PUBLICATIONS
BELL ISLAND NEWSPAPERS
THE BELL ISLAND EXAMINER
1955-1957
The Bell Island Examiner was a weekly newspaper published from December 22, 1955 to November 26, 1957. It consisted of four pages in traditional newspaper format published by the Examiner Publishing Company and printed by Robinson & Company. The editor was Eric A. Seymour. It contained local news, some provincial and national news, personal, social and club news, sports, ferry schedules, radio listings and local history. The editorials concerned local issues such as high prices, local development, the need to patronize local merchants and the question of fluoridation of drinking water.

The following three St. John's libraries have some 1956-57 copies of The Bell Island Examiner on Microfilm:
- Memorial University Library,
- The Arts & Culture Centre Provincial Reference Library,
- The Rooms Provincial Archives. The Rooms also has some copies from 1955-56 in original paper format.

Following are images of page one of the Friday, September 28, 1956 edition which featured the coverage of the death and funeral of Monsignor G.F. Bartlett. Thank you to Wally Byrne for providing this issue.
The arrival of Monsignor Bartlett's casket on the Elmer Jones, greeted by hundreds of mourners. The caption reads, "When the ferry Elmer Jones arrived at Bell Island 4:30 p.m. Sunday, residents jammed the space around the terminal. The British ore-carrier Baron Herries in the background was bound for the United Kingdom with a cargo of Wabana ore."
Description of Monsignor Bartlett's funeral, Wednesday, September 26, 1956.
A weekly feature of the "Bell Island Examiner," the Sunday services.
The first meeting for the school year of the Girls' Auxiliary at the Church of England Academy.
Interesting bit of trivia for fans of the Four Aces, famous singing quartet of the 1950s.
Following are images of page two of the Friday, September 28, 1956 edition:
Much of page 2 was devoted to the Provincial Election of October 2, 1956, such as this piece regarding Independent Liberal candidates, one of whom was Michael Hawco of Bell Island.
Other election news included the piece on the left stating that the three candidates for Bell Island were: Joseph P. O'Driscoll (L); David Ignatius Jackman (PC); Michael J. Hawco (Independent); and Ray Littlejohn (CCF). The CCF, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, had its base in the Canadian west in the 1930s and came to Newfoundland after Confederation in 1949. Spoiler alert: the Liberal, O'Driscoll, won the Bell Island seat with 1,912 votes. Jackman got 901, Hawco got 328 and Littlejohn got 43 votes. No Independents or CCF were elected in that election. The PCs only got four seats, all in St. John's. The Liberals won all the rest.
As can be seen in the headline below, nothing much changes in election talking points.
Following are images of page three of the Friday, September 28, 1956 edition:
The article on the Royal Commission on Agriculture is a long one, so I have posted it here in three parts. The second image forms the lower part of the first one.
In the Boys' Club photo below, the three men in back are identified beneath the photo, but the boys are not. 
In the back row, standing, the second boy from the left is Stuart Luffman.
There are seven boys kneeling. No. 3 from the left is either Carl or Ralph Alcock. No. 5 is John Boland. No. 6 is Raymond Luffman.
Following are images of page four of the Friday, September 28, 1956 edition:
Publication information:
Part 1 of editorial on the passing of Monsignor Bartlett:
Part 2 of editorial on the passing of Monsignor Bartlett:
One-way traffic instituted on Town Square:
Election editorial and the funeral of William Cantwell: 
Below is the first part of the Personals column (the Facebook of its day!). How times have changed in 60 years with regard to travel to the city. It was such a rarity, everyone who visited there was noted along with their reason for the visit. Those attending Memorial College were no longer residents of Bell Island and any visit back to see family and friends was an occasion. 
Below is the second part of the Personals column. Married women were still being referred to by their husband's name. A teenaged boy's title was "Master." A young lady was "Miss." Interestingly, she remained a "Miss" as a woman if she was unmarried, but an unmarried man was "Mister," the same as married men.
Below is the third part of the Personals column. Notice that Milton Tucker took his car along on his trip to St. John's. Most people on Bell Island still did not own cars, but this seems to suggest that most travellers, even if they owned a car, left it at home and got the taxi in Portugal Cove to take them to the city.