Hot weather had arrived in
Hamilton for the first weekend in June 1885. From the Friday night until the
following Sunday evening, there was more than enough action, weather-related or
not, to keep local newsmen busy.
For regular readers of the
Hamilton Spectator, the issues of that paper on Saturday June 6 and Monday June
8, 1885 had many items of interest to peruse.
At the time, every issue of
the Spectator kept the local news to page 3, and every page 3 included a column
called the Diurnal Epitome in which one sentence items were piled into in rapid
succession.
Fully headlined as “The
Diurnal Epitome : What Goeth On In and About the City : Items of Local News
Gathered by Spectator Reporters, and Presented in Attractive Form for the
Interested Reader”, it was usually the first on the page to be read.
Portions of the Diurnal
Epitome for Saturday June 6, 1885 follow :
“There was not a prisoner in
the cells at the No. 3 police station at midnight – not even a drunk or
vagrant.
“Fred Blackmore, a laborer,
swallowed some ammonia by mistake Thursday, and was taken to the hospital. He
suffered a good deal, but is better now.
“The Hamilton lawn tennis
club gave a reception yesterday afternoon on the cricket ground. It was
well-attended, and in every respect successful.
“Edward Lavis was around
yesterday exhibiting the first open air mushrooms of the season. He had a lot
of about a dozen, large, firm and full-flavored, a rare sight at this time of
year.
“Dixon & Morton’s
delivery horse ran into a street car at the corner of King and James streets
yesterday. The wagon was smashed, the horse had one of its legs cut, and Mr.
Dixon, who was driving, was thrown out and slightly injured.
“The Royal Templars of
Temperance are getting up a gorgeous gold-mounted uniform.
“Thomas Reed, a patient in
the city hospital, suffering from lung disease, got away at 4 o’clock yesterday
morning and the hospital people have not been able to get any trace of him
since.
“A dealer doing business on
the corner of Wellington and Cannon streets last night sent a telephone message
from the Meriden Britannia works for the police patrol wagon. The wagon and a
couple of men went down in all speed. They were told by the dealer that he only
wanted to scare his wife.
“Sergeant Smith, W. J.
Field, Robert Chisholm and Mr. Rae, head turnkey of the jail, are mentioned as
the possible successor to the late governor, Captain Henery. It is also said
that the sheriff will recommend the government
to appoint his brother-in-law, Mr. D. A. Macnab, who was formerly
deputy-sheriff.
“There is a long-felt want
in Hamilton. It is a policeman with a big club to hang around the steps leading
to the James street mountain and keep the roughs that infest that locality in
order. The little house halfway up is utilized for sleeping in by some of the
gang. It is unsafe to go there after nightfall, and measures should be taken to
preserve order in this pleasant part of the city.”1
1 “The
Diurnal Epitome : What Goeth On In And About the City”
Hamilton Spectator June 6, 1885.
There was great interest in
the coverage of the big funeral for John Henerey, who died, aged 49, at his
residence at the jail on Barton street where he was in charge of the
institution, given the title Governor Henerey
Before taking the position
at the jail, John Henerey has ser4ved as Hamilton’s Chief of Police :
“The funeral of the late Captain John Henery,
governor of the county jail, took place from his residence at the jail
yesterday. Deceased was a member of the Strict Observance lodge, 27, G.R.C. and
of Hamilton lodge, 49, Ancient Order of United Workmen. The members of these
orders met at their respective halls and proceeded to the residence where Rev.
D. H. conducted the funeral service of the Presbyterian church.
“Mr. W. C. Morton, W.M. of
the Lodge of Strict Observance, read the Masonic burial service, assisted by
Mr. O. Hillman, past master.
“The order of the cortege
was :
City police department, 30
members, marshalled by Chief Stewart, mounted
Hamilton Lodge, A.O.U.W.,
Mr. Wodehouse, marshal,
Lodge of Strict Observance,
A. F. and A.M.
Cab containing officiating clergymen,
The hearse,
Cab conveying pallbearers,
Members of the county council in cabs,
Friends of the deceased in
conveyances.
