Here is the column which was written as a result of that encounter :
“Mr. Andrew Gaffney (who is
known in the show business as the ‘Modern Hercules,’ from his feats of strength
in handling mannon balls of 50 and 75 pounds weight with as much ease as an
ordinary man can handle balls of yarn) is a Dundasite. He was born in the
Valley City 57 years ago, and his boyhood days were spent there. Subsequently
he lived awhile in Hamilton.
“Mr. Gaffney got off the
Toronto train yesterday, and while waiting for the eastern train to leave, had
a conversation with a TIMES representative.
“ ‘Yes,’ said Mr. Gaffney,
‘it awakens old recollections to be in Canada, and especially in this section
of it, once more. Why, let’s see; it’s over 30 years since I left Hamilton. I
was a hearty young man then, but could scarcely lift as much or handle such
heavy weights as I can now. Practice, my dear boy, does the business, but one
has got to have the frame and muscle.
“ ‘My parents died while I
was a youngster, and I had to shift for myself. I was a long time driving
stage, and there were mighty few in these diggings that I didn’t know pretty
intimately in those days. The line was owned by Mr. Milton Davis, and was from
Grimsby to Hamilton, and thence to Brantford. George Stult, or ‘Old George’ as
we used to call him, was one of the drivers, and I will never forget him. I am
sorry to hear that he is dead. Davis’ stage line used to run in connection with
Babcock, of Brantford, and there were lots of money in the business for the
bosses, but the men fared poorly enough and had great hardships in fall and
winter. When I left Hamilton, Stult was driving omnibus for the City Hotel to
and from the boats.’
AN EXCITING EXPERIENCE
“Looking towards the Bay,
Mr. Gaffney said : ‘The last time I was on that sheet of water, I had a little
experience which almost made my hair stand up straight. I was in my 18th
year, and shipped on the steamer Clyde, mastered by Capt. John Williams, of
Oakville, as brave a seaman as ever lived. It was April, 1839, and we had unloaded
at Kingston and set out light (with the exception of a few tons of stone we
took on for ballast) for Hamilton. We hadn’t got out many miles when the Clyde
was struck by a nor’easter, which continued during the night, accompanied with
snow, and the boat was driven with such fury before the wind, and everything on
board was in such confusion, that the captain or anybody else on board didn’t
know where they were, farther than the fact that the were battling with one of
the most fearful blows that was ever experienced on Ontario. Lights were
finally sighted, which proved to be those on the streets of Toronto, and the
Clyde was inside the harbor without her sailors knowing it. Then they put off
for Hamilton, the wind still blowing desperately and the waves rolling
mountains high. On entering Burlington Bay, it was a race between our vessel
and the Elinore from Port Dalhousie, as to which should enter the place first.
The Clyde had a few moments the advantage, and safely entered the canal and
passed through into the bay. The Elinore was not so fortunate. A terrible sea
was running, and as she entered the mouth of the canal, her bow was carried
around by the force of the water, and struck a corner of the pier. The next
wave carried her up further, and she broke completely in two, and the captain
and crew were, with difficulty, rescued. The Clyde hove to and we watched the
Elinore going to pieces. It was an awful but grand sight. A few minutes after,
the Shannon, mastered by Dan McDonald, came along and had her boom and mainsail
carried off by contact with the wreck of the Elinore, which, however, did not
remain over water two hours after striking the pier.
“ ‘I went on to Galena, Ill,
and there abandoned a sailor’s life. This was my first and last experience in
that line. At Galena, I shipped with Van Amburgh’s circus and menagerie,
commencing as groom. I drove that great showman’s first den of performing
lions, tigers and leopards. Was connected with Van Amburgh’s many years. In
1864, I began to practice with the mannon balls, and since then have made the
handling of these a specialty, as you will see by this, my latest press notice
from the mOntreal Post’
“So saying, Mr. Gaffney
showed the reporter a clipping which spoke in the most flattering terms of his
sbilities in his particular line of business.
“Mr. Gaffney says he will
not rest content until he returns to Hamilton and Dundas and seeks out some of
the friends of his childhood.”
“Away Back in the Thirties :
Return of a Dundas Youth Grown Into Muscular Manhood : The Modern Hercules :
Reminiscences of Stage-Driving in the Niagara Peninsula”
Hamilton Times. December
03, 1883
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