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THE COBOURG STAR, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1974 Page C3 Looking Backwards The Looking Backwards series, which ran regularly throughout the summer months as part of the Colborne Chronicle, met with such interest and warm reaction from our readers that we will continue it at irregular periods throughout the winter. The series deals with life styles, stories and anecdotes about Colborne of old. Looking Backwards is authored by Mr. Walter Luedtke, head of the East Northumberland Secondary School History Department. He's a resident of Colborne and is extremely interested in the community. A Colborne Autumn - 70 Years Ago Colborne's summer of 1903 came to an end on the beach. Located just east of Loughbreeze, it was named Victoria Beach in memory of the late, beloved monarch. It was here that the prosperous business and professional men of Colborne had their cottages and camps and spent the summers in a carefree round of picnics, bonfires and regattas. One Thursday evening in September about 500 cottagers, campers and friends assembled to celebrate the end of the season. They applauded Mr. F. 0. McGlennon who welcomed them with his megaphone. "Our numbers are being yearly augmented, and we take this opportunity of inviting you all to take up your residences again for the summer months on Victoria Beach, on the smooth sand shores of Cole's Cove." The Reverend Watson composed, in huge prairie of Canada's "Golden West." Colbornites could take their last steamer excursions in September. The Alexandria made three more runs to Quebec City. Each took a week and cost $18.50 for berth and meals. For the less adventurous, one dollar bought a return trip to the Exhibition in Toronto on the old faithful Argyle. Apples were big business for the village again. Mr. Robert Coyle bought the Peterson apple storage houses and was building another one with all the latest innovations. R. J. Cochrane shipped Astrican apples and pears overseas to London and Hamburg. Elmer Lick, Fruit Inspector, sent 1,000 boxes of Colborne apples to England. A box held forty pounds, each apple being individually wrapped in tissue paper. Apples were usually shipped in barrels, many of which were made Colborne ladies in their fall fashions. honor of the occasion, a poem of which the last verse read: When summer months are gone at length And we unto our homes repair Renewed in vigour, health and strength And ready in all work to share, In grateful thought and song and speech We shall enshrine Victoria Beach." The celebration reached its climax with a huge bonfire which cast its light on the dare-devils who tried to walk a slippery log, suspended over the water. From his boat Mr. Cornwall, Colborne's renowned ta ilor, delighted the crowd on shore with songs, sung through a megaphone. Finally a grand display of fireworks and an illuminated bypass of the Victoria Beach flotilla ended the evening. That September Colborne's High School opened with a record enrolment, although many pupils were away, helping with apple picking and in the harvest. The Enterprise printed a news item from far-away China to send the teachers off to a good start with their classes. "A Chinaman was recently executed in his native country for having killed his father, and with him they executed his schoolmaster for not having taught him better morals." The Canadian Pacific Railroad ran harvest specials to the Northwest Territories. Jacob Pettybone and Wesley Prout were among those who went to help bring in the wheat on the locally by S. H. Edwards in his cooperage on the west side of Victoria Square. A number of evaporators around the village dried and bleached the fruit in preparation for shipment. That fall the Lakeport Preserving Company was paying 40 cents for one hundred pounds of good sized peeling apples. Cold storage for fruit was the latest technological advance at the time and gave Colborne apple growers and merchants a shot at a vastly expanded market. R. J. Cochrane was the most dedicated promoter of a cold storage plant that would rival the one already in operation in Trenton. Throughout the fall, meetings were held to raise the $50,000 needed to build a plant capable of storing 50,000 barrels. Among the first who subscribed were George Wilkinson and Robert Coyle. Such was the beginning of cold storage in Colborne, which now seems to have left us for good. Cheese could also be preserved in cold storage and the Enterprise campaigned tirelessly on its behalf. In 1903,16 cheese factories, producing over 28,000 cheeses annually, were close enough to the village to be reached by wagon. The nearest of these were in Wicklow,, Castleton and Salem. That fall Salem Cheese sold for eleven and three-eighths cents per pound in Belleville. A large part of the autumn excitement Curlers in the Old