During the Year...

Richard was 42 years old. He lived with his wife and 6 children. Progress continued with his work on the Hydraulic Lift Lock which had been in several stages of planning and design for some years. On August 8 RBR bought a lot from C. Wynn at Sandy Bay. He mentioned the first concrete being put into the Lock during late August. On the last day of August he visited Canadian author C.P. Traill’s home. He made a trip to Ottawa to discuss disputed accounts of Corry & Laverdure (construction firm that excavated the site and built the concrete towers and Lock). In September, the first concrete is put in for the wall of the Lock. Also in September his wife Mina (nee Calcutt) was in bed sick with a bad case of Sciatica. In October he received a letter regarding increasing his work force and he mentioned the progress they were making from location to location as they inspected & decided on issues. In November Mina became ill with Rheumatism. By the month of December, the disputed accounts with Corry & Laverdure were finally settled. At the end of the year his sister Sophia suffered epileptic fits and shortly thereafter she deteriorated and died on the 15thof December. By the 22nd RBR mentioned that difficulties continued to arise with Corry & Laverdure and he made references to a letter relating to the situation.

Headlines in the Papers...

• Opening of Soulanges Canal (Oct. 18, Mail & Empire)

1899 Diary

Period covered: January 1, 1899 - December 31, 1899

Dimensions: 14.2 cm X 7.3 cm (l x w)

No. of Pages: 180

Note: The diary contains addenda pages where the diarist has recorded an entry in the Addresses section. Also included in the diary are Notes and Bills Receivable for the year and some Cash Account details. On the inside back cover RBR has entered some Rent payments made during the year for the House on Stewart and Elizabeth Street.

[Note: At the beginning of the diary RBR has filled in some of the items in the Identification page of the diary. Some of the items are as follows:]

Address: Peterboro

Birthday: Jany 16^th

Age: 42

Complexion: Fair Weight: 175 lbs

In case of Accident or illness please notify: JZ Rogers Peterboro

Things hard to remember. Number on case of my watch: [70925]

January Sunday 1: New Years Day. Being Sunday it was kept so. Went to tea at Maria’s. Called at Sophias & James & H Calcutts. Fine day. Note Trip to K on Dec 8^th not ret’d. 

January Monday 2: Busy in am fixing deer target at Butts. Voted & in the afternoon went out to shoot at deer target. At 4:30 went calling with Spence. Called on Mrs. Hatton, T Hay, Dennistouns, Greenwood & Hamilton. In evening had a family gathering at my house. Drove Mabel Bradshaw down & back from Mrs. Hamiltons. Fine day. 

January Tuesday 3: Busy straightening up house. Feel pretty tired. Did not do so much today. Intended to go to Cleveland tomorrow morning but got telegraph from Ritchie saying he would not be at home so decided not to go. Mr. Carnagie was going with me. 

January Wednesday 4: Office. Busy with my paper on Trent Canal, Margaret & Muriel left this afternoon for home. Drove to Lock No. 6 & exam’d drain put in there & it was not satisfactory. Went to S School Xmas tree at night. A miserable day poured rain all day & night. 

January Thursday 5: Office. 

January Friday 6: Office. Service at night. 

January Saturday 7: Office. Francis turned up at home office today after having grippe for few days. He’s helping me with slides, paper &c. Colder and blew a regular gale in afternoon. Was going out on line but did not as was stormy. 

January Sunday 8: Walked down to Z Burnhams with Pousette in pm. 

January Monday 9: Went to Lak’d re Hull Matter. Pope & Strickland there & staked out line across Hulls property. Took some photos on way down. Turned very cold at night. 

January Tuesday 10: Went to office. Met Pope & Strickland re Hull matter. Saw GM Rogers re Nassau matter. In afternoon took some photos along line from lake to No. 4 for paper. Had Men's Chapter of Guild at my house at night. Started for Montreal at midnight for Meeting C.S.C.E. Very cold. Last night 20-25 below. 

January Wednesday 11: Arrd in Montreal at 8:30 a.m. Went to Windsor. Went to Society room but they were all away on excursion. Corrected paper. Walked up to Gaele’s, Frances arrd tonight. Fine & cold. 

January Thursday 12: Went to CSCE rooms. Busy in am correcting paper &c. Munro read paper on Soulanges Canal. I read my paper on Trent Canal illustrated in afternoon. I think it went fairly well. Went to Annual dinner at ‘Windsor’ in pm & left at 10 pm for Ottawa in middle of dinner. Cold. 

January Friday 13: Arrd in Ottawa 1:40 a.m. Saw Mr. S & Pope re Hull matter &c. Spent evening at Fellows. 

January Saturday 14: Arrd home from Ottawa this morning. Francis also got home. Office. Milder. 

January Sunday 15: In afternoon went for walk with Pousette & he came to tea. Fine. 

January Monday 16: Office. Fine & cold. 

January Tuesday 17: Office. Cold & fine. 

January Wednesday 18: Drove along line to Nassau. Took photos of Maria St & CP Ry bridges. Norwood Rd.  & reaches to Nassau. In evening busy getting ready for Social of Men’s Chapter of Guild tonight. It went off splendidly. Cold & fine. 

January Thursday 19: Office. Drove to Lakefield at 11 am. dinner at Lak’d. Took some photos at Lak’d re Hull’s property & also at No. 3 & 5 & 4. Cold but milder. Fine. 

January Friday 20: Intended going to Kirkfield but mistook train time. Office, town in am & house in pm. Sophia took a convulsion tonight. I sent for Dr. Haliday. Office 9-10 snow & milder. Mina still pretty sick with rheumatism. Doctor here this am. 

January Saturday 21: Office. Col. S. Hughes called me up & went to Strattons with him & had meeting re booming canal scheme. At night spent 8-10 with Carnagie preparing for lecture on Sunday next on Canal scheme here. 

January Sunday 22: Fine. Stayed at home in am with Mina. Mina was up today for first time for some days. Went for walk with Harry in afternoon. Tea at Maria’s. Met Lawsons. Ch. 

January Monday 23: Office. Capt. McAndrews came to examine dredge for me & report. Went to Hamilton’s with him. Office in pm. Office 9-10. Called on Dr. Haliday re Sophia. Pope called this am on way to Lindsay. Fine & cold. 

January Tuesday 24: Office. In evening went to meeting of Men’s Chapter of Guild at F Adam’s. Fine. 

January Wednesday 25: Office. In afternoon did not feel well, went for long walk & after went skating on canal with children. Beautiful day. 

January Thursday 26: In am going over paper with Mr. Carnagie in office. In afternoon going over my own paper & views with Francis. In evening a public meeting was held in the Opera House at which Mr. Carnagie & I read papers. Mine were illustrated with views along route. Had about 1/3 full. An awful night rain & blew. After went with S. Hughes MP & Roy. 

January Friday 27: Colder. Office. 

January Saturday 28: Office. 

January Sunday 29: Office. 

January Monday 30: Office. Started for Ottawa at midnight. 

January Tuesday 31: Arrd in Ottawa re Auditor Generals copy of progress estimate. A Davis, McWilliams & Simmons down re water power on river & peat. Culverwell, Walters & McHugh down re water power at Burleigh. I saw Hayter re progress Estimate & arranged with him to have it wait for while. 

February Wednesday 1: At Ottawa. T Ludgate came to Ottawa today re Mill site at [Vancouver]. Went to Opera at night. Very cold. 

February Thursday 2: At Ottawa, went down to Printing Bureau re Maps for Canal called also to see Mortimer & went to opera. Very cold. 

February Friday 3: Started for home at 11 am arr’d at 4:45 pm. Mission conducted by Rev Mr. Troop of Montreal was started today for 10 days. Went to Mission at night. 

February Saturday 4: Office. Mission at night. 

February Sunday 5: Office. Started for Ottawa at midnight. 

February Monday 6: Arrd in Ottawa re Hull matter. Met Minister with Hull, Dumble, Pope, Hodgins & Mr. Schreiber. Nothing was settled. Went to Opera, Modjeska, at night with Pope. 

February Tuesday 7: Called on Belgian Consul in am. Started for home at 11 a.m. Went to mission service at night. Very cold. 

February Wednesday 8: Office - Mission service at night. Very cold. 

February Thursday 9: Went to Toronto CP Ry. Went to Albany Club to meet R McDonald re machinery change on dredge. Met Morrison & others. Had lunch with McDonald. Went over to Barrie at 3:15. At Mr. Carnagie & I gave a lecture on Trent Canal. Roy showed lantern slides. Went off very nice. Very cold. 

