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THE MARMORA-CHINA CONNECTION

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"When a butterfly flaps its wings in Japan,  the wind is felt in Marmora"

That's a slight variation on an old proverb,  but for Lem Lung and Lem Jong in Marmora,  and many other Chinese immigrants to this country,  it was more than just a cute expression.   The Japanese invasion of China was a life changing event,  both for those in China and those who chose to emigrate around the world.

Excerpt from Arlene Chan's book

In her book,  "The Chinese in Toronto from 1878:  From Outside to inside the Circle",  Toronto writer, Arlene Chan,  describes the Chinese retreat after the 1937 invasion by the  Japanese.

By this time,  two Chinese restaurateurs,  Lem Lung and his cousin & cook, Lem Jong,  were well established as the "Glossy Cafe"  in the St. James Hotel on the main business section of Marmora.

But according to the Marmora Herald in April of 1938,  the wind of this far-eastern war was felt in Marmora. 

"Four Chinese from Belleville paid a visit to the Glossy Cafe on Sunday.  They are raising funds to provide raincoats and rubber boots for Chinese soldiers in theEast." 

It seems however,  the Glossy Cafe was not so "glossy" after all.  Having moved to Marmora in 1929,  Lem Lung suffered many losses.  In 1936,  he learned his wife,  whom he had left behind in China,  had died before he saw her again.

In 1939 he was a victim of a terrible assault in his own restaurant that left him almost dead.  In 1946,  a gas explosion in his kitchen obliterated his business and George Aunger's Meat market next door,  and damage was reported to the apartments upstairs and other businesses in the building.

That year   Lem had had enough,  had sold his business to another relative, Lem Sam,  and returned to China.  Luckily for Lem Sam,  he moved his business (which we believe included a laundry business)  to a building behind the library,  for in 1952,  the St. James hotel sufferedits third terrible fire,  at which time it lost its peak roof.

(Photo - Lem Lung and Lem Sam with William Cottrell and Casha Boyd)

 

 

REEVE SHANNON HAD VISIONS OF SWANS.

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Knowing the Marmoraton Mine would close one day,  Reeve Shannon,  in 1972,  saw tourism as the economic hope of the village.  His council purchased the land that would become the Memorial Park,  and dreamed of a beautiful tourist destination.  While he had such a progressive idea,  he never saw the final result.  It was the Lions Club,  years later,  that made the beautiful park we have today..........and the swans arrived naturally.

1972

Feb 9, 2010                   Voice:  The late Bob Gapes

BILLY BONTER A HERO

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Pulls 4 From Lake in Dark - Two Just About Done

Toronto Star,  June 6, 1950
Four Toronto men saved from possible drowning in Crowe Lake May 24, today regard 17 year old Bill Bonter as Ontario's unsung hero of 1950.

There has been no recognition of young Bonter's heroism, they say. The youth, in a 16 foot, round bottom skiff, located the four in the darkness as they clung, exhausted,  in their over- turnedpunt, and he hauled each one of safety. The four are Bud Eldridge, 28, and his brother, Cameron, 18, Norman North, 19, and Stan Carneigle, 23.

Late on the holiday afternoon the four men rented a punt and an outboard motor from Bill Bonter's father. They headed out into the lake to fish. About nine p.m. Bonter returned from a trip up the lake and tied his skiff at his father's summer resort wharf.
"When I heard them hollering and yelling out there on the lake" Bonter recalled. "I couldn't distinguish words but they were certainly hollering. They had dad's motor and 1 didn't
want to lose it."

"The water was cold," he said, and they were nearly exhausted. They were clinging to the overturned punt and it kept turning over and over as they tired and put more of their weight on it. Even when it was right side up it was about 99 percent submerged.

One of them couldn't swim, or not swim very well, and none of them felt he could swim well enough to reach shore more than a mile away. All they could do was rest their hands on the
punt. Only the buoyancy of the wood in it kept it up. If they put any weight on it, it would go down.

Bill Bonter said if the lake had not been calm he never would have been able to get the men into his long, narrow skiff. Two were just about done for, he related. They had been trying to swim the boat toward the shore, but it kept flipping over and over.  They were in the water about an hour and a quarter, although they said they had been in for longer than two hours.

