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June 1999 West Vancouver Historical Society Page 3 AND THIS IS THE WAY IT WAS By: Barbara Johnson, Contributions Editor Barbara and Hal Johnson have been reading excerpts from the Gertrude Lawson diaries and have enjoyed the experience so much that Barbara decided to share some of Gertrude's stories with us. She thinks that many of you, like herself will remember the streetcars and the old Keith Road Bridge. Barbara writes - At first the Lawsons reached Hollybum by rowboat or else via the North Vancouver Ferry, transferring to the streetcar which took them to the Capilano terminus. From the terminus they walked across the old bridge across the Capilano River and followed the old Keith Road trail to Hollybum. From the diaries - "Papa bought a gasoline boat, the "Adma" in Victoria. He and Uncle Sandy brought it over, encountering such rough weather that they had to stop over night at one of the small isles near Victoria. Next day they reached Point Atkinson and the engine broke down. They had to row all the way home. They got home about four in the morning and I must confess they were a sorry looking pair. Once we took fiiends over from Victoria, a very nice trip, but going back the old thing stopped. Uncle Sandy turned the wheel, Mr Liddle turned it, they put on sail, they rowed. We were so dazed we didn't know where we were. At last we made out that we were at Robertson & Hacket's. Another time the "Adma" stopped right in the middle of the Narrows and was saved from drifting into the pilings by the Princess May whose captain assured us that he had fixed her up A-1 before this. Uncle Sandy decided to try to fix her. At high tide he brought her into the creek. On land the engine went beautifully but when he got her in the water she wouldn’t move. He discovered it had a loose screw in her propeller. Tying his feet together, securing the ropes to the boat he hung over the side trying to fix it, without success and discovered he had drifted to Point Atkinson. He had to row the 8' x 28' boat back! "On land the engine went beautifully but when he got her in the water she wouldn't move." They then decided that they would have a steam engine. They got a very good one too, but how dirty! The seats were pulled up, the floor filthy, the windows smashed and a great boiler taking up the whole end of the boat. Then too we had to carry wood for the engine and water too. One day Mama, Aunt Annie, the two little boys. Uncle Sandy and I started over to Hollybum with supplies for Topham, a man who was looking after the place at the time. All went merry as a wedding bell until we tried to land. Mama tried to keep her from going into one of the piles (McNairs Logging at 15th) and didn't notice the "Cmel rocks" - lurch, bang, smash! Uncle Sandy, Aunt Annie and I grabbed the boiler to keep it from tipping the boat over, the "All went merry as a wedding bell until we tried to land." two boys went flying into the comer and the pail of eggs was speedily put into a condition fit for omelettes. A broken propellor, it would be impossible to go home that day. Uncle Sandy walked over to North Vancouver for the ferry to Vancouver to tell the folks at home not to worry. He got home at midnight and found them all peacefully sleeping! The rest of us tried to sleep in what is now the boys room here - hay for beds and fleas for company is no sweet combination. The next day the boat was still afloat. There was a terrific tide - rip raging and the waves were like Niagara Falls, and the whole Narrows full of them! Uncle Sandy came over and took us back in a rowboat through the Narrows. Annie and the boys went in by Coal Harbour, Mama and I landed at the Park and walked home. Then Uncle Sandy went back to fix the boat." RcVibGAa addl a <^UuU note: Getting back and forth to Vancouver continued on in much the same way, row boat, steam boat, or walking to Ci^ilano to reach the North Vancouver ferry, but John Lawson, a lover of horses, acquired a few and one by the name of "Pussy" seems to have led quite an active life meeting the travellers at the Keith Road Bridge. Mrs Lawson quite often in command of the "democrat". The travellers must have made pre-arrangements for their expected time of arrival. On November 6, 1909 the first ferry operated by the West Vancouver Transportation Co. - the "West Vancouver" - began its regular schedule and ran until 1912 when the Municipality of West Vancouver took over the operation of the company.