Sunday 16 September 2012

1904-06-25



The city authorities of Saginaw, Michigan have decided that hereafter bachelors shall not be appointed on the police force. What right has a bachelor, anyway, to hold public office when, except in rare cases, he never pays a dollar in taxes to pay the expenses of the city? Why should he be supported at public expense when he is so selfish as to live only for his landlord? Bachelors are really of no use anywhere, and instead of giving them office, they ought to be compelled to pay a heavy tax for the privilege of living. Think of the number of bachelors in Hamilton, leading lives of indolent luxury and drawing good salaries from fat jobs, and here we have in this city, with a mountain background and a waterfront that have no equal in all this broad land, the Gore Park and the half dozen or more other beautiful woodland and fragrant parks; and not less than a surplus of 3,000 charming girls and handsome widows toiling their lives away, while those selfish bachelors are living on the fat of the land, without a thought of the duties of life they owe the city that nourished and fed and clothed them all these long years. The Saginaw council has set an example that every town  and city should adopt, in solemnly ordaining that no bachelor shall be appointed on the police force. Quit coddling the bachelors, in giving them the best of everything, and cut them out of all positions that can and ought to be filled by the men who have to support large families of daughters. Let Hamilton follow the lead of the Michigan city and it will be no time at all till those 3,000 spinsters and widows will be largely reduced in number. Down with the bachelors!

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          Every boy and young man interested in the fascinating game of baseball has heard of McGinnity, the crack pitcher who has rarely lost a game and who is a perfect athlete. In his formula for success, McGinnity has laid down a set of rules of which this one is the most important, not only for success in the baseball field, but in the great battle of life: “Don’t drink. Don’t go with men who ask you to drink. Don’t go to saloons.” No better advice could be given to young men if McGinnity had written a volume as large as an unabridged dictionary. After all, the best advice a man can give is comprehended in the few don’ts above quoted. The bishops and pastors of Hamilton could do not greater service to the young men of the parishes than to impress upon them the danger of tampering with strong drink. The use of intoxicating liquors has never brought a blessing to any household; but, on the contrary claims millions in body and soul and makes outcasts and paupers of hundreds and thousands every year. One does not have to go from Hamilton to learn these things, for everyday in the streets can be seen wrecks of young men, old men and, unfortunately, now and then even women are to be seen who have ruined their lives by dissolution. Can any sane man or woman have one single reason why less than a hundred men in a city of 55,000 should be given the exclusive privilege of catering to debased appetites and living on the misfortunes of fellow beings? The railroad companies in the United States have done much in the way of education against liquor, and it is now estimated that not less than one million employees in the railway service are total abstainers. It used to be the prevalent idea that great men in letters, srts and mechanics were given to the use of intoxicants and that it was really a mark of genius to be a drunkard. The drinking men are now relegated to the rear, for the business world has no place for them. Athletes are noted for their temperate habits, and when prize fighters are in training for a battle, they give up entirely the use of all intoxicants. It cannot be too often impressed on the minds of young men that the way of safety lies in total abstinence, and those who follow that rule have a better chance of success. Hundreds of good reasons can be given why liquor should not be used as a beverage, or, indeed, medicinally. There cannot be a single reason given in favor of its use.

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          That little park on the corner of King and Wellington streets is a landscape picture now that the parks board has had the fountain reconstructed and the walks concreted. Of course, all this beautifying of the city comes high, but it is money well spent. Parks not only ornament the city, but they furnish breathing places for people who live in crowded blocks and never enjoy a bit of green sward except in their leisure hours when they can sit in a park. People who have extensive grounds and flower gardens surrounding their homes have no idea of the luxury of even as small a park as the one on the corner of King and Wellington streets is to the large majority who cannot afford more ground than their house stands on. How selfish it is for those who have elegant little parks surrounding their homes to enclose them with a high board fence to keep outsiders from enjoying them with their owners. Hamilton has progressed wonderfully in the matter of parks, and when the bay front  and the mountain drive parks are realities, then will the future Hamiltonian enjoy some of the pleasure that Dundurn and the present parks give to this generation. That half block on the corner of King and Wellington streets has done much toward improving and beautifying its surroundings. When the late William Haskins, city engineer, owned the east end of the block, corner of West avenue and King street, the Wellington street was used by the city as a general lumber yard for the board of works and for the storage of water carts and any old thing usually found in such places; it was not a sightly spot, nor did it encourage  te owners of adjacent property to do much in the way of improvement; but when the Haskins house and outbuildings were removed and the city decided to beautify and make an attractive park out of a mud hole, it started other people to fixing up, and there is no more desirable spot in any part of the city. The changes made by the parks board have added to the beautifying of the little half-block park.