February Friday 10: Started from Barrie at 8 am. At Toronto at 10. Called at T Lithograph Co’y re prices for Maps for Canal. Went up to see Ed to Junction & to see Patti. Met Ed in Mr. Mercer’s office. Discussed Alfreds affair. Started home at 5:15. Went to Mission Service. Mission ended tonight. 

February Saturday 11: Office. Went down to CPR to see Rev Mr. Troop off. Office at night. Very cold. 

February Sunday 12: Very cold. Went out to Rices & stayed to tea & walked back. Went to Mrs. Symonds after. 

February Monday 13: Went to Lindsay met G McHugh & he drove me to Cowan’s bridge. Met [----] & others there. Went to Omemee for dinner & drove to Lindsay. Met Culverwell for a minute. Went to tea with the Sootherns & home by train. Office. Very cold. Greenwood went off tonight on his 6 weeks leave of absence. 

February Tuesday 14: Office. Drove to Lak’d in afternoon. Called at planing mill & No. 2 dam. Met Morrow there - raw wind but milder. 

February Wednesday 15: Office. Went to Service at night. 

February Thursday 16: Office. Milder. 

February Friday 17: Office. Milder. 

February Saturday 18: Office. Very mild & showers of light rain. Sleighing about gone. 

February Sunday 19: Mina went to church & when she got home was taken with a faint & was very bad. Mrs. Spence came & stayed all night with her. Went over to see Dr. at night. Very mild. 

February Monday 20: Very mild. Office. In pm drove children down to Otonabee to see the last of Cousin Harriett Carpenter. She looked very bad but quite conscious & kept  by stimulants. Sleighing about all gone. Office at night. Mina very weak. Sussie Calcutt with her all day. 

February Tuesday 21: Office. Corry & Laverdure called. They left for Ottawa this am. Saw G.M. Roger re Nassau deed - office at night - 10. Very mild all sleighing gone. 

February Wednesday 22: Office. Mina still in bed. Sat up for while. A little colder at night. 

February Thursday 23: Went to Toronto to see L. Lash  re settlement conveyance Nassau property. Called at T Lithograph Co. re maps of Canal. Went to lunch with Nichols F. at Toronto Club. Met Jennings there & had long talk with him. Went up with him to legislature to see members re our act of incorporation. Met Hardy Morrison & Carnagie. Saw Ed & Emily at theater at night. 

February Friday 24: Office in am. In pm drove team (L) up to No. 2 dam re length of timber in piers. Office at night 9-10. Col. Sam Hughes called & went with him to Roy’s. Beautiful day colder. 

February Saturday 25: Office. 

February Sunday 26: Walked out to E Bradburns to see B. Hutchison & wife. Mild. Started to teach Harry & George & Edna at home instead of having them go to Sunday School. 

February Monday 27: Office in a.m. Went to Hastings to see break in dam. Walked from Hastings to Norwood. Gave instructions to Gordon re repairing dam. Started for Ottawa at midnight. Milder. 

February Tuesday 28: Arrd in Ottawa re - Went to Dept. Saw CS re prices for letting wells for hydraulic lock to Corry & Laverdure. Saw Minister. Worked in Dept. all day. Spence came to my room & to dinner with me. Raining. 

March Wednesday 1: At Dept. Corry & Laverdure called at Dept. & met Mr. C.S. & I & CS named prices we had agreed upon. They after decided to accept prices. After six walked down with Corry. Started down for home at night. 

March Thursday 2: Arrd home. Office in pm. Walked up with Raddon & went over Sand pits at Auburn. Office at night. Very mild."

March Friday 3: Office. Went to lecture in YMCA on Michael Angelo. Went up to C’s to see Mina. Raining hard at night. 

March Saturday 4: Office. 

March Sunday 5: Snow & sleet last night, walking terrible. Got colder at night. 

March Monday 6: Office. Gordon went to Burleigh to raise scow. Fine & colder. 

March Tuesday 7: Went to Lak’d on train & drove to Burleigh (Carveth) & exam’d work with Gordon. Scow sunk. Drove home & exam’d works at Lak’d No. 2 & No. 4 & Nassau. Cold & windy. Beautiful day sleighing good out of town . Spence went to Ottawa tonight. 

March Wednesday 8: Office. Went over to sand dump at Hyd lock & found they had been bringing stuff they should not. Went to service. Cold. 

March Thursday 9: Office. In p.m. walked up to sand pits & exam’d them. Maria to tea. Rev. Bushell came to stay all night. Fine. 

March Friday 10: Office. Choir practice at night. 

March Saturday 11: Office. Mild rain at night. 

March Sunday 12: Rain in am. Mild - colder at night. Water in creek (Village Ash’n) at its height (as high as sidewalk) today. 

March Monday 13: Office (home) till 11 - office till 12:30. Drove (L) to Lak’d Exam’d hull of Empire & works at Lak’d & No. 2 dam & timber at No. 4. Cold & windy. Fine. 

March Tuesday 14: Office. Walked over to lock No. 6 & Hy L. Meeting of Men’s Chapter St L at Mr. Nesbitts house.

March Wednesday 15: Office. Raining. 

March Thursday 16: Went to Toronto. Went to Crown Lands Dept. re gore of lot 4 Con 1 Burleigh. Met Stratton. In pm called at Toronto. Litho Coy re maps of canal got & approved of proofs. Went out to Junction to see Ed & stayed to tea. Went to hear Rosenthal play piano. Back to Ed’s. Cold. 

March Friday 17: At Ed’s T. Junction. Started at 7:30 called on Patti on way to city. Started for home CP R at 9. Office in pm. Fine but cold. 

March Saturday 18: Office. Turned colder & snowed & blew. At 9:30 went over to Oriental to meet PA Gordon re sapwood in fir supplied to B L & A. 

March Sunday 19: Very rough day. Snowing & blowing a regular gale. 8'' of snow & drifting. 

March Monday 20: A regular blizzard blowing & snowing & cold. Office. Went to Mr. Hamiltons re dredge engine repairs. Went over & met W’m Boyd at office. After went to Snowden House with him. 

March Tuesday 21: At house office most of day at Hyd lock plans. Not so cold but blowing most of day. 

March Wednesday 22: Office. Went to service at night & to office. 

March Thursday 23: Office. Cold & blowing. 

March Friday 24: Office at house all a.m. Mr. Linton of Taylor Air Compressor called & went on measurements &c for air compressor at hydraulic lock. In pm. Ryerson Ritchie called for an hour. Went to attend meeting of cricket club. I resigned the Presidency as I will be so busy this year. Beautiful day, cool. 

March Saturday 25: Went to No. 2 on train in a.m. Gave instructions to have coffer dam taken out & water shut off of West sluice to present washing away of bank. Office. Fine.

[No entry Mar. 26]

March Monday 27: Office. Went to Ottawa at midnight. Greenwood returned to work today. 

March Tuesday 28: At Ottawa. Re C & L prices for concrete on Main Wall & Towers of Hydraulic Lock. Worked at night at quantities in Masonry. Spence with me. Went up to House of C for while at night. Cold - like winter. 

March Wednesday 29: At Ottawa at Dept. all day re C & L’s drawback & Masonry Hyd lock. Was going home tonight but decided to wait till morning. Cold & Wintry. 

March Thursday 30: Saw Justice Dept. re fixing height of water at Nassau dam in [---] [---] & wrote R & C re it. Started for home at 11 am. S Hughes, Corry & J Ryan & Sutherland & Spence on train. Arrd home at 5 pm. Fine but cold. 

March Friday 31: Good Friday. Church in a.m. office 4:30-6 & 7-9. Choir practice - 10:30. Fine & cold. 

April Saturday 1: Office. Fine & cold. 

April Sunday 2: Easter Day. Fine with flurries of snow & cold wind. Early service & other services. Tea at Maria’s. 

April Monday 3: Office in a.m. Went to Lak’d on train in p.m. to visit men on Empire, dredge, & work at Lak’d & No. 2 dam. Went to Annual Vestry Meeting. Fine but cold wind. 

April Tuesday 4: Office, house in am & town in pm. Went to Smoker of Cavalry officers at drill shed. Fine & warm. 

April Wednesday 5: Office all day. Beautiful day. Warmer. 

April Thursday 6: Got telegraph from Titler last midnight saying Helen McNabb Gaele very ill & another this morning saying she was dead at Montreal. Maria went down. In pm rode horseback along canal from Lake to Norwood Rd. & out to the Prices. Fine. 

