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001B6BA1 A Weekly Newspaper Circulatiugin the District of West Vancouver-- Ambleside, Hollyburtt, Weston, Duudarave By Mail $1.00 per year. Cuulfeild', Whytecliff, CyPress Park, Etc N ta d 5 pe c py Vol. 1 SIX PAGES I]OLLYBURN P.O., WEST VANCOUVER, B.C., FRIDAY, AUG. 27th, 1926 No. 21 The Lion's Gate Bridge Supreme Court Writ Damages are claimed by K. A. Ray, West Vancouver, in a Sup- reme Court writ, from Pacific Great Eastern Railway Company for alleged removal of his build- ing and rails. Alternatively he seeks a mandatory injunction for their return. On Wednesday mght Mr G G McGeer, K. C., the Liberal Can- didate for the North Shore, ad- dressed a very successful meet- ing in the new Ambleside Hall at the corner of 14th and Marine Drive. The place was crewded to hear the candidate's speech. Outlining his platform Mr. Mc- Geer declared he was first and foremost in favor of the remov- al of discrimination in railway rates1n Western Canada, coupl- ed with the establishment of terminal rates for North Vancou- ver on a Vancouver basis. He said that the P.G.E. should be sold to the C.N.R. and the former railway completed from North Vancouver to the Peace River country. If elected, he would insist on the C.N.R. terminals on Burrard Inlet being completed and on the utilization of the North Shore by i the National railroad. He stated that he would fight for complete reorganization of the Vancouver Harbor Board and the appointment of a North Shore representative on the new commission. He would also do his very best to have piers and elevators constructed on the North Shore. On Tuesday night General A. D. McRae, Conservative Candi- date, gave a two-hour address in the Lonsdale Theatre, which was packed to capacity. With reference to statements reported to have been made a- gainst him by political opponents he was obtaining written state- , ments from reputable citizens of Powell River and Alert Bay, who had been present at the time. Freight rates he described as "a religion with all of us on this Coast" and not the platform of any particular party. Instead of scrapping the P.G. E., he had always been in favor of appointing a commission, which the Provincial Govern- ment had at last done in appoint- ing three able business men. It was his intention, if elect- ed, to press for the subsidy of $6,000,000 due the P. G. E. from the Dominion Government, which would be more than enough to complete the line from North Vancouver to Prince George and there link it with the C. N. R. main line. He also intended to propose plans for de- ~ veloping the -Garibaldi area. He saw no reason why the scheme to build the Lions'ate Bridge should not receive the ap- proval of Vancouver and the North Shore Municipalities. Speaking from a large experi- ence in matters relating to im- migration and colonization, he said our failure to obtain immi- grants was to antiquated meth- ods. The proper way to settle the Peace River District was via the Panama Canal and Vancou- ver. The settler at present was not properly placed on the land and looked after when he had arrived here, as he ought to be. It was also quite possible to ob- tain numbers of specially select- ed women from the British Isles. In conclusion he stated that prosperity was on our doorsteps but we could only grasp it by electing a strong government, not "a group government" such as we had had recently. nowadays is to support a ship' antennae. With reference to the ques- tion of width he said it was quite impossible from a financial stand point to provide a bridge which would be adequate for the peak traflic which occurs for an hour or two on perhaps twenty days in the year, but that before the traffic capacity of a two-way bridge is taxed, the neck of the bottle will be not at the bridge, but on the roads and streets lead- ing to it. In view of such expert opinion the dimensions asked for by the Bridge Committee appear to be at least unjustifiable. There are the objectors who write in the press of the "mys- tery" of Stanley Park being dis- turbed by a "roaring motor road" through it to the bridge, forgetting apparently that its "mystery" has been disturbed for a number of years now by "a roaring motor road" which goes all round it. Others speak of a possible en- emy shooting it down and so blocking the harbor. These ob- jectors apparently do not know that in war for the past 20 years at least all important harbor ent- rances have been blocked by mines in any case. In war the narrow Straits at Flattery would most certainly be so blocked, and no enemy ships could possibly pass there. If they did by any chance, they would shell Vancou- ver to pieces and every ship in the harbor from the gulf some- where below Steveston, in which case the bridge would be of no importance one way or the other. None of the objections so far advanced will hold water nor have they any solid foundation in fact, and in view of this every citizen of West Vancouver should see to it that no time is wasted by the authorities in dis- cussing them. All of the firms wishing to construct the bridge have national reputations and can be relied upon to do the work properly. That they do so, that they do not provide for exhorbi- tant tolls, and that too long a time is not given them before the bridge is to be turned over to the municipalities is the work that lies before the Bridge Com- mittee and the councils of Van- couver, and the North Shore. The people of West Vancouver want the bridge built and want l it as quickly as possible. We are not particularly interested in which firm builds it, but we do want to see the construction started. The sixty day period given to the contracting firms other than Dwight Robinson & Company-- their proposals have already been submitted--to put in their plans and estimates expires early next month. In that period opposi- tion to it has developed for a variety of reasons. THE NEWS does not believe these objectors will be successful in pr'eventing its ultimate construction, but they may cause delays,--and delays are dangerous. West Vancouver wants the bridge and wants it as soon as possible. The construction work should be started this fall or at the latest this winter, b'ut, in order to make sure this is done, every- body in the Municipality should unite in an effort to prevent more time being wasted on the necessary preliminaries than is absolutely necessary. It is probable that the pro- posals and plans of