HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1958-07-23, Page 33g•
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wEDirEsrmx, JuLY ooth, 1958
THE.' ,iNE.1411A RIVER
It's a long way 'back to LucknoW,
Where the Nine Mile'River flows.
don't know where it comes
from
Nor exactly 'Where it goes,
But in its nice cool current
rd. like to dip, lily toes..
It's a long way back toLnocriow
Where the Nine. Mile River runs:
It's babbling Crystal waters
,Have rolled by, ton,. and tons;
• And furnished -real enjoyment.
• To thousands, of her sons, .•
It's a long way back to Lucknow•
• Where I Jived as a boy
And in that Nine .Mile River
played with childish joy.n
eeded not a' plaything
The river was my .toy.
• It's a- long way baak tO'LuCknow.
Three thousand miles or more• lake and plain and mountain
Td have to cross before'
,I could reach the old home
,
y,
•: I think of happy .rnoinents—
('Twere better to so hours).
• I waded in its waters, ••
• ., Or on itisl'-banks • Plucked' flower
•
'As 'fair as any ,
One gets ' from garden bovirers:
see the little bridges:•
That crossed the babbling brook,
Whereon at •basking fishes '
• I loved to stand and look,
Or, with the. urge:of Walton
To land them with a hook:
And then • there were the deep
Where we bays loved to' sWim.-
:Pel dive. in frOm the, 'grass' bank
• To rade, .with Dave. and jiin,
•And: some of hs were well. -built
•And sarrie. of UsWere'
.• , , • , •
• And when the. ice had. covered.
The • pond • from shore to :s shore,• ,
"We'd have the Merriest kind of.
'Upon '.its glassy floor;••
• •
'As shod with skate;When school
- • • was �t,: • • •
We'd. skirn t o'er' and o'er. . • ,
If that river,had. been deeper,
Or. had run with swifter *tide,
•if it had been farther-
Acrass from, side to side,
• Po you think I'd like it.. better?
catildn't if I tried..:.• • .
It's a long way back, to LucknoW
Thirty, forty, fifty, YearsL-:•
Some filled. with lots of pleasure
And some, alas, with teats,
And. some: were :bright, With
hopes
• And some were black with fears.
It's a long' Way back ..tci:LuektioW
Beyond those fifty years,:
And '1Ooking back.; I seem to see
• :Far; more 'of smiles ' than tears,
.And among.:the brightest
Mern'iles' : •
That Nine Mile Creek appear:.
•
•
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Back fifty. years to 1,-ucknoW,•
.My thoughts :take rne, forsooth,
-To when the Nine RiVer,
• 'Made,. glad the'. year§ 'Of . YOuth.
,..That's why I'm singing. of. it,
And all' my song is truth•-::
F. •ODLUM.
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"A.• MODEL VILLAGE" • ,
IDESPIllig FOUR HOTELS
• ,Withina feW years :of . its
LuCknoW was rat-
et:11,•. as. "a triode" 1t• .:'!
• Was. referred' to -as 's,liCh
an article written '95 years'
• agO.andWhich Was.published,
i9T.110:Hiirati Signal .of
Oh October 15th 1863.
..• • • The .. article: Statedo, that
.• "LuChnow's. inhabitants 'are '
progressive.vricl they live to-
•gether.in hartrionk and peace.
The best- part nfthe village
has been built within' the last'
three years. It now- .contains
fiVe'storet,. „three blacksmith
• Shops, • three cabinet shops,.
-a bakery, two butchers, one•.
. shoe shop; one, chair factory,.
•grist and sawmills, a .carding;
wagatihOps; a fine
„ new. School hott8e, a Meth- •
•„OdiSt Church antI four hotels”,
Ther Ws a doctor ,there, too,
•. and a daily stage, running 'to
Oodricii. • '
beSpite. the four fiotets„ the-
articld pointed out, "We are
• assured that,LucknoWthe'
•r.most temperate .villagein
•.tahmia". ' •
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LAK...W S“VISTTINEL, LUCKNOW, oNTARIO
ecalls Days of High WheeI Bike,
_pet Street Lights
• ,04,440RIge
bGeoge .W
Ailhstrofig:
ROW many people in Luckriow and, .What /a different aYStern to
could :tell nrip the *name of the that now used. They'were eorhon
man who., •when on official busi- lamps, 'gave a VeTY, ‘go9d light but
nesS, Wore plaid.trousers — and rounds had to be made daily and
he was not a Scotsman either. 1 carbon recl?ved, and they Made
refer. to John/ ;NobleRoss, for as a . loud hissing, noise. The striall°
Many years as I can reMeniber Pieces �f carbon discardedwere
• oVilagen fficial collector -of taxes; for the , eagerly pickeclAip_a_nclAioarded-
whiek-capacitrit-WWW7thesmall The plant was
generally considered he gave ser- powered from Stewart's, Mill,
° v eydnd"' the call -of duty. down past theFurniture Factory..
