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1896 Diary
Period covered: January 1, 1896 - December 31, 1896
Dimensions: 14.1 cm X 7.25 cm (l x w)
No. of Pages: 180
Note: The diary contains addenda pages where the diarist has entered
Notes and Bills Receivable for the year. There is also a Cash Account
ledger until the month of April.
January Wednesday 1: Drove over line to Lak’d with Greenwood in a.m.
Jas. Freeborn was blown to pieces by dynamite at Lak’d this a.m. Went
calling in p.m. Rev. Symonds with me. Worked in office till 11 pm. Beautiful
day - colder. Water rising fast & took coffer dam out.
January Thursday 2: Office - very windy - office till 11 pm.
January Friday 3: Office till 9:30 pm. Turned very cold at night. Went
to party at Z. Burnham's. Very cold.
January Saturday 4: Very cold. Office till 11 pm. Busy writing specifications
for scows and Sec. No. 2 P & L. Hickey here still.
January Sunday 5: Very cold. Church. Tea at Marias. Office 8:30 - 10.
Started for Ottawa at 11:42.
January Monday 6: Arr’d in Ottawa at 6 am. Went to Dept. re C.P. Ry crossing
at Ashburnham but the C.P. Ry were not there. Great excitement
re cabinet crisis. Weather very cold 30 below zero this a.m. Spent evening
with Mrs. Mothersill
January Tuesday 7: Very cold. Stayed over to see what was done re cabinet.
All members here. Went to opening of house when Gov’t asked for an adjournment
& bolting ministers gave their reason for resigning. Started for home
at 10:25. Somerville started work again at Sec. No. 2 S & B.
January Wednesday 8: Arr’d home at 5 am. Snowing & good sleighing.
Cold. Office till 10:30 pm.
January Thursday 9: Not quite so cold. Office 10:30. Political situation
at Ottawa still very unsettled.
January Friday 10: Office 11 pm. Bible class. Political crisis still
mixed. Milder at night & foggy.
January Saturday 11: Office till 11 pm. S. Highes called on his way to
train to Ottawa.
January Sunday 12: Very windy. Lillian, Leah & I at tea at Marias.
January Monday 13: Milder. Office 10 pm. Went to entertainment in SSchool
(RM Roy). It is said Cabinet crisis is over at Ottawa. Bowell in as premier
and Sir Chas. Tupper Sr. in also temporarily. Plans & specifications
for scows on exhibition today.
January Tuesday 14: Fine. Office. Went up in PM with Aylmer to see sand
pits above Auburn. Office 10:45.
January Wednesday 15: Office 10:45. Busy specifacations for Sec. 2, P
& L.
January Thursday 16: Office 11. Sent in Specifications for Sec. 2 , P
& L Div. Mina in bed all day with pains in back and leg. She fainted
at 8 PM with pain. Sophia stayed all night. Milder.
January Friday 17: Office.
January Saturday 18: Little snow in pm. Drove (Fitz) to Bobcaygeon at
5-7.40 to see Mr Boyd about going to Continent. Took boys with me.
January Sunday 19: Drove home from Bob'n 10 to 1. Snowing.
January Monday 20: Office all day.
January Tuesday 21: Arrived at Ottawa at 6 a.m. Busy at Dept. Started
for Montreal at 6:45 p.m.
January Wednesday 22: At Montreal. Went to see G. T. Ry officials &
C.P. Ry re crossings . Also got letters of introduction from DeSola &
others. Dinner with Jack Badgley & after to see the Grants. Started
for Ottawa at 9.10. Fine.
January Thursday 23: At Ottawa busy with specification.
January Friday 24: Great snow storm & sleet in Peterboro - regular
blizzard - heaviest storm of season. Went down to Mr. Schreiber’s after
supper & went over specifications with him.
January Saturday 25: Went down to Printing Bureau with Specifications
for Sec. No.2, P & L Division to be printed - then Dept. and started
for home at 11 a.m. & arr'd at 4:50 p.m. Office till 10:20. Fine.
January Sunday 26: Fine.
January Monday 27: Office till 10:30. Fine. [----] got back from Simcoe
L.
January Tuesday 28: Office till 10 p.m. Fine.
January Wednesday 29: Office.
January Thursday 30: Office.
January Friday 31: Office. Started for Ottawa at 11:42 p.m.
February Saturday 1: At Ottawa. Went to give evidence in Gov. case re
concrete. At Exchequer court all day. Went to dinner at Rideau Club with
Mr. McKenzie, S. Hughes & T. Nichols at night. Started for home. Snow
& blustering all day.
February Sunday 2: Arrived home at 4:40 a.m. Greenwood came to dinner
today. Did not go to church at night. Fine.
February Monday 3: Office.
February Tuesday 4: Office. Busy getting proof of Specification for No.
2, P & L ready. Sent proof down tonight.
February Wednesday: Office. Busy getting ready to start away tomorrow.
At office till 11:15 p.m. Fine.
February Thursday 6: Started at 11.45 for Toronto
on my way to Europe. Arr’d Toronto at 4.15. Found M.M. Boyd who was to
accompany my not able to go on acc’t of his health. I decided to wait
a week for him. Stayed to dinner with him & after went up to see Patti
& Kathleen. Arrived home again at 11.40pm. Snowed all day. Very busy
all morning getting ready to start. Had children out with me all morning.
February Friday 7: Office. Fine. Service at night.
February Saturday 8: Office. Absalom Ingram died today. fine.
Febraury Sunday 9: Snow all day. Did not go to church at night.
February Monday 10: Office. Went to funeral of Absalom Ingram with H.C.
Office till 11. Whole party very busy getting plans Sec. 2, P & L
to send down tonight.
February Tuesday 11: Office. Very busy in office getting plans off for
Sec. 2, P & L Div. Sent these plans off by express on C.P. Ry at midnight.
Great snow storm all day.
February Wednesday 12: Office. Snow storm continues. Went to hockey match
Pet. vs. Victoria's of Kingston. Pet. won 13 to 1.
February Thursday 13: Went to GT Ry train at 11.45 but found it 3 hours
late. So as I would have missed connection at Toronto. I decided to got
to Toronto by CPR and go on tomorrow at 7.25 am as agent said I would
get there tomorrow night to New York. Stayed at Rosin House. Saw M Boyd
but he is not strong enough to start yet.
February Friday 14: Started at 7.35 for New York. When I got to Suspension
bridge I was told that by my ticket I could not get thro’ to N York till
tomorrow at 10.30 am. I was afraid to risk missing my passage by Steamer
as roads were so blocked with snow. I bought a ticket (for Empire Express)
from Buffalo for 9.25 to N.Y. Got to N.Y. at 9.55 PM & went to Grand
Union opp Central depot . Fine day.
February Saturday 15: At New York. Went to Steamer Office and bo't my
ticket via Str. Gascoine of Companie General Transatlantique. Went to
[Keiffel & Essen] & got things left there for my order. Sailed
at noon. Beautiful day. Not many cabin passengers. Vessel roiled a good
deal at night. Did not feel at all sea sick. Got very good berth amidships.
February Sunday 16: A queer day for me. No service & could read very
little. Ran 365 miles. Wind SWest.
February Monday 17: Fine day and warm enough to sit outside all day ran
382 miles. Wind N.W. ship roiling a good deal at night.
February Tuesday 18: Fine but much colder with little snow - off the
banks of Newfoundland. Getting more settled and used to ship life. Have
not as yet felt at all sea sick. Did not sleep very well last night as
ship roiled so. It has been better to-day.
February Wednesday 19: Fine in a.m. Rain in p.m. and cooler. Ran 382
miles today comparatively calm though boat roils very much.
February Thursday 20: Beautiful day though a high wind at night also
rain. Boat roiled very much this a.m.
February Friday 21: A very high wind and a regular storm. Waves running
very high and come right over the boat. It was one of the grandest sights
I ever saw to be on deck and watch the ship in the seas that she went
through. The roiling of the boat was terrible.
February Saturday 22: A grand day with a head wind. Had a great time
at night celebrating Washington’s Birthday with the Americans on board
- had some good singing.
