#dailycolonist1914 - News out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago today:

• A couple of big headlines about the European fronts, but this pretty much sums it up, "The day of December 20 brought nothing of importance...." Snow and cold is hampering things on the Eastern front, and mud and rain are bogging down the Western front.
• The Ameer [Emir] of Afghanistan declares neutrality. [It's worth noting that "Afghanistan" is just the northern part of what we now call Afghanistan. The south is nominally part of British India, but not well administered. Likewise, the article mentions "Turkish Persia" but Persia is only nominally in the Ottoman Empire's sphere of influence, with the south mostly independent and the north effectively, although not officially, under the control of the Russian Empire. If you look at maps of the area in 1914, good luck finding any two that are the same. All the boundaries are undefined and there isn't much government at all.]
• News of a British air-raid over Brussels bombing some Zeppelin sheds and of naval bombardment by the British on the Belgian coast that could be heard in Holland.
• Germans are reported to be running low on several materials, with German chemists working on artificial gasoline and benzene, and with copper cookware being donated throughout Germany and taken from homes in Belgium for the German army to make ammunition with.
• The number of "alien enemies" being interned is lower that what was expected. Interned prisoners are being put to work clearing land in Ontario and Québec.
• The provincial government does not endorse the construction of a bridge at the Second Narrows of the Burrard Inlet. [The first Second Narrows bridge will not be built until 1926.]
• An odd little story about a tugboat captain trying to make the run from Seattle to Ladysmith to pick up barges of coal and back in time to be home for Christmas. "Several of his water-front friends are making bets on his chances."
• And while I don't usually bother with the classifieds, there is one today that is odd enough to share...

https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist57y10uvic