CALGARY NEXT

Eye Opener Bob
Copyright 1974 Western Producer Book Service
207 pages,
ISBN 0-919306-46-2.

A mighty manhunt followed. It was the hunt for a ruthless man, and everybody knew it. Actually. he never left the Calgary district. He was in hiding just about seven miles east of the city, spending part of his time in an abandoned shack and sleeping in a den he had hollowed out of a haystack. When finally located, he was ready to shoot it out with the police. until straw around his shack was set afire. Only then did he throw down his guns and surrender. Ernest Cashe1 did not escape again, but paid with his life on February 2, 1904.

"Poor Ernest!" said Paddy Nolan. "Fascinating fellow and smart; but a damned fool. of course."

Bob and Paddy dined together that night and communed understandingly. A friendship which had begun feebly at High River was now being reinforced by shafts of intellectual agreement. Both men loved humour and humility and both hated sham, a form of dishonesty. Together the two men walked on Atlantic (9th) and Stephen (8th) Avenues to consider locations which might be suitable for an editor's office and residence; and together they visited the Alberta bar to drink the success of the CALGARY EYE OPENER.

Bob Edwards knew very well that Paddy Nolan was not only a good companion but a good guide in and about Calgary. This brilliant man with Limerick, Ireland, for a birthplace, the 17th of March for a birthday (1864), and an honors degree in classics from Trinity College in Dublin, had been in Calgary since stepping off the train as a total stranger in 1889. In his first year in the country he was admitted to the bar of the Northwest Territories and now as he counseled Bob Edwards, he was regarded as the best defense lawyer and the finest orator in the country. Before leaving High River, Bob Edwards acknowledged that "all the best criminals go to Paddy Nolan."

Before long Bob Edwards was moving to quarters on the second floor of the Cameron Block at the corner of Stephen Avenue and Osler Street (8th Avenue and 1st Street East). There, a bedroom and double office comprised living and business premises.

News traveled quickly on Stephen Avenue and everybody knew the EYE OPENER had a new home. The only really public announcements, however, were indirect ones from the editor's own pen; first, that a weekly paper was about to start in Calgary under the "absurd" title of EYE OPENER. It is said that the editor has never drawn a sober breath in his life.... His rag will probably go bust inside six months." Then there appeared an item telling readers that the local brewery planned an addition, but "this has no special significance in connection with our coming to locate in Calgary; they were going to put it up anyway."

Actually, Bob Edwards was no stranger in the Calgary of 1904. He had a speaking acquaintance with many local people. and while at High River he had editorialized playfully about the city which was now "the logical leader in all that is fashionable, immoral, gay and joyous in the Territories." On various occasions he had managed to ruffle the composure of the City Fathers and members of the Ministerial Association. Now, as a resident of Calgary, he would chastise the members of the City Council more than ever when they showed weakness; more than ever he would "roast" those smug city dwellers who were inclined to parade their wealth and their righteousness.

His intentions were good. He realized that this was a fresh start, and again he declared a policy for himself and his paper. The paper would "appear, henceforth, with unfailing regularity." Instead of following Horace's dictum to "mingle a little folly with your wisdom," he proposed trying the converse as an experiment. "If you get your paper regularly, you will know it is working all right."

But in spite of good intentions, the EYE OPENER continued on its irregular course, appearing when the one-man staff had it ready and mirroring the everyday life of Calgary and Alberta. Local politics received constant attention; the humbug in society was exposed; booze was accepted philosophically, and details were provided regularly about horse races and prize fights. The EYE OPENER became Calgary's top entertainment and readers accepted irregularity with resignation.

Calgary streets seemed to generate new life and interest. One pioneer said, "We didn't realize how much fun had gone unnoticed until we began reading the CALGARY EYE OPENER." What prompted the remark was Bob Edwards' account of a Stephen Avenue incident, the adventure of a man who had remained too long at the bar. It was near dusk as the subject of the story made his way along the avenue, opposite the Post Office.