When john .was
aria* could now ,put on , aprogram
of Ilighland sports and clanWig
like was.1,Pafurd at the' Caletion-
ian grounds. over 70 years 'ago.,
The .61 cit
ib• cover. the event and, it
was The.....Toronto *Globe which
called the 10Cation. natural
amphitheatre"- 1 ihave .a •
ivid
recollections of Jimmy. Hu.nter an-.
riouncing .the results. He could
be diStirictly :heard even at the
top of the hill,. ands nearly every,
person present sported a Glen,
garry• or Tarn-o'-Shanter that day:•
Also a standout. with me was. the
year the' 48th Highlanders. 'bag-•
pipe band was there for the day,,
and ,the tug -o' -war was not de-
cided until , the, early morning
menand'a couple Of ladjes. What' When it was finished they
a furore •thee was in „Own, one had to dig two participants out of
fine Sunday 'morning When, °a the ground • and ' conveyances
number of them started out for found to convey ihem• their
Kincardine, the ' wearing. limes or hotel and some of them,
bleomersthe first seen in among them: Kenny McLeod,
Someone was thean. eapugh. to :anchor.man, • OOnfined
to
phone ahead.' and on arrival : at their beds :for weeks or
their destination the: travellers • , months
people lined up all along ..the
plaid trousers ...he really meant • ' ' - : ' '* ' '
business.. He ' had a very Pirr : "1 don't 4elie//e arly. city in
Opinion, of Scotsmen and claimed
they were rtin, out of the Emerald
,
Isle, which, accounted for the fact
.that both .'s-fitilse. Gaelic. 7 ' -
.ounger days we lived'
'on Havelock Street which had
a gravel 'sidewalk, so hard on our
Shoes that many2patents had the
Children .use the dusty road. This
was the route' used 'by the riders
of high -wheeled bicycles. when
out .for a ,s.pin, But I quite . re-
• meniber the excitement in town
when a demonstrator salesman,.
Visited it and. gaire*:`litoexhibition
on a "safety" bicycle; and inci-
dentally. secured- • Orders... from,
some of the more affluent young
werie given a great reception ---, • • •
g
route , verything but a 'brass
band., • ,
,What was Perhaps the first cith-
,ered.,ripk (also Used :as. an 'agrii not the*village should sell:
cultural was located on the
back 'to ,the %City. of London,the
old .manntial fire engine. They
'wanted' it as a museurh. piece.
It required •a'streaiii•or a shallow
well: for ,watez? supply and was
oPe.rated by 8 or. 10 men :On each
After the . ihitallation. of a
water sy-stem:fOi fire protection
and about the lime I,,was..leaving
for.: PritiSh • there Was
some' ContrOVersr, as •to whether
first corner north of. McGarry's
Hotel (then the Whiteley. House).
bill it , collapsed, over 70. years
.ago. Later' a building to serve'
•bothopurpases was erected at the
race track .on. ithe •Fair Gkotwas: side, •working :a.- long' handle the
Being''' too far/ but •for :•walking, length of the Machine. When one,
two employee's' of the'. Furniture side pushed ..down .:" the, opposite
Factory,. Jim Gay and jack Jew- handle came up, but it .Worked
itt,... put up a large. rink west a pretty well 'al that.. - ... • -
•:, , ••••• . '
town and • great' interest was • ' '' - .. -
aroused in 'skating,' hockey and • ' Having b 6
e n out of touch with
-urling.The proprietors put. 'up the . t.0:‘,t,rh so many years
I of en
large Money .prizes for the raCes wonder if there -has since been:
and contestants Came quite a
tance to corr1pete---In7 fact, I' don't,
remember that local Skater' ever,.
got, into the Money. I have reason
to remember one race in which
Harley, Davidson,. ;champion • of
Canada, was defeated. Only the.