April Friday 7: Busy arranging with EA Peck for funeral. Office. Fine & warmer. Service at night. Home at night. 

April Saturday 8: Office. F Gaele arr’d at noon. In pm at 4:45 on arrival of train from Montreal. CH Gaele arr’d with Helen’s body & we took it direct to cemetery. Had service in chapel at cemetery & at grave. T Hay, Greenwood, Sherwood, C Brown, I Hall, & E Peck were pallbearers. We drove back to Maria’s & Mina was there. We had tea & stayed. Charlie G went down to M. on midnight. Raw miserable day. 

April Sunday 9: Fine Rev McAllen preached. Went to work with Spence in p.m. Rev McA down after evening service. 

April Monday 10: Office. Rode horseback (L) to Nassau Rd. & Nassau to Auburn gravel pit. Fine & warmer. 

April Tuesday 11: Fine rain at night. Office. Went to Lakefield on train. Visited Empire, Dredge & canal work. Drove No. 2 dam. Met Alymer there & arranged with him to fill in temporary road & to remove tree at West shore below dam. Meeting of Mens Chapter of Guild. Went to EA Pecks after Mina. 

April Wednesday 12: Office. Corry & Laverdure called at 2:30. Had general talk re excavation & concrete of Hyd Lock. Rode horseback lake to Warsaw Road. First really warm Spring day. 

April Thursday 13: Office - Warmer. 

April Friday 14: Office. Walked over to lock 6 in pm. Found leak under West pier. Fine Cool. 

April Saturday 15: Office. 

April Sunday 16: Snowed about 2 inches last night but all disappeared through day. J Hall & Spence to dinner. Walked to Lock 6 & found wash out below sluice. 

April Monday 17: Office. Went to Lak’d on train. Visited dredge, Empire & work at Lak’d Met Alymer at No. 2 Lock. Water was just trickling over GT Ry track & warned him that he had better take out sluice & remove his coffer dam in front of dam. Went to adjourned Vestry Meeting . Fine & warm. 

April Tuesday 18: Office. In pm. drove to lake & Warsaw Road. Went out to Mrs. Greenwoods sugar (maple) party in woods. First really warm Spring day. 

April Wednesday 19: Office. 

April Thursday 20: Office. Fine & warm. 

April Friday 21: Office. Meeting enlargement Vestry Com’te at night. Office 10:30. Fine & warm. 

April Saturday 22: Office in a.m. Drove to Chemong in pm with Mina & Helen. Drove to No. 6 & Hy Lock. Fine & warm. 

April Sunday 23: Fine & warm. Went for walk in pm with E. M & Dr. Pousette. 

April Monday 24: Office. Francis in Toronto re calculations re towers. Drove (L) to No. 2. Met Alymer there & discussed washout at end of dam. Told him I would not pay him for filling in. Why he did not go on & take out coffer dam. He is making no move to do anything about washout. Went over Lak’d. Visited dredge & Empire. Warm. 

April Tuesday 25: Office. Mr. Francis & I made a sketch for vestry enlargement. Office at night. Very warm. Want rain. 

April Wednesday 26: Went to Hyd Lock in am. Office. Laid out size of towers on lawn in afternoon. Office at night. Warm. 

April Thursday 27: Office. Very warm. 

April Friday 28: Went to Fenelon Falls re starting work at repair of slide & also at Lindsay to get information re brackets on Lindsay dam for Mr. [Forte]. Met McLaughlin at Fenelon re Sandford lease extra land. Tea with H Sootheran. Mina sick & she sent for Dr. Boucher instead of Haliday. 

April Saturday 29: Very warm. Office all day. Great Murder & Suicide John Webber murdered his [nothing written here] & shot himself. An engineer (Mr. Hill) called for work & I started him at Lenore engine at my house with Harry. Went over at night to an interview with JR Stratton & Corry & Laverdure re extras - Office. 

April Sunday 30: Very warm. Went for walk in pm to Hyd lock & to lake. Mina in bed sick.

May Monday 1: Office. G.H. Pope here re Heap matter. Office at night. Showry. Mina not much better.

May Tuesday 2: Office. Drove (L) to Lak’d H Loucks with me. Fine & cooler. Exam’d work at No. 2 wash out & at Lak’d Empire & dredge. Katie Price came to nurse Mina tonight. 

May Wednesday 3: Office. In pm drove to Hamiltons. Sent Hill up to Lak’d tonight to work on Empire. Started for Ottawa at midnight. Fine. 

May Thursday 4: Arrd in Ottawa. Worked all day on re brackets in Lindsay dam. Mr. [Forte] was sick so I could not see him. Went up to the H of C for while. A deputation of Stratton, W Boyd, Dumble, Wickham, Morrison, McHugh &c saw Blair today re letting Trenton Frankford section. Don’t think they got much encouragement. 

May Friday 5: Went up to see Lafleur re brackets in Lindsay dam. Started for home at 11 a.m. [Certz] Carscallen & Kendry came up on train. Fine. 

May Saturday 6: Office. Drove to Lak’d in p.m. Visited works from Nassau & Empire & dredge. Empire not yet in water. At night saw Stratton & Corry re prices of concrete for Hyd Lock. Acct of Hyd Lock published in Empire & Mail today. 

May Sunday 7: Beautiful. Spence to dinner. Rode on wheel to Bridgenorth, E Peck with me. Went to supper at Mrs. Hamiltons. 

May Monday 8: Office. Went to Hamiltons foundry. Went to woods for [ferns]. 

May Tuesday 9: Office. J.B. McWilliams called re complaint of hiring men at Lak’d. Men not on crew to stop work as soon as possible. Went out to woods for ferns with George. Dr. Boucher said Mina was threatened with appendicitis. Went over to see Dr. Went to Meeting of Men’s Chapter of Guild. Fine. 

May Wednesday 10: Office. In pm drove to Warsaw Road guard gate work. Went to T [Cournal] funeral. Went to No. 6 lock & Hyd lock. Beautiful day. Corry called at house office this a.m. Discussed results of his visit to Ottawa re prices of concrete &c. 

May Thursday 11: Ascension Day. Went to Service in am. Office. Pd. M Hill $2.25 tonight for my work (private) today. 

May Friday 12: Went to Kirkfield. Drove over work GTR to Lake with Robertson. No work going on. Gave permission to Sims to start dredging West of Victoria Rd. bridge. Came home at night. Fine. 

May Saturday 13: Office. Showry in am. 

May Sunday 14: Fine but windy. Went for ride on wheel to Prices & Burnhams with Pousette. Choir (St L) started to meet in S School before service & march into church. 

May Monday 15: Office till 11. Rode wheel to Lak’d Dredge finished but Engr. & Cransman painting. Visited work at Canal & Tea at Rev Warrens. Office 10:30. Fine.

[No entry May 16]

May Wednesday 17: At Home. 

May Thursday 18: At home. Showry. 

May Friday 19: Went to Toronto re purchasing steam pump from Northey’s. Did so. Went out to see Ed at Junction in pm. Called to see Pattie also. Sophia & girls at Ed’s. Fine. 

May Saturday 20: Office. Drove to Lak’d. Took up engine of Lenore. Boys with me. Fine. Visited work on Empire & dredge. 

May Sunday 21: Fine. Went to Warsaw Rd. bridge & on to Z. Burnham’s in wheel. Pousette with me. Left for Ottawa at midnight. Francis went to Montreal re plans of Hyd Lock. 

May Monday 22: At Ottawa re prices concrete for Hy Lock. Went to Lunch with C.S. Thompson also there. Went to Spences at night. Fine & showery. 

May Tuesday 23: At Ottawa re agreement of Corry & Laverdure re increase of prices for Concrete of Hyd Lock. It was decided that C.S. was to write C & L & order them to proceed with work of walls & towers at prices to be agreed upon. Left for Montreal at 5:45. Intended going at 4:15 but took wrong station. Arr’d at M at 10 pm. 

May Wednesday 24: At Montreal. Called in JC Badgley & we went to see Military Review. Met Titler & Hickman. Went to Baseball Match & started home at night. Beautiful day, very hot. 

May Thursday 25: Office. 

May Friday 26: Office. Showry. Choir practice at night. 

May Saturday 27: Office. Drove (L) to Lak’d in p.m. Inspected work on dredge & Empire. Took ‘Lenore’ out for little run. Poured rain at night.

