Results for ‘Dear EDITOR’
[Welland Tribune, 15 December 1882]
To the Editor of the Welland Tribune:
DEAR SIR- I ask space for a few comments upon the report of the committee re my duties as gaol surgeon.
The report states that the county has been paying from 100 to 125 per cent more for drugs than it should. Now Mr. Cumines told me that he showed the committee over Mr. Burgar’s own signature, that he (Burgar) charged him (Cumines) 60¢ for 1½ ounces of a medicine, the price of which was 11¢. I merely mention this to show that if Mr. Hobson has charged the county a good profit on medicines, Mr. Burgar has charged even a brother druggist an equally large profit, and in the face of this fact has united with other members of the committee to condemn another brother druggist for taking a profit which he himself charges. The price of drugs does not concern me, and with this part of the report I really have nothing to do. I, however, fully agree with the suggestion that the medicine should be furnished by tender. The report also states that the quantity of medicine supplied appears more than was necessary and that in a few instances medicines were used for other than gaol purposes. The quantity of medicine used will invariably depend on the amount of sickness, and all I can say is there was no more medicine used than was necessary. Respecting the use of medicine for other than gaol purposes, I told the committee that during a session of the county council, I put up a small mixture for Mr. E. Furry, the warden, one for the late Mr. Edwin Hershey; one for Mr. G.L. Hobson, when he was suddenly ill at the court house; one for Mrs. J.P. Evans, on the Sabbath when the drug stores were closed; and one for either Mr. or Mrs. Gill.
I also told the committee that I had frequently used medicines from my pocket case for the prison, and that I had supplied more medicine than had been used for other than gaol purposes. In the discussion of the report before the county council, Messrs. Garner and Ramsden are reported as saying that the amount of medicine used for other than gaol purposes was not worth over one or two dollars. From this I infer that the only evidence the committee had on this part of the report was what I gave. If so, they must have gone at their work with a determination of bringing in a damaging report, and they succeeded in doing so only by rejecting a part of the evidence, and putting a construction upon the balance which the facts did not warrant. In this discussion Messrs. Burger and Garner intimate there is something else to be told. Now I am interested in this matter, and I would like to know why they did not tell it. Who asked them to conceal anything? It was eleven months from the time the committee was appointed until they brought in their report. Surely this ought to have enabled them to ventilate this matter, and it is not creditable for them to intimate that they had found something but they would not bring it out in the report. In conclusion, I may as well tell the public the “true inwardness” of this investigation. Dr. Burgar, a brother of Mr. Hamilton Burgar, the mover in this charge, applied to be appointed gaol surgeon, but did not succeed; then Dr. Glasgow figured with the same object in view, and also failed. Consequently there was no alternative but to bring the charge which, as far as its real object was concerned, has failed also.
Yours truly,
J.W Schooley
Welland, Dec. 13th, 1882
A Tribute to Dr. Douglas
1921 East 97th street
Cleveland, Ohio
February 17th, 1922
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 23 February 1922]
Tribune & Telegraph,
Dear Sir:
Along in May, the year of 1870, a barefooted small boy who lived on the McConnell farm, near the village of old Fort Erie was despatched in great haste to summon the doctor for Mrs.McConnell-an aged old lady who had fallen in a faint.
The youngster, having been duly impressed by Mr. McConnell with the necessity of haste, did his best along the (at that time) muddy thoroughfare-The River Road; and , in more or less breathless condition, after a time, reached the little white, rough-cast house on the south corner of (I think) Bertie Street, and upon knocking the door was soon opened by a sweet-faced, white-capped lady of perhaps 55 or 60 years of age, who, upon learning the boy’s mission, called for “William,” and in a moment or two the young man came to the door and said he was the Doctor, and upon learning my mission, said he would come right down.
A few moments later-before the messenger had retraced his steps homeward more than a block or two- a flying horseman with a cape of the English mackintosh which he wore on such occasions, flying out straight behind, passed by and was soon at the homestead. He had done the needful and before the boy had reached home he met the Doctor on his way back to the village.
The Doctor in this case was no other than that grand little man who has kept up that alertness to this day and who has done more to alleviate suffering and bestow mercy upon the distressed and suffering than any other man who ever lived in Welland County-Dr. William Douglas. Nor has his mission of mercy ceased, my sister having informed me just recently that he is still “riding the circuit” and never fails to respond to the call of the afflicted.
