Results for ‘Historical MUSINGS’
[Article - submitted by Karen and Donald Young, daughter and son-in-law of Eric Waterfield.
Eric Waterfield was born in Woodstock. He graduated from the Pharmacy program at the University of Toronto in 1941. He trained as an officer for the Canadian army and was stationed in England, but never saw active duty.
His pharmacy career began in Toronto, and then he purchased the former Wyllie Theal Drug store at 30 Niagara Street in 1951.The pharmacy name was changed to Waterfield’s Pharmacy. He put in long hours at the store including evenings. He would come home for supper and then return to the store.
In 1975, he sold the store, but continued to work for another three years at the Lewis and Krall pharmacy until 1978 when he retired.
Eric lived with his family at 131 First Avenue in Welland. He died in 1991 in his 74th year, and is buried at the Pleasantview Memorial Gardens in Fonthill with his wife Beatrice who died in 1990. Eric and Beatrice had three children, Ann, Karen and Rob.
Eric was an active golfer and a member of the Lookout Point Golf and Country Club since 1951. He was a member of the Welland Rotary Club. When Wesley United Church was established, Eric was a charter member.
[TODAY’S SENIORS, June 1990]
By Peter Warwick
The roar of diesel engines has replaced the clatter of trolleys along the streets of Welland, but memories remain. From 1912 to 1930 streetcars operated in Welland under the name of Niagara, Welland & Lake Erie Railway Co. {N.W & E).
Organized in 1910 by C.J. Laughlin Jr. of Page Hersey Tubes Ltd. (now the Steel Company of Canada), which owned the company as long as it operated, the N.W. & L.E. was incorporated in 1911.
While it was to have been an interurban line connecting Niagara Falls, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, Dunnville and Port Dover, it never got out of Welland.
Had the Niagara Falls –Fort Erie part of the line been built, it would have been in competition with the Niagara, St. Catharines $ Toronto Railway, then being built through the same area.
A standard 20-year franchise was granted the railway by town council July 4, 1910, construction of the line started in fall of 1911, with the first spike being driven by Mayor Sutherland of Welland on October 4.
Operations began March 24, 1912 on 1.74 miles of track using three streetcars built in Springfield, Massachusetts. Car barns were located at 30 Main Street South. The line ran North along Main Street South {now King Street} from the Michigan Central Railway {now PC Rail} to Main Street East and along Main Street East to the Grand Trunk Railway (now CN Rail). The fare was 5 cents or 6 tickets for 25 cents and cars operated every 15 minutes.
When the streets the line operated on were paved with brick. In 1913, the N.W & L.E.. agreed to pay $3,000 annually to the town for 20 years, the estimated interest on the money Welland borrowed to pay for the company’ s share of the paving. It also relieved the company from paying property taxes except for school taxes.
Extensions were built in 1912-13 on Main Street West to Prince Charles Drive and on Main Street North (now Niagara Street) to Elm Street, but were not operated at this time due to weight restrictions on the Alexandra Swing Bridge over the Third Welland Canal. Other extensions were proposed on Main Street East to Rosedale, about one mile, and on Main Street South to Dainville, about two miles, but these were never built.
The weight restrictions on the canal bridge were overcome in 1922 when two new, lighter trolleys were acquired and the West and North Main extensions were operated for the first time, increasing the company’s mileage to 2.9 miles. Service was reduced to half hourly. Since the extensions were only a few blocks long, they proved a disappointment with the passengers and service was abandoned after only six months of operation.
While the line was primarily meant to transport people from one part of town to another, at least one mother used the trolley to babysit her young daughter. The child was put on one of the streetcars and placed in the care of the conductor who looked after her until her mother was through shopping or visiting.
The peak year for the N.W & L.E. was 1917, when 693.843 passengers were carried and for the net income of $16,262. Thereafter traffic and income declined and in 1929, the last year for which statistics are available, only 320.118 passengers were carried for $775. Despite the small size and the 5 cent fare, which remained in effect until abandonment, the company never suffered a deficit.
