Buses and a University

In 1919, the provincial government agreed to press construction of the University of British Columbia - UBC - on Point Grey. The university was still operating at out of the 'shacks' on the grounds of the General Hospital. Leonard S. Klinck, the university's new president, mobilized friends to keep the pressure up before the university finally opened in its permanent location in late 1925.

Culturally, Vancouver was not doing well. The public library and the City Museum were in wretched buildings. There was no art gallery and no proper auditorium. World War I had halted construction of the new YMCA building on Georgia Street. The steel skeleton stood for years before being sold and completed as the Ritz Hotel. The "Y" remained in the rickety old building at Dunsmuir and Cambie Streets.

One positive note for culture did occur in 1919 when Henry Green organized the city's Symphony Orchestra.

Industry, however, was doing well. And changing. Shipbuilding was dwindling away, with four vessels still under construction. By 1925, there were 500 established industrial operations with 14,000 employees to take the place of shipbuilding.

Most of these were small plants with a total comprised investment of $95 million and an annual output of $85 million. Power was supplied B.C. Electric from its Buntzen plant and by the Western Power Co. of Canada Ltd from their three generating units at Stave Falls. Western Power had begun in 1912 and competed with B.C. Electric until 1920.

Western's distribution facilities were insufficient and B.C. Electric shared the water rights with Western on the Stave River. In 1920, Western was sold to BCE - a logical move.

Power played a much larger part in the homes of Vancouver in the 20's. The city was changing, first to gas and then to electricity for cooking and electric appliances were making great strides in home use. BCE also supplied power to industrial and public transit.

A new franchise was negotiated in 1922, providing for the innovation of motor bus service. The pioneer buses were put into operation on Grandview Highway in 1923. 

By 1925, Vancouver was using 700 million cubic feet of gas a year. The old cluster-globe and arc lights on the streets were replaced by the first of the modern 1,500 to 2,500 candle-power single lamps on ornamental standards. 1925 was also the year that B.C. Electric, through a subsidiary, had bus lines to Haney, Ioco, White Rock and Seattle.

Thanks to the book Vancouver, From Milltown to Metropolis by Alan Morley for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill

Woodpecker Election

Former Vancouver Mayor, L.D. Taylor, was a man with a puckish sense of humour and he loved creating legends. About himself.

One time, he "kidnapped" ex-President "Teddy" Roosevelt and Mrs. Roosevelt. It wasn't a kidnapping the way you may think though.

The Roosevelts were visiting Vancouver and the Board of Trade decided to omit the mayor from the official reception at the CPR station. Well Taylor wasn't having any of that.

He boarded the train at the Heatley Avenue station and introduced himself to the ex-President. He then ushered them off the train, condescendingly introducing them to a few board members before escorting the couple to a borrowed limousine for a drive around Stanley Park.

In the election of 1923, Taylor lost to Tisdall and that was due to a sudden and complete power failure in the East End. The street cars were immobilized during the late afternoon. The residents of the East End were primarily workingmen who made up the bulk of Taylor's support. They couldn't get to the polls and vote before the polls closed.

The next day, B.C. Electric - who were responsible for the street cars - produced a dead woodpecker. According to them, the woodpecker had penetrated the internal workings of a transformer and paralysed the power system.  So Taylor lost the "woodpecker election". However, he did gain yet another legend.

In 1928, L.D. was struck on the head by an air plane propeller at the inauguration of B.C. Airways passenger services. He had a long convalescence after which Taylor dramatically presided over council meetings in a wheelchair. He was still partially paralysed.

A year after this incident, the 72-year-old narrowly escaped drowning while on a five-week canoe trip north of Prince George.

In 1931, after attending the opening of Sea Island airport Louis D. Taylor contracted a lingering illness, which brought him to the verge of death.

Thanks to Alan Morley and his book, Vancouver, From Milltown to Metropolis for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill 

The Vancouver Voyager is BAAACK!!!

Hello everyone. The Vancouver Voyager has returned! When I left off back in February, I was telling you about the period of time between World War I and World War II - the 1920s. I had just finished relating facts about newspapers. Today, I am going to look at some of the people responsible for our civic leadership.

From 1918 to 1921, Vancouver's mayor was a railroad and real estate promoter and speculator, R.H. "Harry" Gale. Harry was fast talking, colourful and popular but he wasn't capable of dealing with the problems during this transitional period after the war.

Gale was replaced in for 1922 and 1923 by Charles E. Tisdall. Tisdall improved the efficiency of the office and maintained a sound, conservative financial position. 

The next mayor, W.R. Owen had an uneventful term in 1924.

That brings us to Louis D. Taylor. Taylor was a dominating figure in local politics, serving as mayor from 1925 to 1935.  L.D. was fortunate because when he took over, a great boom that was to last until the end of 1929 was in full swing and many of the financial problems his predecessors faced had solved themselves. The city was in need of this perennial optimist though.

Taylor had been mayor when the city was booming in 1909 and 1910 then again in 1915. He began his civic career as a licence commissioner in 1902 though was voted out of office in 1903. He was never an alderman - tried but wasn't elected. He had run unsuccessfully for mayor five times in addition to the three times he won. (That's persistence!)

Organized labour liked Taylor. His policies were liberal and progressive and he favoured organized labour.

Louis D. Taylor was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He came to Vancouver in 1894 and, at the end of 1924, he was 67 years old. He was a pleasant, gentle man who preferred to gain through negotiation instead of open conflict. However, he had a vast knowledge of the city and its people and there were many sources of "pressure" available to him that he didn't hesitate to use to get his way.

This earned him a reputation for deep and sometimes unscrupulous intrigue that sometimes worked to his disadvantage when his enemies charged him with dishonesty. But when he was in his final, poverty stricken, years, his foes - even the most determined ones - acquitted him of profiting personally from his eleven years as chief magistrate of the city.

Taylor was connected with the pioneer Vancouver, back before he even got here. His second wife was Mrs. Alice Berry, the widow of pioneer teamster and a hero of the Great Fire, Harry Berry. Alice was also the daughter of Jonathan Miller, an early pioneer.

Thanks to the book Vancouver, From Milltown to Metropolis by Alan Morley for the above information.

Wednesday, I will tell you about a few of the legends surrounding our colourful mayor, L. D. Taylor. Until then, I hope you find the beauty around you.