The
Rev. George B. Gilbert, an Episcopal clergyman, of Middletown, Conn., who does
mission work in a half-dozen districts, has hit upon a new plan to get his
congregations acquainted. When he started in his work, the congregations were
small and he was much discouraged at the slow progress being made. As soon as
the services were over, the people would scatter without anything more than a
nod to each other, but never making further friendly advances. The good curate
prayed over it, and one day an inspiration came to him that chewing gum was the
one thing needful to start the jaws and tongues of his parishioners. He
determined to link the family to the church, and as a first step tried to get
the members of the congregation to linger after services and talk over
neighborhood and community matters. It was uphill work, but the curate was not
discouraged. One night after services, he passed out chewing gum before the
people left their seats, and the novelty of the thing got them started in
friendly conversation. The chewing process loosened their tongues and they
talked freely, and continued to do so in succeeding services. The result has
been increased congregations and the mission has been made a community center, and
chewing gum has done it.
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There are some things that make us
sigh for the good old days, but not many. Take this everyday world up one side
and down the other and one cannot find much fault with it, especially if
blessed with health and enough to eat. If we were in the condition of the poor
fellow in Hamilton we heard of the other day, who is so badly afflicted that he
is confined to his bed all the time, with his body doubled up so that his knees
touch his chin, probably it might cause a rebellious spirit, but even with his
infirmities that man loves to look out on the sunshine and thank God that
things are not worse. Once, and that not long ago, he was a man of robust health,
a good provider for his family; now the future in life has no hope for him. The
lodge to which he belongs provides for his comfort and his medical attendance.
You who are blessed with health and everything to make life bright should take
a lesson from this afflicted brother, and instead of growling at your lot, be
thankful for your daily bread and health.
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Well, we started the last paragraph
for a different purpose than of telling of the misfortunes of one man, so we
will get back to the sighing for the good old days, when everything was so
cheap and money was so scarce that, relatively, we paid more then for living
expenses than we do today, rent and taxes excepted. Fifty years ago, the
average workingman could rent a house for from $6 to $10 a month; for the same
accommodations one has to pay from $15 to $25 a month. The renter abuses the
landlord for charging an exorbitant rent, but what is the poor fellow to do
when building material and labor cost so much? And then comes the official tax
gatherer and takes a big slice of the rent. However, it does one good to
compare the market reports of fifty years ago with the prices current today. On
the 29th of November, 1862, the market for flour in Hamilton was
quoted at $3.20 to $5 per bushel, ranging from superfine to double extra;
oatmeal, $3 per 100 lbs.; wheat, per bushel, 20 to 93 cents; oats, 45 to 47
cents; barley, 90 to 95 cents; peas, 48 to 52 cents; beans $1 to $1.50;
potatoes, per bushel, 20 to 40 cents; bran, per 100 pounds, 50 to 60 cents;
butter in rolls, per lb., 15 to 18 cents; in firkins, per lb., 8 to 12 cents;
eggs, per dozen, 15 cents to 18 cents; cheese, per lb. 7 cents; beef, per 100
lbs. $4.50 to $5.50; pork, per 100 lbs. $3.50 to $3.87; hams, per lb., 10 cents
to 12 ½ cents; bacon, 7 to 10 cents; lard, 8 to 8 ½ cents; fowls, per pair, 25
cents to 32 cents; turkeys, 50 cents to $1; hay, per ton, $17 to $18; straw,
per load, $4 to$8; firewood, $4 to $5 per cord; hides, per 100 lbs., $4.50 to
$4.75; mutton, per lb. 9 cents; lamb, per quarter, 50 to 75 cents. Think of
buying a pair of chickens for 30 cents, a pair of ducks for 50 cents, or a
turkey from 50 cents to $1! Compare the prices of meat than and now – and its
toughness now. But while this line of foods has doubled and trebled in cost, in
other lines, such as groceries, one can buy a deal cheaper now than then. There
is no cloud without its silver lining.