Efforts were made to sell the streetcar line to the city for $1 before the franchise expired, but this was turned down and on July 4, 1930 the last trolley ran. A substitute bus service was started by F.I. Wherry of St. Catharines, but it too ceased after operating only a couple of weeks. The National Trust Company of Toronto, which had held a trust mortgage on the company for all of its life, was appointed receiver.
Today nothing remains of the line except for a few pictures, maybe a few tickets and lots of memories for the people who rode the streetcars.
By David l. Blazetich, from the files of his grandfather George “Udy” Blazetich
[Date Unknown]
In 1913, the Laughlin realty Company produced an advertisement to promote its interest in selling land in Welland. Large and obviously designed to promote the company’s expansion in Welland, the circular nevertheless contained much information of historical value and some now-rare photographs.
Under very large, major headings such as: “Why Welland Grows”, “Railroads and Banks”, and $50,000.000is being spent on the New Welland Canal and Welland Has Made Good”, the circular gave detailed information and a map outlining industries and points of interest in Welland, a city that is today making history.
It goes on to praise the “factories that have sprung up and are running where a year ago were vacant commons. New paved sidewalks have been paid out and completely built up. Main business and residence streets are paved. A street railway was absolutely needed and built in several months-now in operation. And this growth will keep on. More homes are right now needed for workmen coming to locate.”
It confidently predicted “Welland is destined to become one of Canada’s greatest industrial centres,” and “with its several railroads connecting it with cities like Buffalo, Hamilton and Toronto clustered around it-with its power at rock bottom price-its cheap natural gas-with the new $50,000,000 canal, there is absolutely nothing to hold back Welland’s growth.”
Specifically promoting the Manchester Park development, it asked: “What would it have meant to have bought several lots in Toronto a few years ago as close to Young Street as Manchester Park is to the Post Office in Welland- -10 minutes’ walk? The article said, “Many men in Welland have grown rich during the past few years” and “A lot or two bought now will double in value in a very short time. There is no safer investment. There is no safer investment. There is no better buy.”
All you needed was 10 per cent of purchase price (cash in hand). When the price was $200 per lot, $10 per month on one lot, and $5 per month on each additional one. When the price of the lot was under $200, $5 per month would carry it.
Manchester Park was touted as the “most favourably located subdivision in Welland today-adjacent to the great Empire Cotton Mills, Bemis Bay Company, Canada Forge Company, Chipman Holten Knitting Mills, Supreme heating Co., Goodwillie and Sons Canning Factory, Lambert’s Planing Mills, Duck Fabric Company and Welland Machine and Foundry.”
A detailed street map was included with a “Key to Industries.” A guide to the “points of Interest in Welland’ directed the reader to 23 highlights, from the Water Works Pumphouse to the public school to the Laughlin Realty Company Ltd. Office, the turning basin of the Welland Canal and the Temple Club.
Although the article is a blatant {and probably expensive, for its time} advertisement of the company, the information and photographs present an emerging community of 9,000 with 25 operating industries and a Dominion government-financed canal with a $50,000,000 price tag and “work…now under way.” With seven railroads, Welland was absolutely the best town for shipping conveniences in Canada.”
(OLD SLAUGHTER HOUSE)
By David l. Blazetich, from the files of his grandfather George “Udy” Blazetich
[Date Unknown]
A long time ago, the residents of 7th Street, in Crowland, were often disturbed by the unpleasant sounds and smells emanating from the Ontario Packing Plant, affectionately referred to as “The Old Slaughter House”. One consolation, however, was that the neighborhood could purchase fresh meat at cost price on the slaughter house premises.
The Ontario Packing Plant was opened on August 19th, 1922 with Frank Ahman as its president. Among the first employees, brought in from Kitchener, were many Senior A hockey players including well-known Art Barlett of the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen.
