Every old headline is new again in New Westminster, it seems. Case in point: the need to clean up the downtown.
It was 115 years ago this week (Feb. 22, 1908, to be exact) when the chairman of the New Westminster health committee, E.J. Fader, took to the pages of the New Westminster Daily News to admonish residents of the downtown area to clean the place up.
"From the reports I have had from the Sanitary Inspector, and from what I have witnessed with my own eyes, there are numerous places along the different streets that have got to be cleaned up within a very short space of time," Fader wrote.
Fader singled out the lower part of Carnarvon Street, between Eighth and 10th streets, and Alexander and Blackie streets as being in "a most unsanitary condition."
"It is quite unnecessary for me to mention any names, but all you have to do is look in your own yards and you can tell at a glance whether they are sanitary or not," Fader scolded.
Fader issued an ultimatum: work must be done before March 15, or he would be "obliged to take the necessary steps" to ensure the work was done in a manner satisfactory to the Sanitary Inspector.
Fader pointed out that "any broad-minded citizen knows that the population of the city has been steadily increasing in the last two or three years, and if we want this good success to continue, we want to show the newcomer this city in a good, clean, sanitary condition, and avoid criticism."
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose?
New Westminster is a city full of history — and that history includes a variety of community newspapers over its many decades.
In this new weekly series, we're taking a look back at the headlines from some of those newspapers, shining a spotlight each week on a notable news story, person or moment from this week in New West history.
Watch for it online every Thursday.
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