Delta almost lost its mayor and his wife in what could have been a tragic accident.
That’s according to an article in the Jan. 3, 1903 edition of The Delta News.
William H. Ladner, who was reeve of Delta in 1903, narrowly escaped a serious accident on Christmas Day evening when their horse and buggy went into a ditch.
The article with the headline “Narrow Escape” stated they had just left the residence of his brother, Thomas Ladner, during an exceeding dark night, and they were driving slowly.
The incident happened on the corner of Slough Road (now called Arthur Drive) when “the horse took a notion to back and put the rig off the road and into the ditch in such a position that the horse stood straight over the occupants who expected to be crushed. The horse, however, fell to one side and cleared the rig.”
The front page article also noted, “Mr. Ladner with the assistance of neighbors rescued Mrs. Ladner from her perilous position uninjured but badly frightened. It took two hours to rescue the horse and rig. Had the accident happened on the opposite side of the road, the result would probably been fatal to all.”
Ladner served actively in politics in Delta and had pior also been a member of the legislature.
He settled to farm the area in 1868 and was instrumental in having Delta designated as a municipality.
He married Mary A. Booth and had four children with her prior to her death in 1879, and he subsequently remarried.
He died in 1907.
Other news items in that Jan. 3, 1903 edition of The Delta News included Robert May being appointed post master of Delta, a body found in a boat on the Fraser River, members of the Baptist Church bidding farewell to their pastor Rev. I Williamson who left for Kamloops, young people of the Trenant Club enjoying a successful masquerade dance and a pleasant gathering taking place to celebrate the marriage of John Burr to Lizzie Walters.
The Delta News was replaced by The Delta Times, which folded a few years later.
The Delta Optimist newspaper started in 1922.
In 1879, William Ladner obtained enough signatures on a petition to the provincial government that led to the establishment of a new rural municipality called Delta. He was elected reeve in 1880 and served for a number of years in that role.
