Item
Pilot
Jan 3/1889
First picture of Algonquin. Desc. of hotel amenities.
and below.
We present to the subscribers and readers of the Bay Pilot, on this our 1st issue of the year 1889, an engraving of the Algonquin Hotel, now in process of construction in this town, which will be admitted by all to be a sightly structure. The name Algonquin is taken from that of the tribe of American Indians, who in the days of Columbus, and for hundreds of years before his time, were the owners of the land and roamed through the forest primeval in quest of game, and caught in the ever beautiful Passamaquoddy bay fish, with which then as now its waters abounded.
The Algonquin was designed by Reed [sic] and Taylor, Architects, of Boston, Mass., U. S., upon the most approved methods of construction; it will be replete with every convenience and luxury now demanded by the summer tourists. It is located on the highest point in the town plot, at the northwest end of the ridge on the western slope of which the town is built, and in the immediate vicinity of Fort Tipperary, and is one hundred and fifty feet above high water. From its piazzas, three hundred and forty feet long by fourteen wide, and its windows, is had a magnificent view of Chamcook Mountain, St. Croix River, Passamaquoddy Bay, the Bay of Fundy, and the group of islands known as the West Isles, which divide the waters of the two bays, outside of which looms up Grand Manan [sic] and the Wolves. Immediately in the foreground nestles the dear old town of St. Andrews, embowered in leaf and flower, while the view from the windows and piazzas is surpassingly fine, that from the tower will be grand, embracing an area of at least 20 miles on every hand by land, and seaward bounded only by the horizon.
The drainage from the Algonquin will be by carefully constructed sewers with a descent of 7 ½ percent directly into the sea 2000 feet distant.
The house will be provided with an elevator, salt and freshwater baths, a laundry and other modern requisites, together with a spacious dining room, parlors, reception, waiting and billiard rooms, etc.
The Algonquin is intended to be a hotel of the very highest class, basing its claims upon its equipment and management. Mr. F. A. Jones, the well-known and popular proprietor of the Hotel Dufferin, in St. John, will have the management of the Algonquin, he being the lessee. This in itself is a guarantee of success, for everyone who knows Mr. Jones knows that he is well qualified for the position.
LIST OF THE STOCKHOLDERS IN THE ALGONQUIN, PUBLISHED IN THE ROYAL GAZETTE
The capital stock is $50,000, in five hundred shares of $100 each. Already $80,000 has been subscribed by the people of New Brunswick, Maine and Massachusetts. Messrs. W. A. Murchie, of Calais, Robert S. Gardiner, of Newton, Mass., and Eugene F. Fay, of Brookline, Mass., are named as provisional directors. The incorporators are: William D. Forster, William E. Mallory, George D. Grimmer, Leonard B. Knight, Herbert Street, M. N. Cockburn, J. Russell Bradford, James Scallan, G. Herbert Lamb, James Cummings, F. Howard Grimmer, J. D. Grimmer, Michael McMonagle, St Andrews.
William A. Murchie, Albert H. Sawyer, E. B. Todd, Calais. Eugene F. Fay, Roscoe A. Cobb, Daniel B. Claflin, J. Emory Hoar, Brookline, Mass. Robert S. Gardiner, DWS Bell, Newton, Mass. Abraham Avery, George L. Connor, Boston, Mass. Charles F. Lord, C. F. Bragg, Bangor, Maine. J. B. Coyle, F. E. Boothby, Portland, Maine. F. B. Noyes, Stonington, Con.,
G. B. Dunn, H. T. Frisbie, Walter Mansure, Aubrey M. Smith, Charles P. Allen, James Phair, Houlton and Presque Isle, Maine.
Fred A. Jones, Jas Manchester, Morris Robinson, T. Barclay R Robinson, James Robertson, William Greig, John Kerr, E. Fisher, J. C. Robertson, J. F. Dookrill, W. H. Thorne, J. R. Stone, J. S. Harding, Thomas McAvity, George Robertson, William Wheeler, George, W. Ketchum, Robert, T. Clinch, J. D. Shafford, Louis Green, Charles Campbell, Thomas Clarke, St. John. M. J. Hogan, Fred P. Thomson, A. F. Randolph, Thomas Temple, W. T. Whitehead, John A. Edwards, Fredericton. Frederick M. Murchie, John, D. Bonners, W. C. H. Grimmer, Charles H. Clarke, John D. Chipman, Julius T. Whitlock, Henry E. Hill, Frank Todd, Henry F. Todd, William F. Todd, St. Stephen.
Jabez B. Snowball, Chatham, New Brunswick. A. Markham, Markhamville. Fred. H. Hals, Woodstock. William Douglass, Moore's Mills. George T. Baskin, McAdam.
Pilot
Jan 10/1889
Refuse to Accept the Cut
To cut down the pay of workmen is usually the most unpleasant duty which a manger of any concern is called upon to perform. Last year, Mr. Cram, the general manager of the N. B. R., proposed a reduction of 10 percent in the pay of the employees, to extend for two months. All the employees acceded to the manager's request, and as a result only the extra hands were relieved from duty. A similar request was sent out this year, but it is understood that the drivers and firemen refused to submit to any "cut" in their wages. The reduction will be made in all other departments of the service, as the employees have agreed that it shall be made. As a result of the unwillingness on the part of the drivers and firemen to the 10 percent reduction, a number of trains have been cancelled in order to provide for the necessary curtailment in the running expenses during the next two months—Daily Telegraph [doesn't Cram quit over a pay cut later on?]
Work on the Algonquin is going with a rush. Should the weather prove favourable the roof will be covered this week. The rooms are all studded and, in a few days, will be lathed ready for plastering.
Windows and door frames at Algonquin being put in. Also wires for electric bells.
Pilot
Jan 31/1889
Bill authorizing sale of part of Eastern commons to Land Co. and below.
Land Co. have sold several building lots at Point.
Contract for linen carpets has been awarded to Manchester, Robertson and Allison of Saint John. That for eighty sets bedroom furniture, to Lordly and Co. For piping to Doody, for plumbing to Blake, kitchen furnishing etc. to Emerson and Fisher, all of Saint John.
Mr. Taylor, of Taylor and Rand, Boston architects of the Algonquin, is in town, and will remain for a few days looking after the details of the plans.
Mr. Fred A. Jones and Mrs. Jones, of the Hotel Dufferin, Saint John, were also here, looking over the situation. Mr. Jones was making arrangements for the supply of ice, of which a large quantity will be required in the Algonquin. . . . A number of rooms have already been secured by intending visitors, and applications from all quarters are flowing in.
Pilot
Jan 24/1889
11 cars of granite for erecting a breastwork for protection and strengthening railroad at Katy's Cove.
Charlotte County Municipal Council
Therefore Ordered, That in the event of the Legislature of New Brunswick at its next session passing an Act to authorize or require this council, when the said The Algonquin Hotel Company (Limited) has fulfilled and complied with certain conditions in the said Act of the Legislature to be expressed, to order that the said hotel with its appointments, fixtures, furniture and the appurtenances thereof, of a personal nature, shall be exempt from all town and parish rates and taxes, (excepting local district school tax) to which the said property would be otherwise legally liable for a period of ten years next after the date when work upon said hotel may have been begun, that this council, as far as its act may now be or hereafter may be made legal, now order, and direct, that the said The Algonquin Hotel Company (Limited) be exempt from taxation for all town and parish rates (local district school taxes accepted) for a period of ten years from the time when work was begun upon said hotel, with the appointments, fixtures, furniture and the appurtenances thereof of a personal nature."
Pilot
Feb 14, 1889
Alexander Gibson and Sons (Limited)
Notice is given in the Royal Gazette that application is to be made by Alexander Gibson, Alexander Gibson, Jr., James Gibson, John Gibson, John R. McConnell and Charles H. Hatt for letters patent for the incorporation of themselves into a company to be known as "Alexander Gibson and Sons (Limited)." The object for which incorporation is sought are: The manufacturing and dealing in all kinds of lumber, the manufacturing and dealing in cotton and wool and all descriptions of cotton and woollen goods and other such like fabrics, and the manufacturing of bricks, and the erection of works buildings and houses. The place of business of the company is to be at Marysville, and the capital stock $3,000,000 in 30,000 shares of $100 each. The three first named of the applicants are to be provisional directors of the company. The publication of this notice has given rise to considerable speculation in financial circles.
Pilot
Feb 23/1889
From Boston Post:
The syndicate of wealthy capitalists, numbering several well-known Bostonians, who have undertaken the development of St. Andrews, New Brunswick, the pretty little seaport of Passamaquoddy Bay, as a summer resort, have already spent $100,000 in beautifying and improving the place. They have erected a superb hotel, the Algonquin, containing eighty-seven rooms, with every modern convenience, at a cost of $60,000, and placed it in charge of Fred. A. Jones of the Dufferin Hotel, St. John, N. B., a widely known host. A public park has also been laid out at a cost of $15,000, and numerous cottages erected. [not true] The scheme comprehends the laying of water pipes and electric lights in the near future. Climate and scenery being all that could be desired, distance from the New England capital seemed the only possible obstacle to overcome. This has been met as far as practicable by the Boston and Maine, Maine Central and New Brunswick railroads undertaking to run through trains in twelve hours from Boston to St. Andrews, at very low rates, on and after the 1st day of June next. The fine boats on the I. S. S. Co., also offer a pleasant and cheap means of access to this Mecca of summer tourists. Of course, under the forcing power of all this Yankee activity and capital, town lots in the little Shiretown are 'booming.' Eligible building sites are at 300 percent premium over last spring. The inhabitants of the provinces are also rapidly awakening to the possibility of development enjoyed by St. Andrews when it becomes one of the termini of the C. P. R., as it will in June next. The new line from Mattawamkeag Junction to Sherbrooke P. Q., through northern Maine, will be by that time open for traffic, with a schedule of fourteen hours from Montreal to Passamaquoddy Bay. The knowledge of this may have induced Sir Donald Smith, vice-president C. P. R. and Sir Leonard Tilley, Governor of New Brunswick, to invest, as they have, in building lots. This line, as now constructed, is practically the old route as projected before the construction of the Intercolonial railroad but decided against by the British government for military reasons. The traffic of the C. C. R. is sure to suffer heavily by the completion of the new line. A steam yacht is being built to enable visitors to explore the islands of the bay in comfort. There will also be excellent facilities for dancing, lawn tennis and fishing, both for trout and land-locked salmon."