The Old Slaughter House later became the home of Stan Reid’s used automobile dealership and, still later, Sunnyside Dairy, which is still owned and operated by Al
lan Pietz, M.L.A.
In the accompanying photographs, note in the background the swing bridge (Black Bridge) at the foot of Sixth Street, and the McCabe House, the subject of a previous article by this writer.
*Note also the present owner of Sunnyside Dairy as depicted in 1954 with his father, Deputy Reeve Paul Pietz of Humberstone Township, Warden in 1952. At that time, his son, Deputy Reeve Allan Pietz at 24, was the youngest man ever to serve on Welland County Council. They were the first father and son combination in the history of Welland County Council.
Honoring Harry Diffin’s Unrivalled Record of 31 years and 6 months on City Council
By Mark J. LaRose
[Welland Tribune, 17 February 1987]
On February 21, 1987, we will be celebrating and honoring a community leader without equal in the city of Welland.
For devotion to the community and unselfish service to his fellow man, Harry Diffin has to be the “Man of the Half Century” in the city of Welland. No citizen has worked so tirelessly for his city without concern for personal gain or aggrandisement.
Harry Diffin’s character and reputation has been flawless, yet he has the common touch. It’s appreciatively acknowledged that he gave of his life to the fullest in the service of this community.
Seemingly almost continuously, over the past 42 years he has served as mayor and alderman until his recent retirement from public office (1985) with an unparalleled actual service record of 31 years and six months on city council.
For the past 18 years he has served as chairman of the Welland Development Commission. He is a long-standing active member of the Optimist Club and the Welland Jaycees.
Throughout all this, he has been the devoted father and husband, the good friend and gracious host. He is a man who is honest and will call things as he sees them. We salute Harry Diffin as “Man of the Half Century in the city of Welland.
A business trip to Toronto and back could take as long as five days
By Robert J. Foley
[Welland Tribune, 7 April 1992]
Getting from one place to another in the Niagara Peninsula is fairly simple for us today. A 30-minute ride from Welland puts us just about anywhere we would wish to go. We can leave home at 9 a.m., drive to Queenston, transact our business and be home for lunch. Even business in Toronto can be wrapped up and we can be home for dinner.
Travel in the 1820s was not as easy. Road conditions were subject to the whims of Mother Nature. Two days of driving rain turned hard-packed roads into quagmires of impassible mud. A trip to York (Toronto) was a major undertaking.
The sun had not yet made its appearance when young Abraham Stoner said good-bye to his father, Christian. Abraham was going to York on family business and he was meeting a friend at Cook’s Mills who was going to Chippawa with his boat for supplies. The first leg of his journey was to catch the four o’clock stage to Queenston. The stage ran on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Fortunately, the weather was good and the Portage Road would be reasonably good for travelling.
Abraham had never been to Chippawa and after the isolation of the farm he was awed by the hustle and bustle at this southern terminus of the Portage Road. Schooners and barge-like, flat-bottomed boats were transferring goods to and from wagons that seemed to be strewn haphazardly along the docks or lined up along the road.
He searched out the stage office and purchased his ticket on the Chippawa-Newark coach. The clerk informed him that he was the fourth passenger so the coach would leave as scheduled. If four passengers did not buy tickets by four o’clock the stage was held over until seven the next morning.
The coach rolled out of Chippawa on time and even though the stage seemed to find every pot hole, rattling Abraham’s teeth, he felt growing sense of excitement. They passed rumbling wagons and carried goods around the Falls of Niagara for shipment on to York, Kingston and Montreal. An occasional caliche, a two-wheeled gig that seated two people, would flash by at incredible speeds, or so it seemed to Abraham.
The stage arrived after dark and he found himself a room at the inn and attempted to get some sleep.
The next morning, the sight that greeted his eyes left him speechless. If Abraham was in awe of Chppawa he was flabbergasted by Queenston. He counted 60 wagons lined up at the docks to unload merchandise onto the ships moored there.
