'JaII
'liiii
iiiiiiiilli
OF TORONTO THE GOOD
A SOCIAL STUDY.
The Queen City of Canada as It is.
C. S. CLARK
" Not necessarily Toronto alone but every city in America."
Toronto as a Social Study was brought prominently before the World by the
remarks of Canadian delegates to the Social Purity Conference at Bal-
timore, and the World's Convention of the Women's Christian Temperance
Union, held at Toronto in 1897.
1
MONTREAL
THE TORONTO PUBLISHING COMPANY.
COLES CANADIANA COLLECTION
Originally published in 1898
in Montreal
by the Toronto Publishing Company.
Facsimile edition reprinted by
COLES — the Book people! Toronto.
© Copyright 1970
CONTENTS :
PAGB
Toronto i
City Government 6
Police Force ii
Society 27^
The Press 32
The Stock Exchange 51
Financial Enterprises 54
Business in Toronto 62
The Detectives , 64
Hotels 6j
Restaurants 71
Boarding Houses 73
Holidays in the City * ^6
City Parks jy
The Public Schools 79
Street Boys 81
The Social Evil 86^
Street Walkers 131-
Lodging Houses 137
The Poor of the City 142-
Pawnbrokers 142
Gambling Houses 143
Drunkenness 143 I
Imposters 144
Pickpockets 145
Crooks 145
Thieves 146
Assignation Houses 147 --
Churches and the Clergy 147
The Bar 188
Music and the Drama 191
Quack Doctors 198
Situation Agencies 204
Swindlers 205
Conclusion 209
TORONTO.
** Toronto the Good " and beautiful is one of the finest cities on the
continent in point of beauty, wealth and intelligence, as it is unques-
tionably the leading commercial city of the west. It supplies to a large
extent the requirements of Manitoba and the North West, and
promises to seriously rival Montreal in the extent of its wholesale trade.
Situated in the centre of the Province, and commanding the leading
position on Lake Ontario, it is essentially a point of importance.
It has some of the handsomest streets on the continent, and is
really well laid out. Jarvis street with its elegant pavement is in
summer a most attractive thoroughfare, and the same may be said or
Bloor, Sherbourne and Spadina, but the extreme east end, and the
west end east of Parkdale are the abode of poverty to a very great
extent, and are commensurately less desirable.
The city extends from the Bay northward to a line scarcely
definable, and this is also the case with the east and west. Real
estate men and companies have opened large tracts of land, and farms
have been converted into building lots, and as the fact of their being
in the city limits increases their value, it becomes therefore, most
desirable that they should be incorporated as soon as they are so
divided.
It was in the year 1883 that Toronto became land hungry and
began to stretch forth ambitious hands to seize adjoining sections of
the County of York. Hear in mind that up to this date Bloor street
on the north, Dufferin street on the west, and virtually the Don on
the east marked the boundaries of our city, whose area was 6,771 acres.
In 1883, Yorkville threw in its lot with the Queen City and became
St. Paul's Ward. Its area was 543 acres. Its eastern boundary was
Sherbourne street, and its western a line just east of Bedford road.
In 1884, St. Matthew's and St. Mark's ward were born, a total increase
to Toronto's area of 2.346 acres. For just three years the city remained
content, and then came the addition of a strip 200 feet deep on the
north side of Kingston road (now Queen street), containing 57 acres,
the new annex of 209 acres, 99 acres of Rosedale quickly followed in
the succeeding year; 1052 acres, including Seaton village, 91 acres
between High Park and the west limit of Parkdale, and about 68 acres
which carried St. Paul's hard up to the top of the hill above the C. P. R.
Hemmed in by the city on three sides, Parkdale next joined fortunes
with Toronto and in 1889 added St. Alban's Ward, a fair-sized debt
and 650 acres of land to the municipality. This was the last accession
to our area, excepting a small strip of 35 acres on the east side of
Greenwood's line, which was acquired in 1890. Toronto now discovered
that she had grown even too strong, and that she had acquired enough
territory to hold all the citizens we are likely to have for the next fifty
years. Hand in hand with this tremendous extension of territory went
the local improvements and the increase of our debenture debt, and
for the last six years citizens have been wondering what all the territory
2 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
was ever wanted for, and have been execrating the insane speculative
mania which sewered and block paved and sidewalked the grassy swards
of the county of York's farm lands.
Recapitulating then we see the growth in area of the city of
Toronto as follows :
1834 to 1883 6,771 acres.
1883 7,315 acres.
1884 9,661 acres.
1887 10,528 acres.
1888 11,239 acres.
1889 11,889 acres.
1890 to 1896 11,924 acres.
That is to say, we have in a period of seven years almost doubled
our area. Those best qualified to speak authoritatively see in this
large extension of territory all the woes in the way of taxation which
now afflict the city. Had there been added not thousands of acres of
what has been fitly designated goose pastures, but, say, Parkdale and
Yorkville and its suburbs, we should now have a compact city, light
taxation, land valuable, and a better and more prosperous population.
And it would also have been infinitely better for those sections which
came in by reason of land speculation during the seven fat years when
Toronto's sober population became land-crazy and speculation-mad.
Among the men who have been brought down by the collapse of
the real estate boom in Toronto, comparatively few can be classed as
lenders. A few, and, compared to the majority of borrowers, a very
few, have been financially prostrated by lending injudiciously. Ihe
sufferers among the lending class have been mainly widows and
orphans, whose money was advanced through the agency of some
rascally lawyer upon worthless second mortgages. The sufferings of
these unfortunates have been grievous enough, but adversity has found
most of its victims, not among those who lent, but among those who
borrowed injudiciously. The men who have come to grief are the men
who sank all their own money in land, which was pledged as security
for further loans. While the boom lasted the lenders reaped a harvest
of heavy interest from the borrowers. When the boom was breaking
the lenders in most cases saved themselves by sacrificing the borrowers'
property. It is quite evident, from the current rates of interest, that
borrowers who think they can get rich by paying more for money than
they can earn with it, are becoming scarcer. The enterprising borrower
in Toronto has paid dearly for his fondness for speculating with other
people's money. In some cases the other people who supplied them
with money have suffered. In most cases the borrower has been the
sufferer, and the present over-abundance of money is proof that lenders
have become cautious, or that borrowers have become scarce.
Toronto's population is, two hundred thousand nearly, and this
does not include the immense throngof visitors for business or pleasure,
who arrive and depart daily. During times of more than ordinary
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 3
interest such as some great religious or edueational convention, the
Industrial Exhibition or some special attraction, these arrivals are
greatly increased The population is made up from almost every nation,
though Canadians prodominate as they should.
It is the goal of almost every youth's ambition in the province to
become eventually a resident of the Queen city. Its universities, than
which there are on the continent none better, attract students from all
parts of the country and the United States as well, while the convents,
business colleges, veterinary college and similar educational institutions
are composed almost entirely of out of town people of both sexes. To
succeed a young man must set to work to build up a reputation for he
will be taken for just what he is worth and no more.
In point of morality the people of Toronto compare with those of
any other city quite favourably, and if the dark side of life is to be seen
here, one may also witness the best. In its charities Toronto stands in
the front rank of Canadian and American cities. The various religious
denominations spend annually thousands of dollars and private contri-
butions towards charitable institutions amount in the aggregate to
sum that are almost princely.
To a certain extend the people are liberal in matters of opinion,
and as a rule men do not seek to influence the opinions of others except
in so far as they are privileged to do so, but any faddist no matter how
absurb or ridiculous his theories may be, will find converts in Toronto
who will be surprised at the lack of intelligence on the part of those
who do not fall in love with them. As an illustration of the suscepti-
bility of Torontonians the conversions made by Prince Michael of
Detroit, among the religiously inclined, maybe cited as a fair example
of what others may do or have done.
Strangers coming into the city are struck with the existence of
the extremes of rich and poor, living in the city is very expensive,
the poor are obliged to live in theskaky, tumble-down houses of Centre,
Elizabeth, South Jarvis and Lombard and Bathurst and some other
streets, while the middle classes and those of only moderate means
reside in the suburbs, or a considerable distance from the business
part of the city. They come down every morning to business in crowds
between the hours of seven and nine, and literally pour out of it bet-
ween the hours of four and seven in the evening. In fair weather the
inconvenience of such a life is trifling but in the winter and especially
after a heavy fall of snow it is very great, and should the street cars
be obstructed the annoyance is considerably increased.
A considerable number of people own their own houses, though
this circumstance may be a questionable advantage. House rents are
comparatively high, particularly in the heart of the city, and many
people of moderate means are compelled to let furnished rooms or take
boarders to supplement their slender incomes.
That owning a house is a desirable boon is not by any means
certain. When the real estate boom was in its zenith property changed
hands at prices that were an unmitigated gratification to those who
4 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
sold them, but those who bought are not so well satisfied. It is really
comical some of the ideas people have of the value of their land. To
trace this matter up I wrote to a firm of real estate agents in reference
to a house on Charles street. It was not by any means a new house,
but it was rented for sixteen dollars a month and taxes. Price three
thousand two hundred dollars. By the fairest calculation in mathe-
matics, it will be seen that to pay six percent, one hundred and eighty
dollars are required, taxes forty eight dollars at least, and then your
chances of profit are only contained in the remote contingency of the
property increasing in value. Three thousand dollars at six per cent
would be infinitely preferable to a house of the description I have
mentioned. This is not by any means an exceptional case. I could
give you similar ones by the score.
In spite of all these drawbacks, however, Toronto is a delightful
place to live in. Its boating is unsurpassed. The bay on a summer
night, is one mass of skiffs and sail boats, and there is scarcely a youth
in the city who has not experienced the delights of rowing, and a large
number are owners or part owners of boats.
Some years ago a number of baths were presented to the city by
a one time resident at a cost of some $5000.00, and they were certainly
a boon to the boys of the city. A storm, however, destroyed their
utility and for a long time there was only the beach where they could
go, including the sand bar opposite Queen's wharf. It is currently
reported that some stately lady used to sit at the hotel window and
survey the boys in bathing through an opera or field glass, until she
made a complaint with the result that bathing without trunks was pro-
hibited by the police. Like all such prohibitive legislation, however
it is to be remarked that it was regularly and systematically set at
defiance. On Sunday mornings in summer the sand bar was alive with
boys and young men who strip themselves and throw their clothes in
a boat. If a policemen looms in sight they take to the boats and I have
never heard that anyone has been arrested yet.
During the past summer, Mr. W. J. Gage made an offer to the city
council to build a swimming bath in a central locality, if the city would
furnish the site. A special committee was appointed to consider the
matter, and confer with Mr. Gage, and recommend to council such
plans and methods as they m^y find practicable and desirable to secure
the best possible results from the liberal proposition made by Mr. Gage„
The Mayor's experiment, by which the city provided a steam tug
to ferry the boys of the city across the Bay to the sand bar for bathing
lessons proved a huge success. On one Saturday no less than 3000
boys were taken over, and as there was an experienced swimmer in
charge, and all necessary appliances on hand also at the expense of the
city, the bathing is absolutely safe, and the departure is proving an
immense boon to the boys in the hot weather.
Besides the bathing afforded by the island it is the terminus of all
the boats that leave the slips at night. All the water front comprises
interminable lengths of boat houses both private and public, and the
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 5
houses owned by organizations such as the Royal Canadian Yacht
Club are perfect palaces in their way. Aquatic sports comprise very
largely the principal diversion of Toronto's men and boys, and there is
scarcely a boy in the city whose sympathies are not enlisted in some
of the great summer events.
This seems to be a matter which is the legitimate outcome of
events. The bay seems to be the only place belonging to the city that
is not consecrated. The parks are for walking in, not for athletic
sports, the streets for traffic, and woe to the boy who is caught dese-
crating them by playing upon them. If he is under the age of sixteen
years, and enter a billiard room, he is liable to arrest again, so that his
opportunities for enjoying life are very limited indeed, and with the
restrictive legislation passed for his benefit, he has not much opportu-
nity for playing, with the result that pernicious amusements are at a
premium.
A child eleven years old appeared in the Police court charged
with the offence of playing ball on Sumach street. The ball, a small
rubber affair, was produced in court and the boy when asked why he
did not bring the bat also, explained that he had no bat, and was
playing with the ball and a piece of a stick when the policeman inter-
rupted him. There was no question as to the guilt of the accused. Hugh
Miller, J. P., fined the boy $2 or ten days in goal. A good hearted
justice of the peace like Mr. Miller could not go against the by-law,
but the by-law forbidding ball playing in the street should be enforced
against children with a good deal of discretion. By-laws that deal with
graver offences than ball playing are not enforced at all. The child
who was playing with a soft rubber ball on Sumach street was doing
nobody any harm, and the city has something else to do with its money
than to pay policemen to run down children who in their innocence
think it no sin to try and enjoy themselves.
A squad of boys, the oldest of whom was thirteen, were playing
ball in front of their home on Victoria street, opposite the Normal
School grounds, when Police Constable 195 ordered them to desist and
took their names. The officer did his work civilly enough, and the
protest is not against him, but rather against the folly of employing
policemen for the persecution of small boys. Not that the Toronto
small boy is an angel. By no means. He is rude and mischievous. His
mania for damaging trees and defacing property may be explained by
the fact that it is unsafe for him to attempt to enjoy himself in any
more innocent way A hundred property owners can bear witness that
the police have not come between the small boy and his enjoyment of
the game of tearing down fences or breaking the windows of vacant
houses. But let a few children start a game on a quiet street with a
lawn tennis ball such as those boys on Victoria street used and imme-
diately a policemen interferes. When the street becomes the play-
ground of youths or grown men some body is liable to get hit with
the hard ball they use. It ought to be easy to avert this danger with-
out perpetuating a by-law which permits the police to exclude children
6 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
from the streets and to terrify them with threats of Police Court prose-
cution for the heinous offence of playing with a soft ball.
CITY GOVERNMENT.
The city is governed by a mayor and twenty-four aldermen who
receive $300 per annum who are elected annually, though the mayor,
as an act of grace, is usually permitted to have a second and sometimes
a third term. His salary is three thousand dollars per annum.
In the Municipal Amendment Act of 1896 a radical change has
been made by the creation of a Board of Control, which applies practi-
cally only to the city of Toronto. 1 he Board consists of the Mayor and
three aldermen, the latter to be elected by the Council. The tenure of
office is yearly. Salaries to the Hmit of $700 each may be fixed by by-
law. The duties are to prepare the estimates, deal with and award con-
tracts, inspect all municipal works, nominate to the Council all heads
of the various civic departments and recommend the salaries, and no
official or clerk shall be appointed without the consent of the Board,
except on a two-thirds majority of the Council. Power to dismiss
employes, and to regulate the work of the various departments, are
some of the other duties of the Board.
It shall also be the duty of the Board, subject to the approval of
Council, to regulate and supervise all matters connected with expendi-
ture, revenue and investments, and recommend such measures to the
Council as may be deemed necessary therewith ;
To have supervision and control of all books, documents, vouchers
and securities belonging to the corporation ;
To see that persons in office and to be appointed to office shall
give and mai tain the necessary security for the performance of their
respective duties ;
To carry out the orders of the Council, and for that purpose to
direct and control all heads of departments in the execution of the
duties of their offices ;
The Board shall, as soon as may be, provide the necessary funds
for any expenditure recommended by two-thirds of the members of
the Council present and voting, and the yeas and nays on sach voting
shall be recorded and forwarded to the chairman of the Board ;
The Board shall hold regular meetings, in time to allow the pre-
sentation to the Council by the Board of all reports of the Select and
Standing Committees, transmitted to the Board three days previous to
the meeting of the Council ;
The Board shall appoint one of their number as vice-chairman,
who shall act as chairman in the absence of the Mayor, having first
been notified by the Mayor in writing of his intention to be tempora-
rily absent from his duties ;
Reports of all Standing and Special Committees shall be presented
to the Board of Control for transmission to the Council.
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 7
Reports of the Board of Control intended for the consideration of
Council shall be transmitted to the members of Council one day previous
to the meeting of the Council.
A new clause in the section defining the duties of the Committee
on Legislation provides that all agreements for franchises, etc., shall be
considered and reported upon by that committee.
At the municipal elections held on the 3rd January, 1898, John
Shaw was elected Mayor over Mr. E. A. Macdonald by 4000 majority.
This is Mr. Shaw's second term really, he having been elected Mayor
in August, 1897, by the City Council, when Mayor Fleming was made
Assessment Commissioner. With regard to Mr. Fleming, I am much
pleased that he has received this appointment, though 1 know him only
by reputation. I have watched the course of civic politics in Toronto
from a distance, and I never heard of a more dirgracefui campaign than
that waged against him when Mr. Warring Kennedy defeated him by
something under fifty votes, excepting, perhaps, the one just closed, in
some minor points. The speech made by Mr. Macdonald at the nomin-
ations, according to the Globe's report was an intellectual treat. Mr
Shaw and Mr. F. S. Spence were treated to such a scathing denunci-
ation that the Globe headed its report "Running in the Mud." When
Mr. Fleming and Mr. Kennedy were the candidates, it was not sufficient
that their public records should furnish the basis of argument, but the
press supporting Mr, Kennedy did not tire of referring to him as the
" ^successful business man ", while the reverse was said of Mr. Fleming.
But amongst the most disgraceful things said in a most disgraceful
campaign was the comparison drawn between the two men as to their
relative positions in the Methodist Church. Would it not have been the
act of a gentleman, let alone a Christian for Mr. Kennedy to have pro-
tested against such tactics ? Yet when one Methodist Minister from
his pulpit expressed his intention of supporting Mr. Fleming he was
promptly called to order by these same papers, and trcatened with dire
consequences if he persisted. Does the Omnipotent sleep ? Was it not
Almighty God who said "Vengeance is mine, and I will repay ?" Mn
Kennedy did not serve his term, however, for the house of Samson,
Kennedy & Co., " the successful business men " made an assignment.
Was not that the hand of an avenging Providence? Had Mr. Kennedy
possessed any of the qualifications that entitled him to the position
of Mayor, one might have condoned the mud throwing by the press
that was indulged in, but his messages to council were compared by
one journal to a comic song or a burlesque, and not unreasonably so.
When he sent a message of condolence to the widow of Sir John
Thompson, he informed her that Sir John possessed an exuberance of
intellect that was highly polished, as though he were speaking of a
shirt front. When the Globe saw fit to adversely criticise some of his
acts, they were sent a letter informing them that as they saw fit to cri-
ticise His Worship they would get no more advertising. So there !
That must be about on a par with what a school boy of ten would do.
But perhaps, about the most ridiculous thing was when Mr. Kennedy
8 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
cabled his regrets as Mayor of Toronto at the death of the Russian
Emperor — an act that provoked from the Evening Telegram a most
excellent caricature. In my next edition, I may give miniatures of
these caricatures, if I can get the consent of that paper.
Some years ago, chiefly owing to the influence of the News,
which was at that time specially influential in both temperance and
labour circles, Mr. W. H. Rowland, the nominee of this combination,
was elected, and during his regime, and with the influence of the News,
the ring that seemed to have been formed to swindle the water-works
department was exposed and the guilty parties brought to justice.
This exposure was the lever that commenced the idea of a strictly
moral city, which should be consummated by restrictive legislation. A
more fatal mistake was never made. Mankind in general have a passive
regard for public opinion, and unwritten laws regarding morality, and
can usually be trusted to give a moral support to usages that have a
tendency to elevate their fellows, but once make this unwritten law
take the form of restrictive legislation and this same mankind will most
emphatically rebel. In support of this assertion, let me say that I have
in easy recollection the names of quite a dozen women of unquestion-
able reputation, membersofdifi'erent churches, who will visit American
cities and smuggle into Canada hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise
and declare to the preventive officer that they have nothing dutiable
when if he were to make a search he would find that they were telling
him the most barefaced falsehoods. Make any law which is regarded
as restrictive and which does not receive the moral support of the people,
and men who would never dream of breaking it before it became law,
will take a delight in doing so simply to show their contempt, and
because they consider it interferes with their rights. This was what
happened in Toronto, and finally culminated in a most complete and
over-whelming defeat to the party supporting it. Mr. Rowland knew
that he dare not face the electorate and ask for re- election a third time,
but Mr. Elias Rogers was prevailed upon to do so by those who stood
beside Mr. Rowland, and a veritable Waterloo was the result to them,
in spite of the fact that the prayers of the righteous were imp'ored on
behalf of their candidate. Rad Mr. Rogers been opposed by the most
unmitigated blackguard in Toronto, there can be no doubt that he
would have been defeated, or elected by such a narrow majority that
it would have been tantamount to defeat. The people were simply
waiting an opportunity to rend them.
It is simply the repetition of history.
We are informed that the Puritans, when in the ascendant, had
with an iron hand crushed down many amusements, the desire of which
is a natural appetite of man, and thus created a hunger and a longing
for the forbidden things, which became an unappeasable frenzy when
the Restoration brought a chan^^e. The nation plunged madly into
the opposite extreme. An utter absence of shame marked the mode
of life in that most wicked age. The blush of innocence seemed almost
forgotten in the court circles in England. Almost all the duties to God
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 9
and man in the theatres were held up to public mockery. Virtue in
every form especially truth and modesty came in for the comedian's
jeering, and the loudest applause was brought forth from the audience
by the triumph of the profligate and the ridicule cast upon the victims
of his success.
On a lesser scale was the Puritanical rule exercised in Toronto.
We did not have any such crazy names as " Praise God Barebones," or
others equally ridiculous, but we had suppressing laws being introduced,
and attempts made to carry them out. The populace were absolutely
incensed, and the Government was ruthlessly overthrown, and justly so.
Mr. Edward F. Clarke was nominated by those who were opposed
to this state of affairs, and it may be mentioned that he had the support
of the News, which was, I believe, the only paper in the city supporting
him, while Mr. Elias Rogers was the nominee af those who wished to
see a continuance of Mayor Rowland's policy. Arrayed on the side of
Mr. Clarke were the leading business men of the city, and Professor
Gold win Smith moved his nomination.
The battle raged long and fiercely and was not without its humou-
rous side as well. Aarrayed on either side were the forces of practical
common sense, and on the other a sentiment to make people religious
and moral by ** Act of Council". Another element in the contest was
a by-law reducing the number of licences, and the arguments used
against Mr. Clarke were that if he were elected there would be no pos-
sibility of carrying this law into effect. It promised to be a rich harvest
for the newspapers in the way of advertising The W.C.T.U. announced
in black heavy heading letters " For God, Home and Country ", that
Mrs. Youmans would address the eleclors in such a place at such a
time, and some Alliance made an equal if not more brilliant show. The
other side carried on the warfare without this amount of advertising,
but having the sympathies of the people their work had a lasting and
radical effect. Mr. Clarke was elected, I believe, by nine hundred
majority,
The first sign of open rebellion against the people who intended
by act of council to keep an eye on the morals of the city came when
Mr. Rowland attempted to give effect to a by-law making it a misde-
meanor to hire a horse on Sunday. The matter was brought into the
courts, and when Mr. Clarke was elected it was allowed to drop. The
city had become heartily sick of paying for legal services to give effect
to the whims of Mr. Rowland and his clique, and since that time we
have had no such attempt to introduce radical measures for the purifi-
cation of the common ruck. But those who were with Mr. Rowland
have attempted in various ways to bring in other restrictive legislation,
and with most disastrous results. After two defeats a by-law permitting
the running of street cars on Sunday has passed by a good substantial
majority, and to-day we have Sunday street cars, where ten years ago,
a man was prosecuted for letting out a horse on Sunday. Again it
would appear, have the Righteous come to grief. The prayers of
different people were asked that God might decree that the by-law
10 OF TOEOl^TO THE GOOD.
should not carry. Apparently God did not take much heed of their
prayers for the by-law carried. Coercing morality into people is pretty
much like fighting a wolf. If you keep up the fight gradually and fire
a shot into him occasionally, you will in the end succeed in killing
him. But once you start to make too short work of him and drive him
into a corner, then look out for squalls. He will turn and with the
energy of madness destroy the man who might have killed him, had
he been less in a hurry. Now there is to be another horror in store for
Toronto. It is stated that the steamship companies are to run their
boats on Sunday from Toronto to some American port. It may be
Dot out of place for me to observe that on the first Sunday that cars
ran in Toronto, the city survived the shock, and was not visited by any
land slide, earthquake, or tornado, but seems to be in the same old
place doing business as usual.
I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. R. T. Coady, City Treasurer,
for the following figures :
MEMO OF ESTIMATP:S of SALARIES, 1897.
CITY OF TORONTO.
Aldermen $ 7,800
Assessment Department I4.340
Audit 2,950
Board of Control 2,800
City Clerk's Department. 10,376
City Surveyor & Assistant 3»225
Court of Revision 1,500
Engineer's Department 20,000
Fire Department 109,665
Isolation Hospital 5,o<>o
Jail 13.450
Law Department 13,300
License Receiving Office 760
Local Board of Health 15,820
Mayor 3,600
Mayor's Office 2,000
Messenger City 624
Parks and Gardens 2,025
Police Court Officers 8,572
Police Department 207,229
Property and Markets 11,585
Public Library 12,465
Schools, Collegiate Institutes $ 48,050
Public Schools 353,114
Separate Schools 24,533
Technical " 6,856
432,553
Tax Collectors 8,800
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 11
Treasurer's Department 19,200
Water Works — Rating and Revenue Branch, (under
City Treasurer) 22,647
Water Works Department, (under City Engineer)... 41,500
Total $993786
For the year 1896 the receipts of the city from all sources, includ-
ing the balance on hard at the beginning of the year, amounted to
$7,336,710,92 and the disbursements to $5,559,633.24 leaving a balance
on hand and in banks of %i,yyy,oyy.62), including $1,245,652.60 of
Sinking Fund moneys. The statement of current assets and liabilities
shows liabilities for the year $1,650,122.57 and assets $1,586,047.15
leaving a debit balance of $64,075.42.
TORONTO'S DEBENTURE DEBT.
The debenture debt of the city on 31st December, 1896, was as
follows : —
General debenture debt $13,053,653.05
Local improvement debenture debt 7,653,763.18
Toronto Railway 1,067,328.57
Total gross $21,775,145.80
Deduct cash and debentures at credit of various sinking funds as
follows : —
Cash $1,245,652.60
City debentures, purchased with sinking fund
money 3,672,33044
Invested in Dominion of Canada stock ^d>6.67
Total $4,918,469.71
Leaving a total net debenture debt of $16,856,676.09.
The value of property owned by the city is estimated at $1 2,000,000,
exclusive of all public works and services of the city.
POLICE FORCE.
I am indebted to the courtesy of Lt. Col. Grassett, late the Prince
of Wales Leinster Regiment, Chief Constable for his Annual Report
for 1896, from which I take the following statistics relating to the force:
There were 8,329 persons apprehended or summoned during the
year, being 671 more than in 1895. Breaches of City By-laws represent
539 of the increase. Lost property shows a decrease of $4,570 and
stolen property an increase of $9,017, The percentage of lost and
stolen property recovered was $8,407 and $407 respectively — the differ-
ence in the latter being accounted for through identification being
rendered impossible by melting plate, jewellery, etc., and by disposing
of goods outside the city.
12 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
DETECTIVE DEPARTMENT.
The records of the criminal cases dealt ^with by this Department,
taken as a whole, show an increase of 151 over those of 1895, but as
petty larceny represents an excess of 140, the more serious offences
total about the same.
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT.
Nature of Offence. 1895. 1896. Increase. Decrease.
Murder 7 4
Burglary 32 26
House-breaking 188 189
Highway robbery 13 13
Pocket picking 80 100
Horsestealing 4 3
Larceny 1,423 1,563
6
6
I
20
I
140
161
10
54
100
I
$2,812
Total 1,747 1,898
Miscellaneous cases attended
to 2,690 2,636
Occurrences reported 4,430 4,530
Committals for felonies 798 799
Value of property recovered,$i8,2 52 $15,436 $2,812
Arrests made 667 734 6y
MURDER.
The four cases under this heading comprise, two of infanticide by
persons unknown, one of a man who killed another and was acquitted
by a jury on the grounds of self-defence, and the fourth a jockey who
died from the effects of a murderous assault committed for the purpose
of robbery. All hope has not yet been abandoned of placing the sus-
pected parties on their trial for this crime.
In addition to the foregoing there occured three instances of man-
slaughter. One caused by a fall on the street due to a collision with
two unknown men ; another a fratricide of which the accused was
acquitted, and for the third a man awaits trial.
BURGLARY.
There were six fewer cases of burglarious entry reported than in
1895, and the amount stolen, apart from the large sum obtained by the
thieves at the Toronto University, was rather under that of the previous
year. In one instance the burglar resorted to fireams to effect his escape.
HOUSEBREAKING.
The number of reports classified under this heading are about the
same as in the preceding twelve months, but the loss sustained was
larger by $900.00. Nearly all the men who committed most of these
depredations were eventually arrested and are now in prison.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
13
HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
While the number of cases was the same this year as last, the
amount stolen was larger, nearly all of which came from the pockets
of drunken persons.
POCKET PICKING.
This class of offence being easy to commit and difficult to detect
has been on the increase, and the pecuniary success attending those
engaging in this sort of thieving is represented by $1,571 in cash, as
compared with $935 in 1895.
Out of 100 instances reported, 25 occurred in the streets, the
remaining 75 in places of public resort, such as shops, churches,
markets, etc.
LARCENY.
A considerable increase is to be noticed under this head both in
the number of cases and the amount stolen, the figures respectively
being 120 and $5,238. They cover thefts of infinite variety, the new
code classification being more comprehensive than the old.
CHANGES IN THE DEPARTMENT.
II
"1
Is
a®
si
l-l
0^
si
I
2
1
a
0 c
'4
0
^1
1
1
3
Remaining last year..
Appointed during year.
Retired on pension ....
JDismissed
I
I
6
15
I
I
12
6
6
4
219
266
....
3
3
207
Resigned
Remaining
I
I
I
I
(5
15
I
16
6
4
258
Appended is the usual statement of receipts and expenditure taken
from the books kept in the Orderly Room.
Estimate ^
Salaries $206,948
Clothing and equipment
Miscellanous sundries
Ambulance service
Mounted service
Patrol wagon and signal service..
Van service
Estimate.
Expenditure.
$206,948 05
$204,741 54
8,051 71
7,578 14
6,833 00
4736 40
1,115 50
991 56
1,485 00
1,260 13
4.314 50
4,029 08
442 00
449 18
$229,189 76
$223,786 03
$223,786 03
Balance $ 5,403 73
14 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
STAFF INSPECTOR'S DEPARTMENT.
The reports received and attended to by this Department are
recorded as 2,439, being 26 less than in 1895. The cases brought into
the Court were as under : —
Fines Imposed.
1895 1896 1895 1896
Houses of ill-fame. 46 45
Disorderly houses 36 56 $ 140 $ 315
Liquor cases 74 Sy i,345 1.763
Cruelty to animals 139 118 326 276
Miscellaneous 369 444 801 282
Total 687 750 $2,612 $2,636
HOUSES OF ILL- FAME..
While houses of ill-fame with regular inmates are not more in
evidence than they were a year ago, loose women have scattered them-
selves about, living in rooms where they can receive men without police
interference, often to the annoyance of the more respectable neighbors,
who object to their presence, and desire their removal. The police,
however, find it no easy matter to deal effectively with this class of
persons. Enticing men from windows and doorways, being safer than
solicitation on the streets, has been resorted to in some localities.
GAMBLING.
If gambling is carried on with the usual outfit and equipment
necessary for the purpose and in rooms accessible to anyone who wants
to join in a game, the police claim to be unaware of the fact. Two
raffles, two lotteries, some Chinese playing fan-tan on Sunday, and boys
shooting craps in the streets, include all the cases before the Court
under this heading.
LIQUOR CASES.
The returns show a slight decrease in the number of prosecutions
for a violation of the Licence Law. The result has been, no doubt,
contributed to by the granting of a license at the Island. The illicit
sale of liquor there has almost ceased. There has been no relaxation
in the efforts of the Department to enforce observance of the law,
CHARGES AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE FORCE,
2 Constables were Absent from duty without leave Dismissed.
2 " " " " '• Fined.
1 ': " " •' " ....Admonished.
1 " " Assaulting a comrade Fined.
1 " " " citizeft "
2 •* ** Allowing a prisoner to escape "
1 " ** Being found coming out of a brewery-
while oa deity **
1 '* " Being found coming out of a licensed
hotel while on duty Reduced.
1 •' " Being found coming out of a licensed
hotel while on duty Fined.
1 ** " Borrowing money from a hotel-keeper. . . "
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 15
1 Sergeant for Intoxication Severely reprimanded.
1 Constable " " Admonished.
6 " " " Fined.
1 •' " Making false statements to a superior
officer Dismissed.
9 " " Neglect of duty Fined.
2 " " " Admonished.
1 " " " Allowed to resign.
1 " " Neglecting to report important information
communicated to him by a citizen.. .Reduced.
1 " ** Soliciting money for services at a cricket
match Fined.
22 " " Violation of the Rules and Regulations
of the Police Department "
14 " " Violation of the Rules and Regulations
of the Police Department Admonished.
1 " •• Violation of the Rules and Regulations
of the Police Department Allowed to resign.
The city is governed in police matters by three commissioners, the
Police Magistrate, the Mayor, and the County judge, but any complaint
against the force is made to the chief constable, and investigated by
the commissioners, who also deal with the officers offending, or who
are to receive any special mark of approbation.
Besides having a sure thing in the way of their pay, the police
seem to have the privilege of doing other work besides, as will be seen
by the following correspondence :
Sir, — Can you give the public any information how it is that the police of this city are
allowed to take contracts when they are off duty } I think they get enough without taking the
bread out of the mouths of the poor mechanics. I have seen two of them shingling houses in
St. John's ward more than once. I think the sooner it is stopped the better. If they are not
satisfied with their pay why not leave like men ? — Fair Play and Justice.
The correspondent in his communication directs attention to a
matter that should receive the prompt attention of the Chief constable
and the Board of Police Commissioners. It should be fully investigated.
The constables referred to in the latter are said to be two brothers
named Tripp, one of whom has only recently joined the force, who, if
they are doing the work, are guilty of violating one of the regulations
of the police department. The regulations in question prohibit mem-
bers of the force from engaging in any business, either themselves or
their wives. The regulations strictly define that a constable is required
to devote his whole time to his business as a policeman. If he engages
in any other employment he should be held accountable to the Board
of Police Commissioners for insubordination and breach of discipline.
It is no secret that not a few constables do not scruple to carry on
speculations and operations in real escate while they are supposed to
be doing their duty. The matter affords the Board a wide scope for
an investigation, whereby they might easily ascertain just how many,
if any, members of the force are growing wealthy by side dealings in
real estate, and how many of them practically carry on profitable real
estate agencies.
While there is a bare possibility that some salutary reforms may
be made, it is safe to say that the probabilities are very remote. In the
following observations given by different people, it will be seen that
16 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
one man makes the charges that Staff Inspector Archibald has appealed
to religious bodies and has been able thereby to perpetuate the system.
In his address to the electors in his first campaign, Mr. Fleming is
reported as saying :
I want to say a word about our heavy police expenses. Now do not misunderstand me.
I am not criticising our policemen. I believe, and I do not say this for any other purpose but
of fairly giving credit where credit is due, I believe there is not another force on this continent
that will compare with ours.
A voice — At drinking lager.
Mr. Fleming — No, I do not think there is a force of men in America who drink as little
lager as our police. Neither is there a lot of policemen who as seldom enter a saloon. (Laugh-
ter). No, they are a sober lot of men.
A voice — What about Archibald and his Morality Department.
Mr. Fleming — When I become Mayor I will investigate that. Now I do not think we
ought to have so many drunks at the police court. Arresting a man when he is simply drunk,
when he is walking quietly home never does any good, It swells the number of cases. It gives
our police court needless work. It often causes the unfortunate offender to lose more time than
he would have lost if he had been allowed to go home and get to work the next morning. Then
his suffering family suffer still more. It gives our city a worse name than it really deserves, and
it never does the arrested man a particle of good. You never knew one dollar and costs to
cure one single case of drunkenness. The shame of the police court often does incalculable
harm to the man who has been overtaken by his evil appetite, that after all. our present social
customs and laws really foster. As a rule the first offender, after spending his night in the cells,
among thieves and hardened characters, alter the anxiety caused by his absence from home,
after the loss of his half day, and the humiliation of the police court, simply has his case
dismissed. I think that if it is necessary sometimes to arrest a man who is helpless, for his own
protection, the inspector of the station could very well be empowered to record his arrest and
set him at liberty when he gets sober. Mind, I am not advocating leniency with hardened
drunkards, I am simply pointing out the fact that we are wasting time and money, an -I badger-
ing citizens, with no benefit to anyone and with positive injury in many cases. (Loud applause).
Then we have too many police court case of violation of city by-laws. I think laws ought to
be enforced and respected, but it is pretty hard to see the city with such disgracefully dirty
streets as seme of our leading thoroughfares are to-day, prosecuting citizens who have not had
sunlight enough to melt a little snowfall off his sidewalk before ten o'clock in the morning, or
whose cow has committed the unpardonable offence of grazing for a few minutes on a vacant
lot, at the storekeeper whose barrel of apple-4 has stuck out an inch and a half too far on the
sidewalks. Laws should be made to protect us, not to worry us. Policemen should be for our
protection, not our annoyance. I want to see a little less expenditure of public money, and a
little more use of common sense. (Loud applause).
At a public meeting the Rev. Father Geoghegan, of Hamilton,
seconded a resolution in a speech pregnant with valuable ideas on the
subject of juvenile treatment, and in the course of his remarks said :
Our policemen don't put themselves out to treat our boys with ordinary decency. I have
seen policemen on Saturday night who could not notice men coming out of the side door of a
saloon, run at a lad who was catching a ball on the street, and threaten him with arrest. But
the boys had no votes which could control the aldermen who put the coat on the policeman's
back, while the bar-room loafers had. At this there was great applause.
In support of the contention of the Rev. gentleman, a case occurs
which is somewhat analogous, and demonstrates the difficulties civilians
have in maintaining their rights. The newspaper report says :
Inspector Stephen, of No. i Police Division is engaged in investigating a charge against
P. C. Duncan (145) of having committed an assault on a young man named Wm. Robinson, of
72 Gerrard street, west. Robinson states that he was standing near Hubbard's livery stable on
Nelson street, in company with a friend when Duncan addressed him in an ungentlemanly
manner, and afterwards struck him three or four blows in the face leaving bruises there. He
states that he and his friend were returning from a party at Brock avenue, and in this way
accounts for his presence on the street at that early hour of the morning. Duncan gives his
version of the affair as follows : Robinson and his companion had knocked at the door of a
disreputable house at No. 16 Nelson street He was on special duty watching ihe place He
admits speaking to them, but denies having used any insulting language, Robinson clutched
him by the arm, and all the force he used was only necessary to loosen his hold. The Inspec-
tor will make his report to the Chief Constable, who will likely refer it to the Board of
Police Commissioners.
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. It
On the following day the same paper said in connection with
this case :
Among the members of the police force there is considerable speculation being indulged
in regard to the complaint that a young man preferred against P. C. Duncan. He alleges that
Dnncan assaulted him and made a statement of the occurrence just as it transpired, to Inspector
Stephen the day following That report has not yet been forwarded to the Chief Constable by
Mr. Stephen, and some of the constables are wondering if the Inspector has taken upon himself
the authority of relegating it to the waste paper basket because the accused constable is one of
his '' pets " and likewise a countryman. The young man felt that he was harshly treated by
the constable, and he does not intend to allow the matter to drop without being inquired into.
In strange contrast another case is pointed out. P. C. Duncan made a trifling complaint againsj
P. C. Childs ( 1 1 ), and Inspector Stephen forwarded his report on that case to Lieut.-Col.
Grassett before the ink was dry on it. It appears that the young man who claims to have been
assaulted by Duncan met Childs a few minutes later. He appealed to Childs for information,
and the latter very properly advised him to report Duncan to his superior officers. Duncan
and Childs had an exchange of compliments, in the course of which he called Duncan a "pet",
or something like that. For this he is to be carpeted. Meanwhile, Duncan is not even reported.
Now let the reader for one moment contrast the treatment a civi-
lian receives with the treatment a policeman receives if the former
happens to be the culprit. The following is the newspaper report of an
incident that will illustrate my meaning.
P. C. William Allan (184) was the victim of an unsually brutal assault at the hands of a
gang of rowdies. He was patrolling his beat on River street, when two brothers named John
and George O'Connell came together down River street. They were both apparently under
the influence of liquor, John being very noisy, and using profane language. Allan arrested
John when the brother interfered. Both men peeled off their coats, and proceeded to pound
him with their fists and feet. George wrested the, baton from the officer's grasp, and beat him
with it, it is alleged, until his face was frightfully battered beyond recognition and frightfully
disfigured. Allan struggled desperately with his assailants but they were assisted by a third
man who came along. Allan was found in an almost unconscious condition by some neighb mrs
who came to render him assistance. The rowdies levanted as the newcomers approac^^ed, but
later on George O'Connell was arrested. Allan was reported to be in a serious condition, so
the prisoner was remanded for a week on the charge of assaulting the constable, bail being fixed
In two sureties in $500 00 each
The above is the aspect of the case as first reported, and presented
before the police court. The young men had the courage of their con-
victions, and carried it to the county court, and though I tried to get
a copy of the actual judgment, I failed to do so, but I give you the
following remarks from the Telegram on the subject :
The jury that judged between policeman Allan and his assaillants are a credit to the
city of T<jronto and the county of York. It acquitted the innocent, convicted the guilty, and
censured an officer who was summarily punished by the broken head that was the dividend he
received for a large share in the authorship of the original scuffle. Their Honours the Com-
missioners assume that an officer, if infallible. They seldom chide the officious constable. This
tolerance encourages tyranny and brutality, and finally uniformed bullies come to grief in the
Assize court, where the common sense of a judge and jury affords the protection to the humlest
of her Majesty's lieges !
The above will bear comparison with the following case, which still
further shows the difficulties the public are compelled to contend against,
in as much as the city seems to be compelled to defend a policeman,
guilty or not guilty, and the other fellow must pay his own lawyer. It
would seem only reasonable that both should be on terms of equality,
if that were possible, in a case of this kind.
Wm. and Robert O'Reilly are brothers living on Power street. They were arrested by
policeman John Welsh on Berkeley street, on a charge of being disorderly. They were put
into the patrol waggon, handcuffed, put mto the cells at No. 4, in a cold fireless room. The
next morning the Magistrate discharged them after hearing the officer's statement, and they
18 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
sued the policeman for $1000 damages for false arrest, cruel treatment and false imprisonment.
Dr. Nattrass swore that he found Robert's back and ribs injured, which injuries, the boy swore
were inflicted by Welsh jumping upon him with his knees. Charles Quinr, Patrick Milligan,
John O'Donnell and Maggie O'Reilly told the story of the arrest in corroboration of the
brothers' evidence. Officer Welsh said that Quinn and two other young men were acting as
if drunk and used obscene language to him ; Quinn struck at the officer who ran to arrest him,
but he escaped ; then he met Wm. O'Reilly, who was drunk and refused to give the officer his
name ; he was arrested for the refusal. Meanwhile Robert came up and interfered, when he,
too, was arrested. In the westle both fell, and he did not jump upon the boy intentionally.
One of the police regulations demands that any person who refuses to give his name may be
arrested. Mr. Holmes who prosecuted the case said :
" Things have come to a pretty pass in this city if its citizens are to be treated in this
way."
Judge Falconbridge very particularly enquired of Mr. Biggar who defended Welsh, by
what authority these regulations were passed. The Solicitor thought by the municipal Act, but
was not sure. Upon this point the doughty barrister got in a noted objection. In order to
test the credibility of a witness Mr. Biggar asked him if he was not once in the dock on a serious
charge, and what the charge was. The judge told the witness he need not answer unless he
chose to do so ; there was no truth in the charge. Constable O'Brien, one of the men who
came with the waggon, said he handcuffed the boys by Welsh's order. Mr. Biggar argued against
submission to the jury, but it went there.
A letter from Mr. Holmes to me said the verdict was for the
plaintiff, county court costs set-off.
Again the following case is demonstrative that a purely vindictive
spirit actuates the force in dealing with culprits :
P. C. Weston had a boy named John Connors before the court for drunkenness and
having hit him on the head with a bottle. Mr. Baxter not having jurisdiction to try the assault
case, a suggestion from the Deputy Chief that his Worship should deal out sufficient punish-
ment to Connors on the drunkenness charge was acted upon. After hearing the evidence and
learning that Conners had received a scalp wound from contact with the peeler's baton, Mr.
Baxter imposed a fine of $3 and costs or 30 days. The Deputy v..hief then said that he thought
he would have to prefer the charge of assaulting Weston against Conners.
Mr. Baxter — But you led me to understand that both offences were to be dealt with
at once.
The Deputy — So I did, but that small fine don't suit me
Mr. Baxter — I won't allow you sir, to criticise my rulings.
The Deputy — I want to lay the second charge,
Mr. Baxter — You can d« that, of course, but it alPgoes to show that each case should
stand on its own bottom. As you intend to swear to that other information, I will make the
fine $1, or 30 days. Conners was remanded for a week on the assault case.
Of this Deputy Chief the Toronto News says :
The burglar who escaped from the cells at Police Headquarters pried his way out with
a crowbar, but the entire staff armed with crowbars could not pry the deputy chief from the well
paid job he fills so muchly that he overflows into judicial duties.
The following is another case of police espionage, and shows that
where the defendant has the courage and the money to go on with his
case, he will generally come out on top, and will be a cause for rejoi-
cing to those who like to see every one get British fair play, and in
striking contrast to the above case, where the Deputy Chief seemed to
think that where the defendant was a common civilian and the punish-
ment meted out was not a sufficient vindication of the majesty of the
force he must institute another charge against the defendant. The
following is taken from the Telegram :
James H. Bailey, the young man whose mother alleges that the boy was induced to plead
guilty to a charge of criminal assault on Maudie Tyerell, a girl under the age of 14, by the
representations of Detective Watson, is happy to-night. The details of this case are well known.
Detective Watson, it is alleged, went to arrest the boy on the above charge, and told the lad
and his mother that a conviction was sure, and that the sentence would be severe. It is also
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 19
charged that the detective promised that if the boy pleaded guilty he would be let off, while if a
plea of not guilty was entered the punishment would be terrible. These affidavits are attested
by the affidavit of the prisoner and the prisoner's mother, while the circumstances of the case
strongly indicate that such a promise was made by the detective. The boy pleaded guilty and
the Magistrate sentenced him to five years al Kingston and 15 lashes. A certiorari was granted
with a view towards quashing the conviction, and it was returnable before the common pleas
divisional court over which Chief Justice Gait and Justice MacMahon presided. Mr. Holmes
appeared on behalf of the prisoner. Mr. Cartwright, Q.C., Deputy Attorney-General sent word
that the case was one which the crown deemed unworthy of their defending, consequently
the conviction was undefended. Mr. Holmes read the affidavits and briefly outlined the case,
whereupon Chief fuctice Gait said that the conviction of the boy Bailey was one of the most
outrageous proceedings he had ever heard of.
" I am ready," he said " to issue a peremptory order quashing the conviction and restor-
ing the boy to liberty at once,"
*' I concur," said Justice MacMahon.
The papers were immediately drawn up and signed by the judge annulling the conviction
and setting aside Magistrate Denison's warrant of commitment. Afterwards the judges issued
an order of protection to Magistrate Denison and detective Watson to shield them from an
action for damages for false arrest, malicious prosecution, conspiracy &c.
The above decision will strike the averge reader as being in every
respect a just one. In commenting upon it, the Telegram says:
One of the worst of Colonel Denison's judgments was reversed yesterday by their Lord-
ships Chief Justice Gait, and Justice MacMahon. Their decision set a boy at liberty after a
confinement of more than five months and saved him from spending five years in the peniten-
tiary and enduring fifteen lashes. Seldom has there been on record a case that better illustrated
the inhumanity of some detectives and the off-hand methods of Col. Denison. The boy was
taken from his mother's house late one night He left behind him the assurance that everything
was all right and that he would return in the morning. The next day the poor simpleton
pleaded guilty. He was not allowed time to consult his mother, and the Magistrate sentenced
him to five years in the penitentiary and fifteen lashes. The arrest, the trial; the conviction, the
sentence were all alike disgraceful. Detective Watson must have urged ihe boy to plead
guilty. Either under the pressure of advice from the detectives or in ignorance as to the
nature of the ofTence, the prisoner admitted guilt. Surely it was Colonel Denison's business to
warn the culprit that his plea wrecked all chance of liberty. But no. The detective was there
to secure credit of a conviction, and the Magistrate was there to fill the penitentiary Why
should they pause f It only takes the court about three minutes to sentence a man to peniten-
tiary for five years. It takes the man somewhat longer to serve the term. Fortunately for him
the bwy had a mother who was not too poor to retain J. G. Holmes. The lawyer made a good
fight and finally freed the prisoner. There may be other boys sent to penitentiary under similar
circumstances, who having no money to right the wrong are suffering the injustice done to them
by a high-pressure police Magistrate. Colonel Denison is generally right, but the case in point
is proof that he is not above trifling away a prisoner's liberty and ruining his life in order that
he may get through the day's work before eleven a.m.
In the above case it must strike the average beholder that if Detec-
tive Watson possessed the first iota of manhood, he would have given
the Magistrate to understand that it was through his instrumentality
that the boy pleaded guilty, but it is only one more of my contentions
that he who is able to fight his battle in a higher court will always
come out with justice.
A correspondent of the Telegram, who had received a courteous
reception from some of the officers, considered it such a remarkable
occurrence that he felt that he must advertise it, and writes as follows,
under the heading of "A rara avis indeed."
Sir, — You often and very justly find fault with the police of Toronto for their incivility
to the public, but I want to say a word in their favour. To-day I went to the police station at
St. Andrew's market to ask a question The se-geant on duty, a fine, well-built, red whiskered
man, answered me so politely and kindly and gave me all the information I wanted in such a
nice, pleasant and gentlemanly manner, that I feel that I ought to let it be known publicly, and
.«!how that not all ol'the police force are rude to the public. W.S.H.
20 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
Immediately after the election of Mayor Fleming, and when it was
thought that a change would be made in the Morality Department the
Telegram published the following :
Hatred of what its name implies inspires much of the so-called hostility to the Morality
Department. The outcry against it was started by rogues who are pinched by its vigilance.
Their howls finally deceived respectable citizens into the belief that Inspector Archibald was
an ogre at the head of the branch of the pnblic service especially designed for the protection of
vice and the oppression of virtue. The truth is that the Department in question is the least
expensive and the most humane branch of the police service. It pays for its support many
times over in the penalties that might but for it never be enforced. How many children have
been shielded from cruel parents and brutal guardians by its kindly interference the secret
records could tell. Its officers have been content to go on quietly doing their duty and their
silence has been misinterpreted as assent to the abuse that has been heaped upon the depart-
ment. The crusade has gone far enough, and it is time for those whose sympathies are on the
right side to speak a word for honest men who have fearlessly done their duty.
I do not for one moment doubt the sincerity of these remarks on
the part of the Telegram, but I do emphatically question their truth-
fulness. From the character of the Staff Inspector I do not think he
is the man to allow his light to be hidden under a bushel, and were
there any such cases as those mentioned by the Telegram, I think the
public would be made aware of them in some manner. It may perhaps
be stated that I am one of those who are pinched by its vigilance, and
without denying the trnth of the statement, I think I may consistently
and truthfully say that there can be no such imputation laid to the
door of the Hon. Mr. Meredith, who from his place in the House said :
My attention had been called to the fact that the law and Order Society of Toronto had
been discussing the morality department of Toronto, and passing resolutions eulogistic of the
department. Mr. Archibald, the officer of this department, and Mr. Curry, the Crown Attorney
had attended the meetings of this society and had frequently spoken there. I do not think this
is a proper course for public officers to pursue. They should not be partizans nor attend any
meetings, nor speak at them where they might become prejudiced. (Cheers). How would
the Attorney General like to see Judges attending such meetings ? Would it notbias their minds
against prisoners who might conie before them ? These officers had no right to identify them-
selves with any such society and he wished to call the attention of the Government to the fact.
Mr, Mowat said he had not heard of the matter before, but that he would look into it.
Mr. Meredith seems not to be alone in his opinion of the morality
department, for in the course of an address at a meeting of the Rate-
payers Association, Mr. R. Reynolds said :
The Morality department is too costly an aflfair. It should be abolished, but Inspector
Archibald and others, by appeals to religious bodies had secured sufficient influence to per-
petuate the system. Only a few days ago Inspector Archibald in the excess of his zeal had
arrested an innocent young man. There was far too much anxiety in the morality department
to make out cases. The ordinary police could do all the work, just as effectually, and at less
expenses. A most disgraceful affair had been reported of the efforts in New York of the moral-
ists to amend morals. A clergyman and two of his deacons had under disguise bribed women
to commit a sin. Any man who by a bribe tempted another to commit a sin no matter for
what end, was equally guilty as the person tempted. (Applause), and Rev. Dr. Parkhurst had
proved himself to be a low dirty blackguard, unfit to occupy a Christian pulpit. He had
degraded himself and his calling in making terms with unfortunate girls. As far as Toronto
was concerned they had heard a great deal about the so-called morality department, but who
had ever seen any report from it .'' All they knew about it was from newspaper reports. It was
a fact that in spite of that department t^ere were in the city to-day more unlicensed whiskey dives,
more gambling dens ^ more houses of ill-fame than ever before. The department was not worth the
money spent on it.
If the public were given a fair field upon which to fight there would,
peihaps, not be such cause for complaint. If a person is arrested, and
then found innocent, he has no ground for damages, notwithstanding
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 21
the fact that his character may be ruined by the arrest. The following
cases will clearly demonstrate my meaning, and I leave the decision
with the public as to the justice of giving such advantages to the police
as they possess :
Counsel on behalf of the plaintiff in the case of Thomas Humphrey vs. Morality Ins-
pector Archibald, Detective Charles Slemin and Walter Duncan made an application before
the Master in Chambers to disclose the name of the person upon whose information he acted in
arresting the plaintiff. This was followed by a second application to compel the inspector to
attend for examination at his own expense. Humphrey, it will be remembered, it is the young
man who was arrested for committing rape on Miss Agnes Barnes. The girl could not give the
inspector a minute description of her assailant, but could only say that he had a small light
mustache, drove a Gladstone rig, and lived with his father on Spadina avenue. This inform-
ation, it was shown this morning was turned over to detective Slemin who failed in his attempt
to find out anything further until one evening while standing on the rear of a Spadina avenue
car he heard two men talking. From this piece of eaves-dropping he heard that this young
man, Tbomas H. Humphrey, had got into trouble with a girl and had skipped to the United
States. Humphrey was promptly arrested, and in his defense showed that frdm the 23rd of
April until December 12th, he was in the States, and on the very day when the offence was
alleged to have been committed he was in Detroit. After a lengthy argument between Mr. J.
