London Ontario History

Dammed if you do, Damned if you don't.

2008-11-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

Dammed if you do, Damned if you don't
or
That Damned Dam
14 November 2008

When the Springbank dam broke, many of us were surprized to learn it's primary purpose was NOT flood control, but to provide an adequate waterway in terms of depth and width of water for recreational use.

At present, withe dam not working and the waterway wide open, two conflicting interests have presented themselves, which you can see above in the photographs.

There is very little more Canadian in nature than paddling a canoe. Much of our history was opened by the canoe, and it continues to be a very popular recreation to this very day. As strange as it sounds, even though Ontario is a land of rivers and lake, in southern Ontario, there are not that many places to go canoeing, and those places you can often charge a fee or admission or the like.

Having free and open access to a river for canoeing and other recreational boating is important and draws in tourist dollars.

The flip side is fishing. I have wandered down along river trails since childhood, and never in my life have I seen so many people fishing in the river as I have this year, ever since the dam broke and was left open. I have also never seen the river so clean looking either.

How does that old saying go - when a door closes a window opens? Something like that. Point is, fishing brings in a lot of money too, in tourism and recreational dollars spent. I wonder which brings in more dollars to the local economy in the long run - canoeing or fishing? I suspect the two are evenly matched in the long run.

So when the decision comes to either repair the dam or not, I can see the debate over competing but equally valid uses for the Thames River will leave City Council in between the proverbial "rock and a hard place.

A View of Summer and Thoughts of Old Garbage

2008-11-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

A View of Summer and Thoughts of Old Garbage
14 November 2008

Cold, wet weekend ahead, so a warm look at a July sunset from Grand Bend. to remind you of warmer times.

In case you do not realize, you can click on the photos for a larger image on your screen.

The last of the Brunswick Hotel should be taken down and carted away today. I was down there around 4:00 p.m. yesterday, and as far as I can tell (and from lack of any mention in the media), thankfully nobody was found in the ruins of the 'Wick, so that's some good news.

The actual landfill being used is NOT the City dump, but the privately owned commercial landfill just outside the south end of the city. I forget the name of the site, but it is the same landfill that has the contract to handle Toronto's garbage in the coming years.

The basement of the 'Wick is still full of water from fighting the fire, so I do not know what will happen there. I am curious about the land below the basement and around the old hotel, as it is possibly one of the few chunks of land in the downtown core not touched or disturbed since pioneer times.

A specific example of what I am thinking of is the real possibility of a garbage dump out back some where. In 1855 there was no such thing as a city garbage dump or garbage collection. Many homes and businesses just dug a pit out back and buried everything.

Today these old garbage dumps, when found - and preserved and examined - are a treasure trove of relics into our forgotten past. As I have pointed out before, the horrible depression of 1857 left a big "memory hole" in our local history for roughly a 4 to 5 year period. While the chances of finding something specific from that time period are very slim, "very slim" still beats the heck out of no chance at all, so I hope we have the chance to examine the site before it is all excavated some day.

Demolition Day (or days...)

2008-11-13T11:23:00.000-08:00

Demolition Day (or Days....)
13 November 2008

All pictures taken on 12 Nov. 2008. Since Armistice Day - a term I read in a WW One pilot's log book and has stuck with me ever since - Nov 11 - is a quasi-holiday, I suspect demolition was held over that day. But there it is, last stand of the 'Wick.

Most of the morning was spent in preparation. The actual demolition did not start until approx 2:35 PM, EST.

I know the warning signs are required by law & various codes of safety, but sometimes I wonder if we aren't just pushing redundancy to the extreme anymore.

The last "residents" of the 'Wick flee. The chimney nearest York Street did appear to hold a nest for two pidgeons, but I cannot say for certain, only that I saw two of them very often.

The machine operator, if I may be forgiven the term, was quite "gentle" and although working quickly, brought the 'Wick down in a very controlled manner

We knew the old hotel had been added onto over 100years ago, but here is the first, and perhaps only look at the inner roof we are likely to get.

One terrible loss is that due to asbestos, no recovery of materials such as the tin roof, wood beams, etc, or through examination of the building will ever take place. For example, the London free Press newspapers on microfiche and microfilm at the public library are incomplete, we have periods that are missing.

It is not uncommon when tearing down an old building like this to find old city directories, old newspapers, or some other pleasant surprize. In this specific situation, we have a large "memory hole" in the years of 1857 to roughly 1862, due to the depression of that era. Many missing or non-existant documents and books. For exmaple, we have no (known) copies of any city directory form 1858 or 59.

Being able to examine a building like this, sometimes, not always, but sometimes you find something that fills in a little gap. But not now.

Last look for me, around 3:30 pm. As I write this the demoltion was expected to last into as far as Friday. One terrible issue, completely unconfirmed but must be investigated was did the fire kill anyone? It was known for a fact that people were sneaking into the ruins of th e 'Wick before the fire - I myself saw the steel fence moved about many times - and the great fear is some of our homeless may have been sleeping in there to avoid the cold when the fire start.

I hope not, and I pray investigation today and/or tommorrow by the Fire Marshal proves this possiblity wrong, but this issue explains why the site was watched like a Hawk since the fire.

more later..

"I Want To Live!"