Benjamin Harrison
23rd President of the United States (March 4, 1889 to March 3, 1893
Nicknames: "Kid Gloves Harrison"; "Little Ben"
Born: August 20, 1833, in North Bend, Ohio Died: March 13, 1901, in Indianapolis, Indiana
Pilot
March 21/1889
Pilot Valedictory.
The publication of the Bay Pilot ceases with the number issued today. It is now nearly ten years since the management of the paper devolved upon the present editor, who, although conscious of many shortcomings an errors in judgment, has the satisfaction of knowing, that so far as in his power, he worked for the advancement of the interest of the Town of Saint Andrews, and for the instruction and edification of the subscribers to and readers of the paper, many of whom, especially those living at a distance, he feels assured, will miss its weekly visits. To the subscribers, who from the first, have stood by us, in sunshine and in storm, and who regularly paid their dues, we tender hearty thanks. We hope that those who are indebted to the office, will feel it their bounden duty to pay what they owe. We also tender our best thanks to our contemporaries of the press, with whom we regularly exchanged, and wish them great prosperity.
It may be asked why we retire from the journalistic field. The answer is that we have found the management of the paper, and the cares incident thereto, together with that of our fast increasing dry goods business, were rather more than we could attend to; either one had to be abandoned. We have decided in our own interest, to give up the publication of the newspaper. We are glad to say that the prospects for the town of St. Andrews, never were more encouraging, than at the present time. It behooves the people thereof to exercise wise judgment in dealing with the parties who are investing their capital so liberally, (firstly of course for their own benefit) which must eventually greatly stimulate the prosperity of the town. The residents of the town should so far as they can, cooperate with them, and all attempt at obstruction should be frowned down. Any proposition emanating from the parties referred to, should be carefully considered, and approached in a generous rather than in a carping spirit.
We are pleased to state, that the Bay Pilot will be succeeded by another newspaper, which we have reason to believe, will be a credit to the town and for which we ask the favorable consideration of all our readers. Let all of us throw aside personal and local prejudices and unite in one grand effort for the good of the dear old town of Saint Andrews.
The newspaper to be published in St. Andrews, in succession to the Bay Pilot will be called the St. Andrews Beacon. The publisher, Mr. Robert E. Armstrong, as already intimated by us, has had considerable experience in journalistic work in all its branches. He entered the composing room of the Saint John Evening Globe as an apprentice, and was advanced step by step, finally reaching the position of foreman. He was eventually attached to the reportorial staff, for which he provided himself eminently qualified. The first number of the St. Andrews Beacon, which will for the present, at least be issued weekly only, will be published in either the first or second week in April. The editor of the Bay Pilot, having steered his craft safely through the storms that sometimes beset her, until the "Beacon" is within measurable distance, cheerfully resigns his charge, with best wishes for the prosperity of the new craft.
Also: "The Algonquin Hotel, the engraving of which we republish by request, is fast approaching completion. It is safe to say that no enterprise in this town has ever been so energetically prosecuted as that of the erection of this large and sightly structure, excepting we might say that of the erection of Kennedy's hotel. The outlook from the Algonquin is of the most charming description, presenting a panoramic view of beauty by flood and field, seldom equalled and less frequently excelled. From the eyrie on the tower which is at an elevation of 105 feet from the ground, and 255 feet above high water mark, one sees the town of St. Andrews, lying in all its beauty; the eye takes in the public buildings, churches court house, marine hospital, etc., together with the leaf embowered cottages, dotted here and there within its limits, while immediately adjoining lies . . ."
St. Croix Courier
April 4/1889
Mr. Stevenson, president of the New Brunswick Railway Company, was here on Saturday last for the purpose of selecting a lot upon which to build a summer residence. He is reported to have secured one from the St. Andrews's Land Company near a lot lately purchased from that company by Sir Donald Smith and will proceed to build thereon at once.
L. M. S. Horton, manager of the St. Andrews Land Company has procured two young bears, one of which he named Shinimicas and the other Shulee, in honor of a member of his staff. They were captured by B. F. Estes, the "turnip man," near Watt Junction, and presented by that gentleman to their owner. They will be kept to amuse the guests of the Algonquin during the summer.
[April 8/1889—Eugene Fay to B. R. Stevenson MS3-Z-199: "I enclose to you deed of Robert S. Gardiner to St. Andrews Land Co., of the Hotel lot. As I understand the matter, you have examined the title and made it satisfactory to Mr. Gardiner. If so, it will be only necessary I suppose, for you to place this deed upon record without any further expense. Mr. Gardiner hands us deed David Green to Thomas Hipwell, and Thomas Hipwell to Robert S. Gardiner. Also, William H. Herbert to Robert S. Gardiner. Also, a discharge mortgage, John Erskine to Robert Ker. Also, a deed, Mathilda Street to Robert Ker. These are all the papers in connection with the matter that Mr. Gardiner has, and I presume you have others that you will think desirable to send me in order to make the old deed complete."]
[April 26/1889—Eugene Fay to B. R. Stevenson MS3-Z-237: "I have your favor, re-enclosing to me assignment of lease of Fort Tipperary, from Sir Leonard to the St. Andrews Land Co. Herewith please find enclosed, deed of Mr. R. S. Gardiner, to the St. Andrews Land Co., of Block L, Bulkley's Division, with corrections made as you suggested, and, if now satisfactory to you, will you kindly have it put on record."]
Beacon
May 9/1889
First Algonquin ad, first issue.
This new and magnificent summer resort Hotel will be open for the season of 1889, July 1st.
Electric bells, Passenger Elevator, Lighted by Gas, Telegraph Office, Steam Laundry,
Everything new and first-class
No ref to hay fever nor any in Kennedy ad.
A Useful Summer Society
Now that St. Andrews has blossomed forth as a summer resort, it will interest those who live here permanently as well as those who purpose making this their transient abode in the summer season, to describe a novel feature which has lately been introduced at some of the American watering places with excellent results. One of the most exclusive of these fashionable seaside resorts is Winthrop Beach, where annually scores of the best Boston families retire in the summertime, and enjoy themselves in the usual round of holiday pleasures to be found at such places. Two years ago, a society known as the Winthrop Aphelions was formed there, the objects of which were the improvement and general good of those parts of the town especially patronized by the summer cottagers. The need of such a society, says a Boston paper, was recognized when Winthrop Beach began to be populated, and the initiatory steps of organization immediately aroused the interest of the prominent cottagers. The first reform or improvement was the care of the disposition of the ashes and rubbish, the Aphelions guaranteeing that the necessary money would be raised. This movement in the way of cleanliness and order was inaugurated in a manner peculiar to the Aphelions. The ladies and gentlemen turn out en masse, and personally rake and clean up the beach, teaching an emphatic object lesson in cleanliness and order to those few sojourners who prefer to use the beach and shore for dumping grounds for rubbish. Much originality is shown in the "working" costumes, and the decorations upon handcarts, upcarts, wheelbarrows, rake and hoes. The Aphelions, says the paper from which we quote, are alive to all progressive movements. They offer large rewards for the conviction of anyone creating a nuisance or guilty of acts against the law, such as the poisoning of dogs, the burning of outbuildings, and the like. The annual illuminations of Winthrop Beach for the last two years were under the direction of this society. The Aphelions have inaugurated a series of poor children's excursions, and in the summer many of Boston's poor little ones enjoys a holiday by the sea, with a collation. The Aphelion clambakes are a feature. They are strictly private; the ticket never being put upon general sale. A "High tea" is another Aphelion feature. It is served upon the top of Cottage hill, in the gloaming, of course and by lantern light the old and the young close the early evening with an informal good time. The Aphelion hop is a brilliant affair, is strictly private, and one of the events of the season. The regular Aphelion meetings which occur fortnightly are the social events of the beach. A short business meeting discusses the local affairs of interest; then the members and friends enjoy an informal reception, with interspersed entertainment of unusual quality. The Aphelion mid-winter reunions, held in Boston, are prominent social events, and are remarkable for the large number present. The membership of the society is limited to progressive gentlemen and their families. The requirements for membership are severe, and no one, unless of a pronounced progressive character, can hope of election. The Aphelions are a power at Winthrop Beach and regarded to be the strongest summer society on the coast. The work of the society is not limited to it male members, for the ladies hold the same right of membership as the gentlemen and their constant work and presence prevent this original organization from ever sinking to the level of club, and with their united efforts must keep its standard at the highest, and free from all those conventional objections which simply exist by the name of club. We understand that it is the intention of those who are interested in promoting St. Andrews as a summer resort to organize such a society here. It would certainly be an interesting novelty, bedsides possessing the merit of usefulness.
Saint Andrews
Down where Passamaquoddy Bay
Stretches mile on mile away,
Long unsought—forgot almost,
By the fashionable host,
Who have met and pranked and planned
On Maine's wave-beat breadth of sand,
Lay the town of saintly name,
Passed alike by guest and fame.
Halfway up the stately hill—
As though life and nerve and will
Sinking down had called a stop
All too weak to gain the top,
Far above, the rounding crest,
Far below, the bay's bright breast
With its mountain sentinels
Halting Fundy's fogs and swells.
Fickle fashion, joy nor care
Never sought a lodging there.
Once fame tarried for a day,
Smiled, then yawned and passed away,
Apologized for the intruding,
Left the peaceful hamlet brooking
In a restful reverie
O'er the fragment of the sea.
So it might have dreamed and slumbered
Ever on through years unnumbered
But an artist's restless eyes
Marked the spot with glad surprise
Like the fairy prince who strayed
To where slept the spell-bound maid
At this praise its slumber broke
And the drowsy town awoke.
Search the leagues of coast around
Fairer spot cannot be found
From the phalanxes of pine
Sweeps a healing breath divine
Changing with the fitful breeze
To the salt strength of the seas,
Bearing health with pleasure blent
To the weary and the spent.
Lo! a triumph and a crown
Waits the long-neglected town
Bank and fashion note at least
The gem they long had careless passed
At their mandate swift obeyed
Bright in gala dress arrayed
Cinderella of the shore
By her lonely hearth no more.
Bring forth laurels fresh and green
For the crowning of the queen
Bring forth brush and pen, and they
Who can best her charms portray
Bring the scourges of disease
Till she snap them on her knees;
Hail! the wondrous witchery
Of St. Andrews by the sea.