"One by one I hoisted them into the skiff. Two of them were pretty heavy fellows. But I got them in. They just sat there in the boat and shivered. They all had their clothes on."
 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT BOATING IN THE OLD DAYS ON CROWE LAKE
 

1930'S BONTER BOAT

MINERS TRAPPED IN CORDOVA MINES

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March 15, 1917 - Another chapter in the checkered history of Cordova Mines was brought to a close when the big mills, No. 1 shaft house and the black- smith shop was totally destroyed by fire last Monday night.
The origin of the fire was a mystery but it started in the' shaft house. The buildings were all of wood and burned with surprising rapidity.
During the past year the old compressed air system had been done away with and a modern electric power system installed. The mine had been in operation only a few weeks and a number of men were at work below ground where the fire started. All but three escaped through another shaft but the three who were cut off were not rescued until noon on Tuesday. The trapped men succeeded in reaching the third level where there was a storehouse for powder and other supplies and were little worse for their experience when rescued.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON MINING IN CORDOVA MINES

Ontario Department of Highways celebrates 100 years.

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May 1917 Marmora Herald

"Mr. Hulin has purchased an auto which will take the place of the horse-drawn stage for carrying mail and passengers between Stirling and Marmora. Those who have occasion to travel between the two places will find the auto a big improvement over the old stage."

The paper also reported that C.N.R. Agent, Ernest Bell and Dr. Crawford were the very first ones in the Marmora area to have motorized cars.)

It was July 1, 1927 when the driver's license was introduced in Ontario.  The Marmora Herald reported on June 2, 1927  

"Every person driving a motor car in Ontario will be required to carry a driver's license after July 1st.  The fee will be $1.00 and the license will be valid until the end of 1928."  

But Ontario was not the first to come up with the idea.  On August 1, 1910, after an increase in motor vehicle accidents,   North America's first licensing law went into effect in the US state of New York. In July 1913, the state of New Jersey became the first to require all drivers to pass a mandatory examination before receiving a license.

In 2017, the Ontario Ministry of Transport,  which started with a staff of 35 in 1916,  was 100 years old.   

"Village councilor Gordon Bennet pushes the button which started the operation of the new traffic lights at the main intersection in Marmora.  Looking on is Les McKeown.  The arrival of the lights was well received by village drivers."

After the #7 Highway was established in 1934,  the building,  which became the TD bank,  was a gas station.  Note the pump and Imperial Oil sign on the right.

Elsie Tandy Logan 1950-52 Shannick, sent to us by Dennis Logan

John Callaghan, son of Thomas Callaghan, married Jean Morgan 1920. (Sent by Lynda Szmyr

Evelyn shaw davidson age 3 sent by Katelyn Marie Whybrew

Mabel Derry and Clare Campion, 1929

Jean Callaghan, wife of Jonh Callaghan sent to us by LYnda Szmyr

samuel davidson, sent by Katelyn Marie Whybrew

samuel wm narrie and daughter-in-law, Naomi Lowery

RON BARRONS WROTE: This is the second car that I can recall my father as owning. It's a 1937 Chev which my father had bought from Chuck Chard. It was of extra length and had two fold down seats attached to the back of the front seats. Chuck used it previously to bus high school students to Havelock.. interesting in this photograph is the hydro pole in the background. That electrical service came to the Vansickle Road in 1949, the year of the photograph. The wires to our farm had not yet been installed. They were installed later that year.

GRUMPY WRITER HAS A FEW WORDS!

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November 21, 1946

One of the most disgraceful displays of inexcusable ignorance among children that it is possible to imagine took place in the Town Hall on Tuesday evening. A free motion picture was presented by the Ontario Department of Education similar to the one presented for the school children in the afternoon and had it not been for the noise and confusion caused by the children it would have been a very enjoyable feature. One film particularly was a travelogue of the St. Lawrence River and was in technicolor showing some very beautiful and interesting scenes along that mighty river. The pictures were clear and the sound was superior to most of the portable machines we have had here but it was impossible to hear any of it for the noise.

Fortunately there were only a few adults in the audience as they would have been as disgusted and as disappointed as the writer. There were about one hundred children, mostly of school age, and they seemed to feel that it was the duty of each one of them to create all the disturbance they could in as many ways as possible, among which were walking around the hall, kicking or shoving the seats, throwing hats or caps or anything else they could get hold of, yelling, whistling and cracking gum.

