Feb. 8: Manitoba Hotel fire; Jonasson hanged; Bachman and Cummings to Hall of Fame.

February 8, 1899 - The Manitoba Hotel, the first railway hotel in Winnipeg, at the intersection of Main and Water (now William Stephenson Way) was destroyed by fire. Damage was pegged at $800,000, but no lives were lost. Temperatures near the -40 degree mark hampered firefighters in their efforts to save the building and its destruction led to the fire chief being demoted to an inspector.

The site is now home to the Victory Building - note the similar footprint of the buildings.

For a more in-depth article on the fire: part one, part two, part 3.

February 8, 1946 - Baldwin Jonasson (49) of Langruth is hanged for the murder of Pearl Dell (16) of Portage la Prairie.

Jonasson and Dell worked together at the Owen Farm in Flee Island, near Portage la Prairie and on September 10, 1945, Jonasson picked Pearl up to drive her to work. The following day, neighbouring farmers found Jonasson, bloody and dazed from a slashed throat, in a field. In the nearby car was the body of Dell.

Jonasson initially told police that his car had stalled and while they sat talking she took out a razor and tried to kill him, then killed herself. At trial, the medical examiner said that Dell died from three blunt blows to the head, likely from a hammer, and that the slashes on her throat were deep enough to almost sever her head.  The jury found Jonasson guilty of murder. He was the first person of Icelandic heritage executed in Canada. (Image: Winnipeg Tribune, Nov 12, 1945)

February 8, 1952 - 303 Royal Canadian Air Cadets Squadron was formed in The Pas, MB.

February 8, 1962 - The Arrow River Standing Stone Burial Ground in the R.M. of Miniota, near Hamiota, was designated a Provincial Heritage Site.

February 8, 2005 - Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

© 2012, 2020 Christian Cassidy