G. Holmes and Mr. Mowat, the Master in Chambers ruled that it would be a great injustice
to the police department.
Duncan and Margaret McLaren vs. Staff Inspector David Archibald. — This was an
appeal by the defendant from an order of the action, the plaintiff having been three times non-
suited at the Toronto assizes. Originally the action was brought against Inspector Archibald
to recover $10,000 damages for false arrest, malicious prosecution and for crespass, McLaren
and his wife having been arrested on a charge of keeping a house of ill-fame, but not convicted.
The most notable nonsuit of this action was by Chief Justice Armour who in very forcible
language deprecated the action of the police in accepting the information of a woman about town
upon the strength of which the raid upon McLaren's house was made. Each time the plaintiff
has been non-suited he has moved for a new trial and each time has succeeded in setting aside
the non-suit and obtaining the new trial. The fourth order for a new trial is the one now
appealed against. Justices Hagarty and Osier dismissed the appeal, while Justices Burton and
JMacLennan allowed it. The court being thus evenly divided the appeal stands dismissed, and
the action goes to trial again, in accordance with the judgment of the common pleas division
court. In giving judgment on the above action Chief Justice Haggarty said :
"While we are sitting here as judges we cannot forget we are citizens of Toronto, and it
was with great surprise that we learned the city was defending Inspector David Archibald. To
my mind it is the most disgraceful piece of presumption ever brought under the notice of this court.
I hope some person interested will enquire into this matter, and see if it is the general practice
for the citizens to bear the expense of defending actions brought against individuals who may
happen to be in their employ. "
I do not think the public will be disposed the insinuate that Chief
Justice Hagarty has any personal object in speaking as he did on the
subject, and his remarks therefore, carry that much more weight. If
contestants were to meet upon free and equal grounds there would be
no such cause for complaint, but to see the city screening men who are
palpably in the wrong, is a gross mis-carriage of justice.
Their interference with the public became such an aggravation that
the following is taken from a city paper :
•* The police interfere with the public enough already," Col, Denison remarked from
the bench, as he was actively engaged in combatting the combined efforts of Mr. Curry and
Staff Inspector Archibald to persuade him that certain authority was vested in the force that he
was convinced did not really exist. Patrol Sergeant Robinson and P. C. Kennedy visited tne
cigar store kept by Alfred Beatty at No. 12 Queen street east, to search for liquor. There
was no interference by the proprietor of the store, but when the officers wanted to enter the
premises adjoining the store, Mr. Beatty demanded a warrant.
" I havo none," replied the patrol sergeant.
" Then you cannot proceed any further," said Beatty, as he barred the door.
The police magistrate was asked to determine whether or not Beatty was guilty of obs-
tructing the policeman in the performance of his duty. He decided the question adversely to
the police on all points referred to him. By his judgment a cigar store is not a place of public
22 OF TOKONTO THE GOOD.
entertainment, that lo o'clock at night is not a reasonable time to make an inspection, that the
by-law only empower^ an inspection of the shop, and a search of the premises other than the
shop cannot be made without a warrant. During the argument his Worship intimated that a
bylaw of the city could not override a federal statute regarding a search for gambling, and
was, therefore, really impracticable. In illustrating his views the Magistrate asked if it was
reasonable to infer that because a man kept a licensed bowling alley, billiard parlor or roller
skating rink the mere fact of that license would empower the police to run all over his premises
and break open. They must confine themselves, he said, to the place actually licensed.
Mr. Curry — Well, one thing can be come. The license department can be asked to
cancel defendant's license.
The Magistrate — What has he done to warrant that ? Should his license be cancelled
because he has been acquitted, simply having) stood on his rights ? The case was marked
dismiss; d.
The following case is clipped from the Empire :
Another serious blunder has been made by the officials of the morality department, and
the mistake has been the cause of the arrest of a highly respectable young man on a very serious
charge. Some days ago a little girl named Maggie Colestock went to the staff inspector's
department and laid a charge of criminal assault. Charles Goodman was taken into custody
and accused of the crime, but Inspector Archibald was surprised to find that he had made a
mistake, having arrested the wrong man. Goodman was immediately discharged the Magistrate
remarking that, he should never have been arrested.
The cause for complaint against the Police Force seems to date
beyond all recollection. If you will go back to the Globe and consult
it at the time that Messrs Bunting, Meek and others were indicted for
conspiracy, you will read as fellows :
UNCIVIL AS USUAL.
It would seems from the behaviour'of some of the members of the Toronto police force
that it is part of their dutv to be as uncivil as pos'sible, and this impression has certainly been
strengthened during the conspiracy investigation concluded at the police court yesterday. Soon
after Mr. Kirkland came into court to hear the judgment of the magistrate, he felt faint and
asked a policeman to get him a chair. He was roughly told that there was no chair for him,
and he was obliged to stand until he finally fall on the floor exhausted.
In preparing the above cases against the police force, it may per-
haps be stated that I have given them from a prejudicial standpoint,
and to such a possible accusation, I am ready to acknowledge that it
is perfectly true. The personal experience I give you below has been
so salutary a lesson to me, that I say with perfect truth that if it were
in my power to rescue a squad of policemen whose lives were in danger
I would decline to do it, although I would not go so far as to say that
I would like to see them in such position, yet I feel that a more con-
temptible set of ruffians never donned a uniform. Some years ago a
young fellow of eighteen or thereabouts came to Toronto to see the
Exhibition, and during his stay he wandered down to the union station
to see if anyone came in by the train from his home, whom he knew.
While walking up and down the patform, Mr. Smart Policeman grabbed
him and on suspicion of his being a pickpocket or something else
equally definite, took him into the water closet, and searched him,
finding nothing of course.
" Now," said the illustrious guardian of the law, "clear out of this
and don't let me see you again."
Outraged and humiliated the lad got out as quickly as possible but
he had the good sense to make known his grievance where the effect
would be salutary. He went to the Mail office and informed one of
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 23
the reporters, who believed his story. He told how he had been insulted
and disgraced before the crowd at the Union station, and the next
morning the Mail contained an article on the subject. This had the
effect of bringing the matter before the Police Chief. Unfortunately,
however, the young man was obliged to return to his home before any
investigation could take place, though the Chief asked him, I believe
to remain. In relation to this case, I would like to ask. ** What redress
could the young man get ? " Really none. By-laws innumerable are
framed for the protection of the force, but the public who pay them
must take their chances in cases of this kind. A city by-law we are
informed by Mr. Biggar permits a policeman to arrest a man if he does
not give his name.
It is still fresh in the minds of the people of Toronto how Rev,
W. F. Wilson was outraged by one of the force, and how throughout
the whole proceedings he was worsted in every court to which the case
was carried, until finally he was refunded his costs by the council.
It is a matter that may fairly be stated that if the policemen were
the immaculate guardians they are anxious to have the public believe
they are, there might be some excuse for these outrages being perpe-
trated, but they are not.
I have seen men — proprietors of saloons present members of the
force with something (likely water) in bottles quite frequently. The
manner in which it is done is quite amusing. The landlord would
stand at the door with his hands at his back, and look carefully up
and down. By and bye a big policeman would loom up in the distance,
and when the time was propitious the bottle would be handed to the
stalwart guardian of the law. This isn't hearsay evidence either, it is
what I saw myself, and while it would serve no good purpose to tell
the name of this particular man, I may say that if anyone thinks him-
self aggrieved he might enter a suit for libel, and I will give the names
with pleasure.
Some years ago some little lads were playing near some one of
the wharves, and as it is contrary for some one of the multifarious by-
laws of the city regulating boys, a policeman ordered them to come to
him at once. As the hardened little wretches did not obey with suffi-
cient alacrity and also had the supreme hardihood to smile at the
majesty of the law, the policeman shot one dead. Now the peculiarity
of this case was the fact that this policeman was arrested, tried, and
though a master effort was made by Mr. Nicholas Murphy, Q.C., to
have him discharged, a jury really had the hardihood to convict him
of manslaughter, and to this day, I am pleased to say he is doing penance
in durance vile for his act, or if he isn't he ought to be, yet I believe
some time ago an effort was made to have him released, a prayer that
was not entertained by the Department of Justice, with their charac-
teristic good sense.
For the benefit of the public I give my own personal experience,
and all tha particulars connected therewith. On a certain street, the
name of which is not a necessary adjunct to this work is a kind of
24 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
restaurant, where it is rumoured that in addition to the eating and
drinking allowed by law, there can also be obtained the drink not
allowed by law. One Sunday night passing down this street, I had
the good fortune or otherwise to see two policemen enter this
place. The first one entered the door, and passed in, while the other
took out a little book and made some entry therein, then making
some remarks to the proprietress, also entered, and the three passed
into some back room together. All this I saw myself, and the police-
men remained there some eight or ten minutes. During the course of
the evening I had passed through this street quite a number of times,
and the officers had, doubtless seen me, and at midnight or perhaps a
little later I passed down on one side of the street, while the two offi-
cers were coming up on the other. One of them crossed over, and
demanded what my name, address and business were. 1 informed him
very promptly that it was no concern of his.
" Here now," he exclaimed angrily, with a broad Scotch accent,
" I want your name and address and yer business."
All of which information I declined to furnish.
"I want yer name and address now, or ye know the consequences,"
he again demanded in a passion. His voice, like his temper, was
gradually rising to a high pitch that would have delighted an ambi-
tious tenor singer.
" And I don't intend to give you either," I replied. " What right
have you to stop me on the street like this ? As a citizen of Toronto I
claim the right to walk up and down any street in the city that I wish,
and you have no right to intercept me as long as I am conducting my-
self properly. If I do wrong you have the right to arrest me, not
otherwise."
However, he was inexorable, and again demanded my name and
address, adding :
" Unless ye give it to me, I'll take ye to No. 2 station."
** On what charge ? " I asked. " Vagrancy ? That won't do, as I
happen to have sufficient money on my person to pay my board for a
month in the best hotel in the city."
Strange to say this latter remark was true.
" Do you know the character of the street you're on ? " he asked.
"Answer me that."
" I do perfectly well. I have been on this street scores of times
and know it perfectly."
By this time he seemed to have grown out of patience, and
demanded :
" Where are ye goin' now ? "
" I'm on my way home, but I want you to understand that it is
not that I met you that I am going."
" Well go on now. It's just such damned young toughs as you
that makes the town what it is," and as I passed he made a pass at me
with his closed fist.
Now that is the case exactly as it stands and and as it occurred.
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 25
I submit that if the policeman had any right to arrest me or even
molest me, he would have taken me under arrest at once, but I am
convinced that he was afraid that I had seen him and his friend going
into the dive I have mentioned, and dared not face the consequences.
Had they arrested me I should have certainly made known the circum-
stances I have just mentioned, but as it was I stated the case to the
city editor of one of the city papers, who informed me that the police-
man had no right so stop me on the street, and he strongly recom-
mended me to make a formal complaint to the Commission, but my
own reason dictated otherwise, feeling quite sure that I would have had
my labour for my pains.
This view of mine is amply corroborated by the following from
the Telegram :
There are evil possibilities in this idea of allowing the police commissioners sitting in secret
to cancel the license of a livery man who may, for reasons good or bad, be viewed with suspi-
cion by the detectives. The experience of the average citizen who has had a difficulty between
him and the police adjusted by the commissioners will not increase faith in the judgment of
their worships. The commission is a good deal of an automatic register for recording the decrees
of our uniformed fellow citizens, whose word is often taken before the oath of citizens in plain clothes.
Too much officialism is a danger peculiar to this time. It is not well to give judicial powers to
a body that is partisan in the sense that it is often on the side of the policeman and against the
civilian. The possibility that thieves might be occasionally aided by a livery man is not a graver
public danger than the probability that the commissioners may wrongfully cancel the license of
a man who has given no just cause for complaint.
It is a matter of regret that those who are fined and imprisoned
for taking their own part against the police of the city have not means
to carry their cases to a higher court. If a judgment be given against
them they will feel that it is just. If they receive judgment in their
favour it will be for the same reason. The following case is one where
the defendant had this courage, and received the just judgment of the
court :
The case of young vSkeans against Inspector Stephen was resumed with Skeans in the
box. He detailed the circumstances of his arrest, claiming that he should have been summoned.
He testified that judge Macdougall when hearing the appeal, said that the Inspector exceeded
his duty as a police officer by making the arrest when a summons would have answered. Arthur
Crozier, the boy in the case, first witness tor the defence, told how he and some others boys
were throwing some banana skins, playing tag, swearing, etc., when Skeans came up, cuflFed
him, and kicked him in the stomach. Crozier swore that he, unlike Peck's bad boy, threw no
sticks, broke no windows, fired "nothing at nobody", never annoyed the ticket agent at the
wharf. The inspector testified that he saw Skeans knock Crozier down ; Crozier swore that
Skeans kicked, the boy cried, the officer arrested, a constable appeared, Skeans told who he was
but the inspector thought it best to make the arrest, the constable escorted tjie young merchant,
while the superior followed with the boy and the party went to No. 3. The boy received the full
benefit of Skean's boot. Judge McDougall did not say that he (witness) exceeded his duty,
though he thought a summons would have answered the purpose. Upon cross-examination the
inspector said he didn't hear a policeman say that no other man on the force but himself would
have made the arrest ; neither would he swear that the boy didn't tell him he was badly hurt.
Mr. Johnson put judge McDougall right the inspector said when Mr. I )uvernet asked him if
Mr. Johnson did not protest against the judge's censure of Stephen. Johnson defended, against
the appeal in Judge McDougall^s court. Charles Sheppard swore that the John Hanlan did
not come to Brock street wharf that day ; Crozier pwore positively that it did. Sheppard is
the ticket agent at the place Crozier was hitting gentleman with a stick and banana skins and
swearing loudly. The jury returned a verdict giving $250.00 to Skeans.
It is circumstances of this nature that prejudice the public against
the police force, and it is not too much to say that if a policeman gets
into trouble and is likely to get overpowered, there is not one citizen
26 OF TOKONTO THE GOOD.
in a dozen who would assist him voluntarily. I have seen men thrown
into the patrol waggon by a policeman and if the prisoner lifted his
head or perhaps did nothing at all he would find a pair of knees on
his chest and he would be thoroughly belaboured until he was knocked
into senselessness or reason. I have seen cases where the policemen
have been hooted by a crowd of respectable citizens when they were
putting some drunken wretch into the waggon, simply on account of
their cruelty. To those who are too poor to employ counsel to fight
their battles, it will be advisable to always submit to arrest whether
you are guilty or not ; you are generally assumed to be guilty, and if
you want any stronger evidence than my word refer to the cases of
Allan or O'Reilly, and you will be convinced of the wisdon of my
advice, and the judiciousness of complying with it, not to mention the
possibility of being clubbed almost to death as in the case of O'Connor
previously mentioned.
It will be remembered that the force on one night attempted to
raid the house of one Lyons, and that the latter objected to be raided.
So much so did he object that he was brought before the sessions
charged with thecrimeof unlawfully attempting to shoot P. C.Wallace.
Mr. Lyons, like the sensible man that he is fought it out in the court,
and the following is the result, which confirms the advice given by me,
that if you wish to secure your rights and are able to pay for getting
them, make a fight for them, and the justice of the judge in charge will
decide whether you are right or wrong :
When the general sessions opened Judge Macdougall proceeded to deliver judgment
upon ob ections raised by Mr. DuVernet in behalf of Patrick Lyons charged with unlawfully
attempting to shoot P. C. Wallace under circumstances already detailed. His honour
dismissed the prisoner, holding that the search warrant under which Wallace was acting was
invalid for two reasons. First, that the initials " J. P. " after the name of Hugh Miller did not
properly designate that he was a justice of the peace, and duly qualified to issue the warrant,
and second, that the face of the warrant did not represent that he was acting: in the stead or at
the written request of the Magistrate. "The warrant," said his honour, " is similar to the
peculiar documents now being freely used by the police, and I feel bound to say that had Lyons
shot the officer dead, he could not have been convicted of murder. The crime would not be
more serious than manslaughter, because the officer was forcing an entrance at his peril with a
bad warrant." Mr. Dewart requested his honour to reserve a case but the Crown attorney's
request was not complied with.
I can only ascribe the tyranny of the police force to one cause.
An overwhelming majority of them, knowing themselves to be the scum
that they are, are aware that the only chance they have of speaking to
a gentleman is to tell him to " move on," or to associate with one is to
arrest him, seize upon every pretext to do either one or the other not
knowing how long it will be before another opportunity presents itself.
I have lived in Buffalo, Ottawa, Montreal and different American
cities and I found the police in these cities at least gentlemanly.
I have given you these circumstances to demonstrate the truth-
fulness of my remarks, and I think anyone imbued with the first ele-
ments of justice will admit the reasonableness of my contention that
there is very little chance of justice being done in the present condi-
tion of things. Take an as example the McLaren case against the
staff ins^^ector. A woman about town gives information and the house
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 2T
occupied by these people is raided, and they were not convicted. Dis-
graced beyond all chance of redemption, they seek for redress, and
what a sarcasm it is on institutions that are visionarily democratic.
This family sue the inspector for damages, and are compelled to employ
counsel at a very great expense to themselves, while the inspector who
happens to be employed by the city is defended by the city solicitor
who is paid by the taxes from these people, when in all justice it would
seem that he should be compelled to pay his own counsel. While it
may be argued that it did not require much ability to fight the city
solicitor's department, Mr. Justice Hagarty nevertheless, expressed
himself in language that will receive pretty general commendation
everywhere else where British fair play is appreciated.
Time, however that sovereign balm for all human sufferings, may
perhaps assist us. It is a remarkably pregnant portion of ancient his-
tory, where holy write assures us that Providence having permitted his
chosen people to be oppressed by the Egyptians for centuries, finally
delivered them and vanquished their enemies, and also that Job, after
being subjected to the most diabolical treatment that Satanic ingenuity
could invent, was finally restored to his old time prestige and health by
the intervention of a divine Providence, so we may hope to receive from
the same Providence who sees and knows our sufferings that aid we
stand so munch in need of. Augusta J. Evans Wilson informs us that
every Gethsemane has its strengthening angels ; the agonies of the
graden, she says brought them to Christ. That there may some day
be a deliverance is quite within the range of possibility. I regret to
say that in the report for last year no deaths occurred on the force, but I
have much pleasure in pointing out that two men have been sent to
the Insane Asylum. However, a glance at the ages of the men on the
force may give us hope, and that even if the Commissioners and the
council fail to assist us we still have the leveller of all mankind, the
grim reaper, to accomplish this relief. Some of us may not live to enjoy
the repose afforded by the new order of things, but we shall, perhaps^
receive the everlasting commiseration of coming ages, when the tradi-
tion of our long suffering is handed down to them, and who will feel
thankful, at least, that the opinion that policemen, like annuitants, live
forever, is not so,
SOCIETY.
In Toronto poverty is not exactly a crime, but it is sufficient of an
inconvenience to make everyone very desirous of not possessing it.
Society is pretty much in Toronto what it is everywhere else except
that money is the chief requisite here. In smaller places men who can
boast of respectability and a character free from blemish are welcomed
into good society with perfect good grace and as much warmth as
though they were millionaires. In Toronto an unprincipled knave, if
he keep his wickedness from becoming absolutely notorious can secure
entrance to the best social circles.
28 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
A large number of those who occupy mansions are those who have
risen from the ranks, which is greatly to their credit, for every intelli-
gent person takes pride in the fact that in this country it is in the
power of anyone to rise as high as his abilities will carry him. Society
is somewhat clannish, and the members of a certain church find their
intimate friends in the congregation of the same.
Occasionally a man will be found coming from his distant English
home and announce himself as the scion of some of the mobility of the
British Empire, and he is received with open arms. If my memory
serves me correctly some years ago a Mr. Ballantyne appeared like a
miteor in our midst, and announced himself as the descendant of the
much abused Irish landlords, who had been obliged to live somewhat
abstemiously owing to the bad condition of landed property in that
country. He founded, I believe, a club called the Dickens Club, and
after a pleasant sojourn amongst us he left like the swallows for a
warmer clime, and finally we heard of him in New Orleans where he
was committed for something or other, and as is customary in such
cases he laid the blame at the door of society — that society upon which
he had lived for many a long day,
When a short time ago our city was honored with the distin-
guished presence of one of the members of the Royal family of France,
the Telegram rose to remark concerning him :
JEROME OF MONTE CARLO.
If it be the true function of good society to recognize worth and ignore worthlessness, the
good society of Toronto and other cities does not appear to particularly good advantage as
the admiring host of Prince Jerome Bonaparte.
This eflfete heir to a great but evil name might be a good deal better than the general
character of his house. He might be, but is he ? The family greed of Prince Jerome is not
redeemed by valour, and his other traits are said to be Napoleonic in their meanness, if not in
their influence upon the world's history
In Toronto and Ottawa the boss of Monte Carlo was received and honoured as if he were
a prince and a great man in Israel. The society leaders who welcomed the prince ^were far
from well employed, for surely Jerome's business is no passport to the esteem of Canada's
best people.
There are two or three society events in the course of the season,
St. Andrew's Ball ; the Royal Canadian Yacht Club Ball ; and the
affairs at Government House, all of which bring out society's youth,
beauty and wealth. The doings of society are chronicled every week
in Saturday Night and in addition to the society of the city, the out of
town events are also chronicled.
The following clippings are taken from that journal:
Mr. Grenville P. Kleiser, whose success as an elocutionist in Toronto is not forgotten,
has met with very gratifying success in Portland, Oregon, and other western cities.
One of the most successful of the good Friday concerts was given in the Central Metho-
dist chuich, Mr. Harold Jarvis sang beautifully, and a new elocutionary light, Miss Marguerite
Baker gave a couple of recitations. A vast crowd of nice people sat seriously in the cosy pews ^
and the programme, being of a grave and almost entirely sacred character, was in harmony
with the spirit of the hour.
A very sweet and lovely Toronto maiden has joined the ranks of the matrons, since Miss
De Jones of Gloucester street because Mrs. Brown, last Wednesday evening.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 29
The foregoing is a fair sample of what appears every week, and
as it is a fair subject for criticism, I will ask the careful consideration
of sensible people to some of the paragraphs I have copied. I have
nothing to say against giving a simple chronicle of an event, but I'm
sure a generous public must consider itself edified by such a notice as
the following :
" A very sweet and lovely Toronto maiden has joined the ranks of the matrons &c."
I forbear giving the further particulars of the case, as the lady in
question doubtless had little idea of the use that was being made of
her name, and it occurs to me that people must be of a degenerate
turn of mind, if they can appreciate such trash. The announcement of
the Good Friday concert in the Central Methodist Church is on a par
with the above announcement.
** A vast crowd of nice people sat seriously in the pews &c "
But for really charming originality I think the following taken
from the Niagara correspondence of that journal caps the climax :
*' Miss DeSmyth of Buffalo, whose beauty and grace are so much admired, has been
visiting relatives in town,"
If the young lady in question, whose name I have changed — from
that feeling of Christian charity that always actuates me — possesses
the good legitimate common sense that heaven usually endows earthly
mortals with, she will scarcely feel flattered with this florid and inane
compliment to her beauty and grace. Novelists, from their privileged
position, are permitted to rave as much as they like, and we accept it
as a matter of course, but in private life mankind is disposed to regard
a notice Hke the above in the light of vapour from some water brained
sycophant, rather than as the production of a sensible correspondent
who deals with facts, and gives the movements of society in a manner
that common sense would seem to demand.
I think the great majority of sensible people will come to the
reasonable conclusion that such drivel as the foregoing sounds like the
price a social parasite is paying for being tolerated in polite society,
that is if they are invited to the houses of the people they write
about, which is extremely doubtful.
The most sensible articles I ever read were published in the Satur-
day Globe, " sweet," "lovely" and similar gush were eschewed, — a
simple chronicle being given. I took- the following from the Empire
during the Parliamentary session of 1894:
One of the most winsome of women I have met in Ottawa is Mrs Schultz, the wife of
the Lieutenant-Governor. She captures one's affections instantly just by her sweet womanliness
and the great tenderness for all things human, the reverence for all things good that is in her.
Lady Thompson the wife of Canada's Premier is fair and placid, slow and gentle of
speech and wins the regard of all who meet her by the simple kindliness of her manner which
sets even the shyest stranger at once at ease.
Lady Caron is a very pleasant and unaffected little lady, with whom one feels instantly at
home, and Miss Caron, a bright and graceful little demoiselle ably assists in the discharge of
the onerous social duties.
Of Mrs Ives the wife of the President of the Council, who in the charming home they
have chosen for the session, entertains so delightfully it were impossible to speak without
enthusiasm.
30 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
Mrs. Costigan, wife of the Secretary of State, is full of motherly kindness and good
nature, which, with her sincerity and originality of speech, wins her a very loyal circle of friends.
Madame Angers, the pretty winsome wife of the Minister of Agriculture, is a great favorite
in Ottawa society circles, and upon reception days her drawing room is always well filled.
Mrs. Foster is one of the most attractive ot the Cabinet Ministers' wives. A quiet, gentle,
sincere little lady of more than ordinary culture and attainment.
Mr. McNeill is one of the nice members of the House ; a man thoroughly liked and
respected by his confreres. Of quiet effective speech, and equally quiet courtesy of manner-
there are few, indeed, to be found who have an ill word for the member for North Bruce.
Mr. Sam Hughes is not only nice looking but one of the nicest members of the Com-
mons. He is looked upon in the House as a clever young politician, albeit he is occasionally
disposed to do some original thinking.
The galleries like Mr. Haggart, he looks so big and strong and determined, resolute and
tempery as the great iron horse, whose comings and goings he regulates. Yet with the determ-
ination and the strength there is always a suggestion of kindness.
" He looks like a fighter — one who could hit hard," said the member's wife.
" He would make a strong enemy or a most loyal friend." I said.
It is said that this great strong man is really shy, especially of women, He wouldn't be
if he knew how kindly they looked down upon him from the gallery.
I submit the above for the consideration of an unprejudiced public,
desiring only to observe that if the writer were a candidate for the
Civil Service and did not receive an appointment, the Ministry was but
a crowd of brutes impervious to adulation.
At a representative public meeting held in one of the halls of the
city, which had been called to commemmorate the history of some by-
law in connection with the curtailing of the liquor traffic a gentleman
employed by one of the city newspapers invited me to go and hear the
addresses. Some thirty-five or forty people were on the platform, and
my friend called my attention to quite at large number who were in-
debted to his paper, and who, he stated, were so situated that it was
utterly impossible for them to collect the money from them.
" There is a man," he said pointing to a thick-set, sweet faced in-
dividual, "who owes us $3.45. When the Central Bank failed we were
given to understand that it was on that account that he was unable to
pay us. In strict truth that was the reason, but instead of being a
depositor, the actual fact was that he was indebted to the bank itself,
and therefore, when it closed its doors he was left without the means
of paying the account, and the published statement of the debtors of
the bank showed him to be very largely indebted to it."
" There is another man," he said, pointing to a clerical looking
chap. ** who used to be a preacher. Some time ago he had been in the
habit of making visits to different parishes in connection with church
work, I think it was, and in an evil hour when putting up at a hotel,
he asked the proprietor to make out his bill and add a larger amount
than was really due. This would be paid by the people interested, and
the balance was to be refunded by the proprietor to the preacher. By an
unlucky chance he met the wrong man for his purpose, and the hotel
proprietor disclosed the whole thing."
*' He is no longer in the ministry then } "
" No, when these matter came out, I believe he was expelled but
it has not impaired his usefulness in the least. He still talks prohibi-
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 31
tion and the cause does not seem to have suffered by his acts. You see
that elderly man with the Prince A^lbert coat, sitting with his chin
resting in the palm of his hand ? "
"Yes."
" He is another of our debtors. A great man for writing to the
newspapers, and owes us nine dollars."
" Can't you collect it from him ? "
"No, we have tried repeatedly, but find there is absolutely no use
in suing him, so we were compelled to write it off to bad and doubtful."
By this time the hall had begun to fill up rapidly, and there seemed
to be little room for those who wished to secure seats in the front.
" Shall we push up to the front, or shall we remain here. If we wish
to get to the front we will have to hurry up or stay where we are."
" What do you say it we go ? To tell you the truth I feel like the
guest without the wedding garments amongst this crowd of moralists."
" Very well, if you wish to go, let us do so by all means."
Professor Goldwin Smith, I think it is who informs us that the
real aristocracy is the aristocracy of the mind, but what has the prof-
essor to say of the aristocracy of those who constitute themselves our
moral teachers ? Are they not to be most highly commended for their
zeal and self-sacrifice and are their efforts on behalf of humanity to
count for nothing ? The professor may be right, and while I acknow-
ledge that my own code of morality extends no higher than to those
who pay their debts, yet it must be borne in mind that a man wno
constitutes himself a " teacher " or a " fisher of men ", and who does
not pay his debts is counted greater than that man vvho, satisfied with
things as they are, lives his life quietly and unostentatiously, but who
does not think he has a mission to interfere with the privileges of those
who does not agree with him.
The people I have mentioned could easily be multiplied probably
by hundreds. It is astonishing how men, who being absolutely bailiff
proof, will pose as leaders of great moral movements, when one might
consistently imagine that they would first pay their debts and then
teach morality afterwards. At a public meeting held in the city some
little time ago, out of some forty eight men on the platform, only
fourteen were indebted to one of the city newspapers, and they were
absolutely uncollectible. As our mutual friend Colonel Ingersoll would
say : " I can rob Smith if he will trust me. God forgives me, and
threatens to punish Smith if he don't. But how is that going to help
Smith?"
I have frequently puzzled myself to describe the relative position
of the man who holds his property or his bank account in his wife's
name. Can she be called his wife, or is she merely his accomplice ? Is
he her husband or merely her gentleman usher ?
I was amused at a little episode in a newspaper office, where it is
the custom to write off to Bad and Doubtful every three months such
accounts as are deemed uncollectible. A certain gentleman had an
advertising account considerably in arrears, and the accountant and
32 OP TOKONTO THE GOOD.
manager were discussing the probabilities of its being paid. Suddenly
the manager turned to another clerk and asked :
" C — , do you know this man, A — of S.— ?"
"No, not personally, but I know that he leads the bible class in
St. P. church Sunday school."
" Oh." the manager ejaculated, and then turning to the account-
ant he added :
" In that case, Mr. W — , you had better write it off to Bad and
Doubtful."
A correspondent who perhaps has had some experience with our
** moral teachers " writes to the Telegram as follows :
Sir, — No more dishonest action on the part of residents of this city can be imagined than
the practice which is too general at present namely, the transfer of property from a husband to
a wife. Of course it is really a swindle and is done to bar out creditors from the first payment
of their debts. I can name many people in this city who live in style upon our more private
streets such as Jarvis, Sherbourne, St. George and others, who are so situated, and who can
hold expensive pews in our fashionable cathedral and other churches, observe the lenten season
with extraordinary affectation of piety, live in luxury with their families, whilst, with the most
flagrant dishonesty, poor, trusting creditors can realize nothing from the husband because of
the iniquitous transfer of his property to his wife. Of course, the woman is just as bad as the
man, who connives at such actions. Were the names of these people published it would cause
a sensation in the religious and social circles in which these well dressed families move. The
hard-working, honest people to whom they are indebted and who have given them credit in
ignorance of the state of affairs are just laughed at by these debtors when they are asked to
pay. Some quick and decisive mode of legal punishment should be at hand in such cases. It
is dishonesty of the meanest kind, because the poor creditor is in ignorance of the true state of
matters, and it is ten times worse than the act of the miserable wretch who to satisfy hunger,
steals a loaf of bread and is punished for the theft by imprisonment in our goal. Every such
transfer should be published with the names of the parties in our daily papers, and the public-
ation paid for by the Government, Let those well-dressed imposters be shown up. — Citizen.
THE PRESS.
The press of Toronto is a subject that ought to receive at least a
work written exclusively upon it, and in this work it is impossible to
give more than a hurried review of it. It can be devided into two
classes, the secular and religious. In the former are included all the
political and literary journals of the city.
The morning papers of Toronto are amongst the ablest and best
conducted in America, as well as among the most brilliant in the world.
Their power is very great and they shape to a very large extent
the tone of the Provincial journals; they are conducted upon a most
excellent system as far as their internal arrangements are concerned,
and the men employed upon them are sometimes the persons of ability
and experience.
They are the Mail and Empire, the Globe and the World, repre-
senting the two political parties, and in addition, with the exception of
the World, the same papers publish evening editions, and the Telegram,
Star and News are then added to the list. The latter are a noticeable
feature of the city, as they all cost but one cent a copy, and contain all
the latest news, gossip, and a variety of light and entertaining matter ;
they are bought chiefly by persons who wish to read them at home
after the cares and fatigues of the day are over. The first issues are at
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 33
twelve o'clock noon, and the latest at half past hve or six o'clock. On
occasions of more than ordinary interest extras are issued as late as 8
or 9 o'clock. On the day of the execution of Birchall the special edition
of the Telegram, published immediately after the execution aggregated
the enormous total of forty-seven thousand all of which were sold in
the city.
Appropos of the Birchall trial the following from the pen of Mr,
E. E. Sheppard, of Saturday Night, which contains a criticism of the
press may not be out of place. At present he contributes a page to
Saturday Night over the signature of Don, and I give his sketch, sug-
gested by the mention of this case.
" Have you heard that the devil is dead ? " exclaimed an acquaintance of mine in response
to an invitation to tell me something new Odd, isn't it, how a senseless rejoinder of this sort
sometimes rings in a fellow's ears and rattles around in the empty places of his mind. This
saying clung to me all day and as I sit down to work in the evening it is the first thing that
suggests itself as a text.
One slips very easily from the above topic to the great loss Birchall will be to the daily
newspapers hereabouts. Poor devil, he is gone, and even yet the press is full of him. Even
his hangman has been glorified by publicity which is never given to the man or woman who
throughout a life of self-denial and good works tries to rescue the fallen and reduce the woes
of the wretched. I don't think the value of the devil to the daily newspapers was ever better
proven than by the disgraceful exhibition the Mat/ hsLS made of itself in publishing the autho-
biography of a young reprobate who, if he had anything in his nature of an interesting sort, it
was the careless good-nature with which he asserted before all mankind that he cared tor neither
God nor man. This moral idiot, who squandered his patrimony, ruined those who trusted him,
degraded those who associated with him, violated everythmg held sacred by gentlemen, took
the life of a comrade who followed him, lied to the clergyman who prayed with him, and in
every possible way tried to prove by his life and his writings that virtue is a delusion, religion
a farce, and honor a snare, has been lionized by the newspapers more than any other man who
ever died on Canadian soil What he has written his brought a higher price than anything
that before was produced in Canada. His photograph has appeared more numerously, sketches
— which are evidently those of a libertine — of ballet girls who have nothing to recomme id them
but the shape of their legs, have been given as works of art, and this monster of perfidy has in
this way been placed before every Canadian as a singularly gifted and courageous person. The
Mai/, with cant which is utterly loathsome, has pretended that its publication of Birchall's
biography was intended to teach a moral lesson. Such cant, such leprous hypocrisy, it is to be
hoped, sickened the public even while they read the degraded and degrading maunderings of
the convicted murderer. The Mat/, which is fighting for Protestantism, which is ready to carry
a banner in the procession of prohibitionists, which was not unwilling, at a critical moment, to
play traitor to the party which had nourishe dit, had but to reveal this last and most contemptible
phase of its character to be thoroughly understood as a fake and the scarlet woman of journal-
ism. It matters little to the majority of people what a newspaper advocates so long as it be
thoroughly understood what the declared province of the paper is to be Tho^e who take and
read the Police Gazette know what they are subscribing for, but a newspaper which pretends to
be pure and lacks no opportunity of bting prurient may mislead, must indeed degrade, those
who want purity but are seduced into reading pruriency by false pretences.
There are many other newspapers besides the Mail that deserve the harshest possible
criticism for their conduct in this matter. The Telegram, for instance, which boasts of the
enormous editions it sold descriptive of the hanging and last moments of Birchall, apologizes
by saying that the newspapers only provide what the people want. The demi-monde explain
their existence in the same way and claim to be a necessary evil. Nobody associates with them
who would not be ashamed to take them to their home and introduce them to mother or sister.
Must not a newspaper which feels that it is unfit to be introduced into a family and put into the
hands of innocence have much the same contempt for its calling of the woman of th^ street has
for herself as she solicits the passer-by ? It is a dreadful apology to offer and yet it is the one
made by the Globe and the balance of those who have been in the same work and who fight
with one another in draping with pretty verbal garments the unclean and demoralizing things
they have published. How glad these newspapers must be that the devil isn't dead !
It is not my purpose to write what properly belongs to the news-
papers in reference to the woman who posed as a female martyr at the
ignominious end of the career of a most unmitigated scoundrel and
34 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
blackguard, but it shquld not be forgotten that this Mrs. Birchall did
not scruple by false pretences to pose as Lady Somerset, a title to which
she knew perfectly well that she had no claim. And her sister Mrs.
West Jones also received her share of the newspaper notoriety accorded
to this illustrious family, and did not fail to let the newspapers have
full particulars of her actions. For instance when she went to the opera
house (which was doubtless in excellent taste at such a time), the fact
was duly chronicled in the press, hence the murder was not without its
advantages as it gave to the two women that delightful sense of notor-
iety so dear to the female heart.
The life of a newspaper man, both as regards the editorial and
business departments is not by any means a bed of roses. First of all
you have to deal with correspondents, of which there are some thous-
ands, all of whom have their pet scheme to put before an indulgent
public, and all of them are, of course, intended for the benefit of this
same public. Some years ago the Saturday Telegram would have
column after column of bosh written by correspondents who assured us
that if their schemes were carried out, Tornnto would go up by leaps
and bounds, which at that time was a favourite expression, and it may
not be out of place to state that the writers of these articles had about
as much idea of municipal matters as a child might be expected to
have. I am not aware whether the Telegram has precluded them from
their columns or whether they have become disgusted with the lack of
success their efforts have called forth, but it is certain that these non-
sensical letters are not inserted with that frequency that once held
sway.
On one occasion there appeared a letter from one man, who pre-
faced his remarks with the announcement that he was a poor man,
and that the constant ringing of the bells on the Grand Trunk trains
kept him from sleeping, and he proceeded to characterize this as an
outrage, breathing vengeance. It is quite likely that the company,
therefore, changed its entire system of signals in conformity with his
request.
Another, who described himself as a working man, held forth on
the criminality of some one of the fire stations for not ringing a bell
at six o'clock, I think, in the morning, and further stating that he could
not afford to lose his time, which he invariably did, when he was not
awakened by the chimes of the bell. 'J he idea of relying upon himself
to waken, does not appear to have occurred to him.
Sometimes some portentions individual will scrawl (no other word
expresses it), a badly spelled and worse written letter to the editor of
some paper, and his position, financially, will deter the editor from
consigning it to its proper place, the waste paper basket. The com-
positor and proof reader are made to suffer, while the writer is delighted
with his effort. If one or two such letters were published giving the
exact spelling a generous public would be relieved from further en-
croachment by such people. If this trash were written years ago in an
age when even royal personages indulged in a phonetic style of ortho-
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 35
graphy which would provoke the laughter of a modern newsboy, the
writin<^ and spellinfr might be excused. The pretender to the Crown of
iMigland wrote of his father as Gems, and that he should murder the
two languages in which he wrote seems a small thing, and the fact that
Frederick the Great, the most accomplished of princes, bosom friend
of Voltaire, and sworn patron of the literati should have been unable
to spell is perhaps, a matter of some surprise, hence I try to remember
these things when, in the capacity of proofreader it has fallen to my
lot to decipher the hierogliphics sent in for publication, which it would
be the bitterest irony to call writing.
Personal mentions are a source of perennial aggravation to news-
paper men. Every man, of course, considers himself entitled to have
his arrival chronicled in the daily press, and some are even willing to
pay for it. I was amused at the disposition made of one ambitious
young man, who hurried into the office of one of the morning papers,
and handed the clerk a slip of paper with the remark : " My friends will
want to know Tm in the city, so you can put that in."
The clerk examined it, and handed it back with the reply:
** We have nothing to do with such matters here, you will require
to see Mr the city editor, up-stairs."
The guest to the city hustled up-stairs, and the clerk remarked :
"Mr the city editor is home, and will not be here until this
afternoon, there is no one to take that slip of paper from him, and by
the time he gets through with trying to find the city editor he will
come to the conclusion that his friends are not so anxious to know that
he is here."
" Do you have many such } "
'• Yes; we are incessantly bored with people of that class. You
see in the country towms the papers are glad enough to get such items,
and they seem to think that the city papers are the same." As witness
the following :
A number of the elite from our vicinity and the Junction section gave a surprise to Mr,
and Mrs. Long, of Centre street, Beeton, on Wednesday evening last. — Beeton World.
Contrary to expectations Mr. Moncriefif, M.P., for East Lampton, spoke in favour of the
remedial bill down at Ottawa on Friday. Therefore, Mr. Moncrieff's name is pants. — Sarnia Post,
Moise Letourneau's horse dropped dead on the road as he was coming home with a load
of firewood last week. An over-feed ot oats is supposed to have caused death. — Comber Herald.
We noticed in the locals of last week's paper that the first crow was anxiou'^ly looked
for. Crows have been around here all winter, so they are no indication of spring. — Brockville
Recorder.
Andrew Isaac is making very good fence improvements on a lot next to John Day's. Go
on Andrew, you are performing a good example to many young men. Success to you. —
Wallaccbitrg News.
To THE KdITOR of THE BANNER.
Dear Sir^ — The Leader editor at Schomberg has crawled into his hole and pulled the
hole in after him, by refusing to print my letter of last week.
PRO BONO PUBLICO— Aurora Banner.
A wellknown clergyman who made periodical visits to Toronto
World, on his way from some meeting in connection with the church
to the hotel, would call on a certain newspaper and buttonhole the clerk
with the expression :
36 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
" Send a reporter down to the Walker House, to see the Rev: Dr.
Blowout, and 111 give him the particulars of a meeting of the
association, or board."
To anyone of ordinary intelligence it ought to be patent that in an
institution like this the clerk in the financial department would have
no intercourse with the editorial department. The clerk merely refer-
red him to that Department, stating that he never saw the reporters,
and could not, therefore, give them the message.
" I have nothing to do with that," the preacher answered sullenly,
" I leave word with you," and he looked menacingly at his auditor,
who replied coolly :
"All I can do is to leave a memo, in the editor's box, and if he
gets it all right, and if he doesn't, it isn't my fault."
If the city editor failed to get the memorandum there is no doubt
the worthy preacher would have written the paper complaining of the
clerk in question, his look of ill-concealed anger showed it ; but it is to
be remembered that this man is the exception to the rule of those who
call to see the editor. If their business is of sufficient importance to
require editorial attention, their own intelligence, if they have any, will
teach them that the business office of a concern of that kind has some-
thing else to do besides acting as medium between the editorial staff
and some self-contained as who wants his vanity fed.
Speaking of this preacher brings to mind an incident in which a
model Christian showed himself in a most exemplary manner. His
daughter had died, and he called at one of the city newspaper offices
to insert the notice. It is a recognized law amongst newspapers that
no clerk is to write out an advertisement and when requested to do so,
the clerk in question refused to break the rule. The would be advert-
iser flew into a passion, but finding the clerk inflexible, he finally went
to the customers' desk, and wrote ** sweetly fell asleep in Jesus," &c.,
at which the clerk laughed irreverently when he read it.
If the theory holds good, that he who places temptation in the way
of humanity is guilty equally witn him who sins, than one of the city
newspapers has much to answer for when they introduced a system of
free advertising. The temptation to tell a falsehood is so great that
few men and no woman can resist it when they get a free advertisament
in exchange therefor.
The wife of a well-known clergyman, who receives a very hand-
some salary, called in the office for the purpose of advertising for a
domestic. After some preliminary skirmishing as to who should write
the advertisement, and the clerk having come out victorious, the lady
threw the advertisement on the counter and stared defiantly at him
while he counted the words.
•* Twenty-six cents." the clerk exclaimed cheerfully,
" But those go in free," she answered angrily.
** Yes, twenty words one time free, but you have had this advert-
isement in before."
" I have no such thing."
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 3*7
" Have you never advertised for a domestic before ? "
•* Yes, but that's months ago."
*' Well, that is of no consequence, you know. We only insert one
time free, so you will have to pay for this."
*'Is the manager in?" she demanded suddenly.
•* No," the clerk answered sweet y, " I regret to say that he isn't."
While this little fusilade had been going on, the lady had worked
herself into quite a frenzy, and her passion was beyond all control.
Her eyes fairly blazed with anger.
" Do you mean to tell mc," she demanded, in a rage, " that I am
to have the benefit of a free advertisement only once in every six
months ? "
" It isn't only once in six months, but always. One time free is
what we advertise, and I am obliged to observe the rule strictly."
''Then, I suppose," she answered in a tone, meant to be sarcastic,
" if I live to be a hundred years old, I can only advertise once in your
free columns, according to this."
" That is practically what it amounts to."
She grabbed the inoffensive little piece of paper, and crushing it in
her hand, added scathingly, " I'll advertise in the Telegram where it will
do some good, if I have to pay," and she swept majestically out of the
door.
This is merely a sample of what happens every day, only perhaps
this is a little worse than the generality. The clerk had simply done
his duty, and his coolness was the result of long experience. He had
grown callous in dealing with such people. Charity, we are informed,
begins at home, and one would imagine that one of God's apointed
might find his valuable time profitably spent in teaching good manners
at that shrine where charity begins, and he would, doubtless, receive
the heartfelt thanks of a multitude of people even though they were
unable to express their thanksgiving personally.
One scheme that was worked successfully for some time was the
practice of sending these advertisements by post card, where they
escaped the vigilant eye of the teller, but a few repetitions soon settled
that matter, and the post card idea received its death blow. 1 he clerk
who checks the advertisements passed a post card to the teller on which
was writen :
•• Good general servant wanted, must be good cook ; no washing,
references required; apply between lO and 12 a.m., and 3 and 6 p.m.,
Mrs. Black, Crawford street.
'• Please insert several times."
** I think," said the checking clerk " that woman has a good nerve,
several times, its a wonder she didn't say fifty."
The teller looked at the card in amazement. It was like a revela-
tion to him. Then he deliberately tore it into pieces.
" Do many of these come ? " he asked.
** Yes ; quite a few."
" I'll see that no more are inserted," and he kept his word. Post
38 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
cards and letters of that nature were henceforward carefully culled out
and destroyed, and thus by her desire to get too much for nothing, this
worthy lady effectually debarred herself and others like her from get-
ting thereafter by stealth what they knew they could not obtain by
legitimate means.
Another annoyance is the telephone, which has become a perfect
nuisance to newspaper people.
A family living in Rosedale made a regular practice of telephoning
advertisements for domestics, until the accountant exasperated beyond
all endurance at his inability to collect the account of some thirty-six
cents from them effectually cut them off from further using their ad-
vertising columns. He had sent them post card after post card, with
final request in large letters emblazoned thereon, but they were imper-
vious to all demands, and at last their telephone messages were entirely
ignored. At length, however, revenge came to the long suffering
accountant. One of the females of the family came in to insert the old
advertisement in the Weekly edition.
"It's two cents a word," she informed the clerk, sharply, "and
there are twelve words here."
The clerk permitted a diabolical smile to pass over his face as he
replied :
" Two and a half cents a word in the Weekly, and there are four-
teen words here, thirty-five cents."
The money was paid, and the lady produced another advertisement.
"This is for the daily,' she announced, "and it goes in free."
" No," he replied icily, " it doesn't. We have an account against
you now for thirty-six cents for advertisements telephoned and we will
not put any more in free. This will cost eighteen cents.
The young woman haggled a little, and tried to get the advertise-
ment in free, but it wouldn't work. Finally she said :
" I didn't know that we owe anything, but anyway I'll see about
it, and in the meantime you can put this one in," saying which she
placed the advertisement on the counter and turned to walk out.
" You need not leave it," the clerk replied, '• it won't be inserted
unless you pay for it."
Further recrimination was useless, and the young lady was obliged
to take the advertisement with her, while the clerk laughed softly to
himself. After that however, the family sent the advertisements down
by one of the male members thereof, who would throw it on the counter,
and burst out of the door, as though he were shot out of a cannon, while
the advertisement itself was consigned to the waste paper basket.
Another lady has a mania for having her name appear in the
columns of situations wanted — female, as a philanthropist, and her
manner of shedding benevolence is of that delightful kind that costs
nothing. Ever and anon the clerk who has the misfortune to be placed
near the telephone is called up :
"Is that the Mail ?" inquires a languid female voice.
" Yes," the reply is curtly given.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 39
'• I want to put in an advertisement. Are you listening ? "
" Yes ; ^o on."
'* Mrs. Cornvvallis Windermere No. 3000 Algonquin street, desires
to recommend a clever young girl as mother's help or general servant.
Have you got it ? "
** Yes ; will you pay for this ? "
*' Oh, they go in free. Put it in five or six times, please."
And before the clerk has time to collect himself the lady has rung
off, and rather than disappoint the girl who is looking for a place the
advertisement is inserted. Since that paper discontinued the free ad-
vertising, I notice this charitable lady's name never appears as it pre-
viously did.
I strongly recommend this style of philanthropy, particularly as it
is cheap and effective It lends the idea to a credulous public tiiat you
are interested in the poor, and if you have a telephone it is so conve-
nient, and then too, it costs absolutely nothing.
One of our telephone friends was most beautifully come up to one
Sunday night. Special services were being held in the Y.M.C. A. rooms,
and at the conclusion thereof, one of the prime movers in the affair
rang up the newspaper office.
•' Hello," he exclaimed, "Is that number ten thousand ? "
" Yes."
" Well, take this advertisement."
"Who is speaking ?"
Now it so happened that the fitiancial office had not yet opened
for business on Sunday night, and the Y.M.C. A. delegate had rung up
the editorial department. The city editor who was a Scotchman, was
at the phone, and was one of those men who will allow no one to ride
over them.
" Never you mind who is speaking," Mr. Smart Alex, replied,
*' You take this advertisement."
" You can go to hell with your advertisement, I won't take any of
your d d nonsense."
The advertisement didn't appear.
One day a young lady from a law office presented two advertise-
ments— one for a boy wanted, and the other for a domestic. As fate
would have it, the clerk had seen the advertisement for the domestic
in the Telegram the evening before, so he charged full price for both.
The young lady looked surprised but paid the amount.
A few minutes later a telephone message came, and the clerk was
called to the phone. It might be mentioned that the advertiser was
one of those Englishmen who have wood instead of brains.
" I sent an advertisement over a few minutes ago for a servant and
one for boy, and you charged me thirty-eight cents, now I want that
money refunded."
" All right," the clerk responded, " but the advertisements won't
go in."
"Why not.?"
40 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
" They must be paid for."
" No ; they go in free."
" The advertisement for the boy is two cents a word, and the do-
mestic is one cent a word, altogether it comes to thirty-eight cents."
"You advertise to insert free,"
"Yes; under certain conditions, but you do not come under these
conditions."
" Well, I'll see about it."
Some time afterwards the collector for subscriptions called for
payment, and was refused the reason for refusal being that his adverti-
sements were not inserted, but how it came out I never heard.
Quite frequently we read notices like the following :
DIED
In this city, on the 2i;th instant, at No. 240 Piccadilly street, Charles Frederic Angustus
Dudley Jones, eldest son of the late Alexander Dagmar Leopold Jones, of Her Majesty's looth
regiment of Irish Dragoons, and the nephew of the Right Honourable, the Lord Keeper of
Her Majesty's stables aged 45 years.
London, Liverpool, Manchester and New York papers please copy.
If people would for a moment reflect that all the city papers charge
fifty cents for inserting a death* announcement, and that it is quite likely
others outside of the city do likewise, how absurd must it appear to
these papers to be called upon to insert a death notice of a person who
is a perfect stranger to them, and if it were at all attempted to be done
which in a general way it isn't, a man might be kept busy culling over
exchanges for this purpose alone. And yet people persist in putting
that meaningless phrase at the bottom of their announcements to an
extent that is really remarkable, though the practice of inserting these
notices is not carried on to any extent if at all, by the papers which
are called upon to do so.
The following is a rather crisp, rat trap and business like sort of a
notice :
DeBriggs — On Saturday, Dec. 8th, 1894, at his residence, 201 Bathurst street, James
DeBriggs in his 72nd year. Gone home.
Funeral on Monday at 2.30 p.m. Friends please accept this intimation.
I particularly admire the way in which the public are informed he
has gone home. It is short and to the point.
In addition to this it will also be observed that the modern spirit
of ridicule has done away with those gushing names such as Queenie
and others equally inane as formerly, simply that fools who would have
called their wives or daughters by such names found they were too
sweet for this wicked world, and heaven intervened and took them to
itself
I once knew a lad whose adoring parents called him Prince, and I
have no doubt he feel like cursing them to their faces. He was simply
the butt of the whole school, who jeered at his name, and led him the
life of a dog. Consult any of the newspapers and see how many children
of tender years who bear outrageous names are amongst the death
notices, and compare them with the Johns, Georges, Williams etc., who
live to ripe old age, and you will be surprised. A laboring grinder in
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 41
a concern where I once worked called his son Earl. The child died in
four days. I clipped the following from different newspaper and ask a
discriminating public, how people, presumed to have good common
sense, could expect children possessed of such names to live.
Warner — Queen Victoria Lockwood (Queenie Warner), youngest
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Neil Warner, born Montreal, May 24, 1892,
died New York, December 14, 1896. Funeral from G.T.R. depot on
arrival of Dalaware and Hudson train from New York, Sunday, May
23rd, 8. 1 5 a.m. to St. George's Church, thence to Mount Royal Cemetery.
Li Hung Chang Jones is the fearsome name with which a heart-
less father has burdened his helpless and unoffending offspring. It is
pleaded that the fact that the portion of Merthyr wherein the child was
born on Sunday last is locally known as China, lends a certain appro-
priateness to the selection. But this ingenious plea ought not to be
admitted in justification of such an outrage. — Washington Gazette.
The Funeral of "Birdie" Bates took place yesterday afternoon
from East Toronto to Norway church. There was a very large attend-
ance of friends and relatives, among them being Aid. Russell, Messrs.
Blong, Morton, Mitchell, Johnston and many more. Rev. Chas. Ruttan
and G. L. Starr were the officiating clergy.
Chambers — At 108 McCaul street, on the 17th May, Dorathea
Beatrice (Queenie), youngest daughter of Rev. A. B. Chambers, aged
10 years.
Funeral on Tuesday, the 19th, at 2.30 p.m.