It is about time the parents of Marmora woke up to the fact that the children are only a reflection of their parents and the home training they are given. If children were taught to be decent and orderly by their parents they would not go to such extremes when they get out in public.

This is not the first time that this condition has prevailed at local entertainments. On the contrary, on different occasions lately it has been necessary to send for the police to keep order in the Hall. Unless something can be done to get away from this nuisance the Hall might as well be shut up as far as entertainments are concerned for no adult will want to go to listen to the uproar that the children of Marmora make at a public entertainment.
"One Who Was There "
 

MARMORA'S RODENT INVASION

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Marmora Herald,  October 1972


Like most of us, the good people of Marmora Village must have got used to the threat of a nuclear holocaust, some Kind of a disaster caused by germ warfare, the melting of Arctic
ice or the invasion by little green men with antennae on their foreheads.

 

But whoever figured on rats?


Well, as we have reported,  Marmora Village was invaded by rats who lost their natural habitat and food supply when the old garbage dump on Deloro Road was closed on September 7.

 

The hungry hordes of rats have not only invaded neighboring fields and backyards and resorted to trying their luck on ordinary garbage cans, but a dangerously large number of them have gone straight to town. Residents have reported seeing rats in their backyards, garages, all around some houses, out on the roads and fields and our reporter met a few of the bolder ones on their (the rats') way to town.


Rats were killed in the yard of Marmora Senior School and at least one resident had a field day shooting them with a .22 rifle.  All this may sound like an interesting break in the everyday monotony, and the children probably love the rat hunt, but it should not be dismissed as just one of those things.

Rats are numerous and if they get hungrier they will get bolder, which means that more and more of them will invade the town. Rats can, and sometimes do, bite, especially if they are hungry or threatened, and who knows when children will start to have a bit of fun chasing them?       

Rats can also carry a lot of sickness. If not taken seriously enough or not cleaned out soon enough, they can cause serious health problems. They can also cause property damage. They should be taken seriously.
 

1921 Robbery causes "Sensation"

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Marmora Herald - Aug. 4, 1921

Photo of Ike Wright guarding the cows at the bridge over the Crowe Riverin 1908

Quite a sensation was caused in Marmora last Tuesday morning when it became known a burglary had occurred in town.  Mr. Donald Wright,  who watches cows over the river,  and had been paid on Monday, had about $45.00 taken from his pocket.  A couple of local boys are missing but so far no trace has been found of either boys!"

For more stories about our bridges,  click here.

WWI brings changes to dinner plates.

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                                                                                                              Marmora Herald- April 11, 1918

"In order to help overcome the meat shortage,  the Government is selling beaver meat from Algonquin Park.  It retails to the consumer at 17 cents a pound.  The supply does not nearly meet the demand but it helps save other meats."

But according to David Wencer,  a Toronto journalist,  beavers weren't the only souls to be added to our food chain. 

"In December of 1918, after the armistice but before the official end of the war, the Toronto Star reported on the arrival of 70,000 pounds of whale meat in Toronto. Whereas previous shipments to Toronto are implied to have been fresh, this shipment arrived in cans. Previous reports focused on the city’s elite eating choice cuts of meat, but this shipment of canned whale meat was intended for the general customer, with a reported retail value of a competitive 20 cents per pound."

AVRO ANSON BOMBER IN MARMORA

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CORRECTION: Chris Charland adds: I would like to bring to your attention to the fact that the aircraft that crashed was actually a Cesnna Crane Mk. IA s/n 8842. It was assigned to the Central Flying School at R.C.A.F. Station Trenton at the time of accident. Schofield was the Second Pilot during the night cross-country flight. LAC Dunphy was an Electrician by trade in the Air Force. The Royal Air Force pilot's full name is Richard Geoffrey Long.

MARMORA HERALD      April 27, 1944 Crash date - Feb. 17, 1944

Missing from Trenton  base since early February, an Avro Anson bomber was discovered Thursday after- noon in the bush land, 11 miles northwest of. Marmora. Finding of the wrecked plane, which had been the object of an extensive aerial and ground search since its disappearance during a training flight more than two months ago, occurred as the result. of chance.   According to the story from Marmora, the plane was found in the district between Twin Lakes and Beaver Creek. Thursday afternoon a number of airmen visited the scene of the wreck and removed the three bodies. A guard was set over the wrecked plane until a wrecking crew could start work to bring it out.