2008-11-09T11:41:00.000-08:00

"I Want To Live"
aka - Day Two, the ' Wick on Death Row
09 November 2008

This Sunday morning at 8:00 am, Turner Classic movies had on the 1958 Susan Heywood movie "I Want To Live" about a woman on death row trying to fight to stay alive until the very end. The theme seemed fitting with the current situation at the old Brunswick Hotel.

So I changed the channel and watched Spongebob with my daughter instead. :)

These photographs were taken Saturday night and Sunday just before Noon. As you can see the 'Wick was lit up all night.

If I had brought binoculars or my telephoto lens, maybe I could read the writing on the wall. (Pun intended for those of you into biblical scholarship). :)

These lights were not there when I left about 7:00 p.m Saturday night, but obviously there to light up the rear of the 'Wick.

I suspect the closing of this entire intersection is not very healthy for the businesses in the area. I would not want ot be driving Greyhound Buses right about now.

In addition to keeping the engine running on the truck all night for the lights, last night and today are very cold, that damp cold that just goes right through you, and I do not envy those those have to stand vigil all night long.

I saw this this machine arrive early Saturday morning just before 8:30 am. When I was there again at 4:00 pm and later around 7:30 pm, it was still there, so somebody has to pay for this machine & driver/operator for at least 11 hours of sitting and doing nothing.

The issue of costs:
Almost anyone and everyone on the street who stops to take a look is asking "how much is this costing? and "who's going to pay?" Sadly the answers are easy. One - lots of money, two - you and me through tax dollars.

In addition to the Ontario Fire Marshall, the fire truck & crew, the various people who came to repair the one hydro pole, the three to five police cruisers and police officers on constant duty, the economic loss to the businesses in the area, and more I possibly cannot imagine, the bill will be terrible.

To give a bit of back ground on what is happening, in no particular order, here goes:

1) Because of suspicion of arson, the main floor is a crime scene, and it has to be preserved and protected. This is why the 'Wick was lit up all night, and there are so many police on site. Soem for traffic control, and some to protect the site.

2) Asbestos is there is small quantities, not huge quantities because this building went up long before asbestos was in common use. But like mercury, asbestos is one of our present day enviromental "bogeymen". For example, while mercury is deadly dangerous, and we are all supposed to turn in our mercury thermostats and thermometers, everybody is strangely quiet on the issue of mercury that is used in compact florescent lightbulbs.

However, and I know I am cynical about this, but people are not sued ovr CFLs, but they do get their butts sued over the smallest hint of asbestos. This is why, in my opinion, whenever the term "asbestos" comes up, everyone slows down to a dead crawl, almost like walking on broken eggsheels made of sharp glass in bare feet. One slip, and the lawsuits come and get you. Anyhow, back on topic, the ministry of the Enviroment has to be consulted in a case like this regardless, and of course, being a weekend, well, have any of you ever tried to get anybody on an emergency basis on a weekend? Which leads to.......

3) The Weekend. Can we say "Nobody in the office, call back Monday" and if you can get somebody - "overtime." The really sad part is all the different people who did show up on Saturday couldn't do anything much to begin with. So we also have a whole major downtown interesetion closed for - well at least three days nows, because even if demolition by some miracle started early Monday morning, it will still be at least a day.

4) The demolition. Interconnected problems. First off the building as it stands is very dangerous, and could collaspe, so how do you send in somebody to inspect the crime scene and / or remove the asbestos? Well, you don't. What has to be done is to carefully remove the top two floors - much easier said than done I suspect - and then when the danger from overhead is gone, the other work can be done. However, to my un trained eye, as I am no engineer, that north-west corner looks very unstable, so I suspect it will be a real tough job to carefull take the 'Wick down.

...and that of course is going to cost more money than just knocking it down quickly all at once.....

Between the cold, wet and miserable weather, and the ever growing complications, and the long waits and time this is not only taking, but is still going to take, I suspect everyone involved is not having a good time, with stoic attitudes being the best we can, or rather should expect out of people on site. Seeing as the civic budget for the year will likely be shot to pieces over this, or at the very least take a major kicking in the shins, my one recommendation to the Mayor would be to go into the Tim Horton's across the street, buy a pile of those plastic Quickpay Tim Cards and hand them out to everybody involved.

Yes, a beer might go down better, but hey, the bar in the 'Wick is already shut down, so we'll just have to settle for a hot coffee.
:)

Burnin' Down the 'Wick

2008-11-08T10:50:00.001-08:00

Ahem - uh, if you want to burn something down, look at the security camera first.

Burnin' Down the 'Wick
Saturday, November 8, 2008

A quick post. This completely blew me away, I didn't even believe until I saw for myself . The first 5 photographs were taken by my son Tristan around 10 am Saturday morning, the last 4 by myself around 8 to 8:30 am on Saturday. All indications are arson, but nobody can say who. From what I know, the fire was first noticed around 3:00 am on Saturday morning, it took the fire department no more than 3 minutes to respond (they are close by), and yet the fire was so extensive that it took over an hour to extinguish.

Whomever torched the 'Wick was a complete, blithering idiot. Look at the hydro pole in the picture above, in front of the Tim Hortons. There's a SECURITY CAMERA run by the city covering that whole corner. These cameras are operated by the city of London, and yes, they keep the recordings for review. the two back walls along the rear of the Wick and the parking lot are solid, no doors or windows, so you would have to come down either sidewalk to get at the place.