May Sunday 28: Church. Went for walk over canal from Lake to Hyd Lock with James Z R. Did not go back at night. Fine. 

May Monday 29: Office. Rain most of day. Started from Ottawa at Midnight. 

May Tuesday 30: Arr’d at Ottawa in a.m. Saw C.S. re advisability  of Inspector being appointed for Castings for cylinders for hy. lock & of my going down to inspect them myself. He thought Inspector be appointed but no use my going down. Called at Mothersills at night. Fine & warm. 

May Wednesday 31: Went to Dept. re letter from CS to Corry & Laverdure re prices of concrete for Hyd Lock. Saw Mr. Gabiel re bracket boards at Lindsay and also if any change in my position to Public Works Dept. Started for home at 11 a.m. Justice Ferguson on board also Cochrane. Very warm. 

June Thursday 1: Office. Drove (L) over Canal Lake to Nassau Rd. Office. 10:30. Fine & hot. Dept. Wks. 

June Friday 2: At home. Meeting of Building Committee of St Lukes at night. 

June Saturday 3: Office. 

June Sunday 4: Fine. 

June Monday 5: Drove to Bridge’h at 11 am & started on ‘Empire’ for Balsam L. Arrd at 8:45 p.m. Had two terrible thunder showers today with heavy hail. Was at Bob’n in first. Drove from B. Lake to Kirkfield. 

June Tuesday 6: At Kirkfield. Went over work to be done with Mr. Onderdonk & called at Victoria Rd. Bridge & MO came down on ‘Empire’ with me to Lak’d, called at Bob’n Mr. O charmed with trip. Drove from Lak’d to Peterboro’. [----] heavy shower at Bob’n. 

June Wednesday 7: Office. Very hot & sultry. Heavy showers of rain. 

June Thursday 8: Cooler. Office in a.m. Drove to lake & Hyd Lock at 12. Went to Lak’d pm train 1:30 Instructed dredge to start for Balsam L. calling at Ys Pt for 1 day. Drove to Warsaw Rd. in pm. 

June Friday 9: Office. Went to meeting of Vestry Com’e only Peck & I there. Went to Hastings at noon & drove to Norwood. 

June Saturday 10: Office. Went to Meeting of land owners on Otonabee river re flooding. Answered all questions. Drove to Lakefield. Went over work at No. 5, 4 & Lak’d Took sides off houseboat. Boys with me. 

June Sunday 11: Fine. 

June Monday 12: Office. Very warm. Drove to lake & Hyd lock. Work very slow. Went to Confirmation service at St Lukes. Harry & George were confirmed by Bishop Sweatman. Very warm. 

June Tuesday 13: Office. Went to Hastings at noon with Spence to take levels of river above & below R Ry Bridge. Went in to see Maj. Howards body who was buried today. Instructed Gordon re plan for rock slide. Drove to Norwood. Very warm. Took fence down in front of my house tonight. 

June Wednesday 14: Went to Kirkfield. Drove from Lorneville. Went over line from 280 to Lake. Located new & guardgate at N End. Very hot, rain in pm. Came how at night. Office 9-10:15. No rain in Pet’o. 

June Thursday 15: Office till 5. Walked over to Lake & Hy Lock. Went to meeting to consider division of Diocese. Office. Fine & cooler. 

June Friday 16: Office. Drove to Warsaw Rd. Hyd lock & No. 6 At 9 pm. went to meeting of choir guild at J. J. Turner's. 

June Saturday 17: Office till 10:30. Drove to Lak’d. Called at Planing Mill & exam’d filling in & sidewalk at Lak'd. Drove out Lenore 4-6. Hickey & Joe & Frank helping me got her out at 8 pm. Harry & Edna with me. Fine. 

June Sunday 18: Fine. Showers in pm. Rode down to Z Burnhams with M Pousette. Did not go to ch at night. 

June Monday 19: Office. In. Francis & I went to Hyd Lock re wing walls. In pm went to meeting of ‘Old Boys’ T.C.S. at Oriental re present to Rev CJ Bethune on his retiring from Headmastership. Office. Fine & warm.

[No entry June 20]

June Wednesday 21: Office. Started for Lak’d at 2 pm. Gave instructions for Empire to take scow up to Deer Bay to get out flag stories for lock gate [casings]. Went over work at Lak’d with Morrow. Had Heber & Leah with me. Fine. 

June Thursday 22: See Thursday 29^th for diary of today.

June Friday 23: Office. Started to drive Wakefield piles at lake lock. At lake twice. Went to Lacross Match. Deer shooting party drove to Lke’d & spent evening on Houseboat. Fair, Hill, Pousette, Spence, Peck, Stevenson & myself & Morrow & Dunwoodie there. Had good time. 

June Saturday 24: Office. Went to Circus in afternoon & took children. Warm & fine. Visited work at lake & Hyd lock. 

June Sunday 25: Fine & warm. 

June Monday 26: Went to Fenelon Falls to see re new slide. Drove to Bob’n & missed boat. Instructed new lockmaster re work. Drove home. Warm. 

June Tuesday 27: Office. Drove to Lake & Hy Lock in pm to Lak’d. Instructed Empire to go to Deer Bay for quarry men. Drove Mrs. Dunwoodie down. Visited gate material at No. 4. Garden party at H.T. Stricklands. Fine. 

June Wednesday 28: Went to Kirkfield & back. Went over work with Robertson. Work getting on better. Very warm. Drove from Lorneville to K’d & ret."  

Thursday 29: Office.[Note: RBR has written this entry below the June Wednesday 28 entry.] 

June Thursday [Note: the number ‘29’ has been crossed out and ‘22’ has been written above it.]: Went to No. 6 Lock to see re Puddle trench at head of Lock. Decided to abandon it & use Wakefield piling. Went on to Hy lock. Took photos of No. 6 & Hy L. Office in pm. went to Lock 6 with Greenwood in pm. Went to social at St Johns at night. Shower today. 

June Friday 30: Drove to Lak’d. George with me. F.

July Saturday 1: Harry & George & I drove to Lak’d. Had a river on the Lenore. At night went to fireworks exhibition at St Josephs Hospital grounds. Fine day.

[No entry June 2] 

July Monday 3: Busy getting things ready to go to Stoney Lake on Houseboat. Drove to station & we all went up on noon train except Harry & George who wheeled up. Empire was going to Burleigh for wood so she towed us up with scow. Started from Lak’d about 7 pm & arrd at Sandy Bay at 10 pm. Greenwoods also went up today. 

July Tuesday 4: At Sandy Bay all day. Busy fixing up things &c. Empire called on way down & brot some ice. Genoux came about 9:30 pm with telegraph for me to go to Ottawa but as it was pouring rain & so late I did not go. 

July Wednesday 5: Drove to town with Geroux. Office. Started for Ottawa at midnight. Fine. 

July Thursday 6: Arr’d at Ottawa. Met Corry with Mr. Schreiber re arranging new prices for granite of Hyd Lock. Did not decide anything. Started for home at night. Heavy rain in am. 

July Friday 7: Office. Went up to Sandy Bay at night.

July Saturday 8: Empire ran me to Fenelon Falls to inspect work. Took Mrs. Greenwood & children with me. Showry. P Wks. 

July Sunday 9: Geroux drove up with paylists Estimates &c for me to sign. H bro’t Mr. & Miss Spence with him. Fine. 

July Monday 10: At Sandy Bay. 

July Tuesday 11: Came down on Majestic, Greenwood & family also came down. Was going to St Luke’s S School Picnic but was wet in pm & too busy so did not go. Was going to Montreal but did not do so. Office & on works all day. 

July Wednesday 12: Did not go to Montreal last night as I was anxious about the first drives of logs passing through new dams. Was along between Nassau & Lak’d all afternoon & got Thompson & foremen to have stop logs arranged in dams to suit them. Started  for Montreal at night. 

July Thursday 13: At Montreal. Went out to see Brunet re prices of granite also Forsyth. Saw Desola and went out to see Duggan at Dom’n Bridge works & saw first steel castings for presses  of Hyd lock. Went out to Vaudreil with Gale & came home at night. 

July Friday 14: Arr’d home. Office. Drove to Lake’d & had Empire run me up at night to Camp. 

July Saturday 15: Ran Lenore to Lakef’d. Drove team (  ) to Peterboro in pm. Met Revs CL Ingles & Scott Howard at train & drove them up to Camp at Sandy Bay. Had Lenore inspected [today]. Fine rain at night. 