“The cortege, which was a
very long one, was marshaled by Mr. C. R. Smith. It proceeded from Barton to
King street on Catharine, thence up King to James, down James to York, and up
York to the cemetery.”2
2“The
Late Captain Henery : Funeral of the Late Governor of the County Jail”
Hamilton Spectator June 6, 1885.
On a happier note, there was
news of the accomplishments of a former Hamiltonian young woman, sister of
Herbert Gardiner, then editor of the
Spectator’s rival daily newspaper, the Hamilton Times :
“Miss Ella Gardiner, youngest daughter of Rev.
James Gardiner, D.C.L. and sister of H. F. Gardiner, M.A., editor of the
Hamilton Times, has passed her final examination for the degree of B. A. at
Toronto university. She took honors in English, Ethnology, French, German and
Italian, standing first, in English, Ethnology and Italian.
“Miss Gardiner’s university
career has been a brilliant one, and the Spectator has heretofore had much
pleasure in making mention of her great
success at the examinations. She was formerly a student at the Hamilton
collegiate institute, a circumstance that permits all Hamilton to share in the
feeling of gratification that her success brings to her friends and to hope for
that brilliant future for the lady to which her accomplishments so fully
entitle her.
“The fact that Miss Gardiner
is the first lady graduate of Toronto university gives additional interest to
her graduation.”3
3 “Miss
Ella Gardiner, B. A.”
Hamilton Spectator June 6, 1885.
Virtually all of the
advertisements in the Spectator of 1885, involved the use only of prose, with
no illustrations, such as the following :
“J. J. Millman, 76 King street west (successor
to Millman & Eckerson) is undoubtedly making the finest photographs ever
produced in Hamilton and equal to the best in America. Mr. Millman uses
instanteous plates, the best that can be obtained, and even the most restless
child has not time to move while being photographed.
“Every person should
remember that the prices of Millman’s photos are the same as others and the
work superior.”4
4 “Undoubtedly
the Finest.”
Hamilton Spectator June 6, 1885.
There was no prolonged rest
for the Spectator reporters, particularly on the weekend. Soon after the
appearance of the Saturday June 6, 1885 on the streets, the reporters were
spread out over the city. Sunday was also not a day of rest for reporters as a
newspaper had to be prepared for Monday, June 8.
As usual, readers would
probably have started their perusal of the Spectator with a glimpse through the
Diurnal Epitome items :
“The new street sweeper has arrived. It looks
as if it ought to do its work well. It will be put in operation as speedily as
possible.
“A lad named Mars fell from
a swing at Ainslie Wood yesterday afternoon and received some pretty severe
bruises about his body.
“The hot spell yesterday
sent sweltering citizens in droves to the water. The Beach, Bayview and
Lansdowne park were liberally patronized, and the bay was dotted with yachts,
luggers and smaller boats all day. It was cool on the water, and a steady
sou’westerly breeze made sailing good.
“Col. And Prof. C. Astronomical Johnson
lectured in Toronto on Friday night, and told his audience that he had
constructed an air machine that would make a passage across the Atlantic in 4
days 10 hours 3 minutes and 1 ¼ seconds.
“The Bayview band and a
portion of the Independent gave a concert
at the corner of King and James streets this afternoon. The playing was
not for the championship.
“The hailstones that fell
yesterday afternoon were remarkably large. One, picked up on James street
south, measured nearly four inches in circumference, and many were at large as
ordinary-sized walnuts.
“The rain yesterday caused a
cave-in in the gravel path in front of the court house. A circular hole,
several feet in diameter, sank. There was a cave-in at the same spot a couple
of weeks ago. There was probably a well there at one time, which was not
properly filled up. The matter will be attended to now.
“Friday night, some boys
entered Mrs. Broderick’s grocery store, corner of John and Barton streets, by
opening one of the windows. They secured three dozen bottles of ale and had
them on the sidewalk when they saw Constable Fuller approaching and decamped,
leaving the booty behind them. They also secured a jar of brandy.