Davis— On December 14, 1896, at 17 Anderson street, Montreal,
of scarlet fever, Emeline (Emmy) Gladys Davis, dearly beloved and
eldest daughter of Horace and Lizzie Davis. Funeral private.
Little Emmy was our darling.
Pride of all our hearts at home ;
But an angel came and whispered,
Little Lmmy, do come home.
The body of Irminie Savage, who was drowned some six weeks
ago from a cance in the Humber, was found Saturday and buried
yesterday.
Quite a large number of friends of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. B. Longley
attended the funeral obsequies on Sunday afternoon of their infant
daughter, Zenith Gertrude. Interment took place in the cemetery,
Rev. J. H. Ratciiffe conducting the religious services.
Elmer Graydon, living near English, Ind., has named his infant
son Abraham Lyncoln Ulyssess William McKinley ; and a neighbor,
John Vaughn, not to be outdone, has named his infant son Thomas
Jefferson Andrew Jackson James Monroe William Jennings Bryan. At
last accounts both infants were doing as well as could be expected under
the circumstances.
These are a very few of the difficulties of the business offices of
newspapers. They, like the Government, are always con«^idered fit and
proper subjects for plunder, and men and women do not hesitate to
" do " them at every opportunity.
42 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
The subscription department have difficulties just as exasperating
as the advertising only they are not quite so frequent. A city paper
once reduced its subscription to $3.50 to clergymen, on the condition
that the whole amount should be paid in advance. After the first*
year's subscription had run out and it was pretty well run into the first
six months of the second, one of those who had taken advantage of the
special terms called to pay the subscription, and tendered $175 in pay-
ment of six months',
" I his must be paid yearly in advance." said the clerk.
" Oh, no."
" How did you pay it before .^"
" Six months, of course."
" Are you quite sure ? "
" Certainly."
The teller knew perfectly well that the man, clergyman as he was,
was selling a deliberate falsehood, and he turned to the subscription
clerk to look the matter up. As he had surmised it had been paid for
the full year, and he informed the customer that such was the case.
The preacher was greatly incensed, naturally, at being caught in a false-
hood, and he paid it will a very ill grace ; still, it demonstrates that no
one is exempt from indulging in a little fiibrication when it suits or
pays them to do so.
Of the management of these concerns a great deal might be written,
but it must be patent to all that where such immense interests are con-
cerned the greatest care must be exercised, and to keep the advertisers
out who will not pay their accounts is no small matter, or insignificant
undertaking. When the real estate boom was on some time ago the
papers were flooded with advertisements of these people, and one firm
who ran up a bill of $138.00 were sued, when they entered the plea of
infancy, all being under the age of twenty-one years, and the account
could not, therefore, be collected. It was rather stern logic, but it was
very effective.
The advertising patronage is something very large in all the dailies,
and a man requires all the cardinal virtues to make a successful can-
vasser. He must be persistent without seeming to push the man he is
soliciting, and may other qualifications that are too much to mention.
There are journals, however, that can almost command the patronage
of advertisers, thought it seems to me like a system of blackmail : I
once heard of a well known advertiser meeting two newspaper men,
when one with whom he did not advertise, chaffed him about it.
" Oh," he exclaimed with an uneasy laugh, *' I'm not afraid of you."
The Telegram, which is the leading paper devoted exclusively to
city interests, has the largest share of condensed advertisements and
which must yield them an enormous revenue. Their advertising announ-
cements of city auction sales is another special feature.
The reporters of the city papers are as a general rule a long suffer-
ing class of men, and generally men of ability, but they ere frequently
imposed upon in their desire to do justice to the public. A gentleman
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 43
connected with one of the morning papers made a remark to me that
demonstrates their difficulties. A certain man, whose name is promin-
ently before the public as a somewhat ostentatious philanthropist, and
as being connected with different charities, never allows an incident,
however trivial to pass without sending his office boy to the newspapers
with the report. " If" said my friend, "he were to give a blind man
ten cents, I suppose he would send his boy around with a local to each
of the papers, announcing the fact." In casting ashes upon his head
in the way of giving charity, he takes good care that the public shail
know what a saintly head he thinks it is, nevertheless.
During the meeting of the Church of England Woman's Auxiliary
Mission Board all matters of interest were freely supplied to the repor-
ters, and every effort made to lighten their burdens. On the other
hand, the Presbyterian Women's Foreign Mission Society met in the
Westminster church, Bloor street, and not only were the press excluded,
but the officials actually wished to be paid for furnishing the names of
the delegates. The newspaper men promptly refused to comply with
this request, and it was only after they stated would not publish them
unless copied out and handed over that a copy was furnished one
paper, with the understanding that it should be used by all.
It is not always possible, of course, for either the reporter or his
contem|:)orary, the accountant to get even with those who try to slight
them, but this incident will be a revelation to the committee who were
instrumental in bringing a certain singer to the city. The church in
question, at the discretion of the accountant was entitled to advertise
at the rate of ten cents a line, the regular rate being fifteen. When the
first advertisement appeared the acconntant submitted it to the mana-
ger, and asked what rate he should charge,
*' Shall I make it fifteen cents, and then if they think they ought
to get it the old rate, I will refer them to you ? "
"Well, yes, do that. If they want it at ten cents, we will have to
give it them, I suppose, still if they will pay the fifteen we may as well
get it."
The accountant sent a polite note asking for two passes. The
obliging secretary of the committee said he didn't have any, but that
Mr. Somebody Else, who lived the Lord Only knows where, had charge
of them, but he thought they were all gone anyway, and it was extre-
mely doubtful if the accountant could get any in any case. After the
concerts the account was sent in amounting to $45.00, being at the rate
of fifteen cents per line. The secretary called in a great rush, and
handed back the bill.
* We only pay ten cents a line." said he.
"That rate only applies to your Christmas, Good Friday and
Thanksgiving services." the accountant answered coolly, " when the
collections are for charity."
" But we had a lecture a couple of month ago, and you only
charged us ten cents."
•* Yes, that was my mistake."
44 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
The account was paid at fifteen cents a line, and when the same
singer came again the same rate was charged. Had the courtesy of
two insignificant passes been extended to the applicant, the committee
would have been richer by $22.50 than they otherwise were, as the
accountant could have referred the secretary to the manager of the
paper, and it could have been arranged.
The modern character who rejoices to have himself interviewed is
really the most odious that can be brought to the notice of the reporter,
and the prayers of the righteous that avail much might be offered on
behalf of him who is sacrificed at this alter of penance, I mentioned
to you the circumstance of the clergyman who at some hole or corner
meeting of a committee of his church desired to have himself inter-
viewed, and always left word at the business office of the paper to have
a reporter call to see him, recalls a character in Hawley' Smart's " At
Fault," every time I saw him. This was Mr. Totterdell, who was not
inaptly described by a detective, when he said with an air of patient
resignation : "Now for that wearisome creature Totterdell," and again
when Mr. Totterdell had finished, the detective said to himself:
^* Darned old fool. He told all he knew, and wanted to tell a great deal
more that he didn't. What a wasteful creature of time it is."
We all have our crosses to bear, and if some are heavier than others,
and the bearers sink beneath them, remember that this has been the
fate of humanity from time immemorial, but consider the trials of those
reporters who are compelled to listen to such drivel as these people
usually give them. Surely the Great Judge on the last day will remem-
ber with mercy these great afflictions, even though the reporter in
anguish of soul may, like the prophet, of old, cry out : " How long, Oh,
Lord, how long ? "
I had a conversation some little time ago with the managing
editor of a journal which I may say parenthetically, is not published
in Toronto, and in the course of his remarks he dwelt upon the high
attainment possible to women in connection with newspaper work, and
mentioned the fact with evident pride, that young ladies were acting
as his sub-editors, and also as proofreaders. ''They do the work," he
remarked complacently, referring to the proof-readers "just as well as
men."
He was undeniably correct in his assertion for as a matter of fact
they do better than men, in some branches. I consider myself com-
petent to speak with a remarkable degree of authority, and I assert that
there is no one more competent to throw dirt than a woman, not only
because it seems inherent to her nature, but because, as Balzac observes
€ven in their dissimulation there is an element of sincerity. Some eight
years ago Grip had on its staff", a cantankerous disappointed old
harridan who used to write acidulated dirt which she thought was
satire. I never saw her and do not know her name, yet the way she
wrote of l-rof. Goldwin Smith and Lord Randolph Churchill convinced
me that I was correct. No one but a disappointed woman could have
framed such language.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 45
I subjoin the following piece of twaddle as being the work of some
sweet creature, and ask your consideration of the last sentence :
He knew that his visit besides gratifying a not altogether vulgar desire to see in the flesh
one who had so often delighted, solaced and puzzled him, would give pleasure to thousands of
readers to whom Mr. Browning (our English mentors insist on the " Mr,") will be a more real
entity from his description. For our own part we are simply filled with envy at Mr. Fitch's
courage and success, though we would prefer not to be scolded, event at a distance.
In connection with ladies in journalism, the Toronto Telegram
recently remarked :
Woman, lovely woman, is needed in the newspaper business to gently turn the edge of
editorial bitterness and bi eathe her own kindly spirit into all the utterances of every well-
conducted j urnal. Heads form theories that the feet kick holes in. I'rofession is formed by
hope, and practice by the force of our fallen nature. The professions of woman in journalism
are in keeping with her high and holy mission, but her practices coincide with instincts that
may be lofty or may be low A woman who writes for a morning paper has just given an
example of the thoughtful tenderness, the sweet gentility, the lady-like kindness which are said
to be characteristic of the newspaper woman. She visited a summer resort not far from Toronto.
Not on mere pleasure bent was she. Ah, no ! Her business was Professional with a capital P.
The waiter girl displeased Her. The girl may have been tired or overworked, or perhaps she
neglected the august visitor to attend the guests who were less obviously superior. A news-
paper man would have probably had tact enough to get good service from the waiter. At all
events he wonld n(jt have avanged his wrongs in print, but not so the newspaper woman. That
unfortunate waiter girl was pilloried in the woman's column. Her personal appearance was
referred to in terms that would be offensive even if ihe newspaper deity whom she had offended
was a Mrs. Langtiy. An incident like this, trifling as it may be, is evidence that women can
be mean upon provocation that would not stir a man. Individual character determines the
quality of woman's influence in journalism, in politics oi in anything else. If the individual be
ncble the influence will be good ; if the individual be otherwise the influence will be ordinary.
Personally, I consider the Evening Telegram the best paper in
Canada. Mr. Robertson has been successful in having associated
with him a staff of writers and reporters who are able to keep in touch
with public sentiment. It was the Telegram that broke up the cedar-
block paving ring, and successfully conducted a libel suit for doing so.
It was the Telegram that pointed out to the Ontario Government that
the late Mr. Badgerow was no fit successor to Mr. Fenton as Crown
Attorney. It did so kindly, but effectually, and a man of ability was
placed in that position. It pointed out that there should be a City
Crown Attorney and a County ( rown Attorney for Toronto and York
County and this was done. Just before the general elections in
Ontario which it was presumed would be held in September, the Tel-
egram pointed out why it would be better to hold them in June, and
three days afterwards the House was dissolved and an appeal made in
June, the Liberals again returned to power. The Telegram made a
forecast of how the new house would stand, and was out in one case
only. The Parliamentary correspondent of the Telegram at Ottawa,
from 1891 to 1896 was in my estimation, the best corsespondent in the
press gallery, barring none. His articles were the most readable
published in Canada. I could go on enumerating reasons for my opinion
without number, but anyone reading that journal will know that what
I say is perfectly true, and patent to anyone.
The Mail and Empire devoted a couple of columns daily to " For
and about Women," and I give you the following item clipped from
these columns ;
46 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
When the tall brunette and the little blonde got on the car at the corner of Yonge and
Queen streets it was already crowded. A number ofmt-n were hanging on to the straps.
There was only one seate<^ a young man, at that, faultlessly dressed even to a silk hat, and
wearing on his doll like face an expression born of ennui and satiety. He did not offer either
of the girls his seat. The tall brunette bent down and whispered in the ear of the little blonde,
*' Follow my lead." The little one nodded her head knowingly. Then the tall brunette said
in a voice expressive of intense surprise, and just loud enough to be heard all over the car,
*' Why, there's a man sitting down : "
" Where ?" said the little blonde excitedly. '* Let me see him."
The tall brunette pointed him oui calmly and deliberately.
" Oh," said the little blonde in a disappointed tone, " That's not a man."
" No ? " queried the tall brunette.
" No " continued the little blonde with rising inflection, " that's a street car hog,"
There was five seconds of deadly silence, during which the little blonde blushed furiously,
while the tall brunette set her teeth and gazed out of the window with a dreamy look in her
eyes. Then came a roar of laughter from the standing men, and a chorus of giggles from the
ladies who were seated. The hog, white and trembling, rose hastily pulled the bell rope, stopped
the car and got off. The tall brunette insisted on her companion taking the vacant seat. Asthfe
little blonde settled herself she remarked placidly, " He's cured."
" I don't care for pork in any shape," answered the other dreamily.
Isn't the above story just like the wail of some disappointed old
maid ? Jealous of the ** doll-like face" which was, at least, the symbol
of youth, and that her own was getting scraggy and lean, and vinegar-
like in its expression. As long as the woman journalist confines her-
self to descriptions of sleeves and flounces and subjects equally inane,
she will be all right, but when it comes to a discussion of other subjects,
she cannot discuss on their merits — she is sure to show her vindictive
nature. In the above story, she proves my assertion. Girls or young
ladies who possess the faintest conception of lady like deportment do
not make exhibitions of themselves as the tall brunette and little blonde
did. However, I think I may say with truth equal to that of the writer
of the above story, that I was on the street car she speaks of, only she
does not give a correct description of the episode. When the little
blonde with a rising inflection, screeched, " that's a street car hog," the
crowd roared, but the ladies did not giggle. The idea at once prevailed
that these two persons were of light character — no other conclusion
could have been reached after hearing their remarks, and observing
their conduct, as ladies do not pa.ss such observations. The "hog" did
not leave the car either ; he simply ignored these persons, but when at
the corner of McCaul street a lady carrying a huge basket did enter
the car, the hog arose and tendered her his seat. Does not the tenor
of the Mail's article suggest that its writer must have had some such
experience herself and the seat she had coveted, had been given to a
lady ? Men have some discretion in these things you know, and any
man prefers giving his seat to a young and pretty girl, or a lady, rather
to any coarse- minded young person who would make herself conspi-
cuous by her vulgarity and ill-breeding, or one whose acidulated face
would stop a clock.
There is one branch of the editorial department, however, that
will be appreciated, and that is the lot of the book reviewer. The time
was when the editor would conscientiously run through the volume
submitted to him, and give a fair criticism of the work, but that is
now rendered unnecessary by the publishers who send along with the
copy of the work, a eulogy composed by themselves.
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 41
Of the many novels published a large number of them are doubt-
less meritorious, and possess a degree of originality that is sufficient to
satisfy any reader who merely wishes to be amused. Writers like Hawley
Stuart, Bertha M. Clay, May Agnes Fleming, Miss Braddon, E. Gabo-
riau, W. E. Norris and some few others can probably boast the largest
number of readers, in as much as they write on subjects that are of
possible occurrence, and the narratives are natural and not overdrawn,
but how such writers as Rev. E. P. Roe, Maxwell Grey Grant Allan
and a few others of similar ilk ever secured publishers is a mystery to
me, unless the publishers were desirous of circulating school-boy com-
positions. If you will take any of E. P. Roe's works you will see a
painful effort to fill up paper, and the peremptory manner in which he
deals out hell to those of his characters he makes opposed to his dish-
water heroines or heroes, seems to me more like the desired spite of
some acidulated old maid than the possibility of its being a truthful
presumption of what might have happened. Besides this particular
feature there are the glaring inconsistencies of his characters, and his
efforts at portraying fashionable life make me laugh. They are what
one might hear in a laundry. His title of Rev. has been the philoso-
pher's stone that has won an audience for his books, and in his case as
in many another, the priestly cloak has served a baser purpose than it
was ever intended. People of a goody-goody class who are too squea-
mish to read a novel by the illustrious Gaboriau, find no scruple in
reading of a seduction or two or a life of shame by Rev. E. P. Roe,
although they lose in elegance of composition by giving him the
preference.
A writer who has very successfully disposed of her books, is Augusta
J. Evans Wilson, though I am free to confess my ability to understand
why, except it be that her readers flatter themselves they can under-
stand the pedantic phrases she uses, which, after all, could be accom-
plished by anyone who possesses a good dictionary. I should be sorry
to suggest that Mrs Wilson was an inmate of an insane asylum, but
the only woman I ever heard use the stilted language such as she puts
into the mouth of her characters, was an incurable lunatic, who claimed
to be a daughter of Queen Victoria.
A young miss is in penitentiary for a crime she never committed,
and having just learned of her mother's death, replies to her comforter
in the following language :
Invest no hope for my future ; for escape is as impossible for me as for that innocent
victim fore-ordained to entangle itself in the ticket on Mount Moriah. He could have fled from
the sacrificial fire and from Abraham's uplifted knife, back to dewy-green pastures, poppystar-
red, back to some cool dell where Syrian oleanders flushed the shade as easily as I can defy
these walls, escape my lawful doom ; loosen the chain of fate.
The above may be very flowery, but I think the average reader
will agree that if anyone were to address you or me in that style, even
though her mother were dead, I think we would come to the logical
conclusion that it was not the penitentiary where that person should
be, but the asylum. I heard some school boys discussing her works once,
and one had, I think, struck the nail squarely on the head, when in a
48 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
tone of derision he said, " The characters in all her books talk like a
lot of d...d fools."
I observed an advertisement a while ago calling attention to a
new novel by Maxwell Grey, and commenting upon that writer's ability.
I never read but one of that illustrious writer's works thank heaven,
and while the work itself contained nothing of an original nature that
was even fairly meritorious, it seemed to me that the whole concern
was a wholesale larceny from George Elliot's " Mill on the Flos," and
the balance that might be possibly original was about as bad a conglo-
meration of trash as could well have been collected.
People of the present day are essentially independent in thought,
and usually take a criticism for what it is worth, and there is little
stock taken in such writers as Dr. Johnson and men of his ilk. We read
of how he seemed to consider himself the mentor of men, who probably
knew just as much as he did, and who accepted his snarls and regarded
them as the outcome of a giant intellect.
It is well for him that the worthy doctor did not live in this age
of grace, as he would have lived many a long day before he would have
found a Boswell to put up with his peevish nonsense. It is not likely
indeed that he would have had more than one opportunity of reviling
men of this age as fools and blockheads, and contradicting them in
defiance of all rules of good breeding. Having done that once, the
handsome pair of black eyes, or broken mouth he would have received
would have taught him a lesson for the rest of his life.
Mrs. Southworth is another whose giant intellect has produced
some singular trash. I think it is extremely amusing to read of the
true lady and *• perfect gentlemen " characters of some of the modern
works of fiction. In one of Mrs. Southworth's works she endeavours
to describe the character of one of her " true ladies," but gives herself
or the young lady away when the latter twitts an enemy with the
remark " I leave that for the painter's daughter to do," in order to
remind the painter's daughter of her humble origin, and there are any
number of writers whose inconsistencies are just as glaring. Judging
her by her works, I do not think she mingled with either ladies or
gentlemen, or she would have been able to give a better delineation of
how they conduct themselves, or had a better idea of what is considered
good form.
To-day we would scarcely read the works that once held away and
were regarded as highest class literature. The sleepy essays of Elia,
by Charles Lamb would not pay to publish, the reading public — and it
is they who are to be consulted — would hardly condescend to read
them, let alone to pay for them, and many others would receive the
same reception. No doubt this is very frivolous on the part of the
present generation, but it is none the less true. That ideal gentleman
whose unimpeachable honour and immaculate integrity are regarded
as pleasant creations of a writer's imagination, is now a thing of the
past, or it might be called an exploded doctrine of the past, as no one
believed that such men exist now, or ever did exist, because, having
OF TOBONTO THE GOOD. 49
no such characters nowadays, we don't believe that past generation-
were any better than we, or if they were, they must have had a woes
fully dull and slow time of it, and history does not give us to under-
stand that they had a particularly unpleasant life as far as it treats
upon the subject.
If I am wrong, and I do not believe that I am, let me point to the
fact that such works as Albert Ross' *' Thou shalt not " " Why I'm
Single," etc., are more widely circulated than those " with a moral,"
notwithstanding the fact that his works are two and a half times the
price of these others ; as well as to the enormous circulation given to
the Kreutzer Sonata as soon as Postmaster General Wannamaker of
the United States decided to proscribe it, and of all works of fiction
having similar characteristics, then our moral depravity must be very
great, or else, as I believe, our intelligence is so much greater than our
ancestors. The inane Sunday school trash, and all works of heroics
are so wide apart from the truth and from society as we find it, that
anyone reading them comes to the conclusion that the writers are
simply a species of ass, and when works like Balzac's, Ross', Tolstoi's
and others of that class are placed upon the market, they attain a large
circulation simply because of their probability, naturalness and being in
accordance with what we find in every day life.
A copy of a work called Madeline was placed in my hands a short
time ago, and I was introduced to one of those sweet, unsophisticated
maidens, whose sublime innocence is really comical, that is if you have
a keen enjoyment of the absurd. That such a character ever existed,
I do not believe, that she lived in the present generation is absolutely
preposterous. I admit that there are women who have lived possessed
of innocent faces, but the apparent innocence and artlessness generally
are screen for the parched and hollow souls of the woman of the world,
who knows how to look after her interests and tell her woes to the
person where it will do the most good, but in a manner to childlike and
bland that the majority of men are likely to be duped by it. When
innocence like this can be found it is time that the portals of heaven
should open, for the millenium has been reached. It is noticeable, I
think, that characters of this class are falling into decay or disuse. Men
and boys who read novels wish to have something they can understand,
and as this is a character never to be met with, they very properly have
consigned it to unutterable hence.
In my estimation the ablest novel writer in the English language
is Miss M. E. Braddon. The charm of her writing consists to a very
great degree in the fact that she knows what she is writing about. If
she is describing fashionable life, she handles her subject in such a
manner that the reader knows that she is writing from what she knows.
If the other side of the picture is presented, it is drawn with equal
vividness, showing that she has studied it, and knows it. You read of
almost any writer of the Southworth, Roe, and even the pedantic
Augusta J. Evans Wilson class, and you are at once convinced that
these people never knew the usages or characteristics of polite society
50 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
or aristocratic society, but lend the idea that their knowledge is some-
thing like the negro washerwoman, who tries to emulate the language
and manners of the people for whom she has been washing, and whom
she has probably seen only a few times, and heard speak the same
number of times. Or like the female contributor of a Parisian fashion-
able journal, who stood on the pavement and watched the ladies step
from their carriages to the house of some grand dame who was giving
an entertainment, and wrote of them as though she had been one of the
guests. The man or woman who has not read Miss Braddon's works
has missed a treat that I would be only too glad to have to indulge in
again. As a matter of fact I have read her books over three or four
times each. It is also true with regard to American detective stories.
There does not appear to be one writer of these stories who is compe-
tent to give a story or good society. I have purchased the works of
nearly all of them, and consider myself as having been done. I could
buy them cheaper. In some cases I paid as high as 30 cents for detective
stories, and have kicked myself for having been roped in. I could have
bought just as good in the Old Cap Collier series for five cents apiece.
THE WEEKLIES.
These are innumerable and comprise every field of labour and
financial enterprise, as well as every mercantile pursuit, and some of
them one would think, might very consistently ask themselves what
they are published for. But it is to be remembered that it is a very
simple matter to publish one of these papers. A large office such as
Jas. Murray & Co's. publish several of these papers, and consequently
it is not the gigiantic undertaking one might first imagine.
THE RELIGIOUS PRESS.
This class of literature is scarcely of sufificient importance to war-
rant more than a passing remark. Very few of these papers, if any,
are edited with more than average ability, and anyone who has seen
one has seen them all. They are devoted to news of church openings,
written on post cards (as I have seen them), biographical sketches of
the deceased subscribers, and editorial notes culled from other papers
that are well edited, though I believe they are considered good advert-
ising mediums. The faithful, however are not, it would seem, to be
permitted to enjoy the old-time privilege of being glorified by an
obituary in one of these paper, at least, as witness the following from
the Telegram :
THE OLD TIME OBITUARY.
Occasionally obituaries printed for the Christian Guardian have been clumsily written.
The writers who were enumerating the virtues of their religious deeds wandered over wide
tracts of thought, and, when almost swamped in words, sometimes came out at the right end
with the help of an apt quotation from the poets. The sins of the old time obituary were all
sins on the side of the picturesque. The obituaries built under the new rules lose the vivid,
fresh earnestness of the old clogies without any compensating gain of sincerity. The idea
underlying the old obituary was that the life recalled in its phrases had soms deep, spiritual
importance. The new style obituary honours the life and mourns the death, of a good Methodist
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 51
in prose as cold and unenthusiastic as that in which the church paper announces a quarterly
meeting or reports a tea meeting. The picturesque, sometimes |absurd, but usually earnest,
obituary h d to go along with many oddities which were esteemed in the past, but the degener-
ation of such a quaint feature of religious journalism is worth a passing notice.
Methodists who die and leave no friends to forward the obituary notice to the office of
publication within so many days can go down to the grave " unwept, unhonoured and unsung,"
as far as the Christian Guardian is concerned. A time limit is a novelty on an obituary page.
Delay does not impair the value of the lesson which the life and death of a good man can teach,
nor can the prompt publication of the obituary notice give value to a life and death which teach
no lessons.
THE STOCK EXCHANGE.
There are few people who read the daily papers, who are not familiar
with the reports of the stock exchange — an institution that regulates
the prices of the securities we hold or would like to hold, and which
sends the values thereof up and down at its own sweet will.
Buying and selling stocks on margin is a somewhat mysterious set
of phrases to the uninitiated and I would suggest to those who have
never dabbled, not to find out by their own experience, as one of those
who compose the class of people who think they are going to make
money by speculating in stocks, I can testify that you will wish you
had taken my advice after a few ventures in this arena of finance. You
will find brokers are ready to advise you in a stock in which you think
there is money to be made, and the probabilities are that he will have
some of the shares himself to dispose of.
In November, 1890, I was interested in Bank of Montreal, which
had been borne down to 216, and it was running up again with a
bound, having reached 225 bid in the course of a few days. I asked a
firm of brokers their opinion.
"The idea prevails that it will go higher; the bears have had
their innings, and run it down to '16, now the bulls are having their
turn, and they are going to pinch them as much as they can, just as
long as any of them are short."
" Uo you think it could be purchased at 225 } "
" I doubt it ; 226 was bid in Montreal last night, and they are
/promising to run it up to 230. You see there has not been a transac-
tion at all, although the stock has gained ten points within the last
three days."
You will observe, therefore, that the stock was not by any means
worth the market price, but it was run up by the bulls simply to pinch
the shorts, and that as soon as the latter had covered, the stock would
have lost its fictitious value.
The shorts are they who agree to furnish you with stock at a
certain price in a stated time, thiy take the chances of its going up or
down — if it goes past the price agreed upon, they deliver the stock at
this price or pay you the difference between its present worth, and the
price you contracted to pay, if on the other hand it declines in value
the order is reversed.
To finish my story anent the Bank of Montreal, I gave the order
to buy, the broker very considerately informing me that he thought I
could get the quantity I wanted — five shares — at 226. The next
52 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
morning Bank of Montreal made a sudden break in Montreal and in
sympathy it declined here as well. By '* a master effort " my friend
secured me the five shares at 226, which was the only tra )saction at
that figure, the other sales being at 225, 224^, and on the afternoon
board it could be bought for 222^, so you see my assumption that the
firm had some some shares themselves was, I think, really quite logical.
So it goes. Take the advice of one of the bitten, and eschew all gam-
bling in stocks.
Take my case with the Bank of Montreal :
5 shares at 226 $2260.00
Brokerage 2.50
$2262.50
On this I must put up a margin of $100.00, to protect the broker
against loss, and he borrows from some Loan Company the balance of
$2162.50, hypothecating the shares as security for the loan, upon which
I am to pay interest at current rates. After holding the stock some three
months, I come to the conclusion that there is no probability of its
increasing in value and I sell at 224. The transaction is as follows :
5 shares at 224 $2240.00
Brokerage 2.50
$2237.50
3 months interest on $2162.50 at 6% 32.44
Net proceeds 2205.06
First cost 2262.50
$ 57.44
Amount deposited on margin 100.00
Amount I received after sale $ 42.56
So you see for my experience I paid $57.44, which, though not
large, was sufficient, or ought to be sufficient to keep me from having
my fingers burned again.
Some years ago we had what were called bucket shops, that is no
shares were purchased or sold. You put up your margin, and were
treated in every respect just the same as though the purchase was bona
fide, you paid interest, brokerage, etc., and if the article you were inter-
ested in went up you received the difference between the price you
bought at and sold at after deducting these little expenses.
I mean to say that you received this money sometimes— if your
bucket-shop keeper had it to give you, and this sometimes became a
very important question, for if you did not lose by an adverse market
you stood to do so by the unreliability of the broker, whom after suing,
you found to be utterly worthless and with no chattel to levy upon.
This bucket shop business became such a crying evil that
the Hon. J. J. C. Abbott, the late Premier framed an Act which was
passed prohibiting them altogether. For a time this had the desired
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 63
effect, and the country was free from the unmitigated curse, but now a
new phase of the old system presents itself, and insted of having the
principals here in our own country, we have only the agents, who
correspond with headquarters in Chicago or New York, and who are
merely commission men.
The Telegram in speaking on the subject says :
ROOT OUT THE EVIL.
Toronto's righteousness is quick to rise in arms against sentimental evils, and yet it
ignores the existence of so-called brokers' offices that have made thieves of trusted employees
in other cities, and will do the same here. Either Premier Abbott ought to be ashamed of the
Act which is unappropriately labelled " a measure for suppression of bucket shops," or County
Crown Attorney Curry and the police authorities ought to be ashamed of their failure to use the
sword which the Dominion statutes gave them. This whole bucket shop business is bad. A
well-conducted poker game is a respectable and cheap method of losing money compared to
sport which is dignified with the name of legitimate speculation. There is nothing legitimate
about the business. All the needs of the legitimate grain business are served through the Board
of Trade. Outside of that the traffic is simply gambling, for the dupes do not buy grain, but
drop into the spider's parlour to lose their money on the chance of a jump in the price of wheat
or pork. Often as much as $160,000.00 is telegraphed from a single bucket shop in Toronto
to one central operator in the grain gambling business at Chicago. More than one million
dollars of good Toronto money has been rhrown in upon the wrong side of wheat margins
within the last month. Labelling a bucket shop with the title of coraoiission office does not
change the nature of business. It is a cold swindle from start to finish. It deprives legitimate
investments of the money which they need and turns the heads of silly boys and sillier old men
by tempting them with alleged chances of sudden wealth.
Another time I was interested in Bank of Montreal, a second
time, and after the market going against me for some time, I, in des-
pair placed a limit of 222 J^ to sell at, and after some little time the
market began to show signs of advancing. Inadvertently I did not
advise the broker to cancel the order to sell at that figure, and notwith-
standing the fact that the market was very strong with a decided up-
ward tendency, he managed to sell for 2235^, although the quotation
following that was 225, and finally the stock rose to 230. I called his
attention to this matter and expressed regret that he had sold, but he
replied that if he had not done so he could have been held liable for it
if the stock had by any chance gone down below my limit. So far so
good. Five months later I was interested in London and Canadian,
and I telegraphed an order to sell it at the market price, which was
137 bid and 13814^ asked. But he did not sell. A day or so after-
wards he stated that he would sell when he thought it best in my inter-
est to do so. Unfortunately I was in need of money at the time, and
I confirmed this gross piece of negligence or design on his part, and I
was compelled to sell at a very great sacrifice to myself, but he never
stated that he was liable for this negligence on his part. If you will
take my advice and be guided by my experience have nothing to do
with the stock exchange, or at least that part of it which deals in
margins. You will be nipped as sure as your name is what it is, if I
am any judge of the matter, and I regret to say that I am.
The stock exchange itself is situated on King street east on the
corner of the recent extension of Victoria street, and was incorporated
in 1878, There are two meetings daily except Saturday at 12.30 and
3.10. Each broker has a seat and outsiders are not admitted to the
54 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
Board, but anyone may communicate with a member by handing his
card to the doorkeeper who will at once call out the gentlemen. Persons
wishing to become members are required to make their applications at
certain times, which is publicly announced, and if anyone can bring and
sustain an accusation affecting the integrity of the applicant he is not
admitted. Some time ago, I believe, seats were worth $3,500.00 to
$4,500.00, but one was sold some little time ago for something like six
hundred, I think, demonstrating that the privilege is not so valuable as
it used to be.
People desiring to invest their money will find that Toronto as a
financial centre has few equals on the American continent. Her bank-
j ing facilities are large, few communities being more highly favoured in
/ this respect. The history of the loan and investment companies forms
""an interesting study, and the fidelity and care with which they are
managed make them together a standing evidence of the honesty and
trutworthiness of Canadian officials. The development and growth of
the city and surrounding country are due to the resources which are
placed at our command through these financial institutions.
Canadian banks are of a large capital and the different institutions
have agencies here and there in the most profitable districts of the
country. Out of a total of 38 banks doing business in Canada under
Dominion Government charter no less than 14 of these have agencies
here, and Toronto is the headquarters of seven. The paid-up capital
of the fourteen banks having agencies here amounts to nearly $50,000,-
000 while the total paid-up capital of the banks doing business in
Canada is nearly $70,000,000. The total deposits of all the chartered
banks in the Dominion amount to about $220,000,000.
FINANCIAL ENTERPRISES.
** When I think," said Coleridge, "that every morning, in Paris
alone, thirty thousand fellows wake up, and rise with the fixed and
settled purpose of appropriating other people's money, it is with renewed
wonder that every night when I reach home, I find my purse still in
my pocket."
And yet it is not those who simply aim to steal your purse who
are either the most dishonest or the most formidable. To stand at the
corner of some dark street, and rush upon the first person who comes
along, demanding "your money or your life" is but a poor business,
devoid of all prestige, and long since given up by chivalrous natures.
A man must be something more than an idiot to still ply his trade on
the high roads, exposed to all sorts of annoyances on the part of the
police, when financial enterprises offer such a magnificently fertile field
to the activity of imaginative people. And in order to understand the
mode of proceeding in this particular field it is sufficient to read the
glaring prospectuses of some of the concerns whose histories are given
below.
In Canada we are not as expert as our neighbours nor the Pari-
sians to be sure, but we have had our Central Bank case, and it proves
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 55
that we are making progress, though it may be perhaps a matter of
regret that a larger number did not share the spoils. One man was
stated to have had one of his cheques in the hands of the teller for seven
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and it was counted as cash. " What
sublime confidence," thought, not without a feeling of envy more than
one man, who for merely one tenth of that amount would gladly have
become a citizen of the United States. Although such large adventures
were somewhat rare, injthe present instance the magnitude of the amount
more than made up for the vulgarity of the act.
In that same Central Bank case, it will be remembered that one
firm was given a line of credit largely on account of their possible
influence on the stock market, and if this credit were not given the
stock of the bank might suffers at the hands of this firm who could
possibly *'bear " it, and when the names of some of the Bank'* debtors
were given, business men must have smiled to themselves at the gulli-
bility of the manager who gave them credit. Emulation of these men
will be found to be much wiser than to engage in plundering at the
point of a pistol. The Criminal Code does not appear to reach such
cases, and the man who can "do " you is almost safe from molestation.
Who then would be like the ragged little newsboy, modest as his crime
is who steals a loaf of bread to keep from starvation, or steals a pair of
shoes to keep his feet warm, when so much more brilliant fortunes can
be made from engineering financial institutions.
Man's inhumanity to man is not more strikingly exemplified than
in the large number of schemes introduced to make money out of the
credulous. Given a kind of insurance scheme, and an agent approaches
you with the argument that a large number of those who become mem-
bers are sure to drep out, and that is where the stock insurance companies
make their money. Let us take for example the Alliance Bond and
Investment Company, an institution whose name would seem to carry
the weight with it that strong financial standing should do.
The following somewhat seductive advertisement appeared in a
large number of papers in the city, and the city directory :
The Alliance Bond & Investment Co.
OF OlVTi^RIO, LIMIXED.
INCORPORA.TED FEBRUARY 27th, 1890.
Capital, $1,000,000. Subscribed, $?00,000.
General Offices-27 & 29 Wellington St. E., Toronto
PRESIDENT— W. Stone Toronto.
VICE-PRESIDENT— James Swift. Kingston ; T. K. Holmes, M.D., Chatham.
CASHIERv-Henry Vigeon
SOLICITORS— McPherson, Clark & Jarvis, Toronto.
The Company issue Bonds guaranteed to the face value. These Bonds are for amounts
from $100, and can be bought for any numbers of years from five upwards.
56 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
These Bonds are payable by instalments, and the investor obtains guaranteed compound
interest, at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum, and are especially protected by a sinking fund
invested in first-class Real Estate Mortgages.
This Company is empowered by its Charter to act as Administrators, Receivers, Trustees,
Assignees, Liquidalors and Agents, under a|)pointment by the Court or Individuals. Having
special facilities for the windiing up of estates, the Assignee braneh of its business is solicited.
Being a responsible Financial Company, Creditors can depend on prompt settlements
and quick winding up of any estates they may entrust to the Company.
The Alliance Bond and Investment Company, of Ontario, Ltd.
Assignees, Administrators and Financial Agents.
27 & 29 WELLINGTON STREET EAST, TORONTO.
The company in question was a joint stock affair incorporated
with a capital stock of $1,000,000, of which it was stated that over
$500,000 had been subscribed. A call of five per cent, was issued in
the first instance, and a second call had been sent out. The Company-
occupied magnificent offices in the Bradstreet building at 29 Well-
ington street east. The walls were ornate with costly engravings and
paintings, rich carpets covered the floor, tiie furniture was superb ; in
point of fact the two flats occupied by the company were fitted out in
Oriental fashion. The business consisted in selling bonds on the instal-
ment plan, a class of investments which has not proved itself to be
excessively popular with the people. At the outset the Col. Potter, of
New York, was the manager of the concern. In salaries the Board was
generous, Potter received $5,000 a year, Mr. Sparling, the superinten-
dent $2,000, and the president, $1,500.
Potter came from New York, and was formerly manager of the
Mutual Reserve in that city. He brought letters of introduction and
played the Masonic racket for all it was worth. Some were caught,
others were warned by the articles in the Telegram and escaped. The
feeling was very bitter that New Yorkers would have given letters to
Potter thus inducing innocent people to invest. Potter endeavoured
ty capture Hon. G. M. Gibbon with a salary of $9,000 a year, but h*t
was warned by the Telegram and kept out.
The Boston News Bureau has been showing up these bond com-
companies in the United States and has this to say of them :
Everybody knows that an insidious form of gambling has been
creeping into the wage earning community the last two months under
the guise of so-called " investment bond " companies, based largely upon
the principle of Mrs. Howe's bank, which could continue to pay large
returns so long as deposits increased — in fact security is exactly as in
Mrs. Howe's bank, and Mrs. Howe went to prison — not the deposit of
the depositer but the deposit of the next depositor. But it has not been
generally understood that this form of " enterprise " is rapidly increasing
and is beginning to affect the ordinary channels of investment.
The schemes of the investment companies vary in details, but all
have these features in common — a promise to pay a round sum of money
in return for immediate payment, and regular periodical assessments.
The bonds or certificates, often in engraved form, with gold seals are
to be paid in numerical order, beginning with the first issued, and each
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 51
bond is said to mature and become payable, when all bearing lower
numbers have been cancelled or paid and " there is sufficient money in
the treasury." Any failure on the part of a bondholder to pay the
assessment when due forfeits to the company all previous payments.
Thirty-five of the sixty-five investment companies whose prospect-
uses the News Bureau obtained issue straight $ioo bonds, three issue
$500 pieces, three issue $1000 pieces, two issue $50 bonds, three issue
$35, $75 and $200 respectively, and seventeen give their customers a
variety ranging from $25 to $2,000. The average cost for the first pay-
ment, including one month's assessment is about $7, and if $500,000 is
a fair estimate of business done so far the face of the liabilities assumed
already is about $18,620,000. That is to say before the last man who
has invested in these schemes to-day shall realize his hopes the class of
people who fancy their " investments " will have to contribute over and
above all expenses over $18,000,000. Should this $18,000,000 ever
be contributed the face of the liabilities then outstanding will be $2,-
268,000,000, or more money than there is in the United States. If 20
per cent, of the money, and that is the usually stated estimate for ex-
penses, sticks to the fingers of the projectors as it passes throught their
hands, they will be rich beyond the dreams of avarice.
The recent prominence given to the Dominion Building and Loan
Association by reason of the pending dispute between the directors and
shareholders of the concern, has attracted a good deal of attention to
its method of doing business. The Society is constructed on the eight-
year endowment principle and one correspondent who encloses a literal
copy of the membership agreement writes: "By this document it appears
that the shareholder is promised six per cent..., on his $50 for eight
years, which amounts to $24. At the end of the eight years he is to
receive $100, making $134 received in all. That is to say he is promised
his own $50 back with an addition of $74, which amounts to a return
on the investment and all but 18^ per cent, per annum in addition. If
the sum returned were $75 instead of $74, the return would be exactly
i8j^ per cent. Now why does the Dominion Building and Loan
Association sell for $50 an article which if offered to any one of a dozen
of our large financial institutions would be snapped up at even a higher
price than $81.15 ? Why does the Dominion Building and Loan offer
to pay or have to pay so much for accommodation or for funds for in-
vestments which comes to the same thing. And what upon earth or
under it is the nature of the financial business that can afford to pay the
enormous sum of $ 1 24 for the loan of $ 50 or for the use of $ 5 o for eight
years? Is there any financial business going which can pay 13 per cent,
per annum, as well as directors* fees, salaries, office rent, printing and all
other expenses ?
The Telegram was the first journal in Canada to call public atten-
tion to the dangerous character of the gambling insurance devised in
the State of Indiana, under the name of assessment endowments. An
attempt is being made to legalize this kind of insurance by the Domi-
nion Parliament. The same paper also exposed the plans and methods
58 OF TOEONTO THE aOOD.
of the Sexennial League, and the Septennial Benevolent Society with
its plans and methods was dealt with in an equally plan and faithful
manner. The character of the socivity and its peculiar operations were
brought to the attention of the public.
It is nearly ten years ago since a Mr. George L. Clarkson came to
town. He chose the west end as his place of residence and joined the
West End Y.M.C.A. To the members of that organization he intro-
duced himself as the Toronto Agent of the Dominion Life Assurance
Company, of Waterloo, Ont. Mr. Clarkson was undoubtedly the agent
of the company, but it is equally certain that Manager Hilliard did not
know what sort of man he had to deal with. Mr. Clarkson claimed that
his company had struck a scheme whereby a man could be insured for
thiee years at as small a premium as that given by any other company,
and could at the end of three years have all his premiums returned to
him with interest at the rate of four per cent, per annum. This was too
good for the young west enders to let pass, and many of them took out
policies. Singularly, none of them seem to have read the documents,
which contained no promise regarding the return of the premiums at
the expiration of the three year term, and Mr. Clarkson accordingly
pocketed big commissions, amounting, it is said, to nearly $10,000. The
Dominion Life people at the head office in Waterloo, congratulated
themselves on having secured such a pushing agent, not knowing of
course, the means which were used in'order to get risks. It happened,
however, that one of the young men of the Western Y.M.C.A., who had
been taken in, told a friend of his, the agent of another company, how
Clarkson's company was giving such advantageous terms. The insurance
man laughed at the idea saying no one could live and run a business on
such a basis. This roused the suspicions of some of the insured ones,
and Manager Hilliard was written to. He was out of town and did not
return to Waterloo for some time. When he came back he promptly
Avrote a letter in which he, as manager of the company, declined to
acknowledge any such agreement. Mr. Clarkson was interviewed by
several of the men to whom he had made promises, and insisted that
everything was all right. In the meantime Clarkson had got a Mr.
Jenner to deposit $400 as security in a partnership scheme, and then
skipped out. His presence in Toronto would now give pleasure to a
number of confiding men whose good money has gone to the States
with him.
In the examination conducted by Mr. Imilius Irwing, Q.C., as to
the methods of the Lion Provident Life and Live Stock Insurance
Association, the manager admitted that there were judgments against
him for $1,500 in the sheriffs hands, and that there were about 1 1,000
claims in addition which had been disputed on various grounds, but
principally because the premium notes had not been paid on the day
when they fell due. The receipt of the money on the day following did
not suffice. Mr. Jones admitted that he did not bring the clause refer-
ring to the latter to the notice of insurers, but it ivas on the back of the
policy. They accepted payments a day or more after they were due,
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 69
although the policy was voided by the delay in payment, without
informing those who paid the notes of the fact. The manager said he
took 80 per cent, of the receipts for himself.
BUSINESS IN TORONTO.
The legitimate business in Toronto is greater than that of any
other place in Canada except in Montreal. The city being the centre
of Ontario commerce, offers the greatest advantages of any other in
Canada to persons engaged in trade. Merchants at a distance buy what-
ever they can here, as they like to visit the place, and can thus combine
business with pleasure. Hundreds of people, or indeed thousands ann-
ually visit Toronto, and while here expend large amounts in purchases,
besides they are apt to find the best article in the market, as it is but
natural that the chief centre of wealth should draw to it the best talent
in the arts and trades.
Merchants from all parts of the province like the liberal and enter-
prising spirit which characterises the dealings of Toronto wholesale
men. They can buy here on better terms than elsewhere, and their
relations with the merchants are generally satisfactory and pleasant.
Everything gives way to business. Private neighbourhoods are constantly
being encroached upon for the purpose of business ; which is steadily
advancing towards the extremities of the city, north, east and west.
But while the visiting merchant sees only the smooth and finished
side of the picture, it is none the less true that there is a dark side to
it also. He should see the struggles of the employees in the houses
he visits to keep themselves in clothing, and the necessaries of life, and
to submit to the overbearing manner and petty tyranny of some one
who has had the good fortune to get into a position of trust. I was
once commissioned to get some laces for a lady friend of mine residing
on the other side, and I presented myself at the wholesale warehouse,
which had, by the way just the evening before, advertised for a ware-
housemen. I stood to one side while a young man, who had been
waiting a few minutes before me, should be attended to first. A phy-
sically impotent looking Englishman wearing a skull cap, and possess-
ing a figure as thin as Cassius, bounced out of the office, and the young
man begain :
"I saw an advertisement in the Telegram last "
He got no further, the Englishman gave a kind of a yell, and
answered :
,* Filled ! " them bounced back into his hole again.
I decided that my lady friend could get her laces at another place,
and I quitely passed out of the door. I confess to a feeling of fiendish
glee when a while afterwards I heard that the house in question had
gone under mostdissastrously. I asked myself if this could be wondered
at. In this connection I might mention a circumstance that happened
some time ago when the East York campaign was in progress. One of
the speakers pointed out the number of young men in the United States,
60 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
and attributed it to the false political economy of the Government of
the day. I have no wish to enter into any controversy on the subject
politically, but I would like to suggest one reason for this. Let any
young man enter any business house in the United States, and the
probabilities are that he will be received and dismissed with courtesy ;
if there is no vacancy he will be told so in a gentlemanly manner, and
is never insulted, besides he has lost no self-respect by making the request.
I never saw a similar case to the one I have mentioned and I confess
my disgust at the reception given to the young man who was an
applicant.
There are, it is a matter of regret to say so, business houses where
a man's promotion depends upon his ability to speak evil of his fellow
workmen, or in other word to play the sneak. I know a house in the
city, where one man has done this so persistently that he is regarded
as dangerous by the other clerks, and he is never the recipient of any
of the confidences that are indulged in amongst fellow employees in
any concern. He is nevertheless a favourite with the chief clerk, who
does everything in his power to promote him. First of all the sneak
tells the chief clerk the other clerks' shortcomings, and the chief clerk
in turn tells the manager or proprietor, so that both are held in high
esteem as being interested in the welfare of the company. Could any-
thing be more despicable than this? It is doubtless within the memory
of Torontonians how a young bank clerk had been so harrassed by the
Inspector that he was driven to tender his resignation, and when after
going to Chicago and being unsuccessful, he was driven to suicide.
When men reach that pitch that they are incessant faultfinders I think
there must be something radically wrong with their minds, morbidity
or something of that kind, some such disease as impelled the shocking
and debased morality characteristic of the exiled Somerset.
A little story is told of a business house in the city which is worth
repeating. In some way they are concerned in advertising. One of the
customers of the concern, having been behind in his account, and having
a contract rate for inserting his advertisement at reduced rates, was
refused any further accommodation until the acccount was paid. He
declined to pay for some time, and at length the company placed it in
the hands of their solicitor for collection. On the back of the contract
there is a proviso that if the customer fails or the space is not all used
up, he can be charged full transient rates. This does not apply to a
man who does not pay his account, as it would seem clear to the least
intelligent, but the chief clerk of the concern decided to have the account
made out in that way, and sued it. The debtor fought it out and sub-
pcenird the accountant who had made out the account in the manner
ordered by the chief clerk, and in serving him he handed him a dollar
bill. The matter never went into court, however, as the solicitor on
being given the statement of the case, held that the company would
certainly be non-suited, and the debtor having in the meantime paid
into the hands of the division court the sum he really owned. Finding
this to be the case, the chief clerk in entering the cheque from the soli-
citor to be placed to the credit of the account said :
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 61
" I'm going to enter that credit of F 's now, and if you'll give
me that dollar, I'll put that with the other that I have received."
" But I spent that money last night, I went to the Grand Opera
House, and I have nothing but a ten dollar bill."
** Oh, well, I'll get that changed, if you will give it to me."
The accountant gave the ten dollar bill, and the clerk took it, and
placed it to the credit of the account they had used. Is that not a
magnificent piece of business ? If it would serve any good purpose I
would tell you the name of the concern, but if you knew it it would
surprise you,
A friend of mine, being out of employment, wrote to a firm, one of
the principals of which is one of the trustees of one of the leading Pres-
byterian churches in the city, and asked for employment. He called a
few days after posting the letter, and interviewed the firm. A proposi-
tion was made to him that he should work for $8 per week, with an
increase at the end of three months to $9, and the next six months to
$10. He was asked also to write his biography for the benefit of the
firm, stating whether he smoked, drank or chewed, &c., and he was also
requested to get down at eight o'clock in the morning, or rather he
stated his ability to do so. This was just half an hour earlier than any
of the other clerks, but he did not mind that so much. The member
of the firm after reading his letter, wrote the terms on the margin, and
my friend signed his acceptance of them. Then the tiger showed his
claws. Heretofore he had been as smooth as velvet, but when the
agreement was signed, he commenced :
" Of course, you know, we have no sick benefits here, and if a man
misses a day he loses it, it is the same for holidays, we do not pretend
to be liberal in our dealings with our employees, we exact so much,
and we expect it."
He enumerated a long list of other matter that were too numerous
to be remembered, and it is just sufficient for me to say that my friend
remained there just four days, and that satisfied him for all time to
come. He happened to mention his experience to a young lady friend
when she exclaimed : "Don't have anything to do with that man. He
is called the sneak of our church."
Owing to the prominence given to advertising lately, shopping by
mail has become quite a thing of the present. But unless a very fine
quality of goods is required you will find it for more satisfactory to buy
your goods from our own dealer, if my experience counts for anything,
and I think it does.
A certain store that advertises pretty freely advertised a brand of
black cashmere sox at 35c. per pair, or three pairs for $1. I was pay-
ing a local dealer 40c. per pair, or for more than two pairs at the rate
of 37/4. It was a gain of 10 per cent, so I ordered three pairs. They
were considerably coarser than what I was getting at home, and I sent
ten cents more for the next finer brand, and they were not any better
than I was getting at home, nor quite so fine. I ordered some cuff's,
and they were very good, and I ordered again, and received some trash
62 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
that were worth about fifteen cents a pair, and believe I could have
obtained them for that at the house where I usually dealt at home.
Take my advice and keep your money at home, dont buy by mail, you
will rue it if you do.
The true Parisian is always represented as having several means
of existence at his or her fingers* ends. It should be the same with the
young man or boy in Toronto who is without home or without resour-
ces. This applies to the professions as well as to the trades. Adver-
tisements frequently appear where the young man must be a drugcleik,
a telegraph operator and a bookkeeper and goodness knows what else.
I think the following is really good denoting the requirements for a
certain position :
Wanted a boy who can write shorthand and the caligraph quickly, and make himself
generally usaful. Apply to box 443 Telegram.
I suppose the boy who applied for that position, and could fill it
would be offered the princely salary of $3 or $4 per week, with every
chance of its being less.
Here is another :
Youth about 18. to assist in office, one who has bicycle and is willing to learn and anx-
ious for advancement. Enclose copy of testimonials to Box 283 Telegram.
I would like to hear whether this youth got $3.00 a week or $2.50,
but the following is absolutely princely :
Young lady as bookkeeper and cashier, wages ^2.50 to $3 per week. Box 444 Telegram.
After paying her board out of the above it may consistently be
asked : Was the young lady expected to prostitute herself to obtain
money for her clothes .'*
Wanted — Hustler to sell ordered clothing at a price, one who is expert at measuring
and can sell factory cotton for tweed ; good salary to right man. Apply references and where
last employed. Box 142 Telegram.
SUNDAY IN THE CITY.
In Toronto, like all cities of any pretensions, Sunday is a day of
rest, but practically it is the very reverse. The morning is usually de-
voted to church going, and the churches are pretty well filled, for as I
mentioned there is a halo of respectability surrounding him who goes
to church, which nothing else can give. But ihose who are impervious
to the refining influences of church attendance, if it be summer time,
hie themselves down to their boat houses, and prepare for the after-
noon sail ; or others again go to the island, there to remain during
the day.
Some afternoons in the spring time, the Queen's Own Rifles have
a regular parade to some one of the churches, and if the weather is fine,
and it usually is, the streets are thronged with the youth and beauty of
both sexes. The following is an account from one of the city papers
anent a recent church attendance :
The Queen's Own Rifles mustered 657 strong for church parade. Leaving the drill shed
at 3.30 the regiment undericommandof Lieut. Col. Hamilton and Majors Dclamere and Sankey,
and headed by the regimental band and bugle corps, marched in half companies by way of
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 63
Jarvi«, Carleton, Collej^e and McCaul streets to New Richmond street Methodist church. On
Its arrival the regiment occupied the seats on the ground floor, which had been reserved tor
them. Every inch of the remaining space was occupied by the general public, and as usual on
such occasions, hundreds had to be refused admission. During the service Mr. Wilson expressed
himself in favour of c urch parades. He did not believe they were inspired of the devil. He
thought that much good would come of the fashion.
