The Bowling-Pin Method

Later in May of 1886, Dr. A Harrison Thomas was appointed medical officer, George F. Baldwin city treasurer, J.J. Blake city solicitor and T.F. McGuigan city clerk.

A police commission was formed and consisted of the mayor, the magistrate and the city clerk. Boultbee proposed his brother-in-law, Gardner Johnson, for the position of chief of police and Mayor MacLean nominated his old Winnipeg acquaintance, James M. Stewart. Unfortunately for Johnson, the city clerk was dating Stewart's pretty daughter so Stewart got the appointment. Chief Stewart had a force of four - himself, an assistant chief and two constables.

On May 28, at a public meeting, Sam Pedgrift was elected chief of a volunteer fire brigade. Along with this shoemaker were 13 other members. Members paid dues of 25 cents a month and a fund of $200 was collected. These donations were to go to a fire engine.

As I have said before, Granville was a passive target of Port Moody, Victoria and New Westminster papers for years. But Vancouver had its own press. In January, William Brown started the Vancouver Herald, a four-page weekly. At the end of May, N. Harkness and J.H. Ross started the publication of the Vancouver News, and R.W. Gordon the Vancouver Advertiser. The Herald was a liberal leaning paper whereas the Advertiser was conservative. Granville may have been a settlement by the inlet but Vancouver was a city!

The surveying was still going on and during the spring of 1886, 2000 were employed. A large construction camp existed in the small bay where Hamilton Street met False Creek. Wives and families of the superior employees lived in the old Hastings Townsite where the CPR construction offices were.

On March 6, the company held its first land sale, setting June 10 as the deadline for persons in occupation of land previous to the 1884 agreement to buy their lots at the reserved price of $200.

Walter Graveley was the first buyer of unreserved land, paying $700 for lots 1,2 and 3 on the southeast corner of Carrall and Oppenheimer (now East Cordova) Streets. The CPR was flooded with claims of people claiming to have been occupants of the land- "almost in excess of the entire population of Gastown in 1884". Is it any wonder Van Horne warned Hamilton to keeps his eyes open when doing business with the people of Vancouver.

The railway was also clearing the land along Water, Cordova, Hastings and Pender Streets, as far west as Burrard. Much of this was done using the "bowling-pin" method. Ranks after ranks of the close packed trees were sawed halfway through then a few were felled and those would knock down the others. Scores of the forest giants fell and created a mash up of smashed trunks and branches. Undergrowth and jagged stumps were left to dry out through the summer and burned the following wet season.

I would like to thank the book Vancouver, From Milltown to Metropolis by Alan Morley for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Honoring the Dead

First of all a happy All Saints Day. Did you know that tomorrow is All Souls Day?  These are very solemn days in some sects of the Roman Catholic Church. Honoring dead saints and relatives requires a degree of seriousness as well as tradition.

Last night is more my type of holiday. Halloween. This holiday is celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, Canada and the United States primarily. It is thought to be based on the Celtic festival of Samhain - a Gaelic harvest festival - though some have traced it back to Roman times namely the Roman feast of Pomona who was the goddess of fruit and seeds. Or the roots may be traced to Parentalia a Roman festival of the dead.

The ancient Celts believed that on Samhain the line between the land of the living and that of the dead became thin thus allowing spirits to cross into the land of the living. That wouldn't be so bad if all the spirits were good but the evil ones cross over as well.

Those good spirits, like those of deceased relatives, were honored and invited in to the homes but costumes and masks had to be worn to scare away the evil entitities. The purpose was that the costumes and masks would make the wearer seem like an evil spirit and thus avoid harm.

In Scotland young men impersonated the spirits by dressing all in white with veiled, blackened or masked faces.

The word Halloween and many of the traditions we see today were derived from the Old English era. The first use of the word Halloween has been traced back to the 16th century and represents a variant of the Scottish  All-Hallows-Even.

The photos I am using are from those stored on my computer. I don't have information on the buildings so I am just putting them on here for you to see.

Bet this house was scary last night. The stories and such you could make up about it. If someone thought to decorate it and have sounds emanating from the grounds that would certainly add to the frightening atmosphere of Halloween.

Off the topic of spooky things, don't you find the windows of this building interesting?

This fountain is in Yaletown at a park.



I liked the burst of color here.

This building I am showing you is on Cordova Street. I don't know anything about it but it must be old. Look at these doors.

I am just under five foot two inches and I would have to duck to get in. That indicates that this is an old building.

Look at the stairs! And the front. This appears to be a building with a courtyard or something similiar in the center. I can't enter it, there is a gate that is very secure.

This is another building I haven't been able to find out much information on. But considering the style of it, the location - near Gastown and Strathcona - and the feel I get from it I would say it has been there a while.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

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