Having found the “Annie Jane”, the vessel that was to take him to York, and ascertaining her sailing time, he headed off to get some breakfast. The crossing would take eight or nine hours depending on the wind and he wasn’t sure if he could eat aboard. Friends teased him about sea sickness and he hoped that it was only teasing.
The crossing was fairly smooth and Abraham found that as long as he stayed on deck his stomach remained relatively calm.
After docking he went off to find accommodations for a least two nights and prepared to go to the government buildings the next day to settle his family’s business.
Abraham Stoner finished his business and spent one more night in York’s boarding schooner for the return trip. By the time he reached home he has been gone for five days. There is a good chance that he walked most of the way from Chippawa to Humberstone unless he was lucky enough to hitch a ride with a farmer on the Chippawa Creek Road.
Freight moved through the peninsula to and from the Northwest. Many fur traders moved along the Portage Road between Queenston and Chippawa patronizing the taverns that dotted the landscape. The trip from Queentson was slow and tedious. Although two oxen could easily pull a ton of cargo from the top of the escarpment to Chippawa, it took four or five to pull the load up from the Queenston docks to level ground. The wagons used on the road were supplied by local farmers who supplemented their income by hauling freight.
Growth along the Portage Road in Stamford Township became inevitable. The intersection of Lundy’s lane and Portage Road saw a fledgling community emerge right after the war that eventually became Drummondville. Stamford Village was laid out near the Stamford Green and St. John’s Church.
Freight destined for points in the interior was moved most often by water. The Chippawa was a busy waterway that was navigable up past *Browns Bridge. Lyon’s Creek was also of major importance. The creeks along the Niagara such as *Street’s, Frenchmen’s and Black all had small ribbons of settlement along their banks and were used extensively to move the goods of the farmers to their homesteads.
William Hamilton Merritt was beginning to flex his muscles again about this time and the Welland Canal was to change the transportation system in the peninsula and in Canada forever.
*Brown’s Bridge was s small settlement built around the bridge that once crossed the Chippawa at the foot of Pelham Road in Welland.
*Street’s creek is now known as Usshers creek. Its name was changed to honor Edgeworth Ussher, a militia officer, murdered during the rebellion of 1837-38.
A business trip to Toronto and back could take as long as five days
By Robert J. Foley
[Welland Tribune, 7 April 1992]
Getting from one place to another in the Niagara Peninsula is fairly simple for us today. A 30-minute ride from Welland puts us just about anywhere we would wish to go. We can leave home at 9 a.m., drive to Queenston, transact our business and be home for lunch. Even business in Toronto can be wrapped up and we can be home for dinner.
Travel in the 1820s was not as easy. Road conditions were subject to the whims of Mother Nature. Two days of driving rain turned hard-packed roads into quagmires of impassible mud. A trip to York (Toronto) was a major undertaking.
The sun had not yet made its appearance when young Abraham Stoner said good-bye to his father, Christian. Abraham was going to York on family business and he was meeting a friend at Cook’s Mills who was going to Chippawa with his boat for supplies. The first leg of his journey was to catch the four o’clock stage to Queenston. The stage ran on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Fortunately, the weather was good and the Portage Road would be reasonably good for travelling.
Abraham had never been to Chippawa and after the isolation of the farm he was awed by the hustle and bustle at this southern terminus of the Portage Road. Schooners and barge-like, flat-bottomed boats were transferring goods to and from wagons that seemed to be strewn haphazardly along the docks or lined up along the road.
He searched out the stage office and purchased his ticket on the Chippawa-Newark coach. The clerk informed him that he was the fourth passenger so the coach would leave as scheduled. If four passengers did not buy tickets by four o’clock the stage was held over until seven the next morning.