February Sunday 23: Sighted Scilly Is. about 7 am and [----] Pt. about
3 pm. Arrived off Havre at 9 PM and anchored for night.They took off mails
etc. Beautiful day.
February Monday 24: Arrived Havre 5 am. Started for Paris at 7.30 by
special - arrd. about noon. Went to lunch with Mr. Martin & then drove
to ‘Hotel Continental’. Went out for walk & after for walk with Mr.
Hopkins (St. Louis). Do not feel just right after the voyage.
February Tuesday 25: Went in am with Chase (Philadephia) Engaged guide
at Gails Agency & went to see M. Jules Fleury who gave me letter of
introduction to M. Gressier, Chief Engineer of Ports Chausse (Navigation)
who afterwards sent letters of introduction to several engineers. Engaged
guide at Gailes. Went up to Surren to see lock &c. Fine day.
February Wednesday 26: Called on Engineer, not in. Went to St. Denis
and walked to La Villette along the canal called Mr. Humblot (Eng’r),
not in. Went to see several old churches &c. Went to opera with Mr.
Barber. It was grand. Day fine but cool (freezing). Had guide with me
all day.
February Thursday 27: Was going to Versailles but guide did not turn
up in time. Went through Louvre Museum with Palmer & had a guide,
it was grand. In afternoon missed my way but called at Gazes office at
5 PM Called at Credit Lyonais & left my draft. Stayed in at night,
had dinner with Mr. Palmer who started for home.
February Friday 28: Went with guide to call on Mr. Rabe Engineer of Canal
but he was not in. Went down to lock at La Villette. Went to Credit Lyonnais
and got draft cashed. My visit to Paris was rather disappointed as I did
not meet any of the Eng’rs in charge of the Canals at Paris.
February Saturday 29: Bo’t ticket from Gaze’s office for Brussels. Started
for Brussels at 12.40 noon and arr’d at 6 PM Went to Grand Hotel. Belgium
is a odd place. Everything is old. The country is beautifully cultivated
and with trees everywhere. No fences & numbers of little villages.
Drizzling rain.
March Sunday 1: A miserable day at Brussels. I went to church in am &
stayed for Com’n. In PM went for walk.Wrote letters at night.
March Monday 2: Called on Minister of Foreign Affairs and presented my
letters. Called on Mr. Urban Pres. Belg’n Syndicate & he was very
kind to me. Went to lunch & he took me around to see some sights and
started for Lille at 4.30. Had guide with me all day & took him to
Lille. Went to Lille as La Louviere trip will not be ready till Friday.
March Tuesday 3: Called on M. Grison. Went to Les Fontinetts & exam’d
hydraulic lift and ret’d to Brussels. Had guide with me. Showry all day.
March Wednesday 4: Bo’t some books and called on Mr. Urban about 12.
Went to lunch with him and in the p.m. he took me out to see his Quarry
at [Quenash] which were most interesting.Got home at 7.30 PM. Showry.
March Thursday 5: Went to Liege & Serany & went over Cochenel
Societe works.
March Thursday 6: Went to La Louviere and went on lock with Mr. Kraft
& Genart. Lunched with Mr. [Mabille] at his castle with some others.
All spoke French.
March Friday 7: Went to Antwerp and Neilmon Rupel & went over cement
works. Mr. Kieffort took me. Showers.
March Sunday 8: Church in a.m. (Rue Stassart). Rain most of day. Walked
to museum in p.m.
March Monday 9: Called on Director General. Dinner & opera with Millborne.
March Tuesday 10: Went to La Louviere & saw masonry of locks no.
2 & 3 & back. Fine.
March Wednesday 11: Went to Director Generals Office with M. Urban &
received plans of masonry of Locks no. 2, 3 & 4. Went to lunch with
Mr. Urban & to visit other places with him
March Thursday 12: Arrived at Calais at 1.13 this am. Went to Le Fontinetts
ascensor & went over it, went back to calais
March Friday 13: At Calais. Called on Mr. Charguerand (Engineer) &
went over part of working of lock with him. Came back to Brussels. Fine
March Saturday 14: Read till 4 p.m. Called on Mr. Urban who took me for
drive to ‘Wood’ & to opera. Fine day.
March Sunday 15: Went to Church (Rue Stassart). In the afternoon went
out alone to the field of Waterloo. Went out on train. Beautiful day.
It would have been more interesting if I had known more about the battle.
This is Mardi Gras Day & the whole city is en fête.
March Monday 16: Went to La Louviere and went over machinery of lock.
Showry.
March Tuesday 17: Went to [Theen] Lock no. 4 and also to no. 3 &
2. Had guide with me. Beautiful day.
March Wednesday 18: Left Brussels for London. Arr’d in London 5.15 PM.
Raining. Went to Metropole Hotel.
March Thursday 19: Called at High Commissioners office this am and Mr.
Clarks office in afternoon and went to dinner with him at the camera club.
Went over Westminster Abbey at noon.
March Friday 20: Called at H. Commissioners office again. Got letter
& Sec’y went with me - Sec’y of Mechanical Eng’s Ass. In PM went over
St. Paul’s cathedral - Called on Reid (Sun Life).
March Saturday 21: Raining. Went over to see Tower & Tower bridge.
In PM went over British Museum.
March Sunday 22: Went to St. Paul’s in am & spent p.m. till 5 with
H. Corby at Victoria. Went out to Regent Park & to Westminster Abbey
at night.
March Monday 23: Went to city bank and got draft cashed & called
on Mr. Clark & he gave me a letter to Eng’s of [-----]. Went out to
Olympia with H. Corby & at night to the Empire Theater with HC.
March Tuesday 24: Left London for Northwich. Got to the wrong station
(Gt. Eastern) and bo’t my ticket before I discovered that I should have
gone to the Euston Station by the Gt. N Western. Took whole day to get
to Northwich 97:40). Went around by Lincoln, Sheffield &c. Beautiful
day. Arr’d at Northwich at 7.40.
March Wednesday 25: Drove out to Anderton 1 ½ M. very foggy. There about
an hour. Saw working of lift & employees explained working of it to
me. Did not see Eng’r but wrote him. Went to Manchester & out to Irlam
to see locks &c on M. Ship Canal. Rain. Went back to M. and left for
Liverpool at 1.30. Arr’d at Liverpool 2.15. Bot ticket and took Ship on
bd. "Majestic" for New York.
March Thursday 26: Arr’d at Queenston at 6 am. Landed at 9.40-11. Took
jaunting car for hour & drove around town. Did shopping - & started
from Queenston at 12.30. Strong West Wind & ship pitched a good deal.
Have a 960 steerage, 152 2nd cabin, & a 150 saloon. I.W.
Würtele on board.
March Friday 27: Strong West Wind. A good many passengers sick.
March Saturday 28: Not so windy. Cool.
March Sunday 29: Fine. Had service on board. Cool.
[No entry March 30]
March Tuesday 31: Had concert in evening.
April Wednesday 1: Arrived at New York at 5.50 PM Got thr’o Customs and
started by Erie RR at 7.30 for home. Fine & warmer. Had a very good
passage but had head wind almost every day. Pretty rough first two days
out and almost every day it was too cool to sit out on deck.
April Thursday 2: Arrd at Toronto at 12.15. A great many Peterboro people
at T. on acct of Bicycle meeting. Was with Fairweather in afternoon. Started
for Peterboro at 5.15 PM & arr’d at 8. Found all were at home. Rev.
M. Symonds & all the girls drove after service to see me. Cold &
windy.
April Friday 3: Good Friday. Went to service in a.m. & over to office
at 12 & again in afternoon. Cold & windy. Went for service &
choir practice.
April Saturday 4: Contractors Corry & Co. for No. 2 Sec P. &
L. called & I went over plan with them. Casement & Lilycrop from
Lakefield called re sharing of route at Lakefield. Aylmer also called
re plan for forming for locks & also re substituting concrete for
dam piers. Very cold.
April Sunday 5: In p.m. walk & tea at Marias. Milder.
April Monday 6: Easter Monday. A holiday. Office.
