Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 30, 1950, Winnipeg, Manitoba Final edition vol. 58 no. 206 Winnipeg free press with an occasional Shower. Cooler. Winds Northwest at 20 . Except Light at night. Low tonight and High wednesday 40 and 50. 32 pages Price 5 cents with comics Loc Winnipeg tuesday May 30, 1950 sur. Rise 5.27 . Moon Hise . Sun set 9.26 . Moon set 4.20 forecast cooler Spur Oil pipe to serve Winnipeg inside Story of plan revealed dramatic details lifted on no. 1 d Sec 75-mile link to join main line at Gretna Imperial Oil company s new refining Plant will be linked to the main East West pipeline from Alberta by a Spur line company officials announced tuesday. The 75-mile 10-Inch Branch pipeline will stretch from Gretna Man., to Winni Peg they said and will have operation by Victor Mackle fighting for its life against the creeping paralysis of the murky Waters of the rising red River and its tributaries the City of greater Winnipeg came within two feet of a break Down of that vast network of Complex and vital utilities so essential for the maintenance of health and life in a modern City. The red reached 30.3 feet above Datum before it finally stopped rising. At approximately 32 feet permanent deterioration of All Normal services would have been under Way. _ details of the opera Tion Blackboy drafted to meet the emergency and prevent Complete catastrophe were released tuesday by Brig. K. E. A. Morton flood control commander. The opera Tion was popularly known As the if plan. Al at 32.5 feet above Datum Cen compulsory total evacuation of the City except for workers. An exodus at rate of daily by rail air and Road. Retention in City of a flood fighting Force of fit Meu and working women daily lives of Over individuals affected. All doctors and nurses mobilized to meet emergency. Evacuees to be moved to 200 centres in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Food storage depots to feed persons daily. Gasoline dumps and Supply centres established on High ground. Buildings commandeered As emergency shelters to Hose flood fighters. Greater Winnipeg divided into nine zones for final stand against rising ked. Trial railway installations would no longer be operating. The Ware House areas with stocks of. Food and other supplies would be in accessible. Bakeries and dairies would have been put out of com Mission. Electrical plants would no longer be operative. News papers radio stations the Tele phone system would have been blacked the water Supply would have ceased to function properly. Winnipeg within a few hours would have been uninhabitable a City without lights without heat with no pure Vater no sanitary facilities and with regular Means of communication Cut off and the people left in their Homes becom ing panic stricken. It was a fearful Prospect. It could easily have happened if the River continued to Rise. No one could Tell How High the water level would go before the Peak was reached. Flood control authorities were aware of the catastrophe looming Over flood Belaf furred Winnipeg with its souls. It was frightening to those who had the inside information the average Winnipeg Ger never knew How close his City was to a death by drowning. Brig. R. E. A. Morton and his staff at flood control Headquarters in the legislative building knew As each succeeding Day brought alarming rises in the River love there came the realization that in was not sufficient to simply improvise tactics to meet each fresh see Blackboy Page 6 what it meant it code name born in 40 Blitz scare the code name Blackboy for the master emergency plan was taken from the code name Given the evacuation plan drafted for Southern England in 1940 and 1941 in the event Hitler s forces invaded. Black boy at that time was Hitler. The similarity of the two evacuation plans became so apparent to officers drafting Winnipeg s operation that in searching for a suitable code word the name Blackboy came to mind. Maj. G. W. Graham a staff officer on the planning com Mittee commented tuesday it s probably a Lucky code word. In neither Case did the plan actually have to go into Macewan is named to 4rehab authority defence scheme born while City besieged Winnipeg was a City at War with of sandbags. Behind the dikes were Vater when Blackboy was con the weapons the Small the machine gun the big cel j the heavy artillery vainly trying it was a City under siege. Back inc enemy that was front lines were thin soggy barriers 7 provinces open freight rate Appeal Ottawa May 30 governments tuesday appealed to the Cabinet against the latest freight rate increase and asked that it be stayed from com ing into operation. The railways Are aiming at june 16 As the effective Date of the 3.4 per cent increase. It was awarded of last thursday by the Board transport commissioners which or dered the railways to give 15 Days notice before putting it into effect. The companies Hope to file the new rates wednesday. The Appeal by the governments All except Ontario Quebec Anc Newfoundland includes the previous two increases which Tola 16 per cent and which already Are in effect. Parsons declared Speedway Winner Indianapolis May 30 bup the 500-mile memorial a automobile race had to be halted because of rain tuesday with Johnny Parsons declared the win Ner. For 250 Miles Parsons Speed was 125.839, breaking the record last year by Bill Holland at 120.916. Nationalist West germans seek political comeback Frankfurt. May 30 Western Germany s nazi tainted nationalists Are making their first postwar bid for a political c o m e Backsc. They Are feverishly Campaign ing to Jar Loose the moderate parties control of the five biggest in elections of new state