The coach rolled out of Chippawa on time and even though the stage seemed to find every pot hole, rattling Abraham’s teeth, he felt growing sense of excitement. They passed rumbling wagons and carried goods around the Falls of Niagara for shipment on to York, Kingston and Montreal. An occasional caliche, a two-wheeled gig that seated two people, would flash by at incredible speeds, or so it seemed to Abraham.
The stage arrived after dark and he found himself a room at the inn and attempted to get some sleep.
The next morning, the sight that greeted his eyes left him speechless. If Abraham was in awe of Chppawa he was flabbergasted by Queenston. He counted 60 wagons lined up at the docks to unload merchandise onto the ships moored there.
Having found the “Annie Jane”, the vessel that was to take him to York, and ascertaining her sailing time, he headed off to get some breakfast. The crossing would take eight or nine hours depending on the wind and he wasn’t sure if he could eat aboard. Friends teased him about sea sickness and he hoped that it was only teasing.
The crossing was fairly smooth and Abraham found that as long as he stayed on deck his stomach remained relatively calm.
After docking he went off to find accommodations for a least two nights and prepared to go to the government buildings the next day to settle his family’s business.
Abraham Stoner finished his business and spent one more night in York’s boarding schooner for the return trip. By the time he reached home he has been gone for five days. There is a good chance that he walked most of the way from Chippawa to Humberstone unless he was lucky enough to hitch a ride with a farmer on the Chippawa Creek Road.
Freight moved through the peninsula to and from the Northwest. Many fur traders moved along the Portage Road between Queenston and Chippawa patronizing the taverns that dotted the landscape. The trip from Queentson was slow and tedious. Although two oxen could easily pull a ton of cargo from the top of the escarpment to Chippawa, it took four or five to pull the load up from the Queenston docks to level ground. The wagons used on the road were supplied by local farmers who supplemented their income by hauling freight.
Growth along the Portage Road in Stamford Township became inevitable. The intersection of Lundy’s lane and Portage Road saw a fledgling community emerge right after the war that eventually became Drummondville. Stamford Village was laid out near the Stamford Green and St. John’s Church.
Freight destined for points in the interior was moved most often by water. The Chippawa was a busy waterway that was navigable up past *Browns Bridge. Lyon’s Creek was also of major importance. The creeks along the Niagara such as *Street’s, Frenchmen’s and Black all had small ribbons of settlement along their banks and were used extensively to move the goods of the farmers to their homesteads.
William Hamilton Merritt was beginning to flex his muscles again about this time and the Welland Canal was to change the transportation system in the peninsula and in Canada forever.
*Brown’s Bridge was s small settlement built around the bridge that once crossed the Chippawa at the foot of Pelham Road in Welland.
*Street’s creek is now known as Usshers creek. Its name was changed to honor Edgeworth Ussher, a militia officer, murdered during the rebellion of 1837-38.
By Robert J. Foley
[Welland Tribune, 29 February 1992]
As the crops ripened in the fields in the fall of 1820 and harvest time drew near preparations began for the coming winter. Chores essential for the survival of the family in the harsh days to come filled their days. Some of the older children inspected the mud and moss mortar that sealed up the cracks in the log wall of the house. Any weaknesses that the cold winds of winter might explore were repaired.
There were winter clothes to make as well as preserves of wild berries and garden vegetables to be put up. At this time of the year the women headed for the nearest marsh to pick the elderberries and blueberries that were abundant there. In the Welland area the Wainfleet Marsh was a popular spot for berry picking.
The butchering bee was a social occasion as well as a working day. Several neighbors gathered in turn at each other’s farms to slaughter and dress the meat for the smoke house. Beef was by far the favourite, however, more often than not it was hogs that provided the larder with most of its stock.
Before the killing of the hogs began a large kettle was set in the yard and a fire built under it. Usually one of the older boys was given the task of keeping the fire going to insure that the water was kept boiling. After being killed the carcass was scalded in the kettle to facilitate skinning. The fat was then gathered, cleaned, melted down and set in containers to cool. This became lard and would show up in the cakes and pie crusts that winter.
