It was not just another
Dundas celebration of the Queen’s Birthday in 1885. It was a very special one
as the occasion was used to formally dedicate the new waterworks system in the
Valley City.
The Spectator assigned a
reporter to cover the day in Dundas, and his account started (and completed)
masterfully:
“The day in Dundas was one
to be remembered by the people of that town. It was no ordinary celebration of
the Queen’s Birthday which brought out all the healthy inhabitants of the
Valley City out of doors, and filled the streets with strangers from neighboring
towns and villages. It was a genuine civic demonstration – the celebration of the
opening of the Dundas waterworks under the auspices of Mayor Wilson, the town
council and the fire department.”1
1 “Queen’s
Birthday : How It Was Celebrated By Hamilton and Dundas”
Hamilton Spectator May 26, 1885.
The reporter made his way
from Hamilton to Dundas on an early street railway train and was able to
observe how Dundas residents prepared for the celebrations:
“The town was astir at an unusually
early hour, and the citizens whose residences or places of business were on the
main streets busied themselves in preparing decorations, and by 9 o’clock,
Dundas was gay with fluttering streamers and tiny flags and festoons of bunting
and mottoes and evergreens. Long before the time for the day’s procession, the
sidewalks were crowded with townspeople and visitors dressed in holiday attire.
The number of strangers on the streets was estimated at 3,000 to 4,000, and
these, together with the regular population, made the usually quiet little town
so lively and noisy that the old houses appeared to look down at the scene
astonished and aghast, like old people suddenly wakened out of sleep by
unwonted and unseemly noises. Everybody agreed that it was the greatest day
that has been known in Dundas since confederation day.”1
The major event of the
morning was a street parade :
“The day’s proceedings
started with the grand procession, which started from the drill shed shortly
before noon and moved through the principal streets. Following is the order of
procession:
Assistant Marshall, Jos. Hourigan
Seventy-seventh
battalion band
L.O.G.T. Lodges
Canadian Order of Oddfellows
E.B.A. lodges, Dundas and Hamilton
Valley City Lodge, I.O.O.
F., with Hamilton brethren
Dundas and St. Catharines football teams
DeSchomberg Commandery, Scarlet Knights,
Hamilton.
Kalathumpian corps
Ayr fire department
Grimsby fire department
Brantford brass band
Dundas fire department, with
two reels and hook and ladder wagon
Vehicle with civic officials
The procession was
marshalled by Mark B. Thomas, chief of the Dundas fire department, assisted by
J. Hourigan and W. Connell, all mounted. It was quite an attractive procession.
The Brantford and Dundas fire departments both looked and marched well. The
Kalathumpians were some half dozen mounted men disguised as Indians, and they
were sufficiently horrible in appearance to cause the children to cling to
their mothers in terror when they passed. A prominent business firm of the town
had a wagon in the procession covered with evergreens and streamers and
carrying five or six masked and grotesquely dressed men who amused the crowd by
their funny antics and frightened the women and children by occasionally firing
off guns. The mayor and council were jammed into a long wagon with a seat on each
side. They brought up the rear of the procession, and every face in the vehicle
was broadened into an eight-inch smile. After traversing the town, the
procession halted on the market square.”1
At the Dundas market square,
a large crowd gathered to hear a number of speeches appropriate to the day:
The fire companies were
marshalled on each side of the square, and No. 1 company of the Seventy-seventh
battalion, commanded by Captain Bartram, too took up its position in the
center. The company fired a feu de joie very unsteadily, the band played God
Save the Queen, and the whole assemblage joined in three hearty cheers for the
Queen. Then followed the
FORMAL OPENING OF THE WATERWORKS
by Mayor Wilson. Two men of the Dundas hose company, clad
in rubber, came forward with a nozzle attached to a branch of hose, and the
mayor, who was standing by, turned the tap. A jet of water burst from the
nozzle and was allowed to play for a minute or two, drenching a small boy who
was on the fence and who couldn’t get away fast enough to avoid the shower
bath. The people watched the stream with satisfaction and cheered. Mayor Wilson
turned off the water again, and declared the Dundas waterworks formally opened.