April Tuesday 7: Office.
April Wednesday 8: Office. Went to Lakefield at 2 PM on train. Exam’d
Scows. Drove with Greenwood down to work Sec. No. 1. Warm. Started for
Ottawa at 11.40 PM.
April Thursday 9: Arr’d at Ottawa 6 am. Went to Dept. Saw Mr. Schreiber.
He said to allow B.L & Aylmer price for sand equal to its proportion
in the concrete only allowing them 45 cents at present for sand. Went
to Minister to dinner & after to children’s entertainment & after
up to house till 11 PM. Stayed at Russell. Warm - spring day. Lillian
had a convulsion this am.
April Friday 10: Went up to H of C saw J Burnham & he got Haggart
and showed him petitions re bridge at Lakefield. Haggart gave instructions
to have it as they wanted. Started for home at 11 am. J Burnham &
McDonald on train. Fine.
April Saturday 11: Office all day. Fine. Annual Meeting of Cricket Club
at my office. Resigned Presidency & was appt'd Vice-President. Dr.
G Burnham was appt’d Pres’t.
April Sunday 12: Warm & snow going fast.
April Monday 13: Office. Worked at home in p.m. Started for Kirkfield
at 5:12 pm. Very hot - 78° in shade & snow going fast. Creeks
at their height.
April Tuesday 14: Went over work from GTR north. Work has progressed
very well notwithstanding heavy winter. Sent for Somerville but they could
not find him. Met Pope & McEachern at Lorneville. Had men on section
bring me a pumper to Lorneville. Roads very bad. Fine & wamr. Snow
almost all gone.
April Wednesday 15: Office in a.m. Worked at home, in pm at hydraulic
lock. Have old Sam L caulking ‘Lenore’ - Hot and water rising fast on
river. Ice in lakes thick yet.
April Thursday 16: Went to Rosedale to visit Kennedy. Went around by
Millbrook, T Hay with me. drove out to R from Fenelon and came back &
stayed at Fenelon. Instructed White to go on with fixing up Empire and
Hungerford to get dredge in shape. Rain at pm.
April Friday 17: Started at 8:30 am for home. Fine.
April Saturday 18: Fine.
April Sunday 19: Fine.
[No entry April 20]
April Tuesday 21: Arr’d at Ottawa. Instructed to start survey Trenton
to Frankford.
April Wednesday 22: At Ottawa. Went to Dept. to see Justice Dept. on
Innis matter. Parliament dissolves tomorrow, so all members packing up.
Beautiful day.
April Thursday 23: Arr'd home at 5 am. J. Burnham also came home. House
of Commons dissolved today. Cooler today. Pope went away today. Office
all day. Went to Hamilton's foundry in pm re Empire shaft, etc.
April Friday 24: Davis C.E. arr'd to go to Trenton & Frankford Division.
Sent word to A.J. Belcher to come to office for instructions. Gave them
both instructions regarding work.
April Saturday 25: Drove to Lakefield. Went over work at different canals
and exam’d & took photos of Hulls buildings &c. Notified him that
we would start moving his buildings immediately. Fine.
April Monday 27: Went to Trenton with Davis & Belcher to start Survey
of that division. Drove over line. Rented office from [Gross] 5.00 per
month without taxes. Cochrane at Trenton & consulted with him re men.
April Wednesday 29: Office - Drove to Lakefield in PM Took valuators
up to inspect Hulls buildings before moving. Had line strung to show the
grade of the high level bridge. Left at 4 & started for Kirkfield.
S. Hughes went up on train with me to Kirkfield. Fine.
April Thursday 30: Went over line rock cuts to end of Section with Tripp
& over other end with Fellows. Bonding houses & derricks well
under way - started for home at 4 pm. (McK) Fine.
May Friday 1: Contractor for No. 2 Sec. P & L called & went over
line. Saw hi in pm. & went over the land plan with him. Had children’s
party - children about 50 there. Fine.
May Saturday 2: Office 11-5. J. Clark called re flooding. Played cricket
5:30 to 6. Worked at home. Showers at night.
May Sunday 3: Fine.
May Monday 4: Office. Went to Laekfield in pm. & drove home. Showery.
Contractors clearing at No. 1. Showed McCarty where to move Hulls buildings.
May Tuesday 5: I find I cannot work at office without constant interruption
so I have been for sometime working at my office in my own house. Fine.
Joe Young started fixing up engine in ‘Lenore’.
May Wednesday 6: T.A. Hay working at my house as I want to see work he
is doing. Worked at home till 5. Office 9-11. Fine. Empire was out today
for trial run at Fenelon.
May Thursday 7: Office. Started for Ottawa at 11:42 pm. J.W. Hickman
arrived to go on Simcoe [Genrart] Bay section.
May Friday 8: At Ottawa. Went to dinner with Mr. Schreiber. Started for
home at 10:30 pm.
May Saturday 9: Arr'd. home at 5 am. Office.
May Sunday 10: Fine. Started for Montreal at 11:25 pm.
May Monday 11: Arr’d Montreal at 7.20 am. Went to see Mr. Hays &
Hotson of GT Ry re Substitution of Auburn fixed bridge for swing.. J Badgley
came to lunch with me at Windsor. Went up to see Mrs. Grant & out
on harbour works with Mr. Kennedy & out to Vaudrei with Gaele &
home at night. Very warm.
May Tuesday 12: Arr'd home at 5 am. Mr. Spence, leveller for Sec. No.
2 P & L, arrived this morning to start work. Also men from Keene &
Norwood. Office. Drove on line in evening. Fine.
May Wednesday 13: Went to Severn and over mouth of Severn with Hickman.
They have not yet started but start tomorrow. Went to Kirkfield. Fine.
J Corry cont’r for Sec. 2 P & L arrived this am.
May Thursday 14: Went over upper part of line with Tripp. Drove to east
end of line with Fellows. Sailed across lake to Rosedale to visit Kennedy.
Went on Empire to Fenelon & on to Lindsay & home. Fine
May Friday 15: Office. Fine.
May Saturday 16: Went to Chisholms, exam’d dam and on to Trenton. Met
Belcher & Davis at Frankford. Went home. Fine.
May Sunday 17: Terribly windy. Went to Col. Pooles funeral.
May Monday 18: Office. Drove to Lakefield at 4 pm. Saw Mrs. Chrowe &
J H Davis & Davis refused to get out of his premises. Allice &
G Meade went up with me. Office - 11.
May Tuesday 19: Office. Corry and his foreman Wade arrived and went over
their section. They called in afternoon & asked dumping material along
lake reach on sides. Did not give them any definite reply. Office - 11.
May Wednesday 20: Fine. Office - 10pm. Corry called. J.H. Davis called
and agreed to go off if I gave him 50.00 and he to move the buildings
& everything off the lot when required. I to give him 2 mos. notice
to quite his shop which is to stand for a time.
May Thursday 21: Office. Contractor (Corry & Laverdure) for Sec.
No. 2 P & L. started work at lake this afternoon. Drove down at 5
pm (west) Office till 11 pm.
May Friday 22: Office. Drove done to work No. 2 Sec. in evening. Was
taking horse home & met Spence & asked him if I could drive his
wife over to see house next door & I did. Did not encourage him to
take house.
May Saturday 23: Office in am. Drove (Gibbs) to Lakefield. Paid Walters
(Contractor for Scows) men for April according to instructions. Called
at Lock No. 4. Office 10 pm.
May Sunday 24: Fine. 13th Batt. Belleville here today.
May Monday 25: Showry in am. Terrible thunder storm at night. Drove down
to lake to see Sec. 2. Contractors have quite a large force on today with
which scrapers. Drove children over to office to see parade of volunteers.
Office till 4. Drove down to [---] [---] Went to dinner of officers at
Huffman House & after down to Camp.
May Tuesday 26: Office in am. Walters called. Drove dove Sec. 2. Met
Road Master CP Ry & went over proposal to widen embankment with which
he was satisfied. Fine.