July Sunday 16: Went to Headlands to Service with Revs CL Ingles & Howard. Had service on houseboat at night. Beautiful day. Hetty Burnham & Tom Burnham drove up today. [----] B. rode on bicycle. Very wet in am. 

July Monday 17: Ran Lenore to Lak’d took Rev’s CL Ingles & Scott Howard. Drove team to Peterboro. Helen Burnham & Claud & George with me. Drove team over to Lock No. 6 & Hyd Lock. Drove to Lak’d again. 

July Tuesday 18: Missed regular boat so rowed to Youngs Pt & met Empire & had her take me to Lak’d. Drove to town. Went to Hastings to visit Gordon. Drove to Norwood & home on CP Ry. Went to Kirkfield at 5:35 pm. Fine. [R&C]. 

July Wednesday 19: At Kirkfield. Went over work with Robertson from end to end. Empire met me off Balsam lake & took me to Stoney Lake camp. Visited work at Fenelon Falls (Slide). Walked from Burleigh to Camp. Fine. 

July Thursday 20: Stayed at Lake all day. Corry broke his leg by one of the derricks at No. 6 lock falling. Fine. 

July Friday 21: Ran to Lak’d on Lenore. Went to town (drove) Edna & G Bell with me. Started back at 6 p.m. 

July Saturday 22: At Stoney Lake. In p.m. took Lenore & went over to Indian River dam. Saw Caretaker & instructed him to put in one log on 24^th & another in 3 weeks. After tea took Lenore & ran up to Fairy Lake Villa camp & took them out for tow. Most beautiful night & day. 

July Sunday 23: At Stoney Lake. Beautiful day. Hot. Went over to service at Headlands in pm. Greenwood came up last night & F. Burnham & A. Streathern up today. 

July Monday 24: Came down on Majestic in am. Greenwood also came down. On works in p.m. Took photos at No. 6. 

July Tuesday 25: Office & at Lock No. 6. Drove team to Lak’d at 2 pm Took Mr. & Mrs. Spence & M Pousette with me. Empire ran me up to Sandy Bay. Paid men at Lak’d. Fine. Ran houseboat down to band concrete at Juniper Is. store. Beautiful day. 

July Wednesday 26: At the request of Mr. Stratton I took Mr. Kendry & his party with me on my paying trip from Lak’d to Lindsay. Boat met me at houseboat at Stoney Lake. In morning ran houseboat from Juniper Is. store to Sandy Bay. Fine. 

July Thursday 27: At Mr. Strattons request I took a party of Directors of Fuel Co’y from Lindsay to Balsam Lake & ret. They were delighted. Paid men at Fenelon and Balsam Lake. Beautiful day. 

July Friday 28: Office all day. Went to Lak’d on train & had Cooper drive me to Sandy Bay. Fine. 

July Saturday 29: At Sandy Bay all day. Busy with revised specification for Sec. 2 S & B. Had run around Juniper Is. at evening. 

July Sunday 30: Very windy. Rowed over to Headlands to service (Cannon Sprague) in am. 

July Monday 31: Started for Lak’d at 8 am & arrd 11:30. Went to Peterboro on train & back in afternoon. Laid at Lak’d above point. 

August Tuesday 1: Not ret’d July 8 P Wks 19^th. [Rogers has written the preceeding note in ink above this day's entry]. Drove (Calder) bus home at 6 p.m. Fine. Office. All went home tonight. 

August Wednesday 2: Office. Drove to Works in pm. Took photo of No. 6 & Hyd lock. Heavy showers of rain. Very hot. 

August Thursday 3: Office. Was going to Hastings but got on Pt Hope train instead. Drove back to town. Went to No. 6 lock in pm. Office at night. Very warm day. 

August Friday 4: Went to Lock No. 6 in am. Went to Hastings to inspect Gordon’s work, drove to Norwood & home CPR. Office at night. Very hot. 

August Saturday 5: Went to lock No. 6. & gave Corry permission to go on & put in walls from recess westwards. Drove to Lak’d at 2:30 pm called at No. 5 & No. 2. Office 8:30 - 10:30. Fine & cooler. 

August Sunday 6: Fine. In pm went for ride on wheel out to Prices. Fell off wheel & bent machine. 

August Monday 7: Pope & Alysworth here re Hamilton’s A. Valuation. They went to Lak’d I drove (Pope’s horse to Lak’d. Drawing out houseboat to repair bottom plank. Boys drove my horse up this a.m. Home 9:30. Fine. 

August Tuesday 8: Went over work & up to Lak’d. Worked at Houseboat till 8 p.m. Drove home W. Boyd ran down to Lak’d in his yacht. Decided to purchase lot 44 Smith at Sandy Bay from C Wynn for $500.00 

August Wednesday 9: Took buss & drove all of family to Lak’d & took Houseboat to Sandy Bay. Did not get started from Lak’d till about 6 p.m. arrd at Sandy Bay about 10 pm. 

August Thursday 10: At Sandy Bay.

[No entries Aug. 11 - Aug. 12] 

August Sunday 13: Went over to service Cannon McNabb preached. Had service at night at houseboat.

[No entries Aug. 14 - Aug. 15] 

August Wednesday 16: At Houseboat all day. Busy getting ready for regatta tomorrow. 

August Thursday 17: Cruised over to Juniper Is. to Regatta. Regatta (Annual) held in pm. Beautiful day & went off beautifully. Harry won in double paddling race & came in second in Swimming race. At night ran Lenore over to Sandy Bay to look at fires which are North & South of lot. Beautiful night. 

August Friday 18: Cruised back to Sandy Bay in morning. Started to town in Lenore at 12 oclock & drove to town & came back at 7 pm. Went over works. 

August Saturday 19: At houseboat all day. E.A. Peck & Kitty came up at 3:30 pm. Ran Lenore up lake in evening. M Pousette came up at night. 

August Sunday 20: Went to service in a.m. & had service at houseboat at night. Most beautiful nights. E.A. Peck & Kitty. 

August Monday 21: Went to town by boat & train. Got telegraph from CS that he expected to be her tomorrow. Busy trying to find ‘Empire.’ Went over work. Fine. 

August Tuesday 22: Met Mr. Schreiber at train at 7:30. Had breakfast with him & he & Greenwood & I drove over work. He (CS) notified C&L that they must get on faster or he would take contract from them. Took Empire at Lak’d & ran to Houseboat & had lunch at 1:30. Started for Bob’n arrd  at 6:30 pm. Spent evening at Boyds. 

August Wednesday 23: Ran on to Balsam Lake & drove over work with Robertson & C.S. Dinner at Kirkfield. Drove on to Beaverton & took train. Car there. C&L met us at station re unsettled accounts & nothing was decided. Fine day. CS went on to Ottawa. 

August Thursday 24: Went over work & up to Houseboat. Had Empire run me up at night 7 pm. HG Rogers & Margaret Rogers with me. Rain little. 

August Friday 25: Stayed at Houseboat at night. Went to Burleigh to telephone in a.m. [Walked] a specification part of day. Ran ‘Lenore’ down to Boshunk in evening & had tea on board. Fine. 

August Saturday 26: Went to town on boat in a.m. on work. Drove up to Houseboat at Sandy Bay at night. George went up with me. Fine. Agnes Revell died this morning. 

August Sunday 27: Walked over lot with HC Rogers. Drove to town with HCR to Agnes Revell’s funeral. Tea at HCR’s. Very warm.

August Monday 28: Took train for Lak’d. Addie C & Mrs. Van [----] with me. Went up on Majestic to Sandy Bay. In p.m. ran houseboat to Hill gate & after cruised around Juniper. A.C. & BV. & Helen Rogers went home on boat. In pm we called for Rev McNabb & wife & Mrs. Merrick & ran D Boshunk & after called on Mrs. Stratton & Campfire at Mrs. Browns. 

August Tuesday 29: Started with Houseboat from Hurricane Point at 8 a.m. ran to Sandy Bay & packed up & started for Lak’d at 2:15 arr’d at Lak’d at 6 p.m. Drove on bus (Cooper) home arrd at 8:30 p.m. Very warm.

August Wednesday 30: Drove to No. 6 & Hy Lock. Put first concrete in Hyd lock in well for Air Compression. Office in p.m. Very hot. 

August Thursday 31: Drove to Hyd L & No. 6. In am office. Drove to Lak’d. Went to Mrs. Traill’s (Oldest authoress Canadian) age 98. Went to houseboat. Inspected work at Lak’d & No. 3. Very hot. Rain at night. First rain for weeks. Everything dried up & great brush fires at Stoney lake. 

