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The WEST VAN. NEWS A Weekly Newspaper Circulating in the District o f West Vancouver-- Ambleside, Holly burn, Weston, Dundarave t - Vol. II $1.00 per year. Caulfeild, Whytecliff, Cypress Park, Etc. Newsstands 5c per Copy EIGHT PAGES HOLLYBURN P.O.. WEST VANCOUVER. B.C., FRIDAY, APRIL 8th, 1927 No. 1 T1S TO LAUGH! A Only a few days ago it pleased our big contemporary, the Province, to carry still another editorial against the Lions' Gate bridge under the heading "The Public Must Decide." Previous editorials, written at circumspect intervals but none the less regular, have been just as full of objections as they were empty of sound or logical reasoning. In some of them however, it was mentioned among other things that the public would have to pay for the bridge, which was in plain language an untruth. This particular editorial goes one worse in this respect in that this untruth is the real basis of the editorial. The exact wording is "the people will HAVE to pay for any bridge which spans the entrance to Vancouver Harbor," for which reason it is submitted that a plebiscite must be taken. Neither the public nor the tourists will HAVE to pay at any time. They can boycott the bridge, refuse to use it, and still get to the North Shore by the Second Narrows bridge or by the North Vancouver or West Vancouver ferries, all of which will still be in operation, unless an earthquake suddenly raises the bed of Burrard Inlet to the present high water level. Even then they would not HAVE to use it, and in point of fact, were such a catastrophe to occur, most of us would be heading in quite another direction. Since, however, the population of Greater Vancouver is at present sane--the Province does not from its arguments ap­ pear to consider them so, but no matter--there will be doubt­ less quite a number of them who will PREFER to use the Lions' Gate bridge, which is an entirely different thing. If a great artist wished to paint a series of pictures of the magnificent scenery on the North Shore at his own expense we would hardly be in a position to say whether or not he should do so merely because he intended to charge us for the privilege of seeing them afterwards and because we knew fur­ ther he was relying on our doing so to reimburse him for his euurts. Yet that is exactly what the Province and those objectors it represents are doing when they call for a plebiscite. More­ over, a plebiscite does not happen to be rquired by law, and these days we have too many income tax forms to fill in to be bothered with unnecessary plebiscites. The Province's editorial writer wails over Stanley Park, the same old wails we have been hearing for so long, and re­ fuses to be comforted--without a plebiscite. Yet a few tears, occasionally and judiciously used, are most effective--every girl of twelve knows that-- while continual weeping is a weari­ ness to the flesh, and only produces nausea among those who have to listen to it. To come to the point, the objectors are demanding a pleb­ iscite, not because they have much hope of winning, but with the idea that the resultant delay will cause the two bridge firms to withdraw in disgust. A further proof of this is the offer just come to light on the part of some firm, whose name is not given, to build a $10,000,000 bridge, if they are allowed a few months to mull over it. All this when they have already had two years to think about it, and we know that a $10,000,- 000 bridge would be a $6,500,000 failure, $3,500,000 being the financial limit possible for such a structure. This suggestion has, we understand, been properly squashed by the North Shore inter-municipal bridge committee, and it is over. We have, however, a fight on our hands, and the quicker we get into it the better. We know who the real objectors to the bridge are and all the whys and wherefores of their op­ position. If we do not treat them for the enemies they are, not only to us but to all Greater Vancpuver, we deserve to lose. It is up to us now. What is Community Spirit? A community spirit may best be defined as esprit de corps, without which no district can attain the greatest measure of prosperity. There is no "self" in this spirit. The individual desires and actions of members belonging to any organisation are subordinated to the welfare of that organisation, and it consequently becomes one and acts as one in its various activ­ ities. It is, in fact, truly an organisation and not an aggrega­ tion, and there is all the difference in the world between the two. All the wheels on which its activities revolve are going in the same direction, not pulling some in one way and some in another, and so stalling the machine and bringing it to a standstill. There is a certain town in Canada which is one of the great­ est manufacturing centres in the country. Its products go all over the world. Yet little more than seventy years ago it was a village. Then a man establishd a small plant there which grew into a huge industry. But he did not stop only at for­ warding his own interests in his own plant, as most successful men do. He tried to induce other plants to come into that town, and he did it by putting more money into them than people elsewhere were willing to do. We want that spirit in West Vancouver today. Our devel­ opment will be along residential and not manufacturing lines, but the same driving force is necessary, if we are to make the progress we ought and can attain to. Nature has started us off in the race with greater advantages than any other district in Canada. If we fail, it will be because we are chiefly occu- RESULT OF COMPETITION "Why I Prefer West Vancouver as a Place of Residence." Our competition brought many excellent articles, the majority of which were so excellent that the publishers of THE WEST VAN. NEWS found it necessary to invoke outside help in the judging. The pick of the manuscripts were therefore submitted to three representative local men and points awarded to each judge's award, the result being that "White Rose" (Mrs. Mary C. McDaniel, 1483 Duchess St.) is awarded 1st prize of $5.00; "Kismet" (L. McLeod Gould, 575 Hornby Street, Vancouver) takes 2,nd prize of $3.00; and "I. M." (Miss I. Macdonald, Dun­ darave) 3rd prize of $2.00. The winning articles will be published in next week's issue. CAPILANO BRIDGE TO BE REPAIRED The condition of the roadway over the Capilano bridge has left a good deal to be desired for some time. The council have de­ cided to