Ken Broad wrote to Brock adding , “As I remember the night of the crash,  someone from Cooper phoned Trenton airbase that they had seen fire north of Cooper.  My dad was contacted at the Madoc Armouries and was asked to meet the pilot of a Norseman ski equipped aircraft and fly with him to search the area.  They spent about a week searching to no avail.  I vividly remember as the Norseman made a low pass over Cedar public school each day.” 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Canadian Air Force and numerous other air forces before, during, and after the Second World War. Developed from the Avro 652 airliner, the Anson, named after British Admiral George Anson, was developed for maritime reconnaissance, but found to be obsolete in this role. It was then found to be suitable as a multi-engined aircrew trainer, becoming the mainstay of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. By the end of production in 1952, a total of 8,138 had been built by Avro in nine variants, with a further 2,882 built by Federal Aircraft Ltd in Canada from 1941.

Avro- Anson trainer, taken from another similar aircraft. These were air planes from the 31 General Reconnaissance School at Charlottetown, PEI. These trainers had dual flight controls, so the instructor could gain control, if necessary. The Avro was mobilised as an aerial scarecrow, a deterrent to German submarines. Likely, this photo was taken illegally, at the time.

Twyla-Mae Harris Silk added: AVRO is where my parents met and fell in love while my dad was putting the wings on the Arrow and Mom was working in the cafeteria! Hail Hail to AVRO!!!!!

Wayne Van Volkenburg wrote: During WW2, my father-in-law was posted at the base on PEI. He trained pilots to fly the Anson aircraft. These attained skills were then used to fly their bombers. After reading the book "Behind The Glory" by Ted Barris, I became aware of the commonwealth-wide training scheme based in Canada that supplied the Allied air war with nearly one quarter million qualified airmen. Many lives were lost in this training process that contributed greatly to the war effort.

Flt-Lt Thomas Schofield

Flight Lieutenant Thomas Schofield

RECIPIENTS OF RELIEF MUST PLANT GARDENS

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MARMORA HERALD - May 23,  1940


The Provincial Government has decreed that all municipalities having relief rolls, must sponsor the "garden plot" movement among the recipients. Every able-bodied person who has been receiving relief must cultivate a garden at least twenty-five by one hundred feet. The municipality will be obliged to make a report on all cases and if costs are to be shared by the Province and Dominion, approval must be secured. This new program is part of the general relief administration and no municipality wherein relief claims have been made within six months is exempt. Those apt to be seeking relief next winter will be obligated to plant a garden.


About the only able-bodied man in the Village of Marmora,  who has received relief during the past year,  although still without regular employment, has refused to cultivate a garden as required by the Government. That means that no matter what his circumstances may be next winter the Municipality will not be able to put his name on a relief roll.
 

TWO RATTLESNAKE SIGHTINGS

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                    SNAKE BELIEVED RATTLER

May 16, 1941
What is believed to have been a rattlesnake was killed about 11 a.m. on Thursday by Joseph Patrick Brawley, eighteen-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brawley of the Township of Marrnora. The barking of "Chum", their dog, attracted the attention of Mrs. Brawley who went to open the back door but suddenly decided it were more discreet to pass out by the front door to investigate. Going to the rear of the house, she saw the reptile coiled up on the back steps in defiant attitude.
Mrs. Brawley called to her son who was at the home of a neighbor Barney Callery. Getting a stout stick "Pat" stunned the reptile and then ended its existence.

(NOTE:  Once common throughout southern and central Ontario, the threatened species is now found on the eastern side of Georgian Bay, the Bruce Peninsula, and in small pockets near Windsor and Wainfleet, Ont. in the Niagara area.)

SECOND SIGHTING -  September 10, 1942   Marmora Herald

Forrest Dennis

A year ago The Herald received considerable notoriety as a result of a snake story. The article was copied in papers all over the Province and broadcast over the radio. We still believe the facts were as stated as to the length of the snake, but many people doubted the story.
This time we give The Belleville Ontario Intelligencer credit for the following:

  Graeme MacKechnie


"Forrest Dennis of Crowe Lake and Doctor Graeme Mackechnie of Timmins, had a novel experience this week while fishing on Beaver Creek, about twenty miles north of here. They had landed from their canoe at what is commonly known as "The Bear Camp" to spend the night. The doctor was unlocking the door while his companion came behind him carrying the equipment when they heard the ominous rattle of a rattlesnake. The doctor threw himself through the opened door just in time as not more than two and one half feet from him was a four foot rattler, coiled and ready to strike, while Mr. Dennis was not more than five feet in the distance. Before they were able to kill the reptile, it disappeared underneath the cabin. As the men had been wading the creek, their trousers were rolled to the knees, thus making a good target for the snake. The fishermen claim they had a good sleep after first making sure the door fit tightly and it was safely closed."