Like all other amusements, or perhaps I should say attractions,
the church parade has its enemies. I give some of the opinions of cler-
gymen who ventilate their views at the meetings of their associations :
After devotional services Rev. Mr. Stark, a retired minister, introduced a resolution
condemning the Sunday parades of our volunteers, especially with the reference to the Kilties*
parade. The resolution led to quite a spirited debate, some of the brethren being very severe
upon the soldier parades. Rev. Mr Parsons satd that " the people wanted to play the devil once
a month ; we pose as strict Sabbatarians, but all these military services were merely chasing
the devil around the stump." It was generally felt by the members of the Association that the
ministers had this matter largely in their ownjhands. The opinion was that if the soldiers would
only march directly to church instead of taking a circuitous route it might not be so bad.
Another said that the very minister who was so opposed to Sabbath desecration was the first to
preach to the Kilties. The resolution was withdrawn.
The same subject appeared to provide a bone of contention for the
Baptist Ministerial association. At its meeting the subject was tho-
roughly considered in a free talk.
Rev. Joshua Denovan, a patriarchial representative of the Scottish race, thought it
incumbent upon him to vindicate, if possible, his fellow nationalists. If any objection were taken
to the parade of the Kilties, the same objection, in his opinion, applied to the parade of the
O.O.R. He deprecated, in conclusion, ostentatious demonstrations of any kind on Sunday.
Rev. James Grant said that the action of the Queen's Own Rifles in playing the popular air,
" Ta ra-ra-boom de ay " on the Sabbath was shameful. He thought it was a great pity that the
Lord's day should be thus secularized. The consensus of opinion as by the ideas expressed by
those who took part in the impromptu debate evidenced was that parades of any kind on the
Sabbath were out of order.
It will be observed in one of the quotations referred to that our
mutual friend Rev. Dr. Parsons speaks of chasing the devil around
the stump. There are I grieve to say a majority of people who have
not the intelligence to see the affinity in connection with church parades
and the hazardous diversion of chasing the devil around the stump, so
I give the distinguished divine's remarks as delivered to an ignorant
public, and commend them as indicative of the Reverend gentlemen's
sapiency. Appropos of the term "distinguished divine," I think that
is the correct phrase in the case, and is applicable in all cases of refer-
ring to the clergy, at least it is the style adopted by the press.
In the afternoon, the park and gardens are open in the summer
and those who are intellectually inclined will find a rich treat in store
for them if they go to the park. The Salvation army holds forth in all
its glory and beauty, distinguished by sacred words adapted to the
tunes of different waltzes, bar-room songs, and any class you can think
of, while the partakers therein are ever and anon, moved by the spirit
to give vent to their holiness and happiness, by yelling, " Glory be to
God," "Praise be to God," and various other expressions too numerous
to recollect.
A new by-law prevents speaking in the park, and to the majority
it is a welcome boom. Some time ago the park used to be filled with
men who believed themselves, like Joan of Arc, to be divinely inspired,
and held forth in great style.
64 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
A dirty, greasy-looking individual used to expound the true Pro-
testant faith, and the corresponding errors of the Church of Rome in
accordance with the views of Maria Monk, and others* of that ilk, but
this tyrannical by-law deprived him of this privilege, and he is quite
disconsolate thereat.
It was proposed to employ a band to play in the Queen's park
every Sunday afternoon, but this idea was voted down in council, though
I confess I see no possible objection to it, except that it would be a
welcome diversion to the working-man, but it would be also a source
of attraction to children who otherwise are penned up in a stifling
Sunday school, having dry as dust texts sweltered into their little bodies,
which they must bear in the same manner as the children of Israel
bore their trials at the hands of the Egyptians.
At night the streets are crowded with people of both sexes, espe-
cially Yonge and Queen, and the promenade is kept up until nearly
eleven when the streets become entirely deserted.
By a recent decision sacred concerts at the Island or in the city
or elsewhere are as lawful on the Sabbath as on a work day. Chief
Justice Armour and Mr. Justice Street having so held and as a
result quashed Magistrate Denison's conviction of Band-master John
Bayley of the Q.O.R., for playing sacred music at Hanlan's Point on a
Sunday afternoon in August last. Magistrate Denison held he was
guilty of a violation of the Lord's Day Act, that he was pursuing "his
wordly calling" unlawfully and fined him $i and costs. But with all
due deference Mr. Bayley differed as did the counsel, in their inter-
pretation of the "act to prevent the profanation of the Lord's day " from
that of the Court street judiciary, and obtained a reserved case, which
was argued with the above result in the Divisional Court to-day. The
argument was brief, the court at the outset favouring the appeal against
the conviction, and holding the act was no more intended to apply to a
bandmaster than to an organist in a church. The Appeal allov/ed with
costs. B. B. Osier, Q.C., appeared for Mr. Bayley, and Mr. Moss, Q.C.,
for the Crown. The concerts were free and were provided by the
Toronto Ferry Co.
And now, horror for horrors ! the populace of Toronto have decided
by a good substantial vote that they desire street cars on Sunday
and they have them.
THE DETECTIVES.
The detectives are under the supervision of Inspector Stark, and
are men of experience, intelligence and energy. They are well skilled
in the art of ferreting out crimes, and generally succeed in the objects
which engage their attention. They are distinct from the police force,
though they are subject to the order of the Commissioners. It requires
an unusual amount of intelligence to make a good detective, in addition
to which a man must be honest, determined, and brave, and complete
master over every feeling of his nature. He must be also capable of
great endurance, of great fertility of resource, and possessed of no little
ingenuity.
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 65
They are always to be found on Court street, where they have
separate apartments when not on duty. Strangers coming to the city
get drunk over night in places of bad repute and are robbed, and the
next morning they come to ask the aid of the police in discovering
their property. If their statement of the circumstances is true, they
can generally recover the lost articles through the aid of detectives, if
they can be recover at all. They are in constant telegraphic communi-
cation with other cities, and are receiving or giving intelligence of crim-
inal matters and movements so that if a crime is committed in any
city, the police force of the whole continent really is on the alert for
the apprehension of the criminal.
The individually of crime is remarkable. Each burglar has a
distinct method of conducting his operations, and the experience of the
detectives enable them to recognize these marks or characteristics in a
moment. Thanks to this experience, which is the result of long and
patient study, he is rarely at a loss to name the perpetrator of a crime,
if not person a professional. Appearance which have no significance
for the mere outsider are pregnant with meaning to him.
If persons seeking the aid of the detectives would tell the truth in
their statements the aid rendered them would be much more effica-
cious and speedy, for as a rule the detective can tell from the nature
of the loss whether the statement of the circumstances be true or false.
Persons are often indignant that those who have robbed them are not
arrested and held for trial. Undoubtedly this would be a very desirable
thing but it is not always possible. Frequently no evidence can be
obtained against the guilty party, whose arrest would be a useless
expense to the city, and the detective in such cases is compelled to
content himself with the recovery of the stolen property. The stolen
goods thus recovered and restored to their owners is estimated to amount
to a very large sum annually.
In many cases the detective is very loth to arrest the culprit. It
may be the first offence of some youth, or he may have been forced on
by circumstances which an experienced officer can understand and
appreciate. In such cases he leans to the side of mercy, and his advice
to the party against whom the offence has been committed is not to
resort to the law, but to try the offender again. In this way they have
saved many a soul from the ruin which an exposure and punish nent
would have caused, and have brought back many an erring one to the
paths of virtue and integrity.
While Toronto very consistently congratulates herself upon her
immunity from the dark crimes such as have occurred in New York,
Chicago and London, and other large cities, there is a special dispen-
sation of Providence she has perhaps not taken into consideration and
congratulated herself upon, and that is her immunity from that crowning
affliction — a detective story.
I do not refer to those literary masterpieces of absorbing interest
and unrivalled delineation of character written by Emile Gaboriau,
whose works are unquestionably a credit to the literature of any country.
66 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
and in whose novels not the first trace of inconsistency nor any weari-
some unnatural conversations can be found, but to that rubbish which
has been flooded over the country written by detectives, ex-detectives
and would be detectives, that has been described by the publishers
thereof in their circulars to a confiding public and an indulgent press
as "thrilling," but which possess neither literary merit nor the possib-
ility of reality.
Do you suppose a child could give a written description of the
mysteries of astronomy ? The proposition is absurd upon its face,
because a child knows nothing at all about it, and its intellect would
be incapable of grasping the subject. Then it is just as reasonable to
expect from the pen of an underbred policeman a correct delineation
of character, and an account of the manners and cus^toms of well-bred
people as to expect a child to explain the system that has puzzled the
ablest scientists of the universe.
I am not in any respect exaggerating the picture. Some time ago
a firm of publishers sent me some of this trash to review. They were
like the laboured efforts of a junior schoolboy to fill up paper, and any-
one reading the accounts given of fashionable life would exclaim at
once, " the writer is not a parvenu but a would be parvenu." Imagine
a gentleman of good-breeding calling his daughter "Miss Emma" to
one of his friends, or speaking of his house as "the mansion."
Again take the denouements of these novels, and their very tame-
ness is absurd, and altogether weak and inconsistent. As an example
a New York belle is married, and her father a millionaire, is giving her
a most magnificent present. On the night of the mariage, the bride is
kidnapped, and until a certain sum is paid, one hundred thousand
dollars, the bride will be held as a hostage. The distracted father puts
the detectives on the track, and to his herror finds that the villain who
kidnapped his daughter is an old-time acquaintance, who happens to
know of an incident in the old gentleman's early life, which he holds over
him like the sword of Damascus. To be discovered he knows would be
social ostracism, and he is about crazy, not knowing which way to turn,
and almost deciding to give up the hundred thousand dollars. After
wading through wearisome prosaics, the reader necessarily expects to
be rewarded for his Job- like patience by some terrible tragedy in which
the old man has taken part.
Vain expectation. When everything comes out all right, the villain
dead ; the agonized husband his wife restored to him, and the righteous
triumph of the good over the bad, the reader is coldly informed that
the f ither had committed seduction in his early manhood, and endured
the agonies of Gethsemane in f^ar that he might be discovered and be
socially ruined.
To anyone acquainted with our national character, the absurdity
of this conclusion is at once apparent. He might just as well have said
the old man had drunk a glass of beer, and feared social ostracism,
which would have been just as reasonable as to express the idea that
he did. Such an act in a man's life is no more consequence socially,
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 67
than a change of diet would be. The great wonder to me is that
publishers can be such fools as to publish such dishwater. Imagine for
one moment the difference between the writings of the courtly French-
man whose plots are marvels of depth of thought and study, and whose
language is grace and elegance itself, and those of the others who surfeit
their compositions with italics and exclamation points in such profusion
as to make a compositor frantic with rage, and yet it is simply the
childish propensity of the school boy who has learned a new trick which
he thinks clever, and is incessantly practising it ; besides unlimited
interjections such as " there came a time when Sephronia remembered
those words of Samantha's " in almost every chapter. I have read the
prosaic trash ofthePinkerton's ; the conglomerations of an ex-detective
a Mr. Lynch, and Anna Catharine Green's water brained productions
which lack the elements of satisfactory explanations of her extravagant
plots, and I am pleased to congratulate Toronto on her escape from
having such bosh added to its already over-burdened soul.
When the work's written by Mr. Lynch were sent to the news-
paper upon which I was employed, the publishers informed us that this
particular work *' had made him famous." It may have done so, but
that only proves how cheaply fame may be bought.
I laugh when I read the high sounding names they give their
characters, the Lois Clarendons, Irene Chesterfields, Ethel Delafields
and such like, but if their delineations of the characters of the people
demonstrate anything it proves that Mary Ellen Jones would be the
proper name for the majority.
HOTELS.
There are quite a number of people both married and single who
prefer to board than keep house. Of these a large number board at
the hotels, and the others in boardiug houses.
The principal hotels of the city are the Queen's, Rossin, Walker,
Arlington, Palmer, Metropole, and a large number of minor hotels of
less importance, some of which are really good, but do not make special
efforts to meet the travelling public that those first mentioned do. The
tjansient custom of these hotels is very large, but the permanent
boarders of these establishments are also very profitable. The rates
are somewhat high, and the majority pay their proprietors well. There
are two classes known in the city, those which are conducted on the
American plan, and those known as the European plan. The former
provide their guests with lodgings and full board at so much per day
or week, while the others furnish merely the room and attendance, and
are either without the means of supplying meals to their guests, or
charge for each article of food separately. The European plan has
almost gone out of date, and in fact can hardly be said to exist at all,
proving conclusively the popularity of the American style.
The proprietors of hotels are very active in their efforts to exclude
improper characters from their houses, but with all their vigilance, do
not succeed in doing so. One is never certain as to the respectability
f;8 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
of his neighbours at the table and it is well never to be in a hurry to
form acquaintanceships at such places. Gamblers and those of that ilk
abound at such places, and the proprietor cannot put them out until they
commit some overt act, inasmuch as he might possibly get himself into
trouble, as he is required by law to give accommodation to anyone who
will pay for it. As soon, however, as his attention is called to any
improper conduct on their part, they are turned into the street, no
matter at what hour of the day or night and left to shift for themselves.
Appropos of this law requiring that the proprietors of hotels shall
accommodate any guest who is prepared to pay therefor, Messrs McGaw
and Winnetofthe Queen's, had a somewhat unpleasant experience
with a coloured man hailing, I think, from Chatham, and who, I believe,
they declined to accommodate on account of the lack of room. The
irate guest got into quite a rage, and threatened suit for damages through
Messrs. Blake, Lash and Cassels, but the matter was never threshed
out and I do not know how it was settled.
All hotels are the legitimate prey of swindlers, and the devices
used are as varied as are the kinds of the operators. It is not a very
difficult matter for a man who has sufficient assurance to get a meal
without paying for it. He can manage to get in the dining room, if he
knows the lay of the house, and by pure nonchalance pass muster,
though he runs the risk, nevertheless, of being detected.
At one time there existed a mania for stealing or exchanging
clothing in some of the best hotels, though the practice can better be
carried out now in those of more modest pretensions, inasmuch as the
best hotels employ a man or boy to take charge of the hats and coats
of the guests as they enter the dining room, but even with the very
best surveillance things are often cribbed. For instance a man may
quite easily slip a fur cap in his overcoat pocket, and if the man who
is in charge happens to be engaged in assisting some one else, the
thiefs chances of detection are very meagre, but these thefts do not
happen very frequently, and generally only during some very busy
time, such as when the exhibition is on, and the hotels are thonged
with strangers. It is customary, I believe, or else the law requires that
the landlord shall make good any loss of this nature.
It is a most difficult matter for a hotel to get along without being
occasionally swindled, but as a rule the amounts out of which they are
defrauded are uot large. A man may go to a hotel and stay a week or
ten days, and settle his account, and he is then presumed to be pretty
good pay. He remains perhaps a month longer, and then suddenly
leaves, leaving behind him perhaps a hand bag worth a couple of dollars
and some old clothing of perhaps one half that value to take up his
residence in some other place to repeat the same game.
A somewhat peculiar incident happened some years ago, in which
a young fellow of nineteen or twenty figured, and demonstrates that one
can never trust to appearances. He was an innocent looking boy, rather
good looking, and an American. On his arrival in the city he took up
his abode at one of the numerous boarding houses on King street west,
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 69
and proceeded to look for a position. Not being successful, he left this
house and took up his quarters at one of the leading hotels, remaining
there some days. In the meantime he had made the acquanitance
of a gentleman engaged in mercantile pursuits in the city who was
endeavouring to get him a position. At length the manager of the
hotel came to the conclusion that all was not as it should be, and he
requested a settlement. The young man stated that Mr (his friend),
had some money belonging to him in the Ontario Bank, and that he
would settle his account as soon as this friend had drawn the money
out. In the meantime the manager called the friend up by telephone.
" Is that Mr. Blank ? " he asked.
" Yes."
"Well, this is Mr. Jones of the House. Do you know a young
man by name of ?"
'• Yes, I know him casually, but nothing more. He has been trying
to get a position in the city here, and I have been doing what I can to
help him, but that is practically all I know of him."^
" Well, have you any money belonging to him ? "
•* No, I have not."
" He says that you have some hundred dollars in the Ontario Bank
belonging to him."
" That is not so. I have no account there as a matter of fact, and
I certainly have no money belonging to him."
" He says that you have, but if he comes in to see you this morn-
ing, don't say that I have spoken to you, will you } "
" No, certainly not."
A few minutes later the manager called on the gentleman to whom
he had been telephoning, and the above conversation was confirmed,
but the young man in question never put in an appearance from that
time at either the hotel or the office where his friend worked.
That is one incident in many where the hotels are swindled, and
were the rooms of some of the hotels where they keep this old truck
examined, some funny things would doubtless be brought to light.
In the management of these concerns it is not necessary to speak
more than to state that where a specialty is made of keeping perma-
nent boarders a few of the ideas expressed by those who take up their
residence in such places may not be out of place. A common cause of
complaint in one place where I resided was the fact that the places of
the permanent boarders were incessantly taken by transient people, and
then quite frequently by a most disgusting crowd into the bargain.
One man, a tailor, and been in the habit of going to a hotel on
Yonge street for dinner, and his diet consisted of the coarsest kind of
food, such as corned beef and cabbage, and beer the latter of which in
time produced its usual effect, and in exact ratio as his wits became
clouded, did his ill-breeding demonstrate itself. He would use his
napkin in a place of a handkerchief, cough and spit on the floor, and his
mouth would make a noise not like one pig, but like two or three. I
can not understand how a man with an ordinary degree of intelligence
70 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
can sit day after day and see people properly conduct themselves at the
table and not take pattern.
At the same house, a German, whom I took to be an insurance
agent was just about as bad — or more so. His place at the table was
always filthy after he had left it ; his food would be scattered all over
the table and chair, and no one would sit there after him, and certainly
they can scarcely be blamed.
You may sit at a table at a hotel after day, and the characters you
meet there are really innumerable, and now here is a better opportu-
nity to judge human nature.
At one hotel where I was a guest a middle a^ed man, or perhaps
an elderly man would suit the bill better, as he was somewhere in the
neighbourhood of sixty. It was just about the time when it was in-
tended to convert Weston into a town. It seems that some of the
wealthier men of the place did not want this conversion, and had given
their opinions at a public meeting. Our friend, who was in favour of
the scheme, seemed to have spread himself at this meeting. The guests
at the table were not in any respect interested in the matter, but he
seemed to think they were his legitimate prey to be talked to, and he
gave himself that pleasure. He spoke to no one in particular, but loud
enough to be heard all over the table.
** As I stated yesterday," he remarked complacently, " at the two
meetings where I spoke, money was never yet know to buy brains."
This was intended to apply to one of the wealthy man who had
the audacity to oppose him. Besides it gave the impression that his
own intellect was above criticism.
" When these people buck against me," he added, " they may just
as well know at once who they are bucking against. I say now as I
said this afternoon, that brains is a natural gift, and any man can make
money. I had the whole a«dience with me."
The illustrious gentleman glanced around the festive board and
not having received that applause he considered himself entitled to,
arose and left the table.
** Who may that be ? " inquired one the gentleman who had been
an amused listener to the conversation of the distinguished speaker.
" I do not know what his name is," someone replied.
"I had an idea from his manner that he might have been the
Son of God."
Men seem to think the hotel table is the proper place to air them-
selves, but to the man of good taste it will appear at once as indicative
of bad breeding for anyone to tell his own business and its achievements
before people who are perfect strangers to him. On the following
morning when Mr. Winbag came to the table he did not receive that
cordial reception he considered himself entitled to from his manner the
previous evening. He sat down to the table without ever receiving the
time of day.
" Well," he exclaimed cheerfully. *• How is the weather this
morning ? "
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 11
As no one seemed to answer him, he turned to the last comer, and
demanded in the style of a cross-examiner :
" Is it cold out ? "
" Not particularly," the gentleman answered curtly, as if to end
the conversation.
" Is it as cold out as it was yesterday morning ? " he asked
persistently.
" I don't carry a thermometer," the other replied coolly, " but if
you wish to know the weather so minutely, you might take a walk
around the block and find out for yourself."
"And you might learn to answer politely," was the angry rejoinder.
" When a gentleman asks me a question, I usually answer him to
the best of my ability," the other retorted, "but I don't propose to
allow any windbag like you to gratify his curiosity by me, so I gave
you the answer you deserve."
The table was not annoyed by him again.
We have all met the American woman or lady (there are no women
in America) who, though she is a guest at a hotel which is not first
class, still regards herself in a measure as the mentor of the creatures
at the table. Being only the wife of a mechanic she appears to think
the Canadians are somewhat of a benighted race, and the women do
not know their own worth. You can judge all these characteristics by
her face and its expression ; the vulgar insolence which she thinks is
independence ; the manner of reaching over the table for what she
wants, shows that she is " a lady," although some gentlemen consider
it ill-bred, and then the manner she assumes when she snaps off a
grape at a time from the dish instead of taking a bunch as a low bred
Canadian would do.
Another gentleman sits at the table and sucks his teeth, by some
this is considered ill-bred. But to him it demonstrates his opulent
manners and familiarity with the code of good breding.
You will find men and women too, by the hundreds who have as
much idea of table etiquette as an Indian. My friend Hawley Smart
hits them ofif perfectly. " They are " he says, " not above harpooning
anything they fancy with their own forks and utterly ignore salt spoons
while their knives are in that hand, plunging the blade in freely when
^^anting that condiment." He might have added with equal truth that
^» large proportion do not seem to know what their forks are for, veget-
^■ples, everything, being shovelled in with their knives.
Hr These are a few of the characteristics of the people one meets with
at the hotel table, and they could be enumerated by the hundred.
»
RESTAURANTS and BOARDING HOUSES.
RESTAURANTS.
Of this class of eating houses you will find the city is beautifully
supplied, and as your means are limited or unlimited so you can choose
a particular restaurant. McConkey's and Harry Webb's head the list
72 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
of popular and fashionable restaurants, and everything is got up in first
class style and cleanliness, but they are, comparatively speaking, ex-
pensive, and it is not every one who can afford to indulge in such
luxury.
Nearly all the down-town restaurants do a good business during
lunch time. So many men and boys who live in the extreme ends of
the city prefer to go to a restaurant for a sandwich and a cup of coffee,
if nothing more, than to eat a cold lunch and remain in a cheerless
warehouse during noon hour. There are some restaurants where boarders
are taken, and those can usually count on having their seats reserved for
them, which is quite an advantage especially during the busy season.
An amusing incident occurred in a well-known Yonge street rest-
aurant by which a conceited ass was beautifully come up to. He had a
great habit of planting himself at a table intended only for boarders,
and as he finished each course, and was waiting for another be would
spraad out his arms and take up almost the whole side of the table.
This continued for some time, when exasperated beyond measure, his
left hand neighbour ordered soup, which, as fate would have it, was
thick and greasy. He toyed with it for some time until the proper
time came, when he adroitly pushed it to one side. In a moment down
came the elbow of the sinning one into the thick and gresy mess,
" Excuse — G...d d...n the luck, my coat is ruined,"
The young man made haste to apologise, and graciously handed
him a napkin, but the old man did not again take up the entire side of
the table that day.
It is absolutely surprising how little men know of table etiquette
when brought into contact which their fellow men. Men who are con-
sidered models in business life, seem to forget that in a restaurant there
is an unwritten law requiring the observance of certain rules, to demon-
strate that they are men and not pigs, by the observance of which men
are judged of their bringing up.
A close observer of human nature who has spent considerable
time in the different restaurants in the city gives his experience.
" I came here," he observed, "from King street east where I used
to put up, but it got to be so extremely disgusting there that I had to
move. I never drink tea or coffee but usually milk. The dose I got
on several occasions so turned my stomach that I never asked again,
you could absolutely smell the onions, as though the goblet had never
been washed, so I had to quit there.
" My next place was nearer the heart of the city, but after being
there a short time I came to the conclusion that I must be very hard
to please, for I was disgusted in no time. Just at this season of the
year you know, there is an influx of veterinary students , all fresh from
the farm, and who all know more than the professors themselves. I
had the misfortune to be placed at a table where a crowd of Americans
were congregated, and at every mealthesame subjects were discussed ;
dogs,, horses and cows were all dissected at the table and the dissection
criticised, until at length I was obliged to move to another table, these
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 73
discussions of such scientific subjects were beyond my limited compre-
hension, and appreciation, therefore, I asked to be removed. I do not
in any way impugn the right of free discussion, nor do I say anything
of the question of good breeding, for all Americans are gentlemen, and
it was unquestionably my beclouded intellect and not the lack of good
manners on their part which was the cause of my inability to sym-
pathise with their discussions,
" I had a fairly good time at the table where I was next seated,
and the girl was a gem, but I had the misfortune to change my dinner
hour, and a man whom I had never seen before was placed next to me.
He was a man with a black heard, and was disposed to be most cheerful
under any and all circumstances, and it is perhaps, superfluous to say
he was an extremely religious man. During all the dinner hour he
discussed church matters with his right hand man, and it was astonish-
ing how animated the conversation would become. At length he
commenced on me, but my taciturnity did not seem in the leastwise to
give him any embarrassment ; he rushed ahead like a torrent, and
realizing that I was unable to check him, I permitted him to talk until
he got tired, and I resorted to reading a newspaper. When the Exhi-
bition with its myriads of people came my place was given to some
transient guests until at least I was compelled to seek another place.
'' Waitresses seem to think you are their natural enemies, and
they yours, and I used to sit sometimes a quarter of an hour in the
morning without the girl ever coming near me, and than I did not get
what I wanted ; if I asked for boiled eggs, I either got them so hard
that I could not eat them, or they were so soft that they were disgust-
ing ; and you might as well spare yourself the trouble of complaining,
for all the good it would do you, so now I take my meals at a first class
house on the European plan, and if I don't like it I simply go and try
some other place."
The swindler, as usual, has his experience with the restaurant, and
frequently gets the start of them in ways that are peculiar and laugh-
able. Two will go to a place together, and order what they want, and
as soon as they are nearly through the waitress gives them a ticket with
the amount of their bill on it, each being separate ; one will get through
before the other, and they make it a point to sit apart, so that he
who gets through first approaches his companion and begins a conver-
sation until the other gets nearly through when number one decides ta
try something on the bill that he did not notice before ; he receives
another ticket, and the two start out together, when one ticket is pre-
sented and only a part of the bill is paid, so the fellow gets a good
supper for the price of the small dish he took a fancy to as he was
getting ready to go out. Other times a man will stand and talk to a
friend after he has got his check, and hang around until the cashier has
forgotten to keep an eye on him, and he quietly steps out.
BOARDING HOUSES.
Any stranger in the city who is looking for a boarding house has
only to consult the condensed advertisements of the Telegram to find
74 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
a long list of places to call on, but that he will be suited is quite another
question. There is, it seems to me, a good opening for a really good
boarding house in a central locality, and circumstances prove the phi-
losophy of my opinion.
Some years ago a lady kept a boarding house on Adelaide street,
and it was always crowded ; the reason was very simple, everything
was scrupulously clean, the attention was good, and only those who
conducted themselves as gentlemen were allowed to live there. It is
now the custom, almost universal for the young men, to rent a room in
some suitable locality, and then take their meals somewhere else.
Boarding houses, like hotels, have their peculiar characteristics. In
some of the former, there is no desire apparently to please. If you like
pie hot, you are almost certain to get it cold, or the apple sauce is full
of enormous lumps that almost turn your stomach, and the characters
you meet in some of them are sources of never failing amusement.
My experience has been a somewhat varied one, and the people
I have met and their peculiarities would all fill a volume. At one table
where I sat was a man who used to come to dinner only. He was
engaged in some business in the city, and lived away up in the east
end. He frequently spoke of his Sunday school class, and after ordering
his dessert he would use his fork for a tooth-pick, which of course he
had a perfect right to do, even though it might be considered some-
what ill-bred. I observed him on several occasions, and finally one
day I stared him out of contenance, and I suppose he saw that it was
not exactly the thing to do, and he stopped it.
We have all met the men who opens his mouth to its full width
while chewing his food, and smacks his lips every time they cocne
together, and who, in eating pie, grabs a piece from the plate, and bites
it in the same way as he does bread, ignoring the fact that pie accord-
ing to the usages of good society is to be eaten with a fork, yet this
specimen of humanity is to be found in every boarding house, though
one would think that once seeing how respectable people eat they would
take pattern.
There is perhaps no place in the world where a man's ill-breeding
shows itself in such glaring prominence as at the table of a boarding
house. A man sits next to you who eats his soup like a pig at a trough,
another will hawk, and finally spit on the floor, while a third, not to be
outdone fills his food with pepper and begins to sneeze, using his napkin
for a handkerchief, and some of these men really consider themselves
weL-bred.
I cannot understand how it is that when a boarding house once
secures a class of men, they never make any effort to keep them, and
yet it would certainly pay to do so ; if a young man gets a house that
suits him he is certain to stay there, but after a while the board and
the attendance become so bad that he needs be a saint if he can put up
with it. To make money is the aim of almost every one's life, but the
shortsightedness of the boarding house keeper is like the shortsighted-
ness of the storekeeper who cheats his customers and imagines they
will come back.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 75
To the wayfaring man who desires a rational amount to eat and
is not a gourmond, I suggest that he decide to pay a fair compensation
to a hotel that sets a decent table, and he will find it will relieve him
of much vexation of spirit.
The following seductive advertisement canght my eye, and I
decided to give it a trial :
Boarders — Table boarders can be suitably accommodated at . . Queen corner of King.
Dining room on ist floor; large, well-lighted and elegantly furnished. Every attention giren,
same as in first class hotel. Delicacies of the season always provided. — Terms moderate.
For breakfast we had thick, lumpy porridge first, and four days
out of seven we had liver and bacon. Liver and bacon are not bad,
but this liver and bacon bore a striking resemblance to fried gristle and
leather. I have never tasted the latter, but I imagine there would not
be much difference. The liver looked as though it had been dried in
the sun for a week or so, and then cooked for an hour or two ; while the
bacon I should judge had been sissling for three hours at the least. It
would almost break like clay when you touched it.
" Livernbacon " said the waitress to me one morning.
" I had liver and bacon yesterday morning, didnf I ? " I asked,
meekly.
"Yes."
*' Very well." I said " I will have the same this morning, if it isn't
in use."
I put two little pieces in some paper, intending to get them photo-
graphed, but they were mislaid, and I cannot, therefore, give you that
pleasure.
We usually had toast, dry, thin hard stuff that looked and tasted
as though it had been baked, while there was a square slab of streaky
looking stuff the lively imagination of the landlady dignified by the
name of butter, and it was invariably bad. If we protested that the
butter was bad, we were assured that it was impossible to get any better,
— a statement I am prepared to believe, if she had added at the price
she was willing to pay.
Sometimes we had steak, and such stuff — what I got I think must
have done service for four or five before it came to me. It was usually
thick with pepper and chopped with a knife during the process of
cooking — I never saw anything like it before. Something was put before
one gentleman one morning which the waitress called steak, but which
he sent back with the remark that it was cold roasted beef cooked over.
For lunch, we had things that are indescribable, sometimes we
had soup. For instance if we had had peas for dinner the night before,
we would have a thick, slimey, greasy liquid, cold pea soup, if we had
beans a previous evening, it would be bean soup ; consequently I never
ate any. The left over mashed potatoes from the previous evening's
dinner were sometimes fried and sometimes worked over into croquettes
and were always served cold. I never stayed to catch any. But where
the landlady shone was in her manipulation of cake. Little cakes that
are sold at ten cents a dozen, were divided up into beautifully cut little
^76 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
quarters or sometimes into six, and spread over the dish to make them
look almost countless. I always drank two cups of tea to fill up on,
although it invariably tasted like boiled hay. There are people, of
course, who prefer their tea boiled two hours instead of one, but this
lady boiled hers for three, apparently, on the principle that everyone
might be suited. Dinner was served at six, and the vegetables were
always cold, on Wednesday nights we had a composition of the week's
remains called beefsteak and kidney pie. Now, I don't consider myself
as being in any respect hard to please, as I stayed in that house nearly
two years, and only left when the landlady desired to wait upon me
herself. 1 he line had to be drawn somewhere and I drew it at that.
She had indigestion, and I used to bear her all over the house belching
up the wind off her stomach and she cleaned her finger nails in the
dining room, I couldn't stand that, and when to it is added the addi-
tional charm that she used to listen at the doors, I decided after we
had a row about her waiting on me, that I would leave, and I did so.
HOLIDAYS IN THE CITY.
Toronto is very careful to observe the holidays of the year, the
orthodox English element tending to preserve in all its purity each of
the festivals of our fathars or a great national holiday.
ON NEW year's day.
The whole city is stirring by ten o'clock, and the streets are filled
with gentlemen on their way to make their annual calls. Private car-
riages, hacks and other vehicles soon appear filled with persons bent
on similar missions. Business is entirely suspended in the city, the day
is a legal holiday, and it is faithfully observed by all classes ; the cars
are crowded and if the weather is fine, everyone is in the highest spirits.
Women very rarely appear in the streets in the morning, but in the
afternoon King street is crowded. The matinees at the theatres are
crowded, especially by young people, and an effort is always made to
have a good attraction. Government House is always a scene of great
attraction, as all the leading lights in the city pay their respects there.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto and the Episcopal and
other clergy all make New Year's calls.
QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY.
The birthday of our Gracious Queen is always kept throughout the
country, and as it comes at a time when the whether is most delightful
it is looked forward to for weeks and days before. Excursions to and
from every available place are largely patronized, and the city is quite
deserted. A large part of the day is devoted to fire-crackers, Roman
candles &c., and though the police try to stop them, it is almost impos-
sible to do so ; the city resounds with the discharges, and the air is
filled with sulphurious vapour.
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 77
THE FIRST OF JULY.
Canada's birthday of Confederation is alwas celebrated in a com-
mendable manner, but the extreme heat that usually prevails on that
day makes it almost impossible of enjoyment, but like the 24th of
May, great preparations are made for it, and excursions are sent out all
over, the outgoing steamers being crowded. In the city the lacrosse
team usually have a team visit them, and they are well patronized by
an enthusiastic audience.
THANKSGIVING DAY.
This day is commemorated by morning services in all the churches,
and the rest of the day is given to rest and social enjoyment, and a
bountiful dinner. In the afternoon the theatres are thronged with
crowds of young and old.
CHRISTMAS DAY.
Every thing gives way to the merry march of the Yuletide monarch.
The streets are teeming with preparations for the great Christmas fest-
ival, and peace and good will are the universal conditions which animate
the human family the whole world over.
One of the gladsome features of the Christmas season, however,
undoubtedly is the spirit of kindness and benevolence which becomes
universally diffused. This is essentially a season in which the wants
and necessities of others are relieved by their more fortunate brethren.
The St. George's society of Toronto make it their special charge
to see the more necessitous among those who hail from Merry England.
In connection with the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society, the
charity is confined exclusively to the deserving and respectable poor,
and the greatest pains are taken to examine into the genuineness of
each individual case.
In all the charitable institutions of the city the halls are adorned
with Christmas decorations and preparations made on an extensive
scale for the celebration.
CITY PARKS.
The Queen's Park is essentially the best in the city, and the Queen
street drive is one of its conjunctive attractions. Like all other places
in our ancient and beautiful city the children are not permitted as in
American cities, to play in the park, but if some crazy jay wishes to
shoot off his mouth on some religious question he has full permission
to do so except Sunday, and then only such as the Salvation army or
some similar organization is permitted to monopolize the Sabbath.
This is a very wise by-law, unlike some that the city council passes, as
it was, some time ago, Roman Chatholics had to run the risk of being
insulted by some half demented fool who thought himself inspired and
18 OF TOEOKTO THE GOOD.
specially delegated to preach against that church, that prohibits such
exhibitions on Sunday.
Some time ago when the proposition was before the council to
exchange the block of land between Front, Esplanade, Bay and York
streets the Telegram made the following caustic observations :
Toronto's rulers keep its nose so close to the grindstone that the city has seldom time to
look into the future. The problems of the present have always been too big for past concillors.
American cities with all the dishonesty that has oppressed them have been more fortunate. The
future has not been neglected and the elaborate park systems secured when land was cheap
outshine the parks of Toronto the beautiful. The chance of securing a grand and complete
system of parks has gone or is going by forever. The acres between the university and Bloor
street for which $630,000 has been offered, are almost in the market. The loss of this natural
park and plyground, dotted with trees that are the work of a hundred years, would be a mis-
fortune, and civic patriotism ought to sacrifice something to avert a loss that cannot be made
good within the lifetime of this generation.
And in connection with the Upper Canada grounds the same
journal says :
Toronto ought to outbid every private tender and secure the use of the old Upper
Canada grounds for the city's children during the summer months. It is a small thing, but
civic statesmanship could afford to stoop to conquer those convenient acres for the use of Ijoys
and girls who have no play ground but the street. Spite of high taxes, the city is rich enough to
rent the property from the University trustees. The few hundred dollars which it would cost
at most, would be a small price for the boon which such a play ground would be to hundreds
of children.
What New York saw in 185 1 the Telegram sees to-day for Toronto,
and it is certainly to the credit of New York that they have a park
which is as free as the air to both rich and poor alike, containing a par-
ade grounds of thirty acres for the manceuvering of large bodies of troops,
play grounds, base ball grounds, rides, drives, walks and everything
that could be invented for the pleasure of its inhabitants.
During the summer season the council arranges with the different
bands to give series of concerts in the parks, and the crowds that attend
them outweigh any protestations for or against them, and abundantly
testify to their popularity.
Even Montreal' the principal city of the Province of Quebec, which
complacent Christians of Ontario regard as being somewhat benighted
can boast of resting places for the weary and heavy laden. You cannot
take half an hour's walk in that city but you will come to a square of
sufficient dimensions to accommodate a large crowd of people, if they
desire to sit down and rest. One Sunday evening I walked through
some of these parks, and I fervently thanked God that Toronto did
not have any such places. Numberless men, actually smoking and
seeming to enjoy it, their wives with them in some cases and children
too, all seeming pleased to be there. They were absolutely enjoying
the shade and cool afforded, instead of being at the cemetery weeping
and wailing over their grandparents' graves. I never saw anything like
it. And if that were not bad enough to see the hardworking, common
ruck enjoying themselves in this fashion, even the birds seemed to enjoy
it too. The sparrows, bathed themselves to their hearts' content in the
fountains. They chirped, dove into the water, splashed it all over, flew
out again, and had a glorious time, and it was as I watched them that
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 79
the prayer of thankfulness went up from my heart that Toronto had no
such places. Can you not imagine, dear reader that frenzy, leading to
madness that would have taken possession of the senses of the good
souls of Toronto had such a frightful desecration of the Sabbath taken
place in that saintly city. Those brutes who enjoyed the breath of
fresh air with their wives and children and their pipes would soon have
been hustled out of a park in Toronto, and as for the birds, I do not
know how many of Toronto's policemen would have been required to
stand in front of those fountains with two edged swords, keeping the
little demons away. Had these things occurred in that city, and had
the good people I have referred to been powerless to prevent them,
imagine if yon can how many of them goaded into madness would have
required places in the asylums already full to overflowing, and then
think : IDid I not have reason to feel thankful that Toronto did not
boast of such places ?
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Toronto stands at the head, and in the front rank of all cities on
the continent for the excellence and extent of its system of public schools.
The buildings belonging to the public schools are brick, and are amongst
the handsomest in the city ; they are commodious in every respect
and made equal to the demand upon them. The rooms are large, airy
and neat, and the buildings are well warmed and ventilated and every
care is taken to render the teachers and pupils as comfortable as possible.
The course of study is most thorough, and in the winter months night
classes are held and large numbers avail themselves of the opportunity
to better their positions ; all these are free. Mr. James L. Hughes is
a most thorough inspector, and it is due largely to his excellent mana-
gement that the system has reached its present thorough efficiency.
The number of students attending the universities is very large,
and as is customary with spoiled children, the public are very lenient
with them. In this connection the Telegram has an article on the
subject of attending the Opera House and says :
Students ought to know enough to stop short of rude interference with the rights of
others. It is not to the wild and strange noises with which they decorate the silences of the
night that objection is taken. Citizens are anxious that they should have not only liberty but a
measure of license. They are allowed to enjoy themselves at the expense of other people's
feelings, and public forbearance towards them imposes upon the collegian the duty of respect-
ing the sacred rights of fellow-citizens. There was nothing wildly funny in the uproar ai the
Grand Opera House. Authors of the disturbance did not act fairly towards Manager Sheppard.
His good nature allows them all the latitude they should ask. He owes something to his other
patrons, and he could not allow the boorishness of the gallery to interfere with the fulfillment
of his obligation to people who go to the theatie to enjoy the performance. Now the students
are good Canadians. Individually they are not inconsiderate. The civic by-laws are stretched
to the bursting point in order to contribute to their enjoyment. A tax-payer would be jailed
for breaches of decorum far less serious than their antics. The public go more than half way to
meet the inclinations of the students. They should cover the short remainder of the distance,
for it is not manly in them to take from other people the enjoyment which they pay for.
In giving an account of the disturbance in question, the same
journal adds :
80 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
The students behaved like a lot of blackguards among the gods at the Grand Opera
House. They blew horns incessantly during the performance, their uproarious behaviour
causing many to leave before the opera was more than half finished. Manager Sheppard went
up stairs to remonstrate with the rowdies but his threats to ring down the curtain unless they
behaved themselves properly, only met with the discordant tooting of a score of tin horns.
After leaving the Grand the students organized a procession outside, and marched on the side-
walk and roadway about 600 strong, shoving and jostling everyone who would not move aside.
At the north-west corner of Yonge and Queen streets one of the mob collided with P. C. Dodds,
and knocked him down. He collared the offender and clung to him while P. C. Welch called
up the patrol waggon. At No. 2 police station the prisoner gave his name as Howard Brown,
a veterinary student, who had the appearance of being a farmer's son. After the arrest of Brown,
the students continued their wild pranks, among the places and prominent persons being
serenaded being Bishop Strachan school, William Mulock and the Moulton Ladies college. At
the latter institution the young ladies acted most indiscreetly in encouraging the students. One
of them started to sing a song, but some persons pulled her away from the window. Another
lighted matches, while a third threw out a pillow, which the gang promptly picked up, and it
served as a banner during the balance of the racket. One the following morning Brown was
tried before the Magistrate on a charge of disorderly conduct, and was fined $2.
Mr. Sheppard who cannot be said to be anything but generous in
his treatment of the students was allowed an early opportunity to in-
terview the Police Commissioners at their regular forthightly meeting.
He complained that there was an in.sufficiency of police at his place of
amusement on the occasion of the students' rumpus. Mr. Sheppard
was informed that the police duty ceased at the street line, but if he or
anybody acting under his authority wanted any disorderly person
ejected he could command the whole police force if necessary. The
police would remove any individual pointed out or would turn the
whole body of students out if requested to do so. The same orders
will apply to all other places of amusement, and it is the intention of
the Chief Constable to suppress any repetition of the disgraceful conduct
in the theatres in the city.
The public schools occupy a considerable space in the correspond-
ence columns of the city papers, and schools are rapidly becoming
what religious societies are supposed to do in their world, — become side
tracks for the public to shunt their children upon that others may
assume the responsibility, or rather take the responsibility, from their
shoulders in bringing them up. In view of the kinder-garten of the
present time, the time is not far distant when women will be merely
what Harriet Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom's Cabin describes as
** breeders." That is to say they will give birth to the child and they
will then expect the State to nurse and educate it. A correspondent
on one of the newspapers recently complained of the lack of ability
on the part of modern young women to cook, and a few days later some
sweet creature signing herself "One who is interested in the Girls "
heartily agreed with the other correspondent, and suggested that cook-
ing should be taught in the schools. The idea that girls should learn
such things at home did uot seem to occur to her giant intellect. She
thought perhaps that modern civilization demands so much of a girl's
time, that the limited time she spends at home would be inaquate to
allow her to learn to cook. The church, Sunday school, ladies* aid
society, class-meeting, W.C.T.U., Young peoples' society of Christian
Endeavor, Wednesday night prayer meeting, society for the propogation
of American dress amongst the Africans, choir practice, etc., are such
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 81
drains upon a young woman's time that school is really the only place
she would have a chance to learn in. I should like just once to sit down
to a meal such as two thirds of the present day young women could
cook, and it would do me the rest of my lifetime.
Nor are they satisfied with having Sunday schools for religious
instruction, but they also desire that something should be done in the
same way in the day schools. I attended a public school when I was
a boy and for a few moments, I, like fifty or sixty others sanctimon-
iously turned my eyes heavenward, while that paragon of virtue, who
left his position because he could not control his appetite for liquors,
read some passages that I never recollect having heard once. That
was the law, however, and he complied with it. What more could
anyone want ? I have no doubt in the fulness of time that women will
expect teachers to nurse their brats even.
STREET BOYS.
You can scarcely walk a block without your attention being drawn
to one or more of the class called street boys.
Every morning, rain or shine, summer or winter, a perfect swarm
of boys make their appearance at the offices of the different newspapers,
and boarding the early cars, they have papers to all parts of the city in
time to catch the earliest pedestrian or street railway passenger. The
World, on account of its condensed form, has a very large sale amongst
those who live in the outskirts of the city, as by the time one reaches
the city he is master of the news of the day. But the boys who sell the
morning papers are comparatively few in number. The newsdealers
control a large amount of this trade, and the efforts of the newsboys
centre on the evening papers, large numbers of which are sold all over
the city. The great stand for the boys is on the corner of Yonge and
King streets, and at the railway stations, where in the mornings you
hear the cry " Globe, Mail & Empire, World," while in the evening,
''Globe, Mail & Empire, News, Telegram and Star" is rattled off as their
tongues can utter them. Some little fellows, however, of limited capital
confine themselves to the Telegram, and at six o'clock the streets are
full of little shavers, yelling '' six o'clock Telegram." At the time of
the Whitechapel horrors, it was a rare harvest for them, and sometimes
when there was no Whitechapel murders on the boards, they called it
out anyway. These lads are as a rule bright, intelligent little fellows,
who would make good and useful men if they got a chance, but some
of them are simply stupid. Some of them have no shoes, no coats, and
even their shirts are merely apologies for such, and yet they are rarely,
if ever, sick ; they can nearly all swin, and enjoy themselves in the
summer time, but the cold must necessarily tell upon them in time.
Some of the boys live at home, but the majority are wanderers in the
streets, selling papers generally, and sometimes forced to beg. In the
summer time they can live out all night, but in the winter they are
obliged to patronize the cheap lodging houses, the newsboys' home or
St. Nicholas home.
82 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
Some of the more careful ones have done well, from a financial
standpoint. Davy O'Brien, who for years stood at the corner of King
and Yonge streets with unfailing regularity, deposited thirty dollars
every two weeks in the Home Savings and Loan Company's office, and
in addition thereto, he owns a house and lot on Duchess street, the
value of which is at least eighteen hundred dollars. Some time ago
when the Mail reduced its subscription price to four dollars in the city,
the boys were unable to compete against the office, but the company
agreed to sell the morning paper at 25 c. a month per copy, if they were
paid for in advance, this would be a cent a copy. Davy promptly took
the matter up and paid for two hundred and fifty copies in advance
each month and then sold them to the other newsboys, at a cent and
a half a copy. Other boys have records equally good but which have
not so bright a side financially. One young chap who used to stand
at the corner of Bay and King streets is now in one of the offices learn-
ing to be a pressman. He was a reliable, honourable boy, and those
with whom he dealt learned this, and when an opportunity presented
itself he was rewarded by an appointment to a vacant apprenticeship.
Another is now in the mailing department in one of the city papers.
He, likewise proved himself worthy of confidence and received this
position. Both of those boys are on the way towards making respect-
able and useful citizens.
In addition to the newsboys proper are also the youths who carry
routes for the morning papers. Each paper employs from forty to fifty
of these boys, and whixe the remuneration does not exceed two dollars
a week, it is quite an item, inasmuch as the majority of the boys work
during the day at some other business or goto school. It requires some
enterprise and considerable self sacrifice, as they are required to be up
at five o'clock in the morning but their work is finished by seven.
Again there are boys who carry evening papers to subscribers of
their own. These are for the most part boys of respectable parentage,
and who attend school. They are required to pay for their papers
every day, and pay an average of seven cents a dozen, their profit being
five cents. Some of these lads make several dollars per week, and have
accounts at the savings' banks. They are sure to get along in the world,
and their enterprise and pluck demonstrate beyond a doubt their ability
to take their places in the battle of life. The boys who carry the
morning routes are among the most respectable in the city, and must
be of good moral character. One of the boys employed by one morning
paper was the son of the pastor of a most prominent city church.
A good many of the regular newsboys sell the newspapers in the
early morning and black boots part of the day, taking up the news-
papers again in the evening. Their ages run from ten to sixteen years.
A few are older, and one or two men follow this avocation in the street.
A boy provides himself with a box with a sliding lid, and a rest for the
feet of his customer, a box of blacking and a pair of good brushes. All
these articles are kept in the box, when not in use, and the owner
carries this receptacle by menas of a leather strap fastened to it, which
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 83
he slings across his shoulder and trudges on with his box on his back.
They are generally sharp, shrewd lads with any number of bad habits
and little or no principles, and are averse to giving much information
with respect to themselves ; when asked how much they earn, they give
evasive answers, but one dollar is supposed to be the average daily
earnings of an industrious boy. The price of a new outfit or kit is
perhaps worth a dollar, but second hand outfits can be bought at the
junk dealers for much less. Some of the larger boys spend a consider-
able portion of their earnings for tobacco and drink, and they patronize
all the theatres, their criticisms of which ate really worth hearing, and
their imitations or rather mimics of the different comedians are most
creditable and put to shame the baser imitations we are obliged to
listen to as being original and which we vociferously encore. The
course of life which they pursue leads to miserable results, as when a
newsboy gets to be seventeen years of age he finds that his avocation
is at an end, it does not produce money enough and he has acquired
lazy, listless habits, which totally unfit him for any kind of work. He
becomes a vagrant and perhaps worse, and a wanderer all over the
country. A boy of seventeen has visited nearly all the large cities mf
the United States, and the stories they tell of their experiences in
Chicago in particular are absolutely revolting. The crime that bani-
shed Lord Somerset from London society is committed according to
their reports, every night in some of the lodging houses in Chicago.
Like all matters or people who are compelled to reside in the city,,
the newsboys are, of course, the special care of that august body, the
police force, which sought to tag the boys like dogs, and by consulting
the chapter on the police force, you will see the opinions of some of the
citizens on the subject. At a meeting held in connection with criminal
matters, the following report is taken from a city paper :
Sir Daniel Wilson thought the prison was no place to send a boy to. Whipping soundly
was the best treatment for boys of all classes who were refractory. The badge system of making
newsboys register at police headquarters, Sir Daniel thought, would have been quite successful
bad not the newspapers given their voices against it. The system of compelling boys to go to
school for two hours a day had not been thoroughly successful, because the boys left the respect-
able lodging houses in order that the police inspectors could not get at them so easily. The
badge system must be carried out thoroughly or not at all. Radical were Sir Danial's ideas as
to the treatment of adult criminals. " When a man comes to thirty years of age," he said, " and
has been convicted of burglary twice, I think it is ridiculous to look him up for but two years
or so, and on the third conviction I would send him to prison indefinitely, for I regard such men
as wolves who live to prey on the community."
I call particular attention to the remarks anent the newsboys, and
would say for the information of others that when one of the police
officers called at a certain office the clerk who sold the papers did his
utmost to make himself as offensive as he possibly could, and declared
his intention of selling to every boy or girl who asked for papers,
whether their age was five or fifty.
"Two members of the police force insulted me one night, and any-
thing that I can possibly do to obstruct them in a constitutional way, I
purpose doing," he observed in explanation, and suffice to say he kept
his word. Any boy, tagged or untagged got all the papers he wanted
in that office at least.
84 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
Other legislation has been passed for the benefit of the boys not
necessarily newsboys, but as the boys are row almost restricted to look-
ing cross-eyed on the street, and eating their dinners, I give the expres-
sions of Saturday Night on the subject of the restrictive legislation
proposed for their benefit :
Only those who have studied criminal procedure can understand what a roaring farce
more than half of it is. Only those who have watched the discussion in Parliament have the
taintest conception of the vast amount of a surdity which was eliminated during the discussion.
Hanging for sheep stealing was nothing compared with some of the dreadful things proposed to
do to people. Then look at the Cigarette Act, which is intended to correct the habits of the
young as regards the use of tobacco. Since Dominion day it has been law in this province that
all persons under eighteen years of age are prohibited from buying, using, or having tobacco in
their possession, and those who sell or give it to them are liable to heavy fines. They should
frame a Spanking Act intended to prevent the squalling of babies, the chewing of gum and
refusal to take the matutinal bath. Enactments should be provided for the imprisonment of
boys who insist on sliding down hill to the detriment of their trousers, and for the making of
dreadful examples of girls who let their stocking sag around their ankles. By proper attention
to these domestic details the responsibility of parents may be greatly decreased. All they will
have to do shall be to provide nourishment and raiment for their offspring, the policeman will
do the rest. What a delightful vista is opened for the coming parent when the Kodak theory
of parental responsibility is perfected. They will bring the child into the world, the police
magistrate will do the rest.
This is given to demonstrate the absurdity of half of the restrictive
legislation passed, and the absurdity of making children, or anyone
else for that ma ter, good or virtuous by Act of Parliament, and Satur-
day Night adds :
The perfection of public schools has endowed the state with the right of even compulsory
education. So far we could not quarrel with the idea of government. Unfortunately so many
parents were unable to educate their children or even contribute to their education in a tech-
nical sense, that to prevent illiteracy the state was forced to invest itself with proper powers.
Following in the wake of this, Sunday schools, imitating the Catholic example, relegated the
religious education of the child to what may be called professional teachers. The mother, no
longer feeling called upon to tell the sweet story of Christ's sacrifice to the child at her knee,
had more time to devote to the designing of new gowns for herself and offspring. The father,
relieved of his teaching duties, could spend more time at the club or in that odd mixture of
secular and religious work designed to benefit the heathen and extend tbe tenets of his denom-
ination. There is a general outcry for more religious teaching in the schools. Even the careless
parent is observing that the proxy system has not yet been perfected, that neglect in providing
parental precept and example is having its effect. Of course, parents are not impressed with
the idea that they ought to do some of this sort of thing themselves. They feel that the school-
teacher ought to do it, that there is too much long division and too little divinity taught in the
schools. The policeman having become the guardian of childish habits with respect to liquor
and tobacco, the nursery business should be extended to the Fire Brigade, who could no doubt
be profitably employed in their spare moments in washing the knees of the school children and
giving dirty little boys their bath before going to bed I think the whole business would be
laughable if it were not an innovation of that outrageous and fool idea that good boys and good
girls and good men and good women are to be made by statute.
