CASTLEGAR NEWS, May 11, 1980

The future of Yug

Yugoslav President. Josip Broz
Tito, who died one week ago at 87,
was a symbol of statesmanship and
cunning and a champion of non-
alignment and neutrality in whose
shadow his country has lived since the
end of the Second World War. The
following article, written shortly
before his death, speculates on the
fate of Yugoslavia without Tito.

‘by John Wood

retext of “restoring
ich for the moment

and
isolated little country of 2: lead
austere remote lives in this rugged Mediterranean land.

For the past 18 years Albania, despite its ‘pure’
Marxist regime under dictator Enver Hoxha, has been in
bitter dispute with the Soviet Union. Again. and again
Hoxha has made verbal attacks against the Kremlin, He
sided with the Chinese — simply, to demonstrate his
contempt for the Russian leadership. 3

And again and again he threatened that Albanians
would fight alongside the Yugoslavs if the Russians
attacked President Tito. The anger which the Kremlin
felt against Albania was not only because litt
would not accept Russian authority and |
There was another reason why Hoxha was so
the clue to this Russian ire lies in the fact that Albania
only controls the entrance to the Adriatic Sea, but
possesses the finest natural harbor in the entire Medi-
terranean, called Durozzo. 2

Ever since the last war the leaders in the Kremlin

azed longingly at their maps. Control of Durozzo would

fil a centuries old Russian dream — the use.of a warm
water port in the Mediterranean.

Because of the antagonism of Enver Hoxha, Western
strategists always believed that there was no danger of
the Russians gaining control of that little country through
puppets of the Kremlin.

Today m the West the m

jor concern is that the
to Yugoslavia.

ns.
Recently for instance Pravda praised the ‘heroism’’.
‘of Albania in freeing itself from the Nazi occupation. The

Russians used the pretext of the 35th anniversary of the -

liberation of Albania to make a plea to Hoxha to
relations the two
Said Pravda: ‘There is no doubt that Soviet-Albanian
triendship and co-operation met the vital interests of the
people of the two countries.” 2
e wooing of the Albanians has been gathering pace in
recent weeks. A glance ata map will clearly demonstrate
why. For Albania has a common border with both
Yugoslavia and Greece.
the country could once again come under the sway
and control of Moscow it will spell danger tothe West.
For a start. it will mean that Yugoslavia would be
surrounded on all sides by Russtan satelite countries.
The danger to Greece and Turk

ey from Russian attack
using Albania as a springboard is obvious. The use by
Russians of the Albanian ports for its fleet and above all
for its submarines would change ‘the entire balance of
power in this sensitive area of the Mediterranean. The
communist pressure on Italy would be greatly

ed — and would strengthen the hand of the native
Italian communist party. !

Why are the Russians so confident that they can more
easily regain influence in Albania than succeed in taking
over Yugoslavia?

For at first sight it would seem that they are wasting
their time as Enver Hoxh has for close on two decades
never wavered in his hositility towards Moscow.

‘The answer lies in the capital city of Albania, Tirane.

Enver Hoxha is now an old man — and the entire a,
leadership of the country is also in need of fresh blood.
Because the country is : and its only income is from
the sale of oil and from limited tourism it always did need
a protector. x

Before the last war its ruler, King Zog formed an
economic alliance with Italy. However the country was
invaded by the Italians in 1939. After the war Hoxha took
control and fearing that traditional hostility between
Albania and Yugoslavia would result in his country being

Before you mow, clear away toys, garden
tools, sticks, stones, and even dog bones.
Keep safety shields and deflectors

In good order.

How the death of Tito thrusts “forgotten”

Albania into the limelight — and the next prize
which the Kremlin is hoping will fall .
under Russian control ‘

overrun by Tito, he allied himself with his larger and

eeded ta
was still “pure” in ideology and not a country like Russia
which he considered to have betrayed communism.