I do not know the Doctor’s age but you people of Welland County and especially Fort Erie must know that a man who has devoted more than 52 years of his life to mercy must be well along and in the natural course of events cannot serve many years more.
Great books have been written of the lives of others whom we know have been less deserving, and while it has been many years since I have shaken the hand of the subject of this letter, I shall never forget him as of the type which get their pleasure out of life by doing good to others, and my fond hope is that the people of old Fort Erie and Welland County will endeavor to demonstrate their love for “Billy” while he is yet with them.
In my opinion nothing could be more fitting than a fine demonstration on the part of the citizens of Fort Erie and Welland County towards Billy while he is yet with them.
This is just a suggestion and I would appreciate an acknowledgement.
Sincerely yours
D. Robertson
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 6 May 1926]
Letter written in reference to article of 27 April 1926 by Meta Schooley Laws
Editor Tribune and Telegraph
Very interesting and informative are the articles on “Point Abino and Vicinity” contributed to the Tribune and Telegraph by Meta Schooley Laws, I have never seen, nor even been near to Point Abino, but I read these recollections of folk-lore, legend and reminiscences with attention and appreciation.
In the issue of April 27th, the authoress gave a scrap of information about Otway Page. This pioneer of Bertie was a prominent man in his day, but, so far as I know, no comprehensive biography or sketch of his career has ever been published. He is often mentioned in old records, but I did not know until reading this recent reference, that he was once High Sheriff of the Niagara District. I hope that Mrs. Laws will give T. & T. readers some more particulars concerning him.
That was a pretty good story of the Governor drawing to the roadside in the snow and waiting, uncovered, while the funeral passed. I doubt, however, that it was Governor Simcoe. Probably it was one of his successors.
The Governor who had a residence near Niagara Falls was Sir Peregrine Maitland. He bought a large tract of land on the brow of the mountain in Northern Stamford and built a 22-room cottage. The estate was called “Stamford Park.” Governor Maitland left the province in 1828 and the “cottage” was burned some years later. Another house was erected on the grounds, but not on the same site. This was occupied by the late William Henry and was burned in the ‘eighties’. The original gate-ledge of the Governor’s park still stands, though recently much altered. It is on the road from Stamford Village to St. Davids, just where it detours to the west before passing down the ravine. The original iron gates were purchased by Colonel R.W. Leonard and are now at the entrance to the grounds of his residence in St. Catharines.
ERNEST GREEN
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 23 January 1923]
Welland, Ont., 17th, Jan. 1923
Editor Tribune-Telegraph
Dear Sir:
I noticed in your issue of the 16th inst., an account of the sleighing and dancing parties among the young people of sixty years ago, and it brings to my mind pleasant memories, as I was one of the youngsters at that time. As I am now past 85, and there is but one living person of my age left in our whole neighborhood, and that is an old lady. I have attended a number of parties in my younger days where Blind “Oliver” furnished the music and I have always understood that Oliver was not quite blind, from the fact that if there was any trouble or dispute, while the party were getting set on the floor, I have seen him get right up and in among set, and settle any dispute that may have happened and get to their places before he would start the music or leave the floor. The most of the dance music up to a few years ago was furnished by The Dean Brothers of Caistor Centre, of the late Calvin Lymburner, who lived in our school section, and about 25 years ago, I built a good sized store in our village with a hall overhead 22×24 with a stage, where many dances, shows, medicine men and political meetings were held, and where five townships and three counties met inside of an area of a few hundred yards, and where I have been D.R.O, the last 27 years in our division without a break. I intended to mention that the youngsters of today are practicing the old reels and hornpipes, including Money Musk, Devils Dream, Rocky Road to Dublin, Irish Jig, Sicilian Circle and Colitions.
I remember the old “Acorn” paper and the old “Niagara Mail.”
