Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-07-20, Page 44 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, July 20, 2016 www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com ikon Expositor PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 P.O. Box 69, 8 Main Street Seaforth Ontario NOK 1 WO phone: 519-527-0240 fax: 519-527-2858 www.seaforthhuronexpositor E POSTMEDIA rt NEIL CLIFFORD Advertising Director NClifford@postmedia.com SHAUN GREGORY Multimedia Journalist sgregory@postmedia.com DIANNE MCGRATH Front Office DMcGrath@postmedia.com NANCY DEGANS Media Sales Consultant ndegans@postmedia.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 2 YEAR $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) SENIORS 60 WEEKS $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GS1) 120 WEEKS $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) Publications Mail Agreement No. 40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT P.O. Box 69 Seaforth ON NOK 1 WO For any non -deliveries or delivery concerns: phone: 519-527-0240 Advertising is accepted on condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographical error, advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell and may be withdrawn at any time. The Huron Expositor is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited man- uscripts, photos or other materials used for reproduction purposes. Seaforth Huron Expositor is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent ethical organization established to deal with editorial concerns. For more information or to file a complaint go to www. mediacouncil.ca or call toll free 1-844-877-1163. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Canada The Seaforth Salt Wells 'le drilling for oil in 1866, Samuel Platt and Peter McEwan tapped into what geologists call the Michigan Salt Basin. Created about 300 million years ago, the Michigan Basin is a huge deposit of nearly pure salt stretching from southern Ontario through Michigan's Lower Peninsula. The accidental discovery caused a salt boom in the county as every town and village attempted a salt producing operation. Seaforth at the boom's peak, in the 1880's, had three operating salt wells and was second only to Goderich as the area's main salt producer. Seaforth grain merchant, Peter McEwan who had been involved in drilling the discovery salt well near Goderich, turned the town into a major salt pro- ducing centre. In 1869, he began drilling operations for Dr. Timo- thy Coleman and his step -son Dr. William Gouinlock east of Main Street near the Grand Trunk Railway. In June 1870, when McEwan struck the salt bed at about 1150; the 'Huron Expositor's editor enthusiasti- cally foresaw 'the time when Seaforth will be the great salt centre of the World.' Coleman and Gouinlock's operation was known as the Sea - forth Salt Works. The salt works was basically a well where water was piped to the underground salt bed. The water dissolved the rock salt and turned it into a brine which was pumped back to the surface and boiled in salt blocks in sheds where giant ket- tles or pans boiled off the water leaving salt crystals. The salt was then packed into 280-300 pound barrels for shipment. Isabelle Campbell in 'The Story of Seaforth' wrote that the Sea - forth Salt Works was produced 300 barrels a day at the peak of Huron History David Yates production. The 'Belden Atlas' (1879) reported that it employed as many as 60-75 men for ten months of the year in a variety of jobs ranging from salt rakers, fire- men, woodmen and barrel coop- ers. The 1887 Ontario Bureau of Industry recorded the relatively high wages for these trades. Coopers made 5.5 cents per bar- rel; woodmen made $1.00 per day; rakers and an engineer made $1.25 per day; and firemen who stoked the fires earned the princely daily sum of $1.50. Drs. Coleman and Gouinlock, the Salt Works owners, made enough money that they gave up medicine for salt manufacturing in 1872. Dr. Coleman went on to become Seaforth mayor in 1877- 78 and Colonel of the 33rd mili- tia battalion. By 1886, Dr. Cole- man's sons, Thomas and Edward, ran the salt works as the Coleman Well until 1903. The Merchant Salt Company was established in 1870 under the management of Alexander Armit- age with S.G. McCaughey serving as president. It was located just north of the Grand Trunk line a near the Seaforth Salt Works. The 'Belden Atlas' reported that the Merchant Salt Works employed about 20-25 men the capacity to produce 250-300 barrels of salt per day. Campbell in 'The Story of Seaforth' said that Joseph Kidd of Dublin operated the works after 1880. The Coleman Brothers bought out the Merchant Works in the 1890s. Like the Merchant