– by Sharon Hope –
A snowfall of over 50 cm began on February 2nd 1916, Ground Hog Day that made supplies almost impossible to obtain on the Peninsula. This depth was only surpassed by the snowfall of 1996, when 80 cm fell in downtown Victoria (64.5 cm at the airport).
School was closed for a day in North Saanich in late January, but few people expected the massive deposit less than one week later. After February 2nd, the Sidney roads were completely blocked even for horses and rigs. Both the B.C. Electric and V&S railways ceased to run; the V&S for example, finally arrived days later using a modified snow plow attached to the engine which successfully removed the drifts on the track. The B.C. Electric Railway did not run for at least five days. The people of Brentwood asked that the freighter Marmion, owned by The Cement Company, make its way to Sidney to pick up supplies.
The B.C. Electric Company announced they would not be able to read meters because of the weather conditions. The Red Cross, among other groups, cancelled their meetings. Mail delivery came by the CPR steamer, The City Queen, since the railway could not complete the service. Mrs. Oldfield’s father in Oak Bay telephoned that the storm was coming and Mr. Oldfield drove his family to the Interurban by sleigh so they could be in Victoria for the duration. Mr. Oldfield spent the next 10 days in virtual isolation looking after the farm and his animals.
In Saanichton on February 2nd, Mrs. J. A. MacDonald of Johns Crossing was taken seriously ill and Nurse Walker was asked to attend since there was no doctor. 15 men volunteered to carry the necessary supplies and five horses accompanied the group. Three of the horses broke the trail, one horse carried Nurse Walker and the other carried the supplies. The men were armed with shovels to dig through the snow. The group left from the Prairie Hotel (now called the Prairie Inn) to travel to Mrs. MacDonald’s home, a distance of one mile. It took approximately two and a half hours to accomplish the journey and the men arrived in a state of exhaustion. During the storm’s aftermath, farmers and their teams were busy trying to open the roads on the northern part of the Peninsula. Since the area was not incorporated as a municipality, no government assistance was provided.
In Victoria, 800 to 1000 military officers and soldiers stationed at Willows were enlisted to clear snow. Due to lack of sufficient motorized snow plows, in one instance, 50 soldiers pulled a wooden plow down a city thoroughfare. It was a date to remember.