I wish to point out to those people who so ready to clap a boy or
young man into gaol for committing some offence against society that
society itself might exert some influence to reclaim these people. I
have in my mind one particular case, which is but an example of
hundreds. A young chap of eighteen, who had spent three years in the
Reformatory, met me one night and asked me for some money. I gave
it to him, and he told me part of his history, which I have since
followed through the newspapers. He has been in the Central once
or twice, and is in prison to-day, I believe. On several occasions I have
given him money, and the economical use he would make of it convinces
OP TORONTO THE GOOD. 85
me that he would have been honest if he could. I have seen him wait
around day after day where work was going on, in the hope of being
employed. He once walked a distance of forty miles to get employment,
and was unsuccessful. Would it not have been better to have some
place where such people could go and stay when out of employment,
than to run them in as vagrants ? Might not a large share of missionery
money— spent in foreign lands — be better employed in feeding and
lodging the outcast ? I was much struck by the explanations of a parcel
of Toronto women of some scheme to which they contributed their
money. It was to provide for East India Widows ! It made me laugh
when I read it. East India widows, Chinese and other Asiatic races
having Canadian money spent for their benefit and to teach them a
religion they do not want, while boys in Canada who steal because they
are starving, are filling our prisons. Singular it is not ? I may possibly
be mistaken in regard to the objects of this particular missionary society
being the assistance of India widows, but it was something just as ridi-
culous, if that were not it.
The same hysterical asses that live to-day appear to have lived in
the times of the immortal Dickens, and I submit an example of his
satirical references to foreign missionaries, being from Bleak House :
Joe is brought in. He is not one of Mrs. Pardiggle's Tockahoopo Indians, he is not one
of Mrs. Jellyby's lambs, being wholly unconnected with Boorioboola Gha, he is not softened by
distance and unfamiliarity, he is not a genuine foreign grown savage, he is the ordinary home-
made article. Dirty, ugly, disagreable to all the senses in body, a common creature of the
common streets, only in soul a heathen. Homely filth begrimes him, homely rags are on him,
homely parasites devour him, homely sores are in him, native ignorance the growth of English
soil and climate sinks his immortal nature lower than the beasts that perish. Stand forth, Joe,
in uncompromising colors. From the sole of thy foot to the crown of thy head there is nothing
nteresting about thee.
Some time ago Mr. Harry Piper made a practice of taking a cart-
load of flowers through the Ward for distribution to the ragged children
of poverty there. If I had my choice of a record when I stand before
God on the last day, I would far rather it should be as a dispenser of
such blessings as Mr. Piper's, or contributions to the newsboys' home,
than all the glory of assisting missionaries in foreign countries where
they are not wanted, but, of course, it is to be remembered that the
former get no newspaper mention made of their actions and the latter do.
When I was on the staff of a newspaper published in this city, a
lady come into the office to demand a free advertisement for the meet-
ing of her pet missionary society. I took precious good care that she
did not get it. That women could go to that newspaper office and with
venomous persistency could haggle over the price of an advertisement
regarding foreign missions, yet as she swept up the steps of that office
she must have passed numerous half starved little newsboys sitting on
these same steps who were far better objects for her missionery labors
than any foreigners could be, yet I do not doubt, judging from the
sneering, venomous-looking mouth and the disposition whose devilish-
ness I had a fair example of that day, that this woman would consider
herself contaminated had her skirts touched one of the little fellows
she had passed.
86 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
THE SOCIAL EVIL.
In writing upon this subject, which is essentially a part of Toronto,
I do so in order to lay before my readers many reasons why the
crusade against houses of ill-fame commenced some years ago, has not
been a success, and never will be a success, in so far as suppressing the
social evil is concerned. In suggesting a system of toleration, as I do,
I conscientiously believe that houses of ill- fame are absolutely necess-
ary in, not Toronto alone, but every city in America. I reflect public
opinion more than any so called public moralist could do simply because
I consider myself to be more in touch with the general public thjin they
are. I have tried to prove that suppressing houses of ill- fame is not
lessening the evil, it may confine it more amongst respectable people,
domestic servants etc., but I think such a state of affairs is far more
deplorable than the most open permission of houses would be. Every
incident I have given in my work to prove the existence of immorality
is absolute truth. It would be an easy matter for me or for anyone else
for that matter to give imaginary cases such as I have given here, and
declare them to be truth, and I purpose, immediately after this work is
completed placing a copy of it in the hands of the Department of the
Attorney General of the Province of Ontario, and in that copy I shall
number every episode that I have given. Should this Department
desire me to do so, I am prepared to go before any judge. Magistrate
or Commissioner and submit to examination under oath and I wil
give the names and as far as possible the addresses of the parties
whose acts I have portrayed. I know the name of every one whose
case is mentioned, and can supply sufficient data for an investigation,
should they desire confirmation, I am willing to place myself at the
disposal of that Department to assist them in determining as to whether
I speak the truth or not. Whatever action they desire to take, I shall
always be glad to assist them in it.
During the progress of the Convention of the World's Womens
Christian T. U., the action of Lady Henry Somerset in signing a peti-
tion for the re-enactment of the laws that regulate vice in India, was
widely discussed and sweepingly condemned. Lady Henry Somerset
states that these women **do not know what the conditions of Indian
camp life are," and she might have added with equal truth that they
know equally little of the manners and customs that prevail amongst the
young of both sexes in this present year of grace, but she was met with
the reply that "we know the ten Commandments and are sure they
are suited to every condition of human existence — Anglo-Indian camp
life included."
My impression is that there was not one woman in the entire assem-
bly who has a son or a brother who is between the ages of fifteen and
twenty years, who has the slightest conception of that boy's private
character — I am prepared to go still further and I assert it. When Rev.
Wilbur P. Crafts spoke of " Lady Henry Somerset's great practical
mistake — a mistake into which many ministers of the United States
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 87
had also fallen," he acknowledged in addition thereto that the question
of the extension of licensing is one that is being discussed and ever
present, and that it is " assuming alarming proportions." He cited a
story of the frightful position of a young girl who had adopted the life
of prostitution, which was loudly applauded, but the story came from
Paris.
I contend that some system of licensing or inspecting should pre-
vail In every city in America. I do not think it should be necessary
for a girl to express her intention of entering a house of ill-fame, to any
official, as I believe is done in Paris, but let a competent physician be
attached to the Health Department, and have the sole occupation of
visiting houses and examining the inmates as frequently as he considers
necessary, and when such inmate is suffering from disease let her be
taken to a hospital and be properly treated. Licensing in that case
would not be necessary, but every keeper of a house should be com-
pelled to have her house registered with the Board of Health, and any
not doing so should be punished. In a very short time venereal diseases
would be completely stamped out. These houses should not be per-
mitted to sell liquor and when the house is charged with being disor-
derly, instead of the inmates being punished, the drunken, ilUbred
rowdies who do not know enough to conduct themselves as gentlemen
anywhere should be the ones to be punished. It is they who are dis-
orderly, never the inmates as far as my experience has shown. In the
pages following I have endeavoured to show that social purity is not
advanced by suppressing houses of ill-fame, everything I have stated
being absolutely true, and my contention is that people who hold posi-
tions as social purists are not in a position to give opinions on such
matters, for they are not only entirely ignorant of them, but they arc
illogical. If the raiding or suppression of houses of ill-fame had the ^
effect of stopping the commission of adultery, there would be no reason
for making any plea for them, but I know that it does not, and the
testimony I give in these pages shows that it does not. I maintain
that the ministers Mr. Crafts speaks of as favouring a system of licen-
sing are men who are conversant with the social usages of the present
day and know that such places are a necessity. If not licensed let
them pay a registration fee entitling them to supervision by the Board
of Health. A dozen different means offer themselves by which a sys-
tem conducive to public health could be operated. And I fail to see
that any of the ten Commandments would be violated, if houses were
allowed to register at the Health Department, and a physician deputed
to make a thorough examination of the inmates of such houses.
In support of my contention that the people representing social
purity are illogical, let me say : The Report of one Committee contained
the information that they had conserved public morality by having the
age of consent raised in certain states in the Union. Iri the final set
of resolutions, enfranchisement is demanded for women. Are not these
circumstances somewhat inconsistent ? Women demand the ballot be-
cause they consider themselves men's equals mentally. If this be so,
88 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
why do they require any age of consent at all ? I can only deduce that
they are not entitled to the ballot as being men's equals, if they require
an age of consent. If, however, they are men's equals let us agree for
argument's sake, and they demand an age of consent, is not that an
acknowledgement of the natural depavity of their own sex ? I should
be sorry to think this so, but I hold that it is the only logical deduction
that can be made. But I have elsewhere tried to show that raising the
age of consent does not act as a preventive.
As an evidence that the authorities acknowledge that some system
is required, in February 1898, at Montreal, at the conference between
Archibishop Bruchesi, Bishop Bond, Judge Desnoyers, Recorder De-
Montigny and Mr. E. L. Bond, president of the Citizens' League, it was
decided to go before the new City Council, and ask that houses of ill-
fame and inmates be examined every week ; any found not following
certain regulations to be promptly suppressed.
I think the gentlemen above named are quite as competent to
deal with social evils as any body of men or women in the world.
Of the houses of the first-class in Toronto those that once had a
, national reputation as such, are now no more, but their successors have
sprung up in different parts of the city. At one time among the most
prominent were 248 Front street west, 104 Richmond street west, and
one on Albert street, the number of which I have forgotten, besides the
house on the corner of Sheppard and Adelaide streets. These places
were, I think I can truthfully say, always quiet, and no one, not know-
ing their character would ever guess it from outside appearances. They
were patronized by wealthy men, young and old, from every part of
the city and country. Take particularly the case of the house on the
corner of Sheppard and Adelaide streets, it was always kept carefully
closed, the blinds were drawn and the place was as silent as the tomb.
After some years, having this reputation, it finally changed hands, and
it is a circumstance worth mentioning that nearly all the boarding
houses in that vicinity have since lost caste, and their patronage is of
the worst class, while the house itself has undergone repair, and has
had a dozen different tenants since is inception to respectability by the
owner, who, I have no doubt, has frequently wished he had left it alone.
No one appears to stay in it, and it is consequently idle half the time.
In houses of this class the furniture is elegant and tasteful, and the
proprietress is usually a middle aged women of good personal appear-
ance, the inmates being generally young women in the prime of life or
between twenty and thirty. " My young ladies," I once heard a pro-
prietress call her girls. These girls are carefully chosen for their beauty
and charms, and are frequently persons of education and refinement.
They are required to observe the utmost decorum in the parlors of the
house, until you are fairly well acquainted with them, and then their
language is not so polite. Their toilettes are usually extremely aesthetic
and voluptuous, and display their charms to the best advantage. They
rarely make acquaintances on the street, and indeed have no occasion
to do so, and it may be said of some of them that they are women of
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 89
respectable origin, and are sometimes the wives and daughters of men
of good social position. Some have been led astray, some adopt this life
to avoid poverty, some have entered from motives of extravagance and
vanity, while the great majority have entered from motives of pure
licentiousness and at the same time gratify a taste for an easy life. But
whatever may be the cause, the effect is patent to all— that some of
these places contain women who are fitted to grace the best circles of
social life. In entering these houses, women believe they will always
be able to keep themselves amongst the best classes of such females.
They are soon undeceived, however, they remain in a first class house
only so long as their charms continue, and as soon as these begin to
wear, they are obliged to leave and their descent is rapid, until they
become the inmates of the houses on Centre street and its adjacents,
where they sometimes die, or more frequently leave the city to enter
some of the dens such as exist on Canal street, Buffalo, or other Ame-
rican cities, where nearly all are habitual drunkards, and are almost
putrified with venereal diseases.
The question is frequently asked " where do these girls come from ?'^
and it would be an extremely difficult one to answer. I know of many
instances where girls have been employed as domestic servants and
seduced by their male friends, which eventually leads them to take up
this life to hide their shame in some cases, and in others to be better
able to receive the guilty attentions of a lover.
It is a matter for congratulation that Toronto is free apparently
from the pervading evil of New York, but there are numerous instances,
and I am assured that they are on the increase, where girls have gone
astray in the effort to keep themselves on the small salaries paid to
them, by yielding merely to a passive sin. These cases are, however,
carefully kept from the public, though many young men assert that the
evil is so great that if its extent were known it would be like a revela-
tion. I know nothing from actual experience, however. But it is to
be remembered, that as Mrs. Besant says, a girl has this advantage
over a boy, she can sell herself, where a boy cannot, so that where
poverty makes a girl a prostitute, it make? a boy a thief.
I do not consider, that I am in any respect promulgating the evil
when I suggest tolerating, licensing or inspecting houses of ill-fame,
and I do not hesitate to say that if a majority of men had their way,
it would prevail as it does in Paris, and as I believe it does in every
European country but England. England, the United States and
Canada, however, would, perhaps, consider such a system a frightful
outrage, yet England has produced a Somerset and an Oscar Wilde,
and by a cable telegram in the Montreal Star of the I2th of April 1897,
it is stated that blackmailing operations are carried on on an appalling
scale by a gang, the victims being persons of wealth and high standing,
whose frightful obliquities are presumed to be the same as Oscar Wilde's.
Moreover, I can take you to places in New York and Chicago, where
acts of the most appalling bestiality are committed, of so vile a nature
that the English language does not supply words to express them, and
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD.
in comparison with which the inmate of a house of ill-fame might con-
sider herself almost saintly. The record of crime in the Report of Chief
of Police of Toronto says : indecent assault, 8 ; rape, 9.
If saintly Canadians run away with the idea that there are no
sinners of Oscar Wilde's type in Canada, my regard for truth impels me
to undeceive them. Consult some of the bell boys of the large hotels
in Canada's leading cities, as I did, and find out what they can tell from
their own experiences. A youth of eighteen once informed me that he
had blackmailed one of Canada's esteemed judiciary out of a modest
sum of money, by catching him in the act of indecently assaulting one
of the bell boys connected with a hotel in that city. The judge, with
unblushing effrontery had arranged with the boy to meet him outside
that night, and the boy had told the blackmailer when and where they
were to meet. His honour was highly indignant and threatened every
possible punishment, but it would not do. He had to pay the money.
This is one case only, but they are countless. Some of Canada's lead-
ing citizens could be implicated just as Oscar Wilde was implicated, if
some of these bell boys chose to make public what they knew. I know
two different merchants in the city of Toronto who have a similar
reputation. It was told me by a young man in Toronto some time ago
that one of these characters was attending a church social, and upon
seeing a boy of probably 16 or 17 go outside followed him and tried to
indecently assault him. The boy refused, and the man I believe, threw
him down. It cost him his gold watch and chain and all the money he
had upon him to keep the boy's mouth shut. My informant also stated
that some friends of his, who knew about this man, saw him standing
on the street corner one night when they made it up to try him. All
the crowd left apparently, except one boy, for home. In ten minutes
this man came to the lad and made him an indecent proposal. Both
these men are so well known in Toronto that there is scarcely a boy
who does not know of their reputation. I have no doubt that, notwith-
standing the positions they occupy, both would be punished to the full
extent of the law, could the police catch them. Hut this fact serves to
demonstrate how little is actually known to the police of what is taking
place almost under their very noses, while these very men and their acts
of indecency are the talk of boys all over the city.
Where under heaven people ever learned such appalling things
God only knows, and humanity can only conjecture that the people in
the places I mention appeal to the degraded tastes of their patrons
simply because they are paid for it. The acts in themselves are indes-
cribable. Houses of ill-fame are blots on the morality of a country,
not necessarily because adultery is a sin, but because everyone knows
of them, and the fact of their being public is what constitutes the sin,
because sin, as far as my observation has carried me, is only sin when
it is found out. These other places are not usually known to the public,
and consequently they thrive, and no effort is made to suppress them,
as far as I am aware. In the majority of American cities houses are
tolerated, and I do not see that these cities are any the worse for it.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 91
During the sitting of theLexow Committee in New York, did not
one of the police inspectors state that he considered houses of ill-fame
an absolute necessity, and say that he would far rather have his son
visit such a place than that he should ultimately become the inmate of
an insane asylum ?
A contention such as the staff inspector makes below is absurd on
its face. Men and boys of the highest respectability and some whose
social positions would preclude them from even noticing a man in the
inspector's position visit houses of ill-fame and meet women on the
streets, who would as soon think of committing burglary, larceny, or
associating with burglars as they would of committing suicide. The two
degrees are not at all comparable.
In the city of Montreal houses are not licensed, but they appear
to be tolerated, and as long as the keepers do not sell liquor or their
houses do not become a nuisance to the neighbours, they are not
molested, and I fail to see that the morals of the people are any worse
than those of the people of the city of Toronto. I state that I have
never yet been solicited on the streets of Montreal during a twelve
months' residence in that city, and I state that I have been solicited on
the streets of Toronto if I am in that city only one night. I do not
mean to say that women stop me on the street, but every man or boy
knows that soliciting can be done without a word being spoken, and that
is the way I have been solicited in the city of Toronto.
I think I may truthfully and consistently say that there is in the
majority of men and boys an inherent chivalry that impels them to
i refrain from the seduction of respectable girls, and in preference thereto
Would visit a hdnse of ill-fame. I also state that in a great many of
cases girls are more to blame than boys, and I could give scores of in-
stances where such is the case, so that my contention that licensing
houses would not in any respect increase the evil, but really be the
salvation of girls who are presumably respectable, but who are not really
virtuous. The staff-inspector, I believe, states that he would just as
soon license burglars, &c., as license houses of ill-repute, but it may be
stated that if the intelligence of the staff-inspector is judged by this
remark his opinions need not carry much weight, and at the same time,
it is to be remembered that he might very possibly be out of a situation.
The following is an opinion expressed by Dr. Sheard at a public meeting :
Our morality department is a standing disgrace to the city. Look at it a whole staff of
officials whose principal duty seems to lie in tagging news-boys. Where else do you find such
a system .-• I am informed that the officials of this department spend their time knocking at
houses in the ward at all hours, wanting to know who is there, and what they are doing. If the
result was satisfactory we might stand the expenditure. But if the result is to scatter through-
out the city characters who ought never to be here, we are wasting our money. — Applause.
In giving utterance to these remarks I do not think Dr. Sheard
can be accused of having any ulterior motive, such as might possibly be
laid to my charge, but his opinion coincides with my contention in so
far as the questionable results of raiding are concerned. I do not for
one moment believe that there is a prostitute less in Toronto than there
ever was. It may be that there are certain houses in the city that were
92 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
at one time known as disreputable, and are now vacant, but that the
inmates have left the city is not likely, the contention of the staff in-
spector to the contrary, notwithstanding. My intention was called some
time ago to the evidence of the aforesaid inspector before the Commis-
sioners reporting on the reformatory and prison systems, in which he
is alleged to have said :
When I was appointed to this work six years ago, I made an unofficial visit to the houses
of ill-fame that then existed, accompanied by two other officers. I visited thirty-five houses
known to be houses of ill-fame, I found on an average four women in each house, and I found
that two-thirds of this number were Americans. I took the name, age, nationality and length
of time t hat they were in this kind of life and I compiled a book containing the information. I
gave them distmctly to understand that the law for the suppression of vice and houses of ill-fame
in Toronto was to be rigourously enforced. I told them that a reasonable time would be given
to those who belonged to the other side to go back there, and that if they had not the means to
enable them to do so, we would furnish them with tickets to the places they came from. I
further told them that if any of them showed a desire to reform I would send them to an insti-
tution under the charge of philanthropic ladies who would see that they were provided with all
proper facilities for starting a new life. On my second visit I found that half the number had
disappeared altogether. I was told by the officers on duty that they went in large numbers with
their trunks to the station, and took tickets for the other side. The law has been strictly en-
forced from that day to this, and the number of houses of ill-fame in Toronto has been reduced
to a minimum, the women that are to be found in these houses are very few, and there is more
trouble with the class of women who have become completely demoralized and have to be
picked up as drunks and for soliciting on the streets.
So far as this evidence is concerned I have nothing to say in regard
to its truthfulness, it being usually polite to say that a man has made a
mistake, but I feel constrained to observe that if the women, who, he
alleges, left the city, did so, it appears to me that their places have
been very rapidly filled up, or else others have joined our shores to make
up for them. It may be that certain houses have been closed by pla-
cing policemen at their doors, such as I know was done at 104 Rich-
mond, but that other houses have taken their places is equally certain,
and the keepers are more careful is the difference. An incident in point
will make my meaning clearer. Three girls kept a house on Seaton
street for three months, three or four days before their month was up
they informed their gentlemen callers that they were going to move
to another street, giving the full address, and they kept up this system
for nearly a year, at which time I left the city. This I know to be so,
I was there. But one thing hapened, worthy of mention. On the very
day after they had left Seaton street I am informed that the police
raided the house, receiving for their labour an empty tenement.
It seems to me a ver> singular matter that the staff inspector should
make such assertions in the face of the following from the Chief Con-
stable's report :
The number of houses of ill-fame reported in 1894 was 174 and in 1895, 46. The chief
says : '* Regularly established houses of prostitution seem less numerous ; the competition from
nvoinen living singly so as not to come within the scope in the law may be one explanation of the
cause. Frequencers of houses of ill-fame do not relish the possible visitation of the police, and
avoid those places likely to be raided. Solicitation on the street is not rife, though loose women
are to be seen on the thoroughfares after nightfall."
I respectfully submit the following for your consideration and ask
an unprejudiced public to judge between my assertion and these of the
staff Inspector.:
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 93
Fanny Rogers pleaded guilty to a case of illegal liquor selling at her place on King street
west, and his Worship remanded her for a week, at the request of her counsel, to consider what
sentence he should impose. This is the case, where several lawyers were found in the place
when it was raided One of the police said, ihat Miss Rogers was induced to plead guilty so as
the legal lights in question would not have to be called hy the Oown to testify.
I have acknowledged that some of these houses have been closed,
but I do not believe that the evil is in any respect reduced, in fact quite
the reverse is the case. I wish to call attention to the subjoined heroics
which appeared in the Empire, demonstrating the truth of my assertion,
and while the actual statements are undeniably correct, the conclusions
will doubtless strike the average reader as being so much sentimental
rubbish. It is stated that *' girls in their innocence and youth " are
beguiled into returning to the city in boats belonging to their male
friends, and are ruined. I don't believe any such nonsence. If the
writer who is probably some school-boy let loose, had said that the
great or overwelming majority of girls go over to the island for that
very express purpose, he would be correct in ninety cases out of a
hundred when girls go unaccompanied by their parents. The case of
the school teacher, who was also '' ruined " is laid at the door of the
young man who seduced her. For my own part, I am constrained to
believe that she was an extremely willing victim, and do not, in fact
consider it a case of seduction at all, it is simply an act of fornication
in which one is guilty equally with the other. This appears to be the
only case that has obtained publicity, yet I know of several that hap-
pened in the cases of the school teachers, and I cannot agree in good
conscience that young men should shoulder all the blame. Could any
sensible girl or young woman, and more especially a school teacher, who
would be supposed to have more than the average intelligence, expect
anything else when they make hap-hazard acquaintances with gentle-
men they know nothing at all about ? I do not doubt that the parties
in question became acquainted in the usual fashion of people who meet
on the street, in the parks, or on the island, and one would imagine that
this teacher would know better. I have the histories of several school
teachers who attended that convention, and know at least five who were
guilty of this sin with young men in the city, and I know moreover of
a large number of normalite teachers, or pupils, I suppose they are
called when attending the normal school, who have been guilty of similar
offences with young men who boarded in the houses with them, and
with other also. The following, however is the article under discussion,
and you can make your own deductions, both as regards the teachers
and others who are therein referred to :
Nowadays a man who owns or rents a boathouse on the lake front is liable to have his
motives for occupying such a place questioned and especially is this the case if he goes to the
trouble of fixing up his aquatic possession to the extent of putting in a few articles of furniture
as a sofa, a couple of canvas lounging chairs and furnishings of that sort. If such a thing as a
camp bed is to be found within the walls of his boathouse his friends usually eye each other quiz-
zically on discovering it. But perhaps the recent revelation of lakeside impropriety and immor-
ality justify the raised eyebrow and the ready innuendo with which the captious friend surveys
these things.
Of late there has been much to complain of on the part of the many good people who
make the lakeside their home during the summer months. The conduct of certain of their
neighbours have been such as to bring discredit on the whole system of boathouse renting and
94 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
living, and the Empire in setting out to expose a system of immorality as widespread as it is
flagrant has met with much opposition from people who are more or less interested in keeping
things quiet. One man said : " If you show this practice up you will hurt a good many good
men who wont thank you at all. While the immorality is doubtless of wide extent and to be greatly
regretted it is to a certain extent an almost necessary evil, or an unpreventable one in a city as
iarge as Toronto. There is not a doubt that the police are fully cognizant of the vice and are
doing all in their power to check it."
Many Explanade men were spoken to, and one of them, a gentleman who is a large pro-
perty owner said : " We would be very glad to get a stop put to the evil, as it often keeps
respectable people away who would otherwise be good tenants for boathouses, but the more
difficulties we put in the way of these men the more they exercise their ingenuity to thwart us
and nullify our efforts to keep the lake front respectable — on the principle, I suppose, that stolen,
fruit is sweetest."
The boat houses in the vicinity of York street are perhaps the most used for immoral
purposes, or rather there are more in that district to wh;ch the public finger of scorn is pointed.
Originally boat houses were put up with the idea of renting them to people who possessed boats
and simply to accommodate boats. Then as there are thousands of men in the city who live in
boarding houses and who possess a boat, it was thought that a boat house roomy enough to
allow of a sofa being set in it, or one having a living room above would rent more easily. The
idea was a splendid one, and the boat houses with living rooms were speedily taken. Charmed
with the thought of saving big lodging bills during the summer months, dining restaurants or
cooking al fresco meals themselves, many young men in receipt of goodly salaries as a rule
jumped at the chance there offered them of becoming lakeside residents, and possessing an
apartment where they could enjoy the cool of the evening. It goes without saying that many of
the renters of these houses were actuated by baser motives. It was only intended that these
houses would be occupied in summer, and for that reason they are as a rule rather airy. The
furnishing ot many of these must have cost the occupants many perplexing moments, eleg-
antly papered and luxuriously finished several of these little lakeside houses are models of eosy
comfort. As a rule, however, the houses upon whose adornment the owners have spent much
money bear the best reputations and anything which transpires in them is never or rarely heard.
The freedom from interference leaves these lakeside lodgers at liberty to invite their friends
into their premises and if these friends are women of the lowest class, who can interfere ! Who
is to judge if they are immoral ? Ihe police have tried to interfere with notorious cases, but
they cannot legally do so even if they assume the power by reason of the improbability of the
evil-doors taking legal redress, and thus making themselves notorious. Time and again have
women of the town been warned off the wharf adjoining several of the boat houses, and they are
liable to arrest for trespossing any time they are found on a wharf which is enclosed. But there
is no power in Canada which can go into a man's private apartment and drag his friends out,
be they high or low In the case of one boat company a circular was issued to the tenants
when the property was bought asking their co-operation in maintaining the good name of the
premises, but this had not been responded to by several of the boat house occupants. Last year
one man carried en the practice of bringing in the most notorious prostitutes in the city so
openly that his neighbours reported the matter to the police, who visited the boat house —
*' raided " it in fact — but nothing came of the matter. Almost all of the lodgers are provided
with a flask or two of whiskey in case of chills, but no great amount of intoxicating liquor is kept.
The class of people who rent these boat houses are as a rule well-paid clerks. According
to their means they furnish their abodes. The majority content themselves with an imitation of
camp life. A boat house is cheaper, handier and safer when wanted only for immoral purposes
than a room up town. Although many of the women who visit these places are streetwalkers,
the large majority people hear stories about are shop girls who go to the island and there
they fall into the hands of some human hound who is looking for some innocent girl to entrap.
These innocent girls are badgered into an acquaintance, and their male friends finally prevail
upon them to set out for the city in their row boats instead of by the ferry boats, but the confid-
ing girl whose youth and innocence have induced her to accept the invitation of the fellow who
looks with lecherous eyes on her does not land where she desires. The boat draws up in front
of the boat house where her courtier hangs forth, and she is induced by specious reasons to
enter his net The innocent girl has reason to regret this ill-advised step in most cases. She seldom
leaves the place without having taken a drink of liquor, and if she refuses that and all the
advances of the individual who has been so successful in getting her inside his boat house she
leaves the place with a scarlet face, and has to run the gauntlet of curious eyes. ^These meetings
are never of a loud character as the prime requisite is quietness. There are no such affairs as
night orgies with women present, as the police would quickly interfere. But while there is much
to deplore in regard to boat houses, the percentage of disreputable houses is very small, and
the overwhelming mass of house owners and occupants are men who have no thought of wrong
doing. But when it is stated that there are four houses notorious for immorality within a
hundred yards of one part of the esplanade, it can be easily seen that these remarks are not
over-drawn. There are other houses about which stories are told but the quarters mentioned
are known far and wide.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 95
The foregoing statements are not secrets by any means. For a long time the police have
known of the prevalence of the practice referred to, and are not slow in acknowledging their
inability to cope with it. " These young men are safe from police interference " said one man,
" and they know it well." The only thing the police could do is being done, and that is. the
men on duty along the esplanade have instructions to endeavour to stop the practice as much
as possible. If a woman is found around a boat house at an unseasonable hour she is interrogated
and if she cannot give a satisfactory account of herself she is arrested as a vagrant. But this
does not cover the case at all, as the principal frequenters of these places are young women
who do not loider in the vicinity. When women come down to spend ihe evening or night,
they are usually accompanied by the person who keeps the boat house they are bound for, and
as a rule the neighbourhood does not become cognizant of the fact till the night wears on. ^
polio officer remarked yesterday that it is usual to see lights burning at all hours of the night
in suspected houses, and the thing is so well understood by the force that no notic« is taken
of theni.
A couple of brothers now bearing a very unenviable reputation in consequence of the
seduction of a young girl named Sadie Lavelle who died a few days ago on Terauley street,
have the identical boat house hired by the man who first brought boat houses into disrepute.
These brothers, one of whom ruined Miss Lavelle in his boat house, are cordially detested by
their lakeside neighbours, one of wham yesterday said: "'Those boys should be shot on
sight. They have seduced more girls than any other two men in the city. Boat house owners
would uphold you in showing up such people, as they would be pleased to get rid of them."
It is hard to get hold of incidents which show the prevalence of the immorality which is
admitted. There is a sort of feemasonry among the culprits which it is next to impossible to
break through, but several very damaging stories leaked out. The wife of a well known citizen
made a visit to the lake front a few nights since, and while in a boat house with her paramour
she had a $55 diamond ring stolen.
A pitiable story is told about the ruin of a young lady teacher by one of the boat house
libertines. She was in the city during the N.P.A. convention and was induced to go for a row by
her seducer, who landed at his own boat house. She was a bewitching little beauty, and her
betrayer was heard to boast of his dastardly act after she had left the city.
This is only a modified form of what really exists. Boat house are
the special privilege of young men and boys, and girls and prostitutes
are taken there with a frequency that is surprising. An incident in
which a lad of sixteen or seventeen who was employed in the Musee,
was arrested for taking a girl to a boat house, is doubtless still fresh in
the minds of the public, and though he was threatened with all the
thunders of the Morality Department, to his everlasting credit be it said
he made a most plucky defence, and showed that he did not come
within the meaning of the seduction act, although he was informed,
after being discharged, that it was in the power of the magistrate to
send him to the penitentiary — which I take the liberty of disbelieving.
In addition to the boat houses, over a large number of stores all
over the city, there are scores of young men who rent rooms and furnish
them for no other purpose. When a friend requires the room it is
loaned with perfect good grace, and the occupant feels, as he is, free
from interruption. This method of carrying on the evil is on the in-
crease, and its results are for more disastrous than licensed houses of
ill-fame would be, for girls of a more respectable social status, frequently
those of very respectable parents, in some cases school girls, do not
hesitate to go to a room where they are not known and where there is
no danger of interference, and young men who would frequent a house
of ill-fame, were it not for fear of being brought before the magistrate,
have little scruple in bringing a girl to a place of this kind. This is
at least significant :
One or two furnished rooms to he sold cheap, immediate possession, public building,
central, privileges, low rent. Box 279, News.
A furnished room for sale, in public building, no questions asked. Box 529, Telegram.
Wanted — Nice, warm room, no questions asked. Box 612 Telegram.
96 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
In the summer time the parks and the island are favourite resorts
for girls and women to meet their lovers and seek for custom. On
Centre avenue where the girls used to stand in the door- way to solicit
the passers by, boys were always ready and willing to give the alarm
on the approach of a policeman, and the doors were closed and bolted
until the way was clear again, and the girls would then come out, only
to repeat the same thing over and over again, and the numbers who
visited these haunts low as they were, were reputed to be legion. Very
few young men regard it as sinful to visit a house of ill-repute the only
restraint is the fear of the police, and contagious disease, consequently
when fate throws in his way a girl who is presumably virtuous, there is
really very little danger in a mutual sin. The girl will assuredly keep
it a secret from pride and the young man will tell no one but his most
intimate friends, who may, perhaps enjoy the same relations as he, and
most important of all there is no danger. Hence there must be a
premium on such acts.
It is Mr. Monk, in Oliver Twist who says there is one secret a
woman will always keep until it is found out — the loss of her own good
name, and they have a saying at the Palais de Justice in Paris that to
expect a confession from a woman is like attempting to make the devil
confess.
Edmund Burke, it was, who said, at the close of his indignant
outburst in memory of the fallen queen of France, that " vice itself
loses half its evil, by losing all its grossness," but I incline to the doc-
trine of Collier, who said that the vice which is draped in the garb of
virtue or has the varnish of an outward lefinement laid over its leprosy
is tenfold more infectious and destructive than the shameless wicked-
p-ness which hides its loathsome front. These are the differences
! between our times and the times of Charles the II, and when it may
be demanded and justly so, perhaps, on what grounds I base my
claims to have houses licensed, I state that girls who are supposed to
be respectable are made to take the places of those who would be
visited were it not for fear of the police, but that the Commandment,
*' Thou shalt not " is broken any the less, I do not believe, and that
the vice that has " the varnish of an outward refinement " is frightfully
common, I shall try to prove.
The Reverend Father Uecarie, of St. Henri, says that the extent
of the nation's immoraHty cannot in any wise be measured by the
numbers of the frequenters of disorderly houses. The many lying-in
hospitals and institutions for the reception of illegitimate children tell
but a portion of the story, and it is probable that the immorality that
produced such results, widespread though it may be, is remarkably
limited in comparison with that which escapes detection. In the upper
circles of Canadian society, there is, to say the least, an immense
amount of indiscretion on the part of wives and mothers of families,
and it is becoming noticeable that there are married ladies, and single
ladies who are no longer young, who receive a larger share of attention
from youthful admirers than their younger and unmarried sisters and
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 97
friends. Among the lower classes the evil is much more extensive,
principally among factory girls and domestic servants. These generally
furnish the subject for the procuresses who periodically visit the country
from Chicago and elsewhere. The hospital of the Sacre Cceur, at St.
Sauveur, near Quebec, which is in charge of nuns, has recently had to
be enlarged, though a large five story building. It is a home for
foundlings, who are received nightly in a basket placed at the door,
where those who bring them, deposit them without fear of discovery,
and leave them to the care of the sisters, after ringing a bell to
announce the advent of a new arrival. Such is Father Decarie's
picture, and a despatch from Toronto to the Montreal Star, dated
April 15th, states that the fourth deserted baby found within the pre-
ceding two weeks was picked up the previous evening on the doorstep
of Sergeant Vaughan's house, on Classic Avenue. The child which
was a boy about three weeks old, was taken to the Infant's Home,
making a total of 85 infants placed in that institution thus far that
year.
The News stated in a recent issue that " 500 babies know not a
mother's love. That number of babies abandoned in Toronto every
year." And again the same paper said : " Starve babies for $10. Child
murder fearfully prevalent in Toronto the Good. Horrible revelations.
Mrs. P)Oultbee speaks of the evils of maternity houses to the J^oard of
Health." So, of course, there is no commission of sin in Toronto, as
the foregoing abundantly proves. Of course not.
A young man of my acquaintance who is about 22 years of age,
stated that the first time he had ever broken the seventh command-
ment was through a married woman. She was then about 26 and he
was 16. He did not tell me the woman's name, but he pointed her
out to me on the street. He was sent to her house on a message, and
after inviting him into the house, made the proposition to him, which
he indignantly refused, and demanded to be allowed to return home.
To this ihe woman would not consent. She detained him for over an
hour and he fell. Are such cases common ? Father Decarie says they
are.
Some time ago I attended a ball in Toronto which was attended
by Toronto's highest social circles. A lady, one of the handsomest in
the room, was invariably claimed by some youth for a dance. I men-
tioned to a friend of mine that I would not care to be the lady's hus-
band, and was told that my mind was evil. Her husband, a wealthy
man, has, I may mention, since applied for divorce on the ground of
adultery. My mini may be evil, but I know that Results flow from
Causes. This was probably one of that numerous class of women one
meets with who would probably tell her husband if he expostulated
with her that these young men were nice boys. — j
I do not pretend that to tolerate houses of ill-fame, will in any '
respect, condone the sin of the m.m who visits one, or render his res-
pon-^ibility to his maker less, yet I do say in all sincerity that it woul4
be better than the system that prevails to-day. J
98 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
I have given you actual statements of cases that have happened,
and on these I base my contentions, and how absurd it must seem that
any man can truthfully state that these things do not exist.
When I suggest the Hcensing or inspecting of houses of ill-fame,
I have to say that we are face to face with a condition and not a
theory. If the Scriptures speak the truth, and there is no doubt of
that, happily, it will be remembered that though we are specially
warned against the women of lewd character, the passage acknowledges
their existence, and I give it word for word :
9. In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night :
10. And, behold, there met him a woman zvtth ihe attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
11. (She is loud and stubborn ; her feet abide not in her house :
12. Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
13. S > she caught him, and kissed him, and \i\\\\. an impudent face said unto him,
14. / have peace offerings with me ; this day have I payed my vows.
15. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen
of Egypt.
17. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning ; let us solace ourselves with loves,
19. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey :
20. He hath taken a bag of money with him, a«^ will come home at the day appointed.
21. With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she
forced him.
22. He goeth after her straighiway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the
correction of the stocks ;
23. Till a dart strike through his liver ; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not
that it is for his life.
24. \ Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
25. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
26. For she hath cast down many wounded : yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
This was the admonition of the prophet one thousand years before
the birth of Christ, and what was in existence then exists to-day, and
in a greater degree.
The churches of God, which state that they shall last forever,
have, with commendable forethought and fostering care, done their
utmost to crush the evil. The sternness of those sublime Christian
martyrs who left Old England that they might worship God according
to the dictates of their own consciences, and insisted that all others
should do the same, and who were always ready to assist at the sack-
ing of some royal mansion occupied by the ungodly, has given way to
a free and easy morality that is really comfortable, and in strict terms
is absolute Christianity, or at least it passes for such.
It is stated that attending operas, dancing and playing cards is
strictly prohibited by the discipline of some of the churches, and that
upon joining a church the sacred assurance, if not an oath, is given by
the convert that he or she will observe this rule. Upon receiving their
'* second sight," however, and comforting themselves with the reflec-
tion that "I don't think there is any harm in dancing anyway," the
rule is forgotten, and the churches themselves conveniently overlook
it, hence by their "liberality" there appears to be no amusement too
dangerous for them to tamper with in their desire to secure members
and adherents. How many members would two thirds of the city
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 00
churches, other tlian those of the Roman Catholic faith and the Church
of England, have, if they expelled from their communion those who
dance, play cards and attend o{)eras ? Tlie late Rev. John A Williams,
JJ.D., General Superintendent of the Methodist Church, said to me
concerniiicr a church of which he was pastor :
"My feelings have never been so hurt in my career as a Chris-
tian minister as at the present time. i lie wealthy members of my
congregation dance, they play cards and attend operas, and they know
it is a violation of the discipline, yet if I were to preach against it
they would probibly leave the church, knowing it cannot exist without
them. They are its main support."
The man who would visit a house of ill-fame to feast his eyes on
the charms of women has no longer any excuse for doing so. The
opera, and in a greater degree the ball room supply the substitute where
society charms us with as much nakedness as they dare expose to view,
and in the fulness of time, no doubt, greater progress will be made in
the divine art of full dress.
Every once in a while some preacher will pour forth the vials of
his wrath or pretended wrath, either for effect or possibly in sincerity,
against the evils, but the bosom of society does not appear to be in
the least disturbed by their pyrotechnics. Indeed, the very reverse
appears to be the case. A few years ago aestheticism used to be the
craze. Now, to secure popularity a thing must be sensuous. Our
musical settings are sensuous, and now we are led to infer that that
old tradition of the forbidden fruit was not an apple at all, but really
love, and therefore, cohabitation. The Oratorio of Eve indicated and
expressed unreservedly what, in the great majority of cases, people
were afraid of giving utterance to.
In the observations I make, I have paid particular attention to
girls, because it is in the time of life peculiar to them that the greatest
danger lies, and also acting on the assumption that girls are more prone
to fall than boys. From fourteen to twenty the strongest element in
human nature is the passions, and the disgrace that attaches to their
gratification, especially to girls, is lifelong.
An incident came to my notice a while ago, which is an apt
illustration. Some school boys and girls conceived the idea of a post-
office, and it was soon put into successful operation. Unfortunately
the teacher discovered the schema, and confiscated the correspondence.
It was a remarkable and bountiful harvest, and the letters that Cleo-
patra wrote to her lover were as nothing compared to these. There
was a sensuous abandon in them that was really startling in emanating
from such a source. Some of the proudest people in that place had
sons and daughters concerned in it. What blackmail that teacher
could levy if he were an evil disposed person. Every boy who took
part in it remembers it to this day, as w^ell as the nature of the letters
the girls wrote.
I contend, therefore, in all sincerity, that neither men nor boys,
inflamed by passion, would be prone to ask a woman or girl of pre-
100 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
sumably chaste character, to share a sin that society is said never to
forgive, if he ran no danger of being arrested for visiting a house of
ill-fame. Dr. Napheys, a medical or rather a physiological writer
of considerable prominence in speaking on the subject of dancing
says that whatever stimulates the emotions leads to an unnatural sexual
appetite Late hours, flashy papers, love stories, talk of beaux, love
and marriage, that atmosphere of riper years which is so often and so
injudicially thrown around the children in the United States, parties,
sensational novels, the drama, the ball-room, and a particular emphasis
is laid upon the power of music and dancing to awaken and stimulate
the passions.
In diametrical opposition to the precepts deduced from experience
by one of the most widely known physicians in the United States,
society appears to do precisely the reverse of what he teaches, and all
the amusements which he most emphatically condenms society pro-
vides for both sexes, from children to any age this side of the grave.
Are they, therefore, inviting the substitution of the social evil by
making provision for those who require it ?
It is not very long ago that one of the many different mutual
benefit societies gave an at-home, and following the at-home with a
dance. The daughter of a well-known clergyman begged permission
to attend the at home, which was graciously granted, the reverend
gentleman considerately deciding to remain up until the young lady
returned. Ten, eleven, twelve o'clock struck, and he decided that she
had gone home with a friend. An hour or two later, he was awakened
by his daughter's return, and was informed that the affair was just over^
First an at-home and a dance afterwards.
'* And did you dance ?"
-Yes."
The young lady had not missed a single dance in the course of
the evening.
1 his could be verified by a cloud of witnesses, and I mention it to
demonstrate how little men, no matter what their profession may be,
know of the longings of young people, and how little influence they
really possess, even over their own children.
I may be permitted to observe, I think, that I am not opposed to
dancing, but I mention these circumstances merely from a physiological
standpoint, and if Christianity can encourage what the churches are
pleased to call vices, (Bishop Dumoulin, I think it was, who called
progressive euchre progressive deviltry), in their own way, I do not see
that I am trespassing the rules of good taste in suggesting the licens-
ing of houses of ill-fame.
It may be, perhaps, that those estimable women who permit their
daughters to run the streets may be philosophical in exposing them to
corrupting influences, and running their chances of becoming lax in
their morals on the same principle as that famous Frenchwoman, who,
when being admonished for attempting to procure a girl as mistress
for a rich nobleman, answered :
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. lOI
*' It's always a pleasure to have one more woman to torment the
men. It's girls like those who avenge us honest women."
It was a belief of ancient races, and indeed a current belief among
modern nations that it is not given to man to behold the image of
another world and live. '1 he Arab who meets a phantom in the desert
goes home to die. He knows the hand of doom is u{)on him. He
has seen that which for mortal eyes it is fatal to look upon, and it is
thus in some measure with those who are admitted within the dark
precincts of murder's dread sanctuary. Not swiftly does the curtain
fall which has once been lifted from the hideous horrors of its ghastly
temple. The revelations of an utterly wicked soul leave a lasting
impress upon the mind which unwillingly becomes the recipient of
these awful secrets. So, too, will this apply to the girl or woman of
the age, who is inclined to take the first step in the downward path,
and while it may be said that the present system of religion is begin-
ning to teach us that for our sins committed upon earth there will be
no future punishment such as was believed in past ages less enlightened
than we, it might still be borne in mind that men nor boys ever keep
secret a sin of this nature, and the girl who once falls may depend
upon it that she will be certain to be known by every intimate friend
of the one with whom she shares the sin, and this knowledge is likely
to be used by those who know it for their own purposes. Boys have
told me of girls with whom they had had improper relations, the girls
requesting the most sacred promises that they would never mention it,
and then keeping the promise by telling me and others as well.
I respectfully invite the disinterested reader to carefully compare
my assertions and the incidents I have enumerated as showing the
deplorable extent of the nation's immorality, with those of the so-called
public moralists of the present day, such as staff Inspector Archibald.
I hold that men like him are not competent to give a reliable
opinion on public morality, simply because they know nothing at all
about it. I speak from experience and observation, and consequently
with a reasonable degree of authority. The fact that houses of ill-fame
are raided and the frequenters punished, thereby breaking up the house,
is no evidence that prostitution is on the decrease.
Young women of this character are doing just the same as boys
and young men have been doing for years— they rent a room or two
over some store and by putting in a sewing machine, carry the idea
that they are seamstresses. They take men there at night and no one
is any the wiser. In the summer time the parks and the suburbs are
used for this purpose, while the island is simply an open air place of
prostitution, or charnal house. If this were not so why was it necessary
to suggest that the tents be completely prohibited there ? The island
is simply a rendez-vous for prostitutes, and not only that, it is a rendez-
vous for " presumably " respectable girls, as I know by experience and
what I have seen.
Men like Inspector Archibald parade around with their noses in
the air, and declare such things are impossibilities. Would it ever occur
102 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
to one of these people to follow a boy and girl or '• pike " them as the
boys call it — who were walking together and finding out the immorality
that exists amongst boys and girls ? A decided negative is the answer
to both questions. I conscientiously assert that there is not one man
or woman in a thousand in the United States or Canada who knows
his or her son's private character.
One particular example occurs to me in this connection. One
evening in a city of Canada, I, in company with two others observed a
youth of about 1 6 dismount from his bycicle, and tossing away the
cigarette he had been smoking, commence a conversation with a little
girl of about 14 or 15, and tried to entice her into a laneway for an
immoral purpose. The young lady did not go, however, answering
him: **No, I won't go." He is the son of an ex-president of the
Y.M.C.A. of that town, a gentleman who makes it his special business
to admonish all boys who smoke cigarettes, and point out to them the
frightful penalties attending those who smoke. Would he for one
moment believe that his son would be guilty of smoking or what is
apparently of less consequence, breaking the seventh commandment ?
This shows how little parents know of what their own children are
doing. At the W.C.T.U. convention held in 1896, the report of the
Plan of Work Committee said that the use of tobacco among boys was
growing altogether too fast, and they urged the superintendents of the
districts to make an effort to form anti-cigarette and tobacco leagues
among the school children. This would pledge them to abstain from
the uses of narcotics. They asked that members of churches who kept
stores and sold tobacco should do away with the sale of it.
Incidentally, and I am quite sure unintentionally, the W.C.T.U.
have given me one of my best arguments against themselves and other
public moralists, when they state that the use of tobacco amongst boys
was growing altogether too fast. It shows first of all that in spite of
the Minor's Tobacco Act, boys still smoke. It also proves the apparent
contempt that boys hold for the opinions of these women when they
inform them in their Temperance Physiology of the frightful effects of
smoking. Also that coercive laws do not avail in the suppression of
vice.
I was introduced to a set of students a short time ago, some twelve
or fourteen who usually chumned together. They were all under twenty
years of age, and quite one half were then under treatment for private
diseases. One of them laughingly said to me, when I mentioned that
a number of them declined to drink any spirituous liquors with me, that
usually sixty per cent were suffering from private diseases, and that
sometimes it ran up to seventy-five per cent. Would their mothers
believe that ?
I venture to assert that if this information were given to any of
these public moralists, they would not believe it. It would explode all
their pet theories and that would never do. They will believe nothing
that they don't wish to believe.
During the past ten years I have met many young men up to
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 103
twenty-five or twenty-six years of age, and some as young as fifteen.
There is not one who has not broken the seventh commandment, and
sixty per cent have suffered from venereal diseases — one of them was
only seventeen when he contracted it.
In views of these facts would it not be wiser to permit houses of
ill-fame subject to inspection ?
I contend that it would keep respectable girls freer from corrup-
tion, and check the spread of venereal diseases.
One of the Police Commissioners is Judge McDougall — a gentle-
man of the highest possible integrity, and one in whom the citizens of
Toronto have implicit faith and confidence. I would suggest that he
obtain the services of a young man of eighteen years of age, of good
appearance, and who has seen something of life. Let him be of good
moral character.
A buy like this is a very common commodity, as nine tenths of
the boys of the present generation would come under this heading,
adverse opinions to the contrary notwithstanding. Let him be informed
that he is to act as a private detective and for three months he is to
keep a reliable diary of every time he breaks the seve 'th command-
ment, giving the name of the girl or woman and the particulars. Let
him be employed in one of the large Departmental stores if possible,
and board at a house where it will cost from four dollars to four dollars
and a half a week. For an expenditure of two hundred dollars Judge
McDougall could obtain the services of one of the cleverest boy detec-
tives in New York or Chicago. At the end of three months if no one
in the city but the Judge and the young detective knew the latter's
business he would send in a report that would make the ordinary man's
hair stand' but it would also prove beyond question all the evidences
I have submitted. I can even foreshadow the list of people he would
have on his list.
My foreshadow would be simply a repetition of what has transpired
in the city amongst friends of mine, and I suggest this course as a means
of demonstrating to an independent man that it would be better to
tolerate houses than that such things should be perpetrated, as I know
for a certainty that they are.
I wish to state in connection with my remarks about a boarding
house, that I selected, hap-hazard — from newspaper advertisements a
boarding house which suited me on account of its locality, the street
and number I need not mention. There were three or four lady boarders,
the landlady and three servants. There was only one of the whole
crowd who was respectable and that was one of the ladies who was
married, yet even she allowed herself to be kissed by some of the gent-
lemen boarders. The landlady's son whom I had taken to the theatre
several times, told me in a burst of confidence, what I already knew —
that all the domestics were not of good character, and that the land-
lady and two of the boarders were not I discovered without much diffi-
culty. Such cases as these are far more prolific of corruption than
houses of ill-fame would be, but to tolerate houses of ill-fame would be
104 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
considered something frightful, because its appearance is bad. A woman
considers that her son has disgraced her if he be seen drunk, though
that is no sin, yet committing adultery, which is a violation of one of
the ten commandments and a cardinal sin, would probably not cause
her a second thought if it were not publicly known. Similarly, in the
United States the hot bed of moral crusades, the W.C.T.U., the P'.pworth
League and other societies like the sands of the sea, without number,
and in a lesser degree in Canada, are not druggists waxing fat on the
sales to women of opium, chloral, as well as drugs and instruments
that enable women to commit murder and still the unburn life within
them every time the Almighty has put his seal of blessing upon them, and
their families had reached a convenient number, or they did not wish
to have children ? Why do not these women who are so fearful about
boys and about children being on the streets after dark, turn their
attention to something of this kind ? I decline to believe that there is
any reason other than because such things are not publicly known, and
that there is no notoriety connected with it.
One lad of eighteen years informed me that in five years there
had not been a domestic in their house with whom he had not had
improper relations.
Another of sixteen stated that it was a rare thing for them to have
a domestic with whom he did not have improper relations.
One of fifteen stated to me that he had improper relations with a
domestic servant who was twice his age, and he showed me the vermin
on his body she had communicated to him. A lad of eighteen for
whose family the same woman worked after leaving the first place had
similar relations with similar results. The same lad of fifteen pointed
out to me the domestic who had succeeded the woman of thirty, and
he said he had improper relations with her. A girl from a nighboring
town took the place of the last girl, and this lad came to me one night
stating that his father had caught him (n flagrante delicto^ and had
boxed his ears and dismissed the girl. This is the experience of a boy
not yet sixteen with three successive domestic servants.
Another lad of fourteen, whom I only know by sight, was import-
uning a young friend of mine to obtain him some powdered cantharides
which he wished to give to a youg miss, the daughter of a gentleman
in the employ of the Dominion Government. Precocity it is not?
A friend of mine, a clerk in one of one of the city banks, asked
me to take a room with him on Wilton Avenue, informing me at the
same time the reason he wished it. A young lady whom he had known
before he and she had come to Toronto to live, was rooming there, and
she had informed him that a double room was vacant. He stated the
advantages of rooming there, one of which was that the young lady's
room was precisely opposite the vacant one, the rest you can imagine.
The young lady was a stenographer in the city, and the double room
was more than my friend cared to indulge in. The favors to be received
from the young lady was the inducement he ofifered me to leave the
room I was then occupying to go with him.
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. K 5
A young man of eighteen or nineteen, a handsome and gentle-
manly looking fellow boarded in a house on Shuter street where a
widow lady was also boarding. He was attending business college at
the time, and one night one of his fellow boarders heard a discussion
in the widow's room, between them. She was upraiding him for visit-
ing houses of ill-repute, for which, she said there was no occasion when
she was there. He afterwards confessed that she had made the first
overtures to him by coming to his room one morning. After having
left the city some time he received a letter from the widow in which
she had expressed the fear that she was enciente, and hoping that if
such were the case he would do something for her. Upon my advice
he paid no attention to this letter, as I regarded it as blackmail, and as
far as I am aware he never heard anything more about it.
A young man of twenty who was boarding in a house where several
Normal school students were boarding informed me that he had had
improper relations with several of them, as well as with several domes-
tics in the same house. I hese normalites would be very efficient ins-
tructors of the young, would they not ?
I consider such circumstances as the foregoing simply appalling,
and demonstrating a frightfully low standard of morality, and I think
it is far more to the purpose that men and women should endeavour
to inculcate morality amongst their children, than sending missionaries
to outlandish places where they are not wanted, also that suppressing
houses of ill-fame is not reducing the sin one iota.
