Chapter I: Front Matter

REMINISCENCES
OF A
RACONTEUR
_Between the ’40s and the ’20s_

BY

GEORGE H. HAM
_Author of “The New West” and “The Flitting of the Gods”_

TORONTO
THE MUSSON BOOK COMPANY
LIMITED

Copyright, Canada, 1921
THE MUSSON BOOK CO., LIMITED
PUBLISHERS TORONTO

MUSSON
ALL CANADIAN PRODUCTION

To
RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD SHAUGHNESSY, K.C.V.O.,
of Montreal, Canada, and of Ashford, County
Limerick, Ireland,

This book is respectfully dedicated
in grateful remembrance of many
kindnesses in the vanishing past.

CONTENTS

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

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

George H. Ham (From a recent photograph) Some Early Photographs of George H. Ham The New and the Old C.P.R. Stations in Winnipeg How Our Early Settlers Arrived in Winnipeg Main Street, Winnipeg Portage Avenue, Winnipeg The Duke and Duchess of Connaught with Princess Patricia The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and Daughters the Ladies Cavendish Lord Minto at His Lodge, Kootenay Some Early Trading Posts of the Hudson’s Bay Company At the San Francisco Fair Waterfront, Toronto, Eighty Years Ago Fish-Market, Toronto, Eighty Years Ago Toronto To-Day Rough Riders of the Plains Winter Uniforms of R.N.W.M.P. An Indian Policeman Indian Camp Brother Andre The Oratory of St. Joseph Lord Strathcona Lord Mount Stephen Sir William Van Horne Baron Shaughnessy, K.C.V.O. B. W. Beatty, K.C. I. G. Ogden D. McNichol R.B. Angus A Map Showing Position of Passenger and Freight Trains on the Canadian Pacific Main Lines at 6 P.M. November 1, 1920 Souvenir of the Driving of the Last Spike on the C.P.R. First C.P.R. Locomotive The First Locomotive in Toronto