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By Al Sholund
Port Moody resident and Freedom of the City honouree |
 Perry Roe residence on the corner of St. Johns and Elgin.In 1907 Robert Abernethy and Perry Roe sold their Canadian Pacific Lumber mill and bought the Emerson mill located on the site of the present Flavelle Cedar.
Since there was no coordinated water system in Port Moody until after Incorporation in 1913, Abernethy and Roe devised a system to provide water to their plant in the event of a fire.
They built a dam on the small creek south of Henry Street and installed a pipeline along Elgin Street down to their mill on the waterfront where they had constructed a water tank tower to give additional pressure in an emergency.
In the meantime, Thomas Crapper (1837 - 1920) of Thorne, England had just invented that wonderful device - the flush toilet– named the "Crapper".
So when Perry Roe (who became Port Moody's first Mayor) built his house on the corner of St. John's and Elgin – presently called Perry's Restaurant – he had a "Crapper" installed. His water supply was from the Elgin Street pipeline he had installed for his mill.
The early "Crappers," unlike today's toilets had a wall mounted water reservoir about six feet above the bowl. The water valve was operated by a long chain. The operation was very noisy and didn't always work with the first pull, or the second, or the third…
When Perry Roe's daughter, Agnes Mae, visited Port Moody for the City's 75th anniversary, the writer had the pleasure of inviting her to Perry's Restaurant for lunch so that she could visit her former home.
She told me that, as a child, she was very proud of their W.C. (water closet). The porcelain water reservoir, toilet bowl and sink were all highly decorated. She invited all of the children at the red/brown schoolhouse on the corner of St. John and Grant to come to her house to "pull the chain – and they did – very often!"
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