1890s Hamilton

  “At 4:30 yesterday afternoon, the Ocean House Birely Bros.’ large summer hotel at the Beach, was thronged with guests; the wide plazzas were crowded ; the dining room was   resplendent with snow-white linen silver and glass;, and the strains of gay music floated out through the windows on the summer air.” Hamilton Times.    July 18, 1895. Image 125. For nearly 20 years, the Ocean House was a popular summer hotel at the Beach Strip, and upon opening it was advertised as being located in ‘the Long Branch of Canada,’ but over the years, the hotel’s reputation had started to wane: “The Ocean House was erected in 1876 by the late F.N. Birely, of the city, at a cost of $10,000, and the first manager was James Nevilles. After running the hotel for two years, Nevilles ran himself over to Chicago with the proceeds of a year’s business. Since then the hotel was leased for several years to John Kerner and Hood Brothers controlled it for two years. Of late years, it has been managed by the prese

  From the Toronto Globe   March 24 1892. “Every visitor to Hamilton, who lifts eyes to the mountain, asks what those red brick buildings are that cluster near the brow and overlook the western part of the city. The questioned one will answer “ ‘Oh, that is the Asylum for the Insane.; a splendid institution, and there is a drive through the grounds.’ Yes, it is the asylum – the great tomb of happiness, and hopes, and ambition: the hiding place for failure and defeat. Wandering about the corridors are those whose vacant chairs stand at many Ontario firesides, left vacant by a sadder visitation than death – the loss of reason. “People look up to the red pile and sigh a little. In summer, they drive through the grounds, and curious children play about the steps. At night, the lights twinkle like stars through a dark-riven cloud, and sometime the night wind carries down cries that are not the voices of night birds, nor the breeze in the pines. Wild, weird cries they are, they freez

  “So seldom is it that an entertainment of the character as that given in the Grand Opera last evening is held in this city that the announcement of the athletic tournament taxed its capacity. Every seat in the house was occupied, and standing room was at a premium in the gods. All the boxes were occupied, and that there was such a liberal patronage is evidence of the sporting tendencies of this city” Hamilton Spectator. April 27, 1895 On April 26, 1895, an “athletic tournament” (as it had been advertised) took place in Hamilton’s biggest theatre of the day. The menu included a series of sparring bouts, a demonstration of bag punching and finally, a series of boxing matches between a group of local boxers against some boxers brought in from the city of Buffalo. A twenty-foot ring was roped off on the stage of the Grand Opera House. A squad of policemen under the watchful eye of Chief Smith were stationed in the wings, ready to interfere if there was too much slugging and bloodsh

  “ ‘Who will be the Chief of Police is a question which all Hamilton is asking today, and a good many people are answering it on speculation by mentioning the name of A.D. Stewart, the present Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, on which body will devolve the duty of making the appointment. “Mayor Stewart said to a Times reporter this morning, when asked if he would be an applicant : ‘At present I cannot tell you; I prefer not to say anything on the subject just yet.’ Mr. Jelfs, the Police Magistrate, was questioned. He said he would do, in this case, as he has done on every other question, wait until the facts are before the Board and then form his opinion. He would not say how he would act in case Mr. Stewart became an applicant. ‘I have been led all along to believe,’ he said, ‘that Mr. Stewart will be an applicant.’ He declined to say on what knowledge or information he based that opinion “Chief McKinnon’s written resignation had not been received by the Clerk of the Boa

                                     “There will be a debate next Thursday evening at St. Paul’s A.M.E. Church on ‘Art and Nature.’ The debaters will be Prof. Gant, Prof. Williams, Mr. Wm. Holland and Mr. John Hammond.” Hamilton Times. January 26, 1895 It was only a short announcement in the Tea Table Gossip column in the Hamilton Times but the item did attract attention. The day before the debate was to be held, another Tea Table Gossip reference to the Art Versus Nature debate was made, informing readers that if they wanted to witness the debate an early arrival at the church would be necessary. On Thursday evening, January 31, 1895, a large audience had indeed filled the John Street North church to capacity, if not beyond. It was a remarkable event, and the Times reporter on hand was challenged to be able to describe what happened fully. His column, appearing in the next day’s Times follows in full : “There was a debate in the St. Paul’s A.M.E. last evening. It was not a