May Wednesday 27: Mr. [Gobiel] Dep. Min. Pub. Wks. Smith & Butler
arrived to go over works to examine works const’d for lumbermen. Drove
(Fitz) to Lak’d & took Empire & went to Burleigh. Spent evening
at Boyd’s. Beautiful day.
May Thursday 28: Started at 6:45 & went to Fenelon and then on to
Lindsay & train home. Dinner at Oriental. Office & down (J) to
Sec. 2 Saw Mathews, Corry & Ross (CP Rly.) Office 10 pn. Showry all
day.
May Friday 29: Office am. Went to Lak'd. Saw Walters & got him to
endorse cheques. He has dump scow about finished. Drove home & went
down to Sec. 2. Cold & showry all day.
May Saturday 30: Office in am. Walters called & got cheques for 4
men. Sorry I gave them to him. Went down to Sec. 2 in p.m. Fine.
May Sunday 31: Fine. R.Z. Rogers called p.m. Hickey met me at office
at 8:30 p.m. re Craig's cheque which Walters has. Supper at Mrs. Orde's.
June Monday 1: Went to Severn Bridge to visit Hickman. Paddled up river
to meet him at Wasdell's Falls. Met S. Hughes at Blackwater. Fine.
June Tuesday 2: Office. Omitted trip to Trenton on May 16th.
June Wednesday 3: Drove to Sec. 2 (W) C.S. Desola came to see me &
asked for dimensions &c of lift lock. Took him for a drive after tea.
Went to hear Dr. Montague speak. Teamsters on Canal struck for higher
wages.
June Thursday 4: Drove (J) to Lak’d at noon to locate lock No. 1. Valuators
at Lak’d also re Irwin’s & Strickland’s. Very warm. Drove down to
Sec. 2 after tea. C Wallace spoke here to-night. Allan & Bessie arrived
this a.m. from Toronto to stay for summer. Office 11:00.
June Friday 5: Office. Went to Sec. 2 in p.m. Memorial service at St.
Lukes in [no further entry].
June Saturday 6: At Ottawa. Saw Mr. S. re bridge structures &c. Went
to lunch with him. Very hot. Saw Baumgarten re [----]. Spent evening with
Mothersill. Started for home at 10:30.
June Sunday 7: Rain at night very heavy.
June Monday 8: Office. Showery. Went to canal. Went over work at about
[----] with Wade. Wade said teams could not be worked for less than 2.50.
Office 11 p.m.
June Tuesday 9: Office. Drove to canal Sec. 2. Started for Rosedale at
12. Went to Fenelon by train & Emp to Rosedale. S. Hughes on train.
Rain hard. Kennedy at Lindsay. Slept on boat.
June Wednesday 10: Sailed over to section. Went over work being done
as far at S end of Big Cut. Saw Dennon with Fellows re road work on Xth
& Victoria & Portage R . Dennon objected to depositing pit material
on Portage Road. McK’s rig met me at lake (RZ Rogers) with it. Went home
via Lorneville. Fine & cool.
June Thursday 11: Office. Hertzberg (CP Ry emp.) came & we went over
culvert to be built. Went over Sec. 2 in p.m. & up to Curtis' sand
pit after tea. Fine & cool.
June Friday 12: Drove (W) to Bridge'th & took Emp to Bob'n and then
to Buckhorn & Burleigh. Supper at B. Met 4 chaps Mercer,Kingan &c.
at B. & took them down in Emp. to Lake'd. Roy with me. Droce (C) home.
Office.
June Saturday 13: Went to work Sec. 2. Larmer, Ross etc here today. Drove
(I) to Lake'd in p.m. and after tea to Sec. 2. S. Hughes here at nt. Warm
& showers.
June Sunday 14: Very warm. started to Montreal at 11:35 p.m.
June Monday 15: Arrd in Montreal at 7.20. Went to Windsor Hotel. Jamison
went down in train with me. Went to see Mr. Hobson re Auburn Bridge. He
approved of plans. Went to lunch with DeSola. Started for Ottawa at 4:15.
Arr'd at Ottawa 8 p.m.
June Tuesday 16: Went to Dept. & saw Mr. S. re GHG matter &c.
At Dept. all day. Rode out on wheel with Mothersill to experimental farm.
Went to dinner with Mothersill & started for home at 10:35. Very warm.
June Wednesday 17: Office. Very warm. Went to Sec. 2 & after drove
(J) out to Bridgenorth with wife & boys to cottage.
June Thursday 18: Drove to Sec. 2 & up to Locks Sec. 1. Sir Chas.
Tupper here tonight and we gave him a tremendous reception in Drill Shed.
The procession was magnificent. Wagons & Scrapers from Canal were
in procession. Very hot.
June Friday 19: Office. Went to Sec. 2 Ptbo.
June Saturday 20: Office. Great excitement over elctions. Helped E.A.
Peck &ct in arranging for teams &ct for elections.
June Sunday 21: Warm.
June Monday 22: Great excitement over elections. Went down to Kendry’s
Committee rooms with the Birdsalls. Warm.
June Tuesday 23: Elections (Dominion) Day. Drove to Bridgenorth &
voted & voted in Ashburnham and went to Hastings at 1pm & voted
there & home by Norwood. Great excitement - Kendry & Lang elected
for Peterboro’s but Sir Chas. Tupper’s gov’t was defeated.
June Wednesday 24: Took more part in this election than I should and
will in future take no part - Started for Ottawa at 11:35 pm. Kendry &
Carnagie on train.
June Thursday 25: At Ottawa. Saw Mr. Schreiber. Got salary increased
to $3000. if it will do me much good. Feel pretty blue. Started for home
at 10:35.
June Friday 26: Office. Started for Kirkfield at 5 p.m. Rev. W.C. Bradshaw
died today in Denver and his body was taken to Winnipeg.
June Saturday 27: Went over work with Fellows, over Victoria & 10th
Con. Rd. Ordered Laidlaw to inspect timber. Met McLaughlan on train. Warm.
Started for home at 8 a.m. Drove to Lak'd. & went over work with Greenwood.
Had Mina & children with me.
June Sunday 28: Rev. M. Symonds mentioned Rev. W.C. Bradshaw’s death
in church and organ played Dead March [---] & appropriate hymns.
[No entries June 29 - June 30]
July Wednesday 1: Moved out to Chemong Park today for summer. Baker took
out two loads. Very warm. No celebration here, at office in p.m. Mina
and I drove out in pm.
July Thursday 2: Drove to town. Went over works. Office.
July Friday 3: Drove in to town. Office.
July Saturday 4: Drove to town. Drove over work Sec. @ P & L - lake
to Norwood road.
July Sunday 5: Drove to town & went to church. Went to dinner at
James' & drove out at 2 pm.
July Monday 6: Rained hard & cool. Drove to town. Office.
July Tuesday 7: Office. Drove to Nassau with Greenwood to see if we could
get an alternative line at Nassau. Drove to lake. Fellows came down to
see me tonight re estimate.
July Wednesday 8: Drove to town. Office in am. Drove over canal from
lake to Lakefield. Fellows with me. Drove to town and out to Chemong.
Mina in town with me. Warm.
July Thursday 9: Went to Lindsay & took Empire for Rosedale. McLaughlan
R. went with me to see works. Took him back to Lindsay and went on "Emp"
to Bridgenorth where I got at 11 p.m. Rain at night.
July Friday 10: Office. Drove over work Sec. 2. Went out to lake.
July Saturday 11: Drove in to town. Drove to find Mr. Schreiber’s private
car. He has a Mrs. and Miss Stewart with him. We drove over work as far
as Warsaw road. Greenwood with us. Went to lunch on car. Drove to Lak'd
and over Sec. 1. Took ‘Empire’ at 4 PM & ran to Bobcaygeon. M M. Boyd
met us and took us all to his house.
July Sunday 12: Started from Bobcaygeon on ‘Emp’ at 10.30 am. Arr'd at
Rosedale at 2 PM Had dinner and took [Robson's] little yacht to Laidlaws.
Pretty rough going over. Mr. S. & party stayed at Fellows & I
stayed at Laidlaws. Fine day.
