1883 February 21-28

When the Spectator reporter was making his usual rounds in search of news for the paper, he noticed that the counter in the sheriff’s outer office was covered with books. The books were being scrutinized by an expert accountant, who, even early in his investigation, was finding the books in a most unsatisfactory condition.
          Later in the day, Mr. McNab, a brother-in-law of Sheriff McKellar, arrived from Toronto, to supervise the examination of the books :

“Mr. McNab discovered sufficient grounds for taking legal proceedings against Mr. Gibson, and swore out a warrant for his arrest, which was placed in the hands of the chief of police.”¹

¹ “Fred John Gibson : Something Crooked in the Sheriff’s Office” Spectator. February 20, 1883

Ironically, ten days previously, Deputy-Sheriff Gibson had encountered Police Chief A. D. Stewart and Detective McKenzie on the street, and, jokingly, had asked them if they were about to arrest him.

When asked by Chief Stewart why he would think such a thing, Gibson replied, somewhat seriously, “Haven’t you heard of it? Why, the sheriff is going to have me up before long for robbing him, and I want you two to serve the warrant.”¹

Gibson did not wait for a warrant to be served on him. Hearing that MacNab had undertaken legal proceedings against him, Gibson voluntarily turned himself in at No. 3 Police station.

Although his application for bail was granted, when Gibson found out that a personal surety of $2,000 was required, he agreed to be detained in custody.

Monday, February 20, 1883 was the day set aside for the official reading of the proclamation in which the date of the upcoming election was to be announced and the nomination of candidates to be completed. The proceedings were held on the steps of the Wentworth County Court House.

After the three candidates had been nominated, and duly seconded, the crowd, numbering about 200, which had gathered to witness the proclamation and nominations, then began to move into the court house where it was expected that the candidates would make speeches:

“Mr. Gibson, however, began to speak from the steps. He insisted that the boundary award and the Streams Bill were the true issues of the contest, but the crowd laughed at him. The interruptions, which had been frequent all through the speaking, now became most incessant, and Mr. Gibson’s voice was drowned in a continual storm of yells, cheers, hoots and hisses.

“Very little of Mr. Martin’s speech was audible, either, for the Williams’ party composed of hoarse-voiced youths and people, who, having no vote on election day, try to make it even by shouting on nomination day, would not listen to the arguments of Messrs. Martin and Gibson, but howled like a pack of wolves at every word said by either of them. On the other hand, when Mr. Williams was speaking, he was not once interrupted, and his opponents gave Mr. Williams a fair hearing which his supporters refused to others.

“Mr. Williams delivered a short harangue of the usual demagogic character.” ²

² The Nominations: Three Candidates Nominated to Contest the City” Spectator February 20, 1883.

A beautiful evening in Hamilton, February 19, 1883 described in the Spectator:

“Last night was one of the finest of the season. The sky was cloudless, and the light of the full moon shone on the snow. The roads in the city were in splendid condition for sleigh riding, which was indulged in by large numbers, and several sleighing parties left the city for neighboring villages. A beautiful night is, however, not the only thing requisite to make a sleighing party enjoyable. A jolly party on the way to the Brant house, Burlington, met with a slight mishap on the corner of Bay and York streets, through a badly-managed team of horses.”

In February, 1883, Mr. Thomas Burrow, of the hamlet of Woodburn in Binbrook Township, was married to a lady named King:

“There was nothing particular remarkable about the wedding, but a lot of hoodlums, who reside in the vicinity of Mr. Brown’s residence, thought they would have a little rough fun over it, so they assembled themselves together with shotguns, horns, bells and other instruments of torture, and proceeding to the home of the newly-married couple, raised a babel of noise.”³

³ “Bad Boys : Get Up a Old-Fashioned Charivari” Spectator. February 22, 1883.

When the bridegroom asked them to stop and refused their demand for $5, the men raised even more noise and began to shoot of their guns in the air and shattered much of the glass in Mr. Brown’s residence. The following day, Mr. Brown came into Hamilton to swear out a warrant for the arrest of the charivari party.

The Spectator’s coverage of the political campaign of John Gibson was very sparse and usually critical.