September Friday 1: Went to Hastings to visit Gordon. Expense acct for July & Aug.

Not yet sent for repairs.

[No entry Sept. 2] 

September Sunday 3: Went to service. Drove Mina to Chemong. Had Pope row me up to head of lake to examine location for proposed boom to prevent flooding islands coming down. Tea at TA Hay’s. Fine. 

September Monday 4: Labor day. Drove George & Frank Burnham to Lak’d & took ‘Empire’ to Sandy Bay. Started a survey of lot. Beautiful day. Started home at 6:30 & arr’d at nine. 

September Tuesday 5: Started for Ottawa at 12:12 a.m. Saw CS re adjustment of some disputed accounts of Corry & Laverdure. Did not decide anything. Started for home again at 10:35 p.m. J.K. Jones spent evening with me. 

September Wednesday 6: Arrd home from Ottawa at 6 a.m. Started at 7:10 for Toronto with Mina to attend Exhibition. 

September Thursday 7: Started for home at 9 am. Ed went to station with me, arr’d home at 11:25. drove to lock No. 6 & Hyd L in pm. Met Mina at station at 9 pm. Presided at football meeting & was elected President. Showery in pm. 

September Friday 8: Office. In evening drove to No. 5 re opening gear. Was at Hamiltons Wm also today. Office at night 11 pm. Fine. First concrete was put in for wall of Hydraulic Lock today in North West angle of Main wall. 

September Saturday 9: Drove to lock 6 & Hyd lock. Office. Drove to ‘Yankee Bonnett’ to visit Gordon raking. They started this morning. Office 9:30. Fine. 

September Sunday 10: Fine. In pm walked around by locks & called on C Gordon. 

September Monday 11: Showry in a.m. Fine at night. Office at house in a.m. & till 4:30. Drove to lock No. 6 & Hyd L. Spent evening with Mina at Maria’s. 

September Tuesday 12: Office till 5. Went over works No. 6 & Hy L. Office 9-10:15. Showry Fine at night. 

September Wednesday 13: Office. Mr. Francis went to Toronto to see his brother who is very sick. Was not on contract work today. Drove to ‘Yankee Bonnett’ to visit Gordon. Getting on very well. Very cool today & frost last night. Office 9-10. 

September Thursday 14: Office all day. At 5 went over to No. 6 & Hy Lock Fine. 

September Friday 15: Met R.K Jones (Secy R&C) at hotel & drove him over work from No. 6 to Lak’d. Took Empire & ran to Bob’n. Spent evening at M. Boyd’s. Beautiful day. 

September Saturday 16: Started at 8:30 ran to Balsam Lake. Drove over work with Robertson & Jones Dinner at Kirkfield. Drove to Lornville & home. Beautiful day Jones went on to Pt. Hope. 

September Sunday 17: Very hot 90 in shade. 

September Monday 18: Office at house in a.m. Called at JR Stratton office re appt. of Sloan & JB McWilliams. Called re appt of Esson in place of Moore. Went to No. 6 & Hyd lock. Cloudy & cooler. 

September Tuesday 19: Drove to Hyd lock & got Lynch to go to locks to assist Jenkin to dive at locks. Jenkin diving at lock to fix gates. Went on to Yankee Bonnet & had dinner there. Cool & raw & rain tonight. Mina left today. 

September Wednesday 20: Office. Drove to Lak’d in pm & examined works along line & at Lak’d exam’d location of entrance piers. Office at night. Showery.

September Thursday 21: Office. Wheeled to lock to see Junkin & on to Yankee Bonnet. Have not been feeling well so I hired a wheel to get some exercise. Fine. 

September Friday 22: Office. Wheeled over to Hyd L & No. 6. West tower of cable way up. Fine. 

September Saturday 23: Wheeled with Harry to Lak’d. Exam’d work. Harry fixed condenser. Fine. Went to show at night. 

September Sunday 24: Showery in pm. 

September Monday 25: Office. Showers heavy all day. Went to Supper at Mrs. Spences. Went to Mr. Fairs & had a Meeting of the hunting party. Mina in bed sick with Sciatica. 

September Tuesday 26: The most miserable September day I ever remember. Rain all day & snow for about 1'' in depth. Office. No work. First day of Peterboro Show. 

September Wednesday 27: Fine. In afternoon drove to show and over to No. 6 and Hyd lock. Choir practice at night. 

September Thursday 28: Office. Went to No. 6 to meet Corry. Office. Wheeled over to Mr. Hamiltons. Went to Harvest Festival Service at St Lukes. Mayor & Councils there. Went off very well. Fine. 

September Friday 29: Office. Went to Norwood at 6:45 pm in a freight train. Choir St Lukes drove to N to help in Harvest Festival. Had fine supper at Dr. Robertson’s. Stayed at hotel, choir drove home. Showery in a.m. 

September Saturday 30: Arrd home at 7:10 am. Rode on wheel to Lak’d. Boys drove my horse. Met Greenwood at No. 2 & at Lak’d entrance. Gave Alymer notice re pushing on work & increasing force. Drew ‘Lenore’ up on [tarp]. Office. Fine. 

October Sunday 1: Alymer came over in afternoon with letter to me re increasing force. We went over Canal from Hyd lock to No. 6. Fine. 

October Monday 2: Started for Ottawa at 12:12 a.m. Arr’d at 6 a.m. Saw CS re progress of work & accts of C&L &c. Went to Phillips house to call with him & to supper with Spence. Went to theater with J Spence. Fine. 

October Tuesday 3: Started for Montreal at 9:30 a.m. Went out to Dom B Works to see Co’y re material &c re Hyd Lock. Saw Duggan & Johnson. Stayed to go to see ‘Sign of the Cross’. Fine. 

October Wednesday 4: Started for home at 9 am. Arrd 5 pm.

[No entries Oct. 5 - Oct. 8] 

October Monday 9: Arrd in Ottawa in a.m. Started on Special train at 9 a.m. with party to open Soulonges Canal. There was about 25 in party. We took two launches - Alert & Shanty & steamed thr’o canal & on to St Anne’s & back to Ottawa by train. C Schreiber instructed me to proceed at once with plans survey &c of Trenton Section. Started for home at 10:35 pm. 

October Tuesday 10: Arrd home at 5 a.m. Office & busy all day - correspondence &c. Went over works. Got a Brantford wheel which I am to rent at $2.00 per week & pay bal’ce at end of season. Rode to Yankee Bonnett, instructed Gordon to go to Burleigh to build concrete piers. 

October Wednesday 11: Busy all day. Went to works in a.m. Got plan &c out for Trenton Frank’d Div’n & expressed them to Trenton. Went to Football Meeting at night re entertainment of Irish Football team. Fine. Office 9:30 to 11:30. 

October Thursday 12: Started for Trenton at 8:10 & drove from CO Ry Junction to Trenton - to start the Trenton-Frankford Div’n. Called on H Austen re renting office & men. Got telegraph from Secy to go to Ottawa tonight. Started for Ottawa at 12:50 tonight. Mr. Brophy arr’d tonight as Asst Eng’r. 

October Friday 13: Arrd in Ottawa at 9:30 a.m. Saw Jones & we went to see Mulock re letting work at Trenton. Assurred him that there would be no adverse criticisms after this. Started again for Trenton at 11 & arr’d at 6. Tired & went to bed early. Very hot. 

October Saturday 14: Fine. Went out with [K---] to see house of Mrs. Casey’s for office. Decided to take it for $12.00 per month to include telephone. $3.00 to look after rooms. Got office stuff moved up & started work in afternoon. Looked over ground at entrance. Started for home at 5:20 pm via Belleville. Meeting of Football Com’tee. Showry in pm. 

October Sunday 15: At home. 

October Monday 16: Went over work from Hyd Lock to Lake. Started at 11:55 for Trenton via Belleville. Brophy started soundings at lower entrance. Worked at night. Very warm. 

October Tuesday 17: Out on line with hand level. Brophy still at Sections. Mr. Viger arr’d in Peterboro this am & started for Trenton at noon & arrd at 6 pm. Made tracings  of traverse plans at night. Raining at night. 

October Wednesday 18: Went up on line & took Viger with me Examining line with hand level to fix sites of dams locks &c. Met Mr. Miller at Frankford & examined the work there. Drove to Sterling & took train for home. Fine. 