I think we need to invent a new phrase:

DEFINITION:
Burnin' Down the 'Wick
- an action of complete redundant stupidity, one step past rubbing salt in a wound or flogging a dead horse, the end result of this action being the creation of the SNAFU from Hell, which ultimately grows into Titanic proportions and creates a series of smaller hardships and SANFUs for many innocent people.

Much of the day Friday, and into Friday night we had non-stop, solid rain, so the exposed portions would of been very wet.

It appears a hydro pole was damaged, and i suspect will have to be replaced.

Sunsets

2008-11-07T08:32:00.001-08:00

Sunsets
07 November 2008

Perhaps not history, at least not yet. :) If you leave your eyes open, it's amazing what can be seen all around us.

The same image, but a larger scale.

Gulls at Port Stanley

We are almost trained from birth in this neck of the woods to think of the shoreline of lake Huron as the finest sunsets in all Ontario, perhaps Canada. :) But the north shore of lake Erie can provide a delight at sunset too, if you know where to stand. This one was easy - the main beach at Port Stanley, water's edge, not far form Mackie's fries.

I had to make a trip to St. Thomas, and once there, the whim to take a further 10 minutes down the lake caught me, and i am glad I did. Sometimes it's all about timing.

London By Night

2008-11-07T08:02:00.000-08:00

A Dark Hall
Richmond St., across from the train station.

I had a fair bit of trouble taking this picture, as people kept coming around to see what I was doing. I suppose anybody who shoots photographs at night is under suspicion, but you can "see' the city in a whole different light at night. The above scene stuck me as what it would feel like to look in live person to an old Edgar Allen Poe story.

Kensington Bridge at Night

London By Night
07 Nov 2008

Even before the age of terrorism and fear we seem to live in, any activity at night draws undue attention. After more than 25 years in amateur astronomy, using my telescope at night still draws stares. Photography at night is also a hard thing to do, the few photos I took this past month drew attention from people whenever I stopped to take a long time exposure.

York Street Bridge

A view looking south from the King Street foot bridge.

Two More from the Forks

If you look closely, you can see where construction of the fountain at the forks is taking place.

The Brunswick Hotel by Night

The story is still not complete, and I shall wait until all is said and done before I post my experience, but in the meantime a view at night. Of all the buildings we have lost in the past few years, for some reason, this one haunts me the most.

When I was up north in the bush 30 years ago, I saw a live animal, near death, in a leg hold trap. Seeing "The Wick" this way brings those memories back like it was just a day ago.

Last of Summer

2008-09-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

Last of Summer

17 September 2008

There have been trails and paths along the Thames River likely since human habitation first started in this area. The issue is that paths right along side the river change their shape, even on a daily basis. A short walk last night showed trees down in the water along the river, mostly soft Manitoba Maples, trees that seem to have a shallow root system.

Along the mix of trails are places where wild flowers grow on their own (some people plant & cultivate "wildflowers", so never assume that all wild flowers are "wild" - if that makes sense. :) ), and other areas you find lost remnants of old housing. The houses, even their foundations may be long gone by now, but you can find rhubarb, wild roses, wild grapes and perhaps even the odd, old fruit tree (mostly apple) in wild areas near the river.

Pictures this week are from my Nikon D40, set to B&W mode. That is to say, I did NOT covert colour pictures to B&W, I shot them that way. Obviously still need a yellow filter for the sky.
joe

Wandering Along the Thames River (Ontario)

2008-08-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Wandering Along the Thames River (Ontario)
27 August 2008

For me to understand the past, I need to see the world today as it is, good, bad and indifferent. Your mileage may vary. Part of what I find so interesting in this city is the Thames River, and the variety of plant, wildlife and even just the little hidden spots that exist right in the core area of our city.

The following photographs were taken in the evening hours of late August with my trusty Nikon D40. I haven't shot too much 4x5 this summer with all the rain. I've reduced all images to 150 dpi, however I do occasionally sell or lend a photograph to the odd magazine, and I even have one photo credit for a CD for the group "Born Hammers" - web site being : http://www.bornhammers.com/

So if there is one you want to use, and you need a high resolution version, contact me by e-mail at: joneil AT start DOT ca

The photo above was how I ended one of my trips, a nice sight to come home too. All photographs here are from the downtown core area, from the old Victoria Hospital to the Forks of the Thames.

A homeless encampment near the river. Not uncommon in summer months, and mostly from what i have seen, closer to the core area than farther.

Can you guess where this view is? It's quite majestic in person.

A very common sight this year, more so than in previous years. The large amount of rain & moisture has something to do with it I suspect.

Bunny!! Not uncommon at all, and I have seen many other forms of wildlife. Evening hours near sunset seems to be the best time to catch various animals with the camera.

One of many trails.

Days like this I wish I had some single malt in my water bottle. :)

More trails, primitive & paved.

The plant life is amazing, and I have just shown some of the more obvious examples. See, you don't need to travel many far miles to see some incredible scenery, just look around you.
until later

Why History?

2008-08-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

Why History?
11 August 2008

Perhaps before I wander on too far or too fast, a brief examination of why history is important to me, and should be to all of you.