—Nomad
Excursion to St. Andrews
One of Raymond's Celebrated Vacation Parties Coming to the Town
One of Raymond's vacation excursion parties is to make a grand tour of nineteen days through the Maritime Provinces this summer, including a comprehensive round of travel through New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, with visits to St. Andrews, Fredericton, St. John, the Annapolis valley, and other interesting points in New Brunswick and NS. The party will leave Boston Friday, July 12, and will return Tuesday July 30. The journey to and from the Provinces will be made in Pullman palace cars.
It is only natural that on entering upon Canadian territory, the first place the excursionists would visit would be the 'summer port' of Canada—St. Andrews. As some of our readers may be interested in knowing what they have to say about St. Andrews and the attractions it has to offer, we make the following extract from the elegant and comprehensive programme which the promoters of the excursion have sent out:
"Six miles east of Vanceboro, at McAdam Junction, are the shops of the New Brunswick Railway. The tasteful office and residence of Mechanical Superintendent Haggerty are just above the station, and the grounds are laid out in semblance of the deck and prow of a steamship. Two handsome natives of the forest, in the form of a pair of deer, are encaged near Mr. Haggerty's office. At McAdam we turn southward on a branch line of railway in order to visit St. Andrews, New Brunswick, forty-two and a half miles from that point. The road thither is through a wooded and sparsely settled region, but before St. Andrews is reached the scenery assumes a very picturesque character. Several forest-bordered lakes are seen, the largest of which is Chamcook. Upon the opposite side of the lake rises Chamcook Mountain, a graceful, wooded elevation nearly 600 feet high, which forms a prominent feature in the landward outlook from St. Andrews, being only five or six miles distant. St. Andrews is found to occupy a narrow point of land which juts out into fair Passamaquoddy Bay. On one side flows the St. Croix River, here two miles wide, with the Maine shore on its farther side, while in front are several large islands. Navy and Minister's Islands are near the shores of St. Andrews, the former on the west side and the latter on the east side of the town. It is claimed that over seventy-five miles of shoreline can be plainly seen from the verandas of the new and elegant hotel, the Algonquin, which has recently been erected upon the highest land in the town, and which is to be our abiding place until Wednesday. St. Andrews has about 1,800 inhabitants and was handsomely laid out with wide and regular streets a century ago. The rise of St. Stephen robbed St. Andrews of much of its early commercial importance, but it still remains one of the most charming health resorts on the Atlantic coast. Art has now supplemented nature in the provisions made for the comfort and pleasure of the visitor, the Algonquin being a model hotel, with all modern improvements. The outlook from its pleasant verandas is superb, a charming and far-reaching view being presented on every side. There is sea bathing at the shore, and hot and cold sea-water baths within the house. The landlord of the establishment is Mr. Fred A. Jones, who has been long and favourably known through his connection with the Hotel Dufferin, in St. John, New Brunswick. The land syndicate, who whose enterprise the public is indebted for the Algonquin, has already done much to adorn the town, in and near which it has extensive and valuable possessions. The point of land by the waterside, beyond the town, has been converted into a charming little park."
Inventory of St. Andrews—park, marine hospital, two large summer hotels, half-a-dozen smaller hotels open year round, 5 churches, 3 lawyers, 4 doctors, 6 school teachers, 2 livery stables, shoe factory, large dry goods store, foundry, carriage factory, "a dozen or more grocery, clothing, boot and hoes and hardware stores, 2 hairdressing shops, an electric lighting company," 2 drug stores, several blacksmith shops, a post and telegraph office, 2 meat markets, a Masonic lodge, a division of the Sons of Temperance, a brass band, a cricket and baseball club, a detachment of the Salvation Army.
W. E. Mallory making rapid progress with new livery stable
"Work on the Algonquin Hotel and its surroundings is proceeding apace, although there would seem to be a good deal yet to be done. The upper floors are all completed with the exception of handing the doors and painting the woodwork. The main floor is in a very incomplete state, but a month more will make a wonderful change in it. The same may be said of the basement. Mr. Stevenson is pushing things as fast as he can and thinks he will have no difficulty in having the building ready by the first of July or earlier. Mr. R. J. Green, of St. John, who built the stairways, is through with his part of the work, and has gone away. He had made a good job. Messrs. G. and E. Blake's plumbers are hurrying through with the plumbing and expect to have it finished up inside of three weeks. The masons have completed their work. Painting will be begun on the outside of the building this week. The shingles will be oiled and stained, and the roofs will be painted red. The effect, it is thought, will be very pleasing to the eye. Outside the hotel building, the grounds are being graded and under the superintendence of Mr. L. M. S. Horton. This branch of the work will scarcely be completed in time for the opening. At the head of Kitty's [sic] Cove, Mr. Capen the Boston engineer has bored to the depth of one hundred and twenty-five feet to find water for the purposes of the hotel. He has found considerable water but hopes to get more by sinking the shaft a litter deeper. Favourable progress is also being made on the sewer, which is to be laid from the hotel to the waterfront of the town."
[May 14/1888— Robert Gardiner to B. R. Stevenson MS3-Y-319: "Yours 11th rec'd. MY only object in having nominal consideration shown in "Hipwell" deed is to avoid "booming" the town lot prices until we close all such as Mr. Osburn is working on. The goal as such will be attained by not recording the deed now, although I presume everybody knows the price at which it was sold. It will therefore for the present be sufficient to send Hipwell's deed to me by mail (registered). The expenses I will hand you next time I see you."]
How to Get Here
Routes the Summer Tourists can take to Reach St. Andrews
St. Andrews is reached by direct rail routes from Boston, Portland, Montreal, and Saint John, and by the International Line of Steamers from Boston, Portland and Saint John, via Eastport.
From Boston, passengers leaving by the Boston and Maine RR at 7 pm (except Saturdays) arrive at St. Andrews at noon the next day. Under the summer schedule, in effect June 24th, passengers can also leave by Boston and Maine RR in the morning (by through Pullman cars, via Maine Central and New Brunswick Railways), arriving in St. Andrews the same evening to tea.
From Boston, by steamers of the International Steamship Company (leaving every other day at 9 am for Portland and Saint John), passengers connect at Eastport the next day with the boats of the Frontier Steamship Company for St. Andrews, twelve miles distant, arriving at noon.
From Montreal, trains over the CPR with Parlor cars attached, reach St. Andrews in twelve hours.
From Saint John, all west-bound trains over the New Brunswick Railway make connections at McAdam Junction for St. Andrews. From Saint John, passengers by the international Line of Steamers connect at Eastport, as above, twelve miles from St. Andrews, arriving Nat noon.
From Calais, Maine, the Frontier Steamship Company runs a daily boat to Eastport and return, touching morning and afternoon at St. Andrews. Visitors taking the morning boat at St. Andrews for Eastport have a few hours there, or to visit Campobello, and can return to St. Andrews the same afternoon to dinner.
Beacon
May 16/1889
Mr. Gillmor argues in House against Harvey-Salisbury branch of Short Line. Passed in House but defeated in Senate. Would have been very bad for St. Andrews, as traffic would have gone directly to Halifax, bypassing St. Andrews and Saint John.
Water from Katy's Cove well sent to Boston for analysis. "There is little doubt that if the supply can be drawn from artesian wells if would be a great deal cheaper than bringing it from Chamcook."
The Tyn-y-coed and Tyn-y-maes will be open for summer visitors on the first of July. The hotels will be under the management of Mr. and Mrs. T. A. Barker, who have managed them for several seasons. The outlook for this season is promising. Rand and Taylor architects are preparing plans for a building at the corner of Water and King Streets, owned by the Land company. Lower flat will be made into stores, and upper into tenements.
Beacon
May 23/1889
General Manager Van Horne told the congressional committee that the CPR was built to make money for its shareholders and for no other purpose under the sun. This is just what everybody thought.
Mr. Thomas R. Wheelock, of Shanghai, has just completed negotiations for the purchase of forty acres of land on the western commons, owned by David Mc Roberts. Mr. Wheelock will make that his summer residence, and as he has made all the money he wants in China, he will spend the remainder of the year in Boston, or New York. Mrs. Wheelock will be in St. Andrews this summer.
St. Andrews Electric Light Co. incorporated at last session of Legislature but now in a "quiescent" state. "At the present time, the sun by day, the moon by night, and the Beacon at weekly intervals, are the only illuminators that St. Andrews possesses."
Kennedy's sinking its own artesian well. Others may follow suit.
St. Croix Courier
May 30/1889
Capt. Herbert has been offered a large sum for a strip of land adjoining his hotel, containing about five acres but he intends laying it off in building lots, and selling them separately.
Beacon
May 30/1889
The new livery stable which Mr. Mallory is building on Princess Royal Street, near the corner of Water, is being pushed forward with all haste. The masonry for the foundation, which was put up by Mr. William Tait, was finished some days, ago, and the wooden superstructure is now in course of erection. This branch of the work is being performed by Mr. B. G. Tower, of Woodstock who has ten men under him. The building, which is 40 x 60 feet, will have two stories above the basement. The latter will be utilized for stabling, and will be very comfortable for the horses, being cool in summer and warm in winter. The first floor is intended as a carriage room, while on the floor above the hay and feed will be stored. The building will have a pitched roof and is designed to harmonize with Mr. Mallory's residence of the corner adjoining. When completed the stable will be one of the most commodious and best arranged in the province.
We have received one of two hundred and fifty thousand copies of a pamphlet which has recently been published on St. Andrews by the Land Company. It is printed on a finely finished tone paper and is profusely and beautifully illustrated. The first page of the cover bears a splendid picture of the Algonquin Hotel, as it will look on the first of July with its broad verandahs thronged with guests. Among the illustrations are Joe's Point, Chamcook Lake, St. Andrews lighthouse, an arm of Passamaquoddy Bay, St. Andrews from Fort Tipperary, the river front, a view from Chamcook Mountain, scenes in and near Indian park, Welsh Lake, the old blockhouse and a variety of other charming pictures. The letter press is written in a romantic vein and describes very minutely the advantages and picturesque delights which have made St. Andrews so popular a summer resort. Mr. Holman D. Waldron, of Portland, Maine was the writer, we believe, and he has done his work well. These pamphlets are being circulated all over the North American continent.
