Times-Advocate, 1979-07-11, Page 13 (2)• St. Joseph: not quite a
Business is picking up at - factories, shops 'and houses
Sl. Joseph. The sleepy that marked the village in
hamlet near Lake Huron's the early 19001 A man with
shoreline boasts two new a dreatn had St. Joseph on
._____shops..____.._Ci ltagos----ace--tiro-r4ead- --becoming-.a city-----
springjng . _..along the just _after the- turn of - the
beach. There's an active golf century. His dreatn was
course nearby, and even never realized, the hotels
• some elegant brick homes in were torn down, and today
a new subdivision. farriers work the land where
Yet. St. Joseph. will neser the city was to be.
be the big city that was once That man was Narcisse
planned" for the quiet set- L'antin, and little remains of
Clement. The recent activity his grand vision. Ile is not
is a far cry from the hotels, forgotten, though, by his
grandson, Napoleon E.
Cantin. •
Napolean Cantin has built a
tiny house . behind his
laketrout--cottage--whieh -he—
l:alls "Les Archives". 'nit he
keeps the reminders of the
dream his "grandad" had.
Pictures, postcards,
booklets,. news clippings and
even an elegant window
from the old hotel bring the
past alive. -
Napoleon Cantin goes back
to the very beginning to
explain the amazing tale of
St. Joseph. The first Cantin
to come to Huron County was
Antoine, he says. Antoine
-eame—f-fem--(ugbee—and-
settled in Goderich,_wnrking _
in the boat building industry.
His ancestor§ -had been
French Canadian for several
generations.
Antoine purchased land .
from the Canada Company
and moved to an area along
the lake road south of
B;:iyfield. His son Pierre
farmed this land, and it was
expected that his son Nar-
cisse who was born in 1870
would eventually do
---hk;ewtse.
LES ARCHIVES Napoleon Cantin has saved pictures and clippings which tell the
Canon and the brief life of St. Joseph.
lirnes
Page 1 A
story of his granddad Narcisse
T -A photo
But.NarclSse was diferent.
He was later labelled the
"Wizard of St. Joseph" after
he founded that community.
Orginally the community
was called Johnston's Mill,
later it was named Lakeview
but still no growth occured
until Narcisse Cantin
became a great promoter.
Ile called it St. Joseph
because, as a devout Roman
Catholic he held that saint in
high regard.
. As a young entrepreneur,
Narcisse lived in Buffalo and
worked in cattle trading. It
was here that he came to
realize the importance of a
seaway connecting the Great
Lakes to the Atlantic
Ocean. To have such a
waterway constructed
became his lift --long am-
bition.
Narcisse's main plan was
for a canal .to run tom St.
Joseph to Port sianley. his
grandson expl.:ins The
canal would be 43 miles long,
and would save the seaway
traffic 350 miles though
Sarnia, Detroit and Lake St.
Clair. The cost a' that time
would have been Si; million,
if Narcisse's estimations
were accurate
His plan for a Great Lakes
to Atlanic seaway therefore
made it necessary that St.
Joseph become a hig • city.
It would be the nrost im-
portant port on Lake Huron,'
as part of his canal system.
JULY 11, 1979
1-1 HI'
cit
Narcisse also called St.
Joseph "his drum to beat
upon",iso that he could call
attention to his dream for the
WaTeTW'a Irha C6OUSTc
ceed in building a -city,. then
certainly he could get
financial .support for the
waterway.. -
Ile travelled to New York,
Montreal, Chicago, Buffalo
and other such places getting
the help of influential
businessmen and bankers.
Soon St. Joseph became .a
boom .town.
A large wharf was con-
structed, and a lumber mill
grew. A brickyard
prospered. Another factory
made pjpe organs. Later
when the demand for pipe
organs dropped off, the
factory made radiators for
home heating. There was
also a novelty factory, and
various stores up and down
the streets of the well-
planned town. A winery was
another feature of the
community and it looked as
if a cjty was on the way. The
Queen's Hotel was
prospering.
Buicthe grandest building
of all was Balmoral Block
created by Narcisse Cantin.
