It was this week in 1958 that an amusing editorial was published in the Trail Daily Times.
That week, newspaper staff took it upon themselves to showcase some recent improvements in downtown to a former resident, specifically the greening of what is now Jubilee Park along the Esplanade.
The tour resulted in a rather interesting demographic anecdote that provided the editor the perfect opportunity to cheekily compare Trail (or the Inland Capital, as we were known then) to distant global cultures. Enjoy!
"We were very interested to learn yesterday, from some statistics published in Switzerland, of all places, that, “it is nothing extraordinary in Tibet to find a woman married to three brothers,” and that, “there are even nations in this area where a woman serves five men as a devoted wife, either simultaneously or at short intervals.”
There is, apparently, in the small states at the foot of the Himalayas, a serious shortage of women, if we ware to believe the Swiss news agency, although why the Swiss should be in possession of this astonishing information we are unable to say. Perhaps it is that traditional neutrality and long periods of prosperity and a constant trek through their land of international agents en route from Vladivostok to Constantinople, have exposed the Swiss to gentlemen who make a point of leaving behind them such tidbits of gossip from the villages around Everest.
But it comes as no particular surprise to us to hear that there are shortages of women in certain parts of the world. Everybody knows that in Europe, for instance, there are far more boys born each year than girls – naturally, the Swiss agency has some reliable statistics on that subject, too – and that the men of Japan and South East Asia face a similarly bleak future.
But it did come as a bit of a shock to us about two weeks ago to learn that Trail at one time had been in the same boat, if, indeed it isn’t today. During the annual meeting of the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association here, we encountered upon Bay Avenue a gentleman who declared that he had a considerable knowledge of such matters as they applied to Trail. But we are getting ahead of the story.
Striding along Bay Avenue, as we said, was that former president of the BCAHA, native son of Nelson, sometime employee of Cominco, and current mayor of Vernon, Frank F. Becker. Our own mayor, Leslie Read, was over in Kimberley that day, accepting the presidency of the Association of Kootenay Municipalities, so we took it upon ourselves to bring the North Okanagan ambassador up-to-date on civic affairs in the Inland Capital. And right away, of course, we took him to see the Esplanade Centennial Park.
There, your worship, we said, look at this fine thing we have done. Don’t the people of Vernon wish they had a filthy, old waterfront they could turn into a beauty spot like this?
Very nice, said Mayor Becker, very nice, indeed. But was it the point in having a beautiful park like this in a town where there aren’t any girls whom a fellow can promenade along the waterfront some fine summer evening?
Your worship, we said, this park has not been built for the purpose of promenading girls. You see how well lighted it is. This park is for the weary of soul and limb, where they can rest awhile and take on new strength to meet life’s tasks. And in any event, your worship, we asked, how can you speak with any certainty about the volume of female population in this city?
Well, said Mayor Becker, about thirty years ago I came over from Nelson and got a job up the hill here. It was the first job I had, and I liked it very much. But it was the evenings that drove me to distraction. There were about ten men to every girl. The situation not only drove me crazy, it drove me out of Trail, and that is why I am the mayor of Vernon today and not the general manager of Cominco.
Mr. Perry (Cominco General Manager at the time), we thought, would be pleased to hear the reason for his success in life, and for two whole weeks we had been looking for some way we could tell him. It was not until yesterday, however, when we learned that Trail thirty years ago had something in common with Tibet, that we were able to find the right approach.
We assured Mayor Becker that the Trail of 1958 had a high school full of the most beautiful girls in British Columbia, and was becoming the Inland Capital, and he said he would take us at our word. He obviously was not convinced.
But there was one thing he was quite certain about. Tell the people of Trail, he said, that every time I come here, somebody has an improvement to show me. Tell them, he said, that their city becomes lovelier every year. Tell them to keep it up."