rink. This photo taken at a somewhat later date, was created by the perennial rivalry between Colborne's two millinery establishments. Miss McBrien at the Scougale Brothers' and Miss Culver in her own shop, once more held the village in breathless suspense over the daring new creations at their fall showings. That year the Scougale offerings seemed to have won a slight edge over the redoubtable Miss Culver. Enraptured, the Express reported, "the tables and ledges are filled with exquisite hats, no two showing the slightest resemblance to each other and each design a novelty of itself. The torpedo shape in turbans is most popular, espe^'iHv carried out in fur." During the first week of October, the Agricultural Society held its annual Fall Fair at the Driving Park. According to the papers the surrounding hamlets were deserted, the people having gone to attend the two-day show. Some 2,000 entries of ladies' work, fine art, fruits, vegetables and livestock were housed in large, sixty-foot tents. Expert judges had been supplied by the Ontario Department of Agriculture to examine and judge each entry, taking care to explain the reasons for their awards so that the fair became an educational event for the participants. In the afternoon, the "speeding" saw wins by the hometown favorites. Dr. Willoughby's pacer "Hebrew" won second place in his event. In the gentleman roadster contest Mr. A. Philp came first. The prize for quick hitch was won by Dr. Alyea, who also won the running. A large number of the 3,000 spectators helped themselves to the hot dinner provided by the Ladies Aid of Trinity Church and listened to the Boys' Brigade Band of Cobourg. In the evening, the Temperance Hall was filled to the doors.., the irresistible attraction being the lovely voices of Misses LaDell and Scott, all the way from Toronto. The Colborne Hockey League had big plans for the coming season. The building of the outdoor rink was overseen by Mr. James Coyle. Upon completion the rink was 175 feet long and 75 feet wide. A shed ran along the west end, providing dressing rooms for the teams and shelter for the spectators. The most modern features were the the electric lights in their large reflectors which lit the rink for games and carnivals. Another popular sport provided entertainment for long winter evenings. Plans were being made for a curling rink, paid for by popular subscription. The rink was to be located south of King Street in a building 150 feet long and 30 feet wide, providing ample space for sheets and a waiting room. It was to be completed by the new year. The fall of 1903 also had its less pleasant aspects for the people of Colborne. It seems that the village and the surrounding area were being hit by a crime wave. Apart from being plagued by a female horse thief, farmers had been held up on the open road by a team of masked bandits, who robbed them of their money and, in once instance, of their clothes. A young Cojfrorne lady, returning home one evening, was seized by the throat by a masked man. Her screams quickly attracted the attention of passers-by, who chased the robber over a fence and lost him. A similar chase involved two suspected burglars, who were surprised by Mrs. James Hinds in her home. Again her screams sent pursuers after the All photos supplied by Mr. W. Griffis. criminals, who got away in the dark. Road accidents occurred even in the horse and buggy days. Stephen Cook of Castleton had driven a load of potatoes to Colborne in his wagon. On the return journey in the dark he apparently drove over the edge of a culvert. He was thrown from the wagon which fell on him and killed him instantly. Children on their way to school found him in the morning. To cast aside any suspicion, the "Express" reported that "Mr. Cook was a young man of good habits and was strictly temperate." At the end of November, Victoria Beach, which had echoed with songs and laughter two months before, was strewn with wreckage. Among the wooden flotsam was a stick of square timber, lettered in blue pencil "Sch. Emerald Cpt. McMaster". The vessel had left the port of Charlotte on November 15th with a load of coal for Toronto. Schooners usually made their last voyage of the season with a load of Pennsylvania coal for Canadian stoves. Since that voyage took them into the storm season, it was sometimes fatal. The Emerald struck somewhere between Colborne and the bluff off Presqu'ile during a November gale. Lost without a trace were her crew of eight. Among them was Captain McMaster his 22-year-old son Walter, Thomas Slight of Port Hope, John Sheldrick and John Bowerman, both sailors from South Bay near Picton. Also on board was a woman, the cook, whose name is unknown. Thus the autumn of 1903 that had begun so gaily on Victoria Beach, ended in tragedy. Victoria Beach and wharf, built about 190fi. The races at the Colborne Fair.