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PAGF i18, WEDNESDAY. MAY 21. 19 80. WHITBY FREE PRESS Our hu*torical heritage.. C harles Draper:t rouge merchant BY EUGENE HENRY Before dashing off the Whltby Harbour for a look at the schooner "Bloomer" please read Mr. Draper's Ad more carefully and you wil sSe that it is dated at Whitby back in March of 1860. Ubiqultous, would be a good word to describe Chester Draper and the role he played in the Whitby business scene of the 185's. He was everywhere ini the Whitby area where a deal was ini the making or a dollar to be made. He started his business career in Port Perry as the Manager of the Peter Perry's store there. Things went very well indeed and our Chester Draper then ap- pears at Whitby Harbour as a grain buyer - for Peter Perry perhaps. This would be 1846 or 46. Ln any event, he joined the Whitby Chamber of Com- merce then and became a regular of the club, joining Joseph Gould, Rames Rowe and others ini the promotion of the centre road, the railways and Whitby Har- bour. He must have made a lot of money in the CanadafU.S. grain trade of 1854-64 because he buit a big and fine storage facility in the north east sector of Whitby Harbour and'had it open for business in Confederation Year (1867). It was four storeys high; a thing of beauty (painted white and red) and a mechanical mar- vel. Gene were the days when farmers and team- sters would wait by the hour to unload at the harbour. Chester Draper died in 1876 at the end of Whitby's most prosperous period. At the time of his death he was a director and large shareholder in the Port Whitby and Port Perry Raiiway, and of alI things a shareholder too in that fledgling educational in- stitution "The Ontario Ladies College". Durîng his lifetime, Chester Draper got a very poor press. He was accused of a wide assortment of questionable dealings and acts, brought on no dbout by bis litigious nature and greed for money. He intrigues me because he isone -of the few figures in Whitby's early days who aimost cornes alive not- SCHOONER FOR SALE. T hie ga undersigned in olters for sale at a bar the well-known Schoonier 'BLOOMEr now lying aJ~ this Port, shie carnies 3,000 bushi els ot wheat. is will found andi classed B. wou.ld be exclhangeci for i -cal estate ini Town, or sold on timie. CHESTER DRAPER Whitby, March 27, I1860. withstanding the charges against him and the un- savory atmosphere surrounding almost al bis business dealings. A good biography of Chester Draper is certainly needed 'in the local history section of our Whitby Public Library. Sol What else is new? I do suppose there are several hundred early Canadians that remain fuzzy and in- distinct figures in our pasi because our historians hiave 1-3 in not yet got around to these interesting people. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a portrait, sketch or photograph of Chester Draper -SHave you? This ad- vertisement is the ciosest I could get. Clean- up week Ma 26-30 This year's spring dlean- up will be heid from May 26 to 30 and this service wili be availabie to ail residents of the town, according to Regionai Councillor Gerry Emm. Emm aiso said that besides the three regular garbage packers that the town empioys there wiii be an additionai packer, a 40 yard roll-of f container, two loaders and three open trucks. The additional packer and the roll-off container wili be rented by the town, he said. The operations committee chairman aiso said that'an additional 16 men will be on garbage collection duty during the semi-annual dlean-up week. The estimated cost of the week, including disposai fees wiil be $11,000, Emm said. Emm emphasized that the "people in the northern area are entitled to the dlean-up as weiI as the people in the south. " For more information on the dlean-up week, cali the public works departmnent ai. 668-5803. DIAL - N - INSPIRATION Dial 668-1331 and hear a three minute inspirational message by Pastor Emmo Oltmanns of the Emmanueichurch at 401 Rossland RoadW. in Whitby. To commemorate 10 years of service THE DOCTOR JOSEPH O. RUDDY GENERAL H OSPITAL invites'you to attend an **OPEN HOUSE* on Thursday, May 22, 1980 f rom 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 pa. Corne and see our Hospital, talk ta our staff, and Iearn more about aur services. OTHER HEALTH RELATED AGENCIES SUCH AS: ADDICTION RESEARCH FOUNDATION DURHAM REGION HEALTH UNIT DURHAM REGION LUNG ASSOCIATION METRO ORGAN RETRIEVAL & EXCHANGE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS ASSOCIATION THE CANADIAN RED CROSS(WHITBY) WILL BE ON HAND TO OFFER HELP AND INFORMATION. REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED. i,