He travelled to- Montreal
where the Balmoral Hotel
was being demolished. He
rescued the ornate fur-
nishings and lavish
decorations to be put in his
' hotel in St Joseph. The
•cutglass window among
Napoleon ('antin's collection
features a picture of
Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
The Hotel was advertised in
all the big newspapers in
North America. An ad in a
New York paper in 1908
claimed the hotel was a
"modern all the year round"
resort
The luxurious hotel was
never opened to the public.
and no one took the promoter
up on his offer of "yachting,
fishing: 4tathing. golf and
tennis. and fine roads for
automobiles and driving
saddle h rses."
Narcisse firmly believed
in his dream of a seaway.
and was a smooth talker who
could convince others in
investing in his plan He
spent millions of dollars and
ittle it was his. according to
his grafi dson
Narcisse's plan for a
seaway lnctttded the building
of hydro -electricity plants.
as well as canals and locks
Ile hired a man names R (1
tiweezev to engineer his
proptsed power- plants
Sweezev douole-crossed
Narcisse and instead of
buying up land for the Cantin
company. he purchased the
land for the Beauharnois
company This evolved into a
scandal which Napoleon
Cant in compares to
Watergate. It even touched
on Prime Minister W L
MacKenzie King. when it
appeared as if he and other
members of parliament had
accepted bribes •
Narcisse carried nut
lawsuits against Sweeney
and eventually the wrong-
doings were brought to light
But unfortunately righting
the wrong was no help to
Narcisse The gmernmerit
passed a law which said that
only .the governments of
Canada and United States
would build the se,rssas
Narcissus plans were
squelched. and St Joseph
died. lust as quickly 1s :' had
grown -•
In the' 3n .. Narr`.•,•'s
grandchildren left �!
ireo ph,
because the s,ilaee
held no opplrrtuniries tor
them \apetoon. ss ho w as or..
Americo{i. cituen because
his father—bird been horn in
Buffalo. went to the States to
find work Ile new lies in
Ttq.i1 flak. Michigan hut has -
always kept his . urnrner
home at St Joseph.
Narcisse Cantin died it St
Joseph m 1440, His •..r .h
had crumbled around hrni,
Please turn to page 34
Price Per Copy 25 Cents
Acting classes start humming
What do you think when
you see a group of children
standing in a circle with
their hands on their heads
and humming" Or patting
their tummies and panting"
Well, you'd think that they
were all going to grow up to
be famous actors and ac-
tresses'
Humming and panting is
part of the lessons in voice
given at the Huron County
Playhouse to 40 children.
And voice is just one part of
the drama classes that are
I.
tet.4
^s _
r-•
_d.
I,
-2e.
5,
being put on by a Young
Canada Works grant
Kathy Kaszas is the co-
ordinator of the three week
program for children.
Yelping her is Cathy inculet
of London teaching voice.
Mark Hear of Grand Bend
teaching music and song.
•Philip Street of Blyth
leaching stage _and design.
and Kim McCaffrey of
Exeter teaching movement.
The 4ilchildren are divided
into four groups and spend
an hour with each instructor
ar_
each day. The classes run
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with
an hour off for lunch.
The children who come
from as far away as
Goderich will be using their
new skills when they take •
part in the production of
"Treasure island", which
,will be at the Playhouse on
Saturday July 14 at 11:00
a.m . The performance is
open to the public.
The five young people in
charge of the drama classes
HUMMING AND.BREATHING Instructor Cothy Inculet hos Kerry Dietz
' ple during voice lessons 4t Huron Country Playhouse
are kept busy with other
playhouse activities. Both
Mark•F'lear and Philip Street
had roles as choirboys in
"Pools Paradise" and Mark
is playing a policeman in
3 ssc s
is
"Angle Street"
As well. the young people
are responsible for
productions of "Sleeping
Beauty" throughout the
summer.
.:*I a r y's
illnsi11gs
BY MARY ALDERSON
You may think that I
chose my husband because
he is such a good hair-
dresser. It's not true.
i mean. he is a good hair-
dresser„but that's not why I
married him. Ten years ago
when we first started,dating
there was no suggestion that
he would ever become one.