July Monday 13: Drove over work from Balsam Lake to end of Sec. 1 with
Mr. Schreiber, Fellows, Dennon & G. Laidlaw. Mr. Schreiber was very
pleased with work. Gave instructions to have all the Victoria & Xth
Con. roads gravelled. Dinner at Kirkfield and drove to Lorneville and
took Mrs. S's car for Blackwater. Mr. S. got message to go to Ottawa.
Mr. S. came on to Peterboro & I stayed with him till he went.. Stayed
in town.
July Tuesday 14: Office. Went over work with Greenwood in p.m. Drove
out to lake. Dinner & breakfast at C’s. Fine but hot. New Cabinet
(Laurier ) announced in today’s papers.
July Wednesday 15: Office. Drove over work Sec. 2 in pm. Fine.
July Thursday 16: Office. Drove down to Sec. 2 P & L at entrance.
Thompson inspector steamboats, inspecting boiler of my yacht. Took Allan
R. up to cottage. Fine & cool. Rec’d telegram to get plans &ct
ready Sec. 2, S & B
July Friday 17: Office. Very [busy] at plans & specifications Sec.
2, S & B. Dinner at C’s. Drove up to lake. Boyds yacht ran on island
at Bridgenorth. Fine.
July Saturday 18: Busy at specifications & plans Sec. 2, S &
B. Drove out to lake. Fine.
July Sunday 19: At lake. Service at 4 pm. Cloudy & rain at night.
July Monday 20: Office. Busy with specifications & plans Sec. 2,
S & B. Fine but hot. Gave J. Burnham $300. cash for which he gave
me note endorsed.
July Tuesday 21: Office. Drove over line in pm. Out to lake.
July Wednesday 22: Busy in office getting plans & specifications
ready fro Sec. S & B. Went out to lake.
July Thursday 23: Drove Donelly, hull inspector, to Lak’d to examine
house boat. Went over work at Lak’d and on to Pet’. Exam’d work. Office
till 5. Drove out to Lake. Mina & the rest of the family came in from
Lake as Heber had bad cold & I was going away. Lillian had a convulsion
this am. Sunday S. picnic. Went to Ottawa.
July Friday 24: Arrd at Ottawa with Specifications Sec. S & B. Lunch
with Mr. Schreiber. Went out to Wakefield with Würtele. Remained
over in order to see Justice with Pope re Nassau purchase.
July Saturday 25: Arr'd in Ottawa from Wakefield. Went to see Justice
with Pope but there was no one to give us the information. Went to lunch
with Onderdonk & down to cricket match. Started for home. Very warm.
July Sunday 26: Arr'd home. Rev. W.C. Allen here for tea. Over to office
& sent some plans off.
July Monday 27: Office.
July Tuesday 28: Started for Severn. Took boys with me. Hickman met me
at Severn Br. Took tug for Sparrow L. rapids & paddled to McDonald’s
rapids. Exam'd rapids. Hot.
July Wednesday 29: Paddled on to Big Chute. Tug met us (H & myself)
at B Chute & took us to Port Severn & another tug (W.L. Coy) met
us there & took us to Waubashene. Left boys at camp for few days.
Severn is a beautiful river & well adapted for canal purposes. Ragged
rapids will be the most difficult part. Came home.
July Thursday 30: Office in am. Drove over Sec. 2 in pm. with Greenwood.
G. came to supper with me. Office till 10pm.
July Friday 31: Office. Drove over line with G. in am. In PM T Walters
called re renting dredge. Drove over line with him. Fine.
August Saturday 1: Office. Drove to Lak'd in pm. H. Orde with me.Went
over work at Lak'd lock 2, 4, & 5. Light rain in pm. Office till 11:20.
Got out estimate for Sec. 2, S & B & Rosedale work.
August Sunday 2: Fine & hot. Tea at J. [----].
August Monday 3: Saw JB re exchanging house in Douro St. for my house
on Stewart St. Saw JB McWilliams re appointments on canal. Started for
Lindsay at 12.10. Saw H. Walters re his contract claim. Went on to Kirkfield.
Fellows met me at office. Fine day. Hot.
August Tuesday 4: Went over work with Fellows from end of Sec. to B.
Lake. Met Dennon, talked re Boundary Road & IX con. [----] Drove over
Sec. 2. Took D. Conroy with me to bring back my horse. Went home from
Gamebridge. Met Barron on train, was not struck very much with his friendship.
A terribly warm day.
August Wednesday 5: Office am. Drove Lak'd, left Greenwood at lock 4.
Saw D. re houseboat cleaning up. Called at lock 4 for G. . Con'r washing
dirt off bottom of lock. Went to piano party at Calcutt's. Started for
Ottawa at 11:35 pm re Nassau property purchase. Very warm.
August Thursday 6: At Ottawa. Went over to see Dept. Min. re Nassau property.
Pope McEachern, Strickland & Mr. Schreiber there. Discussed whole
case. Pope went home at 6 pm. Went out to West End Park in evening with
H Strickland. Very hot. Met Orderdonk.
August Friday 7: Was going home this am but missed train. There was a
misunderstanding as to who should notify Nassau people so they are not
here. At Dept all day. Very warm. Started for home at night. Dennon on
train.
August Saturday 8: Arr'd home at 5 am. Went to Lindsay at noon to see
McHugh & Barron. Think they are satisfactory for me. Home at night.
Little rain. Very hot.
August Sunday 9: One of the hottest days I ever remember. Went to supper
after church at Mrs. Ordes. Rev. McGinnis & Fairbairns there. Sent
word from Young’s Point to Empire to meet Greenwood & Hon. H Jolly
at Sandy Bay tomorrow.
August Monday 10: Office. Went down to Sec. 2 at Maria St. & up to
cutout. Saw H. Jolly, called at office at night on his way down. He seemed
very much pleased with trip. M. Witton called also.
August Tuesday 11: Office in am. Drove over Sec. 2 above Nassau R. &
on to lock 4 where they had just started putting in concrete [----] at
lower end of lock. Terribly hot
August Wednesday 12: Went to Lak’d with Mr. Witton and on to Bob’n. Mr.
W. exam’d locks at Burleigh & Buckhorn & Bob'n. Boys with me.
Very hot. Drove up to see Kennedy who is sick & out to farm to see
W. Boyd. Boys stayed on boat. Harry & George with me.
August Thursday 13: Started at 9 am from Bob’n for Fenelon with W. Witton.
Left Fenelon 1 pm. Arr’d Bridg’h 5.30. Drove (F) team here. Mina &
children (girls) went to Jubilee for a week. At office 9-10. Spent evening
with Mr Witton. Very hot.
August Friday 14: Harry & George went down to Jubilee to camp. Office
office[sic] till 10. Very warm.
August Saturday 15: Office. Mr. Lang M.P. called & had a talk re
appointments & canal in general. Drove to locks (L) and went down
to Jubilee on N. Star. May C. went down. Mina & children at Jubilee.
Very warm. Thunder storm at night.
August Sunday 16: Cooler. At Jubilee.
August Monday 17: Drove up (L) from Jubilee Pt. Office.
August Tuesday 18: Went Kirkfield. Got there at 2pm. Went over work with
Fellows. Instructed Dennon to go on with permanent road from Boundary
to III Con. and not to deposit on sides of canal on [----]. Drove to Gamebridge
& took train for Orillia. Fine.
August Wednesday 19: Took team & drove over part of line from Couchiching
Lake to Georgian Bay. Got back to Orillia at 3 & came on home. Met
Ed & Emily at Orillia. Fine.
August Thursday 20: Drove over line Norwood R. to Dam No. 3 & exam’d
bottom Dam 3 - with Greenwood. After dinner drove to Maria St. bridge.
Drove to Jubilee Pt. took Add C. with me. Civic Holiday and no work in
office. Fine. Stayed at Jubilee.
August Friday 21: Drove (L) up from Jubilee. Edna with me. Drove to Norwood
Rd. bridge & north. They commenced putting in concrete on Norwood
Bridge yesterday. Fine.