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          Old Hamiltonians will go back in memory to the days of the early fifties, and, in fact, farther back, when the corner of King and Wellington streets, now the site of the east end branch of the Bank of Hamilton, was somewhat in the nature of a beer garden. Back from the street was a long one-story house, in one end of which was the bar, and in the other were the family apartments. In the front were a number of old forest trees, and underneath the spreading branches, many of the old boys gathered on a hot summer afternoon and in the evenings to smoke their pipes and drink their ale from pewter tankards. It was a quiet and orderly place, and fellows who were known to drink more than their share at one sitting were not received within the charmed circle. Even on Sundays, the old boys would wander around in the afternoon to smoke a pipe, but whatever drinking was done then was not in the public gaze. When the old house was torn away and the garden abandoned as a public resort, on the back part of the lot was built the Charlton vinegar factory. Below it, on the corner of King William and Wellington streets, was Northey’s steam engine works, one of Hamilton’s principal industrial concerns. Half a century ago, Wellington street was the dividing line between town and country, and while streets had been planned as far east as Steven street, there were but few houses built in the new territory. About where the Emerald Street Methodist church stands was the site of St. Thomas’ church, a frame building out in the middle of a field. Now the east end is considered to be the desirable residence part of the city, and its tar-macdam roadways, concrete sidewalks, and beautifully-shaded streets certainly justify the pride the east enders have in their homes and the labor and money spent in beautifying their grounds.

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          The newspapers of Hamilton were not kindly disposed toward circuses in the early days, and Mr. Smiley, then editor of the Spectator, was intensely hostile to a circus being allowed to exhibit anywhere near the town. At a meeting of the council in July, 1849, a member inquired if there was any law respecting circuses. The mayor did not know if there were any restrictions, but he supposed there would be a license fee of about 5 pounds. S. B. Freeman thought 20 pounds was little enough, for he was averse to circuses coming here at all. Mr. Cummings thought such a high tax would prevent them coming near the city, to which the mayor responded, “Let them stay away then.”  Mr. Smiley wrote a commendatory editorial on the action taken by the council, in which he said: “We are pleased that our authorities have determined on putting down these nuisances, or at least imposing such restrictions as will make their visits to Hamilton few and far between. The council are, for their firmness and energy on this matter, deserving the thanks of every intelligent inhabitant; and we would recommend their example to the imitation of the authorities in all the localities which may be afflicted. The people of Canada should make better use of their money in these hard times than to bestow it upon a parcel of mountebanks.” And much more of the same kind did Mr. Smiley write. Times have changed, however, for the newspapers nowadays give largely of their valuable space to a description of the coming circus, and when the long-expected day and the circus arrive, the sidewalks are lined with men, women and children to see the parade, and every boy plays hookey from school and spends the day down at the circus grounds and comes away satisfied even if he does not obtain entrance within the charmed circle. In Mr. Smiley’s day, Methodists didn’t dance or play cards, and no good old Scotch Presbyterian ever tasted the cup that inebriates between the midnight hour on Saturday and the early dawn of Monday morning. Fancy such people entering a circus tent or giving countenance to the equestrienne whose dresses were short at both ends and wore padded calves. The world is getting more tolerant and all go to the circus to take the children to see the animals. When the next circus comes, saint and sinner will be there to greet it, and the street fakirs will be in full force selling balloons and jewelry and all kinds of soaps that will do wonders in the way of cleansing the body and removing grease spots from clothing.

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          The old-time councilors were cautious fellows in the management of the financial affairs of the town, and not a dollar was expended till the improvement suggested was thoroughly weighed in the balance. In the year 1849, the council seriously discussed the question as to the rights of the board of health to incur expenses for the hospital or any other purpose till first the council approve of the proposed expenditure. S. B. Freeman, a man learned in the law and a member of the council, declared that it was repugnant to common sense to think any such power was vested in the board of health. At the same meeting, the property owners on East Market street petitioned council to macadamize that street. One of the councilors proposed that when the property owners presented a guarantee that they would pay $800 of the expense, the council would do the rest. This met strong opposition, as it was considered a waste of money for the town to expend a dollar in the improvement of what was considered a back street. The committee on streets and sidewalks reported in favor of appropriating $100 to $120 for repairing John street. This brought out a vigorous protest from Mr. Freeman, who was considered to be the watchdog of the treasury. He thought it a needless expense as one good street to the lake was sufficient and the town had just expended a lot of money in macadamizing James street from King down to the lake. King and James streets had been macadamized at general expense and it was not necessary to waste money on any other street in town. However, the council did not agree with Lawyer Freeman and a small appropriation was made.

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