‘ALEXIS CREEK ~— Johnnie Blatchford, one of the last of
the old British Columbia Police force to patrol Chiicotin,
was in town the other day for a party at which he read his

own poetry.

He left the police while serving
in Chilcotin, back in the 1940s
and became a rancher at Tsuniah
Lake, in the days when no vehicle
could drive there and they brought
in supplies by boat.

Johnnie is retired now, uses a
hearing aid and bucks out no
more rank horses. He sold the
ranch and lives at McCleese Lake
on the eastern bank of the Fraser.

He is as happy as any man can
be who realizes that youth will
never return. There are lots of
memories to use for poems and
they have become a hobby for
him.

A memory he should use for a
poem, but hasn’t yet, is the story
of how another B.C. policeman,
Bill Broughton, saved the life of
E.P, Lee and preserved public
tranquillity in Chilcotin, a rare
and stirring tale about practica!
policing in the cow country.

The most valuable asset a po-
iceman owns is not his gun or a
computer or a university degree.

His most valuable asset is
common sense.

We ali have common sense, or
think we do, but policemen are
expected to have an extra ration
of the stuff and with refreshing
frequency, they do.

For many years, more years
than Johnnie Blatchford served
there, Bill Broughton was the lone
policeman at Alexis Creek charged
with preserving peace, order and
not too much government in ail
Chilcotin, an area about half the
size of France.

E.P. Lee had aranchat .
Redstone, 2 car that he often
drove while drunk and, from time
to time, an immense thirst.

Constable Broughton did not

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or

Paul
St. Pierre |

PAULITICS & PERSPECTIVES

arrest him for drunken driving,
because in those far off days it

was scarcely considered an of-

fence.

Top speed on roads here was
only about 15 miles an hour, and
the harm you could do to yourself
or others in a car was limited.

Nevertheless, at times E.P. tried
the constable’s patience. Mr.
Broughton felt the whole country
would be improved if only E.P.
would put a little more water in it.

One day the telephone at Alexis
Creek detachment rang, 2
technologic triumph by no means
usual and Bill answered to find
E.P.’s wife on the line.

E.P. was about to commit
suicide and would Const.
Broughton please come im-
mediately.

He came immediately in his
Model A Ford, making the
journey in a little more than an
hour.

A creck ran through E.P. Lee’s
ranch, crossed by a home-built
log bridge. As the Model A rattled
over the poles, Bill glanced to one
side and saw E.P. lying in the
creek.

He stopped the car, walked
back and stood on the bridge
looking down.

E.P. was lying almost submerg-
ed. Only his mouth and nostrils
were above the surface.

‘*What are you doing there,
E.P.?” asked Const. Broughton.

“‘P’m committing suicide,”’ said
E.P.

“Oh, dear, dear, E.P. 1’m sorry
to be the one to tell you this, but
you’re not going about it the right
way. Here, let me show you.”

Const. Broughton then feaped
off the bank, straddled E.P.’s
body, grabbed his head by the
hair and shoved it under water.

E.P. was a powerful man and
bucked mightily but Broughton
kept his grip until EP. had inhal-
ed a lot of creek.

Eventually, E.P. fought free
and with foam and water stream-
ing out of his mouth, nose, ears
and eyes, staggered off into the
jackpines and was seen no more.

Bill Broughton got out of the
creek, found a rag in the Model A
with which to wipe his boots and
sponge the neat uniform which
King George V had given him.

He adjusted his B.C. Police hat
squarely on his hea, front one
inch above the eyebrow line as
regulations required, and drove on
to the ranch house.

The wife answered the door.

““Mrs. Lee,’’ said Bill, ‘I hap-
pened to meet your husband while
driving in, and we had a conver-
sation. He seems to have changed
his mind about committing
suicide.

**I suggest you put a pot of
coffee on for him. I expect he will
be home by supper time and in a

Friday, Nov. 13, 1992 - North Shore News - 9

A tale of practical policing in cow country

much better frame of mind.”’