I really became interested in history when I had to go for medical testing for a genetic disease that is prevalent in my family. In fact, there are THREE genetic diseases and conditions that are passed from parent to child in my family, but lucky me, I have none of those - no I have a FOURTH disease/condition.

I have the exact same illness that killed my great-grandfather, but in my case, it costs $20 a year for me to not only stay alive, but healthy. I was sickly all my life, as a child, teenager, even in my 20s and 30's. Today at age 46 I am healthier now than I was at 26.

The problem was, my condition is extremely rare for children, so years of testing, shots, hospital stays and a few close calls with the Grim Reaper all might have been avoided if we knew then what we know now. A whole life growing up sickly, all that could of been avoided for one line of information and $20 a year.

That's why genealogy & history are important! We are finding more and more genetic links and predispositions to many illnesses and diseases and it is the simplest of things that leads us to the information we vitally need. Who is sick in your family, and why? Are these not answers we shuold all strive to find out, as much as we can?

In my case, I can tell which ancestors in my family likely had my condition simply by the contents of the old garbage pit behind their homes from 100 years ago - all I have to do is look for a certain type of soda bottle.

Imagine if your quality of life, even life itself might be improved and/or saved all by the evidence of a few soda bottles in an old garbage pit in your backyard.

Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, that's what is it all about.

Natural Beauty

2008-07-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

Natural Beauty
26 July 2008

The photograph attached here is a Heron that lives in the Coves area of London. Taken the last week of June, 2008 with my trusty Nikon D40 and a 30 year old manual focus 300mm lens.

The natural beauty of the different forest areas of this city are simply incredible. When those of us who want to save areas for future generations, this is exactly the sort of thing we are talking about.

Two days after I photographed the heron, I took my two children for a walk along the trail in the Coves, and we saw the Heron again. Or perhaps it was a different one, for I am told more than one heron lives there, but i have not seen this myself (so far)

Chi-miigwech to the UWO map library

2008-07-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

Chi-miigwech to the UWO map library

26 July 2008

One of the most fantastic resources for researching our local history on line can be found here:

http://geography.uwo.ca/maplibrary/fips.htm

My Apologies if I did not do the link correctly, i am still trying to figure this blog thing out. You may have to do a edit-copy, edit-paste into your web browser.

This is the Serge A. Sauer Map Library Fire Insurance plans for the city of London, years of 1907 and 1915. There are many more maps for many more you can view yourself at the archives at UWO, but to have even these two on-line is an incredible resource to have.

Insurance maps, once you learn what the legend and colours mean, can show you a lot. For example the house i live in was built in 1871, but is has soft, terrible brick. Usually London white brick (or what we all call yellow brick) is very hard and sturdy, unless damaged by sandblasting (and there is a lot of that in this city).

Since all the other houses in this area have or had good brick, this was something of a mystery to me. Looking at the old fire insurance maps, I saw that my house when first built was all wood frame construction, and sometime around 1890 it was covered in brick.

The fire maps from various period, when read in sequential order, show this progression,a nd eventually my house was listed as all brick, instead of wood with brick siding. However, my guess is that the person who sided the house used cheaper "slush" brick, a second grade brick not fired as hard or long (requires less fuel that way, and ergo, less money to make). Usually "slush" brick was used on interior walls, but my guess is somebody got a deal on the stuff, and thus, the soft brick on my house as compared to others in the area.

This is just one small example of the kind of thing you can investigate through these maps

joe

Sewers and the Old Hospital

2008-07-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

Sewers and the Old Hospital

24th July 2008
Part Three

Sometimes these stories write themselves. Also, you may not want to read this post while eating. :)

The London Asylum for the Insane started operations in the autumn of 1870, and according to Dr. Bucke started with 457 patients. Right from the start handling of sewage was an issue, as the nearby creek they dumped everything into would dry up in the summer, and the sewage would of course in the summer heat, just sit there and cause problems. Quoting directly form Dr. Bucke:

“Complaints and threatened prosecution were met by the establishment of a charcoal and gravel filter at the lowest point of the asylum land.”

I suspect one has to be pretty angry to want to sue an asylum in the 1870s, so the problem was likely as bad as we can imagine it to be. Today litigation is much more common place than it was in the past, and it was an action of very serious nature to undertake in those days.

Now some more direct quotes from Dr. Bucke, with a few comments from my peanut gallery:

“The population of London Asylum is in round numbers 1000 patients and 200 sane people.”

I suspect many of you will want to comment at this point, saying something to the effect “Yeah, sounds just like my workplace too.” But be nice. :)

“The quantity of sewage made in a day averages about 75,000 gallons.”

This figure is quite interesting as it indirectly gives us insight into just how much water was used on a daily basis per person. First you must know that this water includes everything from washing dishes and floors to laundry to toilets and sinks. The figure works out ot roughly 62.5 imperial gallons per person per day, or roughly 284 litres per person per day.

Now some modern day statistics. If you go here:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/images/manage/effic/a6f7e.htm

Which is the Environment Canada fresh water website, this chart will show you the “average” breakdown in percentage for use of water in Canadian households. For those of you who don’t want to click on the link, the break down is:
35% - Showers & Baths
30% - Toilets
20% - Laundry
10% - Kitchen and drinking water
5% - Cleaning

Sarcasm Mode = ON:
I suspect if you have one of those “low flush” or low water use toilets like I do in my house, that 30% figure for toilet use is likely more akin to 40 or 50%. Anything other than liquid waste always seems to take multiple flushes to send away. Complaints to various quarters of society about this issue or are almost always met with either denial or apologetics of some form, as any critical assement, direct or inferred, to the new secular religion of environmentalism is never completely acceptable in Canadian society as a general rule. Even the principal of freedom of speech seems to hit a glass fence in this regard.

