From the Archives of Western Newspapers

Posted on April 30, 2026 by Vauxhall Advance

By Samantha Johnson
For Southern Alberta Newspapers

April 29, 1887 – The Calgary Weekly Herald

James O’Neil of St. Paul, who was charged with adultery, was held to the Grand Jury for bail of $2,000 and, in default of, he was sent to jail. The testimony showed he was living with the wife of John McAuliff of Lethbridge in St. Paul and the two fled when the husband arrived in the city.

The official figure for the current Manitoba census gives the population of Winnipeg at 20,238.

In Quebec, the Crucifix bill, which was treated with such hostility among the protestants in the province, was introduced in the local legislature and was subsequently withdrawn.

The CPR are hard at work in Banff putting in a spur from the station to the end of Bear Street in the townsite for the purpose of bringing in material to be used in the construction of their mammoth hotel.

April 24, 1906 – The News (Red Deer)

The council deserves credit for the resolution adopted at the last meeting of giving a bonus, of fifty cents each, for tree planting. If ever Red Deer becomes, as is intended by many enterprising citizens prominent in civic affairs, a city of homes, it will be through these and similar efforts by the council. The council can do little without the cooperation of citizens and this bonus is given mostly for securing their assistance in this matter.

Many easterners complain of the lack of people who read in the west. Culture comes with leisure, which is unknown in this busy land. Thoughtful leisure has been the chief agency in aiding genius to build the great literary edifices of the past. The west has a huge heritage of facts that ought, in time, to produce fine literature. We have the mountains and the rivers to inspire great poets and orators.

The time of day a marriage takes place in Spain depends on the position in life of those taking vows. If well to do, the ceremony will take place in the morning.

April 29, 1915 – The Coleman Bulletin

The Salvation Army will hold their first meeting in Coleman next Sunday and, as it will be made bright and interesting, all are cordially invited to attend. Their annual Self-Denial Week, started in 1886, takes place from May 2-9 and the help of everyone is needed for this most worthy effort of fundraising that involves giving up on a few luxuries and donating the money saved.

A French soldier is to have the Cross of the Legion of Honour for his leap from a crumbling chimney stack 60 feet high. Prior to the war, he was a clown in a travelling circus, although his abilities were unknown to his commanding officer. The trench was being harrowed by an enemy machine gun and the lieutenant in charge commented aloud he wished someone could climb the chimney stack to get a location on the gun. The soldier nimbly climbed it while the stack crumbled beneath him. Once at the top, he shouted the exact location and distance of the gun and then fired off a few rounds with the rifle he’d carried on his back. Ordered to descend, as the stack was continuing to crumble and appeared as though it would collapse any moment, he did so without hesitation and took a 20-foot leap from the chimney onto a low tiled roof below, rebounding from it like a ball of rubber and landing on his feet.

Twelve years ago today, the Frank slide occurred where 89 people lost their lives.