Const. Broughton then drove
back to Alexis Creek and no
doubt wrote a report on this inci-
dent which was probably two lines
long and a masterpiece of
understatement.

Alas, the B.C. Police Files are
not available to us.

E.P. Lee lived to a good age
and died in his bed.

Historic BC.

It would be good to report that
Bill, like Johnnie, had a long,
happy old age in his retirement
but the dice didn’t roll right for
him.

He contracted Alzheimer’s
disease and ended his days with
both past and present erased from
his miad.

Mill House >

proposed as hiking centre

PUBLIC VIEWS on the future
of the historic B.C. Mill House
will be the focus of an open
house Sunday, Nov. 15, at
recCentre Lynn Valley.

At the request of North
Vancouver City, the Greater
Vancouver Regional District
(GVRD) is proposing to
relocate and refurbish the

building for use as a_ hiking
in Lynn Headwaters

centre
Regional Park.

The prefabricated building

was manufactured by the B.C.

Mills Timber and Trading

Company of Vancouver in the
early 1900s, and assembled on
its present site at 147 East First
Street in 1908.

City Councillor Stella Jo
Dean welcomes the proposal in
light of pending development
at the First Street site. The
B.C. Mill! House has already
been classified as a primary
heritage building by the city.

“Today more and more
people are interested in heritage
and our community has banded
together to save and restore
this unique Lower

Gngeern

Lonsdale

building,’’ says Dean, who also
serves on the GVRD Park
Committee.

The GVRD has already sav-
ed and restored 10 heritage
buildings in its parks: the
Union Steamship Company
Store, the Karr Mercer Barn,
the Houston House, several
buildings on the Rowlatt
Farmstead, the Lochie!
Schoolhouse, Burrvilla, the In-
verholme Schoolhouse, and the
Delta Agricultural Hall.

If relocated in the park, the
building could be used as a
meeting place for hikers, an
area to display logging and
mining artifacts, community
meetings, or as an interpretive
facility.

The public is invited to drop
in between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
in the Cardinal Room at the
recCentre Lynn Valley, 3590
Mountain Highway in North
Vancouver. GVRD Parks staff
will make presentations at 2:30
pom. and 3:30 p.m.

For more information, call
224-5739,

call this toll-free number : 1-800-387-1193.

What és ‘We? until the end of the year to claim child
- The Child Tax Benefit combines the tax credits.
existing Family Allowances and tax credits ® There is no need to make annual
for chi info a new tax free, monthly applications — benefits are automatically
Poyment . It also includes a new supplement calculated from the tax returns you file
low income working families. each year.
The benefit provides more money for * Benefits can be adjusted quickly when
children ~ $2.1 billion more, over five years there is a change in your Fly, such
~ and targets money fo those families as irth of a child,
~ need it. in fact, most families will receive

{For service in French, 1-800-387-1194).

in January the new monthly benefits will
begin. :

Please remember to file your 1992 income
tax return fo continue to qualify for the Child
Tax Benefit.

he. Brighter. Futures Initiative:
As part of the Federal Government’s
Brighter Futures Initiative, the new
Child Tax Benefit is an important
Step toward providing a brighter

Suture for our children, By
working together, we
att,
«4

What do I bave to do?
Watch your mailbox.

A special information package is being
sent to people who currently receive Family

lowances. Please read it carefully. tt tells
you how the benefit is calculated and how
much you will receive if your family
qualifies.

What are the improvements?
The benefit is fairer and simpler. It is

desi with a very important goal in

mind — fo ensure that the money reaches the
families who need it, as quickly as possible.
© The monthly payments are tax free.

© Because benefits are delivered each
month, parents no longer have to wait

ensure that every
Canadian child
looks forward to

If you have not received your information
a brighter future.

package by the end of November, please

Canada

Gouvernement

Government
du Canada

of Canada

H+E

a a ey