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A few weeks ago, in these Musings, we
gave a short account of the first sleeping cars that were made in Hamilton,
and, indeed, the first designed or made for use in railroad travelling. Samuel
Sharp, the first master mechanic of the Great Western railway, was the designer
and the superintendent of construction of the first practical sleeping car
introduced into railway service. The Wagner car was the next, and this was
followed by the Pullman, which seems to have survived them all. In a copy of
the Canadian Illustrated News, a weekly literary journal started in Hamilton in
October, 1862, we find a description of a later sleeper that was constructed
under Mr. Sharp’s supervision for use on the Great Western. It will interest
the old-timers who had a personal acquaintance with Mr. Sharp, as well as those
who began their workday lives in the old Great Western shops. When King Edward,
then Prince of Wales, visited Canada in 1860, the managers of the Great Western
had a car built in advance specially designed for the use of the Prince and his
retinue in his journeyings through this country. Here is the story of the car
in brief : “The Great Western railway has just turned out another of those
travelling luxuries which are now so prominent a feature in American railway
travelling. Before the introduction of these cars, night travelling on our long
lines of railway was a rather serious piece of business, painfully reminding
one of that Chinese torture by which the victim was put to death by depriving
him of sleep, the painful twistings and posturing of travel-weary passengers in
search of a snooze were decidedly laughable to see, but by no means laughable
to experience. The sleeping car has now obviated all of this, and enables the
business man to economize his time, and the travelling community to do their
journeyings without detriment to their physical systems.
“The car which the G.W.R. company has
just converted into a sleeping car is that which was placed at the disposal of
the Prince of Wales during his sojourn in this part of Canada, and so posses an
historic interest for the curious in such matters. Its outside ornamentation
has not been altered; its ceiling is perhaps the loftiest of any railway car in
America; its ventilation is provided for by the most approved methods known to
the railway world, having one of Mr. Sharp’s excellent ventilators at either
end, and exhaust ports over each berth, thus securing an abundance of fresh air
without the slightest draft.
“The car has accommodation for
forty-four passengers, and may be used as a day or night cars. Partitions of
solid walnut, beautifully polished, divide the berths into eleven compartments,
four berths in each, the beds are spring-stuffed, and covered with moquette, a
kind of fabric somewhat new in this quarter, but exceedingly fashionable in
England and part of the United States. They are enclosed in damask curtains,
which secure complete privacy to the occupants. Two washrooms – one for ladies
and one for gentlemen – afford every facility for morning ablutions. In short,
the passenger will find in it every convenience which the best furnished
bedroom can supply.
“The trucks are especially worthy of
notice. They are built upon the doble-lateral motion principle, first designed
by Mr. Sharp for this car when it was being fitted up for the use of the Prince
of Wales, and which reduces the oscillatory motion to a minimum, this making
the travel easy and smooth.
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Talking about the first sleeping cars
built by the Great Western railway for the use of its own traffic reminds us
that it was the enterprise of the business men of Hamilton which made the early
building of the Great Western possible. The old-timers away back in the latter
part of the ‘30s began to plan for it, and if Sir Allan MacNab never did
anything more for this then young town, the building of the second railway in
Canada – and the first longest line, running from the Niagara river to the
Detroit river – is a monument to his personal service to Hamilton. Still, there
were growlers in those days who could see nothing but ruin in the future
because the enterprising men were in favor of what the grouchers called the
“dabbling in unprofitable railway schemes.” Then the new waterworks system came
in for its share of abuse from the grouchers. In an editorial in the Canadian
Illustrated News of December 6, 1862, municipal orators were denounced for
encouraging the people to vote such a burden upon themselves in “a huge system
of waterworks which will be more than sufficient for the requirements of the
place half a century hence.” Events have proved that the Hamilton men of those
day builded wiser than they knew, for if it had not been for the railroads and
the waterworks this old town would have been struggling on in the race with
Dundas for supremacy. And the grouchers are still at it, and keep up a
perpetual fight against the electric system that placed Hamilton in the front
rank of Canadian cities as an industrial center. The waterworks system has been
a mine of wealth to Hamilton, the income from it amounting to $200,000 a year
and over; and yet the wise men of the present day, instead of building up the
system with the money that it earns, spend the income and are continually
calling upon the people to vote more bonds for enlarging the supply. But then
this old Muser does not mix in such matters, but merely as a matter of history
calls attention to the grouchers, who more than half a century ago declared
that the waterworks were an unnecessary burden for the people to bear.
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Fifty-five years ago the Church of
England, as it was then called, had but two houses of worship in this city.
Christ’s church and the Church of the Ascension. Connected with Christ’s church
was the Rev. Thoedore Heise, who had charge of the German congregation that
held services in the cathedral at stated times. Within the next year, the St.
