26, 1938.
19. Sage, W. N. "Vancouver: The R i s e of a C i t y . " D a l h o u s i e
Review, XVII, 49-54, A p r i l 1937.
20. Sampson, W a l t e r . "Owned hy the S t a f f . " Macleans
Magazine, L I 23, 51, June 15, 1938.
101
Pamphlets and Other Sources,
1. Campbell, Charles E. L e t t e r to w r i t e r of t h e s i s .
J u l y 1942.
2. Canada's Most P r o g r e s s i v e M e t r o p o l i s — G r e a t e r Vancouver
illustrated.
Dominion I l l u s t r a t i n g Company
1908.
3. Canada's Diamond J u b i l e e of C o n f e d e r a t i o n 1867-1927.
C o n f e d e r a t i o n C e l e b r a t i o n Committee,
Greater Vancouver, B. C. (1927)
4. 1000 P a c t s about V a n c o u v e r , Vancouver T o u r i s t
Vancouver A p r i l 1938.
Association.
5. Gomery, D a r r e l , " H i s t o r y of E a r l y Vancouver"-B. A. g r a d u a t i n g essay 1936. ft .B.C. L i b r a r y )
7
6. McLachlan, C. W. " H i s t o r y of Vancouver up to 1 9 0 0 " —
An essay. 1935.
7. Morley, A l a n P a l m e r — " T h e Romance o f V a n c o u v e r " —
Vancouver Sun C l i p p i n g s , 2 scrapbooks,
U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia.
8. Romance of Vancouver, Vancouver T o u r i s t A s s o c i a t i o n (
)
9. Romance of Vancouver, Native Sons of B r i t i s h Columbia,
J u b i l e e E d i t i o n , November 1936.
10. Vancouver News-Advertiser, Christmas Number
. December 1889.
Illustrated.
11. Vancouver Then and Now. 1886-1927.
Gehrkes L t d . , 1927.
12. Vancouver's Golden J u b i l e e O f f i c i a l
Programme. 1886-1936.
10.2
P i c t o r i a l Souvenir
Newspaper F i l e s
The Vancouver Weekly Herald, and North P a c i f i c News.
The A d v e r t i s e r
The News
News-Advertiser
The World
The Telegram
Vancouver D a i l y
Province
Saturday Sunset
J.P.'s Weekly.
Vancouver Sun
The S t a r
The
News-Herald.
S p e c i a l Newspaper A r t i c l e s
Vancouver D a i l y
Province.
January 9, 1904
June 10, 1905
June 24, 1905
R i s e and progress o f the P r o v i n c e .
Fire
Shapers of D e s t i n y — A r a p i d glance a t
e a r l y j o u r n a l i s m on the P a c i f i c Coast.
March 26, 1918
D a i l y Province C e l e b r a t e s T w e n t i e t h
Birthday.
August 12, 1922
Vancouver i n '84 was C i t y of L i v e r p o o l .
March 26, 1923
P r o g r e s s of Vancouver D u r i n g Quarter
Century—Phenomenal
March 11, 1924
E . J . Cromie Buys World.
February 11, 1925 B i g P r e s s — H i s t o r y
A p r i l 19, 1925
F i r s t Empress A r r i v e d A p r i l 28, 1891
December 5, 1926 J . H. Ross, Pioneer J o u r n a l i s t
January 17, 1927 Old Newspapers
August 14, 1927
The p a s s i n g of Old Vancouver.
March 26, 1928
P i o n e e r Vancouver Newspapermen.
A p r i l 15, 1928
Mr. G o s n e l l r e c a l l s some e a r l y B. C.
papers.
February 24, 1929 The Province Round the World.
September 14, 1929 Morning S t a r S o l d —
103
S p e c i a l Newspaper A r t i c l e s
cont.
Vancouver D a i l y Province cont.
A survey of the c i t y .
Adieu t o the S t a r .
D a i l y P r o v i n c e here s i n c e '98.
"Lets a l l go-gown t o the D r i v e "
"The Town Pump"
Death of James Ross
J u b i l e e Supplement
D a i l y Province
has grown w i t h the c i t y .
Pender S t r e e t i n Vancouver saw
June 20, 1936
p l e n t y of excitement i n old-time
newspaper days.