Besides China was far enough distant not to have
ulterior motives in giving aid. She would not covet
Albania’s ports, Albania withdrew from the communist
Warsaw Pact countries and formalized its alliance with
China in 1962. The Chinese provided generous aid and
both countries frequently launched vocal attacks on the
Soviet Union whom they semed to hate more than the
Western capitalist countries. q

With the death of Chairman Mao of China however the s

honeymoon between these two. strange ‘allies ended.
Peking sto) sending aid. There was now a vacuum to
be. filled. 0 was going to be the next ‘protector’ of

Albania? : giRe
Moscow saw its chance. It had tried.again and again to

‘make good its dispute with Yugoslavia-.

{ invasion of Yugoslavia in thejnear future Is °
unlikel mee th vy th

of the

be more friendly with th

Hoxha has always argued that isolation from the
outside world is the country’s best defence. But it has
meant poverty and backwardness for /the citizens of
Albania. ‘They are happy in thelr simple ways,” was the
conviction of Hoxha. g .

But Albanians cannot forever be kept isolated from the

oslavia without Tito © '

ning elsewhere the

CVn cee yg
outside world, Despite all Hoxha’s'efforts to keep his
eltizens

from knowing what is hap

wing and in the aft ermath of his death;

to be ch:

ange,
led the suspicion of
who have ultes ith the country.

i¢ Colonel Gadaffl has

Albania ‘economic ,. °

ons for

ping the Russian ‘bear

its grip.
Re rea the We

and

ment.
Re

examp
templa'
creation of a pup!

“invite” Russian ps to ent
way that Russian troops were
aid of the Afghans.

tween
es

rest that Hoxha fs very S11;
giving him intensive treat-

the hand of
ed Greeks

not that the Russians will follow the
lancers, but c

Hs Pail tr0oy 8, Or better still the

In the count wh:

0 will
h in the
the

If Moscow can get its grip on Albania, it will be only &

uestion of time
Tugoslavia — could so easily follow suit.

‘before two other plums — Italy and

Parents. Your child's

first job

could make |
a difference

Look around. Some of the most
‘successful people you know were
once newspaper carriers

There's a good reason for that.
Being a carrier is more than a job ...
. it’s an unforgettable learning ex-
perience. !t teaches young people
how to use their time wisely . . . to
handle money . ... to deal with dif-
ferent kinds of people. It gives them
feelings of. confidence, pride and
accomplishment for handling an
important responsibility, reliably
and well. vanes

And what's more, it's-fun

You don't have to bea boy...

Girls Make
Excellent Carriers

Women’s lib is here to stay.
Girls are very capable of handling a
newspaper delivery route and more
and more girls around the country
are taking on a carrier job. It's a
good way to meet new people,
learn good business practices and
earn a little extra money, too.

Learning how to be a good
carrier can help you throughout
your life. The Castlegar News.
welcomes female carriers. Join
your friends today

Circulation Dept.
CASTLEGAR NEWS

Box 3007
Castlegar, B.C. VIN SH4

Carrier.

Name

Or Phone

365-7266
Ask for Circulation

Yes. I'd like to learn more about being a Castlegar News

Address

City

A Word to SENIOR CITIZENS . . .

Why don’t you consider a Castlegar News route?
You get regular exercise through an interesting bi-weekly
routine, it’s profitable part-time work, and you get the. op-
portunity:to meet people and make new friends. As well,
you get a choice of area — even your. own neighborhood.

For details phone 365-7266. Ask for Linda.

P.S. We're also interested in Seniors.as vacation
relief carriers. It pays well and there is a gas allowance as
well. Why not consider this aspect? Phone Linda at 365-7266.

Co-operative endeavor and community
involvement: the legacy of Ralph West

- In this period of JOHN CHARTERS’

social fragmen-
tation and com-
partmentalization
it is difficult éven

for those of us’
‘who

have had
some experience
to realize the im-
portance of the
part played by the
general store in a
small community.
To its citizens it was

a combination’

business centre,
gossip exchange,
social service depor-
tment, news ex-
change, town hall
and link with the out-
side world as well as
post office, Sunda
school, concert hall:
and medical
emergency centre.

In brief, it was like

the hub of that mar-’

vellous structure, the
spider web, for parts
of the web radiate
from the hub and the
slightest movement
in any part of the web
is conveyed back to
it.