The "Bear Camp" is the hunting camp used by W.A. Sanderson and other members of his hunting party each fall and owned by them. It is really on Otter Creek near its junction with Beaver Creek.

(Forrest Dennis was a well known fishing guide in Marmora and Dr. Graeme MacKechnie was son of Dr. Wm MacKechnie of Marmora -see http://www.marmorahistory.ca/doctors )


 

 

April 15, 1915 - Accident at Cordova Power House

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With the establishment of the Cordova mines came the need for electricity.  The water from the Deer lake dam was conveyed through a six foot flume,  a distance of 1550 feet,  giving a head of 74 feet at the power house,  where it drove two turbines of 800 and 400 H.P.  The site of the power house is now overgrown,  but at one time was an impressive structure.  The turbines were directly connected to a 250 K.W. generator,  and the 2,200 volt current was conveyed over 3 aluminum cables to the transformer at the Cordova mine,  where it was stepped down to 550 volts for driving motors and 110 volts for lighting.  The 800 HP turbine drove endless cotton ropes and a large two-stage compressor, having a capacity of 5,000 cubic feet of free air per minute.  The air was conveyed three miles through a 12" pipe at the mine at Cordova at 100 p.s.i.

SHOT FOR FRAUD 1951

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PRISONER STOPPED BY BULLET

April 26, 1951

CONSTABLE PERCY EMBURY

Monday evening Constable Percy Embury received a complaint against George Cole of Cooper, on a charge of passing a worth-less cheque with intent to defraud. He found the accused at the Royal Hotel and placed him under arrest. As they left the Hotel, Cole made a dash for liberty, running south on Forsythe street with Constable Embury in pursuit. The constable called on him to stop and fired a couple of shots in the air, but Cole did not stop. When he turned at No. 7 Highway the constable fired low, hitting the prisoner in the fleshy part of the leg and in the foot and he dropped. He was carried to Dr. H.G. Parkin's office and given first aid and then taken to Belleville jail, where he was transferred to Belleville General Hospital under guard.
 

"WHO DUNNIT?" STILL UNSOLVED

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The case of Jerome Keene, shot to death in his cabin,  in bed. 

"Late last Thursday afternoon,  the people of Marmora learned with almost incredulous horror that Jerome Keene (63 or 64) had been found lying in bed in his shack just north of the village with two gaping wounds in his head, caused by of a shotgun in the hands of some unknown assailant.  The discovery was first made by nephews, Charles and John Gordineer.  They at once notified their brother, James, who was a County constable."

So wrote the Marmora Herald on Feb 24, 1927.  The long,  very descriptive articles outlined all the reasons of the delay in discovering the body,   the layout of Mr. Keene's shack,  the horrible  details of his death,   and the forensic details gathered to try and solve the mystery.  "Who dunnit?"

"Jerome Keene had been living alone for a number of years,  except when working in the lumber camps or for other persons.  While always friendly with those he met,  and respected and well liked by those who knew him,  he was very quiet and retiring and seemed to mingle with other less and less as time went on.  That, and the fact he was expected to be on a visit to relatives, was the reason his death was not discovered sooner."

The Clock that sat in Mr. Jerome's cabin now sits silently at the Marmora Historical Foundation in Marmora. (Donated by Ron Smith, whose great great grandmother, Barbara Keene was sister of Jerome.

Jerome Keene was the son of Richard Keene and Miss Conley.  He was twice married, his first wife being Miss Emma Weese, a sister of Mrs. Joseph Warren and the late John Weese. She died about  forty years before the murder,  leaving  a son about 15 months of age. The son is Mr. James E. Keene, of Timmins, Ontario. 

 About 1900 the late Jerome Keene was married to Miss Kate Sheridan, who survived. One daughter was born to them, Miss Agnes Keene, who also survived him.