F o r t y Y e a r s of World c r i s e s
March 26, 1938
embodied i n the f i l e s .
Weeklies
with p r i z e s .
August 4, 1939
•-March
17,
1939
L. D. T a y l o r
February 25, 1939t e l l s his story.
December 15, 1941
S t o r y of the c i t y ' s f i r s t Newspaper
January 25, 1929
February 13, 1932
May 18, 1933
January 19, 1955
June 12, 1955
December 20, 1935
May 21, 1936
Vancouver Sun.
May
12, 1956
Robert
Cromie
Daily Advertiser
June 29, 1886
Account of the F i r e ,
The M o o d y v i l l e T i c k l e r
J u l y 20, 1878
First
copy
News-Adver t i s er
June 29, 1913
J u l y 6, 1913
January 1, 1889.
Story of Vancouver's Newspapers
S t o r y of Vancouver's Newspapers
Sketch o f the progress and f u t u r e
of Vancouver c i t y .
The News
September 14, 1886
Begins the s t o r y of John Deighton,
(Gassy Jack)
104
S p e c i a l Newspaper A r t i c l e s cont.
The News-HeraId
A p r i l 24, 1936
(
,
City Anniversary
Edition
The D a i l y C o l o n i s t , V i c t o r i a
November 3, 1931
J . S. H. Matson
D a i l y World
1890
1922
Souvenir E d i t i o n
Souvenir E d i t i o n - B r i t i s h
Columbia Development.
/
105
Excerpt.
L e t t e r from George B a r t l e y t o Major Matthews.
Aug. 13,
1940.
"The l a t e Hon. P. L. G a r t e r - C o t t o n a r r i v e d i n Vancouver v i a
Port Moody about a month a f t e r the Great E i r e ; i n the f a l l
of 1886 he purchased the A d v e r t i s e r , and became i t s managing
e d i t o r . E a r l y i n 1887, I b e l i e v e Messrs Gordon and Cotton
purchased the "News" a f t e r which the News and A d v e r t i s e r
were c o n s o l i d a t e d and became the News-Advertiser, being
i s s u e d from the b u i l d i n g on Cambie S t r e e t , corner of the
lane, i n the r e a r of which the present Dominion b u i l d i n g i s
now s i t u a t e d . "
-City Archives f i l e s .
Re-
the l a t e J . P. McConnell
from a l e t t e r by E d i t h Denton(Mrs. Ivan Denton),
daughter of J . P. McConnell t o w r i t e r .
"One of the best known cases was the l i b e l s u i t John
Emerson, the lumberman, launched a g a i n s t my f a t h e r .
He
(J.E.) had b u i l t a fence which covered up not only the
lower windows but the second s t o r y windows of the house of
the man next d o o r — h a v i n g an argument w i t h him.
My f a t h e r
wrote i t up and Emerson sued him. He won 50 damages and an
apology was demanded. My f a t h e r wrote the a p o l o g y — a n d
a l l the o l d - t i m e r s say i t was ten times more damaging than
the o r i g i n a l e d i t o r i a l , but so w r i t t e n that he could not
be sued f o r l i b e l .
Years l a t e r Emerson and my f a t h e r met
on an o l d l o g g i n g r o a d — .
Emerson s a i d he would punch my
f a t h e r ' s head i f they ever met.
They were both b i g men.
Anyway they j u s t laughed and shook hands."
:i06
FOUNDED
IN 1 8 8 0 B Y H O N . F R A N K
cAlbertas
OLIVER
Oldest TVewspaper
CHARLES E.CAMPBELL
PUBLISHER
v
r
,
J^fl*?» l ^
0
J u l y 22, 1942.
M i s s B. Lamb,
Vancouver, B. G.
Dear M i s s
Lamb:
I r e c e i v e d a l e t t e r from M i s s Kay Snedden, a s k i n g i f I
would g i v e you a few f a c t s about myself, as you were w r i t i n g a
t h e s i s e n t i t l e d " H i s t o r y o f Vancouver Newspapers".
I am g l a d t o comply w i t h h e r request and g i v e you t h e
following f a c t s : Charles.Edwin Campbell, s o n o f ex-alderman, J . B.
Campbell and Mary E . Campbell.
