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0 g ' |] REMEMBER ee COLBORNE ABOUT 1900 (Continued) I don’t suppose there are very many people left who remember that Norton Lane was once nicknamed Lover’s Lane. Well, it was, but I never could ascer- tain the reason unless it was a favourite walk or loitering place for lovers. One of the main fea- tures of Norton Lane was Gale’s pump which stood just in front of where the garage is and quite close to the sidewalk. If there was one, there must have been ten families that got their water from that old pump. The fact is that I do not know’ what they would have done for water if it had not been there. This little street has changed considerably since those early days. The big white house on the south side, the first off Perey Street was al- ways known as the Parsons house because at one time it, was the home of two maiden ladies by the name of Parsons. V. G. Cornwall, once famous in Colborne as a comic singer, lived there at one time with his two daughters. Perhaps that had something to do with the nick- name as two rather prominent young Colborne men used to loiter there quite a lot. The next house west, the late F. M. Brintnell’s home was a drab looking place, badly in need of paint and was occupied by the Collins family. Mrs. Col- lins was a daughter of Bib Mrs. Smith or Grandma Smith as she was often called, who lived on Percy Street in half of the double house right next to the Methodist Church sheds. The house on the corner of Norton Lane and Toronto Street, some- times referred to as the Rag Elliott place, was the home of Mrs. Kemp. She had two sons and two daughters. I remember the boys very well. The younger one, Art, or Bushy as he was commonly called, was about my age. The older boy was Tom. I have not seen either of them since we were boys. James Coyle built the house on the opposite corner and lived there some years after he was married, The next place up the street was Mr. Wm. Shannon’s. He was an old gentleman and quite a character. He usually had a raspberry patch some place or other and hired women and girls to pick them. He paid one cent for picking a quart box. } It was a sight to see him with his old horse and democrat tak- ing a load of women; likely about two miles in the country, to pick for him.) I don’t doubt, that it took him an hour to drive two miles with the outfit he had. He also had a cider mill in an old barny- looking building —_ stood right ‘Mrs. J. Bile ‘hall’s residence is now. When| not in use, this old building was the home of stray cats. I know for we lived in a small house that stood where Mrs. Palma- teer’s house is - It was not a very big house put it took a lot of wood to keep it decently warm, I know that too for I had to cut most of it with a buck) saw and split it too. i ' | guess that we had better! ie aby: little run u the west aide, ‘We wib | there then. af ane of Colborne start right down at the corner where the Thompson Block is. Of course there was no_ block Some time before 1900, people by the name of Burk owned the house where Mr. A. Thrower lives and their garden ran right to the corner. The house where Mrs. Hart lives was the Wm. Carnall home. There was quite a large family of them. The oldest boy, Bill, was a member of the old Col- borne Baseball team. I knew Harry the best of any of them. I suppose because he had a rov- ing disposition like I had. We often went up the base line ostensibly to gather wild rasp- berries but usually spending more time roaming around look- | ing for bird’s eggs or mud turtle’s eggs than we ma looking for berries. On the corner of ioetek Lane and Percy Street, in the same house that still stands there, lived Mr. Priory, the caretaker or sexton of the Methodist Church for years. He was an ar- dent gardener and always had one of the best gardens along the street. I cannot remember who lived in the next little house but the next one was the home of the Colborne Constable, Mr. Wm. Smith. His older son, Canon Russell Smith passed away in Oakville not a great while ago. His younger son, Al- fred, who learned the printing with the Colborne Express, was killed overseas in the first wortd war. The next place was where E. J. Cox lived. He had a tailor shop where Rowsome’s store is now. I am going to pay tribute to him. He was one of the finest men that I ever knew and one of | | the best to work for. I was there supposedly to learn the tailoring but .if any one thought they could keep a jumping-jack like me sitting cross-legged ona table, they guessed wrong. It didn’t take E. J. long to recog- nize the fact so he let me look after the store, wash the win- dows and decorate them/and do the books. Oh yes, I swept the floor too. Well, I guess I had better leave the rest of Percy Street for next time. We might also take a little jaunt down Park Street at the same time. -