On Wednesday, February 21, 1883, the Grit candidate spoke at two separate meetings in Hamilton, “first, in Blaisdall’s house, corner of Locke and Pine streets. From this Mr. Gibson went to Crook’s hotel in No. 4 Ward.”⁴

⁴ “Gibson’s Meetings : Mr. Gibson’s Visit to the West End” Spectator. February 22, 1883.

The Spectator termed that Gibson’s reception at the hotel was “decidedly cool. There was by far a larger crowd in the barroom than in the billiard room.”⁴

In the aftermath of the disastrous railway collision, one of Hamilton’s most prominent photographers paid to have the following advertisement carried in the Spectator:

“Edward Mason – Mr. William Farmer, photographer, 35 King Street west, is finishing a number of excellent cabinet-sized pictures of the late Edward Mason, who was killed in the G. T. R. collision a few days ago. Those of his friends who are desirous of securing copies can obtain them at the studio.”

On Thursday evening, February 22, 1883, a public lecture was given by Mr. John E. Irvine on the Battles of the Crimean War. A Spectator reporter was among the few in attendance:

“The lecture did not contain sufficient interest to attract a large audience, therefore the capacity of the room was not taxed.” ⁵

⁵  “Scenes from the Battlefield : Painted in Words by John E. Irvine” Spectator. February 23, 1883.

As part of his address, Mr. Irvine referred to an experience he had in the County of Wentworth some years previously:

“Shortly after the murder of Joseph Pool, near Dundas, the veteran was billed to lecture in Waterdown. The weather being fine, he continued to do his travelling on foot. Chief of Police Fitzgerald of Dundas, who applied himself diligently in the work of discovering the murderer that for a time he thought of nothing else, heard that a suspicious-looking man carrying a sword was seen in the neighborhood. The chief at once concluded that this must be the murderer, ran him down, arrested and lodged him in the cells of the town hall.”⁵

After an overnight stay in the jail, the travelling lecturer was able to convince Chief Fitzgerald that he was not the murderer being sought.

Three items which appeared in the Spectator of February 23, 1883:

“Fred de Lacey – This enterprising hotel man has his premise illuminated with the electric light. It is working in first style, and has attracted large crowds of visitors. Drop in at 19 Hughson street north and see it in operation.”

          “MORE GLASS WORKS – The Edison Electric Light company will shortly establish a glass works in Hamilton for the manufacture of vacuum lamps used in the Edison system of lighting.”
          “HIS SETTLEMENT – Leo Von Wests, the traveler who was injured in the late collision and who left Hamilton Wednesday, made a settlement with the company before going away. He received $270 besides his hotel and physician’s bill, and having his horses taken care of.”

On Thursday February 23, 1883, Mr. Edward Green returned to Hamilton after an absence of eighteen months. On the evening of August 21, 1881, Edward, a factory hand at Gartshore’s foundry, hired a skiff from Like Thomson’s boat house and went for a row on the bay.

The next day the boat was found overturned and Edward Green was nowhere to be found. It was assumed that he had drowned although his body was never recovered.

After a few days, a companion told Green’s father that his son had left for Colorado, and had tried to give the impression that he had drowned.

But Green had not faked his death at all:

“Yesterday Green walked into the Spectator office and introduced himself. This was pretty conclusive proof that he was not drowned – at least not to any great extent. Green read the files of the Spectator containing the account of the search for hi, and denied the story that he ever proposed to upset his boat and go away from this neighborhood.

“He says that after leaving the boathouse, he rowed to Oaklands in company with a friend named Harry Gillen, who had a boat from Bastien’s boat house. They left their boats on the shore at Oaklands, while they went up the hill. When they returned Gillan’s boat was gone, and the oar and the seat of Green’s boat were also missing. It was blowing very hard at the time and they decided not to row back to the city.”⁶

⁶ “He Returns Again : The Wheel of Time Turn Up Edward Green in Hamilton” Spectator. February 23, 1883.

Green and his friend walked to Waterdown where they boarded a train to Toronto. At Burlington, Green disembarked in order to catch a west bound train back into Hamilton. He got confused on the platform and mistakenly boarded an eastbound train. After realizing his mistake, Green decided to just keep going east and not return to Hamilton.