Born May 16th, 1885,
Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.A.
P a r e n t s , Canadian from W o o d v i l l e , O n t a r i o , who were
i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s f o r a s h o r t time and r e t u r n e d
to Canada - Vancouver, B. C. - i n May, 1898.
A t t e n d e d C e n t r a l P u b l i c S c h o o l and V o g e l ' s Business
College.
S o l d newspapers i n 1898-99 and 1900 a f t e r
school.
I n J u l y , 1900, worked f o r the C o r t i c e l l i S i l k Company i n the o f f i c e and l a t e r as a salesman, u n t i l
December, 1909. At t h a t time, was salesman i n
A l b e r t a and part o f Saskatchewan, w i t h headquarters
i n Calgary.
In January, 1910, j o i n e d my f a t h e r ' s b u s i n e s s , Campb e l l ' s Storage Company L i m i t e d , u n t i l i t was s o l d i n
1921 t o the M a i n l a n d T r a n s f e r Company L i m i t e d .
Became i n t e r e s t e d i n the newspaper b u s i n e s s , as a
S h a r e h o l d e r i n t h e founding of t h e Vancouver Sun i n
1912.
L a t e r on, was a D i r e c t o r o f t h e Vancouver Sun
and purchased the a s s e t s with Robert J . Cromie, i n
1918.
The Sun P u b l i s h i n g Company then purchased t h e
a s s e t s of the Vancouver News-Advertiser, which was
i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o t h e Vancouver Sun, then p u b l i s h i n g
the o n l y morning newspaper i n Vancouver.
(over)
A D D R E S S
A L L C O R R E S P O N D E N C E
T O T H E P A P E R
A a
( PRIVATE EXCHANGE )
H6I2I
r
A N D N O TT O INDIVIDUALS.
-2-
F o l l o w i n g a q u a r r e l w i t h the l a t e Robert J . Cromie
i n 1921 over p o l i c y , purchased the Vancouver D a i l y
World from i t s t h e n owners, Cameron and Davidson,
Contractors.
P u b l i s h e d the Vancouver D a i l y World and r e t a i n e d
i n t e r e s t i n the Vancouver Sun u n t i l 1923.
The Vancouver D a i l y World was s o l d t o the Sun Publ i s h i n g Company L i m i t e d .
The Sun t h e n was p u b l i s h i n g a morning, evening and Sunday e d i t i o n .
L a t e r , i n 1923, s o l d my i n t e r e s t i n the Vancouver
Sun t o Robert J . Cromie.
•
Following sale
went t o Mexico
f o r a year and
the S p r i n g of
of newspaper i n t e r e s t s i n Vancouver,
and was i n t e r e s t e d i n an o i l v e n t u r e
a h a l f , r e t u r n i n g to Vancouver, i n
1925.
In December, 1925, purchased the Edmonton B u l l e t i n ,
A l b e r t a ' s O l d e s t Newspaper, from the Hon. F r a n k
O l i v e r , who founded The B u l l e t i n i n 1880.
I n 1926, purchased the C a l g a r y A l b e r t a n from the
l a t e W. M. Davison and s o l d i t one year l a t e r , to
the l a t e George Ixu. B e l l of Regina.
I n June, 1928, founded the Regina D a i l y S t a r and
s o l d i t t o the Rt. Hon. R. B. Bennett, K. C., t h e n
Prime M i n i s t e r of Canada, i n May, 1933.
Have remained Owner and P u b l i s h e r o f the Edmonton
B u l l e t i n , s i n c e 1925 up t o the p r e s e n t time.
may
I f there i s any f u r t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n I can give you
be o f h e l p t o you, I w i l l be g l a d t o do so.
that
Yours s i n c e r e l y ,
C.E.C./DD
Publisher.
From the heading on the e d i t o r i a l page of the Morning S t a r .
MORNING STAR
P u b l i s h e d a t the Port of Vancouver
Founded as the A d v e r t i s e r 1886
An independent j o u r n a l w i t h t r a d i t i o n s o f s e r v i c e and respons i b i l i t y aiming t o be f a i r , a c c u r a t e and l o y a l t o Canada and
to the Empire.