parliaments beginning june 18. The rising red River and its allies he Assiniboine and the Seine. Behind the pumps were the workers the men find women Manning the dikes. Dog tired muscle sore and sick at heart they fought to hold Back the murky Waters. In some areas the dikes col lapsed As the elements combined against them to pour rain and slush on a City struggling for its life. J overtaxed pumps choked to a halt. Dike workers retreated to Neu higher ground and began building again. The River claimed new territory and citizens saw their precious belongings abandoned As they had to give up their Homes to the enemy. With the Rivers steadily rising Complete catastrophe appeared imminent. History showed that Winnipeg could be almost All under water. The flood control Avi thormities had to prepare for the steady relent less invasion of the Muddy Waters. Flans had to be Laid for withdrawals from advanced flood fighting posts. Even the flood control Headquarters in the legislative building could to under and a Nep Headquarters site on higher ground might have had to be established. Thus in the face of disaster the master plan dubbed Blackboy was born. If was a creation of the services and civilians. It was Winnipeg s Challenge to the Rivers to do their worst. Winnipeg might go under but it would go Down fight ing and it would Rise again. temperature readings during the 2 hour period ending at 6.30 . Tuesday Gram Macewan completion of personnel of Mani Toba s three Man flood rehabilitation authority was announced tuesday by the provincial govern ment. The authority will be com posed of c. E. Joslyn of Winnipeg chairman j. Grant Macewan Dean of Agri culture at the University of Manitoba and mayor w. K. Forrester of Emerson. Terms of reference for the authority have been drafted since the end of last week but have not yet been approved by the Provin Cial Cabinet. There is considerable disagree ment among the Cabinet it is understood Over precisely what Powers should be Given the a . Some ministers feel the Board should be limited to appraising individual damage. Others Are of the opinion that it should be full Power to assess and award compensation. Col. D Arcy Baldwin of Van Couver a member of the Fraser Valley flood commission in 1548, has been mentioned As a possible executive Secretary to the authority. The Light and dark Marks at the Bottom of this pole show How the red River a falling at Emerson As it is All along the Valley. Willard Kreitz a resident of the Bor Der town is making a close examination of the Situa Tion. A capacity of barrels a Day. It will carry Oil from the main new Alberta pipeline routed from Edmonton to Superior wis. To the company s in built refinery at East St. Paul or. The Henderson Highway 8% Miles North o f Winnipeg. The company said a Survey of the route already his begun and options for right of Way lire being obtained. The pipeline will be built by late autumn or at the latest by the Spring of 1951, the company estimated. Completion of the new refinery is anticipated in May 1951. One pumping station earlier this year it had been suggested that the Plant be fed Oil from Gretna by rail tank car switching facilities from both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways arc being built Al the Plant w h i c h has a Barrei per Day refining capacity. The Branch line will require one pumping station. This it was announced will he built at Gretna adjacent to the inter provincial pipe line company station there. Imperial Oil company has or dered pipe for the line from Bri Tain. It will be brought to Mon Treal for rail shipment to Manitoba. The contract for construction of i he line is to be awarded shortly the company stated. Extra Crews owner of the 75-mile project will be a newly incorporated subsidiary of Imperial Oil company the Winnipeg pipe line company. The company said that no Public financing of the subsidiary was contemplated. Extra Crews will work on the line to make up initial delays caused by flood conditions the company said. Work on the new refinery began april 17, when Hon. D. L. Camp Bell Premier of Manitoba operated the Bulldozer which gouged the first Load of Earth from the East St. Paul site. Although the line can handle barrels of Oil per Day the initial flow through the 10-Inch pipe is expected to amount to 000 barrels a Day. This pipe line pictured in course construction is much like the Type to be built from Winnipeg to Gretna Man., to link up with the big Oil pipe across the West from the Alberta Fields. Manitoba shows the Way Here is How the province is boosting the Manitoba flood military pull out to finish thursday mayor k Forrester. Vancouver Edmonton Regini 41 Brandon Man. 40 4s Max. Prec. Winnipeg port Churchill .32 Ottawa is 62 5s 65 7s to 43 67 23 new layoffs wind up plan states Tea the Layoff of 23 overhaul shop employees effective june 15, will Complete a company programme to reduce overhaul and engineering staffs in Winnipeg a trans Canada air lines spokesman said tuesday the company official said that when the programme announced in april was completed some 53 in the overhaul and 22 in the engineering departments would have been Laid off. The Overall Layoff has been Nec Essary because of completion of an aircraft reconditioning and re modelling programme the official stated. He cited a recent company statement which had explained that engineering department and development staffs were consider ably expanded for the Type of work always involved in placing new aircraft in additional employees were obtained to carry out a. Dc-3 development programme and the Job has been the official misstated More flood specials now ready fresh copies of the 