From the Spectator of February 23, 1883 :

“A STUPID HOAX – Announcement was made in yesterday’s SPECTATOR that a gold-headed cane had been presented to Mr. Herbert Dixon, of the Custom House, accompanied by an address. Nothing of the sort took place. No cane was given to Mr. Dixon, no address was read to him, and he has no intention of changing his condition in life. The name signed to the pretended address is a forgery, and W. Girouard is a lad. Some stupid person probably imagined he was getting off a joke at the expense of a respectable and valued officer, who has given no occasion for anything of the sort. William McLeod, of James street, brought the matter to this office, where it was accepted in good faith. If he is wise, he will explain how he came to be employed in such an unworthy transaction”

On Thursday February 22, 1883, Fred Gibson made his first appearance in Hamilton’s police court to be formally arraigned on the charge of embezzlement in connection with his duties as Deputy-Sheriff.

Taking a seat on front of the barrister’s table, Gibson was described by the Spectator reporter as occupying himself “with as much indifference as though some one else and not he was charged with the crime of embezzlement. He only showed signs of interest when he smiled contemptuously upon Lawyer McNab, the Sheriff’s counsel. Gibson, with hands thrust in his trousers’ pockets, rambled about the court room and took liberties which prisoners are not in the habit of taking.”⁷

⁷ “The Deputy’s Deficit : Fred John Gibson Before the Police Magistrate” Spectator. February 23, 1883.

Police magistrate Cahill occupied the bench despite suffering from a seriously debilitated physical ailment. The Spectator reporter observed that the police magistrate “has not yet fully recovered from an attack of sciatica, and was unable to walk from his residence to the court.” ⁷

Very little evidence for or against the defendant was presented, although there was an outburst of temper on the part of Gibson towards the lawyer, McNab:

“McNab thought it would facilitate matters if the deposit book was produced. He insinuated that the book was in the possession of Mr. Gibson, who refused to produce it.

“Gibson, becoming excited, took a leather-covered book from his pocket a flung it across the table towards McNab saying : ‘There it is. Look at it.’

“The lawyer picked up the book and threw it back. ‘If you want to give me that book, do it decently,’ said he.

“ ‘I’m not dealing with a decent man,’ said Gibson.”⁷

The Gibson case was adjourned at an early hour to allow more detailed examination of the books and accounts.

On February 26, 1883, the following letter to the editor of the Spectator was run under the headline, “To the Workingmen of Hamilton : By One of Yourselves”

“To the editor of the Spectator:

“Beware ! Beware! Remember the dark days previous to the year 1878, when gaunt famine stared many a working mechanic and worthy laborer in the face.

“Tramp. Tramp. Tramp. Offering our willing hands, trained in cunning work, to those likely to want our services. We got the same answers everywhere. “Sorry, we can give you no employment.”

“This was the inevitable state of matters in cities, towns and villages. Hamilton was no exception to this state of matters – men out of work, factories closed down or nearly so, stores doing no business, wholesale houses ditto, bankruptcy and ruin everywhere. Workingmen preferring, in many instances, the jail on Barton street to starvation outside of it. Its tall, somber walls and battlements looked on a scene of inactivity and woe.

“The marble mill was then standing idle, its engine motionless; no smoke graced the top of its tall chimney. Now the same factory is a scene of busy industry. The largest spoke and hub works in the Dominion is located there. This factory is about to be doubled and the steam power increased.

“Abutting on this factory was the deserted Wanzer sewing machine factory, in which is placed the most wonderful machinery by Mr. Wanzer. Not only is this, but the same gentleman is now building on the site of a former quagmire, a magnificent building, which is evidently to fill the whole block, and in which hundreds of mechanics and laborers will be employed, and yet, this is not all: immediately below this factory is the Hamilton Cotton Mills, and the extensive dye works connected therewith, employing hundreds of hands and producing splendid samples of cotton goods.

“Right opposite this is Zingheim’s large cabinet works, and on Barton street, contiguous to this, there is a large new foundry in course of construction capable of making castings of the largest size.

