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Durham Chronicle (1867), 2 May 1907, p. 4

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We must also advise subscribers on the other side of the line that all sub- scriptions not paid in advance before the 20th of the present month will have to be discontinued. We dislike very much to sever the pleasant rela- tionship that has so long existed be. tween us and our American readers torso many years, and under the cir- Garden Seeds . Field . . snbaaiption will not prove'a barrier DURHAM CHRONICLE Dwarf Essex Rape For Spraying Requisites and other Insecticides, come to us. Owing to recent changes in the post, m a1 system we are compelled to increase se the price of subscription to subscribers (1‘ in the United States to one dollar and a1 fifty cents a year after this date. For b. some time we have been paying post- st age on all papers outside of a limit ot le twenty miles, but this is the first time tl we have made any difference with our 01 readers in consequence of increased postage. \Ve regret very much to have to. do so now, but we hope the arrangement. which evidently hits the local Canadian publishers rather hard, \\ will not be an unmixed evil. A cry b has been heard in Canada for years a about the inequality of the Interna- n tional postage arrangements, as tons F of American matter were carried free e in this country against pounds of ours I that Were carried by the Americans. t Moreover the Canadian Mails have 1 been abused in handling a. questionable V class of American literature that wasI s doing us more harm than good. Whether the increased postage will i have a tendency to diminish the circu- 1 lation of the low class yellow journal- ] ism remains to be seen. \Ve do not ‘ feel disposed to advocate the shutting ‘ out of the better class of American ' literature, but the matter of making a. proper descrimination is hard to decide on either by a government or an indi- vidual. Publishers in both countries are similarly affected, and it is a little too soon to come to any definite con- clusion as to the wisdom of the charge We simply have to take our medicine and make the best of it fora. time. In 1 the meantime. however, we must ask our subscribers on the other side of the line to remit all arrearages at the rate of a dollar a year and future sub- scriptions at the rate of a dollar and a half. Those who have already paid SANCTUM SIFTINGS. Druggists and Seedsmefl their subscriptions will get the paper for the full term, though we are losing money in every case after this date long red. Giant Yellow Oval. Evans Sawlog. Bruces Gate Post. Rennies. Yellow Inter: mediate, Giant Half Long. I â€"â€"â€"â€" Steeles Prize Mammoth The Sowing Kind. IRWIN. Edito: and Proprietor. DURHAM MAY 2, 1907 THE RAILWAY ""J """â€"uâ€"' -- . cided at a special meeting on‘XFriday night last to bring on the commission to say what should be done to adjust About two months ago a meeting was held for the purpose. At this meeting Mr. Darling, the C. P. B. himself regarding the unpracticability of cutting through the hill and giving us an overhead driveway on the hill- side north of the Presbyterian Church. He agreed, however, to make level stopping places on Garafraxa street; iihill and to put a gate at the crossing I to be attended by a watchman. To such concession on the partgf the Com- pany the Council agreed and accepted the proposition. Since then the high- er oflicials of the Company hays deo cided to Withdraw the promise of their vnuvâ€" ' â€" Engineer and instead of gates and a Watchman for protection to sfibstitute an electric bell instead, with an Open crossing and no watchman. U The matter was thrown open for discussion and some of the citizens favored accepting the proposition of the engineer as signified by a vote on ‘ the resolution of Mr. Gilbert McKech- nie, but the opposition was too strong and the motion was lost. It was moved, seconded and carried that the whole matter of dealing with the question he lefl: in the hands of the : town council, who,accordingly took up the work. As a preliminary step Mayor Calder : ascertained from the engineer that the ' installation of an electric bell was the I Tonly propos1tion the Company had to ‘ lay before the Council. This the Council did not feel free to entertain, and it took but a short time to decide on bringing on the Railway Commission by whose decision they would feel disposed to abide. and the matter is still unsettled. ' Mr. McVVilliams and Dr. Gun made brief addresses in which they express- ed themselves as favorable toa bell rather than a gate and attendant watchman. Principal Allan was decidedly of the opinion that an unprotected level crossing was nothing short of a death trap, and especially so to school chil- dren who had to cross the track there four times every day. _ Dr. Hutton was of the