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Dally Journal - Record Centennial Edition, Friday, Sept. 1, 1967 Old Oakville Lives On In Chief's Diary One of the sources of informat ed several times before he final ion about everyday life in Oak ly " let him go if he would leave ville before the turn of the cent town." But in a month the poor ury are the diaries of George soul was back in jail, and Sum writes: "In the morning Sumner, the town' s virtual one- ner m an staff for almost 40 years when I went to the Lock-up I and known to four generations found Mahoney hanging by the neck in the cell." That day he as Chief Sumner. The reason his diaries are so arranged for the buried, and lat illuminating is that the Chief er attended the funeral. The Chief' s diaries show him w as overworked. The job of chief constable carried with it a stag to have a rather m orbid interest gering list of duties, and these in funerals, and it was also his kept Sumner in touch with just custom to "s e t up" with the about everything that went on in sick, even on the point of death, town. Here is a partial list of even if they were not relations. his responsibilities: In those days typhoid and dip E nforce all bylaws. Superin htheria were a real m enace, and fatal. tend all work on streets. See diabetes almost always that sidewalks are kept in re Minor ailments were common, pair and cleared o f snow, and probably because of contaminat superivise and check accounts ed water, food and milk, and, because of the primitive state fo r all day work o f the town; A ct as pound keeper, health of m edical knowledge, went und officer, harbor m aster and dir er such vague term s as colds, ector o f storm signals, supervis ague, fever, sum m er complaint or o f the town cem etery, truant and cholera morbus. officer and caretaker of the town On several occasions the Chief hall; notes how he sat up all night and then helped the undertaker TRAMPS, DRUNKS Attend prisoners in the lock to "la y out" the departed. He up (these included a large num later attended the burial, and b er of tram ps and drunken sail would conclude with such re o rs ); attend m agistrates court m arks as: " A very large funeral, and serve all summonses a n d 26 teams. Very hot and fearful warrants; distribute tax notices, dusty." both property and dog, and col The Chief was a God-fearing lect taxes. When absent on other man and went regularly to chur than town business to supply and ch with his fam ily, or to "p ro pay a com petent substitute. tracted meetings" as revivals The pay for all this was listed w ere called in those day* as only S404.44'/2 In 1869, and so the Chief, who had been trained a s a ship' s carpenter, also did odd jobs of ship and house build ing and assisted the loca l und ertaker. He also tended a vegetable garden and kept a cow and chic kens to supplement his incom e, weighed grain fo r shipments and, a s agent for steam ers, sold tick ets at the pier. Is it any wonder that his diar ies, o f which m ore than 40 little books are still in the possession o f hi* fam ily, provide glim pses Into alm ost every aspect o f life In the old town? HARD LIFE There is little in the Chief's diaries to m ake the m od em reader long for the ` `Good old days." His writings show that life in those days was lived close to the borderline o f necessity, with financial i n s e « t f y a con C H IE F S U M N E R stant threat and h ^ f t a conOne-man staff nt worry. 'Thus w e find m u ch ^ ^ V ie cfeiries aburnt the w eather' crop pn spects, siirJntesK and death, ta;es and m oney shortage, olecticn news and criticism o f govern m ent policies. Tax collecting w as his biggest headache. A favorite rem ark in his diaries on that subject, and on the arrival o f winter was " God help the poor." Are electrical charges After a hard day' s collecting bouncing off he writes: "C an get nothing but your metal door knobs? silver," or triumphantly, " Got In considerable, it being the last da y to qualify voters." In 1867 he rem arks: " Taxes are very high, 4-10 cents on town rate and % cent on schools." SUDDEN FIRING Does your family suffer from In 1902, after 37 .years serv constant colds? ice, the Chief was fired by the town, probably because he was an ardent T ory in a com munity controlled by Grits. He wrote that year, shortly after his dis Are your nasal passages dry m issal: " I paid Young m y taxes when you awake in the today. Always paid m yself for mornings? the last 37 years." (Taxes on his property at 33 William St. were $14 that year; in 1956 they were nearly $300, and by 1965 had risen to $500.) He died nine years later, in 1911. Are you constantly suffering The Chief was not only keeper with a sore and dry throat? o f the peace, but also guardian o f the town's property. A news paper notice in 1888 reads: " LOCKS STOLEN. Chief of P ol ice Sumner has asked us to say that if the m iserable sneak thief who s t o 1 e the locks from the Is your furniture falling apart doors of the out-houses in Geor and your floors creaking? g e ' s Park will com e to him he will give him the keys o f the same, as he has no m ore use for them ." Most entertainments cam e to the town hall, and the Chief collected the rent, saw to the heating, kept order, and was the last man to leave the hall. Some tim es he recorded in his diary com m ents about the show, such a s " P oor thing" , o r "G ood en ough for 10 cents," and on one occasion: "P erform a n ce good --few there--m ade fire in lock up fo r dram atic troupe." TEEN GANGS Teenagers were a problem in Slab - Tow n" (the west side) breaking windows o r causing oth e r dam age. One H allowe'en his diary records: " A few sidewalks upset (they w ere wood in those days) -- a privy out in the road with a tavern sign and draped In mourning." A drumatic Humidifier, the choice of Although he w as fond o f sail Canadian home-owners, is the answer. ors, the Chief disliked visiting Installed on your furnace, and control led by a wall-mounted humidistat, the yachtsmen. One Sunday he Drumatic circulates properly Irunwdtwrote: " Some drunken loafers fied air to every room in your home, going down to their yachts howl and costs less than Yit per day t i ing this morning about four operate. o 'clock ." You owe it to yourself and your family The Chief was the son o f one to install a Drumatic Humidifier as sooa o f Oakville's earliest and most as possible. extroverted taven keepers, Wil Manufactured by the liam Sumner, whose story ap Wait-Skuttle Company, pears later in this issue: but he 35 9 Davis Road, Oakville, Ont. him self was strictly "T em per an ce." And It was from experience that he wrote: "T his Whiskey is a Curse," because m any were the drunks who spent the night In his lock-up. One entry reads: " Washed old Leahy before tak ing him to g a o l." F U E L S OLD MAHONEY SJPHlEliS K jj. Another chronic drunk was O A K V IL L e | O N TA R IO " Old M ahoney," whom he arrest "O u r progress alm ost never shows i t O LKSW AGEN The Confederation of Canada represents 100 years of progress. The Volkswagen Car represents 22 years of progress. In Oakville Ed Ekeris Motors represents Volkswagen and has d o n e so for 14 years. During these years Volkswagen owners in Oakville and district h a v e received the best new car sales as well as the best service and parts replacement. Now, as you can see by the photograph below we are in our new location at 5 57 Kerr Street where our facilities are even greater still, with this progress we are able to service you better with a more modern - new car department - service department - parts de partment and body shop. 1867I I 1967 JL YOU HAVE A DRY AIR PROBLEM a X ic - d h u m Humidifiers to the rescue! Here you see pictured A1 Homes our parts depart ment manager writing out an order for a Volkswagen in one of our many s e r v i c e bays. This particular car was a major overhaul and we had all the parts on hand to complete the job. This is a photograph of a car being sprayed in our modern spray painting booth, having just come out of the body shop it was put back to its original shape. EKERIS MOTORS LIM ITED 557 Kerr St. N Oakville 844-3285