Editor takes exception to the recent reference to the "decaying mansions" slur on St. Andrews in Saint John paper. "It is true that there are old buildings here, and quite a number of them, but it is equally true that there are a number of very handsome dwellings." Notes that after the collapse of the shipbuilding industry and the railroad, St. Andrews had fallen on hard times. But thanks to the St. Andrews Land Co., with its hotel, office, cottages and park, which it converted from a "wretched swamp," the town's wearing a smile on its face and free from all accusations of laziness and decay. Cf. the Telegraph article with the reference to 'decaying mansions."
Indian Park is being rapidly put into shape under Mr. L. M. Horton's careful direction. It looks remarkably pretty now, but when it is completed, it will be a miniature Eden. Eight cottages are to be erected on the building lots facing upon the park at an early day. Mr. Horton does not know whether he will be able to make a commencement on this season or not."
Concerning St. Andrews
Editorial and Brief History
We are pleased to note the increased and growing interest that is manifest in St. Andrews by journalists and writers both in Canada and the US. Knowing that we possess rare attractions, it pleases us to have these attractions pointed out to the outside world. But there are some things we do not like. We do not think it at all essential to a truthful description of St. Andrews that its citizens should be held up to ridicule; that their feelings should be ruthlessly trampled upon, that they should be described as a community of Rip van Winkles or of sluggards, or of worthless people, whose sole ambition in life was to eat, and drink and sleep, and who would have shuffled off this mortal coil years ago had they been able to summon enough energy for the purpose; that their dwellings should be termed "decaying mansions," and such like. This style of writing, we notice, prevails in certain quarters, and as we have said before, we see no need for it. We can see no purpose that it will serve. Besides, it lacks the important element of truth. This community, we admit, has not been as active for a number of years as other places we might mention, but it has not been dead, nor are its people wanting in ambition or energy. Neither is it correct to that its dwellings are "decaying mansions." It is true that there are old buildings here, and quite a number of them, but it is equally true that there are a number of very handsome dwellings.
The history of St. Andrews, as those writers we have in mind well know, has been a chequered one. Few communities are called upon to pass through the experiences that St. Andrews has passed through—fewer still would have survived them. When we stop to think of the commercial disasters that have visited St. Andrews since it was first peopled, the wonder is that the place was not deserted long ago. Like many a stately ship, St. Andrews started out on the voyage of life with favouring breezes and glowing prospects. During the first part of her voyage, she made rapid progress. Every stitch of canvas, to the skysail, was set, and every bit of it was "drawing." Other craft seemed to be anchored, as St. Andrews swept majestically past them. But a change came. The skies were no longer blue and cloudless; the wind no longer favourable; the seas no longer smooth and tranquil. A cloud not bigger than a man's hand was . . . . could be got in readiness to meet it, the storm burst upon her with terrible fury. Mountainous seas rose about her. They swept her decks; they washed overboard many a brave man; they crashed through her houses. Her sails were rent from the yards and hung in ribbons from the gaskets. The ship was thrown on her beam-ends, and for many days and many nights she laid tossing in the trough of the sea, every bolt and every timber strained to its utmost. Many of her crew, thinking her a hopeless wreck, deserted her, but there were others who had confidence in the ship, and who felt sure that though her arrival would be delayed, she would get safely into port. With almost superhuman energy these latter set to work. They got the ship on an even keel once more, and after a sturdy fight succeeded in steering her within view of the desired haven. [Land Company?] She is a little battered it is true, after her stormy experiences. Her standing rigging is chafed and worn through in places, some of her spars are missing, her houses are somewhat weather-beaten and scarred, her deck seams a little open, her crew not as numerous as when she first set out on her voyage, but the hull is still good, and with new rigging, and a little paint and oakum and a fresh crew she will be able to continue on her journey.
This little illustration, we think, very aptly describes the past history and experiences of St. Andrews. She entered upon her existence, "with every prospect pleasing." For years she did an immense foreign trade. Her sails whitened the ocean the world over, and her merchants were among the wealthiest and most prosperous in the land. Then disaster came. A combination of circumstances robbed the port of its foreign trade. The shipping dwindled away, until it became almost extinct; banks failed, projected railways collapsed, and ruin seemed staring the people in the face. Many persons left the place, but there were others, whose faith in the future of St. Andrews, was still unshaken. These stuck to the ship and have managed to keep her afloat until now, when once more favourable prospects are opening out. Instead of subjecting them to ridicule, and holding them up to obloquy, these people, we think merit admiration for their pluck and their untiring patience.
There are few people outside of St. Andrews who have any conception of the vast improvements that have been made here by the Land Company within the past year. It is not twelve months since superintendent Horton came to St. Andrews from Boston, yet in that time he has superintended the erection of the Algonquin Hotel, the land Company's magnificent brick building and cottage, and has converted what has hitherto been a wretched swamp into one of the most beautiful parks imaginable. In the construction of these buildings and in the making of these improvements over 100,000 dollars have been spent. It's no wonder that St. Andrews is wearing a smile.
Mr. William MacKay has supplied St. Andrews with a photographic saloon.
From the East and from the West, from the North and from the South, visitors will be flocking into St. Andrews this summer. On the 2nd of June the first train over the CPR will come through. It will make connection with St. Andrews. We also hear that arrangements have been consummated by which a train for Saint John will leave the Boston and Maine RR station at Boston at 8 am commencing July 1st, running to Portland in three hours and getting to Vanceboro at 7 pm. Under this arrangement it is expected that Boston passengers will be landed in St. Andrews by 8:30 in the evening.
Beacon
June 6/1889
The Short Line
It is not a matter of surprise to us that the newspaper reporters who accompanied the railroad commissioners over that portion of the CPR road lying in the State of Maine should have gone into ecstasies over the beautiful scenery which they encountered on every hand, or that the road should express entire satisfaction with the manner in which it has been built. Neither of these circumstances, we reiterate, surprises us. We have had the privilege last year of personally inspecting this line, and from our own observation we know that the reports regarding it that have been published lately, are not exaggerated in the least. The roadbed, we are prepared to affirm, is a well built as the engineering appliances of modern time can make it. The scenery, too, is always picturesque, while at some points where the road penetrates mountains or leaps across mighty chasms, it is indescribably grand. The people of the vicinity have a casual interest in knowing these things, but what interests them the most if the knowledge that trains from Montreal are now running over the road making daily connections with the trains for St. Andrews. The first train left Montreal on Sunday night and reached Saint John on Monday afternoon, covering the four hundred and fifty-one miles between in something like nineteen hours. In a short time, trains bearing the fruits of the west grain fields, will be rolling over the line, seeking an exit for their freight at one or other of the Maritime port of Canada or the US. What effort is St. Andrews making to get a portion of this traffic?
Still no mention of hay fever. The ads for the A continue the same.
St. Andrews needs a commodious town hall.
Americans in town investigating case for electric light and water supply.
"The twenty-eighth of June—the day in which the Algonquin Hotel will open—will mark the beginning of a new era in the history of St. Andrews. On that day it may be fairly said that St. Andrews-by-the-sea enters upon its career as one of the leading summer resorts of the North Atlantic season. The event, we humbly venture to express, is an important one for this community, and one that deserves recognition at the hands of the residents in some way or other. First impressions, we know from experience, are very often the decisive ones. The first impressions which our visitors form of the town and of the people will undoubtedly go far towards determining their future visits, or their disposition to locate their summer homes here. For this reason, it behooves us to have the conditions under which our visitors arrive made as favourable as possible. The question of how this shall be done we leave to the good judgment of the people themselves. A major part of the guests who attend the opening of the Algonquin will arrive in St. Andrews on the afternoon of the 28th, and it is the intention of a great many of the, we are told, to remain over until after Sunday. Something should be done to make their stay as pleasant as possible."
"The formal opening of 'The Algonquin' hotel has been determined for Friday, June 28th, a reception being given from four to seven, p. m., and dancing from nine to twelve o'clock. Invitations to be present will be extended to the Governor General Lord Stanley, Members of the Dominion Cabinet, Governor Burleigh of Maine, Lieut. Gov. Tilley of New Brunswick, Lieut. Gov. Rogers of Quebec, Lieut. Gov. Campbell of Ontario, Lieut. Gov. McAllen of Nova Scotia, Lieut. Gov. Macdonald of P. E. I., with their official staffs, members of the Dominion and Provincial Parliaments, representing Charlotte County, the Mayors of Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, Quebec, Portland, Bangor, St. John, Halifax; Fredericton, St. Stephen, Calais, Eastport, Houlton and Woodstock, the principal local government officials, Railway and steamship officials, Officers and stockholders of the 'St. Andrews Land Co.' and 'Algonquin Hotel Co.', and representatives of the press of the leading cities. In each case, 'and lady' is incorporated in the invitation, for without the fair sex, the opening would lack the éclat befitting the occasion. The steam yacht of the St. Andrews Land Co. will make its initial excursion trips on the opening day, so that the invited guests may not only absorb the beauties of St. Andrews by land, but view the situation from our majestic bay, and picturesque river.
Work around the hotel is advancing very rapidly. The plumbers have completed their task and will have all the gas fixtures in by the latter part of the week. The representative of the Detroit Heating and Lighting Company has arrived and is getting the gasoline tank in position and making connections. It is expected that water connection will be completed before the present week is out. The elevator tanks are in place, and the elevator will be in working order in a day or two. The painters are also making fast headway. The exterior walls are being colored a terra cotta shade; the trimmings will be bronze green. The laundry will be ready in a few days. The approaches to the hotel are being nicely arranged, and before the opening day arrives will be well in shape."
Beacon
June 13/1889
The Short Line
It is no wonder that the people of the Maritime Provinces should manifest an unusual degree of interest in the Short Line railway. The event to them is one fraught with the deepest import. For many years the completion of this road has been looked forward to as a "consummation devoutly to be wished." When trade was dull and money scarce; when clouds of depression hung low over all the land; when the young men and the young women were leaving the country in droves and seeking homes on foreign soil, this was the hope that buoyed up those who remained behind. When the Short Line was finished, and a passage to the sea was opened for the products of the great wheat fields of the west then, they hopefully thought, "hard times" would be a thing of the past in these provinces, and "peace like a river" would flow through the land. A great wave of prosperity would sweep over the Dominion; the clouds of depression would flee as dew before the morning sun, and harbors would be alive with shipping; the commerce of nations would be knocking at our door for admission; our young men and our young women who had left us would return, and we would be a happy, contented and prosperous people. This was the brilliant picture which was held before the vision of the people, and for years they have been feasting upon it. We repeat that it is no wonder they should show a deep interest in the completion of this vast undertaking, and we add further that we think there is ample justification for them to expect a good deal from it considering the immense amount of their money that has been put into its construction.
