Chronology

January 1 There was a riot in Chinatown as “more than 1,000 Orientals and white men” battled savagely in the unit and 100 blocks East Pender. Police reserves fought for more than an hour to disperse the mobs before the Fire Department was called to assist with high-pressure hoses. Cause of the riot was apparently an altercation between a Chinese taxi driver and his Occidental passenger.

January 2 Gerry McGeer took office as mayor of Vancouver. “McGeer,” wrote Donna Jean McKinnon in The Greater Vancouver Book, “was voted into office on a mandate to fight crime, and to do away with slot machines, gambling, book-making, white slavery and corruption in the police force. True to his promise, McGeer confiscated 1,000 slot machines in his first week…

This was Vancouver’s Golden Jubilee, marking the city’s 50th birthday. Among the events of the year: the opening of the new city hall, and the founding of the Vancouver Historical Society.

January The Privy Council ruled invalid provincial laws regulating the marketing of tree fruits and vegetables that had the effect (intended) of stifling Chinese farmers. Ladner farmers Chung Chuck and Mah Lai had appealed to the Supreme Court.

January 5 Railway executive and former alderman William Ferriman Salsbury died in Victoria. Salsbury came to Canada from Surrey, England in 1870. He was a manager of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada until 1881, when he joined the CPR. He arrived locally on July 4, 1886, aboard the first train to Port Moody. He was, for 35 years (1886-1921) treasurer of the CPR’s Pacific Division….