From the Archives of Western Newspapers

Posted on August 20, 2026 by Vauxhall Advance

By Samantha Johnson
For Southern Alberta Newspapers

August 21, 1891 – The Times (Moose Jaw)

Last night was a critical time for farmers of the district. The fore part of the night was cold and, as the mercury sank, it was feared a destructive frost might come before morning. About midnight, clouds moved in and a wind sprang up and the danger past. The lowest temperature recorded was four degrees above freezing.

Last Monday, the scene on the Chicago grain exchange when it opened was nothing short of insanity. When the gong struck announcing the beginning of trading, the wheat pit was a swaying, surging mass of brokers who were coatless and hatless. The galleries were packed to suffocation by wild-eyed men who had money at stake in big quantities in the gambling pit below. 

In Boston, Susan Ney prepared a glass of lemonade laced with strychnine, intending to give it to her husband. She accidentally drank it and died a few hours later.  

August 20, 1909 – The Wainwright Star

Engineer Harman had a narrow escape from what might have been a fatal accident last week. He was in charge of the engine and was running very carefully due to a thick fog. While nearing Clover Bridge, he happened to notice a slight twist in the rails and applied the emergency brake, stopping the train a few car lengths away. Upon investigating, he found a fill about fifty feet deep had slid out, leaving the rails hanging by the ties. 

Some thirty million fewer cigarettes were smoked last year in Canada than the previous year. The legislation against juvenile smoking came into effect last year and took quite a bite out of the coffin-nail business. 

Good old-fashioned sunshine is a very pleasant boon; let us all enjoy it while it doesn’t cost a cent. Soon they’ll be pumping it through pipelines and meters, and the moon and other planets will be advertised for rent. 

August 20, 1913 – St. Albert Star

At the last council meeting it was informally decided to make a free grant of a site for the clubhouse of the newly organized Edmonton Canoe Club. The end of a street that is cut off by the Sturgeon River will be given to the club for this purpose. This project means much to Edmonton and St. Albert. In a few weeks, after the interurban railway is in operation, the city will wonder why it remained so long ignorant of this beautiful river and lake. We have allowed the swift and treacherous Saskatchewan to levy its death upon pleasure seekers for too long. 

Rain is much desired in the east and a continued dry spell will likely result in an almost complete crop failure throughout the greater part of eastern Ontario and a large part of Quebec. Dairy farmers are also struggling and the flow of milk has lessened considerably over the past weeks. 

Investigations carried out by the Forestry branch of the Dominion government have proven conclusively that several large herds of wild buffalo are still to be found in the hilly country on the northern boundary of Alberta, in the neighbourhood of the Slave River. A study of their habits was undertaken and many photographs were taken. They are identical in appearance of the former buffalo of the plains.