The WEST VAN. NEWS A Weekly Newspaper Circulating in the District o f West Vancouver--Ambleside, Holly burn, Weston, Dundarave $1.00 per year. Caulfeild, V liytecliff', CypreSS Park, Ptc. Newsstands 5c per Copy Vol. II EIGHT PAGES HOLLYBURN P.O., WEST VANCOUVER. B.C., FRIDAY, AUGUST 5th, 1927 No. 18 MEETING TO DISCUSS SPORTS GROUND A number of those interested in the welfare of sport in the municipality attended the meet ing called by P. C. Chapman on Friday at the Canadian Legion rooms to discuss the necessity of making arrangements for a combined sports ground in West Vancouver. Councillors Watt and Leyland attended as representa tives of the council and Engineer Duncan was also present. P. C. Chapman was unanimously chos en as chairman of the committee and G. J. Patterson secretary. The following are the names of the committee appointed by the meeting: Football, Robert Fiddes; baseball, M. Romans; cricket, P. C. Chapman; schools, G. J. Patterson; track athletics, F. F. Lovegrove. The subject of a combined sports ground was very thor oughly gone into, both from an athletic and a financial stand point, While all were agree:! that it would be in the best in terests of the municipality and sport in general to develop the Ambleside Park area along the lines contained in the plan of W. R. Hamilton recently laid before the council, all were equally a- greed that at present financial reasons presented an insuperable obstacle to the plan. As was pointed out by Engineer Duncan, the development of marine a- musement parks and beaches should only be undertaken after consultation with an engineer who had specialized on the sub ject, and, when this part of the plan as regards Ambleside Park was up for consideration, it was his considered opinion that the services of the very best expert on the subject on the North Am erican continent should be em ployed. The representatives of the various major sports stated that a level piece of ground 500 feet square would suffice for present purposes, this being suf ficient for baseball, cricket and football ground and a track a- round for athletics. It developed that the easterly end of the northerly portion of the Ambleside Park site was the only ground in the various park areas which fulfilled these condi tions, and the necessary clear ing, grading, and draining could be done according to Engineer Duncan by his department for between $3,700 and $4,000. A resolution was finally passed that the committee request the council to have an engineer's survey and plan, in conjunction with the committee, of the east erly end of the northerly portion of the Ambleside Park area for the purposes of major sports so as to obtain the approximate cost. With virtually the same num ber of permits issued each year at this time, West Vancouver's building permits are valued at $100,000 more up to the end of July than they were to the end of July, 1926. During that per iod this year 165 permits have gone out, compared with 164 in the same time last year. MORE OF MARINE DRIVE CLASSIFIED Notification was received by the North Vancouver District Council from the minister of public works of the provincial government that Marine Drive, in the western part of the dis trict, from the city boundary to West Vancouver boundary, through Capilano, has been giv en secondary classification. This action means the province will bear 40 per cent of the cost of the upkeep of the road. LESLIE MATHERS DIED FRIDAY--SCHOOLMATES ARE PALLBEARERS Funeral services for Leslie Graham Mathers, aged 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Mathers, Fifteenth and King Streets, who passed away Friday at S. Paul's Hospital, were held at 2 p. m. at Center & Hanna's chapel. The pallbearers were A. Knowles, Campbell McCague, Wick Eccles, Clarence McAllist er, Charles McLeod and Frank Heatherington, former school mates of the deceased at King George High School. Rev. R. J. McIntyre officiated and inter ment was in Mountain View Cemetery. The deceased was a well-known native son. Besides his parents, he is survived by a brother, Homer, and three sisters, Mrs. J. D. Donovan, Mrs. E. Kinsser and Mrs. J. J. E. McCague. BIG TELESCOPE FOR CAPILANO PARK One of the largest telescopes in the British Empire may be erected in Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, if plans disclosed at the city council meeting Wed nesday night are carried out. Mr. T. S. H. Shearman of the Vancouver Meteorological office proposes to erect the telescope, which will probably be the sec ond largest of its kind in the Empire, second to that at the Royal Observatory at Green wich. Plans to purchase land for its site adjoining the park are be ing considered by the North Vancouver District Council. P.G.E. to be put In First-class Shape Substantial progress of the work of putting the Pacific Great Eastern railway into first class physical condition was reported at a meeting of the directors of the line, contracts were awarded by the directors recently to cov er a large part of the replace ment programme which is being conducted this summer. NORTH VANCOUVER FERRY ISSUE NEW TICKETS The North Vancouver ferry officials placed on sale last Mon day a new ferry transportation ticket. This new issue is sup plied in strips of ten tickets at a charge of 60 cents, and is meant as a convenience to those resi dents of the North Shore who do not find it necessary to travel to Vancouver every day. FERRY TRAFFIC STEADILY GROWING Travel to and fro on the mu nicipal ferries is steadily on the increase. Last month the fer ries carried 85,996 passengers, an increase of 8,368 over the corresponding month last year, when the total stood at 77,628. An examination of the figures for the number of passengers carried for the first seven months of the year during the last three years furnishes inter esting reading. In 1925 the fig ures were 373,427, the following year 408,563 people used the fer ries, while for the seven months up to and including July the tot al was 448,803. This not only speaks well for the popularity of our ferry system, but testifies to the steady growth of popula tion in our municipality during the period in question. SMALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS CLOSED--TRANSPORTA TION PROVIDED PUPILS In the interests of economy the School Board has decided to close the small schools at Cy press Park and Whytecliffe, it was announced Monday night. The pupils from these districts will be distributed between the Pauline Johnson and Hollyburn schools. The Municipal council has made application to the Pacific Great Eastern Railway for a train schedule to