P u b l i s h e d every week day by the Vancouver S t a r L t d . ,
V i c t o r W. Odium, p u b l i s h e r , a t the S t a r B u i l d i n g , 303 Pender
S t r e e t West. Vancouver,
B r i t i s h Columbia.
Per month 750
Year $5.00
The A d v e r t i s e r
The News
1886
1886
News-Adv er t i s er
Morning Sun
1887
1912
Morning S t a r
1926
109
Excerpt.
"News-Advertiser"
Vancouver, B. C.
Sunday J u l y 6,
1913.
From an a r t i c l e by L. E. Dennison.
"In a d d i t i o n to the f o r e g o i n g d a i l y and weekly p u b l i c a t i o n s ,
"The P e o p l e s ' J o u r n a l " e x i s t e d a few months i n 1893 as the
mouthpiece of the new Independent p a r t y of the Lower Mainl a n d . Mr. George Leaper was manager and Mr. J . M. Duval
editor.
"The M o n i t o r " a weekly was brought i n t o being by
Mr. R. G. G a l l a g h e r upon the suspension of "The Telegram"
and l a s t e d only a short time. "The M a i n l a n d e r " a l s o a
weekly, by Mr. John A. F u l t o n and Mr. J . S. S c o t t w i t h exAlderman N. C. Schon as e d i t o r , was p u b l i s h e d a year or so
as a f a m i l y j o u r n a l i n the e a r l y 90's.
I t s p o l i c y was the
i n t e r e s t s of the mainland as a g a i n s t the i s l a n d ; the Red i s t r i b u t i o n B i l l b e i n g a burning q u e s t i o n a t the time.
Mr. W i l l i a m B a i l l i e , an o l d - t i m e Western j o u r n a l i s t e s t a b l i s h e d the "Ledger" i n 1894 removing the p l a n t of the
defunct " D a i l y Ledger" of New Westminster to t h i s c i t y .
T h i s paper f l o u r i s h e d f o r a time and then j o i n e d the s i l e n t
m a j o r i t y , the press now b e i n g part of Mr. E. T. K i n g s l e y ' s
p l a n t i n the basement of the Labor Temple. In the s p r i n g
of 1894 "The Idea" w i t h the l a t e Mr. Seneca Garnet Ketchum
as e d i t o r , Mr. Percy Whitworth as manager, and Mr. John A.
F u l t o n as mechanical s u p e r i n t e n d e n t ( a c c o r d i n g t o the f i r m J s
o f f i c e s t a t i o n e r y ) was e s t a b l i s h e d on a j o i n t c a p i t a l of
$'3.50. T h i s paper/'a humorous Weekly, the l a t e Mr. Ketchum
being one of the b r i g h t e s t and most humorous p r i n t e r j o u r n a l i s t s i n ?/estern Canada. T h i s paper a l s o went out
of e x i s t e n c e a f t e r a s h o r t time. "The Weekly B u l l e t i n "
l a t e r on a change of ownership became "The Budget" and was
p u b l i s h e d f o r a few months d u r i n g 1895 by Messrs. W i l l i a m
B a i l l i e , W. M. Wilson, and Thomas H. Hawson. "The Wasp"
molded upon the l i n e s of the Toronto " G r i p " was the next t o
enter the f i e l d , the p u b l i s h e r being the l a t e Mr. J . Gordon,
who had p r e v i o u s l y been connected w i t h "The Telegram".
In 1907 "The Morning Guardian" was e s t a b l i s h e d and
p u b l i s h e d f o r a p e r i o d by a l o c a l s y n d i c a t e , Mr. S. J .
Gothard b e i n g e d i t o r and manager. The o f f i c e was i n the
basement v a c a t e d by Messrs. Evans and H a s t i n g s , on H a s t i n g s
S t r e e t . There came i n 1902, "The Monday Morning Ledger,"
Dr. Reynolds, p u b l i s h e r . T h i s paper was p r i n t e d i n an
o f f i c e i n the basement of the F l a c k B l o c k . I t moved l a t e r
to G r a n v i l l e S t r e e t , o p p o s i t e the o l d post o f f i c e , where i t
continued as a morning d a i l y f o r a year or so.
"The
Ozonogram" by Messrs. R. T. Lowery and Vv'illiam McAdam exi s t e d a short while i n 1906.