Smoking was the way that meat was preserved. Shoulders and sides of beef and pork were hung in the small building usually situated near the house. Sticks of birch, hickory or maple smouldered filling the place with smoke thus curing the meat. Sometimes corn cobs were used instead of wood. After being smoked the meat was covered with cotton cloth and given a coat of whitewash to discourage spoilage. The smoke house often doubled as a storage area for the cured meat.
Cuts of meat unsuitable for smoking were ground up and made into sausages. Preparing the intestines of the slaughtered pigs the women spent the day talking and stuffing the gut with pork and beef flavoured with salt and any other herbs that could be obtained either from the surrounding land or purchased in town. The head and feet were soaked and scraped, then boiled, the former to make head cheese, the latter souse. As you can see little of the animal was wasted by the early pioneers.
After completing the butchering the tallow from the slaughter was used to make candles and soap. This shortage of hard currency made the purchase of these two commodities out of the reach of most farmers. However, they often had to buy extra tallow to ensure a supply of candles to last the season.
Candle making was quite an art in itself. The large kettle in the yard that was used in the butchering was half filled with water that was kept hot with a small fire. The tallow was placed in the kettle and allowed to melt. Six cotton wicks, each ten to twelve inches long were tied to sticks two feet long. Holding two sticks in her right hand the woman of the house began dipping the wicks through the floating tallow allowing them to pick up a little with each pass until they reached the desired thickness. The sticks were then hung between two forked sticks to allow the candles to harden and the process began all over again.
It took expertise to make a smooth candle that burned evenly. There was nothing worse than trying to read or sew by the light of a sputtering, smoking candle. A good candle maker got a yield of a dozen candles to the pound and could process ten pounds of tallow at a sitting.
One of the sources of ready cash to the farmers of the peninsula was potash. This product was in ready demand and led to the deforestation of much of the province. Potash was made by cutting down trees and allowing the leaves and twigs to dry. They were then stacked and burned until the whole was reduced to ashes. Carefully raking the ashes off the top of the pile, the farmer poured them into a container called a “leach”, with lime and water. The lye produced by this mixture was drained through the bottom of the “leach” into an iron pot. The lye was then boiled until it thickened and was poured into a kettle-shaped half cooler. The final product was a very hard, brown material that was packed two to a standard oak barrel. Each barrel weighed about seven hundred pounds and would fetch the farmer $40.
The hard working people of the peninsula had little time for relaxation and fun. Much of the time they would combine leisure activities with the necessities of survival. An hour or two of fishing rested the farmer and added variety to the family diet. A morning beside a known deer trail was both relaxing and added to the larder for the winter.
After the chores were done the family gathered and played checkers while mother sat in her rocking chair and sewed. Books were scarce especially after the war, however, reading was popular and whenever the opportunity arose it was worth the expenditure of a candle. Books were often passed from one family to the other in the district. The first library in the peninsula was set up in 1824 at Brown’s Bridge located at the foot of Pelham Road in present day Welland.
With all this activity the farmer kept one eye on the weather and the other on his crop. The harvest was the most critical time for him and his family. Their survival depended on it.
Part 1
By Lara Blazetich, from the files of her grandfather George “Udy” Blazetich
*Information courtesy of Marguerite Shefter Diffin
[Welland Tribune, 1991]
Shown to the right is the McCabe Hotel in the late 1850s, just before it was demolished. The original structure was built in Crowland in 1850 by James Tufts, Miss Addie McCabe’s great –grandfather.
The hotel was operated by Tufts and his wife, Charlotte (Brailey) for many years. Three generations have been born within its walls. The hotel was located at 25 Canal Bank in Crowland Township, just south of the railway tracks adjacent to the railway bridge spanning the canal.
