1883 - April 1

On the second of April, 1883, an article appeared in the Spectator in support of a “free library” for the citizens of Hamilton :

“There are in this city hundreds of intelligent workingmen who would be glad of a library, which was a library in fact as well as in name, and from which they could procure books on technical, mechanical and political subjects, the study of which would help them to become more skilled as workmen, and better citizens generally. The workingmen do want a library, and are willing to help support one. So do the wealthier classes. The merchant wants a reading room where he can find the latest editions of all the best commercial and general newspapers and periodicals, and both the merchants and the workingmen want a place where they can step off the street and have a business or social chat with a friend without having to go to a hotel.” ¹

¹ “A Free Library : the Workingman in Favor of a Scheme” Hamilton Spectator. April 2, 1883.

On April 3, 1883, the Victoria Rifle club celebrated its twentieth anniversary with a dinner at the St. Nicholas hotel. Lieut.-Col. Gibson, president of the club, was the chairman of the occasion. During the evening, the chairman paid a tribute to Mr. Kilvert, local member of parliament:

“ (Gibson thanked Kilvert) for the efforts made as representative of the city in furthering the interests of the club by helping to secure from the government a proper range for shooting. Gibson also remarked that in the interest of riflemen and the volunteer force, the securing of a lease, or the purchase of the ranges at Ainslie wood, should be pressed upon the Dominion government.”²

² “The Gallant Riflemen : Celebrate Their Anniversary in Fitting Style” Hamilton Spectator. April 4, 1883.

On April 5, 1883, an Spectator article turned light of the issue of some farm women, who, on market days, sold butter from the back steps of the city hall. It was claimed that in eleven cases out of twelve, the women were there to evade the payment of a market fee, and that the women were a nuisance to regular market stall holders :

“If a suitable butter market was provided, it would not have the effect of mitigating the nuisance to any alarming extent. But a few years ago, the city fitted up a butter market place in the room now occupied by the health officers in the city hall, but this was occupied so seldom by the farmers that the city turned it to its present use.”³

³ “The Butter Market” Hamilton Spectator April 5, 1883.

On April 6, 1883, the Spectator carried an article which examined the difficulty many Hamiltonians faced in procuring dependable domestic help :

“Good servant girls are very hard to get. Whether it is that the majority of the giddy creatures are so taken up with thinking of frills and ribbons, of handsome young men with heaps of money, who will come some day and carry them off to eternal happiness; or whether laziness, pure and simple, is at the bottom of it, it is pretty hard to say.”⁴

⁴ “ The Kitchen Belles : Some Remarks Concerning the All-Important Servant Girl Question” Hamilton Spectator. April 6, 1883.

Investigating the matter, the Spectator reporter visited a servant girl’s registry office where the keeper said :

“There are plenty of girls, but not good ones. The girls are lazy; many of them drink and are of general bad character. It isn’t very often that a bad girl gets a place through me, but, of course, I am liable to make mistakes as well as other people, and sometimes a veritable she-devil is introduced into a quiet household. It is only a little while ago that a girl came to me for a place. She was a pretty little thing. Her hair was like spun gold, her eyes as blue as the sky overhead and her skin as soft as soft and creamy could be. Her lips looked like a rosebud bursting into bloom. Well, I got her a place and for a week or two everything ran smoothly. One day the lady of the house went down to Toronto intending to stay for a couple of days; but she returned unexpectedly in the evening and found her husband in the servants’ room with little beauty. Of course, there was a fuss about it, but the matter was all hushed up. The girl came to me to get her another place but I had one experience with her and that was enough, so I told her to go. It is a shame that girls don’t try and do better. I have applications everyday for servants that are impossible to fill. Cooks in private households get from $8 to $12 a month and board, and general servants from $6 to $10”⁴

“Bad Young Men  - Last night, three or four dudes made a descent upon Wesley Church, and seating themselves in the rear pews, kept that part of the church in confusion throughout the service by giggling, throwing marbles and peas and little stones around, and attempting to flirt with some young girls who sat in front of them. They are known, and probably wouldn’t care very much to see their names in print, but they will have that pleasure if they keep up their antics.”   Hamilton Spectator   April 9, 1883.

On Friday, April 13, 1883, the fifty-five Hamilton members of the Cigarmakers’ Union went on strike against the eight cigar manufacturing firms in the city. The issue which provoked the strike action concerned the implementation of a sliding scale of apprentices allowed in each shop. The employers did not want any limits put on the number of apprentices they wished to have in their premises.

The workers, fearing that the increased use of apprentice labor would lower their wages were determined not to give in on the issue:

“ ‘You know,’ a cigarmaker said, ‘Hamilton is the stronghold of the union in Ontario and we mean to maintain our rights.’ ”⁵

⁵ “On Strike : the Cigarmakers Determined to Stay Out” Hamilton Spectator. April 14, 1883.

The journeymen on strike were asked by a Spectator reporter if there was any thought given to the formation of a co-operative cigar manufacturing company:

“That is the very thing we are considering now : we can get any amount of stock by selling shares of $5, and allowing no one to hold more than four or five shares. All the unions in the city will help us and subscribe to the stock. We will then establish a factory with about 40 or 50 hands, and procure a good store or two for the sale of our own goods. We can get up a label for our cigars and have it copyrighted. If the manufacturers do not come to time in about a week, we will come out with our own goods, and manage our own offices.”⁵

“A Spectator reporter stood in the east end steps of the court house yesterday morning and gazed anxiously up and down John street to see if anything worthy of notice was going on, for news was scarce and the head of the poor scribe was heavy as lead as he thought of the small quantity of copy he would be able to furnish. Way off to his right hand stretched the mountain, kissed along the top with the dim blue atmosphere that the sun had not been strong enough to dispel. Looking across the road, he espied in the window of a hotel that fronts on John street, an evidently newly-married couple. He sat on a chair by the window sill and she occupied a graceful position upon his knees, with one white arm thrown caressingly around his neck. Suddenly she bent her lovely head and printed an eager kiss upon his lips.

“ ‘They bin doin’ that for the last three days,’ said the court house janitor, who stood by the reporter’s elbow, ‘ain’t it nice?’

“ ‘Yes’ answered the scribe, ‘very.’

“He walked down the steps and across the street. The window where the fond couple sat was partly open. As he passed along through the morning air, he heard ‘kiss your baby.’ The sound of sweet osculation followed the words.

“The reporter walked on.”

“Kiss Your Baby : Two Souls With But a Single Thought : Two Hearts That Beat as One.” Hamilton Spectator. April 14, 1883

“DUCK SHOOTING – Ducks are plentiful at the beach just now, and are found in large numbers in the open water at the piers, bay side and near to the waterworks. The birds are quite tame and easily got at. During last week John Dynes bagged 125, and another sportsman killed 17 on Saturday.”

Hamilton Spectator. April 16, 1883.