Person who brought him, to town
• ,
,knew •Who•lhe. Was there ,to com-
pete 1111t soon. 'a feW. knew . there
.
was a "dark' hOrse" ',in town .afid
Offered to cover nearly any kind,
of:' a bet in which they •were al-
lowed the „field. •I, had ,:Wagered
Much' More than , -,1 could :afford
and nearly c011apsd when •he
went onto the, ie i But Davidson
didn't even get into the money --
and this 'practically cured, me' Of
betting. • :
It ' must , be • at leaSt 70 years
,
since street lights Were put in
:••
A prodOf: growth eqUat'qb that
ofaround 1888 to 1890 for it must.
.have ,been ,about • that 'time that
the, I:resbyteriari ' and Methodist
•Churches, the!, Town. Hall •and:
:what used to be known as the
Murray: and ' Alin.): blocks were
built: ,The . first .theiltioued. con-:'
.. ...
gregation worshipped., in, a sing e...
storey, barracks- 7 dike : ' building 1 whenr: for. a snaa4.amotint, of rags,
nearly back of the John 'Orli/Idyl bones, bottiles-ay.scrap.. iron Itieh
House and the Second. in a frame :a`. a ,5,:or 6-year-old.,cotilcl:carry
1
structure On Outram Street, 'moV- he would 'cover. a 15all, quite well,
ed to be used as a-blaCkSmith'arid 'using, material. Made °of rags or
carriage. works by Adam: ThOmp, striag: He lived ina: house.4o-,
-Son, and. located on Campbell St. wards the river off liaVelack.St.
The. Murray 'block :replaced an. ,and . his',:hinnerauS :canaries were
old frail* hotel and 'Was, occu:- .a116WLed to fly- about all through.
pied by FL 1D ,Cameron, Berry's the house Latterly he had an old
Drug Store and Wm. ..Connell's, team of horses and a. dray but:
dry goods., .Cribbing and : piles I; never. saw ' hinr, with a load :on
Were :replaced by a • stone pier to it, •certainly never More than one
furnish , fatindatiens:, for -the' Al,-; .trunk, :so ..I expeet, hewas still .,....0".•.:god•.#•••44-...444.-04.444•44-444.4.
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cENTENNTAL sPzutr.
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3
1.•
ennial
Luc inti, Ontario
1 99,!;,• • , •
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MORGAN :;DONALD
lin Block which. spanned the in' -the. juhk..hUsiness, rt. Waa'.,
river.. All; these buildings, as .W.eil. Stated. that Jock first.apPeare4 lit., ...
at the Town Hall, were of brick LucknOw' -A8 the ..contractor for
construction and .considered ,quite carrying the mail from. 00deiick,-
pretentious. at that time. ',.,." ' ,..,. with a passenger service a .very
. , .
. ' • * :i. ' * • remunerative •side -line. He was::. :
•In a. Previous ,story • in ' connec•••• titilerbid on ;the , mail ,estnitiact •,,..-
tion,....-
,,with my apprenticeship ,on arm. cut :the: passenger fare td‘'' . .
get that trade.: For ' a: while :he. ••
AThdem•TIS:nutsienrieloI vrii.:inyt.io:ofni6ntlfautJrnOichk,
01:1...n.otfare ,to0 badly., but event-.. .
.. .. -...--
tJi e power,for the cYlii nder Pres ually h, turned his l'hand to any -
on : ". •,::;;.
which the paper, Was printed.
'honest job to get the where.with-; •
character, I Would judge Many,' -
Jock as ...quite ' a well known all to survive ° • : ' ' . '
,... .0eo. W. Armstrong. ''•''
many yearS ,ago.'.My recollection '' ., '. ' ' • ,. .
of hini goev.back ,over 75: Years '‘"' •.'4.''','":"I''''.*.•,4."°-14-1.',1',4-#4,-.001,--*
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GAVILLER,
- 1VIcINTOSH
d WARD
Chartered Aceoutatit
Bell Telephone B1dg.,
• Walton, Ont..
Telephone633 •
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TOWESTERN CANAD
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The Prairies, the Rpckies, the B.C. Centennial... daily trains.
9.
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See your lifdat C9NR9 Agent
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