When the hotel was built it had a six-post veranda, upper and lower, across the front on which was draped a large sign lettered “The Travellers Home.” On one end of the sign was printed a picture of a stage coach and horses, and on the other end a picture of the Tow Horses. These horses were used to pull the barges in the canal. A large ballroom on the second floor was a popular haven for residents who attended dances and other functions held in the hotel.
Tufts owned 1,000 acres of land, 500 acres of forest, and 500 acres of marshland. He employed 10 escaped slaves from the South as woodcutters, selling the wood to passing boats and trains.
One of the slaves was Jim Wilson, who was later married in the McCabe home. Many hunters stayed at the hotel during the hunting season and hunted in the nearby marshland. James Tufts came from Mallorytown near Brockville. He descended from Peter Tufts, who was born in England in 1616 and came to America and lived in Charlestown prior to 1638. He married Charlotte, daughter of Elia and Leah (Morris) Brailey, who moved to America about 1686 from York, England.
The Brailey original homestead was located at Doans Ridge in Crowland, and they operated a hotel that was situated just west of Diffins Coal Dock (now a seniors centre).
The demolished hotel was actually on the canal waterway, before the canal was widened.
The Tufts family name was, and still is prominent in the history of Crowland. James Tufts married Charlotte Brailey. And son Wallace married Maria Hanna. Wallace and Maria had eight children: Emerson, George, Beatrice, Addie, Rena, Elva, Stanley and Curtis.
J.C. Diffin, mayor of Welland in 1921, married Elva Tufts and she was the mother of Harry Diffin, who was also the mayor of Welland from 1948-50. Diffin was also selected as Man of the Half Century in 1987.
He served 31 years and six months on Welland city council.
Sarah Tufts, daughter of James, married J. McCabe, and their daughter Addie, who never married, operated the McCabe House for many years.
DOWN MEMORY LANE – CROWLANDS’S MISS ADDIE McCABE (1954)
Part II
By Lara Blazetich, from the files of her grandfather George “Udy” Blazetich
*Information courtesy of Marguerite Shefter Diffin
[Welland Tribune, 7 February 1991]
The following is an exclusive interview conducted by Norman Panzica, former Tribune staff reporter, with Crowland’s remarkable citizen, Miss Addie McCabe.
The tiny old lady sat perfectly still as Addie put the finishing touches on her regular chore of hair combing. In the next room several men sat smoking, some of them not moving or speaking.
Just off the room where they sat, a blind man enjoyed the music from a radio from his room.
In the living room, a cerebral palsy victim sat as though in silent conversation with an old gentleman across from him. Upstairs in a bedroom, a man who had been on crutches for nine years waited patiently for the time Miss McCabe would bring a full dinner tray to him.
The guests, 25 in all, and all pensioners reside in McCabe House, a building more than a century old at 25 Canal Bank Rd., just south of the subway under the New York Central Railway.
For the lodging and care, they pay what works up to $8.30 a week. Each gives Miss McCabe his or her monthly $40 pension cheque and $4 is returned.
McCabe House is a huge structure containing many remnants of an era when gentlemen drank sherry, from dew drop-shaped decanters, and canal horses were stabled between periods of pulling boats along the canal.
“Travellers Home,” as it was known, boasted specially-made walnut furniture, and its patrons rested their elbows on a solid walnut plank more than 10 feet long and four inches thick. The cupboards, which held liquors on display, are now carry-alls. The shirts and underclothing of pensioners hang from the lines in the ballroom where gala dances were held before the day of the phonograph.
Where fashionable hunters once tossed reins to a stable boy, a 1954 transient asks for and gets a night’s lodgings and a substantial meal. At least four radios, a piano, and an organ entertain the residents. In one of the sitting rooms a Bible rests open on a stand.
From this point, prayer meetings are held each Thursday evening for those interested.
In nearly all of the 22 rooms, clean cots and beds of various sizes are to be found. Everywhere cleanliness is pronounced.