“William Dillon, coachman
for Henry McLaren, was summoned before the police magistrate Saturday morning
on a charge of driving through a funeral procession. He did not appear when
called. Constable Limin testified that the defendant drove a coach through the
funeral procession of the late Captain Henerey, Friday afternoon. A fine of $2
or ten days in jail was imposed.”5
5 “The
Diurnal Epitome : What Goeth On In And About the City”
Hamilton Spectator June 8, 1885.
The
hot late spring weather meant that the Hamilton Bay was the focus of many
wishing to escape the heat, but there was potential danger on the water as
well:
“Several boats were on the bay yesterday
afternoon when the squall came. One of them – a small lugger with five young
men of the city in it – was struck and capsized three hundred yards out from
Browne’s wharf.
“Fortunately all the young
men were swimmers and also sober, and they clung to the boat until they were
taken off by the crew of the sailboat Neptune, which put out from Browne’s
wharf. They were in the water about twenty minutes, and were pretty well
exhausted when rescued.
“Daniel Philipps especially
distinguished himself in rescuing the party, and after they were safely on
board the Neptune, he swam about for some time recovering their stray articles
of clothing.”6
6 “Upset
in the Bay”
Hamilton Spectator June 8, 1885.
Hamilton was baseball-mad in
the summer of 1885, having not one but two franchise in the Canadian Baseball
League, a minor professional league which included the Hamilton Clippers, the
Hamilton Primroses, as well as teams in Guelph, London and Toronto
Both the Clippers and the
Primroses played that early June weekend and both games were covered extensively:
THE MAPLE LEAF – CLIPPER GAME
“Good weather, good grounds,
good attendance, and two good nines – all the conditions were favorable for a
good game of ball at Dundurn, Saturday and a good game of ball was had.
“The Maple Leafs came up
smiling, after three consecutive defeats, and took another one with perfect
grace and well-bred equanimity. Dixon pitched , and it was not his fault that
his team came out second best.
“The Clippers scored one in
each of the first three innings, and one in the fifth – making four to the
Leafs’ one made in the second. The game went along that way. In the eighth
inning of the Leafs, there was some exciting play. The Leafs had the bases
filled – two of them on called balls and one on a shortstop error – and nobody
out. Maddock was at third, Purvis at second and Atkinson at first. Taylor
struck out, leaving the bases still full. Jimmy Hewer struck a little one to
Pete Wood, who cut Maddock off in his prime at home plate. Hewer taking first
on a fielder’s choice, and the bases were again full with two men out. The
excitement was high. One could have not heard a Salvation army procession.
Dyson put up a high fly that dropped into Pete Wood’s hands, and the fullness
of the bases amounted to nothing, the score still remaining 4 to 1 in the
Clippers’ favor.
“The Clippers did nothing in
their half of the ninth inning, and the crowd began to move to the gate when
the Leafs went to bat, satisfied that the game was over. But it wasn’t.
“The Leafs had got Pete
Wood’s range, as it were, and began pounding him so lively that three of them
skipped over the home plate before the Clippers knew where they were.
“ ‘How’s the score?’
demanded Pete Wood. ‘A tie,’ cheerfully responded the scorer. Off went Pete’s
cap and trouble commenced.
“There was no scoring in
that inning. During the melee Purvis was at third. Atkinson sent a long fly to
Myers away out at right. Myers took it nicely, and sent the ball to home,
rather wide of the home plate on the first base side. If Purvis had run in sharply,
the chances are that he would have scored and won the game for the Leafs. But
he didn’t.
“In the Clipper half of the
tenth inning, McGra, who had sprained an ankle in the previous inning, and now
limped painfully, brought in two runs with a big hit, and the Clippers’
sympathizers breathed a trifle easier.