It was a less private
society than what we are ac-
customed to today, for every-
one knew something of ev-
eryone else's business. But it
did make up for it in the fact
that each was, in a very real
sense, his brother's keeper,
particularly if one remem-
bers that this was the period
of the Great Depression and
that every train coming into
the Castlegar station would
be loaded with men — some
job hunters and some hoboes
— but all hungry.

_. What this small world
lacked in facilities, it made up
in cooperative endeavor.

_ What it lacked in professional

the fact people were pre-
pared to make their own fun
in the form of

Reflections &

Recollections .

: located.

RALPH WEST, businessman and

citizen, circa 1960.

. ing a part of the road al-

izer of the Castlegar “Gun
Club? — he, Mike Verzuk and
Len Harmston saw the pos-
sibilities of the area as a golf
course and started the first,
sand green golf course in the
area.

. Still later, with the co-
operation of such enthusiasts
as John’ Landis, Dick Way-
ling, Jim Kelly, Otto Walker
and others, the Castlegar
course became one of the
finest in B.C. :

But to get back, briefly,
to the store: Those early
15-hour-day, seven-day
weeks eventually became a
six-day week on the basis of SNOW Is
Divine precedent, (Sundays 4, y...
off).

“People were pretty up-
set at first,” recalls Mrs.

West. “But they got used to

it.” '
The business prospered
as Castlegar prospered. A
basement butchershop was
put in with Jim Killough in
charge, then in keeping with
the expansive times, a road
(later Pine Street) was built
between the store and the
hotel and. Mrs. West found
that her kitchen was occupy-

lowance and had to be re-

But even this is typical

.— land survey in Castlegar is

a story in itself. The store
expanded, was relocated
from its little hill (where
Prestige Cleaners is now), to
further up the street, and”
expanded some more. During _
these early years the apart.
ment above the store was oc-
eupied by two other doctors
after Dr. Grayton, a Dr.

* Beckwith and then by Dr. V.

Goresky who recalls paying
the magnificent sum of $12 a
month for four rooms and

‘i

GROUP SHOT of Ralph
staff in the early.1950s. |

SESW

«

2 in this Jan. 1, 1951 snap of W

it zi

4a

West (standing, left) with store

vate company for 12 years,
before it was sold to the
Village of Castl incor-

pienics, musicals, Christmas
concerts and family enter-
tainment.

What it lacked in mobil-
ity and material goods it
made up by amore unhurried
life style, and in all of this and
more the local general store
played some part.

It is not surprising,
therefore, that when Ralph
West felt that the increasing
popularity of tennis could
come to Castlegar, if there
was a place to play it, he
obtained'permission from the
CPR to use the property
behind the station; then local
clay was prepared, ina roller

* borrowed from the Bloomer

ranch’ and, lo, volunteers
soon had the first tennis
court built. :

The same court when
flooded in winter served as
an ice rink, on which the new
hockey team practised, and
then travelled by train to
South Slocan to play that
town’s team on their frozen
pond.

Perhaps there are some
of those players still around.

During the Second
World War a local Air Raid
Precaution (ARP). organi-
zation was formed and Mr.
West's contribution was the
organization of the Castlegar

“Volunteer Fire Brigade, of

which he was chief from 1940
to 1952, when Ed Lewis took
over. ‘ :
About the same time a
Patriotic Society was organ-
ized for the purpose of send-
ing parcels overseas, and

, looking after the interests of

service personnel and their
families. A darker side of this
service was the responsibil-
ity laid on John Waldie and
Mr. West of delivering the
telegrams on war casualties
to next-of-kin,

One natural outcome of
this work was the creation of
the Castlegar Branch of the
Royal Canadian Legion with
Ralph West as its first pres-
ident. Pas
Realizing early the need
for a water system, Ralph
organized the privately-
owned Castlegar Water
Works. It started with some
men putting up capital,
others working for shares
and with Barney Trussler
performing miracles of main-

porated two years earliey, in
1948.