I could cover page after page of such examples, did I wish, of
experiences that have been told me by boys and young men, though I
wish to add that they had no idea I intended using their information
for this purpose.
I met a young woman some time ago, and in the course of the
evening she gave me quite a biography of herself. She had been in
the employ of a well known merchant as domestic, and stated without
any reservation that the two sons of this merchant, one a lad of seven-
teen and the other about twenty had had constant improper relations
with her. She enumerated boys and young men one after another, not
one of whom was over twenty-three years of age, sons of well known
men, who had had improper relations with her.
I could enumerate instances of this nature also almost without
number, which I have earned from young women, who were prostitutes^
but not inmates of houses of ill-fame..
A young lady the daughter of one of the best known men in the
city of Toronto, made the proposition that Potiphar's wife made to
Joseph to a boy who delivered groceries at her father's house, informing
him at the same time that she was alone in the house. He was a
remarkably handsome boy, with a bright healthy color in his cheeks
and eyes that shone like stars.
On the broad basis of subtle reasoning I ask : Would it not be as
well to give a trial to the system of inspecting houses of ill-fame when
such deplorable circumstances as I have given you are constantly taking
place ?
106 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
In the course of a ramble over the island on a Saturday night, I
came across several couples en flagrante delecto ! Houses of ill-fame in
Toronto ? Certainly not. The whole city is an immense house of ill-
fame, the roof of which is the blue canopy of heaven during the summer
months. Some of these people whom I run across, after having appa-
rently satisfied themselves from my height that I was not a policeman
in plain clothes, ignored my existence entirely. One or two however,
jumped up and hurried away.
What is the object of suppressing houses of ill-fame anyway ? If
it is to elevate public morality, I respectfully submit to an independent
public the circumstances 1 have cited, and ask, does it do so ? There is
not a single boy whose experiences I have given, that has not stated
that he would rather visit a house of ill-fame than do what he did.
Fear of disease, the police and as a consequenoe his father's hearing of
it, alone would restrain him. In reason, therefore, I contend that if
these boys who related their experiences to me told the truth, and
I believe every word of it, is it not logical to assume that the great
majority of boys could give similar experiences ?
j — Would it be possible for Inspector Archibald or any other public
moralist, male or female, to obtain such information from a group of
boys ? I am quite positive it would not. And yet what I have told
you is nothing to what I might tell if space permitted or I felt it were
necessary in illustrating my contentions. I could give the experiences
of boys and young men, who made no scruples about telling me girls*
names with whom they had had improper relations. The list of girls
would include some of the daughters of men of highest social and
financial positions.
A young friend of mine who, when I first met him, was a lad in
knickerbockers, whom I considered one of the handsomest boys in
Toronto, informed me that when he first entered a business house in
Toronto, he was invited by different girls in the work room to have
improper relations with them, and there was hardly one with whom he
had not had such. He was then a boy of seventeen. In three years he
was a physical wreck, and the last time I saw him (he was then leaving
the city) he was suffering from a long standing attack of private disease.
Compare these deplorable circumstances with the vain glory of having
suppressed a few houses of ill-fame.
A young friend of mine was away to a certain place on his summer
holidays, and as is usual in such places, everyone knows everyone else.
One evening he took a girl into the woods hard by, and on his way
with her he noticed that a lady — married and with a family — was
following. He said nothing to his companion but entered the woods
with her, the lady following and maintaining a position so that she
saw all that happened, which, I may frankly state, was a breach of the
seventh commandment. As soon as he left the girl he walked straight
to the lady's house, and opened the conversation :
** I suppose you thought you caught me nice, Mrs. Jones, didn't
you? Well I saw you..."
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 107
" Just you wait, Johnny Smith, If I don't write home to your
mother and tell her what you did."
" If you say one word to my mother, Mrs. Jones, I'll go straight to
Mr. Jones and tell him you followed me, and what you saw, and I'll
tell it all over here too. No decent woman would do what you did to-
night." Mrs. " Jones " did not write to Mrs. Smith it may be unne-
cessary to add.
That incident happened when "Johnny Smith" was fifteen years
of age. He told it to me when he was eighteen, and I ventured the
remark that Mrs. Jones would easily fall if she had not already done so.
Some months afterwards he asked me if I recalled the circumstances
he had mentioned, and on my replying that I did, he said the deduction
that I had made at that time was correct, that scandal was already busy
with Mrs. Jones' name, and that she was being quietly dropped by her
former friends one by one. That lady has a family of children and her
husband is considered worth a hundred thousand dollars easily.
Do not these circumstances clearly and unquestionably demons-
trate that the assertions of Rev. Father Decarie are absolute truth, and
that he knows what he is talking about ? It is perhaps superfluous for
me to add that the names of these people were not Smith and Jones,
but they answer the purpose.
From my superior standpoint of observation as well as my exper-
ience, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of women are
fools. A young friend of mine of fifteen mentioned that two girls were
in the habit of coming to the varandah of his house to talk to him. He
had had improper relations with both of them. His mother rather
laughed at him and declared that he would be married before he was
eighteen. The idea that her fair haired boy went with those girls or
any improper purpose never entered her imagination. The idea of
gettinc^ married was so far removed from the boy's mind that he never
even thought of it. He went with them for a certain purpose only.
Tell that to his mother and she would laugh you to scorn, whatever
that may mean — I have seen it in novels quite frequently though. A
youth of eighteen was visiting me once, and where I boarded was a
young miss of sixteen who sometimes waited on the table — the land-
lady's daughter. My friend had a moderate fortune, and the landlady
having discovered this was quite willing to throw her daughter into his
society hoping, doubtless, that he might marry her. She had made
some inquiries from me about my friend's financial position which led
me to this belief, and still further confirmed it by questions about him.
His ideas were rather different. He thought from the young lady's
actions that she might fall and made his plans to meet her on the street
some night, to try it. He would not have thought of marrying the
girl, but was quite willini^ to ruin her, and schemed with that end in
view. He was not successful, however, for I spoke my mind so plainly
that he abandoned the idea. However, it indicates what his ideas were
and what the girl's mother's were, substantiating my idea, previously
expressed, that women are largely fools.
108 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
In the early part of October, 1896, J was discussing the subject
matter of this chapter with a gentleman who had been born and brought
up in the Province of Quebec, and he expressed the opinion that the
mother of every girl who goes wrong should be made to pay the penalty
instead of the boy or man with whom she shares the sin. He also gave
me a piece of information that I may as well publish. Some years ago
in the parish where he resided quite a number of girls were in the habit
of leaving their homes to go into domestic service in Montreal and
Quebec. When they would return on a short vacation they were arrayed
in garments of such glory and beauty and expensive jewelry that the
parish priest became suspicious. He spent nearly a month in Montreal
and discovered that these girls and others besides them were employed
as domestics by wealthy people at twice the wages such servants usually
received, but that in addition to the light domestic service they per-
formed, they were the mistresses of the sons of t/iese houses, ?ir\d vftivt
paid such high wages on account of their youth, beauty and willingness
to sell their purity. This circumstance, frightful as it is by itself, de-
monstrates also how much better able a priest is to judge than any
theoretical public moralists are, and how extremely little the public
know of what is going on in the very centres of civilization and
Christianity.
A despatch from Halifax, N. S., on July 12th stated that Ins-
pector Banks and a squad of police raided a millinery establishment in
Barrington street on .Saturday night, and found a lot of young women
and men belonging to good families. The establishment was found to
be a resort of the lowest kind. The discovery has created a sensation.
In the traditions of the Rabbins it is written that those arc the
elect of God who suffer his chastisement in the flesh. For the others,
those who on earth drain the goblet of pleasure, and riot in the raptures
of sin, for them comes the dread retribution after death. They are
plunged in the fire, and driven before the wind, they take the shape of
loathsome reptiles, and ascend by infinitesimal degrees through all the
grades of creation, until their storm-tossed, wearied, degraded souls re-
enter human semblance once more. But even then their old standpoint
is not re-gained, their dread penance not yet performed. As men and
women they are the lowest and worst of their race, slaves toiling in
the desert, dirt to be trampled under the feet of their prosperous
brethren and sisters. Inch by inch the wretched soul regains its lost in-
heritance, cycles must elapse before the awful sentence is fulfilled, but
the Christian faith teaches no such horrors. Even for the penitent of
the eleventh hour there is promise of pardon. Men and women, boys
and girls are reasoning creatures, and they know that while committing
a sin they are doing wrong, yet the fate of the repentant dying thief
constantly before them impels them to run the risk, with no principle
to guide them, and they fall. The pleasure of draining the goblet of
pleasure is too strong for resistance, and they succumb, feeling that it
is worth the experiment to enjoy the present and leave the future to
take care of itself, just as Eve did in the garden of Eden.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 109
Legislatures are incessantly bringing up the question of raising the
age of consent, but to the practical man or boy of the world, it would
be no hindrance to him if the age were sixty instead of sixteen. In
ninety cases out of a hundred there is no seduction committed at all,
it is simply fornication, and in the majority of cases the girl makes the
first overtures.
This has been the history of the world since the beginning, and
what is true of Potiphar's wife and Joseph is true to-day only on a
larger scale, because there are more people to-day then there were then,
and our social customs make the opportunities greater.
Examine the Criminal statistics of the Dominion of Canada, and how
many cases come before judges or magistrates, where boys or men are
charged with seducing girls who have not reached the age of consent ?
I only know of one during the last six months, and Tgive you the
report of the proceedings in Court.
" Not guilty, sir," said Jacob Hopkins, when the clerk of the court asked him how he
pleaded. He was arraigned on a charge of seducing Mary Kliza Smart, a girl then under i6
years of age, in the township of Gwillimbury in July of last year. Hopkins was very emphatic
m his denial. The girl who is pretty, but small for her years, was a domestic in the service of
the prisoner's father at the time of the alleged offence. She gave her evidence planly amid
tears. Before cross-examination, Judge McDougall said that if the evidence continued in the
same way, he. would have the present indictment quashed and one for rape substituted.
Continuing her evidence, Mary Smart swore that her baby, born last June, has died.
Upon cross-examination by Mr. Rowell, she said her sister married Charles Pegg, He is the
young man who was connected with the Lottie Evans Sharon poisoning case, having been tried
and acquitted
Jacob Hopkins, the Whitchurch farmer, was acquitted of the charge of seduction made
against him by Mary Kliza Smart. Her story was not corroborated, and the judge withdrew the
case from the jury, ordering an acquittal.
Is it not the history of almost every case that is brought into Court
that the prosecution can never secure a conviction because the defen-
dant does not happen to be the first one who has had improper rela-
tions with the girl in the case ? That serves to demonstrate how few
there are who are pure, and what little difference it makes as to what
the age of consent is.
I may just mention an incident that will show that the age of con-
sent makes no difference, for if any man discovers that his daughter
has been seduced, he would prefer remaining quiet about it than insti-
tuting proceedings against a boy for doing so, knowing quite well that
the exposure is simply ruination for life for the girl. A lady residing
in a town not many miles from Toronto discovered that her stable boy
had seduced her daughter. She promptly discharged him. The boy
was naturally compelled to tell his father the cause of his dismissal,
and the father told it to a friend of his one evening while going home
from work. This friend told it .to his son, and two days afterwards
the whole town knew of the girl's disgrace. The mother of that girl,
by her action, simply ruined her daughter for life. And it would always
be so. Hence raising the age of consent is not in any respect a pro-
tection to girls. But if those old women of both sexes, who talk of
public morals with about as much sense as a child prattles of its toys,
would take the trouble to instill into the minds of their daughters the
110 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
disgrace that attaches to such a sin, there might be less of it. A proprie-
tress of one of Chicago's most prominent houses of ill-fame stated to
Mr. Stead that girls err through not being informed by their mothers,
and that uncongenial homes force more girls into trouble than anything
else. I would take that woman's word on this subject in the face of
any contrary opinion by all the united forces of professional public
moralists in the United States and Canada together. She knows.
That is the word. She knows,
I do not believe there is one boy in a hundred under the age of i8
who knows that there is a law regulating the age of consent, and what
is more the age of consent does not deter these boys from seducing
any girl who will listen to him. The only deterrent effect raising the
age of consent likely to have is to prevent men from seducing gins and
that is almost unnecessary, as men very rarely do so. It is boys of their
own age who generally accomplish the ruination of a girl, and there is
not one case in ten thousand where I have ever heard that the boy was
prosecuted. As a matter of fact I have never heard of a case in my life.
Minds form and tongues give utterance to theories which every
day Hves kick holes into so that there is not a vestige left of the grand
illusions built up by people who pose as public moralists. Let me ask
any one of those ladies who are so much concerned with respect to the
morals of other people's sons : If her son were found to be guilty of
improper relations with a domestic in her house, what would she do ?
Would she heroically make an example of her son ? Would she condone
the offence of the servant ? Not by any means. I have never yet known
of a mother having done so. She would do as women have done since
the world began. She would blame the girl, whether she were to blame
or not. It is very nice to theorize what should be done in the case of
other people's sons, but when it come to their own it makes all the
difference in the world. Yet these people are driven into a frenzy
because the law is not stricter in regard to ages of consent and seduc-
tion of servants, etc. These very people would be the last to live
up to the requirements of the laws in such connections. In giving
utterance to her heroic theories, a woman invariably takes the position
that a man or boy is the seducer and is wholly to blame, and is, there-
fore, the only one that should be punished. In practice, however, it
invariably turns out that the girl or woman is blamed, and she is the
one that is punished if anyone is punished. I never knew a case
different in my life.
Some years ago two boys, cousins, committed rape upon a girl who
was the sister of one and the cousin of the other. They were arrested
tried, convicted and sentenced to two years in the Penitentiary. The
result is that those boys when they got out, did not return to the place
where the disgrace occurred, but are to-day respectable citizens while
the girl is still unmarried, and even to this day she and her family are
looked at askance for an act that happened twenty years ago. Was it
any benefit to that girl to have those boys punished ? Would it not
have been far better to have let the matter drop, than press it to such
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. Ill
a conclusion ? That girl is disgraced for ever, she will never be married,
and simp'y because her father, a hot headed English ignoramus deter-
mined to punish these boys. This case is not in any respect different
from the other one in the sense that the girl is the one who bears the
disgrace when such things become known. Raising the age of consent
will never purify morals as long as civilization is as it is in the present
day. And there is no prospect of its changing. No woman in practice
would dream of doing that she demands in theory, or what she demands
for the sake of hearing herself talk.
It is not quite within the recollection of every resident of Toronto,
how a young girl of fifteen, residing in the west end of the city, being
unable to conceal her condition any longer, was compelled to acknow-
ledge herself endenU, and confessed that her brother, a boy of 17 was
responsible for her condition ? And that the brother was obliged to
leave the city in consequence ?
The scarcity of cases in the criminal courts is not in any respect
an evidence that no improper relations are not going on. It indicates
what I have always contended — that the evil goes on, and as girls will
certainly not tell there is absolutely no danger in its commission, unless
conception results from these relations.
I clipped the following from a Chicago paper :
Myrtle Bonnet. Columbus. Ohio, the 13 year old daughter of Dr. A. L. Bonnet, who was
dismissea from the Mound street public school a few days ago because she was found to be in
a delicate condition, was married to Pearl Colt, the 15 year old boy who acknowledged to the
responsibility of her condition.
A young lady of my acquaintance once informed me that her father
had stated that if he ever found out anything compromising about any
young man with his daughter, he would assuredly shoot him. To the
young lady herself he had said :
" Jennie, if any young man ever makes any wrong suggestions to
you you tell me, and I'll settle him so that he won't do it again."
It was the young lady herself who told this, and told it to two or
three others besides myself, with whom she was acquainted. That was
the sublimity of innocence was it not ?
If my assertions were not true, how is it that so many girls, ap-
parently respectable, are the contempt of boys with whom they are
acquainted ? It is an axiom that a girl may share a sin with a boy,
and that same boy will have a flippant contempt for her and express
it to his friends.
This is simply nature according to Dr. Napheys, who says that
woman is endowed with a sense of shame, an invincible modesty, her
greatest protection and her greatest charm. Let her never forget it
for without it she becomes the scorn of her own sex and the jes^ of
tJu other.
But it is to be remembered that Dr. Napheys wrote his book thirty
years ago, and since then social usages have been revolutionized. In
this age of grace it is scarcely necessary for a boy to exercise himself
to meet girls, for girls go to all places where boys are. You have only
to pass any place where boys are practising athletics, and the streets
112 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
are thronged with girls in their teens— a nightly occurrence. My
opinion of the bicycle craze has been that gir s ride bicycles simply
because it gives them opportunities to associate with boys,jon the prin-
ciple of Mohamet, who, as the mountain would not come to him, was
forced to go to the mountain. A girl would be considered decidedly
immodest did she go on long tramps with boys, but on her bicycle she
can at the same time gratify her taste for boys' society and satisfy the
demands of propriety, which takes cognizance not so much of what
you do, but how you do it, and questions your motives not at all. If I
were to claim this opinion in regard to bicycling as exclusively my
own, being of the opposite sex, I should, probably be termed evil minded
or worse, and told to mind my own business. The Women's Rescue
League of Washington, however, goes even farther than I do, and says
it is a vulgar, indecent craze, and has helped to swell the ranks of
reckless girls who finally drift into the standing away of outcast women
of the United States more than any other medium.
Evangelist Chiverea when conducting revival services at Winnipeg
held a meeting for women only at which circulars against bicycle riding
were distributed which gave offence to many of the women present. As
a result the engagement of the evangelist to address a W.C.T.U. meeting
was cancelled by the ladies of the society. It shows that men must
not interfere in such matter, whether right or wrong.
Public moralists objected to pictures of ballet dancers being posted
on the streets of Toronto, because it corrupted public morals, by which
they mean, I presume, creating unholy desires on the part of boys and
men. I assert that one girl in a bloomer costume will create far greater
and more widespread corruption amongst boys than a city full of show
bills, so will a well developed girl in short dresses. One member of the
W.C.T.U. was against having the show bills, while another asked what
business it was of any member of the school board of Toronto whether
the teachers wear bloomers or not. One objection was raised by a
man, that constituted a sufficient reason why the lady trustee asked
what business it was of his anyway. Where is their consistency ? Any
school boy can tell you every girl in the school who has well developed
limbs, and he will discuss the girl with his friends. The pictures of
ballet dancers on the walls would scarcely give him a second thought
a girl such as I describe will be constantly before his mind. Would
these hysterical fools who wish to have such posters suppressed even
think of having their daughters' dresses lengthened to proclude the
possibility of impure thoughts on the part of boys ? Hardly likely. I
contend that girls are less modest than boys, as is proven by experience.
Go to a photographer and see some of the samples of his work, and
you will see girls draped in every possible manner that will show their
arms, shoulders and busts. Do they do that for any purpose other than
to influence the passions and create unholy desires on the part of men
and boys ? During my residence in an eastern city a young miss of
seventeen or eighteen had her photograph taken draped, showing her
bare arms, shoulders and bust, the pictures being on exhibition in the
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 113
window. If the young person's intention was to exhibit her charms and
inflame the passions, and create unholy desires on the part of boys, I
may say for the information of herself and the public generally that
she was successful. Numberless boys and young men mentioned to me
the fact of their having seen the picture, coupled with opinions of her
charms, and expressing desires that while they may be inseparable from
healthy youth, are scarcely used in polite society. They would discuss
this photograph and all it suggested, yet I never knew there were ballet
pictures in that city by hearing them spoken of.
If you will take the trouble to discuss the subject with any dress-
maker she will give you innumerable experiences with young girls who
will struggle with the pertinacity of a gladiator against having their
dresses lengthened. Why is it ? Do they know the impression it creates
in the minds of boys and are determined to cater to their immoral
desires ? On the other hand let any man go where there are boys in
bathing, naked, and almost every one of them will try to hide his
nakedness. I speak from my own observation, and consequently know
that it is so.
To expect consistency on the part of this class of people, however
would be to expect the impossible. A man and his wife, the latter of
whom is something of a speaker, are enthusiastic advocates of some
system of education having for its subject teaching kindness to dumb
brutes ; the same people had a couple of boys working for them whom
they treated worse than dogs. I boarded in a house once where the
young lady was horrified to find me reading a novel on Sunday. " My
father or mother would not allow me to do that," she exclaimed proud-
ly. Her saintly father or mother, however, put no bar to her runing
all over at nights, and the son of a prominent merchant boasted that
he had frequently improper relations with her. An old gentleman of
sixty, whose son aged about eighteen, was lying ill, discovered some
cigarettes in his son's room. He was perfectly scandalized. His son !
smoking ! He almost took a fit of apoplexy, and it required quite an
ingenious falsehood to convince the old gentleman that the cigarettes
did not belong to his son. It is difficult to conjecture what the worthy
gentleman would have thought had he known the cause of his son's
ill-health. He was simply suffering from an attack of venereal disease.
Is it not an historical fact that when Thomas Hughes' stories of Tom
Brown were to be published in America, the saintly ladies on this side
of the Atlantic were fearful lest the author's references to drinking
should have a demoralizing effect upon their sons? Is it not equally
true that some few years ago a young lady in writing a novel stated
in the preface that she was poor and wished to be rich, and knowing
that novels that suggested filth were the most widely read, she wrote
her novel accordingly and it was most successful ? Talk of consistency !
There is scarcely a man or woman on the face of the earth who pretends
to lead some movement for the elevation of mankind, who knows what
consistency is. I could take you through a whole list of these men and
women in the city of Toronto to-day who might easily commence at
114 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
home and practice some virtue that they are deficient in, and let public
questions such as intemperance, etc., alone.
I have listened to boys give their experiences with women older
than themselves, who were employed by their parents as governesses
or seamstresses and other positions rather higher than the domestic
servant, which I saw no reason to doubt. How many men are there
in Toronto who have dismissed this class of upper servant on account
of their relations with their sons ? I could give the names of some quite
easily. I was once given the particulars of a case where a young fellow
just come from college fell in with a young woman working in his house
as a superior class of servant, nursery governess or something of that
kind, who was ten or twelve years older than he. He described min-
utely that woman's actions in his company, which were of such a nature
as could have all but sent her to prison. I believe the narrative, because
I do not think a boy of seventeen would possess sufficient ingenuity to
concoct such a story. And again what is more morbid than a woman
who has passed her thirtieth year in celibacy?
I do not think present day moralists know anything of what is
going on around them or they might endeavor to turn their attention
from such fads on Prohibition and Woman's Enfranchisement and try
to devise some means for promulgating social purity of a nature that has
not in it the sweets of newspaper notoriety, but would render the com-
mission of the breach of one of God's commandments less frequent than
I have endeavored to prove they are at the present time.
With the progress in religion that has been made within the past
few years and the agitation for the right of women to vote together with
the interest displayed on the part of women to prohibit other women's
husbands and brothers from drinking, it is not to be wondered at that
young girls consider themselves relieved from the necessity of the form-
ality of an introduction to a boy or young man whose acquaintanceship
they desire to make, presuming, doubtless, that this is one of the fund-
amental principles which women are striving for, and which the evolu-
tionary process under way at the present time will render qnite unne-
cessary. It is merely requisite for a significant smile to be exchanged
in passing, and to look back after passing and the absurdity of an
introduction is done away with. Permil: me to ask how a boy would
know that a girl will become a partner in such a sin if he did not receive
some such intimation from the girl herself. I am not as old as Methu-
selah, yet I can remember when it was considered necessary for those
of opposite sexes to be introduced before they considered themselves
acquainted.
As demonstrating that I am not alone in my opinions of modern
women and their ideas of moral training, I submit the folllowing from
the Toronto Empire :
In the Peterboro' Review appears a long letter from an " Anxious Mother," offering
"sincere and hearty thanks to the Town Council for the great measure of moral reform they
have enacted, namely, the curfew bell." The " Anxious Mother " goes on to say that " without
some legislation of this kind it would be almost impossible in this advanced age for Christian
parents to properly bring up their children in the way they should go " That such opinions are
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 115
pretty generally entertained there is no denying, but when we come to examine some of the
reasons underlying them, the subject gathers interest. The ** Anxious Mother " continues :
" I am myself the mother of six children, all boys, the youngest six and the eldest under
sixteen, so that you will see that my responsibility is ^reat if I am to rightly train "those whom
God has given me." As I am a member of the W.C.T.U., the Royal Templars of Temperance,
the Epworth League, the Endeavor Society, the Woman's Rights Association, the Society for
the Home training of the Young in Africa, etc., I find it impossible to give close attention to
my family without neglecting my duties to the societies of which I am a member, and in many
of them an office bearer." Who would have thought of Dickens' missionary spirit. Mrs. Jellyby,
turning up in Peterboro' ?
I do not believe that any woman ever wrote the foregoing, but it
certainly demonstrates that the idea is gaining ground that women of
the present day are too prone to poke their noses into other people's
business in the way of advocating Prohibition and Enfranchisement and
such fads as bring them into notoriety, while their children are free to
run the streets as they like. It is simply what the times are coming to ;
women must interest themselves in the business of other people, and
ask the law to do the duty they should perform towards their children.
If exception should be taken that I have no right to advocate a
system of toleration of houses of ill-fame, or that a work of this kind
has no right to contain a chapter on this subject, permit me to point to
stories of sensual filth, placed upon the markets by religious associa-
tions who made the proud boast of having disposed of circulations of
upwards of one hundred thousand copies, and to state moreover that
large numbers of persons of alleged respectability did not scruple to
attend " lectures " where extracts were read from such receptacles of
filth whose aim was to cast aspersion on the Church of Rome. These
aspersions were made in a general way, and were not compromising upon
anyone, but every statement I have made in this work is undeniably
and absolutely true, and any young man who reads this article will
know and agree that it is so, yet I do not pretend to be like Dumas'
young hero who agreed that it was possible there might be women and
girls who were virtuous, but he had never met any.
While I do not wish to be regarded as one of those odious char-
acters, a moral teacher with a mission, a class of people I have always
detested, I consider the system I am advocating would be a proper one,
and far less prolific of moral destruction than what now prevails. It is
true that staff inspector Archibald states that he would not countenance
such an order of things. That is nothing. Similarly a correspondent
in the Telegram takes strong exception to the report of the Chief of
Police in reference to the social evil, and takes high ground in respect
to the suppression of houses of ill-fame. These people are about as
competent to judge of such matters as a child shut up in an Assyrian
museum until twenty years of age would be. How should they know
the desires or passions of the human heart, when association with the
young of both sexes and a careful study of physiognomy can alone
enable one to read the thoughts and comprehend the thousand longings
of youth. Yet they constitute themselves arbiter and judge of what
should be and what should not be done for their moral welfare, without
any knowledge of human passion. Let any young man of ordinary
Li
116 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
intelligence and perception make intimate friends with half a dozen
boys of from sixteen to eighteen years of age, and having won their
confidence place no restraint upon their speech. He will learn more in
a month than twenty years of theory will teach him. I give you a
quotation from one of Gaboriou's works showing one of his characters,
and it will explain my meaning :
She was the seventh daughter of a poor Protestant clergyman in the neighborhood of
London, and had spent her youth in waiting like the princesses in fairy tales, the youn? and
handsome hero who would realize her dreams. He never came, but poverty did She had been
compelled to accept a place as governess, and had passed many years in silent resignation. In
the evening when she was alone in her bed-room she bolted the door, and compensated herself
for all the annoyances of the day by throwing herself with avidity into novel reading She fancied
that from these nocturnal studies she had acquired a thorough knowledge of the world, of life
and of passion, and above all felt that she had stored her mind with all sorts of expedients and
was ready to meet any emergency.
j That describes your public moralist precisely. Theoretically and
in his own mind he knows everything. Practically he knows nothing.
Then the airs these people give themselves in discussing public
questions is rather an advance upon the Pharisees of old, who thanked
God that they were not as other men. The Social Purity Agitators of
London, England, appeared before the licensing Committee of the
London County Council, according to the language of the cable letter
to the Toronto Globe, and despite the evidence of these people the
applications of various music halls for licenses were granted. Each
woman who appeared in opposition before the committee said that when
she visited the promenades in search of evidence, she herself was the
only respectable woman there, a statement that was so sweeping in its
character that it did not meet with belief. The men who testified in
behalf of the society gave evidence similar to thit of the women wit-
nesses. Their apparent self conceit and self righteousness had a bad
effect upon a majority of the committee, and, despite their evidence
the licenses were granted.
It would seem that in Canada too the evidence of this class of
people is considered of so little value that the billiard license fee has
been reduced in Welland, Ontario, Canada, from $200 to $75, although
a large delegation from the W.C.T.U., and several representatives of the
different churches were present to oppose it.
Your public moralist is so remarkably intelligent and knows so
much that when their side of the case was presented they were not
believed, although the council one year did refuse licenses to the music
halls. Or, again, is it not just possible that they considered such places
a social necessity, presuming for the sake of argument that they are
immoral, on the same grounds as I advocate the toleration of houses of
ill-fame. When the law was first passed permitting cities and towns
to adopt the ringing of the curfew bell the W.C.T.U. lost no time in
airing their views on the subject and advocating its establishment in
Toronto. They seemed to have about as much weight with Toronto's
council as their contemporaries in London and Welland had had. for
they did not get it, the Telegram promptly informing them that Tor-
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 117
onto's police force had something else to do besides running in children
of tender years who were on the streets after a certain hour.
At the Social Purity Congress held in Baltimore Rev. C. M. Watch,
of Brighton, Ontario, read an interesting paper on social purity work
in Canada. He eulogised the moral sentiment of the Canadian people,
and said if the whole Dominion should speak at the ballot box on the
temperance question there would be 100,000 majority in favor of pro-
hibition. He congratulated his people on having no general divorce
law. To procure a divorce he explained requires a special act of Par-
liament, and the result is that only 48 applications have been filed in
ten years. Forty of these were granted or about one for every six or
seven thousand marriages. The speaker paid a tribute to Mr. John
Charlton, member of Parliament, for favoring legislation on social purity
•questions, and criticised other legislators for indifference to the import-
ance of a proper age of consent law, and to the one standard of morals.
The city of Toronto also received Dr. Watch's hearty commendation
as being the best governed city in the Dominion. The morality depart-
ment in charge of Staff- Inspector Archibald, was highly praised, and
when the speaker said there was not a known house of ill-fame in that
city the congress applauded.
He did not mention, however, that Mr. Charlton has stated from
his seat in Parliament that he favored a divorce Court in Canada.
The following is a solicitor's opinion on American divorces :
The Canadian courts recognize the validity of judgments and decrees of American courts
if regularly and properly granted by such courts If the decree of divorce was regularly granted
by a court of competent jurisdiction in the United States, and for a cause which would be
deemed a sufficient ground for the granting of a divorce by the Canadian Parliament, such a
decree could be pleaded as a defence in case of a prosecution for bigamy in Canada.
It is quite true, as Mr. Watch states that Canada has no general
divorce law, but Canadians who desire divorces get them just as Am-
-ericans do — in Chicago and other states where they can be obtained —
and the non-existence of a divorce law is no bar to divorce being ob-
tained. No less a person than Mrs. George E. Foster, the wife of the
ex-Minister of Finance of Canada, obtained a divorce from her first
husband in Chicago. She could not have obtained it in Canada, as her
first husband is simply a fugitive, but she did so in Chicago. Mr3. E.
F. Blackstock, of Toronto, also obtained a divorce from her husband
George T. Blackstock of 1 oronto on the grounds of non-support; in the
court of Newport, R.I. What these people have done other Canadians
have done, can do and will do. Hence a divorce court is not a
necessity in Canada.
The statistical year book gives figures about divorce in Canada. It
shows that since Confederation Parliament has had 57 divorces, of which
40 were for Ontario couples, 14 for Quebec, 2 for Manitoba and i from
the Territories. Divorce courts have been operating in three provinces,
with the result that 82 divorces were granted in Nova Scotia, 64 in New
Brunswick and 3 1 in British Columbia.
When he speaks of there not being a known house of ill-fame in
Toronto, I respectfully refer him to my work, and ask him to consider
118 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
the reasons why there are none, assuming for the sake of argument that
his assertion is true, which I add is not. His commendation of Toronto
is decidedly refreshing, and I submit the toUowing as a criminal docket
taken from a Toronto paper about the time he made his statement :
Queen v Joseph B. Blackburn, defiling a child under 14 years of age, true bill.
Queen v. George Brown and Richard Sadler, removing marks from stamps, true bill.
Queen v. J. B. Blackburn, rape, true bill.
Queen v. William Curry, arson, true bill.
Queen v. Harry May, robbery from the person and violence, true bill.
Queen v. Harry May, Fred Chambers, George White and George Badgeley, robbery
with violence, true bill.
Queen v. Fred Chambers, rape, true bill.
Queen v. George Badgeley, rape, true bill.
Queen v. Harry May. rape, true bill.
Queen v. Badgely, White, Chambers and May, rape, true bill.
Queen v. William Broom, assault with intent, true bill.
Queen v. Frank Smith, assault with intent, true bill.
Queen v. William Broom and Frank Smith, murder, true bill.
Queen v. W. J. Kramer and Frank Watts, engraving instruments of forgery, true bill.
Queen v. W. J Kramer and Edmund Barber, unlawfully using instruments of forgery,,
true bill.
Queen v. David Cooper and W. J. Kramer, forgery and uttering, true bill.
Queen v Thomas Smith, John Crawford, W. J. Kramer, forgery and uttering, true bill.
Queen v. W. J. Kramer, possessing instruments of forgery, true bill.
Queen v. John Crawford and William I. Dickson, unlawfully using instruments of
forgery, true bill.
Queen v. William I. Dickson, having in possession instruments of forgery, true bill.
Queen v. Frank Watts, having in possession instruments of forgery, true bill.
Queen v. Edmund Barber, having in possession instruments of forgery, true bill.
Queen v. Thomas Smith, uttering, no bill.
Queen v. George White, rapi% true bill.
License Inspector Dexter scored a point against a number of illegal liquor sellers. Mrs.
Ann Whalen 15 Centre avenue, was fined $50 and costs or three months ; Peter Green, of the
Green Bush, York street, the same amount, and Mike McGorry, of 184 York street, $100 and
costs or three months ; John Daly, of 156 1-2 York street, was convicted of illegally selling
liquor. He also pleaded guilty to having been convicted on a similar charge in March last. In
cases of a second offence the Magistrate is precluded from imposing a fine; the penalty being at
least four months in prison. So Daly gets the four months. There were two other charges
against *' Jack," to which he pleaded guilty, also again admitting previous convictions. He got
four months on each of these, and the three sentences run consecutively, making one year Daly
will have to stay in jail.
A recent issue of the News stated that there were 80 cases of
illegal selling of liquor to be tried.
In giving a report on city Mission work the News said that one
clergyman declared that Toronto slums were worse than those of
Belfast.
Very much to be commended, is it not ? If Toronto is a moral city,
what under heaven must an immoral city be like ?
It is thus with those illusionary theorists who attempt to dictate
and advise on subjects which their limited understandings could never
grasp. What is your opinion of Mr. Watch's remarks ?
I think I may consistently say that any woman or girl, once entered
upon a life of shame, however glittering it may be at the outset, her
fate is certain, unless she anticipates her final doom by suicide. She
can rarely reform if she would. Few will help her back to the paths
of right. There is only one means of safety, and that is to avoid the
first step. Once place your foot on the downward part, and you are
lost forever. It is generally hard to learn the true history of the lost
OF TOBONTO THE GOOD. 119
women, for nearly all wish to make their past lot appear better than
it usually is, with the melancholy hope of elevating themselves in the
estimation of their present acquaintances. It may safely be asserted,
however, that the majority of them come from the humbler walks of
life. Women of former position and refinement are the exceptions, for
society the higher it is will condone and sympathize with the misfort-
unes of one of its own daughters, while no language is strong enough to
express the righteous indignation called forth by the disgrace of her of
humble origin. Poverty and a desire to gratify a taste for fine clothes
are among the chief causes of protitution in this as in all cities, but at
the same time, proprietresses of houses of all classes spare no means to
draw into their nets all who will listen to them.
The following cases will, perhaps, not be amiss in demonstrating
the cogency of my contentions. The first came to my attention after
I had completed my previous work on this subject, and the second one
I am giving to strengthen my position, and it will prove more effect-
ually than any amount of theorizing, the truthfulness of my assertions :
The disaster on the Detroit river, near Belle Isle Park, by which a young: man and his
companion a young woman, lost their lives, has developed, upon the finding of the young
woman's body, into a romantic tragedy of thrilling interest. It will be remembered that a Mr.
Morris, a hotel keeper from Jackson, Mich , August Reitz and an unknown young woman were
boating on the River. They endeavoured to catch a tow line from a passing steamer, were
overturned, and Reitz and the girl were drowned Every effort to discover the identity of the
girl proved unvailing. This morning the body of Reitz was discovered near Amherstburg, It
was in fearful condition and was buried at once. A few hours later the body of a young woman
was found near Wyandotte. It was badly decomposed, but was identified as that of Emma
Fox, of 300 Albert street this city, and also as the body of the young woman of the Sunday
disaster. In searching for further information the correspondent brought to light, the downfall,
disgrace and subsequent death of a Canadian girl who came here some months a^o to seek her
fortune alone and without friends, Emma Fox, as she was known here, was the daughter of
we'l-todo people named Fulton, living in Middlesex. Tiring of her home in the country, she
went to Drumbo, Ont , and later to Toronto, where she was employed in the office of Wyld,
Brock & Darling as a typewriter. Her true name was Edith Fulton, but she frequently went
by different names. Naturally of a vivacious nature, she rapidly made friends, principally among
a fast set of young men in Toronto. ( )ne, a clerk, became infatuated with her, and her downfall
soon followed. He had influential friends and parents, and when they discovered the intrigue,
the girl was compelled to leave Toronto. She came to Detroit, where she secured employment
and was prospering until she met Lou Fox, a railroad breakesman. She fell in love with him,
and under promise of marriage in the near future, went to live with him at 300 Abbott street.
A short time after Fox was killed while coupling cars at Twenty-fifth street, this city. Again
thrown on her resources, the young girl fell into fast company, and was frequently seen in the
company of different young men. The body exhibited no evidences of foul play, although the
mouth was terribly swollen, and one eye hung from its socket, and about half an inch of the
scalp was hairless. These injuries very probably were done to the body by the water and objects
with which it came in contact in the water. The girl was five feet three inches tall, of good
form, and would weigh about 1 10 pounds. She had long dark brown hair, and was probably
between the ages of 18 and 20. She has a grandmother living in Windsor.
The above is taken from a Detroit paper, and will clearly prove
that girls who are presumably respectable, but who are not really so,
take the place of those who are professionally unchaste.
The second case even more clearly proves my contention.
Some few years ago two young men of about twenty years of age,
asked me to accompany them to a house of ill-fame, and I consented
to do so, suggesting that we should go to 248 Front street, or as the
new number makes it now, 292. It was agreed that we should go
on a Wednesday night, the conclusion being arrived at on the Friday
120 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD,
evening preceding. On Monday morning one of the young men in-
formed me that he and his friend and some others of their companions
were at the house of one of their young lady friends the evening pre-
vious where, altogether, there were some ten or twelve of both sexes.
During the course of the evening one of them called across the room
to his friend :
''George, where is Mr going to take us to on Wednesday
night ? "
The other answered mysteriously :
" Is it 248 Front or Queen East we are going ? '*
The young ladies listened attentively to this dialogue, and at length
one of them exclaimed :
" I know where you are going. If you go there I'll never speak
to you again."
On Wednesday at noon I was called to the telephone.
" Is that Mr ?" came from the other end. It was a girl's voice,
and two or three voices were mingling together, with " Is he there .? "
" What did he say .? " &c. &c.
"Yes," I answered.
•' Well, this is Harry Smith speaking. Which one are we going
to to-night ? "
I did not wish to call out the number, so that everyone in the
office could hear it, so I replied :
*' Oh, tne Grand."
"No, no," she exclaimed impatiently, "you know what I mean.
Is it 248 Front, or Queen East ? " and then she added in a lower tone
of voice, apparently to her companions : " he knows it isn't Harry that
is speaking."
After a few more remarks of an irrevelant nature, she rang off,
but we did not go to a house of ill- fame that night, nor any other night,
and to any one of average understanding it will be clear that young
men who associated with young ladies such as these would have no
reason to go to such places.
A day or two afterwards I met my friends and they stated that
these young ladies on hearing the street numbers, examined the direct-
ory, and having found the names of the people living there, made it
their business to go and find out all about them.
Young ladies in the humbler walks of life ^
Not at all. They were the daughters of well-to-do men in the
city, some of them still attending school, and they were members of
the Jarvis street Baptist church and the Bond street Congregational.
The mother of one of the young ladies in question had died about the
time I speak of, and the house became the rendez-vous for the crowd
to meet at.
I could give you the names of these people quite easily if I wished
to do so, and if it would serve any good purpose, but I have no doubt
if they ever read this article they will recall, the circumstances, and I
took the precaution to obtain the full and explicit information I have
volunteered to you.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 121
Can you wonder that such a state of affairs exists ?
These girls were permitted absolute liberty of action, out all hours
of the day or night, free to roam as they chose, while their saintly
mothers were doubtless too much occupied with temperance work and
women's enfranchisement to give attention to anything so common
place as their daughters, when there is no newspaper notoriety conected
with the fulfillment of such duties.
I do not doubt that if the most overwelming evidence were given
to the mothers of these girls, they would still any " it is not so." It was
Gaboriau who said : "Evidence will crush the most obstinate man, he
ceases to struggle, he makes a confession. A woman scoffs at evidence.
Show her the sun, and she will close her eyes, and say " it is night."
Men plan arid combine different systems of defence according to the
social position in which they were born. Women have but one system
whatever their condition in life. They deny everything and always,
and they weep." Prove or them the statements I have made, and they
are like those people who answer you : " Impossible, no such thing
ever happened to my laundress."
It was the cynical Balzac who said : " There is one thing admirable
in women. They never reason about their blameworthy actions. Even
in their dissimulation there is an clement of sincerity."
It is astonishing, however, that no matter how blind a woman may
be, she can always see the defects of her neighbours* daughters. Some
time ago a young friend of mine showed me a picture, draivn by a friend
of his, and which he thought to be quite a work of art,
'• So-and-so did this, it's good isn't it .?"
I need not describe the picture more than to say that part of it
was a figure of a nude female, and the rest of the picture need not be
mentioned. But that it was well sketched, the could be no doubt. That
it was grossly indecent, it is unnecessary to add.
A few days later the same young man came to me with a smile on
his face and said his mother had taken the picture out of his pocket
one night, while he was asleep.
*• She asked me, if I had a picture of a girl drawn with a lead
pencil, and I answered no, but that I had picked up a piece of paper a
few days before, and thought it was an exercise belonging to some of
the school children, and put it in my pocket. But I said I had never
looked at it."
"It was a dirty, filthy picture," his mother had answered, *' and I
thought it just about such a thing as Maud would be likely to
give you."
You see how able this lady was to correctly fathom the depths of
immorality that the young lady whose name she mentioned had pos-
sibly sunk to. Yet I know that her own daughter was carrying on a
surreptitious correspondence with a young man whose morals were at
least shady. Singular is it not }
In the course of a recent address the Bishop of Algoma said he
had known cases where young girls ranging from 1 2 to 15 years of age
122 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
were compelled by their mothers to produce from hiding places in their
bedrooms books, circulars and pictures of such a foul character that
anyone with the least modesty would blush to acknowledge having
seen them.
At a certain skating rink last winter my attention was called to a
handsome, well built young man of about twenty. He stood in the
centre of the ice, and braced himself strongly as though warding off a
collision, his stomach protruding. Presently a young miss of about
seventeen, after several vigorous strokes to get up speed, and having
succeeded, ran plump into him. This was repeated several times, much
to the amusement of the spectators. Shortly afterwards a young lady
friend admonished the giddy miss, and asked her is she had no thought
of her reputation.
*' My reputation," the other answered flippantly, " I don't give a
damn for that, I lost // years ago."
This flippant young miss is decended from one of the most pro-
minent professional men in Canada, and if I gave her name, I believe
it would make the readers' hair stand.
Why is it ? God only knows. When the prophet of old said the
human heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, he knew whereof he
spoke. In some natures the love of or passion for a human being will
works marvels which neither the fear of God, nor the hope of heaven,
nor yet the promptings of self-respeet have the power to accomplish.
Almost any boy or girl of the present age, lamentable as it may
be to say so, has far more experience or knowledge than the oldest
libertine of a generation ago. I heard the conversation of some boys
who had reached the ripe and experienced age of sixteen or seventeen
years, the subject under discussion being girls of their acquaintance.
One of them had hazarded the information that one miss of his
acquaintance had blushed.
** Blu,sked!" repeated one of the others, with unmitigated scorn,
" her blush. Why, I never saw a girl yet who could blush." I mention
this as showing the exalted opinions boys of the present day have for
girls and women.
Dr. Napheys it is who states that a wise provision of nature ordains
that a woman shall be sought. She flees, and man pursues. The folly
of modern reformers who would annul this provision is evident. Were
it done away with, man, ever prone to yield to woman's solicitation,
and then most prone when yielding is most dangerous would fritter
away his powers at an early age, and those very impulses which nature
has given to perpetuate the race would bring about its destruction. He
adds that woman is endowed with a sense of shame, an invincible
modesty, which is her greatest protection, and her greatest charm.
" She flees, and man pursues ! " cries Dr. Napheys.
Alone in his study he may assume that what should be is, but let
Dr. Napheys or anyone else visit any place where young people cong-
regate and see if he is correct.
But his book was writen in 1867, quite a generation ago.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 123
I had a conversation with a boy who was attending the Collegiate
Institute, and in the course of his remarks he told me some curious
things. It appears that his class has for one of its texts books, the story
of Hiawatha. I believe that is the work, at all events, it is an Indian
name. He said that there was not a boy in that class of any age who
did not make it his special business to markedly accentuate that part-
icular passage which says, " and women great with child," for the edifi-
cation of the girls in the class. He stated moreover that every boy
in the school with whom he was on terms of intimacy was very well
up in scripture. Not Christ's sermon on the Mount, where we are told
of our duties in life, but such passages as contain what in any other
work would be termed unfit for publication. That lad knew all the
story of Potiphar's wife and Joseph, the story of Lot's daughters,* all
the suggestiveness of Deuteronomy, and could tell the book and chapter
where all such passages as suggested filth occurred, yet he could tell
nothing of the divine revelation to St. John, nor those admonitions that
are intended to keep people in the path of right, I do not pretend to
account for this, but I mention it to show you what the tendencies of
the times are, and as showing that ordinary literature is rather flat for
the youth of the present day. In some correspondence that took plaee
in the Empire some time ago, I saw that in one of the Methodist Sab-
bath schools they have in their library the glorious Revelations of
Maria Monk. So that even the churches are determined to cater to
the popular demand for literature that is somewhat shady. Still it
indicates the trend of the times.
There is another position from which this case is to be viewed,
and that is where medical science is called upon to step in and save
from disgrace young women whose indiscretion has led them to seek
in criminal means the way out of their difficulties.
In conversation with a newspaper man some time ago, he stated
that in the course of the day he had been called upon to make three
calls on as many different physicians. Their conversation had turned
upon abortions, and the first doctor had stated that he had applications
from some twelve or thirteen different girls to have operations perform-
ed upon them. The newspaper man on making the second call intro-
duced the subject and was there informed that the same state of affairs
had been his experience, and the third was the same way. That they
had refused to take any such steps goes without saying.
But another physician gives an entirely different case and I am
impelled to give the whole matter just as it was told to me :
" Some time ago, a young lady, whose mother keeps a boarding
house not a thousand miles from my house, called me in a great hurry
and asked me to go at once to their house, where her sister was lying
very sick in the throes of childbirth. I put in my instruments and left
the house with her, and then proceeded to the bedroom where the
sister was lying. She was in the throes of childbirth, sure enough, and
in a short time was delivered of a child, still-born. I had some difficulty
in getting the thing out of the house, but I succeeded and swore that
124 OF TOKONTO THE GOOD.
I would never do a thing like that again. But that only proves how
easily pledges are made and broken, especially with yourself, for only
a short time afterwards the one who had been delivered of the child
called on me.
** I hope it isn't a case of the same kind as I had before."
" Well, yes," she answered, " it is, only this time it is my sister."
" In spite of my declaration to the contrary I went, and this case
was even worse than the other. The head of the child was off, and she
was having a terrible time of it. To make matters worse her mother
was in the room, and could not be got rid of. At least I hit upon a
scheme and told the old woman that I must have some very strong
black tea, and though she tried hard to get the other girl to go and
make it, I finally prevailed upon her to go herself, and then I managed
the rest. Pretty risky, you'll say, but the peculiar part of it is, or per-
haps I should say the least peculiar part of it is, that I never got a cent
for either case."
I give you the following clipping from the Telegram, coming im-
mediately upon the arrest of Dr. Andrews, who was recently tried and
acquitted of the charges preferred against him. I shall make no com-
ment on this case, more than to draw your attention to the circumstance
of the incriminating letters that were found in Dr. Andrews' house after
the arrest. If they prove nothing, they at least demonstrate that the
fact previously mentioned in this article that the extent of the nation's
immorality cannot in any wise be measured by the number of the fre-
quenters of disorderly houses, must be only too true :
The detective department presented a heartrending spectacle such as is seldom witness-
ed when a respectable man saw Inspector Stark and related the story of another sensational
case, involving seduction and crime, and a mysterious disappearance of the unfortunate victim.
Nellie Lafontaine, belonging to Pefferlaw, Ont., came to Toronto in September of this
year and went to live with her brother-in-law, John O'Connell, 40 Gladstone avenue, who is a
shoemaker. About a week or ten days ago she was taken to Dr. Andrews' place, 237 Shaw
street by her sister and placed in his care, and $50 paid him by Mrs. O'Connell. She was
pregnant at the time, and the object was to restore her to her normal condition, the same as the
unfortunate Lucy Denning. As soon as O'Connell found out what hid been done, he went to
Dr. Andrews' house on Wednesday last, and demanded possession of the girl and *50, but could
get no satisfaction. He at last threatened Dr. Andrews with police proceedings, and this is
the case which is believed to have frightened the Dr. to take his departure, and not the Denn-
ing case at all. Miss Lafontaine h<iS not been heard of since the doctor took charge of her, and
both her sister and brother-in-law are greatly alarmed about her whereabouts. " We are ready
to hear anything now," said Mrs. O'Connell, with tears in her eyes. " My poor sister is gone,
but heaven alone knows where. Perhaps she, too, is is " then she broke down completely.
Inspector Stark took possession of all the correspondence in the house, which consisted
of between 200 or 350 letters, involving beyond doubt a number of criminal operations, per-
formed both on married and single females, all over the country Some of these letters are
couched in the plainest language by educated as well as ignorant women, writtei. confidentially,
but confessing to the greatest acts of shame and seduction, and offering to pay large sums of
money for advice and successful treatment. Some contain grateful acknowledgement of what
the doctor has done for them, and begging him to keep their secrets from the world. ( )thers
ask for immediate advice, and suggest secret interviews, when the would be patients would be
the least likely observed. Altogether they form a revelation which will form the d.irkest blot
on society at large and shock the community from end to end of the land The detectives are
hard at work following up certain clues that promise to develop highly sensational features
in the case.
If people run away with the idea that no abortion is committed in
Canada, it only serves to demonstrate how extremely small is their
range of experience and observation, as I happen to know.
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 125
What does an advertisement like this mean ?
TANSY AND PENNYROYAL PILLS.
Never fails. Any stage. Thousands of happy ladies. Safe, sure and absolutely harmless.
These pills are positively superior to all others. Many thousands of ladies in this country and
Europe have secretly endorsed these pills Beware of dangerous substitutes and imitations.
Price 2 by mail, or send stamp for particulars. Sold only by
In the same way as a solicitor prepares his case for presentation to
the courts by his counsel, so have I endeavoured to give you all the
particulars in support of my contentions. In mentioning the circum-
stances of young ladies I have given you simply what I know to be
true, and while it is extremely regrettable that it is so, I think it must
be admitted that a very serious state of affairs exists. If what I have
mentioned to you is truth, how much more could be said by others
younger than I, and who have had later experience. That laws will
ever succeed in preventing the commission of the 7th Commandment,
I do not believe. When young girls, in spite of the teachings of the
laws of God run into exposure, how can any human law prevent their
falling ? As centuries ago Canute sat at the side of the sea, and told
the waves to recede, so might the police force and those who make
these laws stand at the foot of Niagara with a broom and tell the water
to go back. I have placed before you the facts as the king proved to
his followers, that to stop the waves was the power of the Almighty
only, and he demonstrated to them by practical illustration how base
was the flattery they wished to bestow upon him. In presenting my
facts and figures, I have endeavoured to demonstrate the impossibility
of its suppression, and I think I may say consistently that I have been
successful. My information is not in any respect overdrawn. It is
what I could prove before any judge. I know the names of every one
whose case I have mentioned. That it would serve my good purpose
to state them I do not believe, hence I have not done so.
Coming to a discussion of this matter from a standpoint of social
ethics, it must be acknowledged that the latter day opportunities
presented to the female sex for earning a livelihood, are bound to cul-
minate into a degeneration of the race. I possess no statistics to show
the ratio of marriages compared with previous years, but I can state
from personal observation that there are fewer marriages amongst people
of the middle classes than formerly. While there may be various means
of accounting for this, it must occur to the average beholder that the
great majority of people in this class cannot afford the luxury of marry-
ing. Men who formerly held positions, or more properly, positions that
were formerly held by men are now filled by women, and nowadays it
is much more a problem for a man to decide what he is to do with his
boys than with his/girls. The latter fill positions in offices, stores, and
warehouses, and at salaries that men would scarcely look at much less
think of attempting to suport a family upon. The result is precisely
what so-called social teachers predicted as a result of licensing houses
of ill-fame. If licensing houses of ill fame decrease the possibilities of
marriage, so also does the emancipation of women. It is possible, of
126 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
course, that the woman of the future may consider herself entitled by-
virtue of her ability to earn a livelihood, to ask a man to marry her, but
it is in the highest degree unlikely.
Human passion is quite as strong in the man or woman of slender
means and curtailed salary as it is in those of more opulent circum-
stances, consequently if men and women are precluded from marrying
on account of purely financial conditions, it is quite probable and ex-
perience has proven that it is so, that the gratification of such will not
be debarred by such a simple matter as the absence of the marriage tie.
It is reasonable to suppose that when women, as they at present do,
outnumber men, a large number of them are certain to fall. That this
is so I am aware, but it cannot be proven by statistics nor even by the
police records, for such cases do not find their way into the police courts,
except in very rare instances, and then only occasionally when trouble
shows itself. Individually, however, the vast majority of readers will
know that it is so, and would have little trouble in tracing circumstances
such as I mention to people even of their own acquaintance. This
applies, doubtless, more to men than to women, but both will recognize
the truthfulness of my assertions. In a recent issue of the Mail and
Empire, a correspondent in addressing the editress of the Woman's
Kingdom stated that she was unmarried and likely to remain so, and
asked if the editress considered it admissible for her to indulge in illicit
love ? In reply she was told *• No," and the editress added that she
received large numbers of such letters.
