Mr. and Mrs. Frank St. John’s 50th Anniversary.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank St. John celebrated their 50 an- niversary December 7, 1964 at their home in Minnedosa.

STONE FAMILY HISTORY

Cooper Stone, publisher and editor of Rapid City’s weekly newspaper for many years, was born at Melbourne, Derbyshire, England, on July 23, 1886, and the family later moved to Derby. At the age of 14 he delivered bread from house to house in the afternoons and evenings. In 1900 he worked as a “glue boy” in the bindery department of a large book printing firm for two years, then as an apprentice compositor for a printing shop for a year. In 1903 he went to work in a blacksmith shop for four years. At the age of 20 he borrowed money to pay his passage to Canada and arrived in Rapid City on April 5, 1907, and obtained employment in a blacksmith shop. He was there only a short time when he was given the job of repairing the broken handle of a printing press and when it was learned he had experience in the printing trade was offered a job by the editor and accepted. He was also night switchboard operator for the Bell Telephone Comapny.

In 1909, from April to December, Mr. Stone worked for “The Times” weekly newspaper at Nokomis, Saskatchewan, then went back to England for a visit. (in his return he came back to Rapid City and in partnership with Henry Clay, son of the owner Henry Clay Clay, took over the Reporter after completing his obligations at Nokomis and a year later became the sole owner. Shortly after returning to Canada his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Stone, followed him and resided in Brandon. Miss Clara Bradley, born October 21, 1887, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Bradley of Derby, accompanied them and at Rapid City on June 18, 1910, became the bride of Cooper Stone. They had two sons, Oswald George, born August 4, 1911, and Howard Bradley, born January 31, 1918, who both ap- prenticed in the printing trade with their father.

In September 1934, during the depression, US, as he is known to most people. left the printing trade and ob tained work with Gods Lake Gold Mines at their mine on Elk Island in Gods Lake, Manitoba. On September

13, 1936, he married Vivian Charlotte Lietz, who was born at Robiin, Manitoba, on May 6, 1913, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Lietz. They resided at Gods Lake until the mine closed in 1943 and then moved to Trail, British Columbia, where he worked in a fertilizer plant and it was there their son Allan Howard was born. 0n returning to Rapid City in the fall of 1946 03 again took up printing with his father.

The Reporter office was originally located west of the present Town Office until February 1931 when fire, which started in a two-storey building on the corner, at that time a cafe, also destroyed the printing office and insurance office. Until new equipment and type could be purchased and installed in the present office, to the south of the old location and which was originally built as a residence and office for a doctor, the Reporter was printed at the Gazette office in Rivers without missing an issue. The Rivers Gazette and Rapid City Reporter were amalgamated in January 1954 and the paper was printed in Rivers with Graham F. Barker and 0. G. Stone as publishers. but this arrangement did not prove popular with local subscribers and after six months the Reporter returned home, but this was only for a short period. Os was advised to quit work and seek medical attention and in September 1954 the paper was sold to R. Earle Gordon, publisher of the Minnedosa Tribune, with the option of repurchasing it inside of two years. The Reporter again returned to its Rapid City office in December 1955 with O. G. Stone as publisher and Cooper Stone, who had been editor dur~ ing the changes, continued in that position until his death on September 17, 1957. Sickness also played its part in the Reporter’s history — in February 1919 two issues were missed during a flu epidemic and four issues were missed late in 1968 when the publisher was hospitalized.

During its early years the town had more than one weekly and they changed hands numerous times and were published under new mastheads until only one paper continued. The life of the Rapid City Reporter came to a sudden and very unexpected end with the final issue on August 26th, 19?1, when ill health forced publisher 0. G. Stone to suspend publication and for various reasons he was unable to start the paper up again but has continued to do commercial printing. He was made an Honorary Life Member of the Manitoba Weekly Newspapers Association in 1972. Os was bereaved of his life-partner, Vivian, on February 16, 1977.

Cooper Stone was interested in most sports, in- cluding curling and. golf, and helped promote English soccer in the district. He served for a number of years on the Town Council as Councillor and Mayor, on the School Board as Trustee and Chairman and as secretary of the Board of Trade, now Chamber of Commerce, and on other organizations. He was a member of the Rapid City l.0.0.F. Lodge and the Bap- tist Church while it was active here. His wife, Clara, passed away August 31, 1961.

After completing his education at Rapid City and Brandon College, Howard Stone assisted his father in the Reporter office and was also a projectionist for the local picture show held in the upstairs hall of the l.0.0.F. block. In April 1942 he accepted the position