GEORGE H. HAM.
(From a recent photograph)
REMINISCENCES
OF A
RACONTEUR
Between the ’40s and the ’20s
BY
GEORGE H. HAM
Author of “The New West” and “The Flitting of the Gods”
TORONTO
THE MUSSON BOOK COMPANY
LIMITED
Copyright, Canada, 1921
THE MUSSON BOOK CO., LIMITED
PUBLISHERS TORONTO
MUSSON
ALL CANADIAN PRODUCTION
To
RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD SHAUGHNESSY, K.C.V.O.,
of Montreal, Canada, and of Ashford, County
Limerick, Ireland,
This book is respectfully dedicated
in grateful remembrance of many
kindnesses in the vanishing past.
CONTENTS
| [I.] | Seventy Years Ago—My Early Days in Kingston and Whitby—Boyhood Friends—Unspared Rods—Better Spellers Then than Now—A Cub Reporter—Other Jobs I Didn’t Fill—Failure to Become a Merchant Prince—Put Off a First Train |
| [II.] | A Momentous Election—Meeting Archie McKellar—Go on the Turf—A Sailor Bold—A Close Shave—Stories of Pets—An Exaggerated Report—Following Horace Greeley’s Advice—And Grow Up with the Country |
| [III.] | Winnipeg a City of Live Wires—Three Outstanding Figures—Rivalry Between Donald A. and Dr. Schultz— Early Political Leaders—When Winnipeg was Putting on its First Pants—Pioneer Hotels—The Trials of a Reporter—Not Exactly an Angelic City—The First Iron Horse—Opening of the Pembina Branch—Profanity by Proxy—The Republic of Manitoba—The Plot to Secede |
| [IV.] | The Big Winnipeg Boom—Winnipeg the Wicked—A Few Celebrated Cases—Some Prominent Old-Timers—The Inside Story of a Telegraph Deal—When Trouble Arose and Other Incidents |
| [V.] | The Boys are Marching—The Trent Affair—The Fenian Raid—The Riel Rebellion—A Dangerous Mission—Lost on the Trail—The First and Last Naval Engagement on the Saskatchewan—Rescue of the Maclean Family—A Church Parade in the Wilderness—Indian Signals |
| [VI.] | Governors-General I Have Met—Dufferins and the Icelanders—The Marquis of Lorne and Wee Jock McGregor—Unpleasantness at Rat Portage—Kindness of Princess Louise—Lord Landsdowne at the Opening of the Galt Railway “My” Excellent Newspaper Report—Talking to Aberdeen—Minto, the Great Horseman—Earl Grey a Great Social Entertainer—The Grand Old Duke and Princess Pat—The Duke of Devonshire |
| [VII.] | The Hudson’s Bay Company—A Tribute to its Officers—Intrepid Scotch Voyageurs—Daily Papers a Year Old—Royal Hospitality of the Factors—Lord Strathcona’s Foundation for His Immense Fortune—The First Cat in the Rockies—Indian Humor and Imagery |
| [VIII.] | Around the Banqueting Board—My First Speech—At the Ottawa Press Gallery Dinners—A Race With Hon. Frank Oliver—A Homelike Family Gathering—A Scotch Banquet—Banquets in Winnipeg—Bouquets and Brickbats—The Mayor of New York and the Queen of Belgium |
| [IX.] | In the Land of Mystery—Planchette and Ouija—Necromancers and Hypnotists and Fortune Tellers—Adventures in the Occult—A Spirit Medium—Mental Telepathy—Fortune Telling by Tea Cups and Cards—Living in a Haunted House |
| [X.] | Mark Twain, the Great Humorist—A Delightful Speaker—A Chicago Cub Reporter’s Experience—The Celebrated Cronin Case—W. T. Stead and Hinky Dink—When the Former Wrote “If Christ Came to Chicago” |
| [XI.] | The Canadian Women’s Press Club—How It Originated—With “Kit” of the Toronto Mail at St. Louis and Elsewhere—The Lamented “Francoise” Barry—Successful Triennial Gatherings—The Girls Visit Different Paris of Canada—Threatened Invasion of the Pacific Coast |
| [XII.] | When Toronto Was Young—The Local Newspapers—The Markham Gang—Some Chief Magistrates of the City—Ned Farrer, the Great Journalist—Theatrical Recollections—Old-Time Bonifaces—And Old-Time Friends.—Toronto’s Pride |
| [XIII.] | Scarlet and Gold—The Rough Riders of the Plains—The Fourth Semi-Military Force in the World—Its Wonderful Work in the Park—Why the Scarlet Tunic Was Chosen—Some Curious Indian Names—Primitive Western Justice |
| [XIV.] | In the Hospital—Averting a Shock—A Substantial Breakfast—A Gloomy Afternoon—Down in Washington—The Gridiron Dinners—A Spanish-American War Panic—A Few Stories—Canadian Club |
| [XV.] | Christmas and Its Cheer—Will Sell Anything for Gin But Children’s Christmas Stockings—Santa Claus No Myth—Dreary Christmas—Mr. Perkins’ Cutter—A Lively Christmas Gathering—Tiny Tim’s Blessing |
| [XVI.] | The Miracle Man of Montreal—Brother Andre Whose Great Work Has Done Great Good—A Youth With a Strange Power—Authentic Accounts of Some of the Miracles—All Faiths Benefited by Him |
| [XVII.] | Political Life in Canada—Its Tragedies and Its Pleasantries—The Great Outstanding Figures of the Past—The Social Side of Parliament—Mixed Metaphors and People Who Were Not Good Mixers—A Second Warwick—The Wrong Hat—And Other Incidents |
| [XVIII.] | The Great Northern Giant—The Early Days of the C.P.R. and its Big Promoters—Where the Aristocracy of Brains Ruled—A Huge Undertaking and a Broad Policy—A Conspicuously Canadian Enterprise—Something About the Men Who Ruled—My Fidus Achates—Captains Courageous—The Active Men of To-Day—And Interesting Facts About the C.P.R. |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
[George H. Ham (From a recent photograph)]
[Some Early Photographs of George H. Ham]
[The New and the Old C.P.R. Stations in Winnipeg]
[How Our Early Settlers Arrived in Winnipeg]
[The Duke and Duchess of Connaught with Princess Patricia]
[The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and Daughters the Ladies Cavendish]
[Lord Minto at His Lodge, Kootenay ]
[Some Early Trading Posts of the Hudson’s Bay Company]
[Waterfront, Toronto, Eighty Years Ago]
[Fish-Market, Toronto, Eighty Years Ago]
[Winter Uniforms of R.N.W.M.P.]
[Souvenir of the Driving of the Last Spike on the C.P.R.]
[The First Locomotive in Toronto]