Salt Com- pany, the Eclipse Salt Works was located just south of the rail line. It, too, employed 20-25 men but had greater production capacity. In 1887, the Ontario Bureau of Industries reported the well had been 'put down' in 1872 and con- sisted of two salt blocks which had produced 11,000 barrels of `common salt' for household use and 4,000 barrels of 'land salt' used in fertilizer, 'the average selling price of both was about .50 cents per barrel. Ominously, the Bureau of Industries warned that output at the Eclipse had been reduced in the previous two years 'owing to a defect in the quality of the brine, so that its running time is only about four months in the year: William Gray; Nicholas Young and Frank Spar - ling owned the Eclipse Works until the late 1880s. Although not a well, the Ogilvie & Company salt block was estab- lished in 1885. It was a two man salt manufactory housed in the Ogilvie Flour Mill located just west of Main Street. The brine was piped from Eclipse Salt Works. Despite its small size, the Ogilvie works produced 2,025 barrels of common salt and 670 tons [4,700 bbls.] of land salt in 1886. In 1881, an article in the `Huron Expositor' written at the salt boom's peak reported that 'on getting off the train at the Sea - forth railway station what instantly arrests the attention of the newcomer is the number of derricks to be seen in the imme- diate vicinity. These, he soon learns indicate the location of the far -framed salt works, which form such a large and prominent feature of the industrial interests of Seaforth.' The `Expositor' counted eight salt blocks in operation. Each block consumed 'ten to twelve cords' of wood every twenty-four hours. The 'BeldenAtlas' in 1879 said the salt industry gave `Seaforth an impetus which formed the most important epoch in the' town's his- tory. Salt literally saved the town in the Great Fire of 1876 when barrels of salt were poured into burning buildings to douse the flames. The atlas also perceived that high rail costs crippled the local salt indus- trywhich limited its market to southern Ontario. By the 1880's, Huron County forests had been cleared of tim- ber to supply cheap fuel for the salt blocks. In 1881, the 'Exposi- tor' reported that 'in the early days of salt manufacture, wood could be procured in great abundance and at a cheap rate in the near neighbourhood of the works; now, however, it has to be drawn from a considerable distance, and at a much higher price: In 1886, the price per cord was $2.00 and rising. The scarcity of cheap fuel, ris- ing transportation costs com- bined with tariff free imports of English salt doomed the local salt industry. The Eclipse Works and Ogilvie salt operations closed in 1889. The Merchant Salt Com- pany shut down production sometime in the 1890's. Accord- ing to Isabelle Campbell, Clinton saltmakers, Richard and John Ransford purchased the Seaforth Salt Works in 1903. When fire destroyed it in August 1907, it was the last functioning salt well outside of Goderich. The follow- ing year the property was sold to the Robert Bell Engine and Thresher Company. The Seaforth salt boom may be forgotten but the 'Belden Atlas' in 1879 accu- rately understood salt's signifi- cance when it called salt 'the essence' of the town's early development. love watching baseball, especially if Toronto's playing For Such A Time As This Pastor Laurie Morris Ihave to admit it, I have become a baseball fan. I'm not sure how it happened because when we lived in Toronto for a short while I attended a couple of games at the old Exhibition Stadium, but I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the Blue Jays at the lime. But when we lived in Elliot Lake I began to watch them a little more, and on one trip down to the Boston area for a wedding, some close friends took us to a game at Fenway Park between the Jays and Red Sox, and I think from that time on I was hooked. For several years we would make a pilgrimage to attend a game with them at Fenway, which we always lost. It wasn't until they finally attended a game at the Skydome with us that we actually won one of those games we attended. It was shortly after that that the strike took place and for a while we lost some interest. CONTINUED > PAGE 5 SEAFORTH HURON EXPOSITOR — HOURS OF OPERATION MONDAY: 9:00 - 5:00 • TUESDAY: - CLOSED • WEDNESDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • THURSDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • FRIDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • SATURDAY & SUNDAY: - CLOSED ADVERTISING DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 2:00 • PHONE 519-527-0240 • FAX: 519-527-2858 www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com