The history of the road will make up a great part of the history of Canada. Two decades have well-nigh passed since surveys of the line were begun. About the year 1871 a charter was granted to a private company to do the work, but as they did nothing the government were reluctantly compelled to assume the responsibility of its construction. Several disconnected sections of the road were built by the government at a tremendous cost to the country, but it is doubtful if the road would now lie in the finished state that it is, had it not been placed in the hands of a new company in 1880: In addition to a grant of 25,000,000 acres of the best land in Manitoba and a subsidy of $25,000,000, the government also made a transfer to this company of over 700 miles of road, which they had built at a cost of something like $35,000,000. From that date until the present one, the country has been bled and bled freely towards its construction and maintenance. In the four years from 1881 to 1885 (when the road from Montreal to the Pacific was completed) not less than $74,000,000 were given to the company by the Federal government. But this was not all. In order to obtain connection with the maritime ports, an additional subsidy of $186,000 per annum for a term of twenty years was granted to the Atlantic and Northwestern railway company, which company undertook to build a line from Montreal via Sherbrooke across the State of Maine to the Maritime Province ports. This part of the line proved the most expensive of the whole road, owing to the physical obstructions in the shape of mountains, lakes and rivers which were encountered, but the mountains have been hewn down or tunnelled, the deep valleys filled up, the lakes and the rivers bridged, and the road is now completed and ready for business. No one in these provinces, we think, will grumble at the expenditure, provided the road yields the return that has been anticipated from it, but if it does not then there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The question of what port or ports on the Atlantic coast will be made the terminal ports for the line is one in which the people of St. Andrews have a deep interest. So far as is known no selection has been made; possibly none will be. It is just possible that the management of the CPR will allow the shippers to choose their own port, and if they do, that port will be selected which has the greatest facilities to offer for handling the freight rapidly and cheaply. Almost every port of any consequence on the Atlantic coast from NY to Halifax has been mentioned as a probable terminus port. New York, Boston, Castine, Portland, St. Andrews, Saint John, White Haven, Louisburg, Halifax—have all come in for their share of attention, and every one of these ports is looking for something from the line. In our own Provinces the people of Halifax and of Saint John are making a strenuous effort to have their ports named. The Boards of Trade and the merchants in both places have been actively at work pressing the claims and pointing out the advantages of their respective ports. Pamphlets and circulars innumerable have been sent out, the Government has been interviewed, and the CPR managers have been button-holed by the representatives of these two ports time and time again.
Meanwhile, what has St. Andrews done? We have a splendid harbor here, lots of space for the erection of wharves, elevators and warehouses, but what have our people done towards emphasizing these advantages to the proper authorities? Practically nothing. Occasional reference has been made to the port in newspaper articles, on one or two occasions the matter has been briefly alluded to in Parliament by our County representative, but this has been the extent of the endeavour—on behalf of our port. Is there not something that we can do beyond this to enforce our advantages upon the attention of the CPR people, or is the object to be attained by sitting down in idleness and waiting for somebody else to do the work for us? In discussing the probable selection of St. Andrews as a terminal port we have often heard the objection raised that the port was not easy of access, that the avenues of entrance were narrow and shallow, not well lighted, not properly marked and so forth and so on. Now, we do not think that this objection will hold water. Still the fact that the statement has been so often and so long permitted to go unchallenged, must have a deleterious effect. Can we not do something to dissipate this mistaken idea regarding our port? The people of St. Andrews we think should take some united action in this matter. They should at least make some move which would indicate that they desire their port recognized. There are seafaring men here who are well acquainted with passages to this port; they know whether they are narrow shallow, whether they are difficult to enter or not; why do they not speak out? Why is a report on our harbor and its approaches not prepared and published? The Beacon stands ready and willing to assist any person or persons who will enter upon the undertaking. Let it be begun at once.
[nb—first mention of Van Horne to visit St. Andrews] We hear that someone in the County has been notified that Mr. Van Horne, general manager of the CPR, is shortly to visit St. Andrews. If such is the case, the people of St. Andrews should know of it, and they should be prepared to extend him a hearty greeting. And not only this, they should be in a position to show him the great advantages our port has to offer as a terminal point; they should be in a position to point out to him that our port is easy of access, that its approaches are deep and wide and easily accessible by the largest steamer. This not a matter which should be done in secret either. St. Andrews has nothing to hide. We are not ashamed of our port, and we have nothing to gain and everything to lose by suppressing the truth. Whatever is done should be done at once and should be given the widest publicity possible.
Sir Leonard Tilley
The Veteran Statesman discusses the National Policy and Other Questions
Winnipeg Sun, May 25, 1889
A representative of the Sun had an opportunity yesterday of holding a brief conversation with Sir Leonard Tilley, who is at present a guest of Lieutenant Governor Schultz. Sir Leonard as is doubtless well known, is one of the fathers of confederation, and for many years occupied a prominent position in the cabinet of Sir John Macdonald. He has much to do with the national policy, being finance minister when it was inaugurated. Being asked if he was still as firm a believer as ever in the NP, Sir Leonard's eyes glistened while he replied that he was just as firmly convinced of its value to the country as he was after it had been in operation a few years. "Of course," said the knight, "I have always been of opinion that a reciprocity treaty such as existed previous to '64 would be of material advantage of Canada, as also to the US. I was down to Washington sometime after the abrogation of the treaty, looking into the probability of negotiating a new treaty. I was not in the Government then. I was then informed that the reasons why the American government abrogated the treaty were threefold: The first was that they thought Canada had the best of it; the second was that the English had sympathized with the south in the civil war, and the third was that the annexation of Canada would be hastened by the abrogation of the treaty. I think," continued Sir Leonard, "that time has convinced them they were wrong in regard to Canada. They doubtless thought we could not get along without them, but we have shown them that we . . . vantage to them as well as to us. However, I fancy they have seen that a sentiment of annexation has not been cultivated in Canada by their policy."
"You are not, then, a believer in free trade with the States, Sir Leonard?"
"Oh, dear no; I don't see how that would pay us. My belief is that we would have to raise twenty millions or more by direct taxation if that came to pass, and I don't think the people of Canada would like to face that alternative."
Sir Leonard Tilley discussed the question at greater length. He spoke hopefully of Canada's position and her future. He also referred to the feeling that had been developing lately in the States in regard to Canada. Hitherto they had looked upon Canada as a barren country, too far north to be of any practical use. But now the building of the CPR and other enterprises had drawn public attention to the country, they had come to see that our resources were illimitable, and they were now looking with anxious eyes upon that country. Sir Leonard did not think Canada would make any arrangement with the United States which would mean discrimination against Great Britain. It was inimical to the bond that existed between Canada and Great Britain that we should discriminate against the mother country. He had learned through correspondence which passed fifteen or twenty years, that to make a discriminating tariff against Great Britain would practically mean the severance of the bond that existed. Being asked, Sir Leonard expressed the opinion that young Canada seemed just as loyal as old Canada, and it was unlikely that any step which involved severance from the mother country would for a moment be listened to.
This is Sir Leonard's first visit to the Northwest. He expressed great and agreeable surprise at Winnipeg. It was certainly a magnificent city, with foundation laid broad and deep. There could be no question about its future. Sir Leonard will start Monday and proceed to Vancouver, stopping off at different points to rest.
It is a settled fact that the magnificent steamer "Olivette," of the Plant line will make a trip each week during the summer season to Eastport, connecting with St. Andrews by a smaller steamer.
Four ballast trains are flying backwards and forward over the St. Andrews Branch, depositing ballast along the line. Twenty miles of steel rails will also be laid. Before the month is out the St. Andrews branch will be as good as any part of the New Brunswick RR system.
In another week at least, it is expected that the St. Andrews sardine factory will be in operation. Messrs. Lamb and Peacock have expended a good deal of money in fitting the factory for business, and we sincerely hope that they will meet with success. Some samples which they forwarded to Montreal have given such satisfaction that an order for one thousand cases has been received as a result.
Finishing touches put on Mallory's new stable. Description.
Date of this quote uncertain. June? check
"The Algonquin Hotel is almost in habitable shape, and in another week all the workmen will be out of the building. Some delay has been caused in the painting in consequence of the locks for the doors not having arrived. Mr. George Cook, of Saint John, who is to be engineer of the hotel, has got here, and the engine and boiler are now being placed in position. Rapid progress is also being made with the laundry machinery. The furniture and interior fittings for the hotel are constantly arriving, and most of the material is now in the building ready for unpacking. Mr. Jones will have his hands full getting ready for the opening, but he will be equal to the emergency, we think. The grounds and approaches to the hotel are in magnificent shape, thanks to the skill and energy of Superintendent Horton. Beautiful parterres of flowers will surround the hotel on all sides. In front of the main entrance space has been left of the placing of a fountain, which will enhance the effect very much. The tennis court will be finished in a few days."
Beacon
June 20, 1889
St. Andrews Harbour
Mr. Hugh Maloney, who has been fifty years a pilot out of St. Andrews harbor, and who knows almost every rock that there is on the bottom between here and Cape Sable, was in the Beacon office last week and fully corroborates the statements made by us that St. Andrews harbor is easy of access to the largest steamer. There are two entrances either of which can be used with perfect safety. The principal entrance is by way of Eastport, commonly known as the Head harbor passage. There is a clear passage the whole way through, the depth of water at the shoaliest point being fifteen fathoms. At the narrowest point the channel is half a mile wide. At the time of the Fenian road Her Majesty's battleship "Duncan" came through this passage in the night without a pilot, Since then lights and fog whistles have been erected at several points, making ingress as easy and as safe on the darkest night as in the broad light of day. At Latete passage there is also an abundance of water, and the entrance is well lighted and protected. At dead low water there is depth of twenty-nine feet at the shoaliest part, which would be sufficient for almost any vessel that would be likely to come here. St. Andrews harbor has no equal in Canada, unless it be the harbor of Letang, in this County, which is said to be unsurpassed by any harbor north of Rio Janeiro. These facts should be duly impressed upon Mr. Van Horne when he visits St. Andrews in a few weeks.
St. Andrews station has become such an important one that Manger Cram has decided upon putting a telegraph operator in it. This is as it should be. The wires are now in the station. Louis Stuart will probably be operator.