Yours truly
J.K. Tisdale
For the Welland Tribune
DELL RAPIDS, Dakota, March 17- Today begins to look like spring. The snow was about 18 inches deep on the level, but is nearly all gone at last. The ground is frozen very deep. It has been a long, cold winter; and the times have been hard, but things are beginning to liven up again now. The immigration into the southwest part of this territory and Nebraska and California is immense. People here will soon begin to sow their grain. They do not wait for the frost to go out of the ground. If they did it would be very late in spring before they would get on the land, for the frost is deep and the ground dries as fast as it goes out. As a general thing there are no rains here in winter. The old people say that they had more snow this winter than generally. I wish the Welland folks could see some of the sleighs that people have here, especially the Norwegians. It would make them smile. I saw a man in town one day with his horse hitched to a hay rack for a sleigh. He had the front ends rounded off a little and rode along as happily as if airing himself in a Portland sleigh.
We have had no high water yet, but it is feared that our town will get a ducking when the water from the North comes down the Big Sioux.
Ex Wellander
Welland Tribune
28 March 1884
The following extract from a private letter to the editor of the TRIBUNE under date of Los Angeles, Cal., March 23rd, will be of interest to the many friends of Mr. Bridges and family here.
We all arrived in California safe and sound. Mrs. Bridges had a very bad cold after we arrived, but she is better now and we are all very comfortable in our new home. I have purchased a very nice place in East Los Angeles for $2,500. Willie and I have just got through our potato planting. We have a fine lot of trees on the place. Our orange trees have fruit on them and blossoms as well, and our flower garden is fine. Those lilies and geraniums that we had so much trouble with at home bloom here out of doors all winter. We have a large tree of paradise that has flowers the year round. The city is lighted with electric light. There is one mast near us 150 feet high; it lights our garden like moonlight, so that we could see to make garden at night. On Friday last I went to De Turks, hired a pair of ponies and a covered carriage for the day (for which I paid $5) and drove Mrs. B., Rosa and Willie to Pasadena, a beautiful place. It has improved very much since I was there, two years ago. Land sells there from $800 to $1200 per acre. We then drove to Sierra Madre Villa, which they tell me is one of the finest places in the world for invalids. Then we drove to Old San Gabriel, a very old Spanish village, where they have an old mission church, 112 years old. From there we returned home, a little tired and very well satisfied with our day’s trip. I have not been to see my friend’s yet, Oscar Griffith, R. Larter or Mr. Beckett, on account of the rains washing away the track, and I don’t like to ford the rivers between here and Santa Anna.
Welland Tribune
4 April 1884
INTERESTING LETTER FROM A FORMER RESIDENT OF WELLAND TO THE TRIBUNE
Oil City, California
Dec. 31, 1903
Dear Old Tribune:
Greetings from the land of dust and wind and smoke to the land of cold and storms and snow:
Christmas time always recalls memories of the past, and as the year wanes we think of those dear to us in other climes, and oftimes wonder if the New Year will give us the pleasure of seeing some of our dear old school mates who are somewhat scattered throughout this great continent.
For thirteen years we have welcomed thee in many different parts of Southern California, but never before have we welcomed thy pages with so great pleasure as the year past, which has been out in the great crude oil region of the Kern River, nine miles from Bakersfield, the county seat of Kern County, and where tarantulas, centipedes, trap-door spiders, swifts ( a kind of lizard), stinging crickets, scorpions, spiders of all kinds and ants of all sizes hold high carnival each in its season. I must confess it is slightly wearing to one’s nerves to be ever on the outlook for fear of being bitten or stung by one or the other of the “pests.”
The story of Santa Claus and his eight tiny reindeer with sleigh and jingling bells have no music down here among the barren hills and dust several inches deep, with mercury ranging all winter from 40 to 70 degrees during the day. This year we have had only three frosts up here along the hills, but down along the river everything is frost-bitten.
No rose-kissed zephyr reaches this far from Los Angeles. For Christmas greenery we had a small green artificial tree; other decorations consisted of celery leaves and mistletoe. Yet, for all, we had a pleasant time, for we made the most of our surroundings.
Our little settlement consists of six houses divided into two rooms each, and stand in a row about 12 feet apart. In architectural design they are similar for all are built of rough timber, battened, with a roof of tarred and graveled paper-windows are a half regular size and slide to open; there are 2 doors and 5 windows to each house. The interior is finished in natural wood and walls and ceiling are covered with a building paper resembling the coarse brown paper used for wrapping paper. Then, too, it is tacked on and rattles “beautifully” when wind blows, so that once in a while a whole section will let loose from the tacks and come down. The Southern Pacific Co. built these houses for some of their employees to live in and had the gall to ask $5.00 per month for rent. Water and natural gas is piped to each house, so for light and fuel we use gas.