Before and during this
time he also found time to act
as secretary of the Castlegar
school board when additions
were being made to the old
Castlegar Elementary

School, first built beside the -

as chairman of the’ hospital
board of trustees; stipendi-
ary magistrate from 1933 to
1938.

He also organized the
Castlegar Holding Company;
was first president of the
Castlegar Chamber of Com-
merce, and held the post of
Justice of the Peace until his
death in 1971.

In 1945 he became in-
terested in what, apart from
his business, was to be ‘the

most important single acti-
vity of his career — the
establishment of a district
airport in Castlegar.

Then with the co-oper-
ation of such men as John
Waldie, Jim Macbeth, Sam
Muirhead and R.J. Morice,
and -in the fact of many dif-
ficulties, the airport was built
and local citizens saw Can-
adian Pacific Airlines’ planes
making their first scheduled
flights into Castlegar on Sep-
tember 22, 1947. In 1951 he
was made chairman of the
airport committee and in
1952 was honored by having
the airfield named after him.

Sometime later, while
hunting in the hills above
Brilliant, — did we mention

bath. He was later to be
known as the ‘father of Kin-
naird.’
* * One evening in 1960, the
Wests were shaken out of
their beds by a $3,000 borrh
blast — but the store con-
tinued to expand, though Mr.
West's health began to fail
and he sold the store to the
present owners, Wally Horn-
ing, Peter Vatkin and Mrs.
O.J. (Lee) Friesen who have
continued: to expand it and
have ‘just celebrated ‘the
West's Store golden anniver-
sary.,This enabled Mr. West
to devote more of his time to
his private hobby — wood
turning.

His concern for public
service was also reflected in

TAKEN IN 1956, this Castlegar News photo includes Ralph West (bot-
id of the Castl

tom left)

ig past pr
at

ar and District Chamber

of Commerce

an Also d

‘ce ‘sar Pp
(standing left to right) are W.T. Waldie, C.A. Anderson, M.B. Dalton

N.T. Oglow and J.M. Macbeth, and (seated)

A.T. Horswill, S.C. Wat-

son, Cash
gar Rotary and Kiwanis
Clubs, and it fitting therefore
that in 1967 the Kiwanis
honored him as the 1966
Citizen of the Year.

He died, after a lengthy
illness, on July 22, 1971 and is

survived by his wife, Mar-
sjorie and their only son, Don
—an electrical engineer with
Hydro, married, one son —
also soon-to-be an electrical
engineer.

In making the presenta-

In 1945 he became interested. in
what, apart from his business, was to
be the most important single activity
of his career. — the establishment of a
district airport in Castlegar. ‘

highway about 1907 or 1908;

that he was also the organ-

his membership in the Castle-

1925: the blaze came from the sky

By HAROLD WEBBER

(An account by the Castlegar aréa's
historian and amateur archivist of a fire
that refused to die.)

July 25, 1925 saw an
electrical ‘storm
brewing in the Rob-

son-Castlegar area. *
About seven o’clock in
the evening, a- bolt of light-
ning hit high on the hillside
above East Robson, starting
a small fire. Within minutes
a bolt hit on the West Rob-
son side above the old West-
ley site. Two more strikes fol-
lowed quickly in the same

area. :

H.R. Foxlee, a longtime
Robson resident now living in
Trail, witnessed the strikes
and immediately telephoned
Charley Nichols, the district
Forest Ranger, who had also
witnessed the lightning cra
shes. Nichols quickly dispat-
ched men to handle the ensu-
ing blaze.

“T was sitting looking out
the window when the first
bolt struck, it must have hit
a giant dead bull pine,” des-
cribed Mr. Foxlee, “causing it
to explode into a shower of
dust and branches.” This re-
sulted in a river of flames
rolling down the mountain:
side. : :

The next day Frank
Quance, a bookkeeper at Wal-

dies sawmill, and four men
climbed the hillside and put
out the East Robson fire in
quick order. The crew at
West Robson built guards a-
round the fire, which was not
easily accessible due to gul-
lies and crevices. It was thou-
ght that the fire would burn
itself out in a short time. As
it was,. circumstances ‘did not
agree with this thought.