August Saturday 22: Drove (L) to Sec. 1 on out to see CP Ry track. Instructed
Mc C what to do with track. After dinner went to Lak’d. Saw Mr. Casement
& others re choice of bridge, high level or swing. Mcc said if high
level was put there, there would be very great dissatisfaction.
August Sunday 23: Rained last night. Fine.
August Monday 24: Office.
August Tuesday 25: Desola Agent for Cocherell Soc. here with general
plan of Hydraulic Lift. Advised him not to go on with further plans
till the decision of the Minister was obtained. Drove over Sec. 2 in am.
Office. After tea drove over dam 3 & locks 4 & 5 with Desola.
Started for Ottawa at 11.35. Meeting for Memorial for Rev. W. Bradshaw.
August Wednesday 26: At Ottawa re Nassau property matter. Met Mr. Cox,
Lash & Walker with Dept. Min. Justice. Decided to have agreement totake
over claim & compensation to be fixed afterwards. Saw Lang - went
up to House at night. Drove down at 6 PM to see Mr. Schreiber with Mr.
Lash re agreement drawn. Started for home.
August Thursday 27: Arrd home 5 am. After tea drove up to lock 4 (I)
Mr G. Young, Trenton, was here to meet Mr. Carnagie re agitation for Trent
Canal. Drove him to Electric works and to CccP Ry at 11:20. Spent evening
at Emily Burham’s.
August Friday 28: Went to Kirkfield. Drove from Lorn'e (C) Went over
work from 8th to lake. Went over new road division. Very good. Saw Dennon
at lake. Instructed him to put guard gate where pump well is at present
about 17. Fine. Went home at night.
August Saturday 29: Went to Hamilton’s foundry with T. Hay re opening
gear for lock gates. Went to lock 4. Saw first of concrete facing on lift
wall was not very good. Went up to dam no. 3 (L). Office 5. Drove (W)
up to Sec. 2, Embankment & after tea down to Maria St. Bridge. Fine.
August Sunday 30: Rain in afternoon.
August Monday 31: Went to Lak'd on train in am. Went over work there
with Greenwood. Drove (L.) home & inspected dam (No. 3) and No. 4
lock. Started for Severn at 5: 12. Stayed at Waubashene over night. Fine.
September Tuesday 1: Took tug Waubashene to Pt. Severn & another
tug Pt. Severn to Big Chute. Met Hickman at Big Chute when they had just
pitched Camp. Looked over ground at Big C. & instructed H. to get
through work in 8 or 10 days. Started for home at 1 PM & took tugs
for W. Hickman & man came down to W. Arr'd home at 9 pm. Fine.
September Wednesday 2: Office. Drove (W) up to Nassau dam to examine
it. Instructed men to rip up plank so we can examine it. A J Belcher started
to make survey of dam. Office till 1 pm. Went to Maria's to a little party
for Hedley. Fine.
September Thursday 3: Drove (W) up at 11 to examine Nassau dam with Greenwood.
Did not arrive at any decision. Drove (L.. & W.) over Sec. 2 &
up to locks 5 & 4 & up to dam No. 3. Rev. C. Hedley with me. Office
10:30. Rain in am. Water raised [----] Nassau tonight again.
September Friday 4: Office. Getting out annual report. Drove (F) to Auburn
rly. bridge & over Sec. 2. T. Hay with me. Office till 9 pm.
September Saturday 5: Office all day. Did not go to office after tea.
Raining most of day & tonight.
September Sunday 6: Fine. Went up to Sophia's in afternoon with her.
September Monday 7: Labor Day. Hot day. Went to office at 10 pm [sic].
Kivas Tully came up and stay [sic] in office all morning. In pm drove
over work from lake to no. 3 dam. E. Maynard with me. Fine. Office 10pm.
September Tuesday 8: Office. Drove to Lakefield at 4 pm. Took plan of
swing bridge at Lak'd. Showed Casement plan of swing. Eddie & Emily
& child (Rita) arrived from Toronto to stay for week. Fine.
September Wednesday 9: Mina & I went to Toronto to Exhibition, took
Harry & George. Very good show (circus part) Add, Mag & E. Maynard
also went up. Fine day.
September Thursday 10: Arrd at Ottawa at Dept all day. Went principally
to meet Minister & go over Hydraulilc lock with him but he was too
busy all day.
September Friday 11: At Dept all day. Did not see much of Mr. Schreiber
as he was so busy. Would liked to have seen the Minister but he was so
busy. Went to tea with Sam Hughes. He told me that he was told certain
things I had said. Much troubled over it. Started for home 10 pm. Onderdonk
on train. Very hot.
September Saturday 12: Arr'd home from Ottawa 5 am. Office till 4. Drove
up to Nassau dam to try & decide what to do. Eddie R. with me. Drove
over Section from Nassau to Lake. Home at 7. Emily & Ed spending day
with us. Fine. Office 10 pm. Ed came down to office with me. [---] arr'd
home from Severn R. survey.
September Sunday 13: Warm.
September Monday 14: Busy all day at office till 11 pm. Fine.
September Thursday 15: Office in am. In pm took ‘Lenore’ and ran down
the river and had tea & back by 9. Ed & Emily, Mr & Mrs E.
Peck, Hetty, Edith B. Hubert Orde, Marjorie R. & Kathleen & Alice
Meade & Mina, Harry & George. Office 9:15 till 11.
September Wednesday 16: Office till 6 & till 10:30 pm. Fine. Busy
at Nassau dam plan.
September Thursday 17: Office. Drove (J) to Maria St. bridge & entrance
to lock. In pm drove (J) to Section from Norwood road to Auburn. Fine.
Card party at Calcutts.
September Friday 18: Drove (J) up to Auburn bridge. Pumping out second
caisson on pier No. 3. Not pumps enough. Eddie & Emily & family
left for Toronto at noon. Went down river on "City of Peterboro"
to what was called the Directors excursion. Everybody paid. Rain at night.
Office 9:30 - 10:30.
September Saturday 19: Raining all day - no work on canal. Office. Drove
up to lock 5 & dam no. 3. M. Pousette with me. Choir practice at night.
Very windy at night.
September Sunday 20: Beautiful day. Cooler. Office at night. Sent progress
Estimates for Sec. 1 & 2 P & L off.
September Monday 21: Went to Auburn bridge in am. They had got water
down & clearing to rock. There would have been no trouble if they
had had their caisson large enough & pumping plant sufficient. Mitchell
(GT Ry) Inspector agreed to this as well as Aldridge Hay. Went to Maria
St. bridge & in pm over Sec. 2 & Sec. 1 to Lak’d. Drove all to
Bridgenorth. Mina with me. Fine. Office 10:35.
September Tuesday 22: Raining in am. Went to Kirkfield. Drove (C) from
Lorneville. Went over work from VIII Con. to Sta 57. Exam’d new road deviation
to VIII Con. Fine in pm but very cool.
September Wednesday 23: Office 10:30. Drove up (W) to Auburn bridge and
on to No. 4. Exam’d the trenches for dam at North end & on to No.
3. Exam’d trench for concrete at North end but it was only just blasted
& not cleaned out. RZ Rogers with me. Drove down to Fair. & on
to work at Maria St. Office 10:15.
September Thursday 24: Office 4 pm. Drove (L) from L. Lake to Nassau.
Wm. Allan, Rathburn’s cement man, was here this am. Said that he was going
to order ‘Condor’ brand cement in place of ‘Owen Sound’. Went to choir
practice & decorating church. Fine.
September Friday 25: Office all day. Owen Sound Cement (Lucas & Sec’y)
here this am evidently fishing for something. Gave them no satisfaction.
Harvest Festival at St. Lukes.
September Saturday 26: Office. Drove (W.) in am to Maria St. & Norwood
& Warsaw Rds. After dinner drove up to lock & dam no. 4 &
3. Back at 6. Showers. Office 10:30 pm. S. Hughes called at night.
September Sunday 27: Fine.
September Monday 28: Office - 5. Drove (J) to Maria St. and Norwood &
Warsaw Road. Mrs. Sootheran came by train 5:12 pm. Drove her & Mina
by locks on way to canal.