THE
NEW WATERWORKS SYSTEM
is justly regarded with pride by the people of Dundas. It
is on the gravitation principle. The reservoir is on the mountain, three
quarters off a mile from the center of town, a little west of the G.T.R.
station. Its elevation is 160 feet from the road at Elgin house, giving a
pressure at this point of 80 pounds to the square inch. At the cotton mills,
the pressure is said to be 100 pounds. The capacity of the reservoir is
1,500,000 gallons. It is just a few feet from the rock on the north side – from
the property formerly known as Spring hill, the residence of the late Dr. James
Hamilton, of West Flamboro. The waterworks bylaw was carried by the citizens in
August, 1882, and the system was completed in the fall of 1883. The total cost
of the waterworks has been about $40,000.
SOME
ORATORY
“After the
waterworks had been declared formally opened, Mayor Wilson rose in the wagon
which carried the town council. He said : ‘I give a very hearty welcome to all
our visitors, and I trust you may enjoy yourselves during the balance of the
day. I was proud to see the different fire companies march through the streets
of the town in such a soldier-like fashion. It is pleasant to see your getup:
you are all evidently ready for working as well as dressing. Great credit is
due to the Dundas firemen for making such a demonstration on the Queen’s
birthday, and also to those who came to their assistance in making the greatest
gala day that Dundas as ever known.’
“Reeve Begue
spoke next. He said : ‘I congratulate the citizens of Dundas on this very
successful opening of the Dundas waterworks, so long waited and so much needed.
It is very creditable to the Dundas firemen to have all the modern conveniences
for the protection of property from the fire fiend. I echo the general
sentiment reflected in the smiling faces
of the ladies before me. Next to the soldier, the ladies most admire a fireman.
No better day could have been selected for this demonstration than the birthday
of the Queen – God bless her !’ Mr. Begue here proposed three cheers for the
Queen, which were lustily given, and three more were given for the volunteers
in the Northwest.
“Deputy-Reeve
Bickford was the next speaker; but just as he began his address the Georgetown
firemen marched past, headed by the Georgetown band, and the Georgetown band,
though they did not make much music, made a great deal of noise, and Mr.
Bickford’s remarks were lost. His gestures, however, were very graceful and
eloquent, and the people felt that they lost much by the too powerful brass and
the healthy big drum of the Georgetown band.
“The final oration was delivered by Mr. Bell, of the
Dundas Standard. After congratulating his hearers on the demonstration, and the
occasion of it, he said : ‘I claim for
the press of Dundas part of the credit of the establishment of the waterworks.
My friend Somerville and myself have worked hard to secure the works, as well
as the aldermen; and now we have as good a system of waterworks in Dundas as to
be found in the Dominion. We have had the waterworks analyzed, and it has been
pronounced the purest in Canada. This is something we can congratulate ourselves upon, for after all, I suppose,
water is the best thing to drink.
“Three
more cheers were given for the Queen, and three for the visitors.”1
The
Dundas driving park was the locale for the 1885 Queen’s Birthday events :
“After the
procession had disbanded the crowd of spectators wended their way to the
driving park, where the sports and competitions were held. Probably there was
never before such a number of people in the park as there was yesterday. Some
enthusiastic Dundas folks thought there couldn’t been less than six or seven
thousand people present; but half that number could probably be nearer the
mark. However, it was a big crowd for Dundas, and everybody was jubilant over
the success of the latter and more substantial half of the day’s demonstration.
The program of sports and competitions which had been arranged was almost
literally carried out, and the two or three events which did not come off were
not mitted through the fault of the managers.
“Throughout
the afternoon, the dancing pavilion was thronged, and in the evening the
Seventy-seventh band gave an excellent concert, which was numerously
patronized.” 1
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