The only exceptions to this rule I personally encounter, that is to say people who agree with my dismal appraisal of the situation, are those who wish to sell me a new toilet.
Sarcasm Mode = OFF

If you are into statistics, the average household water use per person, per day, in London, Ontario in 1999, according to the National Atlas of Canada was 172 litres of water per day. So roughly 100 litres of water per day less than what is being used in the 1870s.

However this is an apples vs oranges comparison, as we are looking at home use vs institutional use. Also we have to factor in today’s world, we wash our cars at car washes away form home, we eat out more often, so water used in food preparation and washing dishes takes place away from home, and so forth. Our true personal water use can be hard to track down. Still we can gain some insight, or at least some “feeling” as compared to today into just how much water & sewage use was generated roughly some 130 years ago.

“It requires two and a half hours each day to throw this on to the field, and within from half an hour to six hours (according to the season of the year and the moisture or dryness of the earth), after it is thrown into the trenches, it has been absorbed by the soil. It is never seen again by us; doubtless it reappears at the surface somewhere as pure spring water.”

The first time I read this article I happened to go to the grocery store later that evening. Walking along the isles I came across rows of bottled “Pure Spring water” of various brands and sizes. Although attitudes, testing and health standards are well above what they were 130 years ago, (at least I hope so), still on some levels I find my mind wandering into many strange and dark places, but out of polite restraint I shall not post those thoughts here.

Now we come to the point of this article, the punch line, the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment” as I once heard on a television show. (If you are not sure what that term means, Google it, but be aware you may encounter some profanity).

Another quote from Dr. Bucke:

“But seven or eight years ago the temptation to experiment with the field as a garden took possession of us.”

Yes, you read correctly, they started a garden, a very large garden. More from Dr. Bucke:

“For six years now we have cultivated this field to its full capacity with the result that we grow upon it year by year crops of fruit and vegetables to the value of over $200 per acre. So that over and above the disposal of our sewage in a cheap and cleanly manner the sewage itself is so used as to bring us in several hundred dollars a year more than the field in its original condition could possibly (without the sewage) be made to produce.”

A bit of analysis here. “Seven hundred dollars” is how much? I don’t know, but less than a thousand, and perhaps more than five hundred? At $200 per acre then we have a field of around three acres, or assuming roughly one hectare (1 hectare = 2.47105381 acre). I cannot say, only speculate at this point.

Dr. Bucke goes on to describe the crops grown:

“The crops we have grown upon the sewage field in the last six years have been as follows: Water and musk melons, squash, pumpkins, celery, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, radishes, chillies, lettuce, beans, cabbage, beets, carrots, corn, onions, turnips, salsify, sea-kale, asparagus, parsnips, strawberries. “

It’s what you don’t read that makes me think For example, a recent news story about salmonella poisoning from either tomatoes or peppers made me wonder back 130 years ago, how well did they wash their produce before consuming it? Also who did the weeding in the field and when was it done, just before or after they spread the sewage? Did the people who picked the crops get to wear rubber boots at least?

“Every one of the crops grown on the sewage field has done well. One of our most successful crops is melons, both musk and water, which we grow there every year. The yield is immense and we have grown better melons on this field than I have ever eaten grown elsewhere.”

This last line is important as it is the only written indication of where the crops went. If Dr. Bucke himself is eating (or claiming to eat) these fruits, then the main use was internal consumption inside the asylum. In the movie “Beautiful Dreamers” (IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101413/ ) , which is supposed to be based on the real history when the poet Walt Whitman visited Dr. Bucke up here in London, there is one scene where Walt Whitman is eating asparagus and butter. I guess anything tastes good in butter. :)

“We have had immense crops also of cabbage and celery and the quality of the crops has been much above the average.”

Once upon a time in this city, and in some ways, not too long ago, people used to dump everything down the drain, and I mean anything you could think of. Finished cleaning your paint brushes in turpentine or varsol, dump it down the drain. Have some left over paint, maybe some old lead based paint - dump it down the drain. As a child I saw a man change the oil in his car and dump the old oil down the street sewer. Another time I saw another man do the same thing, but this time down the drain of his old laundry tube.

For historical accuracy, at this point in time, there was not a distinction between sanitary and storm sewers. Storm sewers collect rain water from street gutters and send the water out to the Thames River, whereas sanitary sewers collect water from toilets and sinks, and send that waste out ot places like the Greenway Treatment Centre before discharge back into the river. Before this happened, all sewers were just one large collector, out to the river.

My mother recalls growing up as in Meaford, Ontario where a woolen mill would dump it’s used dye in the river after use. For a short time, the entire river would be all green or all red or some other colour. I do not know when the distinction between the two started, but I do know that even in my neighbourhood in the core area that it was sometimes into the 1870 or early 1980's before new sewers replaced and split into two the old sewer system.