In fact, 'way back then, he
was a grocery boy at the
local Red & White store,
after school. it may be
rather convenient now to
have a husband who knows
where to find obscure items
such as the lemon juice that
comes in those little plastic
lemons. but when 1 was 14.
that failed to impress me
(As an aside,
to say -that i am. tiftdt3
- my husband has a_ very good
• Memory As -.long as the
fa il-y that owns the
f Vit' i%:`.,_.� where he used
to work doesn't change their
lay -out. he is a fast shopper.
A mother should seriously
consider grocery store work
when sending her 13 year old
_ T - A photo son out for kis firgt part
2i -- -time job. Having a former
,t
follow her exam
,.. _.
ON STAGE Acting classes for children at Huron Country Playhouse include impromptu
scenes. Here Duncan Edgar, luAnne Allen and Drew Hosselback try the stage. T-A.pltoto
shelf -stocker in the family
liberates a woman from the
weekly drudgery of grocery
buying. This ia`s one way a
woman can really help her
future daughter-in-law and
get their relationship off to a
good start.)
But I'm sure that ally guy
who worked part time in a
hairdresser's shop would be
popular among the high
school girls. However. those
things just don't happen.
it is convenient to have a
husband who dots your hair.
Without him would
probably have straight. light
brown hair. With him I have
curly, blonde Bair. ,(Let me
hasten to say that my hair
does lighten to blonde
naturally in the summer.
thanks to that Grand Bend
sunshinf. He just keeps it r
that way year round.)
.1 have thick hair that
grows fast. I know I couldn't
afford the frequent cuts i
get. Nor could I afford the
perms and the colors. He
also keeps me supplied with
top quality shampoos,and
conditioners. blow -dryers.
brushes and curling irons
Very convenient. indeed
But it's not all a bed of
roses. Just as the
shoemaker's family
sometime goes shoe -less.
so the hairdresser's family
sometimes goes hair -do-.
less. Or at least. they are the
very last ones that the hair-
dresser will do. and of
course only after hours.
- i -remember one New
Year's Eve when it seemed
as if every woman in town
left his shop looking
beautiful f sat and waited
all 'for a break in the
rn of customers
i a ly at Q p.m. the
crowds -subsided and 1 got•
into the shampoo chair. Just
as my hair got wen noticed_
the lights (lickering. i love
having my hair shampooed.
especially by him. so when it
looked like a power failure
was on the way. i didn't stop
him '
He began to blow-dry my
-hair. and the brownout con-
tinued The lights dimmed.
and the blow -dryer
sputtered and stumbled
along. it's motor protesting
the 1 ck of energy.
FMally we were in total
blackness. and the blow -
dryer died After.the noise
and confusion that had gone
on all day in his shop. the
silence was deafening
Having nothing else to do
during a power failure. we
went to the New Year's Eve
dance. I'm sure I was the
only woman there with drip-
ping wet hair Lucky for me
there was no electricity
there either, and they
couldn't see my hair in the
cafAletight The next week I
had a terrible cold.
it's really too bad that we
don't work in the same town.
We could make a great
team. A hairdresser hears
all the news. 1 just have to
put it in print. On second
thoug it, most of what he
hearS"isn't printable
vaLLE1.sT. NORTh Or CAMPBELL -Abu.; etF.,lostPH. ONT. / Po 3
BALMORAL BLOCK ST JOSEPH ONT , 1904
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BRICKI'ARDS AT RT...OSEP.+ HURON CO , ONT
.. v . G, ..-N-,s T.., . _ ..• ,..
THOSE WERE THE DAYS -- Old post cords tell the story of the brief flurry of activity at St_
Joseph Big houses sprang up along one of the many streets planned for the city, the Balmoral
Hotel was supposed to be a luxurious tourist attraction, and the brickyard was just one of the
mony booming industries T -A photo
.••-�-..
ANTIQUES FOR SALE N,kk' Stevens now sells gifts and antiques. ,n the old Canon house
;,cirent, ou=chased the home ,ecentiv o^d conve=ted it to o store TA photo
•
nPN
NEW GIFT SHOP The home where Napoleon Contin grew up is now o gift shop Behind the house stands what was once a
pipe organ factory and on old ice house. T.A photo
1'