Beacon
June 27, 1889
(Contributed)
An Indian Legend
Battle at Indian Point between the Soureguois and the Malachutes
The very earliest records agree that the Soureguois or Micmacs were the tribe occupying the shoreline of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and their selection of a portion of the peninsula of St. Andrews as a favorite camping ground was judicious in the extreme, affording as it did an abundance of their food which was principally a product of the sea. Near the foot of Prince William St., about three hundred yards east of the beautiful park owned by the St. Andrews Land Company, there is an elevated ridge of land, its point washed by the waters of the bay, and flanked on either side by a marsh. In the olden time it was covered by a magnificent growth of stately birch, long a recognized landmark in the navigation of the bay. Its position is a strategical one and its numerous and extensive kitchen middens clearly point it out as a permanent camping ground of the red man. Tradition marks it as the scene of a desperate conflict. About the beginning of the seventeenth century the Malachites, who, there is reason to believe, did not occupy any portion of Acadia, intruded themselves into the territory of the Micmacs with whom they waged a constant and unrelenting warfare, eventually pressing them back to the gulf and peninsula of Nova Scotia. On the ridge of which we are speaking the Micmacs made a last and desperate defense in this aggressive war. With an abbatis of logs across this narrow neck of land, a marsh on their flank, his canoes drawn up on the shore as a possible means of escape in case of defeat, the Micmac chief awaited the assault. Despair had fired the breasts of this unwarlike tribe and filled their hearts with their fierce crying; even slaves who once conceived the thought of freedom feel, and in that hope possess, all that the contest cares for. Just before the blush of dawn, the time of deepest sleep, was the hour chosen by the Malachites for the assault. The attack through sudden was not a surprise. One band of warriors led on by the chief in person assaulted the abbatis; another passing along the border of the park endeavored to force a passage across the marsh toward the more exposed portion of the encampment. Gallantly and well did the Micmac warrior defend the palisade behind which was the wigwam of his wife and child. At last, an impetuous charge burst through the feeble barrier, from tree to tree the wavering tide of battle ebbed and flowed and the woodland arches rang with the exultant cry of the victor and the shriek of the vanquished. Scream after scream issues from the wigwams, where already the tomahawk and scalping knife are doing their bloody work, and a swirl of flame and an ominous cloud of smoke are too certain indications that safety is but in flight. A tumultuous crowd are now rushing to the canoes, and the conquered yet undaunted Micmac chief who with a few braves, was protecting the retreat, fell with the fatal war point in his heart, face to the foe, on the last and best fought field of his nation for the land they loved so well.
St. Croix Courier
June 27/1889
The Tyn-y-Coed and other hotels are to open this week. Many of the rooms are engaged, and the number of visitors is expected to be much larger than last summer.
Steamer ads for Olivette, Tourist and International Steamship Company, also Frontier Steamship Company
Beacon
June 27/1889
Good engravings of St. Andrews—Chamcook Lake and St. Andrews Harbour
A Welcome to the Summer Guest. and below. Still no hay fever.
View of Chamcook Lake from Chamcook Mtn. Near Indian Point Park. Other views as well.
"On behalf of the people of St. Andrews, and on our own behalf, we extend to the summer visitors a hearty welcome. Let their stay be short or long, let them come in fifties or in thousands, the welcome which awaits them will be none the less cordial. We know they will enjoy themselves too. They will find here a climate not surpassed anywhere on the continent. They will get an abundance of pure, strong, invigorating air, and if they do not go away feeling better than when they came here, refreshed in body and mind, it will be because they are hopeless cases. If their inclination leads them to pleasuring on the water, there is no place where they can satisfy their desires better than here. If they take delight in driving, we have here good roads and good horses, and they can enjoy themselves to the top of their bent. If it is fishing they want, we can supply them with a surfeit of it. If it is bathing, they are after here is the place to come. If they want to ramble in the woods all day long no one will say them nay. Or if their inclination leads them to none of these things and it is a rest for body and mind they need, then they have struck the right spot. Again, we say welcome, thrice welcome, and we trust you may go away invigorated in body and mind and carrying with you favourable impressions of St. Andrews-by-the-sea and of its people." [just about the first ref to the 'by-the-sea' moniker, and both by Armstrong]
"The Algonquin Hotel may now be said to be in a finished state, although much remains to be done in the next few days to arrange the interior furnishing and fit the hotel for the reception of guests. The locks, which caused so much delay, arrived from Saint John on Saturday, and the carpenters worked all night getting them on the doors, so that the painters might finish up their work. The engine and the laundry machinery were in working order the first of the week and underwent a satisfactory test. The ranges and cooking apparatus, which are rather an extensive arrangement, were finished up last week by Messrs. Emerson and Fisher's workmen. The cooking utensils have arrived and fill a small room. The silverware and the dishes are also in the building and are being unpacked. The chamber-ware likewise stands ready to put in its place. The furniture for the bedrooms is constantly arriving and is being stowed away as quickly as possible. On Monday, Manager Jones and his help arrived, and they have been working like beavers to get the hotel into shape for the guests on Friday. Mr. Jones recognizes that the task is a formidable one, but he is bending all his energies to it and hopes to get through in time.
Outside the hotel, Superintendent Horton has had a vast amount of work done during the past few days. The gravelling of the walks has been completed and the grading of the grounds about finished. It is expected that on opening day two flag staffs will be reared in the grounds, one bearing the Union Jack and the other the Stars and Stripes. The twin ranger bears have had a habitation fitted up for them alongside the hotel, and they will doubtless form a source of attraction.
Of the eight hundred invitations sent out for the reception and opening ball on Friday, the acceptances have been very numerous, so that an immense number of people will have to be care for.
Music for the season will be provided by Robinson's orchestra, of Houlton.
Mr. E. B. Temple, of Boston, who put the electric apparatus in the Algonquin Hotel, dropped down on business on Saturday last."
800 invitations sent out for grand opening
Train station oldest in province, gets its first telegraph office; first message sent 22nd.
Beacon
July 1/1889
Land Co. has chartered the steamer "Tourist" for the summer season. [somehow the connotation of this word seems to have changed over the years]
Beacon
July 4/1889
June 28 opening ball described. and below
"Nobody could find fault with the sample of St. Andrews weather we had today before the strangers who came here on Friday last to attend the opening of our magnificent summer hotel. It was charming, perhaps a trifle warm for the townspeople, but for the visitors from outside, who had emerged from almost torrid heat, it was like the breath of Paradise.
It was almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon before the whistle of the locomotive at Chamcook indicated the approach of the train bearing the visitors. All the livery stables turned out their conveyances, and everybody else who could get there at all, hustled down to the station. The platform was crowded, as one of the handsomest trains on the N. B. R. rolled into the siding and the passengers began to emerge from the cars. Amongst the first to alight was Lieut. Governor Tilley, who had come straight from the West, connecting with the St. Andrews train at McAdam. His honor looked a little jaded after his long journey, but a few days in the pure St. Andrews air served to recuperate him greatly. Governor E. C. Burleigh, of Maine and staff, consisting of sixteen persons, and Col. Henry M. Sprague; Adjutant-General of Augusta, Col. F. E. Boothby, of Portland, and Col. W. A. R. Boothby, of Waterville, were among the distinguished visitors to follow Sir Leonard. Among others on the station platform were Robert S. Gardiner, vice-president of the St. Andrews Land Company, and wife, of Newton Center, Mass.; Eugene F. Fay, and wife; W. B. Sears and wife; Roscoe A. Cobb and Nelson E. Weeks, and wives, of Brookline, Mass.; H. D. Waldron, of the Maine and central Railroad, Portland, Maine; Mayor McCollough of Calais; A. B. Chaffe, jr., agent of the C. P. R. Montreal; W. S. Taylor, Treasurer of the C. P. R., and wife, also of Montreal; Ald. Robertson and Miss Robertson, Ex-Mayor Thorne; Hon. David McLellan; Alex. Finley; R. Keltie Jones; J. R. Stone; W. S. Fisher, and Mrs. Fisher, of St. John; W. E. Wood, of the All Rail line; Jas. L. Thompson, manager of the Frontier Steamship Company of Calais; J. Stewart, superintendent of the N. B. R., and wife, of Woodstock; G. A. Haggerty, Mechanical Superintendent of the N. B. R.; H. T. Frisbee; John C. McIntyre; C. H. Pierce; W. Mauser and wife; and John C. Madrigan of Houlton, Maine; W. W. Waugh, proprietor of the Home Journal, Boston; E. H. Crosby, of the editorial staff of the Boston Post, and wife; Benj. F. Priest, of the editorial staff of the Boston Transcript; George H. Brennan, of the Boston Globe staff; Rueben Crooke, editor Boston Traveller; Frank H. Davis of Bangor, representing the Boston Herald and Bangor Whig and Courier; Revel P. Smith of the Bangor News; E. P. Boutelle, of the Bangor Whig; E. H. Dakin, of the Industrial Journal, Bangor; Theo. Cary, of the Aroostook Pioneer, Houlton; J. E. B. McCready, editor of the Saint John Telegraph and John Bowes of the Saint John Gazette, and Mrs. Bowes.
As quickly as possible everybody was whisked . . . Manager Jones and Chief Clerk Nason were waiting with open doors to extend to them a welcome. The visitors were charmed with the appearance of the hotel and its surroundings while those who stopped to feast their eyes on the scenery in the neighborhood of the hotel, admitted that they had never dreamt that St. Andrews was half so beautiful. Mr. Jones and his staff had done wonders in the few days that were left to them, so that, with the exception of a few omissions that were scarcely noticeable, everything was in apple-pie order. The internal and external decorations were pretty and attractive, Chinese lanterns and bannerettes were suspended about the spacious piazza, while from the cupola, surmounting the 'eagle's nest,' the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes floated side by side. The interior ornamentation was almost wholly floral and was very effectively arranged. In the hallway, at the bases of the corner pillars, pots of rare plants were disposed, while there was a profusion of cut flowers about the mantles in the parlors and many of the other rooms.
Lunch was served soon after the arrival of the guests, about one hundred persons sitting down to a rich and elegant repast. . . . Following the lunch came the reception, which was quite a swell affair, and which was attended by a large number of persons. In addition to those who came by train, quite a large party was brought here by Mr. Todd's private yacht from St. Stephen, and an especially large number reached here from Eastport in the steamer "Nellie Kane." St. Andrews also supplied its quota. Lady Tilley formed one of the reception committees, the other ladies being Mrs. Fay, Mrs. Gardiner and Mrs. Jones . . . .
