Murder at Johnson's Storage

It was the wee hours of the morning - 2:47 a.m. to be exact - on September 2, 1959 when the complaint centre of the Vancouver Police receive a call from an unknown male. "The watchman is injured at Johnson Storage under the Cambie Bridge," he stated before hanging up the phone.

Constable Bailey received the call and dispatched a patrol car to check the storage yard before contacting the telephone company to try to trace the call. The telephone company called back a few moments later to inform the |Constable the call was made from a pay phone at First and Commercial. So a car was set there to check it out and stand-by until someone could go and dust the phone for fingerprints.

Meanwhile, at Johnson's yard, Constables Weeks and Trent had arrived within minutes of receiving the call. The two officers found the gates locked and everything looked secure but there was no sign of the watchman. They radioed in for a key holder to come and open the facility and one arrived in about fifteen minutes to open the gates. The constables, along with Sergeant Robbins, entered the yard.

The keyholder had told the officers the watchman was stationed in the Drivers' Room. The watchman's duties included checking in the drivers who had made deliveries during the day. He would ensure they deposited the day's receipts into the office safe by dropping them in a slot on the top. The watchman was to clock in every thirty minutes.

Upon entering the Drivers' Room, the police officers immediately found the watchman. He lay face down on the floor, his hands tied behind his back with a length of cord, a towel and a piece of cloth were wrapped around his face - apparently as a gag. His clothing and wallet were undisturbed.

Beside the watchmen were a set of upper and lower dentures and a pair of glasses with one lens broken. Two hats were also there: one being the watchman's cap and the other an 'ivy league' hat made of linen with a checkered pattern design.

Apparently, the watchman had been sitting at a long table since his logbook and the time clock were there. The watchman had last logged in at 1:30 a.m.

The officers checked for signs of life but found none. They removed the towel and saw that watchman had vomited and bled from his mouth. There was also a bruise on his cheek - perhaps from falling to the floor?

The key holder identified the body as Vaino Alto. This 69-year-old had been with the company for a number of years and was a conscientious and reliable employee.

Are you intrigued? Are you wondering what happened to the watchman and what makes this case special enough to end up in the book Policebeat, 24 Vancouver Murders by Joe Swan? I will tell you more on Monday.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Vancouver, Johnson's Storage, History, murder,Vancouver Police, constable, 1959, Policebeat, 1Joe Swan,

Locomotive #374

Sir William Van Horne, President of the CPR. Photo was taken in 1910. From the Vancouver Public Library Archives.

President Van Horne wrote a letter to Major Rogers, a CPR supervisor on December 8, 1884. Part of it read: “Company’s plans of Vancouver townsite must be kept from everyone, including your own engineers.” Mysterious wouldn't you say?

Letters went back and forth and on February 23, 1885, a formal contract was drawn up between the CPR and the province of British Columbia. But the BC government had some provisions.

1. The Company shall extend the main line of the CPR to Coal Harbour and English Bay, and shall forever thereafter maintain and equip such extension as part of the main.

2. Extension to be fully completed by December 31, 1886.

3. The terminus of the CPR shall be established in the immediate vicinity of Coal Harbour and English Bay.

4. The Company shall erect and maintain terminal workshops and other terminal structures in the immediate vicinity of Coal Harbour and English Bay so as to provide for opening of traffic on the through line by December 11, 1886.

5. Survey of the line to be taken at once.

6. No Chinese shall be employed in the construction of the extension of the main line from Port Moody to English Bay.

This is locomotive #374, the first passenger train into Vancouver. Photo from the City of Vancouver archives.

A group of people waiting for the locomotive #374. I think this is a photo taken at a recreation of this event in the 1940s. Photo from the City of Vancouver.

Another photo from the re-enactment of the arrival of  Vancouver's first passenger train. Taken in 1946 and obtained from the Vancouver Public Library Archives.

Another photo from the re-enactment. The locomotive was a gift to the city of Vancouver.

In return for the railway meeting the above conditions, the CPR was gifted 6,000 acres of land in the general area of the terminus and the south of False Creek. This area was heavily wooded and had little or no settlers. 

In October of 1886, the city-council of the newly born city of Vancouver - the name was chosen by Van Horne - induced the CPR to build shops, stores and terminal facilities on the north shore of False Creek. In return, the CPR had 20 years of not paying taxes on the land. The CPR agreed and the English Bay branch and Drake Street yard were born.