“Fellow workmen, all this is located in a neighborhood that in 1868 contained no industry but that of breaking stones in the jail yard. But I am not by any means through.

“We will go up Wellington street, and we will there find the Meriden Britannia works – that emporium of art, where the most beautiful of domestic requisites are made to please the eye and cultivate the taste. This was a creation of the N. P, also.

“Still further on we come to the then-closed clock factory, now a scene of humming industry, a factory devoted to the correct measurement of ime so fast fleeting away from us, and soon to bring us to the end of our earthly course. May it be in peace when it comes.

“And still further on, we get to Northey’s late machine shop, now a worsted factory. Yet further up the street there is the Ontario canning factory, employing in season hundreds of hands in canning farmers’ produce, thus benefitting the country and the city. Canned goods were previously all imported.

“Close to here, on King street, is the large new brush factory. Further on King William street is the new chandelier factory and foundry of Young and Brother. Behind this, near King street, is the new stamp works of Mr. Stone, where hats are made rivaling any imported, and employing a large number of hands.

“On Hughson street is the new foundry of Mr. Williams, and on Macnab street, a new shoe factory. On Queen street, a new and extensive wire works to be further extended this spring. Then there are the rolling mills, now a busy scene of industry, which was dead in 1878.

“We have not got to the end of the budget. There are two important and extensive cotton mills, the Ontario and the Erie, employing many hundred hands, many more on the site of an extensive foundry, which died in 1878.

“Then there is the Burlington glass works in full swing, producing all kinds of first class white goods, dead in 1878.”

On Saturday evening, February 24, 1883, Mr. Stuart Cumberland, a well-known “thought reader and exposer of spiritualism” invited a number of prominent Hamiltonians to attend a private séance in the gentleman’s parlor of the Royal Hotel.

A Spectator reporter was one of the invited, and he began his account of the evening with a description of Stuart Cumberland:

“Mr. Cumberland makes a favorable impression on his appearance, and a few minutes general conversation showed him to be a refined gentleman, and of a very sociable disposition. Mr. Cumberland is a young Englishman with handsome grace, fine form, blond hair and moustache, and speaks with an English accent. On this occasion, he was attired in a neat-fitting evening dress, even to the patent leather pumps and silk tie.”⁸

⁸ “Thought Reading : Demonstrations by Mr. Stuart Cumberland” Spectator. February 26, 1883.

Beginning the demonstration, Mr. Cumberland said that he needed someone who could concentrate his mind upon one this in the room, because, as he said : ‘You can’t read the abstract thought no more than you can see into the middle of next week.’

Police Chief A. D. Stewart was elected as the first subject:

“The mind reader requested him to think of something in the room, bandaged his own eyes, and holding the subject by the left hand with an arm extended, walked him about the room at a brisk pace until he laid his hand upon a chair castor. Mr. Stewart announced that that was the subject of his sole thought”⁸

Rev. Dr. Burns, principal of the Wesleyan Ladies’ College, was chosen as the next subject. Dr. Burns tried to puzzle the thought reader by concentrating on a stud attached to Mr. Cumberland’s shirt front:

“After walking about the room, as in the first demonstration, Mr. Cumberland stood in the middle of the floor and laid the doctor’s hand on the stud. Mr. Cumberland said: ‘No matter what part of the room I led the gentleman, the thought seemed to follow, and I concluded that the object was about my person.’ ”⁸

After a few more extraordinary demonstrations of his thought-reading powers, Mr. Cumberland was interviewed by the men gathered at the Royal Hotel.

Dr. McDonald asked if Mr. Cumberland thought that every thought had an outward expression:

“ ‘The body, I think, is so closely united with the mind that the two cannot act separately,’ answered Mr. Cumberland, who added that his powers were not of a supernatural variety. Mr. Cumberland claimed he did not need to surround himself with meaningless apparatus to give his performances an air of majesty, like some of his competitors. On the contrary, he deliberately kept his performances simple.”⁸

Dr. Burns asked what utility Mr. Cumberland’s powers would have in the practical world.

