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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1954-07-28, Page 12Foge Twelve The Wingham Advance-limes, Wednesday, July 28, 1954 .jnu.,-'.........i................... Storms, Floods Created Havoc In Course of Town'slHistory One of the worst snow storms to strike this part of the province took place in 1887, It continued with un­ abated fury for two days, leaving the rpads and rail lines drifted shut. The train from Palmerston was cancelled entirely and the train from London arrived here only with great difficulty. It was stuck six times between Wing­ ham and the Junction and took an hour and a half to cover that dis­ tance. In the winter of 1893 scarcely a Wheel turned on the L. H. & B. for three weeks at one stretch. Gangs of men were employed to clear the tracks with shovels, and snowplows were off the right of way as frequently as they were on the steel. With drifts up to 15 feet in height the men shovelled in relays, working from the top down and conveniently hanging their coats on the telegraph wires. Following the great snowstorm of 1893 there were other serious diffi­ culties to face, for a heavy rain coat­ ed the tracks from London to Kin­ cardine with sheet upon sheet of ice and trains were again left stranded in open country. There are stories of th© stoves in coaches being fired with wood cut from nearby trees, and the children being placed in mail bags for additional warmth. Some of the trains were held up so long that hunger became more than a threat before the passengers could be taken to the nearest farm homes. Even residents of this district were running dangerously short of supplies for which they depended on train ser­ vice and it was hard to supply the gangs of men clearing the rail lines with sufficient food. ‘ Again in 1903 severe snow storms from January to March created trans­ portation difficulties and caused short­ ages of both food and fuel. Wind Storms Recalled 1893 was the year of one of the great windstorms in Wingham. Most alarming damage was at the public school where a portion of the roof and the east wall was carried away. Though none of the children were seriously injured, several were struck by falling lath and plaster, and the newspapers of that day emphasized the presence of mind displayed by the teachers who got the pupils out of the building with no show of panic. In the same storm the tower and part of the east wall of the Catholic Church were blown down, the chim­ ney was carried off the Congregation­ al church and the pillars on the south side of the Presbyterian church were blown down, In the *year 1913 a tornado struck, seriously damaging the mounting shop at the foundry, a building which had been erected only the previous year. The Wingham Creamery, Bennett’s, and Walker & Clegg’s establishments were all hit at the same time. One of the most spectacular wind­ storms in the town’s history struck in 1919, when a wind estimated at over 60 miles, per hour lifted a section of roof from the Union Factory on Victoria Street, now Fry and Blackhall and dumped it fairly on one corner of the arena building, which was in the last stages of construction. As a result the entire roof of the arena collapsed and Victoria Street and Diagonal Road were littered with the I ruins of the two roofs. Sheeting from j the arena roof was spread for blocks, one section crashing into Dr. Fox’s residence. A portion of the brick wall j of the factory gave way and left the : machines inside exposed to the ele- ; ments. ' To complete the picture of destruc- ! tion the large building at the agricul- ; tural grounds in Lower Wingham was j levelled and the cattle sheds at the ! same place were left a total wreck, i A section of roof was blown off the j salt block on Victoria Street, the roof I was taken off the engine house at the j G.T.R, station and glass by the square yard was blown in at the foundry. Residents of apartments in the Mor­ ton Block escaped miraculously when the chimney on the Gurney plant blew over and fell through the roof above their heads. Floods Were Frequent Wingham has been familiar with floods since the early days, for it was not an uncommon sight to see pass­ engers from Clinton via the Gravel Road, arriving in town by row boat, which they had been forced vto employ BACK IN J. MASON & SON STATIONERY =j| ■ 1 g g K g g 1 g g ■ 1879 &• I —The year Wingham was incorporated as a town, George Mason built the Mason Block and started in the Stationery Business. Today the business, now the oldest in Wingham, con­ tinues to serve the town as headquarters for Stationery, Books, Chinaware — School Supplies, and Tobacco. As Old as the Town of Wingham