1883 - April 2

On Sunday, April 15, 1883, the local corps of the Salvation Army rented the Academy of Music to “wrestle with the devil” in a public meeting, a meeting which called “admiring, although not altogether reverent crowds:”
          “The evening performance was opened with ‘The Salvation Army is Marching Along’ sung to a rather catchy tune, which caused the bad boys in the gallery to stamp their feet and whistle low accompaniments, which signs of obstreperousness were promptly suppressed by one of the sisters saying ‘hush!’ after which the bad little boys became good little boys and promptly hushed.
          “After other sisters and soldiers had had their little say and sung their little songs, the gem of the evening was introduced. This was ‘He Gave Me Full Salvation,’ sung to the tune of ‘The Girl I Left Behind me.’ The song caught on with the audience and the chorus was sung with vim enough to almost raise the roof.

“Captain Mary Pilgrim  and Lieut. Nellie Kiezer sprung a duet upon the crowd, accompanied by a fiend with a fiddle, while another man tortured a flute, and a few attempts were made to ring in a solo on a tambourine. The lack of harmony in this duet was particularly noticeable. Captain Mary Pilgrim sang slowly in a low key; Lieut. Kiezer sang quickly in a high key, and the cat gut scraper and tooter ran a race to see who could get at the end of each verse first. The effect was rather startling and many of the ungodly were noticed making desperate efforts to reach the doors and get out into the fresh air while the song was in progress.”¹

¹ “Saints and Sinners : Face to Face on the Sabbath Day”                                                                                                     Hamilton Spectator. April 16, 1883.

Hamilton Police Chief A. D. Stewart was widely respected for the innovations he brought to the operations of the local police force as shown in the following:

“RELIEF FOR THE WOUNDED – For some time past, Chief of Police Stewart has been making arrangements whereby the policemen can receive instruction as to the proper treatment of persons who may have been unfortunate in receiving cuts, sprains and all kinds of wounds, also the means of telling a case of drunkenness from a case of real sickness, and for the treatment of fits, etc. The plan is certainly a first-class one, and if it can be brought to perfection, will be a great help to the police officers in their discharge of their duties. Several of the city physicians have expressed their willingness to lecture to the police, in squads, say, once a week, and to give any assistance in their power.”²

² “Hamilton Spectator. April 16, 1883

“The old cave on King street west near the Roman Catholic cemetery has not hitherto had a good reputation. At one time it was looked upon as a rendezvous for all kinds of thieves, burglars and loose characters generally. Of late however, there has not been any disturbance of the peace in their neighborhood, but it is pretty certain that the cave has occupants and wealthy ones too.”³

³ “ Found in a Cave : The Treasure Discovered by West End Boys.”

Hamilton Spectator. April 19, 1883.

The cave near the abandoned Catholic cemetery had been entered by several young boy, who discovered, while poking through a pile of rubbish inside it, “a roll of paper, which turned out to be good money, though the bills were moldy and in rather bad condition”²

The children did not think much of their discovery, and after dividing it up, they tossed the bills around casually as they walked along the road:

“A farmer who was driving by asked them to give him some of the bills. They refused, but according to young Cooper’s statement, they afterward threw away a handful on the road, and he thinks the farmer, who was watching, came back and got them. When asked why they didn’t bring the money home, they said they were afraid to do so, for fear their parents would think they ‘hooked’ the money, and would punish them.”²

On Thursday April 19, 1883, a reporter for the Spectator visited the central committee rooms of the Cigarmakers’ Union to check on the progress of the strike. He found about fifteen or twenty cigarmakers amusing themselves in various ways :

“Some playing chess and draughts, others reading and discussing the events of the day, and one quietly sleeping in a corner, but all seeming perfectly happy. They will not resume work till the bosses come to their terms.”³

³ “The Cigarmakers” Hamilton Spectator. April 19, 1883.

Labor difficulties in Hamilton during the month of April, 1883 were not confined to the cigarmaking trade. The workers at the Dominion Hat Factory had organized themselves into the Hat Finishers’ Union several months previously.

John Tunstead, manager of the Dominion Hat Factory, decided unilaterally that the factory would be independent of the union. Tunstead’s decision prompted the hat workers to go on strike.

Tunstead had written a letter on the situation to the Hamilton Times in which he disparaged the strikers.