October Thursday 19: Thanksgiving Day. Drove to Lak’d  took Empire to Burleigh to lay out work there for Gordon (Lower entrance pier (Concrete)). Took children with me. Arrd home at 3:15 pm. Went to Football Match Pet vs Toronto 2^d Peterboro won 14 to 1. Office. Went over work today at Lak’d - Brophy started to pick up west traverse line. Viger was to start sections extension today but did not. 

October Friday 20: Went over work at lake & Hyd lock. Met Mgrs. Bank National of Ottawa at Hyd. L. Started for Trenton at noon via Belleville - arr’d at 3 pm. Horse met me & I drove up line. Took Viger with me. Had my arm level which I had sent down yesterday as Viger had no level. Mr. Brophy only got his transit yesterday. Worked at night. Fine. 

October Saturday 21: Brophy still on picking up traverse line, took Viger & level & took flying levels to fix locations & levels for locks & dams. Got some notes off Millers plans at Frankford Paper Mill. Drove on to Stirling & took train for Peterboro. Viger took horse home. Fine but cool. Gordon met me at station. 

October Sunday 22: Cloudy. Went over work Hyd lock to lake. Called to see J.C. Lundy. 

October Monday 23: At office & over work. 

October Tuesday 24: Went to Trenton at noon & arr’d at Stirling & drove to Frankford & over work. 

October Wednesday 25: Drove over work at Trenton. Went locating at Frankford Paper Mills. Decided to locate lock on East side of Island. 

October Thursday 26: At Trenton out on work all day. Mostly at Frankford Mills. Drove to Sterling & took train home. Went to MA Hills to hunt club meeting. Had horse meet me at train. Pouring rain at night. 

October Friday 27: Raining all day. Office. 

October Saturday 28: Pouring rain all day. No work going on. At office. Went over work at Lake & Hyd lock. 

October Sunday 29: Fine. 

October Monday 30: Fine. Went over work at Lake & Hyd lock. 

October Tuesday 31: Fine. Busy getting annual report off. Sent it away tonight. Expected Irish team tonight & arranged a smoking concert but they did not come. At office at night. Rain all night. 

November Wednesday 1: Fine. A-picked team from Ireland played our team football in p.m. Our men did splendidly score 16 to 4. Gave them a great ball in rink at night. It was best ever held here. Drove over work in [sic] lake & Hyd lock in am. 

November Thursday 2: Very tired. Went over work at lake & Hyd lock in am. In pm went to 4:45 to see Irish team off. Drove to Hyd lock to see Mixing machine work. Very tired & slept all evening. Fine. 

November Friday 3: Went to Trenton & over work there. Rain very hard at night. Left via Port Hope at 3:35 am for home. 

November Saturday 4: Drove to Lake & Hyd lock in am. Busy getting ready for hunt. Got stuff at JC Sullivan's - Spence, Hill, Stevenson, & I drove to Lak’d and went aboard Houseboat for a deer hunt. As Empire was going up for scow of Cement for Rosedale work, I had her tow us up. Lenore has been towing scows from dredge all week. Arr’d at Burleigh about 8 pm. 

November Sunday 5: At Burleigh. A.J. Phillips arr’d with Pousette & I drove down with their rig & left for Ottawa at midnight re telegraph rec’d. Examined concrete entrance piers being built below lock at Burleigh. 1 trip to Burleigh. [Last sentence added by Rogers later in ink ].

November Monday 6: Arrd in Ottawa re getting Trenton work ready at once. Went to lunch with CS. Started for home at night. 

November Tuesday 7: Busy all am. Met Shannon at train & we drove to Burleigh to join hunting party. A [Stethern] with us also. 

November Wednesday 8: Went out for hunt today & got one deer which Hill W.H. shot at Cedar lake. I watched on Cedar lake. Fine day. Got message from CS threatening dismissal if Trenton Section was not ready in a fortnight. 

November Thursday 9: Went out for hunt but left about noon as I felt uneasy. Man sent for me met me at Coon lake. Drove home & arrived at 6 pm. Very busy at specification for Trenton Sec’n. 

November Friday 10: Went to Trenton & over work. Went to Belleville at 9 pm & stayed at Quinte hotel for night. Cold and snow at night. 

November Saturday 11: [Started] at 5:40 am from Belleville for Peterboro. Leslie & Ormond draughtsmen from Ottawa arrived for work on Trenton Section. Sent them to Trenton with instructions - Very busy with specifications. In afternoon went to Football match Peterboro won Intermediate Championship vs Tigers II. Drove to Hy Lock & lake. Drove Lak’d & took ‘Emp’ for Burleigh. 

November Sunday 12: Laid at Burleigh all day. Went for walk to Sandy Bay with Shannon. Left at midnight for Buckhorn. RC Strickland & Payne to dinner. Started at 12 pm for Buckhorn & got there in 2 hrs. Ice ½ inch thick at entrances. 

November Monday 13: Rest of Party went to run at Buckhorn and got three but other party claimed & got one we shot. I went to Burleigh with Empire & bro’t drill scow & sent her to Lindsay. Spence & I started for home at 3 pm. Very busy & got Specification off for Trenton Section. Sent for Shannon & he left for Ottawa. 

November Tuesday 14: Started for Trenton at 8:10. Leslie and Almon did not start work till this a.m., as they did not carry out my instructions in going to Trenton. Mina taken very ill. 

November Wednesday 15: At Trenton. 

November Thursday 16: At Trenton. Left at 2:45 pm for Peterboro to attend banquet given to Hon. J.R. Stratton in honor of his appointment to Ministry. It went off very well about 350 sat down, benches[----]. I came home before speeches. Mina very ill with rheumatism. Katie Price came to nurse her. 

November Friday 17: Went to Trenton at 11:55 am. Got off at Sterling & drove to Chisholm's & had two men row me to Frankford to examine shores of river for level of 168. Drove on to Trenton. Very mild. 

November Saturday 18: At Trenton. In office most of day. Left at 6 pm for home. Gordon met me at train. Fine & mild. Instructed Gordon to go on with Keen Wharf. 

November Sunday 19: Very mild. In afternoon walked over work from Norwood Rd. to Lake. Met Corry at Hyd Lock. Mina in bed but better. 

November Monday 20: Left at 8:10 for Trenton. Busy in office all day. Beautiful & mild. 

November Tuesday 21: At Trenton. In office all day. Busy locating works. Beautiful day. Like October. Mina sitting up. 

November Wednesday 22: At Trenton. Got telegraph from CS to have plans for Trenton Sec’n in Ottawa tomorrow night. Very busy locating locks dams &c. Worked till three oclock Thursday morning. Very mild & beautiful day. In office till 4:30. Drove to Glen Miller. 

November Thursday 23: Started at 3:35 am for home & arrd at 8 am. Busy all day with plans &c and started at midnight for Ottawa. Very mild. 

November Friday 24: Arrived in Ottawa with plans for Trenton, Frankford Div’n. C.S. was much surprised that they were all finished. I was much put out when I found they were not to be on exhibition for a week. Busy on different matters with CS all day. Went to dinner at night with L Shannon & after revising specification till 12 p.m. Fine & very mild. 

November Saturday 25: Busy at Dept. all am. Went to lunch with Phillips & in p.m. Went to Dept. & worked till 7 p.m. revising specification. Started for home at 10:35. Mild. 

November Sunday 26: Arrd home at 5 a.m. In pm wheeled down to see Zac Burnham who is ill. Very mild & like spring. 

November Monday 27: Busy revising proof of Specification & form of tender for Trenton Frankford Div’n - finished it & sent it off to Ottawa at night. Office till 10:30 pm. Went to Hyd lock & lake. 

November Tuesday 28: Office. Busy getting out plan for Concrete Dam & fixing up plans for T & F Sec. 

November Wednesday 29: Went to Lindsay in am & met McHugh & Walters foreman & gave instructions to start dredging & blasting Scugog River. Came back at noon. Went to Hyd lock in p.m. Busy getting plans of T & F section fixed up. Left for Ottawa at midnight. Fine & mild. 

November Thursday 30: Arrd in Ottawa in am. Met R Kilgour and Mr. Miller re levels & location of wks at Frankford Mills. They were satisfied. Had finished plans of Trenton-Frankford Div’n with me & put them up on exhibition. Got printed specifications & form of tender & revised them. Left for home in Mr. Schreiber’s Car. Showery & very mild. 