The extension from Port Moody to Vancouver was supposed to be completed by December 1886 but that didn't happen. Port Moody landowners didn't want the CPR on their property and obtained injunctions to keep the railway off. The Supreme Court of Canada dissolved these injunctions on January 5, 1887.

An 1899 photo of locomotive #374 on Spuzzum River Bridge.

And in 1909 on the Salmon River Steel Bridge.

Arriving in Vancouver on May 23, 1887.

May 23, 1887. Photos courtesy of the Vancouver Public Library online.

After that, things moved in a hurry. The first locomotive whistle was heard in Vancouver and on February 23, 1887, Vancouver saw its first train. Locomotive #132 pulled in as far as Alexander Street. Pulling four flatcars loaded with rails, ties and two cabooses, the train spent the night. The next day, track laying toward Coal Harbour began.

Fast forward to May 21, 1887. The Construction Department handed the Port Moody-Vancouver Line to the Operating Department. The CPR staff located in Port Moody came by train to Vancouver that night to take up residence. 

At 12:45 pm on May 23, 1887, crowds were gathered and the party started as the first passenger train pulled into Vancouver. The first passenger that stepped off was a 21-year-old Welshman named Jonathan Rogers. I read where he thought the fan fare and the celebration was for him, which in a way, it was. Rogers went on to become a major developer in this city.

1887 photo of locomotive #374 carrying canned salmon.

H.T. Devine took this photo of the arrival of Locomotive #374.

Dominion Photo Co. took this photo. The date is listed as 1886 but it looks more like the ones from May of 1887.

1961 photo of kids playing on locomotive #374 at Kitsilano. This photo was taken for the Province newspaper.

I want to thank Bernie Tully for writing the article at the History of Metropolitan Vancouver website where I got the information. Also, thanks to the City of Vancouver archives and the Vancouver Public Library for the old photos.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Jonathan Rogers in 1915. Photo from City of Vancouver archives.

Jonathan Rogers, May 1937. City of Vancouver archives.

Mr and Mrs. Jonathan Rogers in costume at the re-dedication of Stanley Park in 1943.

Mr and Mrs. Jonathan Rogers in costume at the re-dedication of Stanley Park in 1943.

Karen Magill, Vancouver, CPR, History, John Ross,Port Moody, Dominion of Canada, Victoria, Coal Harbour, Kitsilano, Fraser River

Vancouver's First Passenger Train

This home at 918 Salsbury Drive was built in 1910. 

As we know, the coming of the railroad helped create the City of Vancouver. Way back when, in the 1880s, there were seven cities on the coast being considered for the terminus for the proposed Trans Dominion Railway. The Fraser River route was chosen in 1877 and the route would terminate at Burrard Inlet however no place for the terminus was stated. This created a political storm, as you may remember from my series on the province's premiers.

Victoria, Esquimalt, New Westminster and two upstart clearings in the bush - Port Moody and Gastown - were vying for the honour of being named the terminus. Being the terminus meant instant growth and money so it was important and every place being considered was willing to go to all lengths to be named the terminus.

In 1880, the Canadian government paid for work to begin on a 215-mile section between Savona and Port Moody. When the Fraser section was completed, the government would give it to the Canadian Pacific Railway - CPR - which was formed in 1881. So I guess it looks like Port Moody was going to be the terminus.

The CPR sent its engineer John Ross to survey the Burrard Inlet. Ross found that the eastern end of the inlet, Port Moody, was too shallow to accommodate ocean-going ships and since the CPR wanted to link with sea-going fleet, Port Moody was ruled out as a terminus. Ross favoured Vancouver.

Now that the area that was to become Vancouver had been chosen as the terminus, the CPR had to decide exactly where, Kitsilano or Coal Harbour? Both locations had the needed flat land for yards, repair and stores facilities. During 1882 and 1883, there was lots of real estate speculation. Some of it by CPR directors themselves.

The railway had no cash so it had to move with great care. The grants provided to the CPR by the Dominion of Canada stopped at Port Moody so in order to get the land needed for right-of-way and the terminus; the railway had to negotiate with the B.C. provincial government.

In 1884, negotiations started for the acquisition of a right-of-way from Port Moody to terminal sites "in the immediate vicinity of English Bay and Coal Harbour." These areas are actually two miles apart and separated by seawater.

Where was the CPR going to put the centre of the new city?

Wednesday I will tell you more about these early days in Vancouver history AND show you photos of the locomotive in question. Thanks goes to the History of Metropolitan Vancouver website for the information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Vancouver, CPR, History, John Ross,Port Moody, Dominion of Canada, Victoria, Coal Harbour, Kitsilano, Fraser River