I clipped the following from a city paper, and it explains itself:
Boston, Mass., Sept. 27. — A Landladies' Union, the purpose of which is to secure a
system of municipal license and medical inspection for houses of prostitution in Boston, was
organized yesterday afternoon. The meeting was attended by 23 women, who, before the police
closed them out, kept the most " respectable " resorts in the city Resolutions were adopted
that this illicit traffic has not been suppressed, but transferred to other localities, and that many
girls, formerly protected by the landladies, are now destitute, homeless and sick. A committee
to lay the petition of the union before the Board of Police was appointed.
So that I am not alone in suggesting or advocating what I do and
it is to be remembered that this class of women are in a position better
to understand the conditions they point out as existing than any
other class of people.
In concluding this chapter on the Social Evil, I desire to say that
to the best of my ability I have presented my case to the public for
them to judge whether in the light of the circumstances I have laid
before them, it would not be better to give the matter a trial. I ask
the careful consideration of every man, woman, boy or girl of my con-
tentions, and a fair criticism and a fair discussion of the system I ad-
vocate, more especially from the judiciary of the country, as they are
less likely to be jeopardized tl\an the clergy would undoubtedly be,
r — should they agree with me, but 1 simply ask a careful perusal and those
\ who do not agree with me can at least acknowledge that there is a wide
\ field for parents to guard their children, and householders to guard the
\ safety of those who enter their service. Even if I succeed in impressing
1 upon these people the desirability of looking more carefully after those
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 127
they employ whose temptations to sin are greatest, I shall feel that
my work is not in vain. My advocation of tolerating, licensing or
inspecting houses of ill-fame is because I believe them to be an econo-
mic necessity. Did not the Police Magistrate of Montreal or the
Recorder as he is called, acknowledge to the Commission of Investiga-
tion held there some years ago that there were large numbers of houses
of ill-fame known to the police of that city, and they were not molested
simply because they were regarded as an absolute necessity. I assert
moreover, that the present day theorists are entirely behind the times.
Boys and girls of tender years are as well aware of the artificial means
by which conception can be prevented as old men of a generation ago.
I saw a druggist's advertisement a short time ago in a Toronto paper,
with this significant black line : Rubber Goods of ALL KINDS For Sale.
There is not a boy in Toronto, I dare say, who does not know what
that means. I would not be surprised that many of the men and women
in the city have no idea that it is ambiguous, and may mean one thing
or another according to the person reading it. A lad of sixteen, a
druggist's apprentice informed me that it was incredible the quantity
of "rubber goods " they sold. " We sold more of them than anything
else," he laughed.
It may be remarked by those ladies who talk of passing laws
restricting this thing and that thing that it is against the law to sell
rubber articles such as are advertised. In reply to any such observa-
tions, I might say that there is not a boy in the city of Toronto who
could not get any such article if he wanted it. The druggist might and
very possibly would refuse to sell to him, if he did not know him, but
the boy could easily get what he wanted from the druggist's apprentice
as I happen to know is done. A young fellow of sixteen once handed
me a pasteboard coin, silvered over. When I mentioned to him that I
saw nothing in the possession of such a coin, he laughed and told me
to tear off the outside layer. I did 30, and discovered one of the art-
icles I have endeavored to describe. I have it in my possession yet,
and regard it as a valuable piece of evidence. The boy had obtained
it from a lad he knew in a drug store. The use of such articles opens
the way for the commission of sin by girls of highest respectability, who
fear the results that may ensue from breaking the seventh command-
ment.* When the possibility of conception is placed beyond all chance
— when all danger is removed or obviated — the temptation to sin is
augmented to such a degree that hundreds run the chance of falling
or indeed, they may be said to be innumerable — who from pride and
fear would not entertain the idea of sinning at all. Consequently boys
and young men, knowing these scruples on the part of young ladies of
superior social position, by having these articles in their possession,
have their powers of persuasion supplemented a thousand fold.
I have given you the opinion expressed by the Reverend Father
Decarie of St. Henri, and I have demonstrated clearly the truthfulness
of the assertions he made, unwelcome as they may appear. But this
is to be born in mind : A priest is far better informed on such matters
128 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
than any other class of people, my article abundantly proving that it
is so. When I undertook to write this work, I entered every avenue
that promised to reward my research. I considered no means too in-
significant to follow and I place my experiences before you, asking you
to judge as to whether my advocation of licensing or tolerating houses
of ill-fame would not reduce the immorality that I am prepared to prove
exists. I always go to the sources of information when I want it. and
I now submit the result, apologising for the length of the chapter, but
with the conscientious reason that it could not be discussed in a less
space. When the historic Collier said that the vice that is draped in
the garb of virtue or has the varnish of an outward refinement laid over
its leprosy is tenfold more infectious and destructive than the shameless
wickedness which hides its loathsome front, he knew whereof he spoke.
Do not my illustrations demonstrate the truthfulness of my assertions?
Have I not also proven the truthfulness of Father Decarie's assertion
that the extent of the nation's immorality cannot in any wise be mea-
sured by the numbers of the frequenters of disorderly houses ? One of
the most successful novelists of the present day in one of his works proves
the accuracy of Mr. Collier's reasoning, when he says : Had he (his
hero) remained in England his morals might easily have survived the
onslaughts made upon them As he strolled through the unfamiliar
streets of Liverpool he was horrified by the women who accosted him,
leering with reddened eyes into his face, and breathing brown stout
and gin into his nostrils. The highways seemed to be full of them.
He wondered if any man could be found so low as to accept the fearful
invitations with which his ears had been dinned. Crossing the channel
he reached Paris. Strolling with a new sense of delight along the grand
boulevards, upon the quays and through the numerous parks, he found
women there too — and what an astounding difference! Soft voiced
demoiselles, tastily clad, shot glances at him. with their bonjours, from
which it was not easy to turn away. When he invited one of them, she
replied to his interrogations in modest monosyllables that won his
Anglo Saxon heart and turned his Anglo Saxon brain. He lived with
her for six months.
If I have overstepped the bonds of good taste in placing my facts
before you, or have been too plain spoken in my illustrations, I plead
justification by the fact that all I have told you is perfect truth, and I
also regret the necessity of having had to speak so plainly. Moreover
I feel so strongly on the subject I am advocating that it will be pro-
ductive of good. Besides my language is not any stronger than
appears in the generality of novels.
The great inconsistency on the part of so many people lies in the
fa.ctth3itihcy dread appearances. People may feel almost revolted at the
idea of houses of ill-fame, yet I have shown that the sin goes on without
cessation. Drunkenness, which is not a sin, is looked upon with abhor-
rence by Pharisees generally who demand the prohibition of the liquor
traffic, but they appear to be quite indifferent to the fates of scores of
girls who are going to the bad.
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 129
For some time past my attention was called to the newspaper
reports of sermons by different clergymen, and resolutions by different
societies of men and women, from which it would appear that they have
been much exercised by the fact that drunken orgies are alleged to
have taken place to the bar of the House of Commons, Ottawa, during
the first session of Parliament in 1896. At the second session of Par-
liament in 1896, it was decided to close the bar. The Prime Minister
also promising during this session that he would take a plebiscite as to
public feeling in regard to Prohibition, and if the people decided in
favor of Prohibition, they should have it. The Women's Christian
Temperance Union of Ottawa have also prevailed upon the city council
to have the curfew bell rung at nine o'clock at night so that all children
under a certain age must be off the streets at that hour or be arrested.
All of which are regarded by advocates of these particular fads as bril-
liant diplomatic triumphs. Let us assume for the sake of argument
that every member of the House of Commons came into his seat intox-
icated is there any divine law that was broken by their so doing ? There
was not a breach of any of God's Commandments had every man in
the house been drunk, but simply and purely because the public could
see it if they were drunk, were these people exercised. It looked bad.
Let us leave the House of Commons for a few moments and step down
to Wellington street upon which the Parliament buildings face, and
which has received the suggestive title of Whitechapel. We will com-
mence at the west end of the grounds. On the corner in the shade of
the trees are four or five boys talking to, or rather blackguarding two
girls in short dresses, who seem to enjoy it just as much as the boys,
for they laugh just as gleefully as the boys do. At about every hundred
yards one or two boys are standing like sentinels in the shadows of the
fence pillars. Are they there for any good purpose, or are they not ?
A girl of some twenty years passes and one boy makes some remark
to her commencing :
"Hello L , " the rest of which I could not discern. To
which the young lady answers sufficiently audible for anyone to hear :
*' Go to , you " at which the boys laugh.
" Who is the girl ? " I ask, and one lad gives me her name, supple-
menting his information by advising me to have nothing to do with that
girl, stating that a friend of his had caught an infectious disease from
her, very thoughtfully giving the friend's name, with whom, however,
I do not happen to be acquainted. At the entrance gate to the west
block three little girls come running along peering cautiously over the
fence and looking up and down the street. " There they are," one of
them exclaimed excitedly, at the same time letting out an ear-splitting
trill, and pointing to the other side of the street, where three boys are
just crossing to meet them. I am not the only witness of this by-play,
for four or five young fellows are seated on the stone fence commanding
a view of O'Connor street, and pass some pleasantries to the girls, which,
if directed to decent girls, would have been insults. Further on are
two women and two men talking to a hackman, stationed in front of
130 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
the main entrance. The four of them have apparently come to a settle-
ment for they all get into the hack and are driven away. Seated upon
the stone wall at the east end of the grounds are some four or five young
fellows, not one of whom is more than twenty. Two girls pass them
and as they enter the gate leading to the lovers' walk, they make some
remark, upon which two boys slide down from their perches and follow
them, and in a few minutes two more follow them. Enter the grounds
and it is simply a repetition. Standing in the shadow of the trees,
just adjacent to the east block I encounter a couple of lads one of whom
I know, and raising his finger warningly he commands my silence.
•* Sh We'rewatching and They're with
and , over on that bench," pointing to a bench a short distance
away.
Both of these lads who are being watched are sons of Civil Ser-
vants whom I know. One girl is a merchant's daughter, the other my
friend did not know more than her name. Those two lads watched the
boys and girls for over an hour, with the patience of Indians, and even-
tually saw what they expected to see — a breach of the seventh com-
mandment. They told me so afterwards.
I have introduced this Ottawa matter for one or two reasons.
Ottawa has been prominently brought before the public on account of
the alleged scenes in the House of Commons, and because of having
secured that priceless boon — the curfew bell. I desire to demonstrate
to you that the immorality that exists in Toronto exists in the same
ratio in every other city in Canada and the United States, and that my
assertion that the vice that is draped in the garb of virtue or has the
varnish of an outward refinement laid over its leprosy is far more des-
tructive and infectious than the shameless wickedness which hides its
loathsome front is perfectly true, besides proving that women who pre-
tend to be public moralists are more exercised over what ** looks" bad
than they are over what is really sinful. I do not hesitate to say that
every incident I have given you in the foregoing culminated in a breach
of the seventh commandment, as boys and girls and men and women
who meet each other there do so for no good purpose. The environ-
ments of Parliament hill — the lovers' walk, the canal bank, and the
river bank— afford too numerous places of concealment for there to be
any question as to what those people were doing around there. And
not only Parliament Hill, but Rockliffe Park, the west end park, the
suburbs of the city, in fact any place within a twenty minutes' walk
from the heart of the city is a safe place of assignation, as every boy or
man in Ottawa knows. What, therefore, have these people accomplished
in the direction of good morals ? I have no doubt that if the mother of
any one of these boys heard that her son had been drunk it would send
her into hysterics, if she saw him drunk it would probably produce con-
vulsions, but if anyone were to suggest that she should impress upon
the mind of her son that it was better and nobler for him to restrain his
passions than indulge them, that God will demand an explanation for
every breach of His laws, she would probably compassionate the igno-
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 131
ranee of such person, and with a pitying smile inform him or her that
her son did not even know what adultery meant ! What I have stated
to you as having taken place on Parliament Hill all occurred within two
hours. I made the trip just to give you an idea of what is going on,
and the foregoing is the result of my researches. Compare this with
the work so-called public moralists are doing, and as also demonstrating
that there is no place on the continent of America where there are not
prostitutes, and where apparently respectable girls are taking their
places. I would like some of these moralists to accompany me some
night to Rockliffe Park and some other of the places I have mentioned
and see for themselves what is going on. Perhaps, then they might
conclude that there are greater evils than intemperance, and that the
curfew bell is not going to make any very great difference in public
morals.
It may, perhaps, be remarked that I have never done anything to
promote public morals, and in reply thereto I simply say I advocate
what I do from the independent standpoint of the logician, and ask
the public to judge as to whether it would not be better to tolerate
houses than have even a portion of what goes on at present amongst
so-called respectable girls.
STREET WALKERS.
Under this heading come the enormous number of young women
and girls of all conditions of life, some of whom are respectable to all
intents and purposes, and others who make no such pretensions. It will
be remembered that the staff-inspector made use of the following lan-
guage in his evidence before the Prison Reform Commission :
The number of prostitutes is greatly reduced We find that there is not half the number
arrested for prostitution that there was before- Their houses have been broken up and solici-
ting is not carried on at all except in the worst part of the city. I don't think there are half as
many as there were in 1865, when the population was not more than a quarter of what it is now.
As a general thing citizens say that they find it a very rare thing to be solicited in the streets by
women. In fact unless you go to certain portions of St. John's Ward, women will not solicit
men on the streets at all, and a few years ago it was quite a common thing to be solicited on
the most fashionable streets in the city.
Just as the idea strikes you you can accept or reject the above
piece of information. To young men it will be somewhat of a revela-
tion, inasmuch as its information will be so original to the youth or
young man who has had the slightest amount of experience on the
subj ect.
First of all women and girls are more cautious, and although it is
stated that citizens say that they find it a very rare thing to be solicited
on the streets by women, it is likewise to be remembered that the class
of people who would volunteer any such information to the Inspector,
are not the class of people who are honoured by the attentions of prost-
itutes. In the face of this evidence, I make the assertion that on every
street in the city that I have ever been on, I have been solicited, and
these streets include Carlton, Jarvis, Shcrbourne, St, George, College
and Bloor, while on King, Queen and Church it is so notorious that I
132 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
need not mention them ; nor Yonge and York. I mention this cir-
cumstance to show that while women have solicited me on these streets,
how much more could be told by younger men and boys — particularly
boys— considerable of which latter I have seen myself. Is it to be
presumed for one moment that these people are likely to give their
experience to the police ? I also understand that one of the reasons
given for this alleged decrease in prostitutes or more properly speaking
streets walkers, is owing to the fact that policemen in plain clothes are
or have been detailed to patrol the streets, and every woman caught
soliciting is promptly arrested. This proposition is so perfectly pre-
posterous that I confess my surprise that anyone of intelligence would
advance such argument in support of such a theory, unless, as I think
myself, the theory is so far without foundation that it inquires bolster-
ing up with some such nonsense. First of all if any street walkers are
arrested by policemen in plain clothes, it demonstrates that they must
be pretty thick, when they are obliged to solicit, or either so far forget
themselves as to solicit, policemen, who could be recognized by anyone
of the least intelligence, no matter what their disguise might be, plain
clothed or any other way. It is also stated that after a few arrests by
policemen in plain clothes there is a cessation, and the inference is that
they are frightened out of the city, but the cold fact remains that the
girls, seeing that arrests have been made, refrain from soliciting the
plain clothed policemen, who are easily recognized, for they, like Cain,
have an unmistakable brand. Now, as these girls are without a doubt
amongst the most intelligent and shrewdest people in the world, it is
easy to understand why there is a cessation of arrests, when one or two
have been effected.
I submit for your consideration a few cases just to show that in
spite of the twaddle these people talk there are cases that come before
the Magistrate :
Mary Dean, arrested on the instance of her mother, who alleges that she cannot keep the
girl off the streets, was charged with vagrancy, and remanded until to-morrow.
Mabel Stuart, the girl who was arrested charged with robbing Geo. Verrall, a stranger,
of $20, was remanded. It is said Verrall met this damsel on Richmond street, and was escorted
to No. 9. He wanted to leave, and the girl pointed a pistol at him, demanding a dollar. Varrell
went into the house again, and he says, that while the difficulty was being adjusted, he was
** touched *' for all his money.
There are three charges for illegal liquor selling against William F. Stewart, who keeps
a hotel on Front street. A month ago Magistrate Kingsford suspended this man's license for 60
days on conviction of keeping a disorderly house. An appeal was taken to Osgoode Hall and
in the meantime it is said Siewart's lawyers advised him to go on selling. The appeal has not
yet been decided, and License Inspector Dexter claims Stewart had no right to open his bar
until the 60 days were up. The case will come up again on the 29th.
This is the case where a hotel keeper allowed people to take rooms
at his hotel for a short time when they wished of an evening.
Soliciting on the present day is like every other branch of industry
in that it is reduced to a science. The fact that citizens state that they
are not solicited to the extent they were some years ago may be per-
fectly correct, and it may be, too, that this is the result of having police-
men in plain clothes patrol the streets. But I assert positively that
OP TORONTO THE GOOD. 133
there is absolutely no diminution in the practice of soliciting — the
assertions of anyone to the contrary notwithstanding. There is a differ-
ence in the system, that is all. You meet a girl on the street and a
flash from her eyes will tell you what she is. You look back after
passing her, and she does the same. If you desire to follow her, do so
and the probabilities are ninety-nine to one that you have a street
walker. No actual soliciting has been done, it is true, but what is the
difference ? Of course in the case of respectable girls such a course is
called flirting, in prostitutes it is called soliciting. I speak from personal
observation, and consequently with a greater degree of authority than
those illustrious citizens who assert that there is no soliciting done. If
policemen in plain clothes are ever solicited, it does not, in my judgment,
prove how little soliciting is done, but how much, for the streets must
be glutted with prostitutes when they are obliged to solicit instead of
pursuing the tactics I have stated obtain at present.
Supposing for argument that there is any cessation of actual street
walking and soliciting, there is still another fact that is to be taken
into consideration. It is to be remembered that for the past few years
during the summer months band concerts have been held in different
parks, and that there is an enormous number of prostitutes frequenting
these places is beyond question. How much easier, therefore, it is for
them to attend a place of this kind, where there is practically no risk,
and secure custom, than to walk the streets. Or take the religious street
showsy the salvation army parade, and in fact any event that draws a
crowd, will furnish a place where prostitutes can be met, and regret-
table as it may be young girls and boys find these places their most con-
venient rendez-vous. These are only circum<^tances taken from a dozen
which might be enumerated. Again by the evolution and perfection
of the practice it is really unnecessary for a woman to speak to a man
on the streets ; if a man is at all experienced, he will pass a woman or
girl, and one glance shot out from the eyes will tell him her character,
and if he wishes to make her acquaintance he turns and follows her.
Schools girls or others of tender years have with a wonderful precocity
taken up the example set by the prostitute and any boy who wished to
make the acquaintance of a girl knows perfectly well that it is unne-
cessary for him to receive an introduction. He merely speaks to her,
and that is sufficient, in ninety cases out of a hundred. It is not a
particularly pleasing incident to narrate, or a very healthy state of
affairs but that is a matter with which I have nothing to do, I give you
the information, and you can trace the cause where ever you wish. I
am simply giving you my experience and observation and it may be
depended upon for reliability.
In the city of Denver in the wild and woolly west, houses of ill-
fame are permitted to exist as a social necessity, and as an absolute
safeguard to girls and young women. Some years previously it was
almost impossible for a respectable woman to appear on the streets after
dark without being insulted, until it became necessary to string a few
men up, and as a compromise measure to permit houses of ill-fame to
134 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
exist. If a man desire to visit a place of this character now he is at
liberty to do so, and runs no danger of being arrested and disgraced by
the publicity, and at the same time the female portion of the city can
walk out at night on any of the streets without danger. Let any girl
of eighteen or as young as twelve appear on Yonge street after dark
and her reputation is assumed to be light, and she will, in the course
of her promenade, be spoken to and at, and followed probably by scores
of young men and boys who do not believe that young ladies of res-
pectability appear on the streets after dark in the beautiful and saintly
city of Toronto, noted for its morality and absence of houses of ill-fame.
One evening immediately after one of the band concerts in Clar-
ence Square a friend of mine and I walked along Front street west. We
did not meet a single pair of the opposite sexes, but fully half a dozen.
Boys of i6 or 17 years of age, wearing short pants, and girls certainly
not older and in short dresses. What were they doing there ? Well,
when you see boys with their arms around girls' waists as the majo-
rity of these were, and in other positions equally suggestive, I do not
think it can consistently be contended that their friendship was purely
Platonic.
I happen to know who some of these boys were. One of them was
the descendant of a well-known United Empire Loyalist, whose family
is known all over Canada, another was the son of a lawyer, who though
not a prominent man is still well known in Toronto, and the youth
himself has been mentioned in the newspapers as a prize winner in one
of the city schools, while a third is the son of a prominent King street
merchant. The girls I have not the honour of knowing, but presumed
them to be misses in the middle walks of life. I do not say that they
had committed any act of wrong, but it is a reasonable presumption that
boys of assured social position do not usually go with girls so much
their inferior socially for any good purpose, and it might also be men-
tioned that Front street west is not a thoroughfare frequented by res-
pectable people at nights, to any very great extent. Besides there is
the inference that the Grand Trunk Yards and the grounds adjacent
to the fort afford a retreat availed of by people of loose morality. I
never asked these lads what they were doing there, but I repeat that
circumstances were strongly against any presumption of innocent pro-
menading, when the hour of the night, the isolation of the place and
the somewhat immodest positions they were in, are taken into consi-
deration.
At nights any time after eight o'clock in the summer, and from
seven in the winter these girls pass up and down Yonge street and
along Queen west until nearly ten o'clock, when the streets begin to
get deserted, and to remain upon them would be to make themselves
conspicuous. These are the best dressed who promenade these streets
just mentioned, while those of inferior appearance may be met with on
Richmond street west, King west, Simcoe and Front west, where the
police protection is not so likely to interfere with their vocation. The
largest number are young women from the ages of eighteen to twenty-
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 136
four, but it is becoming alarmingly frequent to meet young girls of
fourteen and fifteen, though there is this difference between them, one
is seeking custom for money, the others are generally seeking the gra-
tification of pure licentiousness, and very rarely receive money as the
price of their sin. Some of the girls are pretty and attractive, but the
majority, and especially those of the class who frequent Richmond,
King and Simcoe streets, are the very reverse.
A great number of the girls have some regular employment at
which they work during the day. Their regular earnings are not large,
and this means is pursued to increase them. Some, but they are few,
sleep all day, and ply their trade at night, and there are very few young
men or boys who do not have a place to take a girl to, such as boat
houses and the rooms occupied by young men for this purpose. Again
the ferries are a source of supply to men in search of female compa-
nions. He will find them both going to the island and coming from it,
and on the island as well, a considerable number of characters being
over there day and night, especially is this the case on Sundays.
I could, were I disposed to do so, give some information that would
open the eyes of the staff- inspector as to where some of the girls who
are supposed to have left the city, have domiciled themselves.
A friend of mine met a rather pretty girl on a certain street in the
city where the usual sign of recognition passed between them, and he
turned back and followed her. On being asked where she would
take him the girl suggested that they take a coupe, which they did.
Two or three days later, he was invited by a frierkd to dine. A pretty
waitress came along and asked him for his order. He looked up in
surprise, but his self-possession was equal to the occasion — it was his
companion of a few evenings before.
This branch of the evil suggests at once that it comprises the best
and wor^t of the girls and women who engage in it. Girls who are too
respectable to be in a house of ill-fame, and some of whom are living
with their parents, do not hesitate to do this while the women who do
it are usually those on the last road to perdition, or who are fallen so
low that no one will have anything to do with them were they in a
house of ill fame.
Perhaps it will not be out of place for me to give an illustration of
an occurrence that was investigated in the County court and which will
demonstrate beyond question the assertions I have made in regard to
soliciting, or if it is not actual soliciting, it may easily be classed as
such. It will at least show clearly how easily street acquaintances are
made, and I do not think any one will deny that girls are in most inst-
ances to blame.
About a year and a half ago William A. Morrison, a young lith-
ographer, who will shortly attain his majority, passed a young lady on
Church street, named Alice Fenwick. She was a stranger to him, but
he addressed her in a friendly manner. She returned his salutation,
and they went for a walk that night. And they met again, and passed
some hours in each other's company. In the Civil Assizes before Chief
136 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
Justice Armour and a jury there was commenced the trial of an action
for seduction and assault in which the mother of Miss Fenwick figures
as the couplainant, and young Morrison occupied the position of defen-
dant. At the time of the first meeting on Church street Alice Fenwick
was employed in the Granite Club in the capacity of housemaid, recei-
ving nine dollars per month for her services. In consequence of Mor-
rison's treatment her health has suffered, and Mrs. Fenwick seeks
redress, claiming $2,000 for the seduction and a like amount for the
assault to compensate her for the loss she sustained by reason of her
daughter's inability to continue her regular employment. The first
witness examined for the plaintiff was Mrs. Fenwick, who testified
regarding the points of issue as far as she herself was concerned. Then
Miss Fenwick was called. She is a slim young woman, 19 years of age,
and gave her evidence clearly and intelligently. She described her
first meeting with the defendant on Church street, and they walked
together as far as Roxborough avenue. As they went along Yonge
street, Morrison made indecent proposals to her, which she rejected.
They turned along Roxborough avenue, and he attempted to force her
into a cottage that seemed to her to be empty. She left him and started
to run away, but he followed her. In the struggle she tripped on the
root of a tree and fell to the ground. The defendant assaulted her.
About a month later she met him again on Wellesley street, when he
again made improper advances to her. She resisted and he tore some
of her underclothing off by his violent conduct. In cross-examination
Miss Fenwick stated that the defendant's assault upon her had not ren-
dered her enciente. Mr. Lount then asked for a non-suit on the grounds
that the girl's mother had not suffered any pecuniary loss on account
of the assault This view of the case was concurred in and sustained
by his Lordship, who dismissed the action without costs.
This decision will, doubtless, be viewed as perfectly reasonable and
just. If girls make hap-hazard acquaintances on the street they may be
assured that their friendship is not sought after on account of their
sublime attractiveness. It also proves that professional street walkers
are not really a necessity, but that my theory that ostensibly respect-
able girls are taking their places, is based upon a solid foundation.
Nor is the practice of soliciting confined exclusively to women
about town. I have known children, actually children, solicit men and
boys on the streets. One little miss, who was certainly not more than
twelve years of age met me on Jarvis street near Carleton one night,
and stopped me.
" But," I objected, " where can we go.^"
" There is a lane that* runs through to Mutual street, where we can
go, and no one will see us."
" And how much do you want .-* " I asked.
" Anything you like. Twenty-five cents."
Twenty-five cents. Great God : and the staff-inspector states that
there is no soliciting done except on the lower streets.
I know that little girls do solicit on the streets, not only from actual
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 137
experience, but from young men and boys who have stated to me that
such is the case, and given particulars of such a minute description that
to doubt them would be absurd. They will go into lanes in almost any
part of the city, in just the same manner as the girl I have mentioned
offered to do. Whether the motive be money or sensuality is foreign
to the question. I have given you the facts, the motive you can supply.
LODGING HOUSES.
Toronto is, happily, free almost from the cheap lodging houses but
they do exist to a limited extent, and seemingly they pay well. One
of these disreputable holes was broken up and none too soon, when the
famous Speelman was incarcerated in the Penitentiary. They are plan-
ned to afford the greatest accommodation in point of numbers with the
least in point of comfort. The places are infested with vermin, and
the rooms are small, dark and dirty. In some of these houses no sheet
or coverlet is afforded, but even with the best of these accommodations
the lodger suffers from cold in the winter and bed bugs in the summer.
The business of the lodging house commences before ten o'clock and its
greatest rush is just after the closing af the theatres ; and among those
who are obliged to take refuge in these holes are doubtless those who
have seen better days, besides runaway boys, drunken mechanics and
broken down mankind generally. Each one sleeps with his clothes on
and his hat under his head to keep it from being stolen. In addition
to these lodging houses and not to be confounded with them are the
numberless places where are apartments to let. There are hundreds of
young men in the city who will rent a room from a private family and
take their meals at boarding houses, hotels or restaurants. If you are
seeking a room insert an advertisement in the Telegram and in two
d ays you will have fully two hundred answers from all parts of the
city. It matters not that you specify some particular locality, you will
receive answers from a part of the city directly opposite to that to
which you are desirous of going. You get some of the daintily-penned
and delicately enveloped billets of Jarvis, Carleton, Sherbourne and
other fashionable streets to the ill-spelled, pencil scrawled uncovered
note of Adelaide, Richmond, Nelson, Bond and other streets of similar
character. After laying aside as ineligible about one hundred and fifty
letters, you retain about twenty-five or thirt>, and devote a morning to
inspection and selection. You become acquainted with strange localities
and bell-handles, and intormatory scraps of paper wafered beside
doorways and in windows. You will endure tedious waiting at thres-
holds, and find that a single application for admission very rarely pro-
cures it, and according as your quest be high or low, so well your ex-
perience vary. If the former, you may expect to be ushered into spa-
cious and luxuriously furnished parlors, where seated in comfortably
padded chairs you may contemplate marble tables on which gorgeously
bound volumes are artistically arranged, and mirrors capable of abash-
ing a modest man to utter speechlessness, awaiting the advent of stately
dames whose dresses rustle as with conscious opulence. You will enter
138 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
grand staircases and gorgeous apartments and listen with bland satis-
faction to the enumeration of the modern improvements which are
contained in these houses, and if money be not an object you will not
fare badly nor seek far, nor even be startled at the figure at which they
may be enjoyed. But if your aspirations are circumscribed by a shallow
purse your researches will produce very different results. You will see
servant girls with unkempt hair and uncleanly physionomy, and you
will be ushered into sitting rooms where the blinds are drawn and where
you can not have a too searching view of the upholstery. You will
have interviews with landladies of various appearances, ages and cha-
racteristics, landladies dubious and dirty, landladies severe and sus-
picious, landladies calm and confiding, chatty and conciliatory. You will
survey innumerable rooms generally under that peculiarly cheerful
aspect attendant upon unmade beds and unemptied wash basins ; and
if of sanitary principles examine the windows in order to ascertain
whether they be asphyxiative or movable, you will find how apartments
may be indifferently ventilated by half windows, and attics constructed
so that standing erect within them is only practicable in one spot. How
a threadbare carpet, a twelve by six mirror and a disjointed chair may,
in the lively imagination of a landlady, be considered furniture. How
double, triple and even quadruple beds in single rooms and closets into
which you only succeed in effecting an entrance by dint of violent
compression between the bed and the wall are esteemed highly eligible
accommodations for single gentlemen. How partitions of purely nominal
character may in no wise prevent the occupants of adjoining beds from
holding converse with one another, or becoming cognizant of neighbour-
ing snores or turnings in beds. You will observe that lavatory arrange-
ments are mostly of an imperfect description, generally comprising a frail
and rickety wash stand which has apparently existed for ages in a
Niagara of soapsuds, a ewer and basin of limited capacity, and a cottony,
web-like towel about as well calculated for its purpose as a similar sized
piece of blotting paper would be. In rooms which have not recently
been subject to the purifying brush of the white washer you will notice
the mortal remains of misquitos and other such like characters, orna-
menting the ceilings and walls where they have encountered destiny in
the shape of slippers or boot soles of former occupants.
It has frequently been a source of surprise to me that some capit-
alist did not or does not, build a place containing twenty or twenty-
five rooms and furnish them in plain substantial style and there can
be no doubt that it would pay a handsome interest on the investment,
and it would make a home for scores of young men who are never satis-
fied with their present occupancy. If built in a central locality its success
is beyond question. But at the present time, there are hundreds of
places where rooms are to let, and there is always some drawback to
their success. Sometimes there is no bath, and again there may be a
bath and no hot water. People who rent rooms are too frequently afraid
they are going to be swindled, and make themselves objectionable. I
know an old couple who had rooms, comparatively nice ones, too, but
OF TOBONTO THE GOOD. 13d
the man made himself objectionable by presenting himself regularly
on Saturday night as soon as he heard the lodgers' foot on the stair-
way, with the result that no man with any spirit would stay there.
A case was told me sometime ago of how one woman got even with
a backward lodger. It appears that in the hey-dey of his prosperity
he had been in the habit of going with a young lady and making her
frequent presents, fans, an opera glass and some other such trifles unti 1
be got out of employment, and could not pay his rent, and seemed in
no position financially to do so either. At last the old woman hit upon
a scheme. She repaired to the young lady's residence, and told her
the story of her lover's infamy. She was listened to with profound
respect, and the young lady immediately after her departure, proceeded
to a pawnbroker's where she disposed of all these trinkets, and paid
over the proceeds to the irate old landlady, satisfying her account in
full, but she gave the young man his conge, and he shortly afterwards
left the city, where he is now doing well.
Some of the incidents connected with lodging houses have their
comical side as well as their more serious aspect, and peculiar stories
might be told if the walls could only speak.
One woman with whom I was acquainted and whose experience
has been somewhat varied tells of a case that happened in her house
that demonstrates how the subtle working of the passions leads many
a girl astray.
A young lady a dressmaker came to her and asked for a room
and though she did not make a practice of letting rooms to females
she finally consented.
After being in the house some weeks, the young lady became
somewhat irregular in her hours and finally after having been remon-
strated with, decided to give up her room. She had arranged to do so
in the course often days, and was making her arrangements accordingly
when a lady friend came to spend two or three nights with her. On
the second night the friend was taken ill, and the next day a physician
had to be called, but the first occupant of the room left it as she had
first intended, leaving her sick friend in the tenancy. The latter then
told the landlady that she was married, and that her husband came
home every Saturday night, and she expected he would pay all the
expenses of the room on his arrival. This turned out as she had pre-
dicted ; the young man paid the account, and remained in the house
until Monday morning, he and his wife occupying the room together,
when he departed. This state of affairs continued for about two months
and the pair were getting into debt, until they owed something like
sixteen dollars, when the landlady began to suspect something was
amiss. She came to the conclusion that the pair were not married at
all, and that when the gientleman presented himself next, she would
deny him admittance. On the following Saturday night he was going
up stairs, when the landlady met him.
" You can't go up there," she said decidedly.
"Why not?"
140 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
" Because that woman is not your wife, and I'm going to put her
out next week."
The young man laughed uneasily, and then said :
*• Well, I suppose if you say you won't, you won't. But I want to
pay you a portion of the money I promised to you."
" You promised me," she answered " that you would pay it all
to-night."
" Yes, so I did, but it is impossible."
This was on Saturday night and on the following Monday, in spite
of many lamentations on the part of the young woman she was com-
pelled to leave although she was still unwell. It was now a question
as to how the arears of rent were to be paid, as the landlady, Mrs. B...
was unacquainted with the firm where the young man was supposed to
work. She consulted a directory and found that he was in the employ
of a wholesale firm, on whom she immediately called.
"No," the manager informed her, "he was not with them now, but
was in the employ of Smith & Jones, who were in the same business."
She called on Smith & Jones and saw her quondam lodger, who
promised to pay her so much a week until the account was paid. He
carried out the contract for five or six weeks and finally disappeared
and a call on the firm revealed the fact that he was out on a six weeks'
trip. Mrs. B... then decided to call on his mother, and see what could
be done there. After stating her business, the young man's mother
replied that the young woman was not her son's wife. " Though," she
added, " I would not be surprised if he married her." After a moment
of reflection she added :
'* It is now nearly two years since my daughter brought her child
here, atid with that girl as a nurse. When my son came home from
college, she followed him about the house like a dog, until I finally
caught her coming from his room one night, and then I gave her notice
to leave here. She went away and he followed her, apparently com-
pletel> infatuated, and from being a most excellent young man or
rather boy, he became neglectful of his home and everything else. His
father has made it a rule to have the house closed at ten o'clock at
night, and when that hour arrived he was compelled to sleep out. From
bail to worse he appeared to go until finally he was forbidden the house,
and at my personal request the firm by which he is employed consented
to give him a trial. He has, I believe, given them satisfaction, and so
far is doing well but his salary is not enough to keep him and this
girl. I will pay you the balance of your account, and you can give me
a receipt in full,"
The story ends rather abruptly, but the mother who paid her son's
indebtedness died some time ago, I saw by one of the city papers, but
whether the son ever married the young woman or not I cannot say.
Very frequently apartments are advertised to let, apply to box ...
Telegram, yet if the persons inserting them would reflect for a moment
they would see how fallacious it is to expect that people who want
rooms would go to the trouble of replying to such an advertisement,
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 141
when there are scores of rooms advertised from desirable localities,
where the addresses are given.
Persons seeking rooms frequently complain of being annoyed for a
reference. This is not very pleasant, but it is absolutely necessary, as
it is not known whether the applicant is a gentleman or a thief, or the
woman a saint or a fallen woman, and a landlady naturally desires to
keep her house free from improper characters, and to secure as guests
those who will pay her promptly and regularly. In spite of all efforts
it may be affirmed that there are few boarding houses that have not
some time or other contained improper characters. Travellers frequently
bring women to houses where they keep them during a short sojourn in
the city, and no one ever knows anything more about it
A lady on Mutual street who taken borders occasionally -had an
experience of this nature, and considerable difficulty in getting rid of
her fair guest. A gentleman claiming to be her husband engaged a
room and board for some days, and they lived quite pleasantly though
the landlady noticed that the gentleman rarely, if ever, looked her
squarely in the face, and she became somewhat suspicious, but when the
week was up, he paid their expenses and announced that his wife would
remain. The first day after his departure the wife fell into the rather
bad habit of sleeping late, and having her meals served in her rooms,
but to this such strenuous objection was taken that a conflict ensued,
and the woman was told to leave. She deferred doing so, however,
until another day, and her husband returned. He paid their bill, and
promised to move the next day but that morning was the last they saw
of him, though his wife serenely remained as though she were the most
welcome guest imaginable. At last the inmate landlady became ex-
asperated, and waiting on the stairs one morning, she told the lady
she must go.
" Indeed," the latter replied, " when I get ready."
" No," she rejoined furiously, " to-day."
After breaking into a silvery little laugh, the guest continued :
*' Do you know I had just been saying to my husband before he
left that I was sure you were drunk the last night he was here, but he
laughed at me. I'm sure if he saw you now he would come to the same
conclusion as I have."
The landlady was quivering with passion but she said angrily " 1*11
see you get out to-day."
But the lady didn't.
The next morning the man himself took a hand in and rapping
at the lady's door, he called out :
"If you don't get out of here by the time I come home.at noon
I'll throw your trunks out and you after them."
That had the desired effect. That morning she went out and in a
short time a cabman called for the trunks, where no doubt a similar
game would be played upon some one else.
142 OF TOKONTO THE GOOD.
POOR OF THE CITY. PAWNBROKERS. GAMBLING
HOUSES. DRUNKENNESS. IMPOSTERS. PICK-
POCKETS. CROOKS. THIEVES.
ASSIGNATION HOUSES.
THE POOR OF THE CITY.
As has been before stated land for building purposes is high and
scarce in Toronto, and in consequence, dwellings rent for more than
in other Canadian cities. The poorer classes are to be met with in all
parts of the city, but Bathurst street, Lombard, and in the heart of the
city, in St. John's Ward, are places where they are the most numerous.
The majority of them are, beyond a doubt, honest and willing to work,
and in times of great commercial activity nearly all can find some
means of employment, but in dull seasons, when merchants and manu-
facturers are forced to discharge their employees, hundreds are then
thrown out of employment and the greatest suffering and distress pre-
vail. Besides there are numerous vagrants, drunkards and disreputable
persons who would rather steal or beg than work, and whose misery
must be very great. It is not to be presumed that all who desire em-
ployment can procure it in Toronto ; the contrary being really the case
because labour and skill of almost any kind are here in excess. For
every position of regular labour there are at least five applicants, and a
man must be highly recommended to obtain a position. Many and
many a young man respectable in appearance, honest and upright, can
tell his experience with want, and how almost impossible to obtain
work it is, and who is depending upon some more fortunate companions
for his room and board, just as they invite him, while boarding house
keepers can tell by the score instances of this kind.
PAWNBROKERS.
The sign of the three gilt balls is very common on York street and
Queen street west, and where the ancient badge of the pawnbroker is
not seen the words, " Exchange office" answer the same purpose. The
law recognizes the fact that these people are a necessity in all large
communities, and while tolerating them as such it endeavours to inter-
pose a safeguard on behalf of the community by requiring that none
but persons of good character and integrity shall exercise the calling.
In a great many instances, however, they are with but few exceptions
a most rascally set. They are little more than receivers of stolen goods,
and the police often trace stolen property to them, notwithstanding the
fact that they are compelled to produce a statement every day show-
ing their transactions. Interest at the rate of ten per cent a month is
allowed the first month, at least that is what they charge, and after
that it is reduced to five, and it is surprising how many persons are
compelled by force of circumstances to obtain accommodation from the
pawnbrokers. Goods taken to them are received generally, without
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 143
question, and they advance a fraction of the value of the article which
is to be redeemed in one month, that being the time limited upon all
pawn tickets, but the price at which the articles are taken is sufficiently-
low to render it certain that the sale of it will more than cover the
advance.
The principal customers of these people are the poor. Persons of
former respectability or wealth, widows, and orphans are always sure
to carry into their poverty some of the trinkets that were theirs in the
heyday of prosperity. Jewelry, clothing ornaments of all kinds and even
the wedding ring of the wife and mother come to him one by one, never
to be regained by the owners. They are taken at a mere pittance
and sold at a profit of several hundred per cent. You may see the poor
pass into the doors of these shops every day, and the saddest faces to
be seen are those of the women coming away from them. Want leaves
its victims no choice, but drives them mercilessly into the hands of the
money lenders.
GAMBLING HOUSES.
Games of chance of all kinds are forbidden by laws which describe
various severe penalties for the offence, but in spite of this prohibition,
there is no country where gambling is more common than in Canada,
and no city where it is carried on the a greater extent than in Toronto.
But where do these places exist ? That is telling. There are some pro-
fessional gamblers in the city and the favourite game is poker. Gam-
bling for money is not, ostensibly, carried on. The stakes consist of
checks or counters provided by the people interested, and the losses
are settled by means of these checks or counters representing an under-
stood value. In this manner the letter, if not the spirit of the law, is
carried out. Scores of young men in the city spend the entire Sunday
afternoon in playing poker. They meet in the room of some friend and
play for a certain limit. In another way some young man will have a
room where he has a complete gambling outfit, and if several friends
desire to have a game they can do so by permitting him to have what
is professionally called the " rake-off," and this sometimes amounts to
quite an item. I was acquainted with about twenty men in the city
who rent a room in which there is a complete outfit. When several of
them wish to use the room, they get the key from the gentleman who
keeps it, and no one even suspects that there is such a game going on,
DRUNKENNESS.
Drunkenness is very common in Toronto. Thousands of arrests are
made annually for drunkenness alone, and disorderly conduct. In ad-
dition there are thousands of cases of which the police never hear. The
vice is not confined to any one class, it is to be seen in all conditions of life,
and in both sexes. Day after day you will see men under the influence
of liquor, reeling through the streets or lying under the trees in the
parks. The police soon rid the streets of such cases, which are compa-
144 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
ratively few during the day. At night the number of intoxicated per-
sons increases, when you will see all classes of drunkards. There goes
a young man, handsomely dressed, evidently the son of rich parents,
unable to stand by himself, and piloted by a friend whose chief care is
to avoid the police. There is a clerk whose habits will soon lose him
his situation. The high and the low are represented on the streets. A
funny thing in connection with the drunkenness of young men is the
desirability and proneness of people to blame some one else for the
downfall of their sons. An incident happened a little while ago, de-
monstrating this point. A young man who lived a most exemplary
life, and was on the way to promotion, had the misfortune to meet a
young man of wealthy connections in a state of helpless intoxication.
He had only a passing acquaintance with the young fool, but like the
good Samaritan he undertook to take him home, and finally accom-
plished that arduous duty. Imagine his surprise the next day when
the principal of his firm of employers called him into his private office,
and after reading him a lecture on the evils of intemperance, informed
him very curtly that another such occurrence as the one of of the pre-
vious evening would result in instant dismissal. The young man pro-
tested his innocence of any wrong doing on his part, and narrated what
had accurred. Fortunately his integrity was so great that he was be-
lieved. It seems that the drunken young cub's father had called upon
the principal and informed him that his son had been led astray by this
clerk. His own son could, of course, do no harm, but the other fellow
who helped him home was deserving the highest censure, and discharge
from his position is possible.
Bar rooms are in full blast, and will not close until eleven. The
better class establishments are quiet and orderly, but the noise and
confusion increase as we descend the scale of so-called respectability
of these places. The sale of liquors of all kinds is very large, and it is
always of doubtful quality. A large number of young men, and old
ones too for that matter, make a practice of laying in the supply of the
liquors they require on Saturday night for Sunday use, and to treat their
friends, and it is found to work satisfactorily.
IMPOSTERS.
Toronto is not large enough to sustain to any great extent many
imposters, but those who can obtain a foothold practise all sorts of tricks
on the unwary, and are off before one can lay hands on them. If they
are caught, they are tried and sent to the Central or the penitentiary.
But there are men and women to be found in the city seeking aid for
some charitable institution. They carry books and pencils in which the
donor is requested to inscribe his name and the amount given. Small
favours are thankfully received, and they depert thanking you deeply
and sincerely for your contribution. If you are unable to give to-day
they will come to-morrow — next week — anytime to suit your conve-
nience. You cannot insult them for like Uriah Heep, they are very
humble. In a great many cases they are soliciting money for them-
OP TORONTO THE GOOD. 145
selves alone. Besides these one armed or one legged beggars whose
missing member sound as your own, is strapped to their bodies so as to
be safely out of sight, women wishing to bury their husbands or chil-
dren, women with borrowed or hired babies, and any other object likely
to excite pity, meet you occasionally, and if you give them money it
will go for drink, in many cases.
PICKPOCKETS,
Toronto is comparatively free from this species of criminal although
not entirely, and it is now reduced to a science, and is followed by many
persons as a profession. It requires long practice and great skill, but
these when once acquired make their possessors a dangerous member
of the community. Women by their lightness of touch and great facility
in manipulating their victims make the most dangerous operators.
Crowded places of all kinds afford the best opportunities to pickpoc-
kets for the exercise of their skill. A gentleman sitting in a crowd
discovers that he has lost his money. A well dressed gentleman sits
next to him, whose arms are quietly crossed before him, and his fingers
encased in kid gloves are entwined in his lap, in plain sight of every-
one who could swear that he has not moved them since they first saw
him. An officer could tell after a glance at the faultless gentleman that
the arms so conspicuously crossed in his lap are false, that his real arms
all the time being free to operate under the folds of his coat.
CROOKS.
Some time ago there existed one of the most barefaced swindles
ever practised, but this has now almost gone out of existence. It was
called the "patent safe" game, and was carried on as follows : A stranger
would be accosted by a well-dressed individual, who would immediately
begin a careless, friendly conversation. If the overtures of this individual
were not repulsed in the first instance, he would soon be joined by his
accomplice, who professes to be a stranger to swindler number one.
The accomplice has in his possession a small brass ball or sphere, which
he says is the model of a patent safe much used by merchants in China
and India. He is trying to introduce it in this country, and would like
to show the gentleman his model. The brass ball is, to all appearances,
solid, but to the initiated is soon made hollow by pressing on a certain
inner circle, when the centre of the ball, which is in the shape of a small
cone, drops out. The bottom of the cone may be unscrewed, when a
little chamber is revealed in which is a long piece of white paper,
carefully folded and secreted. The other end of the cone, the top of it,
can be unscrewed, and a second chamber is revealed in which is a
second piece of paper exactly like the first. Swindler number one takes
the ball, examine it, and declares that it must be solid. The accom-
plice then presses the spring and the centre drops out. He then unscrews
one of the chambers, and reveals the paper to the admiring stranger and
swindler number one. The accomplice's attention is here called away
146 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
for a moment, and number one, winking at the stranger abstracts the
paper from the chamber, screws the lid on, and replaces the centre in
the ball. Handing it back to the accomplice, he wishpers to the stranger
that he is about to win some money. He then bets the accomplice a
sum which he thinks proportionate to the means of the stranger, that
there is no paper in the ball. The bet is promptly taken, but swindler
number one finds that he has no money, and asks the stranger to lend
him the amount offering to divide the winnings with him. The latter,
who has seen the paper abstracted from the ball is sure his new found
friend will win, and not being averse to making a little money on the
spot, produces the desired amount, and hands it to his friend. The
accomplice then opens the second chamber reveals the dupHcate piece
of paper, and claims the stakes. The stranger loses his money and is
taught a useful lesson.
Another swindling game is thimble rigging. The apparatus is
three brass thimbles, and a little ball resembling in size and appearance
a green pea. The rigger, in the most nonchalant manner imaginable,
places the ball apparently under one of the thimbles, in plain view of
the spectators and offers to bet any sum that it isn't there. Our friend
who is looking on an interested spectator, is astonished at such a pro-
position, and looks upon the individual making the bet as little better
than a fool, for didn't he see the ball placed under the thimble, and
must it not be there still. His idea on that point is soon confirmed — a
bystander takes up the bet, the thimble is raised and there is the ball.
Again it is covered, and once more the bet is offered. Eager to prove
his sagacity our friend produces a bill and covers the sharper's money.
The thimble is raised and the ball is gone.
THIEVES.
Thieves are not very numerous in Toronto, as the poor creatures
who steal a few dollars' worth in open day from stores and stands are
not considered by the professional thief as amongst the " fraternity "
which embraces housebreakers, pickpockets and burglars. These persons
are carefully trained by old hands and are by practice made as perfect
as possible in their arts. To be an accomplished burglar requires a
very great degree of intelligence, courage, strength and ingenuity, but
the lives they lead, stamp their countenances and general bearing with
marks, which an experienced officer will recognize at a glance. The
sneak thief, the pickpocket and the burglar have certain habits, attitu-
des and haunts ; they act in certain ways when placed in certain posi-
tions which reveal their occupations to a practiced eye with almost as
much certainty as the form and aspect of a blade of grass reveals its
species to the eye of the practiced botanist. A sneak-thief will pass
along with that rapid rolling, glance of the eyes which distinguishes the
tribe ; now he checks himself suddenly in his career, but only for an
instant ; an unprofessional eye directed towards him would not notice
it, but that sudden pause would speak volumes to an experienced
detective. He would know that the thief eye had caught sight of some
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. U1
booty easy of access. In an hour after he hears that something is stolen,
and he knows who has stolen it, but without proof he is powerless. By
a regulation pawn brokers are compelled to give a statement daily of
their purchases, and in this way large amounts of stolen property are
recovered. A favourite pastime lately has been to steal the lead pipe
from new vacant houses, but it is happily being rapidly put a stop to.
The magistrate is dealing severely with these thieves and receivers and
it is not worth while to indulge in the luxury.
ASSIGNATION HOUSES.
There are no houses of assignation in Toronto in just the same
way as there are no houses of ill- fame, but there is hardly a prostitute
who meets you on the street who has not some place where she can
take you. The rooms arc hired from the proprietor or proprietress at
so much per hour, the price being generally pretty high, and if refresh-
ments are desired they are furnished at an enormous price. Some of
these houses are locoted in respectable neighbourhoods, and in various
ways they soon acquire a notoriety amongst persons having use for
them. In the majority of them the proprietress resides alone, and her
visitors are persons of all classes of society. But of late years this class
of house has lost its value ; with the large number of rooms occupied
by young men, and the open sesame enjoyed by others, together
with the boat houses there is really little for them to do, and as a con-
sequence they are falling into the things of the past, but that they still
exist is beyond question. I was once in a barber shop, when after having
shaved me, the barber remarked mysteriously :
" Do you meet any women in the street ? "
" Occasionally," I answered.
" Well, if you want a nice quiet place to go, come here, only
keep it q.t."
CHURCHES AND THE CLERGY.
Toronto is essentially a city of churches, and glancing over the city
from the Eiffel tower of the Mail building, the many spires form a
really edifying sight, and there is scarcely a quarter passes but some
church is enlarging itself or planning to build elsewhere, especially is
this the case where a church divides against itself as occurred some
little time ago when one faction required that a certain preacher should
be employed, while another were equally determined that some one else
should have the honour. It is, of course, preposterous to say that these
rivals or rather differing factions quarrelled as that would imply a breach
of Christian discipline, and then, too, we knew that Christians never
quarrel ; but it is true that one branch of the church left it and built a
home for itself in a distant part of the city and under more congenial
circumstances.
In addition to the salaries given the Ministers, many of them also
receive residences. In this respect the Methodist ministers are favoured
148 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
more, proportionately, than others. A number of them receive not only
the free use of a parsonage, but also of the furniture it contains. Several
Anglican clergymen have rectories and a few Presbyterian ministers
have the use of a manse included with the salary. But this extra pri-
vilege is limited to the larger and wealthier churches. Every catholic
priest is given his home and living but his salary is merely nominal.
Some of the priests in the city do not receive more than $200 00 a year
simply enough to buy their clothing. A certain priest much beloved
and revered, gets very little over $ioo.co a year for his personal use.
The salaries named in connection with the Anglican clergymen do not
represent what the rectors get. They show only the sum paid by the
individual congregation. All rectors in the city, in addition to the
amounts paid them by the vestries receive endowments a share in the
Toronto Rectory Surplus Fund, and, in some cases, from the Commu-
tation Trust Fund. Otherwise the amounts paid by the congregations
to the rectors would seem very small, much smaller oftentimes than the
amounts paid to the curates of said churches. The salaries given in
connection with the Anglican churches represent what is paid the
rectors and curates. The ministers of a few sects, those of the Apostolic
church, the Christians, the Quakers and the Christadelphians receive
no stipulated salary being content to receive what is offered to them
vountarily. The appalling amount of $1,25 1,457 shows what the church
debt of the city and suburbs is. But this is not all. It really shows
only the bonded debt and the figures are either obtained irom the
registry office, the minutes of the churches or from responsible officials.
It is universally agreed that the morning attendance at any church
fairly and justly represents the backbone of a church. Those who support
a church and are directly interested in its welfare are they, as a general
rule, who attend the morning service. Judged by this standard the
church debt is $68.42 per capita or $21.91 for each seat.
To the stranger visiting the city it is always a matter of delight to
contemplate the large number of young people who frequent the churches
and it is worthy of note that the attendance is not confined to one sex
but both are well represented. This applies with particular emphasis
to the evening services. This is as it should be. Any young man com-
mencing life in the city, and seeking advancement socially, financially
or otherwise, will find no habit that will produce such advantageous
results as to become a constant attendant at some church. It carries
with it a respectability that no other course of action does, while to
abstain from church going is almost sufficient to make him a social
outlaw.