“But for the Leafs, Jimmy
Hewer started off with atwo bagger. In this inning Pete Wood did some capital
play. Twice the ball was struck to him, and twice did he Monaco the
baserunners, making them hug their bags, and allowing himself just sufficient
time to get the ball to first before the striker reached that bag. It was well
and cooly done. McGra closed the inning
by sharply fielding a ball that he had to run nearly to first base to secure.
Pat was the hero of the hour.
“The game was most
interesting, and at times intensely exciting. There was little heavy hitting,
but there was plenty of brilliant fielding and cool headwork, and just errors
enough to give it variety.
“By innings –
Clippers ………….1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2
Maple Leafs…….0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Time of game – 2 hours
Attendance, 1,200.
THE PRIMROSE-LONDON GAME
“Those little fellows, the
Prims, went to London Saturday to see what sort of stuff the much-talked of
London baseball club was made of. They found that there are no slouches in
London, but a team composed of ball player – nine of them – who can play ball
with the best clubs in Canada.
“Of course, the Prims won
the match, but they had to work for it, every man of them, from first to last.
The Londons played a sharp game on the field, but not quite sharp enough,
making some costly errors. At the bat, they were weak, not being able to hit
Young at all effectually.
“The Prims played their
steady reliable fielding game, as may be judged from the fact there were only
two fielding errors made, one by Wilson and one by Mickey Jones, his first this
season out of 35 chances in four league games.
“Knight, the Prims hit very
hard, and piled up a goodly score of base hit. The game produced some fine
double plays which made it very interesting.
By innings –
Primroses …………………………..0 0 2 1 0 12 0 * - 6
Londons ……………………………...0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 – 3
Time of game, 1 hour, 45 minutes
Attendance, 900.
NOTES
“Primroses are fashionable
buttonhole bouquets in Hamilton today.
“The Primroses own the town.
“Pfann plays a pfine game in
the pfield.
“The boys in blue don’t look
big, but they play that way
“The game called baseball
seems to be understood, to some extent, in the place called Hamilton.
“”Chamberlain was the
ladies’ favorite in the Clipper game. Charley Maddock was jealous of him..
“There won’t be any
monkeying this afternoon at Dundurn, when the Primroses and Clippers wrestle
for the league in the league race.
“You need not be astonished
if you see the Primroses coming down from Dundurn in hacks this evening, with
brooms displayed.
Baseball in Canada has now
reached a high degree of excellence, and the league teams make games that are
exceedingly interesting for the Spectator.
“Charley Maddock tore around
the St. Nicholas hotel, as if his name was spelled mad ox. His temper was
ruffled by recent baseball events.
“The more Hamilton people
see of the Guelph ball players the better they like them. The Maple Leafs are a
fine, gentlemanly lot of men, and they know how to play baseball too.
“The Primroses are entitled
to very great credit. They are all Hamilton boys, and have got together a
rattling nine without the heavy financial backing enjoyed by some other clubs
in the league.
“The Clippers and Primroses
still stand even in the lead for the championship, with three won games each.
The Maple Leafs are third with one game won; the Londons fourth with an
unbroken goose, and the Torontos are to be heard from.
“The most exited man at
Dundurn on Saturday was the man who put up $15 to $2 on the Clippers. When the
Leafs tied the Clippers in the ninth inning, the man who had backed the home
team went behind the grandstand and lay down.
“Baseball has become
fashionable in Hamilton as well as popular. The ladies’ side of the grandstand
at Dundurn was crowded on Saturday afternoon, and many handsome toilets were
displayed. Not a few of the ladies had never seen a ball game before, and they
voted it ‘ever so much nicer than cricket.’”7
7 “Hamilton
Wins Again : The Clippers and the Primroses Lead the League”
Hamilton Spectator June 8, 1885.
Sunday afternoons in
Hamilton in 1885 was a time when the local corps of the Salvation conducted
open air services on the Market Square, followed by services indoors at their
barracks:
“Notwithstanding the very hot weather, the
services all yesterday were conducted with more than exuberant fervor and
crowds of people were present at the three meetings on the market square;
though here the little English captain complained bitterly of ‘Canada’s
broiling hot sun.’
