Mayor D. E. Riley Later Senator

              Thursday, August 16, 1956 P3
Mayor D. E.Riley
Later Senator
Th% ftte Daniel E. Riley, -who
earner to High River as a young
man in 1883 from his native
Prince Edward Island, was High
River's first Mayor. In subsequent
years his service to thi 9, district
and to Western Canada* was of
such consequence that further
recognition came to him through
appointment to the Canadian Sen-'
ate in 1927.
Like many another pioneer he
arrived here by freight team
from the end of steel at Medicine
Hat In 1885 he Joined up In the
tgrforth West rebellion as a de­spatch
rider. The stage route be­tween
Calgary and Edmonton
ran through four Indian reserva­tions
and as all communication be­tween
the two posts had been cut
The High River Times, High River, Alb
Late 8enator D. E. Riley
First Mayor — 190§
Tenders f o r
COAL and FIREWOOD
The Board of Trustees, Foothills School Division
No. 38, will consider tenders for supplying Schools
of the Division with Coal and Firewood for the
School Year 1956-57. All tenders to be in the
hands of the undersigned on or before Saturday,
August 25th, 1956, at 12.00 noon. For informa-
Tion, etc., contact
JOHN W. DONALD, Secretary-Treasurer,
Foothills School Division No. 38, High River
-33-2-c
P R O C L A M A T I O N
T o w n o f H i g h River
By the authority vested in me as Mayor of the
Town of High River, I proclaim
Wed. August 22, 1956
an official holiday within the Town of High River
in observance of the Fiftieth Anniversary of High
River as an incorporated town.
In this observance the Town invites citizens
of the town and district to a community picnic in
the George Lane Memorial Park.
R. L. ELLIS, Mayor
Town of High River
Mayors Who Served Earli
Late Percy Taylor
Mayo: 1908 — 1909
C. C. Short
Mayor 1910
off, much alarm was felt. Finally
communication was re-established
by service of volunteer despatch
riders of whom Dan Riley was
one. His beat was from Edmon­ton
to Battle River reservation,
45 miles south. This trip was
made every 24 hours, with a
string of five good horses at his
disposal. Travel was always by
night with no person nor habita­tion
in the entire distance. Dur­ing
the spring of the year w,hen
water was high he was obliged to
swim the river every night for
two weeks. His adventures were
all checked down to experience,
and his return to southern Alber­ta
was a '•etum to home and
peace.
His firs', homestead was on
land that is now Round T prop­erty,
and gradually his holdings
expanded *o include farm and
ranch holdings. His connection
with the Stockmen's Association
and with farm interests dated
from early formation o f those or­ganizations,
and he was the first
president of the U.F.A. organized
in 1908.
When the town was incorporat­ed
in 1906, he was the first Mayor
and member of the first school
board, serving also in an infinity
of other offices. In a very real
sense he was counsellor friend to
the entire community, receiving
confidences and shaving troubles
to an unbelievable d e g E e e c_^
His election as president of the
Western S'.«k Growers' Associa­tion
came ; 1 the early twenties,
when the tie industry was bad­ly
underm.n«l by loss of Ameri­can
marke!., . falling prices and
other factors It was his able rep­resentation*
on behalf of the live­stock
industry of the west which
led to his appointment to the Sen­ate,
an honor well-earned and a
responsibility ably discharged. He
continued as president of W.S.G.
A. for many years, and was then
a perennial honorary president
till his death in 1948.
Away from home he was •'Sen­ator"
Riley. At home he always
continued to be greeted as "Dan",
High River's well beloved first
citizvn.
NOTES hoi
By C E. Yauch, District Agrle
Diversified Farming
During the past week I discuss­ed
at some length a new cropping
plan with one farmer and check­ed
up on another plan started last
spring.
In the first instance the farmer
wished to adopt a plan with a
minimum amount of summerfal-low,
and will introduce forage
crops, including sweet clover and
alfalfa, into the crop system. The
Lacom.be Experimental Station
has found that over a long period
of years diversified farming rota­tions
produced more pounds of
grain per acre than straight grain
rotations and the forage crops
were just a bonus to the diversi­fied-
system. In other words from
same size farm more grain can
be produced from the diversified
plan than from the grain fallow
plan and the forage is extra if
the farmer wishes to use it.
In an economic study in 1954
twenty forage crop farms were
compared with twenty fallow
farms. The average farm income
after deduction of operating ex­penses
and depreciation was
$2,810 for the forage farms and
$562 for the faljosir farms. Even
after allowance for interest on
capital investment, which was
greater for the forage farms, the
returns were very much in favor
of diversification.
In the other farm-examined the
mixed forage crops and sweet
clover seeded last spring seem to
be satisfactorily established and
in the years to come should im­prove
the soil, aid in weed control
and provide feed for livestock.
' Stllbestrol
There was considerable discus-