September Tuesday 29: L. Shannon, Acct. R & C, arr'd to pay men who
worked on scows. Went to Port Hope to pay Hickey & Cray. Drove (L)
to Lakefield to pay men there. Poured rain at night. S. went home. I went
over to Mrs. Orde's at 11 pm.
September Wednesday 30: Office all day. Showers. Mrs. Sootheran went
home this pm. Office 10:30 pm.
October Thursday 1: Office. Started for Kirkfield at 5:12 pm. McLaughlin
went up from Lindsay with me.
October Friday 2: Went over work with Fellows. Engaged Bethune to do
blasting at Rosedale. Instructed Fellows to have X Con. deviation filled
in. Spoke to Laidlaw re dispensing with his Services. Started for home
via Lorneville at 4 pm. Arr'd home at 9 pm. Office 10. ‘Condor’ &
Rathburn’s agents here today.
October Saturday 3: Drove(L) to Nassau to look over work there. Greenwood
there also Wade & Corry. Went on up to Lakefield & visited work
there & No. 2, 3 & 4. Visited Auburn bridge this am. Met Greenwood
there. Contrators finished stone work of bridge GT Ry today. Office 11.
October Sunday 4: Fine. Davis over to dinner.
October Monday 5: Office. Went up to Nassau at 4.45 to look at dam which
was unwatered, At night there was a few at the house playing cards &c
(the Spences, C’s &c). Raw day.
October Tuesday 6: Started at 8:25 for Rosedale.Empire met me at Lindsay.
Went to Rosedale at 1. Instructed Kennedy & Bethune what to do. Started
at 4 pm for Bob'n. Slept on boat. Rained all night. Went to Mr. Boyd's
for a while.
October Wednesday 7: Left Bob'n at 7:20. Cold & raw, raining showers.
Arr'd Pet'o at 10:10. Douglas called. Went over bridges with him. In pm
drove over Sec. 2 & as far as lock 4. D. with me. Office 10 pm.
October Thursday 8: Office - 4 pm. Drove (L) to Nassau Road & Auburn
dam. Noticed no inspector on earthwork of dam. Spoke to Quinn who has
been acting as concrete inspector for foundations at Warsaw road bridge
re [----] coming as concrete inspector.
October Friday 9: Lillian had a convulsion at 4 am only one & not
so very bad. She passed nothing but indigested apples. Office till 4.
Drove (L) to entrance piers at L Lake & up as far as Warsaw Rd. First
part of forming taken off of Norwood Rd. It does not look very well. Went
to Guy Minstrels at night.
October Saturday 10: Office 10:30. Drove (L) up to Nassau & examin'd
dam & on up to locks 4 & 3. Drove to Norwood Rd. bridge at 5:30
pm. Fine.
October Sunday 11: Beautiful day. Rev. Cannon McNab preached at night.
October Monday 12: Drove (L) to Nassau to examine old dam which is pretty
well laid bare. Took photos of it. Drove (W) over line from Lake to Auburn.
Dull day. Office till 10; Went to Bd of Trade meeting re entertaining
Minister R & C.
October Tuesday 13: Office. Drove (F) over line from lake to Nassau.
Reprimanded Foreman at Maria St. bridge for insubordination. Office at
night. Fine.
October Wednesday 14: Office in am. Went to Hastings. Rowed over channel
from H to Humphries Bar & sounded it. Belcher (A) at work sounding.
Home at 8:30. Went to Football Meeting - was elected President. Beautiful
day. Office 11 pm.
October Thursday 15: Office. Went out on line in pm. Started for Ottawa
at 11:35 pm.
October Friday 16: Arrived in Ottawa in am in answer to message from
M. Schreiber re building CP Ry Bridge & deviation at Ashburnham. At
Dept all day & with Balderson at night. Cold & raw. Started for
home at 10:35.
October Saturday 17: Hugh Ryan Contractor, called on me in am. Went down
to electric works with him& took him over works lake to Auburn &
to lunch with him. Drove him up to look at Nassau dam & up to lock
4. Went to football match. Went down with choir to Mrs. Nelsons in evening.
Snowed at 3 inches. Ground covered with snow.
[No entry October 18]
October Monday 19: Drove (L) to entrance piers L Lake in am. Found fault
with them. After dinner went up to Nassau & exam'd foundation of dam.
Decided to build new dam above present. Up to Lock 4. Office -10. Started
for Montreal at 11:35. Hard frost last night.
October Tuesday 20: At Montreal. Called to see CP Ry re raising &
deviation at crossing of Canal on Ashb’n. Called also on G.T. Ry re deviation
at Nassau. Went to McGill sports in PM Harold B. came to dinner with me
at ‘Windsor.’ Called to see J Badgley. Started for home at 9 pm. Rain
in am. Fine.
October Wednesday 21: Drove (L team) over line with Mr. Lang and his
brother=in-law (Shear) from Ashb'm to Lak'd. Dinner at Lak'f. Gave instructions
re filling in wharf. Office 10:30 pm. Fine. Snow showers. Mina took to
bed this am with rheumatism.
October Thursday 22: Office all day - till ___. Fine.
October Friday 23: Drove (L) out to Norwood R bridge where scaffolding
had fallen and one man hurt badly. In pm drove (W) from Lake to lock 4,
Cold. Choir practice 9. Office 11 pm.
October Saturday 24: Office all day till 4. Mr. T. Ridout called. Drove
(L) him over work to Auburn. Office till 10:45. Snow & shine all day.
Cold.
October Sunday 25: Fine. Planing Mill & Pump factory on Dickson Company
raceway burnt down at 6 p.m. Did not go to service.
October Monday 26: Office all day.
October Tuesday 27: Office. Made arrangements for meeting Minister R
& C who is coming to make trip over route of T. Canal. Fine.
October Wednesday 28: Met Mr. Schreiber & Minister R & C at their
car on CP Ry. Minister & Mr. S & I drove over line to Lak’d. Took
small steam boat to Youngs Pt. where we took ‘Esturion’ which Mr. Boyd
had sent & went to Bridgenorth & drove to Peterboro. Banquet at
night & drove out to Bridgenorth & stayed there. Big crowd at
Banquet & on trip.
October Thursday 29: Started at 6 am with Minister & party about
25 by ‘Esturion’ from Bridgenorth. Dull in a.m. & foggy. Arr’d at
Bob’n at 9.30 & Council met Min’r, M Boyd gave us his yacht &
provided everything. Most sumptuous. Ran us to Fenelon where Lindsay Council
met us & on to Rosedale. Steam punt took us across B. Lake & team
met us at Fort. Drove over work but they would not stop at Kirkfield.
Car met us at Gamebridge & on to Peterboro & on to Ottawa.
October Friday 30: Office. Drove (L) to Bridgenorth with Hay & met
Douglas there re C P Ry. bridge. Drove down to lake. Ooured rain all am.
Office 8:30. Went to hear Faust.
October Saturday 31: Drove (L) to Norwood R. Exam'd cement & found
it damaged. Wired Rathburn Coy. Drove again in pm. Saw McWilliams re a
foreman for repairs. Office 11 pm. C & L asked for drainage thr’o
GTR at Nassau. I sent their appli’n to GT Ry.
November Sunday 1: Fine.
November Monday 2: Drove (L) to Nassau re dam bottom. G. said it was
rock. Up to no. 5. Started for Kirkfield at 5:12 pm. Saw Dennon at the
office re guard gates. Drove this am down to pier and showed McGregor
what to do. He is to start work tomorrow.
November Tuesday 3: Drove over line from end of Sec. Ex and positions
for guard gates & weir. Look at engine (hoisting). Lunch with Fellows.
McMahon's steam punt met me & went over to Rosedale & exam'd work.
Empire ran me to Bob'n. Stayed at hotel. Beautiful day.
November Wednesday 4: Went to breakfast with M. Boyd. Exam'd work. Drove
(G) home, arr'd at 3 pm. Rained in pm. Office 10 pm.
November Thursday 5: Office. Heavy showers all day.
November Friday 6: Office in am. Drove (L) from Lake to Lock 4. A regular
gale with sleet & rain. Bible class - 9. Office 10:20. Corry in tonight.