Also during this time period in the 1870s, 80 and even 90s, treatments for certain diseases were very crude by today’s standards. For example the treatment for some “social diseases” was to mix a small amount of mercury with a shot of whiskey. The mercury being a poison would kill off the bacteria in some cases, but the long term effects on the patient were likely not the best. Unused medicines, if any, would of been tossed down the drain too in this time period, but people were more frugal then and I suspect there would of been very few unused medicines. That is, until in some cases, something better came along and made the old cure obsolete, at which point the whole bottle of the “old stuff” would be tossed out.

The item that could of been tossed down the drain is the one that troubles me the most. I know for certain (and how I know is another very long story for another day) that right up into the early 1960s’, at least one hospital in the city was sending it’s liquid and soft surgical waste down the sewer system. “Hard” surgical waste such as an amputation would, from what little I can find out, be either buried or incinerated, but this was only in some and not all cases.

Did this type of disposal take place out at Dr. Bucke’s hospital? Not only do I think so, I personally believe the exact same thing happened at all hospitals all across Ontario if not Canada. Again how I know this is a subject for another day.

Many people even today remember both the old gardens and the old orchards out at the Psychiatric hospital. Anybody I have (so far ) talked to about this story and remembers the gardens had no idea of the sewage being used, and when you consider what possibly could of been sent down the drain in that time period, you see old historical facts in a whole new light.

At this point I will wander off into the area of pure speculation. I remember a phrase I often heard during childhood, as many of you might of as well:

“You eat your vegetables young man, every last one!”
If only I knew then what I know now....
:)

have a good one

joe

PS - there are many more stories to be told about the old hospital, and I hope to do so some day....

Off on a Tangent

2008-07-23T13:38:00.001-07:00

Off on a Tangent
23 July 2008

Some days you are bogged down in work or other duties, some days the muse just isn’t with you, and some days events arise that take your notice elsewhere. I will be continuing with part 3 of Sewers & Psych hospitals, but two recent events that merit brief notice.

First news item, yesterday (22nd July) what were described as “ancient” human bones were discovered at Maitland Street, just north off the CPR rail road tracks. The current CPR line runs either on top of or beside the old English Creek in this specific area. I am on record as speculating about a lost Neutral Indian village I once heard about in this area. Regardless of wether my guess proves right or wrong, the story is a long one, and deserves it a better treatment than I can give at this moment.

The second item was the take down and seizure of the Hell’s Angels (or is it Hells Angel’s?) Clubhouse just north off Brydges Street. The fact that this clubhouse was not only around the corner from the old Outlaw’s clubhouse (Egerton Street, just south of Florence), and that it was just across the street a bit to the east of the London Police automobile reporting centre always made me think it was there in that location for a purpose. Can I prove this? No. I suspect the reason for where it was had something to do with an “in your face” attitude, but again, nothing I can prove.

What specifically grabs my attention is the issue of graffiti. Recently there were well publicized arrests of young men whom the police think responsible for much of the graffiti in the city. Now much of the graffiti in this city is gawd awful horrible, unoriginal and just plain sad. There are some exceptions, and the photograph in the post “graffiti” just before this one shows one of the few examples of what I think is incredible street art. I took this photograph in April of 2008, and last I looked, it was still there, down near the south branch of the Thames River. If all graffiti were of this calibre, I wonder if there would be such opposition to it as we see now. Sadly, most graffiti is usually ugly, or incredibly dangerous. Just look at my two smokestack pictures as one such example.

The City does paint over graffiti seen under bridges and on blank walls with white or grey paint, only I have seen, with my own experience, new graffiti painted over top, sometimes in less than a 48 hour period. Perhaps the comment made today by modern day graffiti is not so much an underground exploration of the state of our affairs (which I think our robotic man does so well), but is just another “in your face” statement.

Whatever the purpose, my main point is this - despite seeing graffiti all over the city, in sometimes the oddest and most difficult locations, since it’s closure in 2002 after a Police raid, the former Outlaws clubhouse had remained remarkably free of any graffiti whatsoever. Some may argue by pointing out that the words “Welcome home” were spray painted on one wall a couple years ago, but this event happened the day one of the Outlaws arrested at the time of this raid and similar raids across the Province was released from jail. So this is not so much graffiti as a message I think.

So obviously even graffiti “artists” have their “danger limit.” It is also interesting to note that nobody else from any quarter of society has made much fuss about the graffiti free zone that exists on this dilapidated building. Perhaps the solution the Outlaws have come to in dealing with graffiti is not quite acceptable to the rest of society, so everyone just ignores the fact.

For myself, I’ll be keeping an eye on the now defunct Hell’s Angels clubhouse, to see how long graffiti stays off there.

Sometimes when dealing with history, it’s not the major earth shaking events that defines who and what we are as a people and a culture, but the little idiosyncracies that nobody ever wants to talk about.
:)

graffiti

2008-07-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

Sewers are Neat!

2008-07-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Sewers are Neat!
Part Two
19 July 2008

Some of the most fascinating engineering you will ever see in any city, modern or ancient, are it’s waterworks. How fresh water comes in and “waste” water goes out to be treated (or disposed off ) is one of the greatest untold stories of the development of any civilization. Those of you who think I am over stating the case, try living without a modern waterworks system for even a day.

