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Page 3 West Vancouver Historical Society A West Vancouver Boyhood, Part 2 In the 1920’s the cutting of new roads through the forest was source of fascination for young boys. To see the felling of sizable second growth trees with double-bitted axes and large eight foot crosscut handsaws with such precision was exciting and full of speculation on our part. Then to see Wiley Lutes with his team of horses pulling, sweating and snorting to his command to remove the stumps was action to be witnessed. Exciting, speculative but a different challenge to that of Ben Hur, a current movie of the times. Wiley was a lean, raw-boned man of swarthy, stubbled beard who wore his beaten fedora in a pyramid and chewed tobacco. He was kind to his horses and talked to them constantly. They, in turn, responded to his orders with understanding and power. When the tree stumps were determined immovable they were split and loosened by blasting. This was the powder man’s job which was done with great care to ensure that the blast did go off with the intended effect and avoidance of injuries. With shovel and steel bar a hole was excavated under the roots of the tree to its center. Then sticks of blasting powder were packed in to the depths of the hole, and finally several sticks of powder to which the blasting cap and fuse cord were attached and carefully inserted. The hole was then filled in with earth, the fuse cord stretched out and tree branches and debris piled on top to contain the intended blast. The horses were removed from the area and everyone took cover at a safe distance away behind a tree or log. Then the powder man lit the fuse cord. As it sizzled and burned toward the powder- filled hole the powder man would shout “Fiyer!-Fiyer!-Fiyer!” and we would wait expectantly, peeking out. The climax was a great big Whomph with branches, dirt and rocks flying in all directions and the smell of pungent, acrid smoke would fill the air. The men would return and examine the result. If effective as desired, Wiley and his team would return and remove the split stump section by section into piles for burning. When the men and the horses had left for the day and left the fires burning we would get potatoes from home and roast them in a can in the hot embers of the fire. When deemed ready, burnt or raw, they were eaten with enthusiasm while we imagined being a teamster with horses or a powder man. Constable Jack Walls was a big local policeman who patrolled by bicycle. His duties were many, and as children we were in awe of him. He was reported to parade along Travers Avenue (where he lived) on New Years Eve in his kilts playing his bagpipes in celebration. On one occasion he was called upon to remove a very large, smelly and aggressive horned bill-goat that had been abandoned by summer campers to Dundarave. The unfortunate and neglected goat played havoc with the vegetable and flower gardens of the neighborhood and was not to be intimidated. Later, as West Vancouver became more established, the police presence increased under the direction of Chief Kruger and later Chief Hailstone, as I recall. In the 1920’s and ‘30’s the churches of West Vancouver (of various denominations) were well attended including Sunday schools, church services and young peoples gatherings. Each had its own spiritual and social life. In addition there were church picnics with games and races for all. Some were held in members’ gardens, others on the greens overlooking Horseshoe Bay to which we traveled by P.G.E. train. Others went to Belcarra Park and Second Beach in Stanley Park, which we reached by special West Van ferry to docking facilities at each location. These were happy community gatherings. Occasionally on winter nights professor Porter with his home-made trumpet hearing aid would give interesting talks with lantern slides (all home made) of his travels and adventures in B.C. How he transported his massive equipment to photograph lakes, mountain and September 2005 -by James Harrison forest scenery is a mystery. I understand its historic and irreplaceable collection of glass slides were unfortunately destroyed some years later. Midway between West Bay and Sandy Cove, high on a bluff (the Curtis property) was a large Douglas fir tree where for years a pair of bald eagles had an ever-enlarging eyry and raised many young. To feed the eaglets a flyway developed from the sea along which they transported the catch be it fish or seabirds. Sometimes they would drop their prize en route (usually assorted ducks) and these we would see when walking the PGE tracks. One day my friend Pete Sutton and I, while walking along the tracks to a fishing stream, found a fresh and sizable talon- marked salmon beside the tracks. We hid it in the bushes and on our return took it home and divided it for supper. A gift from heaven thanks to the eagles. This was the best catch of the day!! Another word should be added about Peter Sutton. He went to England in 1937 and enlisted for five years in the Royal Air Force, training as a radio technician and operator. Following the outbreak of war in 1939 he was a radio operator on bombing runs over continental Europe. On one such operation his plane was damaged by enemy fire. The pilot and crew, fortunately, brought the aircraft back to England, where they crash-landed. Peter was unconscious for days and hospitalized for weeks. Following an extended recovery period he was dropped into Belgium in civilian dress with false I.D. where clandestine transport took him to German occupied Paris. There, under a famous perfume shop in Place Vendome, he communicated with London by code and cipher, coming out only under darkness of night in civilian clothes until Paris was liberated by the Americans. There he remained and worked until the end of the war. He died in England January 2002, survived by his wife and family.