40-Page free press flood special have been rushed to City news stands. The first edition of the paper sold out but a new ship ment of paper has made Avail Able additional copies of the pictorial record of the 1950 flood. All proceeds from. The Sale of this tabloid size edition Are going to swell the Manitoba flood Relief fund. Copies Are available for 25 cents from your Carrier news dealer agent from the free press circulation counter the t. Eaton company or the Hud son s Bay company. No Tele phone orders will be taken. Copies Mey be ordered by letter and will be mailed for 30 cents. Witt by thursday morning Manitoba a with the largest general clean up Lood Relief and rehabilitation in Winnipeg s history have vill be entirely in the hands of i called for volunteers to augment provincial authorities. I heir work Crews now starting to withdrawal of All military formerly flooded areas for re sonnet now in. I turning evacuees partial command gradual withdrawal of troops to will be stations in various parts Relief fund. Manitoba s total contribution to total to tuesday Relief response puts in fund feet Bridge column Pace Page deaths and funeral 10, financial news radio 4. News Page 18, to. To. Women s Newi is 15. 14, by that time it seas Learned tues Day. Co ordination of various clean up jobs throughout flooded areas is to be taken Over by a committee of the provincial Cabinet and senior servants a government spokesman said. The committee to be headed by Premier a l. Campbell will carry on with any work requiring continued centralization at Winnipeg. Most direct Dike and repair work has already been turned Over to i f a municipal offi if _ vials to the co ordinate ing body will probably include Hon. Errick f. Willis Deputy Premier and minis Ter of Public works Hon. Ivan Schultz minister of health and welfare and several departmental Deputy ministers. Continuing its steady recession the red River level at Winnipeg at 1 . Tuesday was 25.15 feet above Datum. This was a fall of .55 feet in 24 he country was still underway tuesday. Homeward trek 0f thousands of Lani Ioba flood evacuees is keep Sec flood Page 9 climbing steadily As did the flood Waters which made it necessary the National Campaign of the Manitoba flood Relief fund was boosted by in the last 24 hours to total s2.4s-1.466 by noon tuesday. Major contributions included British Columbia lumber manufacturers association Vancouver comprising about 40 companies Noranda mines limited. Toronto and Canadian construction association Ottawa the a Randii Cheque was personally delivered to fund officials by j. D. Perrin. Presi Dent of san Antonio Gold mines limited on his return from Toronto where he attended Friday s fund Benefit con Cert. Or. Peri in also pro Wirht Baclic other Toronto donations totalling a Cheque for was for warded 10 the Manitoba flood Relief fund monday from the Canadian construction association of this total came Frorer the construction soldiers com forts fun. Raised by the construction Industry during the War i provide cigarettes for their Mem Bers the association stated in a covering letter. In keeping Vidi tile original purpose of the fund the administrators of the Manitoba flood fund will wish to consider i is contribution As an Aid o it stated. Robert Drummond of Toronto president of the Canadian construction association said the As sedation was also sending a s4.00 Cheque to Premier Maurice Duplessis of Quebec 10 relieve Rii Stres arising from the disastrous Rimouski and Cabano fires. A one hour car Vass of resident in Oakville out., netted a Tola of for flood Relief monday night. Sea cadets in St. Thomas of. Collected two tons of canned food and other non perishable eatable see fund Page 9 Small talk today Levei of Ood a Jar hours. Meanwhile City officials faced red River Levels the following table compiled from figures obtained from the provincial drainage Branch of the department of Public works gives Levels on the red River taken at 8 . Daily. At Points where no readings Are obtainable either gauges Are inaccessible or not working. As the River recedes reports will again be available from these Points. Feet above Datum 43.8 town Emerson Letellier. St. Jean. Morris 20.81 Ste. Fathe St. Norbert Winnipeg 25.85 distance under distance Over Rise or fall in Peak 1948 Peak in 24 hours 3.65 under .41 -.3 no report no report 2.73 2.61 -.2t no report no report 4.45 3.45 -.55 wheat pact conclusion confirmed Ottawa. May 30 up jul. Hon. C. D. Howe Trade minister told Iho commons tuesday it was expected that Britain would buy Between and bushels of Canadian wheat in 1930-51. Ottawa May 30 Cial quarters monday confirmed that Canada tentatively has agree to end her system of bilateral wheat agreements with the United kingdom. The latest four Yea agreement terminates july 31. Confirmation also was Given to a London despatch which said tha1 Britain informed Canada that he wheat requirements from the Dol a area countries in the 1950-5 Rop year will be Between and bushels. Decision to end the War Bon bilateral pact ties in with Canada Hope that this country will be Abl o sell All her available wheat out put under the terms of the Multi lateral International wheat agree ment. Canada has been the driving orce behind this multilateral Pac As a Means of achieving relative Ong term Market Security or can Ada s wheat production. It. Hon. C. D. Howe Trade minister who returned from wheat talks with British officials in London last week will ask Cabinet today for approval of the Anglo Canadian wheat decisions. The plans Are expected to go through with out a hitch. Under the terms of the four i to would pc Uttz Hirm Iron on that last see wheat Deal Page s j ;