the contract- ing firms yet to be heard from will be in their essentials very little different from those of Dwight-Robinson & Company, since the question of cost in re- lation to future revenue is the - determining factor. The limit dE cost given by this firm is $3,500,000, for which they are prepared to spend and for which they undertake to build a bridge with a clear span of 1200 feet, a vertical clearance of 170 feet above high water, and with a 24 feet roadway, also suitable ap- proaches thereto. The Bridge Committee on the other hand have asked for a bridge having a span of 1400 feet a clearance of 200 feet above high water and a 40 foot road- way. Major H. B. Muckleston, the engineer of the Dwight Rob- inson Company, and a man very well known in Canadian engin- eering circles, recently wrote a letter to the press in which he stated that such a bridge would cost $7,250,000, a sum which would make it a source of loss to any private firm or public body who built it. He stated that the present channel at low water has a width of about 1100 feet between the five fathom lines and that Liver- pool even has only a dredged channel of rather less than 1250 feet in usable width. As regards vertical clearance 110 feet is all that is considered necessary for the wireless an- tennae of the most powerful wireless set installed or contem- lated and the only use of masts Deputy Registrar Ambleside The address of Miss M. B. Al- mas, the Deputy Registrar for Capilano, Ambleside and Holly- burn, is 1248 Marine Drive, not Marine Drive and 11th, as prev- iously announced. For Waterworks Investment The Council at their Wednes- day night's meeting decided to re-purchase for investment $2000 of its 1940 bonds at $ 102.63, this being the present market value as against $80 or less given for same bonds ten years ago. Electrical Inspector The Council have decided to appoint a local man as electrical inspector. An advertisement in connection with this appears in this issue. No Horses in Parks The Council have passed a resolution that no horses be al- lowed to go through any of the Parks in the Municipality, this applying particularly to Alta- mont Park, about which a num- b~a'f c~luints with reference to this matter have been receiv- ed. CORRESPONDENCE Premier John Oliver was the only speaker at a meeting at Powell River Ivednesday night. While the main part of his speech was on particular issues of the federal campaign, he also dealt with what he termed the "peculiar peccadillos" of Gener- al McRae. "I have here a letter given me when I reached Powel River to- night and I say to you that A. D. McRae, among his other pecadil- los, is defrauding the revenue of Canada by sending his campaign literature free through the mail.'That isn't true. 'e fair," a heckler called out. The Premier repeated that it was a letter from General Mc- Rae addressed to "Mr. Voter," and that he was informed that it bore no stamp and was not paid in advance. "I have no wish to make a spech of abuse against General McRae tonight," he said. "But he is before you as a candidate for election and I feel it to be my duty to state the truth so that you may be in a position to judge. He said two prominent Van- couver newspapers had deprecat- ed any mud slinging in this cam- paign. No one disliked mud slinging more than he did, but it was his duty to state the facts. In connection with "the Search- light," he quoted from a letter written by General glcRae to At- torney General Manson in which the General had said that any man presenting himself for pub- lic support should be able to show himself worthy of public confidence. That was the test he meant to apply to this case. Other charges against Gener- al McRae vvere made by the Premier, in connection with the organization of the North Paci- fic Fisheries Company and the sale of the Port Mann townsite. August 21st, 1926. To the Editor of "THE WEST VAN. NEWS" Dear Sir: In your report of the meeting of the West Vancouver Council you say that the Town Planning Act carried, with Councillor Ray dissenting. This is in itself correct, only I would like to point out why I did so. I do not object to the Town Planning Act in general, but, as so many of the clauses are un- workable, and not to the advant- age of West Vancouver as a whole, I am bound to dissent to the by-law until the objection- able features contained in it are removed. In the first place we should have had the advice of a twon- planning commission, which could have been appointed to consider all the necessary details and requirements of each and every comunity within the muni- cipality. This would in itself have de- manded enough time, thought and attention to occupy a body of men, for considerable time, without having to consider the other routine details with which the Council have to deal. If this had been done we would have had definite basis to work from in framing this legislation, instead of which we have had to alter the original draft of the by-law so much, that it now ap- pears to be an attempt rather to establish special regulations for certain districts. I will be pleased to explain my attitude in connection with certain clauses at the first op- portunity, preferably at a pub- lic meeting called for the pur- pose. Yours truly, K. A. RAY Capilano Bridge Traffic Restric- tion The Council on Wednesday night issued instructions that no vehicles which with its load ex- ceed 16,000 lbs, is to be permit- ted to cross over the Capilano Bridge until the sign boards a- bout to be erected there are re- moved. LIONS'ATE BRIDGE It is reported that the Gov- ernment engineers from Ottawa are on their way here to investi- gate the site of the proposed Lions'ate Bridge. Record at Second Narrows Bridg On Sunday 20,876 passengers and 5,695 automobiles crossed the Second Narrows Bridge. This is a record for any one day since the bridge was opened. A great number went through West Vancouver, the police au- thorities reporting the traffic on the Marine Drive between the Capilano Road and Whytecliil's the heaviest this season. WHITECLIFF ROADS The roads at Whytecliff will be brushed out within 30 dayq. Mr. Herrin Acting Clerk Mr. W. Herrin has been ap- pointed acting clerk during the absence of Mr. J. Ollason at the U.B.C Convention at Vernon. The Paint Service Company, 627 kIastings Street 1Vest, Van- couver, were fined $5 under the Motor Act for not reporting an accident. Conservative Meeting Liberal Meeting in North Vancouver in Ambleside