1890s Hamilton

    “Between Saturday night and Sunday morning 102 sacks of British mail matter and 150 sacks of United States mail matter were received here, and by British parcel post, over 300 parcel were received. The parcels contained a heterogeneous collection of articles, noticeable amongst which were pieces of dress goods, bottles of hair oil, Christmas puddings, pastry and one parcel contained a cake and a bottle of wine. “The piles of bags in the sorting department were so great yesterday that for several hours the clerks at work amongst them were hidden from each other. The clerks worked faithfully all day and the result was that today the office is much as usual, “One of the happiest recipients of mail matter today was Rev. Thomas Geoghegan, of St. Peter’s house.. Amongst his parcels from England was a little box containing $17.05, the savings of the children of a family formerly residing here, but now living in England, who had been encouraged by their mother to run a little self...

  Monday morning, December 31, 1894, Hamilton City Hall was the scene of nominating meetings for the municipal election, to take place on January 7, 1895: “When 10 o’clock sounded on the big city bell, several hundred people filed into the City Hall Council chamber, and in five minutes every available space on the floor and in the gallery was occupied. Mr. James Dixon was the first of the candidates to appear. He was greeted with applause, and a yell met Mayor Stewart, who entered a moment later.” 1 1 “Dixon-Stewart : Two Candidates in the Contest For Mayoralty” Hamilton Times.    December 31, 1894. It was a comparatively orderly meeting, although many of A.D. Stewart’s supporters certainly made themselves heard: “The crowd seemed about equally divided, but the Stewart part of it was very demonstrative, being composed very largely of young fellows who make too much noise to think much.” 1 The mayoral candidates had to be officially nominated. Those who did the...

      As the end of 1894, particularly of December 1894, was nearing, Hamilton Mayor A.D. Stewart had not made any particular plans to run a campaign for a second term in 1895. However, Mayor Stewart’s actions and behaviors through his first had been distinctly controversial and there was a widespread sentiment that he should not be acclaimed for a second term. After much speculation, on Friday, December 21, 1894, the Times carried a front page article with the following headline, ‘James Dixon for Mayor : No Doubt as to A.D. Stewart’s Opponent Now : A short, Sharp Fight On.” : “One week from Monday next James Dixon and A.D. Stewart will be nominated as candidates for the office of Mayor of the City of Hamilton for 1895. The decision was finally arrived at this afternoon and Mr. Dixon has already begun his work of organization with a large staff of willing volunteers. “The contest will be a short, sharp one. Little can be done this week and the elections take p...

       The Toronto Globe had sent Madge Merton to Hamilton to write, from a woman's perspective, about the proceedings at the Heslop murder trial.       While here, the famous woman columnist was given the opportunity to visit the Hamilton Asylum for the Insane.    On March 24, 1891, the following column appeared in the Toronto Globe of March 21, 1891. “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. ...

  “Few men in the business in this part of the country have had longer of more remarkable experiences in the detective line than Mr. Hugh McKinnon, the ex-Chief of Police of Hamilton. Dropping in on him at his new office, No. 17 Main street east, yesterday a reporter found him in a mood for chat, and got some real good stories of private cases which he had worked on as Chief of Police. “ ‘Yes, I have handled some very remarkable cases during my experience,’   said the ex-Chief. ‘Any man in my business who takes an interest in his work, and who is adapted to and fitted by nature for it, finds all that is interesting in it. The work is varied; all manner of cases crop up. All sorts of complications and obstacles arise during investigation. The greater the difficulties and the more confusing the complication, the more interesting the work becomes to the exper, and the more determined he is to succeed. I have rarely, indeed, said much of my work and experience. You have known ...