when they reached Cassel’s Hill (now the knoll at the Johnston farm just South of the three bridges). In the 80’s there M mention of the mill in Lower Wingham being closed for as long as two weeks at a time in the spring due to ice jamming up on the river below, During one spring freshet men were kept busy trying to save bridges and dams. The upper dam* has been wash­ ed away several times with damage to the C.P.R. bridge on more than one occasion. The Fisher bridge, as the Lower Town bridge was known in the early days, was partially carried away twice between 1866 and the early 70’s. In 1891 both branches of the river flooded. The C.P.R. bridge was chain­ ed down for fear the rushing water would be too much for it and in spite of this precaution several piles were swept away and the upper portion was shifted ten or twelve feet out of place. Josephine Street was under water from Alfred Street to the town hall- and residents in the neighborhood of’ the G.T.R. freight sheds had to be rescued from their homes by boat. Easter Parade The board sidewalk between Upper and Lower Wingham saw more traffic on Easter Sunday, 1912, than at any other time in its history, but the rea­ son for the sudden increase in pedes­ trians was a tragic one. One of the worst floods of all time had swept into Lower Town. First evidence of the oncoming freshet was observed shortly after six o’clock Saturday evening, when quan­ tities of ice and debris went over the | lower dam, and carried away several poles in the line which supplied elec­ tricity to Wingham itself. Gangs of men worked frantically by lantern light dumping bags of gravel on the vei’ges of the dam to strength­ en it, but in spite of their efforts huge sections of the west bank of the pond and of the mill race gave way be­ fore the rising waters. As a result the flood poured out over Lower Town, flooding some homes to the depth of over two feet. Boats were se­ cured at dawn on Sunday morning and those families in most perilous plight were rescued from their dwell­ ings. One mother and her daughters, who were situated in the heart of the flood area, removed their stove and provisions to the second storey of their house, preferring a flooded home to the dangers of crossing the rough waters in a row boat. . The loss in furnishings, property, fences and livestock was high. Several stables were damaged and One or two collapsed completely. George Cruick- shank’s cement-constructed home stood directly in the stream when the banks gave way and though battered by huge cakes of ice, it suffered little damage. A small bridge leading to the fair grounds was carried away bodily and a second. was shifted from its pinnings. Floods an Old Story Here In the great flood of 1891 William Dodd almost came to grief. Observ­ ing two pigs stranded on high ground, he constructed a raft and set off on an errand of mercy. The pigs, appar­ ently 'realizing their plight, were happy to come aboard, and continued in such high spirits that swine and rescuer were soon in the water. All three were rescued in turn by mem­ bers of a crowd of spectators who had gathered to see the fun. Wingham’s first photographer had a grim experience with floods. Mr. Woodland by name, he had built a small photographic gallery beside Fisher’s bridge in Lower Town, and all went well until the first recorded flood tore the building from its foundation, cracking almost all ,of the glass. A subsequent freshet carried the structure to the market square, where it stranded on a stump. To add insult to injury, Mr. Woodland’s com­ petitor, a man named Burroughs, who had opened for business in Upper Wingham, arrived on the scene of disaster to record with his camera the fate of his unfortunate counter­ part, The end came when a third flood carried the ill-fated building out to mid-stream and it was never known whether it Came to rest at the Big Bend of the Maitland or in Lake Huron. Disastrous floods were not confined to the early days by any means for all will recall the high water of the spring of 1947 When Lower Town once again bore the brunt of an un­ usually high freshet, created by the sudden thawing of a tremendous ac­ cumulation of snow. At one fiome ih Lower Wingham. the water rose to such an extent that the family had to be rescued by boat from the upper windows, and the Wingham firemen worked throughout the night to re­ move those whose homes were in im­ minent danger. The water reached the comer of Josephine and Victoria Streets and when the power failed members of the P.U.C. staff struggled Until three o’clock in the morning to set up an emergency line. Bail travel was curtailed for several days when the CBJR. bridge Was damaged by the A. CHAWFORD