“In the barracks during the
day, several sensations occurred, arising, as usual, from the presence of
visiting female officers. Capt. Miss Lee, an American officer from Rochester,
wielded the scepter, and did so with unusual eclat. She called for a
‘hallelujah sing-song’ that is, demanding that each soldier give his or her
experience in the verse of a hymn, which had to be sung. Some of these pieces
were very well given. Miss Lee has a remarkably clear, loud, ringing voice, and
her singing and addresses told well; but the decided impression was made by a
cadet, Miss Coombs, of Oakville. This officer displayed most remarkable power
and a wonderful flow of words. She will doubtless make a distinct mark as an
army orator.
“Another officer, Miss
Bowman, also spoke well and produced a decided effect by her supplications
during a very fervent prayer meeting, during which five persons professed
conversions. Capt. Dyer stood aside during all these proceedings, but his
quiet, earnest exhortations during the holiness meeting, made such an
impression that erring soldiers were drawn from their seats to penitent form.
“There is now every
probability that the new barracks will be immediately proceeded with.
Amor.”8
8 ““Salvation
Army”
Hamilton Spectator June 8, 1885.
The Hamilton Police
Department covered the city with regular foot patrols, usually consisting of
one constable who had to deal, at first, with miscreants by himself. Such was
the case when Constable Cruickshanks was patrolling Stuart street near the
railroad station :
“Two brothers, John and William Collins, were
behaving themselves unseemly on Stuart street, Saturday evening and Constable
Cruickshank undertook to arrest them. They resisted , and a hard struggle took
place.
“Both the Collins are
powerful men, John being a iron moulder and William, a blacksmith, and they
fought desperately. They got Cruickshank down on the road and pounded him, and
sat on him and rolled over him.
“But Cruickshank is a plucky
young fellow, and as sturdy as he is stout-hearted. He caught on to John Collins and never let go until
constables Nixon and Robinson arrived on the scene.
“William got away when he
saw reinforcements arriving, but was shortly afterwards arrested in his own
house, Queen street. A man named Craig was also arrested for interfering with the police.
“Cruickshank was
considerably bruised and shaken up, but is not much the worse for his struggle.
“Many absorbers of mixed
drinks have suffered far more than he from their little encounters with John
Collines.”9
9 ““Cruickshank
Held On”
Hamilton Spectator June 8, 1885.
Finally, much interest would
have been manifested in a story which would also have caused much gossiping
among those Hamiltonians titillated with the story involving an elderly black
woman, and a man much younger than her:
“Mrs. Caroline Smith is a colored woman who
keeps a second-hand store at 95 King street east. Just a week ago, a man about
45 years of age, W. H. Sawyer, by name, representing himself to be a member of
the Georgia minstrel troupe, presented himself at Mrs. Smith’s and asked to be
taken in as a boarder. Sawyer was stylish – all style, Mrs. Smith says, wearing
showy jewelry and sporting a gold-headed cane. He was ,of course, accommodated.
“A few days afterwards, Mrs.
Smith drew $600 from the Bank of Commerce. She paid some bills and took the
balance home. Sawyer, she says, was the only person about the house who knew
she had it. Friday morning she had $552; in the afternoon, she only had $58.
The remaining $494 was gone.
“Between 2 and 3 o’clock,
Sawyer also disappeared, jewelry, gold-headed cane and all, and did not show up
again. Mrs. Smith reported her loss to the police and sent telegrams with a
description of the supposed thief to Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Windsor.
“Sawyer is a short, stout
man, of a brown, rather than black, complexion and well-dressed. Nothing has
been heard of him since the money was stolen. The money was in three $50 and
seventeen $20 bills.
“A telegram received by the
chief of police from Buffalo Saturday afternoon states that sawyer had been
arrested there.”9
9 “A
Good Haul : How Mrs. Caroline Smith Had Her Money Stolen”
Hamilton Spectator June 8, 1885
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