35 years ago: Ferry tolls become election issue

An old warehouse at the extreme south end of Queen Street, which was once part of the H.T. Warne Co., was leveled by fire. Digby firemen were able to protect a nearby home owned by Mr. and Mrs. Victor Comeau. The warehouse was owned by J.J. Brittain.

Taking the complete piloting course would cost about $800, said Lewis Wyles, president of the newly formed Digby Flying Club. He said hourly rates for dual instruction were $20, while solo costs were $16 an hour.

The Municipality of Digby council agreed to abolish the deed transfer tax it had instituted just two years earlier. In a presentation to council, town businessman J.J. Brittain said the tax was vicious and against all principles of taxation because it provided no benefit to the taxpayer.

Digby Bantam Flyers defeated Liverpool 5-1 in the first game of a two-game total goal series. Barry McEwan and Robert Dugas each scored a pair, and Randy Oliver added one for the Flyers. Winner of the series would represent Western Nova Scotia at a provincial tournament in Glace Bay.

Also in hockey news, the Digby Redwings returned from a successful trip to the U.S. and were escorted from the ferry dock to the Digby Forum by the police car and fire trucks. The Redwings, coached by Reg Hazelton and Stan Locke, had won three of four games in the six-day trip that took them to Portland, Biddeford, Medford and Winchester.

A new business opened in two. T.G. O’Neil Fisheries opened at the site of the former C.D. Snow Company. Tommy O’Neil, a 1968 graduated of Digby Regional High School, had previously worked with his father at a fish plant on Birch Street.

Bill’s Fish Market in the old Acadian Lines Building advertised a sale on scallops at $1.90 a pound, and bluefish fillets at 75 cents a pound. ‘The Organization’ was playing at the Little Cinema, with stars Sidney Poitier and Barbara McNair. 50 years ago March 26, 1959 – Brothers can sometimes be too close. Max Longmire of Hillsburn was fishing on the Bay of Fundy scallop beds when his dragger ‘Dale & Roger’ was badly damaged in a collision with the scallop dragger ‘G.M.G.’, captained by his brother Gerald.

Highways Minister G.I. Smith announced that a new three-mile section of the TransCanada Highway being built in Cape Breton would be designated ‘controlled access’. It was a major step forward in highway improvement, said Smith.

A heavy gale threw up a gravel bed that completely blocked access of fishing boats to the Church Point wharf.

Digby council bowed to pressure from merchants and agreed to proclaim Easter Monday as a town holiday. Most communities in Nova Scotia did not recognize the day as an official holiday.

At the Capitol Theatre was the movie ‘Marjorie Morningstar’, with stars Gene Kelly and Natalie Wood. 60 years ago March 24, 1949 – ‘Mussel eaters risking lives’, warned the Courier’s main story of the week. The paper said there had been reports of a number of county residents, especially on Digby Neck, eating mussels despite federal regulations prohibiting consumption of mussels from the Bay of Fundy area. The story noted that studies over the past two years had been unable to identify a ‘safe season’ for mussels.

Mussels had been a problem before. In 1936, an eight-year-old in Centreville and a 47-year-old Church Point fisherman died after eating the shellfish.

A lumber grading school was held in Digby at the H.T. Warne yard to instruct area woodsmen in the proper grading of spruce for the overseas market.

Pyne’s Store advertised scallops at 57 cents a pound and four pink grapefruit for 25 cents.

With the war still fresh in memory, movies featuring Hollywood combat were popular. At the Capitol was ‘Fighter Squadron’, with Edmond O’Brien, Robert Stack and John Rodney. For the trivia buff, it was Rock Hudson’s first movie.