Chronicles of Boundary Country from the pages of The Boundary Creek Times Volume III, No.15 – December 18, 1897
➤ Building Activity - “Notwithstanding the wintery weather, building operations were never more active in Greenwood. Good progress has been made with Alderman Barrett’s residence. From present appearances, it will be . . . the handsomest residence in the city.” (ed.- and, arguably, the former McArthur house still is) “The work of excavating the cellar for the Barrett Block (ed. now the McArthur Centre) is nearly completed . . . On Saturday morning several businesses were fusilladed with rock, earth and flying timbers when those excavating the cellar for the Barrett Block used too heavy a charge with the result that several windows along Copper Street were broken.”
➤ Death of the School Teacher - “The death of Miss Grace Catherine Thornber was a painful shock to the people of Greenwood. She contracted a severe cold which super induced fever. Miss Thornber, just nineteen years of age, was teacher of the public school since it was opened 12 months ago. A conscientious and painstaking teacher, she won the respect of both pupils and parents.”
➤ Xmas Suit Advertisement - Rendell & Co. took out a full-page advertisement reading in part as follows: “A man can be ‘done up’ in a Suit easier than in almost any other branch of business. Before you purchase your Xmas Suit, make sure it is composed of good reliable material; not got up for appearance only, with a smooth-faced outside, while beneath is a rotten shoddy foundation.”
➤ License Fees Set by Council - Here are a few of the more interesting license fees enacted by Greenwood City Council, and a new road tax: “Every person who exhibits a public circus or menagerie, $5 for each day of such exhibition; each person selling opium (except chemists and druggists using the same in preparation of prescriptions of medical practitioners), $250 for every six months; every person who exhibits waxworks, circus riding, rope-walking, dancing, tumbling, wild animals, sparring, boxing, sleight-of-hand, jugglery, wonderful animals or freaks of nature . . . $5 for each day of such exhibition; a road tax of $2 each year for every male person between the ages of 21 and 50 residing in the City of Greenwood, shall be paid on demand to the City Collector.”
➤ The Ultimate Self-Sacrifice - “Mr. J. Merry . . . met his death in the Iron Colt mine near Rossland through an act of self-sacrifice. A miner, George Callanach, had gone into a drift where some blasts had recently been exploded and was overcome by gas. Merry went in to rescue him and he also was overcome. Three-quarters of an hour afterwards, the two men were found and brought to the surface. Merry was dead but Callanach revived. Mr. Merry was married only three weeks ago and his wife is completely overcome with grief.”