John chapel was opened on King street west, with the Reverend John Butler,
M.A., as rector. Mr. Butler had charge of the boys’ academy and taught during
the week to make a living, and on Sunday he preached to the small congregation
of Episcopalians that lived in the west end. About the same period, a few
devout churchmen believed there was an opening in the east end for a place of
worship, and as a result, St. Thomas’ chapel was built on Emerald street on the
site of the present Emerald street Methodist church parsonage. The chapel was
built out on the field, for at that time there was only a house here and there
between King and Barton streets. The only pretentious residence buildings east
of Wellington street then were Smiley’s castle, now T. H. Pratt’s residence,
and Victoria Terrace, now occupied by Dr. Carr, Dr. Baugh and Dr. Caselman. It
is to be regretted that the names of the old-time landmarks have been allowed
to pass into innocuous desuetude. The congregation of St. Thomas’ chapel had no
regular pastor and held only one service on Sunday, and that at 2 o’clock in
the afternoon. How many of the old-timers remember the frame church that stood
out in the middle of a large field? The promoters of that chapel were
principally Americans who belonged to the Church of England before they came to
Hamilton, and the Christ’s church and the Church of the Ascension being too far
from where those Americans lived, they built one for themselves. Dr. C. S.
Chittenden was a great lover of music, and it was said of him that he would
stop anytime in the middle of a tooth-pulling operation, he being a dentist, to
run over a new piece of music that some one would take to his office. Well,
that story may not have been quite true, but anyone who knew his love for music
might readily believe it. The good doctor organized one of the choirs for the
chapel services on Sunday afternoons, and the singing and the services were so
attractive that the chapel was always crowded. Now this bit of history is only
a prelude to what follows.
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The Emerald street Methodist church
will celebrate its fortieth anniversary tomorrow, and wind up the services with
an old-fashioned tea meeting on Monday night. The popular and energetic pastor
of the church, the Rev. A. D. Moir, has made arrangements for a grand time both
on Sunday and Monday. And here we might state that the reference above to the
history of St. Thomas’ chapel seems to dovetail right down to the present, for
the old frame building erected out in the field in 1856 has given lace to the
fine brick edifice now worshipped in by the Emerald Methodists. Let us go back
a bit. In the year 1871, the Rev. Dr. William Kenner was appointed by the English
Bible Christian conference to organize a congregation in Hamilton. At first,
services were conducted in a room on Macnab street, but as the congregation
increased in numbers, the enterprising members concluded that the eastern part
of the town needed church accommodation, so they bought the St. Thomas’ chapel, and in due time, they brick-veneered
the old building, adding to its comfort as well as to its appearance. When the
Wesleyan denomination absorbed all of the other dissenting churches in Canada
in 1884, the Bible Christians cast in their lot with the Methodists and became
part of the great organization. For twelve years after the union, the
congregation worshipped in the old church, until with the membership
increasing, there was a demand for larger accommodations. By this time the
fields of 1856 were thickly settled with comfortable homes, and the Emerald
street church being the Methodist outpost, it was decided to erect a new
building, and the cornerstone of the present handsome edifice was laid in the
year 1896, during the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. Gee. The wisdom of the early
founders of this congregation in placing the church at the corner of Emerald
and Wilson streets is now seen in the huge congregations filling the auditorium
and making the question of more seating capacity a necessity. Fifty-five years
ago, St. Thomas’ chapel was built out in the fields where the town cows roamed;
today the Emerald street Methodist church stands in about the center of this
growing city, and the population has grown from 10,00 or 12,000 to 82,000. It
was no small undertaking for that congregation in 1896 to build such a large
and handsome church, but when they meet tomorrow they can glorify in the fact
that they have not only a fine edifice to worship in, but also that have a
commodious Sabbath school building, and one of the most comfortable parsonages
in town, and a new pipe organ that was bought three years ago, and the entire
amount of their indebtedness is only $5,000. There is a record to be proud of
for a membership of less than 500, and not a Rockefeller or a Carnegie in the
lot. It took sacrifice for the Emerald people to accommodate all this. The
trustee board of that church evidently do not think that a church debt is a
blessing, for year after year they have gradually decreased it. They are liberal
in their salary allowance to their pastor and keep the parsonage and the church
and the Sabbath school up to date. As the services tomorrow will be of unusual
interest, the good pastor will have the pleasure of welcoming a large
congregation.
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