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Nelson in August, 1968: A carrot thief, forest fires, and a horse-boat collision

Greg Scott brings us news from the archives of the Nelson Daily News fifty years ago
13201392_web1_copy_Greg-Scott

August 13, 1968

There are 105 fires burning in the Nelson Forest District. Of these, 52 are new since Sunday, most of them lightning strikes from the thunder storm Saturday evening. Rain during the storm dampened many strikes, and Forest Service officials predicted many of the strikes would not appear until later this week. The Forest Service has 89 men working on fires, and there are also 72 men from industries fighting fires. Fires burning now are all small and under 10 acres, with the exception of two older fires at Creston and Grand Forks. These are larger, but Forest Service officials say are “now in the process of being mopped up.” Helicopters and water tankers are being used on some of the fires. There have been 259 fires to date in the Nelson area, compared with 489 during the same period last year. Cost of fires in this district this year is $30,800, about a twelfth of the cost expended last year, when fire fighting to August 9 cost $459,900. (Ed note $3,119,000 2018 dollars)

August 13, 1968

The great Carrot thief has struck again. He’s now branching out into cucumbers too. It was reported Saturday to City Police that two 15-foot rows of carrots had been stolen from a garden at 909 Latimer Street. In addition, a number of cucumbers were also taken. Police say there have been other incidents of carrots stolen from city gardens this summer. About a week ago, a woman on the North Shore had a row of carrots stolen from her garden. Police are seeking someone with an excellent set of teeth, and perfect night vision.

August 17, 1968

Visitors to Nelson arriving on the Highway 3 and 6 detour receive a rude welcome on a street that doesn’t exist. For the first two blocks in the city, they are bounced around on a road no better than a country lane. Trying to avoid potholes is useless, besides, there isn’t too much room to maneuver, since the road is only about 20 feet wide, and less in some places. Residents of West Innes Street are annoyed because the road was not widened and improved before being used as a detour. City Hall says there have been complications trying to get land to improve the street. “I thought maybe this would just be used for a week or so, but it’s still going on. They started using this as a detour early in June and trying to use this road as a main highway is ridiculous.” said one resident. Meanwhile, motorists continue to risk kidney ailments and bruises as they bounce from pothole to pothole along a short section of West Innes Street, the street that never was.

August 21, 1968

Prague radio announced today that Russian and Soviet bloc troops made a lightning thrust into Czechoslovakia late Tuesday night. The armed move-in, climaxing months of crises in Eastern Europe over Czechoslovakia’s liberalizing break with old-line communism, began about 11 p.m., Prague time, the broadcast said. U.S. monitors said the Prague broadcast announced that troops of the Soviet Union, Poland, East Germany, Hungary and Bulgaria had crossed Czechoslovak frontiers. The border crossings came with no forewarning to the Prague leadership, who called on the population not to resist the advancing troops. In Washington, President L.B. Johnson called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council as soon as he received word of the development.

August, 1968

A City by-law may be amended to keep horses out of the city. Nelson Police Chief H.M. Thomlinson said there is a by-law requiring horses to be kept under control but “we might have the by-law amended.” I fail to see why an equestrian would cross a busy intersection,” he said. Chief Thomlinson made the comments after a horse-boat-car collision at the intersection of Baker and Ward Streets. Two horses, being ridden by teenage girls southbound on Ward Street, bolted into the intersection. They were in collision with a boat on a trailer being towed west on Baker Street. The boat fell off the trailer striking a car being driven east on Baker Street. The boat also struck one of the horses, cutting it slightly. “This is the second time in as many weeks this has happened,” said Chief Thomlinson. “Last week a horse bolted on Front Street., fell and slightly injured the girl riding.” “It is fortunate there were no cars around at the time,” he added. “Horses should not be ridden on main streets in the City.”