December Friday 1: Arr’d on Mr. Schreiber’s car at 4:40 a.m. We drove to Chemong re location of bridge & over to Lak’d. Met Alymer & went over his work. Drove to Hyd lock & met Corry & Laverdure there. Greenwood with me. Went to car for lunch. By appointment met C & Laverdure re different disputed accts. Settled price of Wakefield piling & that embank’t of Hy L & trenches & extra price for [-----] he paid extra for. CS went home. Mild like Spring. 

December Saturday 2: Busy with plan for Concrete dam for Trenton Frankford Div’n. Rain in afternoon. Was at Hyd lock in a.m. They had put in cut off trench at upper end of lock. Office till 12 pm. 

December Sunday 3: Fine. Mina was taken very bad again with pains in her back. A little colder. Sophia at tea and walked home with her. 

December Monday 4: Went to Trenton in am. Corry also went down to look over section. Brophy & I went to Glen Miller & No 4 lock. Worked at night. Morrison was up for Brophy at night. Very much colder. Stopped Concrete work at Hydraulic Lock. Larkin & Sangster over section. 

December Tuesday 5: Jas Patton arrived as leveller. Brophy & I went to Glen Miller & Frankford & examined locations for locks & dams at other places for first time. Very cold & snow. Left for home at 5:20. Pope and [Cully] on train. Mina still bad. Worked till 11:30 pm. Sophia had a second epileptic fit this afternoon. 

December Wednesday 6: Office. Office at night.

December Thursday 7: Went to Lindsay in am to visit Walters at dredging river. As it was so cold & unsatisfactory working with dredge &c decided to stop work soon. Came home & went to Keene to visit Gordon at new wharf being built there. Looked very well. Drove home. Went to Annual tea at St Lukes in town Hall. Went to office after. Mild. 

December Friday 8: Office. Went to G T Ry train noon to meet Robertson passing thr’o to Trenton Pope also arrd from Kirkf’d. Pope, Greenwood & I drove up to [Baptie’s] and Nelson’s land but he decided to leave them till the water was up in the Summer. Went on to Lak’d. Went to service & to office. Mild & no snow. 

December Saturday 9: Office. Drove to Hyd lock. Took photos of lock. Corry & Laverdure met by appointment to try & fix prices for rock in trenches, embankment & unwatering of Hyd lock, did not fix any except rock in trenches 5.00. Office at night. Laverdure said today that he had decided to shift down work at embankment at Hyd Lock. I concurred. 

December Sunday 10: Very mild & dull with little rain. Went in to see Sophia for first time in a week. Was much astounded to see her so low. Called there 3 times today. She was quite conscious all day & evening. 

December Monday 11: Miserable day raining but mild. Went to Omemee & had Learys team meet me there & drove to Cowan’s bridge by appointment. Met McHugh. Reeve & one councillor. Showed them proposed plans for bridge but no decision was arr’d at. High level seemed to favor. Came home at 11:15 am. Office in p.m. Sophia unconscious today & sinking. Was up twice. Office at night. Corry & Laverdure met by app’t at my office to try & settle price for emb’t of Hyd lock but no decision was arrd at. See other acct. 

[Note: For the next two entries RBR has crossed out the dates & entered his own. They are listed here as they appear in the diary.] 

December [Note: the words ‘Tuesday12’ have been crossed out and ‘Wednesday 13^th’ have been written above them]: Went to Trenton. Spent day in office with Mr. Brophy going over land limits. Started for home at 5:20 pm. Office till 10. Went up to see Sophia before I left this morning & also at night. She is still unconscious & sinking. Rain in am cleared in morning. Turned colder at night & freezing. 

December [Note: the words ‘Wednesday 13’ have been crossed out and ‘Tuesday 12^th’ have been written above them]: Rained. Office. Very mild. Sophia sinking fast. 

December Thursday 14: Went to Lindsay to visit Walters. Decided to lay up dredge today. Gov't line at North end. Met McHugh & J Ellis re right to take on Canal at Kirkfield. Told him to write Dept. Met W Boyd at Lindsay. In pm went down to Lock 6 & Hyd lock. Turned very cold today. Went to service at night. Was at Sophias 3 or 4 times. Sophia sinking fast. McDonald & Brown looking at plans. 

December Friday 15: Went up to see Sophia. Office. Poor Sophia died at 1:20 pm. She has been unconscious since Monday a.m. She did non suffer at all. We will miss her very much. She was so kind hearted. She was a good sister to me when I was young. James & I went to Cemetery & I drove to locks & to No. 6. Very cold after tea went up to Sophia’s. 

December Saturday 16: Walked down to Lock 6. Met Corry there. Office. Was at Sophia’s in evening. Not so cold. Went to 8 pm train to meet Ed but he did not come in till midnight. 

December Sunday 17: Ed up at house, spent morning at Sophias. Did not go to church. Sophias funeral took place at 2:30. James, Ed, Sam Price, Harry Rogers, & Harry Strickland & I were pallbearers. A large number at funeral & beautiful flowers. One pretty one from T.C. Staff. After funeral went back to Sophias for while. Did not go to ch at night. Went up to Sophia’s again. Beautiful day. 

December Monday 18: Office. Started for Trenton at 12 noon. Took Spence with me to get out quantities. Took measurements of Gilmour dam. Worked in office at night. Mild & rain at night. 

December Tuesday 19: Raining in am. Busy in office all day. Staff getting  out quantities. Clear & colder at night. Started home at 5:20 pm. Met [H-] Haultain on train. Mina better sitting up. 

December Wednesday 20: Walked down to lock at lake. Found holes left in bottom of lock had burst up through concrete filling. Ordered concrete to be taken out. Saw Hamel & Hayes regarding it. Went down again in afternoon. Called in to see girls (Meade). Office at night 11. Met Balderson at hotel. Mild & fine. 

December Thursday 21: At Lock at lake most of am & p.m. Tried to get holes left in lock bottom filled but did not succeed very well. The water came thr’o to a certain extent all we put in. Hardly know what to do with it. Went to Kindergarten closing in pm. Service, choir practice & office at night. Greenwood in Ottawa today. 

December Friday 22: Went to Lock 6 in am. Corry decided to take out concrete in holes. (See letter written today). Office. Went to lock again at night & found Corry had not taken out concrete as agreed to but was preparing to close down the work for the season. Greenwood & were there together. C.S. telegraphed me to go to Ottawa. Started for Ottawa at midnight. Turned very cold today. 

December Saturday 23: Arr’d at Ottawa at 6 am. Saw Minister who said he had letter complaining that patronage was not properly given out principally in regard to horse hire. Showed him letters that I had got from officers of Reform Ass’n which showed things up. He said he was satisfied that things were all right. Saw CS re prices for Embankment hyd lock for C & L. He fixed the prices with out reference to me. Spent evening at the Spences. Milder & rain. 

December Sunday 24: Arrd home at 5:30 am. Wet snow all day - ab. 4''. Walked down in pm to see Zac Burnham. Very bad walking. Turned cold at night & windy. 

December Monday 25: Christmas day. Rev M Symonds came to house at 10 am & had communion services with Mina, the boys & I went to services. Dinner at home. Mina down stairs all day receiving callers but she is not so well today. At 5 pm went up to Calcutts with children to tea. Spent evening there & at 9 went up to Maria’s. Beautiful day & good sleighing. 

December Tuesday 26: Office all day. Home at night. Have a stiff neck. Cold & fine. 

December Wednesday 27: Office all day & at night. Walters [M-] came down from Lindsay to see me regarding closing down work at Lindsay river. Decided to do so. Cold & beautiful. Good sleighing. 

December Thursday 28: Went to Trenton in a.m. Went over work of quantities with Brophy, came home via Port Hope in afternoon. Office at night. Greenwood got word that he was selected to go to South Africa. It will throw a lot of extra work on me. Cold & beautiful. 

December Friday 29: Office all day. Busy getting out quantities for Trenton Section. Office at night. Colder today. 

December Saturday 30: Office. Fine & cold. 

December Sunday 31: Walked down to see Zac Burnham in afternoon. Fine & cold.

[Note: On the inside back cover there is a list of payments made for rent of the house on Stewart and Elizabeth Streets during the year of 1899. They immediately follow.]

Date House Con Stewart & Elizabeth St.

Rent to:

Jany 19 - Feby 1^st $20.00

April 1^st 20.00

May 30 June 1 20.00

Aug 2^nd Aug 1^st 20.00

Aug 22 Sept 1^st 10.

Oct 31 Nov 1^st 20

Nov 30 Dec 1^st 10

[Note: The entry ‘Jany 10 Jany 1^st 10’ has been crossed out]