accommodate these children throughout the winter. Transportation for the scholars from these districts will be paid by the board. Salmon Run Started The salmon run has started in the waters around West Van couver. A 20-lb. spring salmon was caught off Hollyburn pier on Saturday evening.. .On Monday, Colonel Pringle got a 9-lb. cohoe off the mouth of the Capilano river, and another angler cap tured a 7-lb. cohoe the same day in the same locality. ...While the run is about a month late, it is expected that from now on the salmon fishing will be good. .... PROGRESS MADE ON CON STRUCTION OF THE NEW INGLEWOOD SCHOOL The lathing of the new Ingle wood school is now completed and the plasterers will commence work in a day or two. Work is being rushed and it is expect ed that the contractors will have the school ready for opening at the appointed time. Date of Tender Extended The date for receiving tenders for the Nelson Creek Water works System has been extended by the council to 16th instant, when a special meeting will be culled for that purpose. Reeve Vinson and Councillor Watt of West Vancouver have gone to Portland, to attend the Pacific Coast Fire Chief's asso ciation convention. SPRINKLING HOURS RESTRICTED Official notice is given in the advertising columns of this issue that until further notice sprinkling hours for the evening are as follows: East of 22nd street.........................7 to 8 o'clock only West of 22nd street.............. ..........8 to 9 o'clock only Failure to comply will render party responsible liable to prosecution. This notice under the signature of James 01- lason, municipal clerk, again draws the attention of our residents to the local water supply. Criticism of officials is made year after year that such a condition requiring restric tion of water in a place like West Vancouver should have to be enforced. There is plenty of water here, but we lack stor age dams and the means necessary to bring the water to our domiciles. Whether that criticism is just or unjust is not the purpose of this article. What we are interested in par ticularly at present is the fact that right now there is a pros pect of many of our homes being without water for house hold purposes unless our supply is conserved. To prevent such a catastrophe the above order has been issued. We must act accordingly, indeed, we must go beyond this and co-operate with the authorities for the comfort and welfare of our fel low beings. Beautiful gardens and flowers are very desirable, and one cannot too strongly urge upon the people the develop ment of these beautifications, but, above all, it is necessary that we have sufficient water for drinking and household purposes. This, then, must be our first consideration and everybody should endeavor to use the minimum supply of water so that others may not go short. The threat of prose cution should not be the weapon that makes us do this. We should be good enough citizens to do it of our own volition and in the simple knowledge that it is for the general good. Some people take pride in evading "sprinkling hours." It is .neither smart nor clever to do so, for they can be assured that our water department has nothing to gain by putting restrictions on the use of water unless such restrictions are necessary. If they are necessary for one person they are equally necessary for the other. SAFETY FIRST IN BATHING As a result of the hot weather which has recently pre vailed, bathing has become one of the most popular pastimes in West Vancouver. Every day and especially every evening the piers at Hollyburn and Dundarave are crowded with bath ers, and all along our beaches people can be seen enjoying a dip in the "briny." While many of these are grown-ups and can be pretty well relied upon to know their swimming ca pacities and act accordingly, the majority are school children of anything from 6 years of age up. Their one idea is to get in the sea and stay in the sea until time for meals. They know nothing about depths or undertows or currents, and with the optimism of the young care less. If an old raft or a dugout or large block of wood is available, they will proceed to paddle off the shore armed with a piece of siding to pro pel their frail craft along. Already a number of them have got into serious difficulty but fortunately have been rescued in time, in more than one instance by companions little older than themselves, whose heroism is a matter for congratulation in these days when so much is heard about the decadence of the younger generation. The old proverb, however, that "the pitcher which goes often enough to the well eventually gets broken" is still true, and before long we are going to have a bathing fatality. With a fifteen mile coast line the employment of lifeguards is an impossibility. There is not much danger of drowning accidents occurring at either Hollyburn or Dundarave Piers, because at each place there is a boat station, and the owners are always on the spot and have at all times at least one boat in the water with which to hasten to any child who gets into difficulties. But there are a number of beaches being used by the children all along our shores, and it is in these places where most of the danger lies. The safety of any child who sinks in the waters off these places depends most probably on the cool headedness and courage of children of his own age or a little older, and that is too long a chance to be regarded with any degree of equanimity. It would appear to us that parents should exercise more careful supervision over the activities of their children while bathing. In those cases where a child cannot swim he should not be allowed to enter the water unless under their personal supervision or that of a competent grown-up. As regards very young children wheth er they can swim or not paddling around off shore in dug- outs or any old piece of floating timber which will bear them and which is liable to turn turtle any moment,, we don't believe it should be allowed for one moment anywhere either with or without supervision. A very few minutes--two and a half, to be precise--are all that are required to drown any one, and in many cases the child is drowned before help can reach him. For several years now "safety first" has been dinned into our ears as regards motor cars and railway trains and ferry boats, etc. It would appear that we should begin and begin at once to apply this rule as regards our children's bathing, otherwise some bright young life will be sacrificed and some parents with aching hearts will be viewing an empty chair and blaming themselves for their carelessness.