Cumberland said that he felt that his powers of observation would be particularly useful in courts of law, saying

“By careful study, I think you can ascertain what is going on in a man’s mind by the expression of his face; for, instance, if a man told you a lie, he could not do so a second time without detection.”⁸

Dr. Burns then expressed the opinion that an exception to the rule would be cases involving the habitual liar. A somewhat guilty but unnamed member of the press, possibly the Spectator or the man from Times, received the following observation :

“And the expression of a correspondent demonstrated inward uneasiness.”⁸

The purpose of the demonstration at the Royal Hotel was to publicize Cumberland’s series of appearances at the Grand Opera House.

The publicity was effective as large crowds filled the theatre for his appearances, one of which received the following review in the Spectator:

“A large number of prominent citizens, including some who very seldom visit the theatre were present. Mr. Cumberland did several of the spiritualist’s best tricks, including the cabinet manifestations. The entertainment was instructive and highly amusing, and applause was frequent.”⁹

⁹ “Stuart Cumberland” Spectator. February 27, 1883.

The results of the provincial election of February 1883 were extremely favorable to the incumbent Mowat administration, both provincially and in Hamilton itself.

Despite a wicked snow storm, a large number of Grit supporters gathered at the Hamilton Central Committee rooms of the Reform Association to await the results.

When the final results were announced to the crowd, the excitement was intense:

“Mr. Gibson was lifted by four pairs of brawny arms, carried through one of the front windows, and set on his feet near the edge of the wooden awning.

“A procession of sleighs was formed. Mr. Gibson and a few friends led the procession in a hack, and there followed a long string of single and double sleighs crowded with cheering electors, most of whom held brooms which they waved aloft in triumph.”¹⁰

¹⁰  “Sustained : The Mowat Administration Again Returned to Power” Times. February 28, 1883.

At the Times building on King William street, the crowd which gathered outside the building was so thick that no vehicles of any kind could pass along :

“Thousands of eager hands were stretched for ‘extras’ which were distributed from the window s of the office. The scene from the windows was exceedingly wild and picturesque.

“All the varied faces in the crowds that filled the streets were lit up by the glow from the illuminations in front of the building, and each face was an index of the emotions which were passing in rapid succession through the heart of the man to which it belonged”¹⁰

The man who had written the Spectator extolling the industrial advances that Hamilton was enjoying because of the Tory’s National Policy, again wrote to the Spectator in the aftermath of the election in which the provincial Tories were trounced.

He wrote:

“The election is now over. The absurd position in which we have placed ourselves is apparent at a glance. We have returned to the Provincial House a free trader and an opponent of the protectionists Government at Ottawa. We have, in Hamilton, given an immense protectionist vote. As our candidate was a protectionist, as you well know, the man who would represent our interests and the interests of our employers is kept out of the Legislature. We have given the enemies of the manufacturing interests of this country a chance to say ‘Hamilton has returned a free trader.’ They will not say a majority voted for protection. You have elected a man by a minority vote of not more than a third of the available vote. I have not one word to say against him, except that his interest is not our interest. We have shown our strength, in this instance, and also, we have shown our weakness. I saw no good from it, as no good comes. Let it be a warning to us in the future.

Signed,

Mechanic.”¹¹

¹¹ “To the Workingmen of Hamilton From One of Yourselves”  Spectator. February 28, 1883. 

The winter snowfall of early 1883 was sufficient to allow coasting (tobogganing) activities to take place in the Hamilton area.

When the ‘coasters’ used the principal city streets for their fun, Police Chief A. D. Stewart had many of them summonsed because his fears that a serious accident might occur.

On February, 27, 1883, the Chief’s concerns were realized when a serious accident did happen on James street south :

“Miss Hebden, her younger sister, daughters of the late rector of the Church of the Ascension, and Miss Ailwyn, were coming down the steep incline on James street south on two hand-sleds, hitched together, and collectively named a bob, when they met a horse and cutter ascending the hill, and the crash sent the bob and its occupants with great force into the ditch. The three young ladies received several severe cuts and bruises about the face and head.”¹²

¹² “Collision : Serious Coasting Accident on James Street” Spectator. February 27, 1883.