opinion that! the Engineer’s estimate of $200,000 for cutting through the hill was altogether too high and figured out that $2000,000 for cutting through the hill meant a dollar a day for 200,000 days tor a man, or at $4.00 a day for a man and team for 50,000 days or 159 years. The esti- mated cost seemed to him to be very high, and his position was well taken by the citizens. As the season is now on when the I work Should be progressing a decision must .be come to at soon, but it hardly seems fair for the Company to back down on the p1 omise of their Engineer and give as a substitute an electric hell which according to the Engineer’s statement would cost little or nothing less for installation and maintenance than the installation and maintenance of the gate and watchman. The finding of the skeleton to which we refer in this issue causes us to look back to the early days of Durham and ascertain some facts and particulars in regard to its growth and development. For the purpose of getting a few point- ers we have interviewed John H. Brown, who came to the farm where the remains were discovered on the¢ 10th of May, 1848. Fify-nine years will soon have passed into history since the first advent of Mr. Brown, who was then a mere boy of about fourteen summers. He was accom- panied by, or rather be accompanied his father, the late Thomas Brown, who died in 1890, and his mother, whose death occurred about twenty years earlier, and whose remains still , lie in the old cemetery on top of the hill. At that early date there w as the merest excuse for a road. The t1 ees along the roadway were slashed down and a road that could be travelled with difficulty was cleared out in the centre of the slashed passage. Over this the pioneer settlers made their way as best a they could. Mr. Brown was a tanner’ by trade and was also engaged in shoe- making, and when we tell our readers there was no Durham here at the time, the only places being a. shanty and the Road, but neither Durham nor the Durham Road had been surveyed until about the year 1849 or 1850. There 3 were a. couple of Vollett families in the body of a. log house on the lot in ques- tion, and no other habitation of any kind between there and "Baldie” Hunter’s, up town, they will wonder The Government had selected a town site here, and Mr. Brown saw a. possi- bility of future growth. The site ex- tended from South Street north to what is now known as the Durham LOOKING BACKWARD. , where on the 9 years history Brown, vicinity and also a. family named DouglaBS, grandfather of Bob Douglass who went west .a. few -weeks 8'80. but there was no visible sign of commer- cial activity, nor was there an industry of any kind to be seen with the excep- tion of the Edge saw-mill. which began; operations in 1847. That the young man whose bones were exhumed Fri- day was killed before this time is evident from the fact that Aaron Vol- lett, still living in town, helped to? whip saw_ the lumber for his rude comn. In 1848 the Edge grist mill commenced Operations and was. ea blessing and Godsend to many families who had to carry flour on their backs from Guelph or otherwise do Without that necessary article of diet. “The Sangeen” was the name by which the town site was then known, and it was not until after the Durham Road was surveyed and the town site itself surveyed into lots and the ap- pointment of the late George Jackson as land agent here that the name of Durham was suggested. The name was given by Mr. Jackson after the name of his own native town in the north of England, and many of the streets are said to have been named after streets in the same old Cathedral city. Growth once commenced, the place developed very rapidly and the next few years saw a complete transform 21,- tion. About the year 1850 the first place in lower town was erected, and 5 some of the younger people will be i amazed to learn that ’that business < place was none other than the little 1 shop pulled down last fall to make ‘ room for the Lenahan and McIntosh ‘ store just recently completed. There : was a dwelling up town at the time, ‘ the house now occupied by Mrs. Scott, near the Review Office, but the first dwelling erected down town was the residence now occupied by Constable Clark. The butcher shop referred to was built by the late Donald McKenzie and the dwelling just mentioned was erected by his brother, Roderick Mc- Kenzie, father of \Vm. Lyon McKen- zie, who died here a few years ago. It was not long till the Cochrane foundry was built. Joe Allan started a wagon shop in the little frame building still occupied for the same purpose by Mr. 1 Henry Storrey, and by the way Mr.) r Storrey, who was then but a lad, serv- 1 ed his time with this same Joe Allan, l whoever he was. Hotels soon came - into existence, one being where Dr. 3 Hutton now lives, and it was not long till the “British,” up town, came