The guests were received in the beautiful parlors of the hotel, after which they had an opportunity of inspecting the building and the grounds, and of viewing for themselves those external beauties of which St. Andrews possesses such an abundance. For the building and its arrangements nothing but praise was heard, while everybody was enchanted with the delightful prospect that was spread before them as they climbed up to the 'eagle's nest' and swept their eyes around them. Charming, lovely, delightful, sublime, magnificent, grand—these were a few of the adjectives that were used, and even these did not seem to be sufficiently expressive. Quite a number of visitors took advantage of the lovely afternoon to drive about the town and its suburbs and view at nearer range the beauties that had so charmed their eye and their senses from the hotel. It was the unanimous verdict that as a summer resort St. Andrews stands unrivalled, and that as such she is bound to occupy a front rank among the famous watering places of the north Atlantic. . . .
In the evening the Algonquin looked even more beautiful than in daylight, the glancing lights from the windows, and the brilliant illuminations on the piazza making it resemble a palace of the fairies, instead of a building comprised of wood and brick and mortar. The scene in the interior of the building was equally dazzling—the rich and magnificent costumes of the ladies, the gay uniforms of the military, and the luxurious furnishings of the rooms forming a picture that one rarely has the pleasure of seeing. Lieutenant Governor Tilley and Lady Tilley were present, the former wearing the Cross of the Order of which he is such a distinguished and honorable member, suspended from a ribbon about his neck. Governor Burleigh of Maine, and his staff, brilliantly uniformed, and the officers from Camp St. Andrews . . . greatly enhanced the effect of the picture by their presence.
Four hours from Bar Harbour to Eastport by Steamer Olivette.
Mr. W. E. Mallory has added some very stylish turnouts to his already large stock. The depot wagon, which Edgecombe and Sons, of Fredericton, made for him, has arrived, and is a very handsome vehicle. It is named the "Algonquin," and was built especially for conveying guests to the new hotels. It is richly painted and upholstered and reflects much credit upon the builders. About twelve persons can be seated in it comfortably. In addition to the depot wagon, Messrs. Edgecombe have supplied Mr. Mallory with several other handsome driving carriages.
The Round House at McAdam is being constructed by the New Brunswick R and not by the CPR Company. The latter will probably use it.
Beacon
July 11/1889
Gay St. Andrews
The Old Town Shaken from Centre to Circumference
"The St. Andrews people have been sighing for excitement, and they have got it. Never in its history has the old Shiretown experienced such a season of gayety as during the past fortnight. That there is truth in the old adage, 'it never rains but it pours' has once more been clearly demonstrated. The first event to break the monotony was the arrival of the military. Since then, St. Andrews society has been all in a flutter of excitement. The second event of importance, which followed close upon the heels of the first, was the opening of the Algonquin Hotel, and the ball which marked that auspicious occasion will not soon be forgotten. Two or three little dances since then have served to keep the wheels of society in motion. On Thursday evening last another important society event transpired, the echoes of which can still be distinctly heard at intervals. On account of the official character of the opening ball, many St. Andrews people who would otherwise have been invited were not present. To allay any feeling that his action might have occasioned, Manager Jones, in his goodness of heart, thought it would be nice to tender a complimentary dance to the St. Andrews people, and at the same time invite the military officers to participate. As the soldiers had but a day or two to remain in camp, there was no time for any formal invitations to be distributed. Mr. Jones accordingly impressed a committee of young ladies into his service, and verbal invitations were extended to a number of persons. It was given out that the affair was to be of a purely informal character, but instead of that, it developed into one of the most brilliant society events that the town has ever witnessed. Between sixty and seventy couples assembled at the Algonquin to partake of Mr. Jones's hospitality. The majority of the ladies and the gentlemen, too, appeared in full dress. Low necked dresses, short sleeves and claw hammer collars predominated. Those people who had been deluded into the idea that the affair was to be altogether informal, and who had not come decked out in ball costume, felt considerably nettled, but as the evening wore on, and the exquisite music of the orchestra tempted them into the mazy dances, they forgot their grievances and were soon enjoying themselves like the rest."
Beacon
July 11/1889
Canadian Pacific Railway
Short Line
Leave St. Andrews Daily except Sundays 3:25 p. m., for Montreal
Connecting with trains for Ottawa, Toronto, and the Western States, with "Soo Line" train for St. Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth, and Pacific Coast train for Port Arthur, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria and all points on the Pacific Coast.
The Algonquin bears—Shulee and Shinimicas—are to be removed, as they are proving a nuisance.
Captain Herbert, of the Argyll hotel, proposes to divide up some of his surplus territory into building lots. He will have between thirty and forty good building lots.
We publish this week for the first time the advertisement of the CPR, and we hope our reader will give it that attention which it deserves. St. Andrews and the CPR both look for a great deal from each other, and it is our earnest wish that the hopes of both will be more than realized.
Beacon
July 11/1889
Excerpts from Bangor Daily News and Bangor Whig. See photocopies and below. Descriptions and praise of town; nothing about hay fever.
-From Bangor Daily News, praise for road:
"Its streets, which were laid out by Deputy John Jones, surveyor for the Crown, were made all of a uniform length and sixty to eighty feet wide, crossing at right angles, and dividing the town into sixty blocks, each 320 feet square. These streets were finely macadamized in this way. In those days, when Jamaica rum flowed freely as water, and people drank at any and all times in the day whenever they chose, the jails were kept full of 'drunks,' and when a prisoner became sober, he was set to 'breaking stone' till his sentence expired. Today these roads are as good as when first made and the work of the convict has lasted where the warehouse of the merchant has tumbled in ruins. The roads are never dusty in hot weather and the rain soaks into the porous soil, as soon as it falls, so they are never muddy. It is a beautifully modelled little town, and the great city of Philadelphia is planned after it."
From Bee Line Gazette, "the finest roads":
Beacon
July 18/1889
Beautiful St. Andrews
A Boston Journalist's Description of us and our New Hotel
The course of the summer resort travels is one of constant change and ever widening circumference. It is but comparatively few years since the fashion of a changer of residence, became universal, and yet today there is no one, from the clerk up to the possessor of many estates, who sometime during the summer does not feel as if it were a duty which he owed to health an custom to visit some place, which either natural beauty, wonderful air, or the expenditure of money, or the patronage of some celebrity, has made fashionable or notorious. Annually the growth of this custom has stretched its limits and gradually it has taken in one place after another. It is but a few years ago that Mount Desert was the utmost limit of the summer traveller, and when a visitor there was assured of plenty of room and freedom from a crowd, and exemption from the trammels of society. All that is past now. Fashion has reached that resort, and wealth and its allies have made life there very gay. Still the summer travellers kept ahead of fashion, and at last it reached the very jumping off place of the United States. This did not in the least deter them, and then this year the summer resort accommodations of this country have leaped the boundary line and taken up a place on the New Brunswick side of the line.
The scenic beauty of this part of the country, and the quaint old country atmosphere have long been vaguely known to the eastern people, but the fact that it was hard to get there the comforts which are indispensable to us as a race have kept Americans from invading the region in any great numbers, but since a hotel company in which many Boston men have an interest have taken possession of one of the prettiest sites in the provinces and have built a first-class hotel there, the country bids fair to be at no late day well reconnoitered by us—and it will repay the trouble.
St. Andrews is situated on a narrow point of land extending southward into the Passamaquoddy Bay, about twelve miles north of Eastport. Though on the New Brunswick side it is due north from the coast of Maine, and despite the nearness of the American boundary, the country, the people, and the town itself have a distinctly foreign air. Not only is the place picturesque in its surroundings, having a water view of great extent—no less than seventy give miles of coast being in sight—with the mountains of Maine on the one hand, and of New Brunswick on the other; bordering the vision on either side, it has a flavor of romance about it, and is the ruins of a once lively shipping port now passed into a dream. The little town, which is on the extreme point of the narrow peninsula, has about seventeen hundred inhabitants, and is almost tree embowered. The oldest inhabitant still tells tales of the days of his youth when its harbor was crowded with merchantmen, which lay so closely alongside of one another that one could walk from the lower end of the town to Joe's point at the other on the decks of the vessels, stepping from one to the other. All this if it be true, is long gone by, and only a few decaying hulls, or pleasure craft and fishing boats are seen at its docks. The town, though dilapidated, is still attractive. It is doubly so, as the simple inhabitants are all fond of flowers, and as you walk its quaint streets you will see everywhere, even in the humble houses, pots of flowering plants. The town, which was an early French settlement, was named for a priest, Saint Andre, who first planted the cross of the Jesuits on that shore, and played an active part in the struggle between the French and English for the possession of the provinces. Above the town the land rises in natural terraces. This rise is so gradual that one can climb to the height of one hundred and fifty feet and hardly be aware of it until one looks back and sees the magnificent bay spread before one, and the town hidden in the trees at one's feet. The point from which the best view is obtained is known as Fort Hill and was selected as the site of the big hotel which has just been completed and named the Algonquin.
Though we have driven the Indian from our soil, yet he still remains to remind us of his once free sway by the names which have remained behind him on the bosoms of our lakes and rivers, and hills, and of our free will we are constantly adding a reminder on our own account of naming a house or a club by some such name as has been given to this. The Algonquin has a view which can hardly be surpassed on the coast. Below is the town—so far distant that it but adds to the view, and its picturesqueness alone is visible. From every point of the compass one sees the water and beyond on three sides the view is guarded by the eternal Hills. Five hundred yards away is Fort Tipperary—now deserted and almost dismantled, though useless guns still mount guard on its grass-grown battlements, behind whose earthworks no longer ago than 1866, during the Fenian troubles, the British regulars marched and countermarched to the sound of the drum and the fife, whose martial strains bade the residents of the odd little town, "have no fear." Previous to that the only memorable time when the fort has been manned was during the "Trent Affair."
