Hiway16 Magazine... about people and places in north-central British Columbia, Canada

		PAGE THREE OF THREE

The Coyle Egg-Safety Carton

Joseph Coyle worked in a newspaper office as a teen in Ontario. He moved to Ottawa to work in the Government Printing Bureau in 1888 and then worked in Western Canada as a typesetter installer.

Next he worked at a newspaper office in Juneau Alaska, where he heard of opportunities in the pioneer towns of Hazelton and Aldermere. He ordered a printing press and started the Omineca Herald at Hazelton in July of 1908.

The Omineca Herald folded a year later but Coyle moved his printing press to his farm a mile from present-day Telkwa and then on to Aldermere to start the Interior News in 1910. By 1913, the newspaper was moved to Smithers where it operates today.

Interior News print shop and Coyle home, Aldermere, B.C., Joseph L. Coyle, founder and publisher, standing in front with 1-1/2 year old daughter Ellen. February 1913.

It was always difficult to get news from the outside world, so Mr. Coyle made an arrangement with "Spud" Murphy, a telegraph operator with the Yukon Telegraph near Tyee Lake at Telkwa to gather first-hand news from around the world. You may notice the small sign on Highway 16 nailed to a tree that reads "Spud Murphy Hill" to the west of Telkwa.

Ernest Kirby and Ellen Coyle's combined birthday party. The family on the left are Mr. And Mrs. James Kirby son Ernest, family on the right are Mr. And Mrs. Joseph L. Coyle and daughter Ellen. August 24, 1912

By 1919, Coyle's career changed from newspaper owner to egg carton manufacturer and he never returned to the Bulkley Valley until a visit many years later in old age.

Joseph Coyle is another excellent example of the adventurers and dreamers who pioneered the north back at the turn of the century. Self-reliant, inventive, hard-working, their energy shaped our communities.

(April 21, 2005)






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