out b for business. A store was built by I‘ Alexander McNab on the present site I' of the Knapp House, and shortly after 3 another was started just about where a. Nichol’s tailor shop is now situated. \Vhen Mr. Brown came here the place was a dense wilderness, and he tells us he used to gather ’maple sap in 1 what is now known as the East 'Ward and had his camp quite close to where Henry Storrey now lives. This was during the years of 1848 and 1849, and when it is known that such an indus- try as the Cochrane foundry was oper- ating in full swing about 1856 and the i place had developed so as to justify S. L. M. Luke to issue the first copy of the Durham Standard on the 19th of February, 1857, it will not require much further argument to convince our readers that the early days of Dur- ham were the d‘ ys when Durham had its greatest boom. For many years the place was isolat- ed from the rest of the world for want of railway facilities, but it was during these days of isolation that some of the citizens accumulated the wealth which made them mere grabbers after lucre, and this greed together with local jealousies and a species of dog-in- the-manger policy retarted the growth of the town for a quarter of a century when no advancement was made not- withstanding the advent of a railway and other advantages for commercial progress. The few decaying bones which led to this brief research have been en- tombed for over sixty years and during ‘ those years the whole face of nature has been completely changed. Then a young lad of fifteen or sixteen sum- mers, had he lived would now be a comparatively old man and ready for the grave to which his remains might have been consigned with greater solemnity than was manifest at the second burial on Saturday afternoon last. “ - [Since the foregoing was in type weI learn from conversation with some of the oldest inhabitants that there are some errors in it. That we conSIder one of its best features as further dis- cussion will be sure to grow out of it. and many things may be recorded that would not otherwise have been thought of. Pointers on the early history of the place will be gladly received. â€"Ed. I ChrpnicleJ .. A cure may be sfiected by applying Chamberlain's Salve us soon as the child is done nursing. Wipe it. of, with a. soft cloth before allowing the child to nurse. Many trained nurses :use this salve with the best results. LPrioe 25 cents per box. For Sale uti ' THE DUBHA m CHRONICLE sou mrus. J ' "â€"O lars. Mr. J. H. Brown is another of the oldest inhabitants and was able to assist in unravelling the mystery. About fifty-five years ago the property on Which the body was found had been purchased by his father from a Mr. Wm. McCalmon. There was a grave there at the time, protected by a few rails, which marked the sacred spot. While Mr. Brown owned the farm the grave was unmolested, but after the property was divided up into town lots the little mound was ploughed over, and has long since been forgotten. On Saturday morning Constable Clark and Liveryman Caldwell drove down to Varney to interview Mr. John McCalmon, a brother of Wm. McCal- xnon referred to above. They learned? from him that sixty years ago a nephew of his, a boy about fifteen years of age, had been killed by a fall- 'ing tree and the remains were interred near the spot on the side of the hill. 3 The Town Council decided to give bur- ial to the bones, and all that could be collected were placed in a box and in- terred in afternoon. Some will no doubt, speak of it as a g1uesome sight but there was nothing there mo1e than a few bones returning to the dust f1 0111 whence they came and thus responding to the law of nature. It was a dastardly thing however to see some of the i1 reV erent and thoughtless young villains kicking around p01 tions of the remains to show a mistaken spirit of bravado. The writ' er took the lower jaw to the Chronicle sanctum. where it was viewed with interest by a number of citizens both' young and old. and we regretted in- deed to part with the relic which we would have taken good care of and prized because of 1ts assoc1at1ons The town authorities, however, didn’t see fit to leave it with us and we gave it 'SOW .8001! I farmers. the gametery on Saturday In Great Demand This Spring . . The demand for our Hand-made Footwear is almost more than we can supply, especially in girl’s and boy’s school shoes. People carry them away about as tast as we can get them made These lines don’t cost one cent more than factory made shoes and wear on an .average just about double. We never had such a season of Rubber sales. We have a lot of chlld’s, mlsses’ and women’s long rubber boots to sell at cost. CASH .ONLY. BRING US YOUR FOOT MEASURE ' AND REPAIRING HAND-MADE FOOTWEAR PEEL9 the Shoeman RUBBER WEATHER DURHAM AND OWEN SOUND May 2,1907

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