In response, John Bush, a member of the Hat Finishers’ Union wrote a letter to the Spectator. It was published on April 20, 1883:

“I would like to call the public’s attention to the mean, dirty and sarcastic manner he (Tunstead) writes in the Times about the men he claims that he had elevated from the degrading position of street car drivers to the ambitious element of hat-finishing. Now, I wish to contradict Mr. J. Tunstead, for he neither had to take a street car to find me, nor did he have to put himself to any inconvenience whatever to find men or apprentices, but fair, honest journeymen who know as much, if not more, than Mr. J. T. Tunstead about union matters. I will leave it to those people who study the interests of the mechanic to decide, and form their own opinion of a man who is not satisfied with throwing his men out of employment, but turns and does everything that is unbecoming of a gentleman – calumniates them and tries to tread on the heads of the union that he was the first instigator to organize.”

The Sunday April 22, 1883 appearance of the Salvation Army on Hamilton’s downtown streets were described as follows in the next day’s issue of the Spectator:

“The Sunday fight with the devil that runs rampant through the ambitious city by the Hamilton corps of the Salvation Army came off yesterday in the usual style. The sessions in the market were well-attended by a motley crowd of loafers and curiosity-seekers, who gaped, yawned, laughed and jeered at the lads and lassies who wrestled so valiantly with the evil one, and the irrepressible small boy whistled a lively accompaniment to the burlesques of the hymns that the warriors sing and tried hard to strike the happy medium between the greased lightning efforts of the vocalists, the go-as-you-please act of the fiend with the flute and the slow and musical jingle of the tambourine.”⁴

⁴ “Saved Sinners : Salvation Saints and Their Sunday Circus” Hamilton Spectator. April 23, 1883.

William Blair Bruce, son of a well-known Hamiltonian William Bruce was in Europe during the early part of the year 1883.

A Spectator reporter, walking along Rebecca street, observed the following :

“H. Martin, the popular artist, has in his studio on Rebecca street, a very fine oil painting by W. B. Bruce, son of W. Bruce, engrosser, just received from Europe. This picture is a landscape – a field of half-ripened grain, on which the sun is shining brightly, lighting up the grain with golden color, making them quiver in its sparkling beams. The painter has caught the peculiar tint of the haze, and has succeeded in producing a striking picture in which nearly all people see something to admire. Mr. Bruce is now on the continent studying and making sketches.” Spectator. April 23, 1883.

As April was about to turn into May, the Spectator carried a lengthy article which dealt with the various summer resorts located in the vicinity of Hamilton:

“There are very few Canadian cities that are as well-supplied as Hamilton with summer resorts.

“It is a warm summer afternoon, and we walk down till we reach the Hamilton and Northwestern railway station and board the train that will soon steam away with us to where – ‘ripples play on sanded gravel shore, and gentle zephyrs flow.’

“On goes the train, at first through pleasant streets lined with neat-looking houses, and later on through dark, cool-looking woods, where the birds are singing gaily in the treetops, sitting on branches that bend beneath their load of beautiful verdure, and sway gently back and forth with the light breeze. Past these again, and on by the fields of blowing grain fast turning to that golden hue of ripeness that farmers love to see, and now through the car window a fresh, pure breeze from the lake comes in a turn in the road shows a glorious expanse of blue water stretching away as far as the eye can see, until it fades at last in the merry dimness of the horizon. This is Lake Ontario, and on our left, the beautiful waters of Burlington bay are gradually coming into view.”⁵

⁵  “Hamilton in Summer : A Poetic Description of Its Many Beautiful Places” Hamilton Spectator. April 30, 1883.

The Spectator reporter explored the Beach Strip, which he called “ a long, sandy, hot-looking stretch, with a row of cottages on it, a couple of hotels and a rustic summer house.”⁵

After his excursions looking around the Beach Strip, the reporter came to a firm conclusion that the most pleasant area in his opinion was in the vicinity of the Ocean House hotel:

“Down on the piers we and sit there listening dreamily to the strains of the band that is playing up in front of the Ocean House, and to the low murmuring of lovers’ talk that comes floating to our ears from all around. For these piers are greatly resorted to by those unfortunates who have been pierced by Cupid with one of his golden darts.

“The moon is rising now, and a silvery path stretches over the lake from the horizon, seemingly to our very feet. So we sit, and lulled by the soft, continuous lapping of the waves against the piers, the lovers’ voices, and the low, sweet music from the band, we are almost asleep, when the sharp toot from the engine warns us that it is time for us to leave; so, regretfully, we get up and walk back again, and soon are on our homeward way.”⁵

The striking cigarmakers held a dance during the evening of April 30, 1883 at Larkin Hall. The purpose of the dance was not just for enjoyment, but also to raise funds to assist the strikers in their cause.

Over 250 people attended the dance, and were entertained by the good orchestral music provided by Professor Makin:

“On the wall was the motto ‘united we stand, divided we fall.’ The union shows no signs of weakening.” ⁶

⁶  “Cigar Makers’ Union” Hamilton Spectator. May 1, 1883.