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COLUMN: Greg Scott on Nelson in September, 1967: parking shortage and a jail break

Plus intense forest fires, a lost-and-found box of dynamite, and dueling colleges
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By Greg Scott, from the files on the Nelson Daily News

September 5, 1967

There was no holiday for hard-pressed forest fire fighters and B.C. Forest personnel as fresh fires erupted into life over the weekend. Nearly 100 men were rushed to Midge Creek on the south shore of Kootenay Lake where a rampaging blaze ripped through brush, beside the railway tracks and up the mountain.

The fire disrupted telephone links between Nelson and Creston and closed the line to C.P.R. trains. Forest Service officials estimated that a “40 to 50 mph” wind fanned the fire along the lake shore it travelled nine miles out of control, setting fire to rail ties, and telephone poles, and destroying a snow shed and the wooden lining of a tunnel. Eighty four other fires blazed in the 30,000 square mile Nelson District Monday with about 700 men fighting them.

September 21, 1967

The search goes on for a suitable downtown Nelson car parking site. City’s advisory planning commission Wednesday night agreed on the urgent need for additional parking facilities within easy reach of the main shopping areas.

After lengthy discussion on the points for and against two particular sites, the commission passed a resolution to the effect that they should select a location, give it “good, solid backing” and put it before council.

Members were presented with a report compiled by the City planner regarding interviews with the property owners affected in the 400 blocks of Victoria and Silica streets which indicated seven out of the 12 owners would be willing to sell their properties but above the actual assessed value.

The possibility of utilizing the city council owned Vernon Street property was also considered.

September 27, 1967

It has taken only a short time for the rivalry between Selkirk College and Notre Dame University to be rekindled and fanned into flame after the summer holidays. Action was sparked at the weekend when a huge Selkirk College sign, complete with supporting posts, mysteriously appeared on campus at NDU.

Naturally, nobody could throw any light on how it was “spirited” the 25 miles from its official resting place to a point high on the hill overlooking Nelson.

Then came the next shocking discovery. “Someone has taken our sign!” went up the cry at NDU. Now the battle is really on. But it is not going to rest at sign lifting. A challenge cup has been put up, the cost being shared between the respective Student Unions, and it is to be awarded for non-varsity sports.

September 27, 1967

A mysterious case of dynamite which drifted onto the CPR flats at Nelson was destroyed by army bomb disposal experts Tuesday. The old style wooden case containing about 100 sticks of the explosive substance was spotted by a CPR switching crewman Monday.

It was lying at the south end of the flats beside the lake. CPR police immediately contacted RCMP who inspected the case of old, dangerous and detraining explosive. Producers stopped putting dynamite in wooden boxes about ten years ago, when they switched to steel cases.

But police are mystified about where the dynamite came from and said that it appears to have been floating for some time. The two-man army crew from Chilliwack disposed of the dynamite by burning it.

September 28, 1967

A widespread manhunt was triggered early Wednesday after a daring Houdini-type jailbreak in Nelson.

Twenty-nine year old Gordon Traff of Vancouver, fled from custody in City jail after cutting through bars of his cell with a hacksaw blade, believed to have been smuggled in to him.

The six-foot one-inch tall Traff somehow squeezed his 190 pounds through a gap in the bars measuring only seven inches wide and 18 inches high. This operation gained him access to the exercise yard and it was then a simple matter for the prisoner to complete his escape bid by unlocking the door of the yard, which was locked from the inside.

Traff was arrested on September 17 and was being held on two charges of theft. As well he has a long record of previous convictions and is known to be a drug addict. An intensive police hunt is underway.