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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5,1977, PAGE 7 Brian Winter's Hlistori'cal Whitby THE INFAMOUS MRS. GLASS For more than a year, this column has been headed by pictures of the homes of famous people from Whitby's past--people who made great contributions to the growth and development of this community. This week, there is no picture--for now we are dealing with one of the infamous characters from Whitby's history--the notorious Mrs. Glass. Mrs. Glass, to use the 19th century term, kept a "house of ill fame" in Whitby. The exact location of that house is not known, but it was described as "a neat cottage in a retired part of the town". In the years 1861 and 1862 the newspaper headlines and court dockets were filled with a record of the bizarre escapades of Mrs. Glass. On April 22, 1861, Mrs. Glass was taken before the Mayor's Court on a charge of "keeping a house of ill fame". Alexander Cameron, the town's chief constable, testified that he "saw men going to the house at all hours of the night...tliat he made a descent on the house on Saturday evening, and there were persons there who put out the lights and made their escape". The constable also testified that Mrs. Glass refused him admittance and threatened to shoot him with a loaded pistol. Other witnesses were brought forth at the trial, but the local newspaper considered their evidence was "unfit for publication". The result of the case was that Mrs. Glass was fined $5, to be paid in three days. She did not pay the fine. On June 18, 1861, Mrs. Glass was again brought to court on a charge of keeping a house of ill fame, and was fined $10 to be paid in two days. It is not recorded whether or not she paid that fine. A nan caught in the house at that time was charged with frequenting a house of ill fame and was fined $10. He didn't pay his fine either. These were minor incidents compared to what happened in December 1861 and January 1862. The story begins with a girl aged 13 or 14 who was being sent by train from Toronto to visit her aunt in a town somewhere east of Whitby. Her parents, regretably, sent her off unattended. The press report of the day, to protect her parents' reputation, does not give any names, but relates the incident as follows: "While waiting at Toronto to take the train, the silly girl was tempted by the display of nick-nacks to spend so much money that she had not enough left for the railway fare to her place of destination. "In her distress, the evil tempter--in the shape of a noted woman who goes by the name of 'Mrs. Glass' and keeps a house of ill fame in Whitby came by. "Affecting to take great compassion on her situation, this infamous woman, under the guise of a genteel exterior, and well dissembled kindness, succeeded in insinuating herself into the confidence of the innocent unsuspecting girl," the paper records. With a promise to provide the girl with sufficient means to get to her destination, Mrs. Glass took the girl to Whitby and her house of ill fame. "What followed may be easily guessed", the local newspaper reported. "The girl's destruction was accom- plished. Here she remained up to Thursday last (about a month), leading a life of nisery, shame and sin, when she was taken away by her heart-broken father". When the girl did not show up at her aunt's place, ber father coitacted the police and a bulletin containing her description was sent to all towns in the province. Mr. Cameron, Whitby's chief constable, read the bulletin and suspected that Mrs. Glass might be involved in the girl's disappearance. He went to her house. Mrs. Glass hid the girl, but the constable got enough of a look at her to ensure himself that she was the girl in question. He telegraphed her father, but Mrs. Glass also sent him a telegram, under the name of "Mary Brown", which claimned that she was not his daughter, and invited him to come and see for himself. The father arrived in Whitby the same day he received the constable's telegram, and the two men proceeded to Mrs. Glass's, house. Mrs. Glass at first denied the girl's presence, but when the father began to threaten her and the constable began to search the house, she gave up the girl. For fear of adding greater publicity to the whole sordid affair, the father refused to press charges against. Mrs. Glass. The local newspaper editor was horrified that "this villianous wicked woman escapes punishment for one of the most damnable crimes that a debased and depraved wretch could be guilty of committing". He considered her freedom from prosecution to be almost as great a crime as the one she had committed, and called for the town council to do something about the matter. Mrs. Glass may have got away scott free that time, but within a week, another one of her escapdes led her to the county jail. The chief constable, Mr. Cameron raided her house a week after the young girl was discovered, and charged her for selling liquor without a licence. Mrs. Glass was not pleased, and she assaulted the constable with an axe. She was fined $50, levied in distress, for selling the liquor without a licence, and committed to the quarter sessions court on the charge of assaulting the constable. No record appears of her trial on the assault charge, and the name of Mrs. Glass is no longer seen in the Whitby newspapers after January 1862. What happened to her or where she went is not known. It may come as a surprise to our readers that such goings-on actually occurred in Whitby, which even in 1861, was considered a respectable town. However the story of Mrs. Glass really did happen and is recorded in the newspapers of the day. It only goes to show that many kinds of people make up a world, and no town is immune from its quota of unsavory characters. One of the dearest persons I ever knew often said: "If our heads were on screws someone would steal them". Right On. I guess l'm in a state of Post-Christmas shock. Someone stole my Christmas. I don't know if it was The Grinch, Charlie Brown or a kid down the street -- but iny Christmas has gone. Did you say "So what!". Well I say it's down right dishonest. Look. Early last November I was driving through Pickering, Ajax.and Whitby with the car radio playing another unfarniliar rock tune sung by a group with a name like "Rock Bottom" when --whanmo! Carols: the first I had heard in '76. . Perhaps it was because I felt soothed by the gentle voices after the hard twanging of guitars: or may be it was the first touch of Christmas magic but I found the sound pleasant. A few days later I was hit by our television (not the set per se) the slick gift commercials. Ha! Here they come I chortled: the usual Christmas smoothies with all their sweet talk of how we should think of those near and dear to us (don't we do that all year?). Later I opened one of my newspapers -- bang! Buy! ; everSUSPENDED CEILINGS Consists of plain white 2' x 4' panels, grid system and suspension wires. Ideal for rec-rooms. MITCHELL BROTHERS Building Supplies Ltd. srokin. 655-4991 Buy! Buy! Christmas is coming. As I turned the pages our radio stopped playing delightful FM music -- only to be replaced with sneaky church bells and excited voices followed by a message to remember Mom, Dad, Sis, Grandad and the rest of the family and our friends. A week later I succuinbed. I bought Christmas. Man did I buy it. Not just the gifts, the tree, the food and the rushing around. But the family changed miy favourite room around and every night we were engaged in chores that only Christmas can bring. So the day arrived -- and it went and still the wreckage of what it represents is around. -- even after New Year. But immediately after New Year -- SILENCE. Final Curtain. No more "Have a good year" and "It's good to see you again". No carols (some folks say that's a blessing). My point is someone stole my Christmas. Great scot! I spent hours, days, weeks preparing for it. Newspapers, radio, television, stores kept pounding into my mind (and pocket) I should -- must -- never for!et it. Frank Drea MPP is speaker at P.C. meeting in Brooklin Frank Drea, MPP for Scarborough Centre, and Parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations, will be the guest speaker at theannual meeting of the Brooklin and District Progressive Conserva- tive Association. The meeting will be held Jan. 12 in the Brooklin Oddfellows Hall, Bagot St., starting at 8 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Well, I want my Christmas back. I want the good wishes and joy of seeing old and good friends again. I want the thrill of watching eyes light up when I open our door and feel loving arms clasping my neck and really meaning they are glad to see me and mine. Now the whole thing is cut off: faces are solemn and our holise is quiet, so quiet. Who or whom stole my Christmas -- stop thief! Darn it I had to work hard for it and I was sold by the media folks. Whoever took it should put it back. I want my Christmas to last through March, July and all 365 days. The only thing I can think of is the jackass who started the thing so early in November got mixed up with the months. He or she nust have thought it was December. If they did, then something is wrong. 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