WAS FIRST CAR OWNER Alex M- Crawford is no strangqr to the citizens of Wingham. Hi§ residence stands on the corner of John and Minnie Streets, formerly the property of Dr, Tamlyn. Mr. Crawford came to Wingham from Tillsonburg in 1900. He bought a billiard room over the present Dun­ lop shoe store on Josephine Street and the following spring moved his busi­ ness to a building on the site where Drs. Corrin and Palmer are now locat­ ed. When the Bank of Commerce bpught this property on which to erect the bank building, Mr. Crawford mov­ ed to the building to the north, where Omar Haselgrove’s stand is at the present time. Mr, Crawford improved the build­ ing and made living quarters, upstairs. While operating his billiard parlor and tobacco store, he became local and district agent for the Ford Motor Co. He formed a partnership with Brison Cochrane and these two men remain­ ed in business together for one year, during which time they operated a garage where Foxton’s dairy now stands. At the end of the year the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Crawford carried on alone. At this time he found that both businesses were too much to handle and decided in 1914 to sell the billiard room to Bill Dwyer. The garage he was operating on Jospehine Street was not large enough so he purchased a livery where Jim Carr’s house was later built, on the corner of John and Edward Streets. Here he carried on for some years, eventually buying the National Hotel property on the corner of Patrick and Josephine Streets. He did not build for some time and in the interval tore down the old hotel, later erecting the garage known as Wingham Motors and now operated by Wilf. Congram and Jim Carr, who took over the business when Mr. Crawford retired in 1946. Everyone told Mr, Crawford at the time that the building was far too big and when he put in the first silent salesman showcase in town, it was considered that he didn't know what he was doing. The automobile business grew far beyond expectations and the "silent salesman” is still in the build­ ing and still in use. » Won Many Trophies During the years that A. M. Craw­ ford has been in Wingham, he has been keenly interested in sport. Judging from the number of trophies he has won, it seems doubtful that he was often beaten when it came to lawn bowling and curling. On a quick inspection of his prizes one feels that a half day would hardly be adequate to really look them over. Some of the items, and not nearly all, are several beautiful chairs of vari­ ous designs, several tables, a complete chest of silverware, two silver tea services, a complete cabinet of beauti-. ful cut glass including glasses, pitch­ ers and several bowls, a clock made in Germany, a musical cocktail shaker won at St. Petersburg, Fla., medals, travelling clock, watches, dishes and scores of other things. Mr. Crawford toured the British Isles in 1932, when with John Hanna, Gordon Buchanan and Harcourt Mun­ dy, they bowled on several greens in the three countries. They also flew to France and had a thoroughly en­ joyable trip. In the Provincial Lawn Bdwling Association of Ontario competition in Toronto in 1938', Mr. Crawford Was runner*up in the singles, winning a medal. When the curlers of Wingham be­ gan to feel the need of a rink, Mr, Crawford was instrumental in its be­ coming a reality, the details being found in another story. high water, In that spring of 1947 Wingham was the talk Of the remain­ der of the province, for the "outside” world learned by radio that the town was cut off from all its neighbors. Though the reports may have been exaggerated, none of the residents of this community want to go through the same experience again, X<J For Nearly A Century the rich farm lands of Morris Township have brought prosperity not only to Wingham, but the entire district. On the occasion of Wingham's 75th Anni­ versary the people of Morris look forward to an era of continued prosperity for town and country. ReeveBAILIE PARROTT, COUNCILLORS William Elston Stewart Procter Ross Duncan Walter Shortreed ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE OF Township of 1 MORRIS We hope you’ll join us for our 100th Anniversary in 1956 * o D o o D o o n o o D o II o n o o n o On o O a o o n O a o 9 FOR o n o FIFTY OF WINGHAM S 75 YEARS Ranges ono Heaters And Furnaces The PRODUCTS OF Western Foundry Company, Limited HAVE MADE THE NAME WINGHAM and brand names such as HURON, MAITLAND, CLIPPER, CLASSIC, RED HOT,' SUNBLAST and WESTERN FAMOUS From Coast To Coast * ono o n o onQ o n o o D o a a o 8 o o n o Featured for 1954 is a modern line of Automatic, Oil-Fired Steel Furnaces For real comfort in this Canadian Climate! o II o 8 o oU tn