The new hotel which crowns this eminence is a structure in the old English style of architecture, and is liberally piazzaed gabled, and turreted. It was built by the Algonquin Land Company from plans by Rand and Taylor, and in a manner which in every way meets the requirements of this convenience-loving age. It has three hundred and fifty feet of piazza, and from them one can see Passamaquoddy Bay, Chamcook Mountain, which guards the way at the north, the St. Croix River, the Bay of Fundy, whose famous fogs do not cross to this shore, and the picturesque, rock-bound and mountain-guarded shore of Maine. The scenery, which grows on one, is of itself enough to make the place popular; while its air, which is said to be a sure cure for insomnia, is so restful that tired nerves at once improve under its tonic. The surrounding country is most interesting. The drives are magnificent. The roads are made of the stone which comprises the shore, and which is a kind of cross between sandstone and slate. It is of the color of sandstone and makes roads as hard as rock; while its porous quality and solidity are of a nature which makes neither mud nor dust. On rainy days the water runs right through it, and the surface is barely wet; on dry days not a speck of dust rises from it. . . . The extreme end of the peninsula is Indian Point, where, in the year 1770, Col. Church landed with his force to revenge the sacking of Deerfield, Conn. This point was a pretty bit of natural beauty, but upon it has already been spent thousands of dollars by the Land Company who have made of it a beautiful park. There are ten acres of land, on the extreme point which was given to the company by the town on condition that a certain amount of money would be spent on it, and the park deeded back to the town. A boulevard has been built around it at the water's edge, and serpentine walks thread their way under the shade of pine trees with whose health-giving balsam the air is redolent. An artificial lake, which is large and contains several islands, has been built, and about the park there are already surveyed a number of cottage sites.
The Boston contingent are all very enthusiastic about the place, and there is no question but that the fact that it is across the borders, where they use the English stamp, and pounds, shillings, and pence, hold sway, and where the custom house is the gate-way, giving the flavour of foreign travel, will aid the real attraction of the place to popularity. The All-Rail line to St. Andrews is in every way a delightful trip. The train leaves Boston at eight o'clock in the morning and proceeds via the Boston and Maine and Maine Central roads, reaching St. Andrews at 9:10 on the evening of the day. The scenery, especially at the latter part of the trip, is delightful, while the service of the road is such as to enable one to make the journey with perfect pleasure and comfort.
The Boston Herald, in a recent editorial on "Sea Shore Towns," tenders the residents of those towns some very sound advice, a great deal of which could be applied to our own case. For a variety of reasons, says the Herald, of which social and hygienic are not the least, the custom is growing for the wealthy residents of large cities, to pass a continuously growing part of the year at the seashore. This tendency has led to the building up of a number of towns on the North Shore."
"St. Andrews has ever been remarkably free from contagious diseases and epidemics of every kind . . ."
To this point the only references to hay fever have been in the Hotel Gazette and the Saint John Daily Sun article parroting it. And of course, the ad for a hay fever cure out of Toronto, which appeared almost concurrently. Nothing in any hotel ad here or locality.
"St. Andrews is booming as a summer resort and may become the Bar Harbour of New Brunswick."
Sea Shore Towns
The Boston Herald, in a recent editorial on Seashore Towns, tenders the residents of those towns some very sound advice, a great deal of which could be applied to our own case. For a variety of reasons, says the Herald, of which social and hygienic are not the least, the custom is growing for the wealthy residents of large cities, to pass a continuously increasing part of the year at the seashore. This tendency has led to the building up of a number of the towns on the North Shore. The country in their immediate vicinity was attractive, and on a number of accounts these North Shore towns are unsurpassed in the inducements they have offered to those seeking summer residences. But the North Shore towns have had their best sites purchased and occupied. The number of really desirable building sites now to be had is exceedingly small, and the prices demanded for these are exceedingly large when compared with the market rates of twenty or thirty years ago. But the demand for such locations is growing, and of late years the South shore had been looked to supply the wants of those who have not been able to find on the North Shore the accommodations they desire. In natural advantages South shore towns are not equal to towns on the North Shore. The prevailing southwest wind is with them, from the land and not from the water; the reefs along the shore and the absence of good harbours are obstacles to yachting, and the sandy soil does not lead to a vegetation as fresh as one finds on the other side. In view of this the true policy of the citizens of these places is to make their towns as attractive as possible by artificial means, especially by the construction and maintenance of good roads, laid out with a view both for convenience and pleasure in driving. Unfortunately, a wise policy of this kind has not been generally adopted, and those roads which have been constructed have not been properly maintained. The consequence of this has been that the towns on the Shore have been passed over by quite a number of those who would have purchased or built summer residences in them if the desired encouragement had been given. These seekers for seashore places have gone twice or three times the distance to far-off localities, when they could readily have been persuaded to locate at a convenience distance from Boston if proper inducements—that is the inducements we have referred to had been held out. Now it seems to us obvious that the true policy for a town blessed with natural and geographical advantages, to adopt, is to make the best use of its opportunities. If the sites available for summer cottages were built upon, the wealth of the town would be greatly increased, while its permanent residents would find, in the advantages of trade thus given to them, many opportunities for earning a living that are now wanting. The amount of available land on the seashore is not large, and it only needs a well-conceived town polity in the direction we have noted to make a town thus conveniently located an exceedingly attractive place for summer residents.
In all this there is a profitable lesson for St. Andrews. Nature had done much for us. She has given us a climate unsurpassed for its salubrity, a splendid harbor, scenery unrivalled, in short everything which goes to make a delightful and a successful seaside resort. Are we taking advantage of our opportunities as we ought? Are our streets and roads as well maintained as they might and should be? Are we trying to make our town as attractive as we might? We fear that we cannot give an affirmative answer to any of these questions. We rely too much on Nature and too little on art; we wait for outsiders to do what we should be doing for ourselves. The time has arrived, when, if the town is ever to amount to anything, the people of St. Andrews will have to put their own shoulders to the wheel. A little more enterprise, the expenditure of a little money and labor in improving and beautifying our streets and squares, and private properties, would make St. Andrews one of the loveliest and most thrifty town on the American continent. Are we asking too much when we ask our people to strive towards that end?
St. Andrews Sardines
The St. Andrews Canning Company Pushing Operations
"Keep Out" is the forbidding legend displayed on the entrance to the St. Andrews sardine factory, yet it did not prevent Manager McElwee from giving the Beacon a hearty reception, the other day. Entering the cutting room at the farther end of the factory, we saw from ten to fifteen lads gathered around a broad table, which was heaped high with silvery little fish. Each had a knife in his hand, and as fast as his fingers would allow him, he was slicing the heads of the fish and throwing the bodies into a box alongside him. These lads are all working "by the piece" and receive 5 cents for every box of fish they cut. Some smart lads make quite a respectable wage.
When the boxes are full, they are emptied into a large tank of water, where the fish are cleansed. This process completed, they are transferred to another tank filled with pickle. After remaining in this for some time they are again washed and once more put through pickle, after which they are laid in flakes, and placed outdoors to dry. From the flakes, they go to wire baskets, while in these baskets they are dipped into boiling oil, where they are kept a certain length of time. After being cooked, the little fish are thrown on the packing table, and half a dozen nimble fingered women pack them up. When the tins are sealed, they are placed in a hot water bath, and after undergoing inspection are ready for the market.
The Company cut their own tin and manufacture their own boxes, having machinery for the purpose. From thirty to forty people find employment in the factory. At the present time the goods that are being put up are samples for the Montreal markets. They are "splendid goods," however and we have no doubt whatever that a remunerative market will be found for all of them. Success to the St. Andrews Canning Company.
The Boston and Maine Railway is looking for patronage of visitors to St. Andrews. Read their advertisement carefully.
President Stephenson of the New Brunswick Railway [currently has new house on Bar Road] looks ten years younger since he came to St. Andrews. The place seems to agree with him. On Saturday he took a run to Montreal for a few days.
Boston and Maine RR Ad—local news and gossip page
Short Line Terminus
The question has been asked—What is the object, the ends to be reached by the Short Line making a terminus Shipping port at St. Andrews? Just this—its deep, capacious, and well protected harbor, where steamships and other vessels of deep draft can be moored and lie at anchor without grounding at all time of tide, and its being the nearest sea port in the Maritime Provinces to Montreal, with a wide deep passage to the Atlantic ocean and possessing other privileges for the extension of commerce. This is no mere speculative idea but positive truth. It has also been asked, when there is already a line in operation to the upper provinces, (the Intercolonial Railway) what was the intention of the CPR company in building the Short Line and the expenditure of such an immense amount of capital in its construction and equipment? To make money; in other words, to do a large and remunerative freight and passenger traffic—a vast business speculation, which would prove an essential factor in developing the resources of the Dominion and promote its prosperity, and not surely to benefit any particular locality—a commendable object on their part, and which could only be accomplished by a direct and short line to the sea. It is as unpatriotic as reprehensible on the part of anyone to magnify mere hills into mountains and carp and cavil at any great undertaking because it may not immediately benefit their locality. Self-interest is apt to bias the judgement, and there are none so blind as those who will not see—their vision is obscured while they are aware that they cannot, if they would change the order of nature, or lessen the natural privileges of any locality. The description of St. Andrews harbor and its unsurpassed advantages for trade and shipping purposes, in a previous issue of the Beacon was no more phantom flitting before the eye of imagination, but was based on the solidities of truth, and it is possible that several strong points may have been committed in my humble effort; it can be truthfully stated however, that I was actuated by those bright hopes which are the sun gleams of the soul and the description was not painted with rainbow colors, but with the . . . of a . . . gray.
The true policy of our people is to persist in spite of opposition from any quarter in upholding the interests of their port; nothing can be obtained without effort. What is to be . . . and when the merits of the port and harbor are fully understood by those men of capital and enterprise, the CPR company, they will decide, the question of a terminal port for their line. The light of this prediction will stream upon the dark chambers of those who persistently ignore this port—its accuracy be admitted, and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. It is something—nay, it is much to have a rightful comment on the subject. I have endeavoured to do my part without the stimulus or praise or being actuated in any unworthy attempt to lessen other ports. References to the charming scenery and the air's pure health-giving properties, fishing, yachting and other attractions of this locality for summer tourists, have been so fully and frequently adverted to in previous articles, that it is unnecessary to repeat it, and I feel cheered by the present prospect of their having borne fruit. How truly the immortal bard expressed it, "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough hew them how we will."
I have added hope to hope even when all was shadowy but am happy to add that we have passed out from the cloud, and the view is now tinged with roseate colors. To use an old French proverb—"Il ya encore de quoi . . ., anglice, the subject is now wholly exhausted.
I do not profess to have more knowledge of the capacious harbor than others, nor as much as pilots and other nautical men, but I do claim an honest desire to make known its facilities to the best of my humble abilities. To adopt a homely couplet, "There is a work for me and a work for you, something for each of us now to do." And no effort on my part will be spared, with the aid of the Beacon, to advance the interest of the town and the port of St. Andrews.