(Keene was also a witness along with Emma Reed at the wedding ofIsaac Briggs (32) and Caroline Reed (18) on July 3, 1882 at the residence of Daniel Reed in Marmora. The bride was the daughter of Daniel Reed and Barbara Keene.)

Unlike today's procedure,  a jury was immediately round up,  sworn in at the town hall, and taken to the scene of the crime to examine the body in place.  Then,  as the body was frozen, "it was taken to the Council chamber to thaw."  Thereafter,  Drs. Crawford & Thomson performed an autopsy.

" They found a number of fine shot in the wounds.  The examination but confirmed what was so evident from the start- that it was a clear case of murder with no possibility of suicide. The condition of the stomach, which was empty, would indicate that the crime was committed late at night or in the very early morning. It is also probable that it was committed at a time when there was bright moonlight, so that it was possible to see inside the building. The manner in which the blood froze as it flowed from the victim would also indicate that it was very cold at the time."

Mr. Keene did not believe he had enemies,  witnesses attested,  but one incident proved the plot was thickening.  He had taken a small amount of liquid to the druggist, Mr. Marrin,  and wanted it analyzed. Mr. Keene had thought it was moonshine and had taken a very small amount of it.   

"As a result of the small amount swallowed he claimed he had been in agony all night and thought he was going to die. He believed that someone had attempted to poison him.   The bottle was  given to Mr. James Gordineer."  Later the analysis proved the bottle contained  strychnine!

After a couple of postponements,  the jury's inquest finally took place at the town hall,  which was packed to the back doors and people turned away.  The article of March 24, 1927 outlines thelist of witnesses and their examinations.

Referring to nephew, Charles Gordineer,  "The witness was asked 'Did the deceased man,  in his conversation,  tell you he was suspicious of anyone?'    His answer was to the effect that Keene had told him that John BeII   (his neighbour) was acting funny-  that BeII came to his shack with Iiquor,   and he had never come before.  Said he was suspicious of John Bell, but not in so many words. Deceased claimed he lost $35.00, but did not miss it until evening Bell came to shack. Had also lent other money to John Bell."

John Bell was put on the stand and examined.  He was the tax collector.  He had borrowed money from Keene,  and in fact had bought his property from him,  but he denied any involvement.

joe gordanier great grand nephew of jerome keene

The Verdict?

After hearing the  evidence, the jury brought in the following  verdict: "That Jerome Keene came to his death while asleep in his shack, lot 9, in the 4th con. of the Township of Marmora, on some date,  after Dec. 20th, 1926, and before Feb. 15th, 1927, as a result of being shot in the head by two charges of a shot gun in the hands of a person or persons unknown."

Joe Gordanier on May 8, 2024 wrote: Jerome Keene was my Great Grandma's brother. The accused, Charles Gordanier (but not convicted) was my Grandfather. The Constable was my Great Uncle. The spelling of our name changed. Charles Gordanier, John Gordanier and James Gordineer. 3 brothers, yet spelt their names differently.

One Hundred Years Ago........at the Town Hall

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One hundred years ago, the Marmora Herald reported "Lincoln's spectacular production of "'Uncle Tom's Cabin" was held in the Marmora Town Hall on September 21, 1915."

Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly,is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman(Wikipedia)

When Harriet Beecher Stowe, visited Abraham Lincoln at the White House in December 1862, Lincoln reportedly greeted her by saying, “Is this the little woman who made this great war?”

Lincoln may never have actually uttered that line. Yet it has often been quoted to demonstrate the importance of Stowe's enormously popular novel as a cause of the Civil War.

Was a novel with political and moral overtones actually responsible for the outbreak of war?        Perhaps.

After the election of Lincoln in 1860 on the anti-slavery Republican ticket, a number of southern states seceded from the Union, and the secession crisis triggered the Civil War.   And there’s no denying that the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin had helped opposition to slavery come into the political mainstream in the North.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

TWO TRAGIC STORIES FROM THE ONTARIO ROCK COMPANY

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HANGINGS AND AN EXPLOSION

In 1913 it is reported by the Ontario Bureau of Mines that the Ontario Rock Company of Belmont Township was operating its Preneveau quarry (the old 3M pit five miles east of Havelock)   sending its product (crushed diabase)  to Toronto for road building.  The rock was crushed on site and loaded on to a spur line of the Canadian Pacific Railway.  By 1916,  it officers,   Alex Longwell, president,  George Rayner, manager,  and S. Bradley,  superintendent,  proud of their modern machinery, described the pit to be 65 ft. deep and 200 feet across. employing thirty men.