"The Mainland News" p u b l i s h e d
as a Monday morning paper was s t a r t e d i n 1907 by Messrs.
W. McAdam, George Farrow, and J . A. Macdonald, and l a s t e d
.110
E x c e r p t . "News-Advertiser"
cont.
only a s h o r t time. A l l these p e r i o d i c a l s though> of only
ephemeral e x i s t e n c e e x e r t e d a s t r o n g i n f l u e n c e on the p u b l i c
q u e s t i o n s of the day.
"The Independent" a l a b o r organ was s t a r t e d i n 1900
by Mr. George B a r t l e y and r a n f o r over f i v e y e a r s .
The
S o c i a l i s t p a r t y came i n t o e x i s t e n c e about t h i s time and
Messrs. G. W. W r i g l e y and R. P. P e t t i p i e c e launched "The
Canadian S o c i a l i s t " afterwards becoming the "Western C l a r i o n "
and i s s t i l l i n e x i s t e n c e . The "Trades U n i o n i s t " by S. J .
Gothard was launched i n 1906 but had a b r i e f e x i s t e n c e . In
February 1909, "The Wage E a r n e r " made i t s appearance w i t h
Mr. J . H. McVety as e d i t o r . T h i s was the f i r s t paper publ i s h e d i n Canada by a t r a d e s and l a b o r c o u n c i l .
I t was
succeeded i n November 1911 by "The B r i t i s h Columbia
F e d e r a t i o n a l i s t " a bi-monthly, with Mr. R. P. P e t t i p i e c e
at the helm. On June 8, 1912, "The F e d e r a t i o n i s t " made
i t s appearance i n i t s p r e s e n t form.
The p u b l i c a t i o n of "Man-to-Man" a monthly magazine
was begun i n 1910, and afterwards became the " B r i t i s h
Columbia Magazine" of which Mr. J . S. Raine i s at present
the e d i t o r
.The Eburne "News" was s t a r t e d i n A p r i l
1908 by Mr. A. H. Lewis, afterwards changing to the P o i n t
Grey "Gazette" i n November 1908 v/ith Mr. J . A. Paton
assuming c o n t r o l i n December 1908.
The "Western C a t h o l i c " ,
Rev. A u s t i n Bonner, e d i t o r , made i t s appearance i n J u l y 1909.
"The Western C a l l " was i x i s t i t u t e d i n May 1909 by Messrs.
G. W. Dean and A. S. Goard. The South Vancouver "Chinook"
was s t a r t e d i n May 1912 with Mr. H. A. S t e i n as e d i t o r .
In a d d i t i o n t o these t h e r e are v a r i o u s denominational
and f r a t e r n a l p u b l i c a t i o n s v/hich are p a r t of Vancouver's
j o u r n a l i s t i c world and enjoy the c o n f i d e n c e of the r e a d i n g
p u b l i c i n t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e spheres."
—from
News-Advertiser
Sunday J u l y 6,
Ill
1913.
General l o c a t i o n of Newspaper
The
Year 1 8 8 6 — C i t y A r c h i v e s
J u l y 1887-June 1 8 8 8 - P r o v i n e i a l A r c h i v e s
Herald
The A d v e r t i s e r
The Vancouver News
The
News-Advertiser
University Library
P r o v i n c i a l Archives
C i t y A r c h i v e s - incomplete
P r o v i n c i a l Archives -
The
Telegram
The
The
The
The
The
World
Star
Vancouver Sun
Vancouver D a i l y Province
News-Herald
The Saturday
J . P.'s
files
Sunset
Weekly
incomplete
Vancouver P u b l i c L i b r a r y
P r o v i n c i a l Archives
Vancouver Sun L i b r a r y
P r o v i n c i a l Archives
Mr. R.L.
Reid's p r i v a t e l i b r a r y ,
1736 Westbrook C r e s e n t .
Each of the l o c a l e d i t o r i a l o f f i c e s have complete f i l e s
t h e i r own papers.
of
A copy of B u r r a r d I n l e t ' s f i r s t n e w s p a p e r — t h e " T i c k l e r "
p u b l i s h e d at M o o d y v i l l e , i s l o c a t e d i n the C i t y A r c h i v e s .
112