There are others too who take various situations not only in stride, but to advantage. This is a true story, the man told here about being dead some years now. A local plumber and a good Irishman (which, being of the clan O’Neil myself, I feel qualified to make comment on), specialized in cleaning out backed up sewers. It is my understanding that the man had either a very poor sense of smell, or perhaps none at all, although how he came to this condition I do not know. I knew this man personally, but it is a tale my father relates to me I tell you know.

A small apartment building, perhaps 4-5 floors high above ground, had roughly 4 feet of sewage in the basement and it was filling even higher. With hindsight it was found that at some point one tenant had flushed a disposable diaper down the toilet, and this had clogged the main sewer pipe out of the building, causing the backup. People in the building, either in ignorance or the event, or perhaps in spite of it, continued to use sinks and toilets, so the result was, well, how does one describe the situation in polite terms.

The plumber, or the “Turd Man” as some called him, not without some affection, was wearing high waders, not unlike what you see some fisherman in rivers & streams wearing, and he was wading slowly though the foulness with a large smile on his face. My father said he looked up at him, and with one of the biggest grins he ever saw on any man at any time, said to my dad:

“Gold, gold, gold! People think this is terrible stuff, but to me it’s pure gold, and you know what?” The plumber pointed a finger up to the apartments above. “They’re going to pay me pure gold to clean it up and take it out of here too!”

If you are Irish or of Irish decent, odds are you are laughing very hard. The rest of you are likely wondering what the point is. Knowing first hand that the Irish have the finest sense of humour ever seen on God’s good Earth, I feel sorry for the rest of you. :)

The other point I want to raise before I move on is at one point, and perhaps even today, our city has some of the largest sewer rats any municipality in Canada or perhaps even in the world has ever seen. I am not sure if the term “sewer rat” has any scientific merit on it’s own, but I use it in the context of a rat that spends it’s lifetime in a sewer, regardless if it has any physical charateristics different from it other rats.

The specific reason for this is twofold. First, many if not all of the downtown restaurants used to flush plate scrapings down the drain. Not all food went this way, as there are many, many stories of people who would save larger, untouched portions and feed the homeless this way, although it is my understanding that modern health rules and regulations have put a stop to this practice many years ago. However the scrapings down the drain were recycled by the resident rat population.

Now the second part is the interesting one. Many buildings in downtown London were, and still are to this day, heated by steam. A central heating plant, which once stood at Queen’s avenue near Talbot St., operating under the name “Cities Heating” at one point, supplied steam heat to many large and small businesses in the core of London by underground steam pipes. Today the same steam heat comes form the plant at Colborne Street, west side, just south of the train tracks. But the point is, these underground steam pipes had the effect, unintentional of course, of keeping many underground sewers warm and cozy for our rats, even through the harshest winters. Now you know why they tended to stay underground. Although sometimes prone to exaggeration, such as telling a big fish tale, I still heard enough stories about rats and the sewers underground from various city workers over the years to give a healthy does of respect to those who travel through the hidden tunnels of our city, keeping everything free and clear.

End of part two, part three I’ll get to the point of the story. :)
later

You Couldn’t Make These Things Up

2008-07-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

You Couldn’t Make These Things Up
18 July 2008

Part One

I often think people cling to conspiracies, stories of aliens, and other such “paranormal matters” because real history is sometimes to hard to handle. One does not need to sink to the depths of wartime atrocities, for these events, as horrible as they are, seem far and distant to the average person on the street today. It is the everyday events, ones we can relate too regardless if we want to or not, that get under our collective skin.

Case in point, and article written in the 1870's by Dr. R. M. Bucke, Superintendent, entitled:

“A SHORT HISTORY OF SEWAGE DISPOSAL AT THE ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE, LONDON, ONTARIO”

Today what we call the London Psychiatric Hospital, which is just off Highbury Avenue, east side, just north off Dundas Street, was in the past called the Asylum for the Insane when it first opened circa 1870, and continued with that name for many years, until sometime in the 1960's, but I stand to be corrected on the exact date.

Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke is an interesting man. I do not always like referring to Wikipedia, as I myself have found errors in facts amoung it’s pages, but still, as a starting reference, it serves it purpose:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Maurice_Bucke

History notes him for his humane treatment of patients at the Insane Asylum, and there is even a movie called “Beautiful Dreamers” made about the authour Walt Whitman visiting his friend Dr. Bucke at London. Dr. Bucke also wrote a book called “Cosmic Consciousness” , which is still in print today, and considered one of the leading books on Spiritualism. Personally one’s choice of faith is their own affair, but I do wonder about other aspects of the old Asylum.

There was a study or paper written in 1980 titled “Gynecological Operations on the Insane” that covers the operations that took place on “insane women at the London, Ontario, Asylum.” These operations took place while Dr. Bucke was Superintendent, and this topic alone is worth a whole story by itself. There are *many* stories about this place that someday should be told.

Before I jump back into the sewage, one more diversion off tangent. I have a great personal interest in this place, for you see, my grandmother was born there just before World War One. My great-grandmother, whom it appeared suffered what we term today severe pre-natal depression, ended up in the Asylum to give birth not only to my grandmother, but to some of here siblings as well. What is considered humane 100 years ago as compared to today are worlds apart. One last word on the subject, if any of you are “offended” by the terminology used here, bear in mind not only am I being historically accurate, but I am NOT offended myself. It’s MY family we are talking about, and if I’m not hurt, why should you be? If anything I think we all are too easily “offended” anymore at anything or everything. Editorial Mode = OFF. :)

Part Two will continue as time permits, hopefully soon.... :)

Spelling

2008-07-17T05:40:00.001-07:00

Just for the record, yes, my spelling is terrible. I have a form of dyslexia, which I don't think is quite dyslexia, but I haven't found a better definition for it yet. Ties into the speech impediment i had as a child, and today, i still have the occasion flutter and stutter.