spend immediately $2,000 in having the West End repaired. It is expected that these repairs will be completed within a week, and for the few days required to do the work traffic will be diverted to the Keith Road. MUSICAL SOCIETY TO HOLD PRACTICES IN DUNDARAVE The West Vancouver Musical Society will hold the regular Monday practice at Dundarave Hall instead of Hollyburn School starting next Monday. PUBLIC MEETING NEXT MONDAY FOR BASE­ BALL ORGANISATION The baseball season is almost upon us, and much activity is be­ ing shown in these circles. It is felt by many that West Van­ couver should have its represen­ tative baseball teams, and steps are being taken towards this end. This week a committee comprised of Messrs. Romans, Lane, Clement and Dr. Knipfel met the officers of the North Shore Senior B Baseball League and discussed with them the en­ try of a West Vancouver team into this league. The Senior B League will be comprised of four teams. (Boys of any age). It is a properly organised associa­ tion handled by a regular busi­ ness organization, and is the sec­ ond in rating of any baseball league on the North Shore. A public meeting is being held next Monday in the New Ambleside Hall at 8 p. m., when the organ­ ization will be discussed and plans made for the playing sea­ son, which opens at the end of this month. Everyone interest­ ed, whether as playing members or supporters are urged to be present at this meeting. Council Plans Bathing Beach In connection with the pro­ posed Ambleside Park the Coun­ cil have instructed the clerk to write to the Gintzburger estate that they were unanimously in favor of putting a by-law to the ratepayers authorising the pur­ chase of the seven acres having a total frontage of 1568 feet, which is the property of the estate. They also asked for a ninety day option thereon to en­ able them to give the matter the necessary attention. A proposal to purchase the whole area of Ambleside beach, east of the ferry wharf, is being considered by the municipal council. It is hoped to develop this area into a bathing beach with Ambleside Park, immedi­ ately behind, improved, as an athletic ground. It is proposed that the lagoon at the beach be dredged and made a suitable anchorage for yachts and other boats. To pro­ vide bathing facilities, sand will be brought to the beach and breakwaters may be constructed. Action has already been tak­ en by the council in granting the request of an A. O. T. S. delega­ tion for improvements to the park. Work will commence at once on the construction of a baseball diamond, in order that West Vancouver may enter a team in the North Shore League. NEWS PUBLISHED THURSDAY NEXT WEEK Next Friday being Good Fridav, the next issue of THE NEWS will be publish­ ed on Thursday instead of Friday. Will contributors or secretaries of organisa­ tions therefore send in all contributions by Tuesday evening at the latest, as the publishers cannot guarantee anything appearing in the issue that is sent in later. pied with our own concerns and not with those of West Van­ couver. The first object before us at present and the most import­ ant is the bridge across the First Narrows. That bridge we must have. It is necessary to our progress. But we shall not get it by sitting down and doing nothing because we are satisfied it will come, or still worse, by expressing doubts as to whether the project will ever be undertaken. We must, everyone of us, get behind our council and other local bodies in their efforts to have the matter settled and the actual construc­ tion work started as soon as possible. Secondly, we must support to our utmost everything in the municipality, every effort that is made to make it more at­ tractive or a better place to live in, our churches, our different organisations, our merchants. New Ferry Schedule in Effect Next Week The new ferry schedule, which becomes operative next Friday, will be found on page 8 of this issue. This schedule, which is virtually a half hour service throughout the day, is the best and most frequent ever in op­ eration in the municipality. The inception of this service will be a matter of general satis­ faction, and THE NEWS wishes to congratulate the council and the transportation committee on the enterprise they have shown. It is a step in the right direction. Frequent service and low pric­ es will mean much in the devel­ opment of the district. Ratepayers Hold Annual Meeting P. C. Chapman was re-elected chairman of the West Vancou­ ver Ratepayers' Association at their meeting in the New Am­ bleside Hall on Tuesday night. Other officers elected were: Wal­ ter Hamilton, vice-president; W. Blair, recording secretary; C. T. Kendrick, corresponding secre­ tary, and B. R. Harrison, treas­ urer. An executive committee representing two members from each ward was also appointed. Mrs. H. T. Curtiss and J. J. Rut­ ledge will act as a publicity com­ mittee. Those elected to the executive committee were Miss Saunders and Messrs. Ogilvie Clifford, George Ford, A.H. Prentice, Had- win, MacDonald, W. W. Lefeaux. The chairman spoke very high- highly of the services rendered by Frank Lefeaux as secretary. Councillor K. A. Ray spoke of the work of the Lions' Gate bridge inter-municipal commit­ tee. He stated most of the dif­ ficulties had been overcome, and expressed the opinion that def­ inite action will be reported in the near future. Questioned, he stated, a pleb­ iscite was not necessary, but it could be held, if insisted upon. He had been in touch with the labor unions in the city, and they were all strongly in favor of the construction of the bridge, be­ cause their members would bene­ fit from being employed on the work. The material used would be mainly Canadian. So far as the offer to build a $10,000,000 bridge was concerned, he was neither interested nor in any way impressed with it. because a bridge costing such a sum could not pay, when the present and future population of Greater Vancouver for a number of years was taken into consideration. James Duncan, municipal eng­ ineer, spoke of the West Van­ couver water supply system and sources from which further sup­ ply might be gained for the West End and higher levels. He spoke of the valuable sources available from Cypress and Nelson creeks and suggested an arrangement should be made with the Greater Vancouver Water Board to sup­ ply water for the lower levels. The present system from Broth­ ers Creek could then be utilized for the future needs of the West End and higher levels, he said.