Miss McCabe, who does all the cooking, employed two house-keepers. Evening snacks among the “guests” were quite common.
Miss McCabe during the early 1930s, was employed as a cook at the Station Hotel operated by the Fred Kilgour family. This was confirmed by Katie Kisur Martin, who also worked at the hotel. Miss McCabe is a truly remarkable woman and surely deserving of the warn gratitude of the community for a noble aim in life-that of doing good unto others.
A labor of love and with devotion-at the old McCabe House.
Miss McCabe’s two sisters, Jessie Niger, from New York City and Charlotte Twomey, were regular visitors at the McCabe House. A relative, Kevin Twomey, resides in Fenwick.
Miss McCabe was born in 1879 and died in 1963 at the age of 84.
By Robert J. Foley
[Regional Shopping News, 28 March 1990]
One of the problems faced by the Welland canal in the latter half of the nineteenth century was the rapid advance in ship design allowing them to carry larger payloads. By the late 1850’s the ships became too deeply drafted to enter the locks. The problem was temporarily solved by building the Welland Railway which would off load the ships making them lighter and then reloading them at the other end. Railroads became an important mode of transportation in the Peninsula.
One of the major companies involved was the Grand Trunk Railway Company. They ran two round trips every week from Port Dalhousie to Port Colborne on the Welland line with stops at all the towns in between. Always on the lookout for ways to turn a profit, the Grand Trunk developed Erie Park on a stretch of beach immediately east of the harbour in Port Colborne.
Erie Park was ideal for family picnics for its beautiful sandy beaches were protected from the treacherous undertow by the harbour piers. It quickly became a favourite destination for people along the Welland line.
During the summertime the railway gave special picnic rates every Tuesday and Friday. The return fare from Welland was 25 cents for adults and 15 cents for children. Sunday schools and other groups would normally book their outings for other days of the week. The park was a busy place as even people from Port Dalhousie and St. Catharines preferred the sandy beaches of Lake Erie to the rocky shores of Lake Ontario.
At the north end of the park was a long pavilion for large groups with a smaller circular pavilion situated on a knoll. Individual family shelters were scattered throughout the grounds and all were furnished with tables and benches for the convenience of picnickers.
The train ran right to the park which was equipped with a platform near the gates. On picnic days there would be two or three extra cars put on to accommodate the families heading for a day of fun. Getting a good seat on the crowed train and a table in the park was all part of planning picnic day. It was the job of the fleet footed youngsters to jump off the train and race to claim a stake on their favourite picnic spot leaving the rest of the family to follow loaded down with food baskets and the like.
The passenger coaches of the day were all an open platform type and the shouts of the conductor and brakeman trying to keep youngsters from jumping on and off the train while it was still moving was a familiar sound on these occasions. Needless to say trainmen did not enjoy picnic days.
Once the picnic was finished and everyone was tired of swimming and playing it was time to take the ferry from the park to the west bank of the canal which left one in the business section of Port Colborne. The ferry, which was a punt, has a capacity of ten and was propelled by one man standing in the stern with a long sweep which he moved from side to side in the water turning it diagonally at each stroke. The picnickers found the skill of the ferryman fascinating and many children went back and forth just for the ride.
Charlie Hart was the proprietor of an ice cream parlour on West Street in those days and a trip to Erie Park was not complete without a dish of Charlie’s famous ice cream served by his charming and beautiful daughters.
Many a youngster sat and watched the boats clearing and entering the canal and perhaps dreaming of pirates and adventure which surely must be the life of every sailor.
After an activity-filled day the family would round up its far flung members and trudge back to the platform to catch the train home. The return trip was a little easier on the train crew as most of the nimble feet had been left behind on the sands of Erie Park leaving aching ones that could barely step one in front of the other in their place.
Despite sunburn, weary limbs, scrapes and bruises the kids would all perk up just a little at the mention of the next picnic day at Erie Park.
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