Also, I am Canadian, so words such as "Theatre" and "Honour" ARE spelled correctly. I also use terms like "Loonie" and say "Zed" instead of "zee" when referring to the letter Z. Deal with it.
:)

joe

Re-writting history

2008-07-17T05:36:00.000-07:00

Re-writing History
17 July 2008

Page 16 of the book “The History of the County of Middlesex”, Chapter II, the first line reads:

“The Indian, being without a literature, knows nothing of his origin.”

There are so many things wrong with that statement, I don’t even know where to begin.

As a child growing up in London, what little local history I was taught, all came from the perspective of John Graves Simcoe landing at the Forks of the Thames river in 1793, and from that point on, “history begins.”

Ahem.

In 1789, Lord Edward Fitzgerald and black explorer Tony Small stood at the forks of the Thames River, although at this time it was still called “La Tranchee” by the French. What I find amazing is Lord Fitzgerald is writing letters home to Europe from Fort Erie and Detroit at this time, and you can buy a book even today that reprints his correspondence. There is a lost campsite I would love to locate, somewhere along present day Hamilton Road, out near Putnam, but that’s a story for another day.

But the point is, there is enough people and infrastructure in place four years before Simcoe stands at the Forks to send mail home to Europe. It would be very slow, and very costly, but you could still do it.

The pre-British history of London is, in my opinion, very poorly understood. Part of that is due to British attitudes themselves. The Anishnaabe of our area (or Ojibwa, Chippewa as they are called in English) do have an oral history and someday I’ll get into that, but his whole area, but British attitudes were quite literally, that these people were “savages” and their own history and culture was unimportant. One of my ancestors was raised as a child by the Annishnaabe on Walpole Island almost 200 years ago, and I’ve grown to appreciate the culture and the language. I find Ojibwe/Ojibway difficult to learn, but also relaxing, and I find great insight into the culture and history by learning the language, but more about that some other day too.

Not just London, but the whole of south-western Ontario from the Grand River to Detroit is amazing in it’s past, and one of the things I hope to do over time is open eyes to that history.

One last bit of “re-writing” history is the question, what is the oldest part of London? It may appear that the Forks of the Thames takes that honour, but not so. We are not 100% sure, but as an educated guess, the River Bend area of the western edge of the city, where the Oxford Street bridge crosses the river, is quite possibly the oldest known area of European settlement inside current city limits. It is also very old in terms of native settlement too. Many of the first spots early European settles choose were next too early native settlements. That’s another long story too.

There are some spots along both Commissioners’s Road and Hamilton Road that are also very old, and either pre-date the War of 1812 or are at least as old as 1812. These include, but are not limited too the Brick Street Cemetery on Commissioners’s Road, the Bostwick Cemetery on Hamilton Road, and the area of Hamilton Road near Pottersburg Creek and the whole Meadowlilly area.

It is not well known in our area that parts of Hamilton & Commissioners’s Roads are hundreds of years old. Jesuit records from circa 1640 indicate that the “Neutral Indians” ( a name I disagree with, but again, another long story) launched a war party of over two thousand warriors down to the “Fire Nation” (modern day Michigan) from this area. So we know the road or trail as it existed at this time was of some substance, otherwise, you don’t move that many men too easily.

We can only speculate that not only have parts of Hamilton & Commissioners’s Roads existed since the French records of 1640, but are even much older that. How old? I don’t know. A thousand years maybe? Perhaps, and perhaps even older. There is one pre-historic archaeological site just south of the city, but north of lake Erie that is estimated to be in excess of 8,000 years old. Some other sites are estimated to be closer to 10,000 years old. Yes, older than the Pyramids or Stonehenge.

It’s facts like this, that makes me wonder, just how old is Commissioners’s Road?

Have a good one
joe

Starting Out

2008-07-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

16 July 2008

Before Chris Doty died, his website "Doty Docs" (sadly no longer on-line) was, at least in my opinion, the best history website you could find for London, Ontario. It will be a long, long time before I ever catch up to him. Still, we need something.

So what can you the reader expect here? First, infrequent posts. If you want regularity, eat more fibre in your diet. Second, a terrible sense of humour that if all goes well, will at some point offend at least everybody once. One need not fall to the use of profanity or insults to gain this effect, the simple quest for truth is good enough.

Topics I would like to touch on, in no particular order are:

Pre-history of our area - we have some archaeological sites estimated to be in the area of 10,000 year old, but you seldom hear of this;

The Civil War - did you know that according to a 1949 London Free Press article, a historian at that time speculated my city was the start of the American Civil War. Not as far fetched as it sounds.

Ghosts - I don't much believe in them, but I love ghost stories. People will give you details to history in fables and myth than sometimes in "real" history.

Baseball - did you know we are one of the most important cites in all North America for the formation of modern day baseball?

More to come. If you have any comments, criticisms, etc, send them my way
joe