We have a very nice neighborhood for what few families are here are all well educated, hence well behaved.
Stringed instruments furnish music to break up the monotony.
Were a stranger to strike this part of the country during August or September, he might imagine with considerable real feeling that he were near the “warm country,” especially if the thermometer showed the heat to be 130 degrees and several slump holes of oil were burning, spreading great black clouds over the heavens omitting a gaseous odor. Thank kind providence for such experiences to be few-for as a general rule the smoke from the burning of the waste oil from the holes ascends in columns to a great height before distributing into space.
The sand storms are not very desirable, either; but we do have some beautiful weather-not foggy like Pasadena and Los Angeles. It is a beautiful sight to witness the sun rising above the mountains away to the east. I have seen the mountain tops appear as tipped with gold while a sky of pale blue shaded to royal purple with the first glints of Old Sol ever changing the tints, spread over head and were reflected in the waters of the river at the foot of tall irregular bluffs about two mile east and southward.
Oil City in its infancy may yet vie with Oil City of Pennsylvania. As now, it is merely the name of the terminus of the branch from the main S.P.R.R.
To those of your readers who have always been in the habit of donning wraps and walking a short distance to see all the pretty Xmas displays, it may interest them to know how a great many do Xmas shopping. First of all it costs $2.50 to get to town just to take a look and then if you have a full purse it is soon relieved when you get inside of one of the many department stores of Bakersfield, where you see so many things you must take home. Some prefer to stay at home and give a solicitor from the store who has “a corner” on the oil field trade, an order for toys, etc., which may be what you want and may be different. Turkeys this year sold for 25¢ per lb., live weight. To be sure we had “to have turkey or bust” as the little fellow said. Eggs, fresh are 45¢ per doz; butter, 40¢ per lb; apples, 5¢ per lb and not extra at that. Good oranges are 30¢ per doz. Just think of that, right here up in this beautiful California.
I must say, too, that all that looks like oil is sometimes “soup.” All derricks do not indicate oil wells. About 7 miles from here are some derricks without even a hole in the ground and where some English and French investments, besides some nearer to home, were sunk. To be sure some one got the “mun.”
I have rambled somewhat from what I intended to write you, but must soon close for the old year is fast dying and I wish to say that “may you live long and may the New Year be more prosperous than ever for you.”
Twenty years in March, 1904, since I said goodbye to dear Welland.
A Happy New Year to all.
ADIOS
Palermo, Butte Co., Cal.,
Sept. 16th, 1889
Welland Tribune, Welland Co., Ont:
Dear Editor- The date on the wrapper of my paper tells me my subscription has expired. Myself and family would miss our welcome TRIBUNE more than any of our papers-the home news, as well as otherwise. Although thousands of miles from our native land, the TRIBUNE seems to bring it so much nearer once a week. We read carefully the news from Niagara Falls South. If the correspondent will write me I will send him something that will interest him.
Dear Editor- Perhaps a few words might interest some friends in Welland. We arrived here on the 8th of December last, from North Dakota, it being very fine weather, and wearing our fur coats there. We have not needed our coats or seen the ground white with snow or frozen here; the mountains, in the far distance, white for months, while here, in foothills and valleys, orange groves laden with their golden colored luscious fruits ripening in our mid-winter. Such fine oranges I never saw before-hundreds, and even as high as 2500 on one tree at once-a more beautiful sight a Wellander never saw.
Nearly all kinds of tropical fruit grow here, and all kinds of deciduous fruits do very finely here. The past has been a bountiful harvest and a very prosperous year in this state.
Our climate is far milder than dear Ontario; in fact, one can choose a locality to suit the climate one might wish to live in-dry and healthy, very fine for persons afflicted with any pulmonary disease. This is, in fact, the place where one can enjoy life in its fullest degree. Our colony planted only about 250,000 trees last spring, and not half planted yet-mostly orange trees.
Now, editor, if this will be acceptable to your readers, and they would like to hear something of this country, I shall be pleased to correspond and give them all the information I can. I will close this and enclose $1.00 for subscription.
Very truly yours,
B.F. Corwin
Welland Tribune
15 November 1889
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