November Saturday 7: Office. Drove (L) down to visit men at 1st pier
in lake. Not very satisfactory. Went to Hastings to visit Gordon. Very
satisfactory as far as I could see. Fine day & mild. McGregor came
to office at night. Office 11 pm.
November Sunday 8: Fine. Did not go to church at night.
November Monday 9: Fine. Office. Went to Chisholms Rps. to try &
decide about what kind of dam to put in. Cold. Office 10 pm.
November Tuesday 10: Office. Out on line (L) & down ___.
November Wednesday 11: Started to drive (L) at 10 am for Bridgenorth
(Hill, Allen & A. Stevenson with me) Took Empire for Burleigh. Had
a short run for deer at Buckhorn. Went on to Burleigh & stayed on
houseboat.
November Thursday 12: Laid out work for landing pier at landing pier
above swing bridge at Burleigh with Hales. Made plan, dev'd section of
pier. Ran ‘Empire’ up to Buckhorn & exam’d work going on there. Ran
back to Burleigh, ordered timber for pier from Young.
November Friday 13: Examining work at landing pier with Hales in am.
Started for home with "Empire" to Bridgenorth. Drove (L) [---]
to town. Rainy, showers, mild.
November Saturday 14: Office till 3 pm. Drove (L) over line, lake to
Warsaw Rd. Drove Mr. Symonds up to hospital. Mild.
November Sunday 15: Fine & warm.
November Monday 16: Office. Went to Hastings to Mr. Fowlds funeral and
to visit Gordon. Beautiful day.
November Tuesday 17: Drove (L) along line from Norwood Road to Lak'd.
Exam'd cut-off at No. 3 dam. Dinner at Lak'd. Office 10 pm. Started for
Ottawa at 11:35 pm.
November Wednesday 18: At Dept all day re getting Hall on work seizure
&c. S. Hughes M.P. there. Raining, showery.
November Thursday 19: Arr’d home from Ottawa at 5 am. Drove (L) to Hamilton’s
re hoisting engine & to locks with McGregor foreman to show him what
to do repairs at glance pier. Office 3. Drove (L) to Nassau & was
going up to Dam 3 but found pump was not ready. Very cold & raw. Went
to card party at E. Bradburns.
November Friday 20: Fine. Office. Went to dance at Huffman House. Very
nice. Fine & cool.
November Saturday 21: Drove up to Dam No. 3 to examine cut off on S side.
Snowing, 3". Raw. Office in pm. In evening went to Oriental to see
C. & Laverdure & saw them. Spoke about Nassau culvert, Nassau
dam &c. Cold tonight. Empire took derrick scow from Bridge'th to Rosedale.
November Sunday 22: Cold. empire got to Burleigh tonight. Thermometer
tonight 9°. Have toothache.
November Monday 23: Office. Was going to Kirkfield but have toothache.
Home at night with toothache. Turned milder & raining at night.
November Tuesday 24: Drove (L) over line.
November Wednesday 25: Office.
November Thursday 26: Thanksgiving Day. Church in am. Office 12-1. In
afternoon drove (L) to lake & up on line to Norwood R. Have toothache.
Cold.
November Friday 27: Worked at home till 11. Office, Did not go out after
tea.
November Saturday 28: Office. Have had toothache & neualgia all week.
Office in am. M.M. Boyd called and I took him (L) over line as far as
Lock No. 4. Cold & raw.
November Sunday 29: Stayed in house all day as I was afraid to go out
on acct. of toothache.
November Monday 30: Office all day. Fellows reported here. Had office
staff at house spending evening. A. J. Belcher & J. N. Hickman left
off work on staff tonight. Weather cold.
December Tuesday 1: Office. Cold. Started for Montreal at 11:35 pm to
see C. Engineer G.T. Ry. re details of Nassau.
December Wednesday 2: Arrd Montreal 7.20 am. Met M. M. Boyd at Windsor
hotel. Went up to McGill & spent most of day till 3 pm there. Went
out to G T Ry office & saw Mr. Hobson re Nassau deviation of which
he approved. Harold Burnham came to lunch with us. Started for home at
9 PM. Cold & windy.
December Thursday 3: Office. Went to sale at St. Lukes at night. Milder.
December Friday 4: Office. Started for Kirkfield at 5:25 pm. Went over
work with Fellows. Spoke about putting on extra gang to cut out lines
& put down permanent [monuments].
December Saturday 5: Started for home at 8 am. J.A. Barron on train.
Office. S. Hughes called me up at night & went to J. Burnhams with
him. Milder.
December Sunday 6: Went to tea with 4 children to E.A. Pecks.
December Monday 7: Drove to Burleigh to visit Hales. Getting on very
well. Mr. Symonds with me. Road good but muddy. Mild.
December Tuesday 8: Started at 8:20 for Rosedale. Drove (J) from Lindsay
to R. and drove (E) from R. to Bob'n. There seems to be a great many men
on & not working any too hard. Fine day.
December Wednesday 9: Went over work at Bob’n that was to be done with
Peter Grant. Was not to do any thing till I went up again except the pier
at the entrance. Drove (G) home. Arr'd at 3:30. Stayed with M.M. B. [Mossam
Boyd]. Dinner at hotel. Snowed about 1 1/2 last night & snow &
sleet in day.
December Thursday 10: Office. Started for Ottawa at 11:35 pm.
December Friday 11: Went to Dept. to see Mr. S. re C & L not proceeding
with Nassau dam. He said he did not think anything could be done in the
matter. After hours went down with Mr. Maynard to see St. Barnabas church.
Started home at 10:35 pm.
December Saturday 12: Arr'd home at 5 am. from Ottawa. Office. Fine.
December Sunday 13: Fine. After eve. ch. went in & talked with Mr.
Symonds re tithing league.
December Monday 14: Office in am. Drove over line from Locks (McGregor)
to Lakefield. Roy with me. Colder & frozen.
December Tuesday 15: Office - 10:30 pm. Cold & frozen up again.
December Wednesday 16: Office. In pm, the citizens gave a great banquet
to Geo A Cox on his first visit to Peterboro after being appointed to
the Senate. About 140 there - A number from a distance. Went off very
well.
December Thursday 17: In town. Did not feel very well today.
December Friday 18: Office. Choir practice at night.
December Saturday 19: Office. Went to market.
December Sunday 20: Fine & cold.
December Monday 21: Office. At 1:30 went over with Corry to show him
the site of the hydraulic lock & showed him rough draft of plan of
same. Drove to Nassau & on to Lake’d Greenwood with. Exam’d seam in
East side of cut & decided to clean it out & fill with cement
mortar. Cold.
December Tuesday 22: Office in am. In PM went to closing of Kinder Garten
to see Leah & Lillian. Office 5-6:15. Worked home in pm. Cold.
December Wednesday 23: Office. Went to Market. Cold. Worked at home in
PM till 5 PM Went to office. Bo’t coal oil stove for office at my house
where I am busy with work. Worked till 11 pm. Got boards ready to start
plans of hydraulic lift lock.
December Thursday 24: At home. Practice (choir) in evening.
December Friday 25: Christmas Day. Went to early service with Mina. Dinner
at home. Worked till 5 pm. Went to Maria’s till 7. Went to Christmas Tree
at Calcutt’s where all the children were & then (9) went back to Maria’s.
December Saturday 26: Mabel & Clare Southeran came to stay with us
for a few days. Drove to locks in PM & up to Entrance piers.
December Sunday 27: Went to see H. Strickland.
December Monday 28: At home most of day working in office. Drove (L)
down to entrance piers at Lake. In evening had a party for Harry &
George with some older ones. After went over to supper at Masonic Lodge.
Drove Harriet Carpenter home in a.m.
December Tuesday 29: At home. Tripp here with me to dinner. Drove (L)
to locks & to Maria St. bridge. In evening went to Helen Burnham’s
party.
December Wednesday 30: At home. In evening went to a dance of Mrs. Max
Dennistoun’s at the Oddfellow’s hall. Very nice but room very warm.
December Thursday 31: At home. In evening went to Hetty B’s coming out
party
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