But two very tragic stories emerged from that pit that send chills up your spine.

On June 22nd,  1919,  five Russian men from Toronto raided the bunkhouse intending to rob the occupants.  A gun was fired and employee,  Philip Yannoff,  Macedonian,  was killed.  In a report dated June 26, 1919,  it was said that the plot was arranged in Toronto to take the midnight train to Havelock and raid all the workers in the bunk house.  Yannoff was shot in the neck and lived 45 minutes,  during which time,  when he asked for water, was savagely beaten over the head.  Securing all the money,  the robbers retreated back to the train. 

"Superintendant Bradley and Constable Williams tracked them to Norwood.  Then they telephoned to the agent at Indian River,  who succeeded in tricking the five men into the waiting room,  where he locked them up under pretext of making them report for trespassing on the railway.  A search of the men found them unarmed,  but a search of the station room disclosed three revolvers,  cartridges and nearly all the stolen money.  The prisoners were taken to Peterobough jail.  All are said to be Russions."

   In October of the same year,  all five were given the death sentence by the very famous Chief Justice Mulock, although it seems only two were hanged.  (Interestingly enough,  Russia had recently turned to communism,  and Chief Justice Mulock, being also a politician,  was a fervent anticommunist.)  

    On Jan. 14, 1920,  Bahri and Konek were hanged simultaneously by official hangman, Arthur Ellis,  in the Peterborough courtyard. The two men were then buried in unmarked graves a few paces from the scaffold.

Click here to read the full  and corrected story story as set out by the Peterborough Examiner on Nov, 9, 2012  (word doc)

Twenty years later,  we find the story of Donald Ellis,  a 24 year old laborer from Cordova,  who died at the pit when his dynamite stick,  which he was adjusting,  exploded,  sending him into the air & leaving him buried under two tons of rock.  By coincidence,  his widow's first husband, also died in a mining accident a few years earlier.

          

A TERRIBLE COINCIDENCE

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On June 25, 1936,  the Marmora Herald reported the tragic death of Gerald Smith who was fatally injured while in charge of the compressor which supplied air power to the Pearce Mine just east of Deloro Smelting and Refining Company's plant.   The compressor was operated by electric power and the duties of the man in charge were chiefly to keep the machine oiled and turn off the switches in case of power failure. 

It appears Mr. Smith was caught in the belt in some way. His body,  found lying face down and badly damaged,  was found by William Goodchild, an employee of Deloro Smelting and Refining Company. Click here to read the whole story of Gerald Smith (1908-1936)

By amazing coincidence,  Gerald's father,  Arthur Smith, a baker,   died in a similar accident on October 6, 1927,  when his clothing caught in the shaft of a gasoline engine in the Lummiss & Bonter Bake Shop (later known as Vaughan's I.G.A).  It was his son,  Gerald,  who discovered his mangled body in the morning. 

Click here for the sad story of Arthur Smith

YESTERDAY'S NEWS TODAY 1921 Tragedy

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TRAGEDY HITS PIONEER FAMILYJuly 1921

The Airharts were early pioneers who cleared the land and opened the Airhart Settlement just over the boundary into Lake Township in the early 1800s.  Oliver Airhart,  born in 1852 was later to become Reeve of the Village.  He had four sons - Bruce, Frank,  Charles and Stewart,  but it was Stewart who was the focus  family tragedy.

Airhart, Stewart, farmer, 1889-1921, Bad luck, lightening strike XXX.jpg

Wm Sanderson Delivery Service

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BELLEVILLE INTELLIGENCER 1914

W. A. SANDERSON. 


A livery business that enjoys the prestige of being one of the best and oldest established  in this section of the county is that  of the above. The premises occupied is located on Forsyth street. Phone 8. This business has been conducted by Mr. Wm Sanderson for three years. The stables are up-to-date in every respect. A number horses are run in connection with them.  These animals are all noted for their quickness and good looks, while the vehicles a handsome and nicely upholstered. In addition to the straight livery and cab business transacted, a number of horses are boarded. The active management of the business looked after by Mr. W. A. Sanderson and  a staff of careful and efficient drivers  are  employed •

Click here to read more about Wm Sanderson and his services