On the following Wed-
_nesday a wind from the west
developed into gale force and
fanned .the almost dead fire
into renewed life. The flames
spread quickly and soon en-
gulfed the hillside above
‘ Westley. ‘It then started its
rush toward Castlegar.

Mr. Foxiee described the
fire as resembling a roarin
waterfall. “It was a tremend-
ous, terrifying noise,” he re-
flected. The fire spread as if
being pushed by an invisible
hand, travelling from West-
ley to Kinnaird in the same
day. In East Robson red hot
cinders were cascading a-
round the homes, causing.
great concern to the resi-
dents.

A woman residing at Rob-
son, who along with her mo-
ther had been trapped in the
great Fernie fire of 1908, suf-
fered such a vase of shock at
witnessing this local fire that

she required several weeks of
hospitalization to overcome
the experience.

The fire burned to with-
in a short distance of the
railroad station in Castlegar.
The CPR, fearful of loss, mov-
ed all their rolling stock out
of the danger area. 2

The forestry built back- -

fires along the West Robson
road and. along the bottom of
the hill behind the Castle-Bar
Ranch in an effort to stem
the flames. A West Kootenay
Power construction crew was
also dispatched to fight the
fire at the Kinnaird end un-
der the guidance of fire sup-
erintendent Marc Dumont.

_ As the fire was approach-

ing Kinnaird, several families
who had homes on the hill-
side above the town were
moving. their possessions
down to the river bank. One
of these families, the Killou-
ghs of pioneering and for-
estry fame battled against the
fire to protect their home.
Three Killoughs and two fri-
ends, one of them a visitor
named Smith from Texas,
went up the Merry Creek
canyon area (the small creek
that runs just below the pre-
sent Castleaird Plaza) and
built back-fires all night a-
long an old logging road.
While these back-fires were

being built a certain party,
not believing in their value,
was endeavoring to put them
out with a shovel as fast as
the Killoughs. could light
them, These back-fires, plus a
God -given change in wind,
drove back the fire, saved
their homestead and a good
Portion of the countryside -as
well.

The fire was brought un-
der control after two weeks,
but continued to burn until
finally extinguished by: hea-
vy rainfalls at the end of
August. The fire had extend-
ed from the bottom of the
mountain to the height of
Robson ridge overlooking Cel-
gar’s pulp mill, and from
Westley to Merry Creek in
Kinnaird.

One humorous sidelight
occurring during the fire was
the incident involving the
Killough’s neighbors, the
Peter Swanson family. Fear-
ing for the loss of their val-
uables, the family took most
of them out of the house and
buried them. A greatly prized
possession, a gramophone,
was given the same treat-
ment. It was subsequently
ruined by the gravel. As fate
sometimes works (happily in
this case), the fire reached
only as far as the clearing
bordering their property.

L.V. Campbell and J.R. Elliott.

tion of the Citizen of the Year
Award, the late Mickey
Moran said it was “hard to
believe that a man in his life
time could’ accomplish as
much as Ralph West.”

In his acceptance speech,
Mr. West paid tribute to his
wife Marjorie, a very tal-
ented lady in her own right,
and to all of those persons
and organizations — most of
whom, regrettably, space
limitations have not per-
mitted us to name. '

Tam sure, however, that
both he and they, as a part of
the basic tabric of this com-
munity, would appreciate the
words of John Donne, who,
400 years ago, in one of my
favorite quotations wrote:

S He also
found time to act
as secretary of the
Castlegar school
board . . . stipen-
diary magistrate
from 1933 to 1938 .
. . organized. the
Castlegar Holding
Company . . . first
president of the
Castlegar Cham-
ber of Commerce .
. . justice of the
peace until his
death in 1971.

“No man is an island,
entire of itself... every man,
is a piece of the continent, a
part of the main; if a clod be
washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as
ifa promentory were, as well
as ifa manor of thy friends or
thine own were; any man’s
death diminishes me, because
I am involved in mankind;
and therefore never send to
know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.”

Sincere thanks to Mar- °
jorie West, to Clara Bloomer
and to John Landis for help in
a most difficult, but very re-
warding, work. ‘\