Every reader doubtless remembers what were called the Chinese
atrocities some little time ago, when missionaries were ruthlessly put
to death in that country. In the light of my experience with church
members and Chinese in this country, I say all honor to the Chinese
for having wiped from the face of the earth the impertinent foreigners
whose presumption led them to that country to inculcate beliefs that
they did not want, and which might better be given to the country
they came from.
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 149
Upon an occasion not long since past, I took a parcel of laundry
to a Chinaman, valued at two or three dollars. When I called for it
he informed me that he had had a fire and that my clothes were burned,
asking me at the same time their value. When I stated six dollars, he
tendered me that amount without a word of dissent. I accepted one
dollar for my loss, but the principle of the thing was there— he was
honest enough to pay me my own valuation.
In the month of August, 1892, a young man who sings in the
heavenly choir of one of the prominent Presbyterian churches of this
city, addressed me a letter asking me for the loan of fifteen dollars and
stating that unless he had it by the 15th of the month his furniture
would be sold. I loaned him the money, glad to be of assistance to
him, and told him to be in no hurry in paying me. He accepted the
latter suggestion to the very letter, for he has not paid me yet. I have
asked him for it times without number, and even placed it in the hands
of a solicitor, but he never even answered either myself for the lawyer,
and I have not received one cent of it to this day. That is one case.
In 1890 a student from some religious school in Woodstock and
with whom I had become acquainted the previous summer, called at
the office where I was employed and asked for the loan of three dollars,
stating that he had remained in Toronto rather longer than he had
intended, and would require that amount in addition to what he had,
to settle his account at the hotel. A candidate for the ministry, his
father a wealthy farmer — I loaned him five dollars without any hesita-
tion, and he promised to pay me the money by return mail. I have
not received it to this day.
Here is my experience with the Heathen Chinee and two Can-
adian "Christians." I hope the public will excuse me for saying so,
but I must express my unqualified admiration for the Chinese when
they made such short work of those people who went to their country
to teach them Christianity.
And it is ever thus. People are ready and even anxious to send
the glad tidings to all people, but are very apt to forget the sufferings
at home and the need of Christain charity nearer their own homes.
When an appeal was made to assist " bleeding Armenia " indigna-
tion meetings were held all over the country protesting against Eng-
land's inactivity in bringing the Sultan to time. Yet on the day that
a long list of contributors to the Armenian fund was published in a
Toronto paper, a poor wretch was tried before Colonel Denison for steal-
ing twenty-five cents worth of coal to keep his starving children from
being frozen to death.
These are exemples of Christian churches.
In addition to the churches proper, there are scores of young
peoples' societies of every possible description, and others too numerous
to mentJon. One of these is called by the sublime and divine title of
" The King's Daughters,'' the king in question, being presumably, the
Almighty, inasmuch as there is at present only one rigning king, he of
Denmark, and I do not think he is the father of such a numerous
150 OP TORONTO THE GOOD.
family, nor do I think he would feel flattered at having such a multifa-
rious family. I believe the daughters are religiously inclined, but the
Empire gives us an instance where even religion seemed to satiate and
a deviation was made in favour of the skirt dance:
Young women who call themselves the King's daughters have been skirtdancing in
public at Hamilton. They are now discussing pro and con the question of womanly propriety
involved in their conduct. This should have occurred to them before they danced. They
hardly know themselves why they did it, or where they found the precedent. Lady Russell has
skirt danced on a public stage, but it did not matter so much to her ; besides she is not a
princess. There is no heavenly authority for the thing. Skirt dancing was originally copied
by the stage from Spanish women of elastic modesty. It has been condemned by the Christian
churches, but has been adopted in what is called "smart " society, where king's daughters do
not, as a general thing, foregather.
This is a delightful occupation, and I am sure will be a cause for
congratulation for the public to know that the young ladies can so easily
depart from the rugged path of religious practice to the more worldly
delights of questionable pleasure.
In connection with these daughters is also a kind of street show,
I suppose you might call it, consisting of an old organ or melodeon,
and some male and female voices, not specially noted for their accuracy
of rendition or sweetness of expression, who congregate on the corner
of Richmond and Yonge streets on Sunday evenings, and which are
addressed by different people present, in a manner, quite frequently,
that would send Her Majesty to a mad house from the manner in which
her English is so diabolically murdered. However, if good is accom-
plished thereby, it is not formetosay anything against it, even though
I very much question this result.
The Salvation army, with headquarters on Albert street was com-
menced in London in 1864. Within the decade following the organ-
ization was strong enough to undertake foreign conquest, and its legions
began the conquest of America via Canada. They came, as it has proved
to stay, and to-day their sanguinary banner waves over barracks in
nearly every city and town throughout the Dominion of Canada and
the States, not to speak of other quarters of the globe. I visited their
headquarters once, and I am only doing justice to the organization in
expressing the highest appreciation of their methods for the salvation
of souls. A coarse-prize-fighter-looking Englishman with a decided
accent was the presiding genius on this occasion, and his language was
decidedly refreshing to say the least. In the course of his address he
sent people to hell in a manner that was really edifying, though he did
not inform his audience when or under what circumstances the Almighty
had delegated to him this authority. But that he was divinely inspired
could readily be uuderstood from the flippant familiarity with which
he spoke of and to God and His Son.
He was followed by a young woman in an immense Persian lamb
cap, which gave her the appearance of a female grenadier. Her voice
had a decidedly twangy sound, and doubtless after hearing it many a
poor sinner wished he were dead. She spoke of the words of Christ
where he admonishes the young man " to go and sin no more." The
young woman marched up and down the plateform with her arm? in
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 151
front of her at right angles, repeating with exasperating persistency
that formula, " go and sin no more," she pronounced as one word as
though to rhyme with sycamore. Her address was very edifying. It
must have been, for I never heard its like before nor since. At its con-
clusion some boys were threatened with immediate ejection for misbe-
having themselves. Poor boys ! The wonder to me was not so much
that they whispered during this address, but that they did not go up
in a body and strangle the speaker. Had their ear drums not been of
a peculiar structure, thai; rasping voice must have split them. The
address itself was not much worse that I have frequently heard from
Doctors of Divinity, and she used the same means when suddenly
brought to a full stop in a spasmodic flight of oratory, such as " Glory
be to God," " Bless His Name," and such like which have such a son-
orous roll in the mouth of the charlatan. If any converts were ever
made through that woman's agency it must have been a miracle. I
think I speak for the majority when I say that after hearing that rasp-
ing monotone they were seized with an intense desire to murder the
speaker. I have not the slightest doubt, however, that if the young
woman were asked the question she would probably answer that she
had been " called " by God to preach.
Then one man gave his experience. His language and mode of
delivery were certainly original. He paid a tribute to the army for
rescuing him from the beggarly elements, and blamed the churches for
not having exerted themselves to do this, though he did not mention
the particular church that had been derelict in this respect. Then he
proceeded to tell of his improvement and if he had ever been worse
than he was at that particular time, he must have been pretty bad. He
paced up and down in the limited space of four or five feet, like a wild
animal in a cage, and his eyes gleamed like a hyena's, while his words
were hissed out in something the same manner as a hungry lion might
be supposed to emit a succession of growls while guarding a piece of
meat from a comrade. It was a succession of snarls. Then God was
praised in a ** hymn " the chorus of which was ** My Savior is a Jolly
Good Fellow, My Savior's a Jolly Good Fellow &c., &c.," and I felt
that the heavenly host must have been edified by this tribute of famili-
arity with the Son of God.
Apart, however, from the objectionable style of oratory, I have
just given, no one can deny the immense, or indeed, the immeasurable
amount of good that has been, and is being, done by the better element
of the Salvation Army. By the better element I mean the men and
women of judgment and sense to guide them. I do not think the char-
acters I have described could do any good anywhere, but they are not
the whole Salvation Army. I have repeatedly heard the ensign in
Montreal, whose text was about this : ** I do not care what you are. I
say nothing against any religion, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Met-
hodist or anything else, so long as it makes you good." I never heard
any man or woman speak like that before, and I never was impressed
before as I was then. When I was told of the work that had been done
152 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
in reforming drunkards and thieves and criminals of all classes, I could
readily understand it. That man did not send people to hell off hand
as though Christ had commissioned him to do so. He was filled with
love and sympathy. A man who was timekeeper on the wharf at $9.00
per week, and who had spent two terms in gaol for stealing, had been
rescued by the Salvation Army. Another who had been dismissed
from the Grand Trunk for drunkenness is now getting $15.00 per week,
and is a respectable citizen. He was rescued by the Army. And such
cases I am told are countless. My informant was particular to impress
upon my mind that the Salvation Army reached people that the
churches could not reach. My own opinion is that they reach people
the churches would not wish to reach. I once heard a Methodist D.D.,
long since passed to his " reward " state that he would not condescend
to do this, and would not condescend to do that. I consider that man
a disgrace to Christianity as well as a perjurer. But it is just such as he
who are responsible for the almost universal agnosticism that prevails
to-day. Imagine Christ informing people that he would not condes-
cend to do this or that ? Churches might easily follow the example of
the Salvation Army, if they are in the field for doing good. Is it any
wonder that the City Missionary, Mr. R. Hall, stated that in Toronto
more than one hundred thousand people who have reached years of
responsibility have not been brought face to face with the gospel, and
that the number of those who are indifferent in the matter of religion
in increasing ? Surely not.
Apropos of the style of singing the churches have imparted unto
themselves the following appeared in the Globe :
We are aware that several books without words have been put upon the market, but the
general hymn book such as hymns ancient and modern of the Church of England has not yet
made its appearance. When it does come, it is to be sincerely hoped that it will be free from
the tunes of objeciionable form and character, many of which should be consigned to the region
of the burnt cork fraternity. " Tit-willow " and " Robin Adair " are all right in their proper
places, but should not be introduced into hymn books and set to sacred words. Tunes of the
McGranahan type should be relegated to just where they belong, and that is anywhere but in
church. The good and true and pure in style tunes are the only ones that will endure. They
are inspiration as much as sacred poetry. None other should be admitted into use. The
bookmaking and bookselling for a profit should for once be set firmly aside in the desire to aid
the great cause of religion and promote the common good of the great mass of the denomination.
Music in in churches has become, like the oratory, a matter of
catching the crowd, and some of the most beautiful lines that have
ever been composed are set to music that has been originally produced
and properly belongs to the concert hall or New York dance house.
** Nearer My God to Thee " is improved upon by singing to the tune of
"Robin Adair," while a rollicking prayer meeting piece called " Happy
on the Way " is sung to the tune of " Old Roger Ram." The old negro
melody " None knew but to love thee " supplies the tune for a favourite
prayer meeting selection running something like this " He's the lily of
the valley, the bright and morning star, He's the fairest of ten thousand
to my soul." During the progress of a prayer meeting or revival one
of the favourite " hymns " was a parody on the negro melody " Keep
in de middle of de road," the leader of the movement — the illustrious
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 153
Jones — remarking that he liked the piece because there was so much
gospel in it.
What sublime conception !
In the fulness of time we shall no doubt require no music whatever
by which the lines are to be sung, the preacher will simply give out the
hymn in this fashion : " Hymn 350, Nearer my God to Thee, please
sing to the tune of little Anny Rooney."
In the Methodist churches some time ago congregational singing
was one of its peculiar attractions and characteristics, but after their
copyright ran out a new hymn book was issued, and the lower notes
transposed, or new music substituted so that now few members of the
congregation presume to assist the choir in their laudable efforts to
praise God in the old time fashion. The following taken from the
Telegram gives their opinion of what they are pleased to call Musical
Pharisees :
Organists and solists do not always add strength or significance to the religious services
at which they assist,
A player or singer whose brain or voice is ruled by the prejudices that condemn the
music that people love, can do more than a rainstorm to dampen a meeting. Their playing and
singing are Greek to the multitude. The tastes of an average congregation may be common,
but they are the outcome of sympathies and emotions common to the whi)le human family, and
musicians cannot educate them out of a fondness for tunes that appeal to our deepest exper-
ience in the language of the heart. Toronto has many players and singers who to high culture
add a true appreciation of the worth and power that may dwell in music stamped as popular.
It also ahs its share of musical pharisees who make the organ growl or their voices tremble in
the vicinity of high, in efforts to express the artist's thankfulness to the Almighty that he or she
is superior to the common herd. Meantime the common herd does not find in music the wings
upon which its thoughts can soar heavenward. Its saddened heart is possessed by a simple
desire to assassinate the organist whose playing is not an act of worship, but an endeavour to
exploit his acquaintance with the old masters. The organist with all his antice and the tastes
that separate him from the multitude is preferable to the soprano soloist who at the close of a
pathetic heart-searching sermon arises to cloud the preacher's description of the Golden City
with " Nearer my God to Thee " screeched out in a steam whistle voice.
I was invited on one of my visits to Toronto to visit a fashionable
church and was informed that I would probably see the largest choir
consisting of fifty two voices, and the best music that ever fell to my
lot to hear. The singers arrayed before me ran, in ages, all the way
from seventeen to seventy, and it is to be observed that this was a model
choir, notwithstanding the fact, and I speak with all deference, that it
occurred to me that it was more like the dumping ground for all the
old stagers in the church than that they were there for their musical
ability.
One little man, who occupied the seat with some four or five ladies
who sang soprano, appeared to be the chosen comedian of the church.
He smirked pleasantly to the young ladies as they entered the church,
and subsequently made faces at them to demonstrate, I presume, that
he had not forgetten them as the services progressed.
One young lady sitting on a front seat in the same choir seemed
to be afflicted with tight boots, for she stooped down and gracefully,
and without embarrassment removed the guilty shoe, while her count-
enance shone with a heavenly radiance as her torture was temporarily
suspended, so that there can be no doubt that choirs as they are now
154 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
composed, are not, as has been popularly supposed little lower than
the angels.
My friend who had extended me the invitation was prone to be
somewhat snappish when I expressed my inability to appreciate the
music rendered, and those who rendered it, and yet I was assured thai
the young lady who removed her shoe made a practice of doing it every
Sunday, and the young gentleman who acted the clown was a very
superior person indeed. That he had, in fact, left a choir because the
leader thereof had committed the unpardonable breach of decorum or
Christian discipline, or something of that kind, by singing in a theatre!
I submit the following as representing some of the words rendered :
Oh, to be nothing, nothing, only to lie at his feet
A broken and emptied vessel lor the master's us» made meet.
Emptied that he might fill me, as forth from his service I go.
Emptied that so unhindered that life through me might flow.
I do not think anyone could by any possibility compose more
trashy or nonsensical sentimental drivel than that, yet the people who
sang it are supposed to be " clothed and in their right mind."
What unmitigated rot it must appear to any sensible being when
he analyzes the language of some of the hymns sung :
" I nightly pitch my moving tent "
is nothing but an absolute lie. Another one informs us that
*' In his arms he carries them all day long."
What a pair of arms Christ must have in the lively imagination
of some people.
This is fairly good :
I can believe, I do believe that Jesus died for me
A token of His love he gave a pledge of liberty.
I once heard it sung to the tune of some flippant waltz in the
following language :
I can, I will and I do believe, I can I will and I do believe
That Jesus died for me.
There is life for a look at the crucified one.
There is life at this moment for thee
Then look sinner look unto him and be saved
Unto him who was nailed to the tree.
It cannot be denied, after hearing the above that " life " is offered
pretty cheap, though it is a matter of regret that we were not informed
where, by looking, we should see.
I have a Saviour, He's pleading in glory,
A dear precious Saviour though earth's friends be few
And now He is watching in tenderness o'er me
Oh, that my dear Saviour was your Saviour too.
For you I am praying, for you I am praying
For you I am praying, I'm praying for you.
I think the above about as fine as piece of Pharisaic twaddle as
any impaired imagination could conceive.
Then be hushed my dark spirit the worst that can come
Will hasten my journey and hasten me home.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 155
In spite of the above sentimental couplet, I do not know of any-
one who has ever seemed anxious to hasten home. In fact quite the
reverse has always appeared to me to be the case.
Some say that John the Baptist was nothing but a Jew
But the bible doth inform us that he was a preacher too.
He rose, He rose, He rose from the dead
And the Lord did take my spirit home.
I do not quite understand the drift of the foregoing breakdown,
but I suppose it must be all right, as itjis sung in some of the churches.
Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly done, with all thy quickening power
Come shed abroad thy sacred light on these cold heartsjof ours.
The above was sung by a full chours, then a young lady elegantly
dressed, moistened her lips and sang :
See how we grovel, here below, fond of these earthly joys, fond of these earthly joys
In vain we strive to reach,, to reach eternal joys.
I feel constrained to observe that it would essentially require the
telescopic eye of the Almighty to see any signs of grovelling on the
part of those who sang the foregoing. In fact they seemed to be quite
well pleased with themselves.
When in the fullness of time, common sense has become epidemic,
and those who have not been vaccinated read such sentimental, senseless
drivel as is contained in a large number of the effusions called by
courtesy hyms, I think they will understand why church members
generally so strongly protest against the cold light of reason being
thrown upon so-called Christianity by such master minds as Colonel
Ingersoll, Bradlaugh and others, although they claim that Christianity
is as firmly fixed as the rocks of Gibralter.
DWELLING IN UNITY.
There is troubie in Centenary Church choir, arising, it is said, over the introduction of
some new voices from the Sunday school. An objection was made by some of the members to
singing with the younger people, and, as a result, a number, if not all, of the choir members
have been requested by the choirmaster, L. H. Parker, to hand in their resignations. — Hamilton
Spectator.
In a number of churches the singing is a matter not in any respect
second to the preacher, and salaried singers are quite numerous, as
indeed they should be. One might suppose that the array of talent
would conflict, each supposing that they were the attraction ; but as the
majority of sensible people know that the preacher is above such petty
jealousy, and the choir soloists equally unsophisticated, this element
does not, happily, enter into consideration, both being thoroughly
conscious of their powers to please. In Ottawa recently when a singer
belonging to one of the opera companies was announced to sing in a
certain church, and quite a large crowd had gone to hear him, the
preacher announced that before taking up the collection those who had
come to hear the singing might retire, and the singer did* not render
the solo expected of him.
Jealousy on the part of the preacher ?
Not at all, though evil disposed persons stated that once when
156 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
Mr. Jarvis or Mr. Douglas Bird had been advertised to sing in that
church it was crowded to the doors, and many could hardly gain ad-
mittance, but to suppose the circumstances had any relation would be
absurd, even though these same people considered it a gratuitous insult
to them to have such a speech made by a preacher concerning the
collection. It is quite true that he was within his rights to speak as he
did, but was it the action of a gentleman, let alone a Christian ?
Some time ago, quite a controversy took place in the city news-
papers concerning the music rendered in Bond street Congregational
church, and I thought it was about time someone bestirred himself in
that direction, although I only visited the church once. A yourg lady,
whose name I do not know, arose and sang *' The Better Land," or
perhaps I might say with greater truth she attempted to sing it, as
having heard it sung by a competent vocalist, I could hardly under-
stand that the young lady in question should be paid for such work,
and it remained a mystery to me why a church so wealthy as they were
reputed to be, should not have creditable singing.
In his paper on the place of music in the sanctuary, read before the
Presbyterian Ministerial association. Rev. Dr. McTavish pointed out
that the tendency of the present day was towards transforming the
services of praise into a sacred concert. He maintained the music in
the place mentioned should only be used for devotion purpose. The
paper which was clear and logical throughout, occasioned a large amount
of discussion. The was a substantial unanimity of feeling in regard to
the position that music kept within proper bounds was indispensable
to the proper carrying on of Christian worship. The point that pro-
voked most argument was the question as to how far classical music
should be permitted. Rev. John Neil said that as so few people knew
how to appreciate this class of music it should be relegated from the
service altogether. Rev. D. J. Macdonnell took an entirely different
view. The higher class the instrumental and vocal portion of the ser-
vice could be made the more beneficial to the great mass of the people
church-going would become.
Another subject in connection with the churches is the subject of
church entertainments. You remember how Paul states that God
dwelleth not in temples built with hands ? So now in accordance with
that view the house dedicated to an all wise and just Providence is
used for giving ''grand sacred concerts," the Jubilee singers, and differ-
ent entertainments of a like character. The Rev. Dr. Hall in the
course of an address urged strongly that all buildings consecrated to
God should not be desecrated by unholy entertainments. By these a
moral germ of disease might be introduced and he, for one, would do
everything to keep it out. Debt was also a bad thing, and he thought
that in many cases with a little extra exertion on the part of the con-
gregation this might be avoided.
1 he premises were good, but how many churches would agree to
such sentimental expression. However, Dean Wade of Woodstock, in
the course of an address on the subject does not take the mild and easy
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 157
manner of Dr. Hall, but strikes out from the shoulder and expresses
himself in a fashion not to be mistaken.
He stated that he did not propose to deal with methods for raising money for any man
made institution, but for the church of God. He said that the title of his paper would indicate
that something counter to apostolic usage and custom in the matter of raising church funds
had obtained ; something in direct opposition to all that was scriptural and apostolic, and
which was eating the vitality of the church It had been said in defense of the modern method,
that while as a rule, good people would be so influenced by the holy ghost as to give of their
substance to the cause of God that there were places and circumstances when pressing needs
called for the adoption of unscriptural methods. In plain English the poor cause should depend
upon weak supports. The weaker the cause the more dependent upon the promises and faith-
fulness of God. This was what God's people believed. The poorer the congregation, the
greater need there was to depend upon the infinite resources of God. There was a time when
Christians were taught that with the presence of Christ and congregation when two or three
might be assured of all its needs being met, but things had altered. The heavens were impen-
atrable brass ; the cry of God's elect was lost in space ; we should put our wits to work. We
were going to run this church, and we meant to succeed We form a committee, each member
of which acts as a spy to ascertain the nakedness of the land. We agreed that the church could
not be kept without money, we could not get the money without the crowd How should we
get both ? We should get something greatly in demand. What would catch the crowd. What
was in demand in every city, town, village and hamlet ? That which would satisfy the claims
of the devil, the world and the flesh. We are bound to make the church a success anyhow.
This is the committee's set purpose. We will get consecration money if we can, but we will
get money, money ! The man of modern methods had this excuse : Modern methods find work
ior young Christians, and by emploving them in a good cause they are kept from evil associa-
tions. In other words, that by the church catering for the passion for pleasure there is a guar-
antee that the young will not seek for such satisfaction in the pomps and vanities of the wicked
world, which they have renounced. The only power which can keep the young Christian is
that mentioned by Peter : Kept by power of God. Modern methods of raising church funds
were both dishonouring to God, and disastrous to the church's best interests All hope of the
church fulfilling her mission lies in her being faithful to God and to herself as the bride of
Christ. The mcdern methods are i. The encouragement of Christians to rob God. 2. The
sin of obtaining under false pretences 3. The sin of helping to develop a passion which was
one of the greatest hindrances to true religion Dealing with the first method he said that it
was evident that God was being robbed, else modern methods would not be adopted to make
up the deficiency. Dealing with the second method, he said that people, goodly people, and
goody goody people bought tickets for church shows in order that they may support the church.
The vendor sells them, and the purchaser buys them under conditions of sale. The thing is a
fraud. The church belongs to God. He can provide for his own house. Dealing with the
third method, he said that in many places the church is robbing the world of its legitimate
means of amusing the world. Now let us give the world and even the devil its due. Theatrical
companies need not visit certain towns. Clowns, harlequins and negro minstrels and crack
singers are at a discount in many parishes. The church provides for all that is necessarv for
both saint and sinner. Let me read a portion of an advertisement which appeared in a Brock-
ville paper in November, 1891 ;
" Novel soiree under the anspices of church. Miss Blank, Prescott's sweet can-
atrice is herself a treat. The Russian tea, attended by all the placid loveliness of the ice clad
steppes of Russian Siberia. The lemon queezer adorned by beauty and grace (who will no
doubt squeeze you all they can). All will be born to the land of weird and phanton spirits where
all will be surrounded by the dark and mystic enchantments of the future. Be prepared for
extra charge. One continual strain of music Before the morning breaks the sweet and gliding
music intermingled with reels and graces of ye ancient and modern lassies will be of the past.
Doors open at 8 o'clock ; tickets 25 cents, including past or present supper."
Dean Wade had fond in the same paper immediately under the
above this notice :
A chicken pie social at the M. E. Church Morristown last week realized about $17, and
about 100 people ate pie until they could not talk.
He said that sort of thing was going on all over the country. In an advertisement of a
lawn social given at Woodstock last fall this appeared : The refreshments will be all the
season's delicacies, and in addition an ambrosial nectar, made from a receipt from which the
ancients prepared the feasts for their gods will be served A witty Presbyterian elder had said :
And now brethren, let us get up a supper and eat ourselves rich. Buy your food and give it to
the church. Then go buy it back again. Then eat it up and your church debt is paid."
The dean read an extract from a handbill which he said was not the handbill of a theatre,
158 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
but that of a church, where periodical revivals of religion were alleged to take place. The bill
read : A star of the first magnitude. A grand high class concert will be given on Friday
March i6th, in the Blank church. The remainder of the bill was devoted to eulogiums descrip-
tive of those who were to perform. He said that one of the songs rendered from the pulpit of
the church upon that occasion was by a gentleman who kept constantly asserting that somebody
grew more like his daddy every day. He continued : *' One might hear such tomfoolery one
night and the next from the same pulpit the most sacred ot subjects treated upon. To-night
the banjo, niggers and bones, to-morrow the penitent forms and groans. An infidel might go
to the doors any evening and ask as he might at a theatre, what is on to-night, is it a play, a
ministrel show, or a revival ? "
As might be expected from the above remarks by gentlemen who
are not likely to detract from any church what is meritorious, the
churches teem with attractions every Sunday. If you will consult the
Saturday Telegram, you can scarcely fail to find something to suit you.
Like the merchant, or the theatre, the church of God advertises its
wares to the wayfarer, and he is lamentably fastidious, who, consulting
the bountiful bill of fare placed before him, finds nothing to his taste.
I regret I cannot give you the whole bill as it appeared, but I submit
the following for your consideration as fair examples :
CARLETON STREET METHODIST CHURCH
REV. JAMES HENDERSON PASTOR.
SABBATH, AUGUST, 21st, 1892.
1 1 a.m.. Rev. Dr. Barrass — Subject, Holiness on the bells of the horses.
7 p.m.. Rev, J. E. Lancely, fastor of St. Paul's Methodist church.
PROGRAMME:
Anthem Great''is the Lord , Sydenham.
Solo, Zion Rodney Mr. Chattoe.
Quartette Abide with me Torrington.
Solo Humbly before thee. . . Millard — Miss Hortense Jones.
Miss Jones resides at St. Antonio Texas and is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music.
Holiness on the bells of the horses ! what rot !
Please don't forget the solo of Miss Jones who is a graduate of the
Boston Conservatory of Music.
BOND STREET CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
REV. JOSEPH WILD, D.D., PASTOR.
Anniversary services, Sunday October 2nd, 1892.
Special Music by the choir.
Morning at ii o'clock — Subjects — Twelve years' work. Cornet solo, Master Bertie Plant.
Evening at 7 o'clock, subject How long will things continue as theyjare. Saxaphone solo.
Hymn with variations, Mr. Bert Kennedy. The usual anniversary collec ions will be taken up.
A cornet solo and a saxaphone solo ! Quite a band concert.
BERKLEY STREET METHODIST CHURCH.
Rev. W. Galbraith, L.L.B., pastor, will preach a 11 a.m., and 7 p.m. Morning A defective
ministry. 7 p m., A great reformation needed. Good music. AH welcome. Sunday school and
bible class at 2.45.
E. Coatsworth, M.P., superintendent.
BROADWAY TABERNACLE
REV. J. PHILP, M.A., PASTOR.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 159
Sunday October 2, 1892, sermons by the pastor, ii a.m., A character study. 7 p.m.,
Success or failure. Lessons for all to learn. Miss Bonsall, the popular and favourite contralto
will sing at the evening service. All made welcome.
Miss Bonsall seemed not to have been sufficiently attractive to
keep the public always amused, as the following seems to testify :
BROADWAY METHODIST TABERNACLE
LEAGUE SUNDAY. OCT. 6th. 1 895.
Sunrise Prayer Meeting, 7 a.m. 8 a.m.
Sermon to Young People, 1 1 a.m. and 7 p.m., by Rev. Ward B. Pickard, of Homells-
ville, N.Y.
Special musical service in the evening by a choir of sixty voices, under the direction of
Mr. E. R. Doward.
Organ Recital by Mr. Doward 6.30 to 7 p.m.
Soprano Solo and Chorus " Inflammatus " Rossini
Tenor Recit "Comfort Ye" Handel
Tenor Air •* Every Valley " Handel
Chorus "And the Glory of the Lord" Handel
Baritone Solo , . ." The Palms " Faure
Chorus " Hallelujah " Handel
Monday Evening, Oct, 7th — Lecture, " The House That Jack Built," 8 p.m. by Rev,
Ward B. Pickard. Special Music. Collection.
I consider the above nearly perfect, you have the whole programme
presented to you, no opera could do more than that.
BROADWAY METHODIST TABERNACLE.
REV. J. C. SPEER, PASTOR.
S. S. ANNIVERSARY.
SUNDAY, MAY 3rd, 1896.
II a.m.. and 7 p.m.. Rev. John Philp, D.D.
3. p.m , Rev. W. F. Wilson, 7 p.m , Rev. A. B. Chambers.
Offerings of the day are in aid of school.
Grand Chorus of 500 voices, assisted.by great organ and first-class orchestra will lead
the service of song at each service.
MONDAY, MAY 4th, SUNDAY SCHOOL ENTERTAINMENT.
Splendid Programme — Solos, duets, dialogues, recitations, kindergarten, songs and drills
choruses, (including " With Sheathed Swords,") orchestral selections, etc., etc.
Doors open at 7.15 p.m. To commence at 8 o'clock.
You still see the marks ot progress, which rivals any of Corinne's
performances, chorus and orchestra ; songs and drills : One step further
— costuming the performers in tights — and the theatre is outdone.
Wilson family of revival workers at Broadway Tabernacle to-night, splendid singing.
You are invited, Mrs. Wilson is a sister of the late P. P. Bliss,
Don't forget that Mrs. Wilson is a sister of P. P. Bliss, which in
itself ought to be sufficient to attract the multitude.
A while ago some of the female portion of one of the many Met-
hodist churches were given " talents " in order that they might show
what they were able to accomplish with them in a given time. A meeting
was held and the results announced. Business men who read the reports
must have felt astounded at what some of them had been able to do.
I venture to assert that there was not a single woman in the crowd
160 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
whose transactions were strictly honorable. How they increased them
God only knows, and it was a wise dispensation that required them
not to explain how they realized such marvellous increases, or I think
some peculiar and shady transactions would have been brought to light.
If Christ be in heaven at the present time, I think his face must wear
a puzzled expression many a time and oft when money is paid into His
Church to be used for Him, and He knows how it was come by.
If the son of God were to make His second coming and were to be
advertised as going to preach, would his sermon or the singing be the
attraction ?
I regret that I have no circus advertisement at hand just now, or
I would give you that also for your comparison.
That prince of satirists, Max O'Rell gives the following as having
appeared in some paper in the United States, and he seemed to regard
them as something most extraordinary. It may be said as an extenua-
ting circumstance in his favour that he probably has never seen the
Saturday Telegram, and consulted its church announcements.
To make sure that he will be believed, he asserts that " he copies
then* word for word."
MUSICAL EVANGELIST
Solos. Short sermons. The place to be happy and saved. Walk in, ladies and gentle-
men, walk ill.
The other more seductive still, was worded thus :
No reason for not coming. Free seats. Books supplied to the congregation.
The public are requested to leave the books in the seats after use.
Some little controversy has lately taken place in the newspapers
respecting Sunday schools, and one Episcopal clergyman has had the
effrontery to question their usefulness, bringing out opinions, good, bad
and indifferent. Judging from an impartial standpoint, I think Sunday
schools are a modern innovation inspired of the devil, but representing
nevertheless, the progress of modern civilization, one of the salient
features of which is to shunt our responsibility upon somebody else.
People send their children to swelter and chafe in a Sunday school to
learn what they are too lazy, too indifferent, too sinful themselves, to
impart, or practice themselves as a living example to their children. I
was about to add that they were also too ignorant, but no one is too
ignorant to teach in a Sunday school. I was at a school once where
one verse in the lesson started " Howbeit the high priest " and in the
course of the review the teacher asked " Now, who was Howbeit the
high priest ! " I attended Sunday school myself, until I was thirteen,
and I only say the truth when I tell you that it was simply a species
of hell to be cooped up in that place for two hours on a Sunday, and I
think that is the experience of ninety out of a hundred children. My
surprise is that the majority of children are not infidels, when they
reflect that they are compelled to sacrifice their pleasure and conve-
nience to learn a religion they care nothing about, — whose only virtue
is that it has a good appearance and creates a good impression ; part-
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 161
icularly when they reach the age of reason and reflect on the characters
of some of those who teach them ; and that people send them there to
escape the responsibilities they are supposed to undertake themselves,
but never think of doing.
I consider that it would be extremely presumptuous on my part
to enter into a dissertation on the opinions children entertain for Sun-
day schools, but I refer you to Dickens* Bleak House and Mrs. Par-
diggle and her children for the moral lesson I frankly acknowledge my
inability to write.
Those of us who believe that without the strength and hope of Christianity, this life
would be brutalized and this world a desert are given many a heart ache by the charges of
meanness which worldlings hurl with only too much truth against employers conspicuous for
their goodness on Sunday. Of course, little is said about the sins of men who do not pretend
to be any better on Sunday than they are the other six days of the week. The men who force a
contrast between their pretensions in church and their practices in business arc the subjects of
most frequent attack. Business men might hesitate before they identify the blessed laws of their
Lord and Saviour with the cruel law of " supply and demand." They make the laws of" supply
and demand " their rule of life on week days, and Sunday are foremost in the temples of Him
who established the law of love. Yes, and they are liberal givers to the church and to many
good causes. The day will come when the church will scorn to take the money of men who
cultivate the virtue of generosity, but neglect the scant justice of giving the girls who work for
them enough to pay their board. Much that the pulpit says of the press is true, and it is not
sparing in its criticism. There is no desire to harshly criticise, but if the ministers of this city
did as their Master would have done, the church* would be too hot to hold gentlemen who give
girls thirty cents tor ten hours' work, and allow girls who sometimes handle thousands per day
the magnificent stipend of $3 per week. — Telegram.
So far as the above is concerned, I heartily concur in every word
of it, and add that there is not a single clergyman in the city of Tor-
onto who would dare to denounce the rascality of a rich member of his
congregation, or one who employs cheap labor. The charges against
the late Mr. Jeffrey, which broke his heart are too fresh in the minds
of clergyman to permit of their running any risks, even if they had the
courage, which is extremely doubtful. But the time will never come
when the church will scorn to take the money of men who cultivate
the virtue of generosity.
A city paper in replying to Rev. Dr. Potts said they could not
accept his example as an infallible guide. They cannot evade a public
duty by seeking an asylum in generalities — the coward's refuge. Jour-
nals are not gifted with the commanding presence or the robust voice
of Dr. Potts. And fortunately few of them are able to flee to the past
for a retreat from present duty. The esteemed and estimable doctor
is a Protestant of tne historic school. He avoids making an enemy of
the mammon of political unrighteousness by keeping two or three
hundred years behind the procession of events. When the Jesuit Bill
was calling Canadians to battle for principle against privilege Dr. Potts
was knee deep in the Boyne's red flood, or fighting valiantly on the
walls of Derry, Protestantism was not calling its soldiers to win at the
Boyne, or to man the walls of the maiden city. It urged Canadians to
offend party for the sake of principle, and its messsage was unheeded
by Dr. Potts and other gentleman like him whose silence was as favour-
able as his words could be to the cause of aggression.
I do not consider the great and overwelming majority of Protest-
ant preachers of the present day any higher than the lowest and most
162 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
degraded ward political heeler, whose ambition is to pander to the mob.
There are very few who dare go to the length of displeasing the mob,
but are ready to do as Talmage very crisply puts it :
" I have as much amusement as any man of my profession can
afford to indulge in at any one time, in seeing some of the clerical
" reformers " of this day mount their war-charger, dig in their spurs,
and with glittering lance dash down upon the iniquities of cities that
have been three or four thousand years dead. These men will corner
an old sinner of twenty or thirty centuries ago, and scalp him, and
hang him, and cut him to pieces, and then say : " Oh ! what great things
have been done." With amazingprowess, they throw sulphur at Sodom,
and fire at Gomorrah, and worms at Herod, and pitch Jezebel over the
wall, but wipe off their gold spectacles, and put on their best kid gloves,
and unroll their morocco-covered sermon, and look bashful when they
begin to speak about the sins of our day, as though it were a shame
even to mention them. The hypocrites ! They are afraid of the
libertines and the men who drink too much, in their churches, and
those who grind the face ot the poor. Better, I say, clear out all our
audiences, from pulpit to storm-door, until no one is left but the sexton,
and he staying merely to lock up, than to have the pulpit afraid of the
pew. The time has come when the living Jadases and Herods and
Jezebels are to be arraigned. There is one thing I like about a big
church : a dozen people may get mad about the truth and go off, and
you don't know they are gone until about the next year ! The cities
standing on the ground are the cities to be reformed, and not the Her-
culaneums buried under volcanic ashes, or the cities of the plain fifty
feet under the Dead Sea."
Methodism in Nebraska has been agitated greatly by the trouble
in the church at Schuyler, a city of about 2,500 people in Colfax
county. The Rev. Henry C. Meyers, a graduate of the University of
the north-west, was sent to Schuyler a year ago against the protest of
some members, who wished their old paster to be returned. The mal-
contents proceeded to make trouble for the new pastor, but he proved
to be an eloquent and forcible speaker, and drew larger audiences than
the edifice would hold. A new church was built, but about a month
before the conference was held, his enemies re-enforced by a dozen
members who objected to the doctrine of no hell peacher by Mr. Meyers,
got up a petition asking that he be not returned for another year.
When the appointments were announced it was found that Mr. Meyers
had been transferred. This action of the Bishop caused more trouble
in the church, and appeals to the presiding elder and the Bishop were
made by his friends, but without avail. Mr. Meyers declared he would
not be transferred, and the Bishop sent his successor, armed with the
necessary legal papers. The new pastor took possession without em-
ploying any physical force. The deposed minister has begun the task
of building up a church of his own in Schuyler, and his first services,
on Sunday, were largely attended.
His letter of declination to the presiding elder of the district has
OP TORONTO THE GOOD. 163
just been made public, and the bitter tenor of it, as well as the charges
he makes against the " ecclesiastical bosses," as he calls the church
authorities, has created a sensation in the State. In this letter he gives
the following reasons for his action :
"First, I can no longer subject my thinking to the thoughts of a
few sectarian bosses who thought their thoughts a hundred years ago.
My motto is. Reason is the lamp in the light of which every man must
walk for himself. The world has outgrown the sectarian thinking of
the centuries past, and is now moving in the progressive light of rea-
son's lamp in the present day. The Dantean hell of the past — the pit
from which flames of fire and smoke ascended, mingled with the breath
of brimstone and the cries and groans of suffering spirits — is a hell no
longer reasonable to all thinking men and women of this age. To preach
men into hell who do not bow down to the creed of the church, a for-
mula, once possessing a measure of life, but now dead and decaying is
as unreasonable as the mind that pictured it. Who made the thinkers
of a hundred years ago infallible so that their thoughts possessed a
priori and unchangeable principles, and then left all future thinkers to
the fate of their human weakness ? Did God ? He did if the old doct-
rine be true.
" Is the creed of the Methodist church an infallible rule ? If it is,
then all other creeds are wrong, for it differs from all others. Methodism
teaches that there are Christians in most churches, but when men desire
to become members of the Methodist church they are rejected unless
they believe what Methodism teaches; from which the conclusion
inevitably follows, Chistianity is not Christianity unless it is labelled
Methodist. But, says the zealous but misguided advocate of church
creeds, Methodism numbers millions. Yes, so did the Roman Govern-
ment, but the Roman Empire played its last act and stepped off the
stage. Number does not prove infallibility. Truth is small and despi-
ses show, but moves quietly and unauspiciously forward to the conquest
of the world.
" Creeds must shake off their dead leaves before their branches
can produce ripened fruit to save and bless the world. Churches, like
nations, must move in the direction of ultimate truth or die and decay
with the past. As water, standing still, stagnates and produces living
organism, so churches refusing to move forward, will die, and from their
effete body will rise a new organism instinct with the breath of a
broader and clearer light. Good is good no matter whether it is found
in character built by church creeds or built by a personal recognition
of duty and right with a faithful allegiance to the same. Men are not
all on their way to the bottomless pit who do not bow down to creeds
composed by a few claimers of infallibility. Is Abraham Lincoln in
the bottomless pit ? Where are the greatest men of this nation ? Was
Gen. Grant ever on record of the Methodist church ? Where are Clay,
Sumner, and Webster ? Tell me and I will be silent.
" My second reason for withdrawing is this : Methodism is cont-
rolled by a set of ecclesiastical bosses, and all under-graduates are their
164 OP TORONTO THE GOOD.
tools. All ordinary preachers are instantly crushed to death unless
they salute the pope. All kinds of chicanery and infidelity are practised
by the leaders under the cloak of ecclesiastical and religious duty. The
church guillotine stands upon the platform at every conference, sharp-
ened and ready to decapitate every preacher who prostrates not him
self to the gods. Unless they become professional beggars they are
immediately relegated to the rear. The man of brains must seek his
field for himself, while the beggar rides his circuit gathering supplies
for bosses. Millions of dollars annually are collected and carried to
foreign fields to build up personal enterprises at the expenses of priv-
ation, suffering, and beggary in our home country.
" Where is the $20,000 ship bought and paid for by the American
people and placed in the waters of the Congo by Taylor for the purpose
of establishing trading posts ? What have been the results of $300,000
begged of the children and poor of this country and sent to Bulgaria ?
What of the millions sent to China ? ' The Chairman,' said Dr. Max-
field of Omaha, in a speech made at Stanton, Neb., some years ago,
*will be a Chinaman no matter where he is, or what be the character
of his instruction.* This is doubtless true. But why send millions of
money needed by the poor and destitute of this country to China to
no purpose ? We answer : It is to keep missionary secretaries in lucra-
tive positions. To this end the popes of the church will crush out of
existence all preachers who do not endorse the movement. Book con-
cerns are run by this gigantic institution, and all preachers are required
to purchase their literature from them at enormous prices, so that the
Bishops can come and draw large salaries, ride in Pullman palace cars,
stop at costly hotels, and build fine mansions. All this comes from the
self-sacrificing preachers, who live for the most part upon from $200 to
$300 a year. Thousands of dollars passed out of Nebraska during the
hardest times ever seen to fields rendering large support to the bosses
of the church, while the citizens of Eastern States were appealed to
assist the needy to keep from starvation.
" These are but a small number of the reasons I have for with-
drawing."
I ask your careful perusal of the foregoing as showing the means
church authorities are ready to employ to avenge themselves upon
those who adversely criticise their acts, and as proving the absurdity
of Protestant claims to liberty of conscience. This man asserts there
is no hell, and nine-tenths of the Protestants of the present day agree
with him but the Methodist authorities whose vagaries he denounced,
took good care to keep him out of the pale of the church, as soon as
he showed his independence.
Assuming that Christianity is founded upon the ten command-
ments, Christ's sermon on the Mount ; that St. Paul was inspired of God,
and that the bible is true, how many are there who are Christians
according to its definition there either clergy or laity ? There is not
five per cent on the continent of America, and I hold that the clergy
is entirely to blame for such a state of affairs. By whose authority does
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 165
this man or that man preach a " liberal " Christianity, which will permit
his congregation to do almost anything so long as they keep within
the technicalities of laws made by man to shield rogues and swindlers ?
for I hold that the man who borrows from me or buys from me and
does not pay me, is nothing less than a swindler.
Is there a so-called Christian to-day who would think of obeying
the divine injunction which says "if thine enemy smite thee on one
cheek, turn thou the other " ? There is not one. A preacher will, doubt-
less tell you that it does not bear its literal interpretation, and let some
one cross him, and he will demonstrate how little restraint his Christ-
ianity has over him in his frantic attempt to give the person who
opposes him a black eye. The passage I have referred to means what
it says or it means nothing. So do all the Scriptures.
What is the value ot Christianity anyway ? It does not appear to
elevate, refine or change those who profess it one iota. I have heard
ministers of the gospel use the vilest billingsgate in speaking, and if
anyone should show a good example surely it is they.
Hon. S. H. Blake recently aroused the ire of the Hamilton brethren
by some remarks of his, and the brethren retort in kind. At a meeting
of the Ministerial Association, Evangelist Moody and Hon. S. H. Blake
were severely rebuked for statements made at public meetings concern-
ing higher criticism. Rev. Dr. Burns said he was much annoyed at the
reflection made on the talent of preachers who occupy Hamilton pulpits.
Rev. Dr. Lyle said such ignoramuses should be severely censured. If
the Lord's work can prosper without the ignorant, the utterances of
Moody and Blake, he said, should be hissed down, as they indicated a
lack of charity and show " a wicked spirit and much ignorance. The
memories of higher critics will live when these wretched, sneering
pigmy critics are dead and forgotten."
Rev. Mr. McPherson said he could forgive Moody, on account of
his intense enthusiasm. Blake's remarks, however, were very insulting,
and Blake should be thoroughly ashamed of himself.
Rev. Mr. Gilmour advised the Association not to put itself on
record in the matter, and the discussion dropped.
Hon. S. H. Blake has also said the success of the Sunday car ad-
vocates was attributable to those clergymen who openly favoured Sun-
day afternoon bicycling and boating, and in a measure Sunday cars.
The Sabbath was being secularized by witty speeches on prohibition
and by the turning of churches into concert halls. Ministers attended
such lectures on Sunday afternoons instead of teaching in Bible classes
the importance of keeping holy the Sabbath day.
When the time came for the collection at Bond street Congreg-
ational church the new pastor. Rev. Morgan Wood, spoke out as follows :
*' The ushers will now pass amongst you and take up the collection. I
get awfully tired of making that announcement every Sunday, friends.
I have to ask you for money, but if everybody here would get into the
habit of dropping his money into a box at the door there would be no
occasion for this. But there is one thing I want to say. Everybody
here ought to put at least five cents in the plate.
166 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
** Ushers " he continued, addressing himself to the church officers.
" I want to say something to you. Watch the people who don't put
any collection on the plate. Watch them, look good and hard at them,
shame them into it, and if they don't give they'll not come again, or if
they do, they'll bring their money with them next time."
Christianity, Christianity, thou hast much to answer for when such
things are done in thy holy name.
In another part of this article is a quotation from a paper which
says that clergymen all but called one another liars in Montreal and
Ottawa.
Listen to this from the Methodist conference :
The Rev. W. McDonagh did not propose to allow this conference
or any other body of men to gag him.
Here is another example of similar heroics :
The Rev. Mr. Willoughby was again on his feet in an instant. He
would like to know who dared place what he called any obstacles in
the way of Manitoba. He was prepared to stand by that country let
the worst come to the worst, and he wanted a vote taken immediately
to show the world how they felt on the question.
I think the above is about what some hysterical old woman would
say. Yet I heard another Methodist divine speak against Mr. J. C.
Rykert in a style that would have gladdened the hearts of fish wives
all over the world. It might be called a disgrace to Christianity, only
Christianity is impervious to disgrace.
When Rev. Fulton came to this city to address audiences on the
Church of Rome, he referred to the mass as a roaring farce. And his
Christian audience applauded.
The committee which investigated the charges against the Rev.
Geo. Nesbit, of the Anglican church, Sutton, found that he was guilty
of opening letters of a parishioner. Miss Kathleen Osborne: also of
calling the lady an " infernal liar," and finally of having brought the
names of some of his parishioners into publicity in connection with
the case. A verdict of suspension for one year from his parish was
brought in against Mr. Nesbit.
Bishop Cameron, of Antigonish in speaking of some political
opponents one of whom was a devoted Catholic, called them " hell-
inspired hypocrites."
Personally, I admire the above references, which breathe the spirit
of educated ruffianism and ecclesiastical blackguardism, and I ask you
what there is in so-called Christianity more than a cloak to hide the
vilest traits of human character ? Besides which it demonstrates what I
contend that clergymen who are presumed to teach us the way of the
gentle Savior are not any more fitted to do so than anyone else if we
may judge them by the intemperance of their language towards those
who are opposed to them.
During the progress of the Equal Rights bout in Ontario some
years ago, I confess my inability to understand the vindictive frenzy
that a large number of Protestant clergymen worked themselves into,
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 167
but a residence in Montreal of over a year has completely opened my
eyes. First of all, the Jesuits, against whom their venom was principally
directed, are never obliged to announce in the press the sermons they
are to preach, nor the attractions they are to have, but their church is
always crowded to the doors. The reason is therefore, perfectly clear.
Jealousy ? Certainly not. Again, they have one of the finest colleges
in the world, which is attended by the flower of the French Canadian
youth, and I never wish to see a more manly-looking crowd of boys
than their pupils. The vigorous onslaughts made upon the Jesuits
appear to have injured them not at all. Their school is patronized as
it always has been, and that is only the logical outcome of events. The
people who send their sons there know the Jesuits. They know them
well, and what must be the feelings of those blatherskites who traduced
them when they found that after the expulsion of all their wind, their
enemies are still doing business in the old stand, untainted and serene
as ever, and their church crowded as it always has been. My only
surprise is now that there was not an immense influx into the Insane
asylums of Ontario, when the crowd of windbags found out " how vain
how ineffective their designs, while rage their leader and Jehovah
Mine," turned out their portion, and what their frenzy must have been,
and how little harm they had done.
During the past twenty years science and art have made most rapid
progress in their development, and politics have never been discussed
with greater energy than at the present day, so it is only reasonable,
therefore, that religion too, should have its progress in similar propor-
tion, and be discussed by the different religious teachers with acrimony
corresponding to the discussions of partisan politics. Besides compet-
ition in religion has become very keen of late years, and it behooves
the preacher to enter the field ready to give the moral value for the
money, an easy way to heaven, no restraint in morals, but a good show
to the world.
Early in 1 878 or it may have been in 1 877, a Toronto paper published
as the opinion of a certain professor the following : ** Religion is a great
political question, and will die the death of all such questions, after
having served its purpose. It has held out longer on account of its
adherents, but it will end in just the same way as every other great
political question has ended." I wrote to the clergyman who read it
but he had forgotten what paper he saw it in but that is the pith of the
quotation, if not the exact language.
The speakers on this question are Doctors of Divinity in endless
profusion, scattered over the country, and as Max O'Reil says of the
title of Colonel in the United States, few escape it. Colleges are
abounding all over the country, spreading their nets to catch some
victim, to confer the meaningless title upon him, though the victims are
in most cases very willing ones. Few indeed escape it.
That Toronto has the ablest pulpit orators in the Dominion is
beyond question though that is not saying much, but that there are
any intellectual giants among them who, in theology, compare with the
168 OF TORONTO TKB GOOD.
Hon. Edward Blake in law is answered very decidedly in the negative.
Sensationalism has, however, provided a most excellent substitute,
though it cannot always be said to be a paying commodity. Take as
an example the Auditorium. It commenced under circumstances that
promised undoubted prosperity. Preaching on Sunday night with an
orchestra to accompany the singing, and the modern Samson, who
could break a chain by placing it on his arm the rest of the week. If
as we are informed variety is the spice of life, then its success should
have been assured. It is, however, beyond doubt that the methods
adopted by the pastor of the auditorium were not held in that profound
esteem which he thought they should have been. It is presumed that
in the course of a sermon in the Queen street Methodist church on
questionable church attractions the Rev. Manly Benson had reference
to the auditorium and its manager. The latter gentleman on the follow-
ing Sunday replied — not so much to the arguments of Mr. Benson as to
the methods employed at the auditorium, but to abuse of Mr. Benson
personally. He started with an attack on Mr. Benson's name, and that
part of his sermon was interspersed with denunciatory language that
would have done credit to a fish-wife or even the disputants in a prize
fight. When the affairs of the concern became so far involved that it
was impossible to continue the " services" as they may be called, it was
closed, and Mr. Wilkinson left for the United States, in connection with
which the Globe says :
Rev. J, M. Wilkinson, well-known in Toronto as the pastor for some years of Agnes
street church and later on as an energetic, freehanded evangelistic worker, conducting success-
ful popular services in the tabernacle and elsewhere, received the permission of the Toronto-
conference to remove to Illinois where he will settle. He has been preaching in Chicago, and
has met with such a measure of success thej e that he has concluded that his field of labour lies
there. Mr. Wilkinson is a young man yet, an effective speaker, and an ardent worker. His
methods of work have not always been exactly like those of everybody else, a point which will
doubtless tell to his advantage m his new sphare of labour.
No one would object to sensationalism to any very great extent,
if ability were behind it, or any good cause were served by it but there
is none. A worthy Presbyterian preacher some time ago gave vent to
some pyrotechnic sensationalism in regard to Aldermen. In the course
of his remarks he struck out from the shoulder as a local paper put it,
at these who made that their psofession, but toned himself down
towards the end by remarking that his strictures did not, of course
apply to Toronto. The average reader will doubtles wonder why, then
he delivered the sermon. His strictures no doubt were meant to apply
to the Chinese or some other Asiatic race, and yet it was subsequently
proven that Toronto Aldermen were guilty of boodling.
Men who are so ready to treat of sensational subjects, demonstrate
their insincerity when they allow their own adherents to do just as
they please in keeping or breaking the rules of the churches, or com-
mitting acts of absolute dishonesty.
It is not for the spiritual profit of the Methodist church that its
business enterprises should give credit to clergymen who have to be
dunned in public for the amount of their indebtedness to a denomin-
ational concern. It is rough on a Book Room, when ministers who
OF TOfiONTO THE GOOD. 169
cannot, or will not, pay up get far in upon the debit side of its ledger.
It is rough on Methodism in the Hamilton Conference at least, when
a representative of the Book Room rises to reproach the debtors of that
institution in words which the worlding will construe as an intimation
that all ministers are dead beats. Refusing credit or collecting debts
by a process of law might be a hard measure, but saddling a whole
class with the liabilities of individuals is not an admirable method of
collecting debts.
When clergymen are so lax in enforcing their church discipline,
and so tardy in paying their debts, but eager to rush into print or
preach sermons that will bring them into notoriety, I think the time is
not far distant when a discriminating public will conclude that modern
Christianity is a thing they can live quite pleasantly without, on the
hypothesis that their spiritual advisers are not any better then iheyare
themselves nor are some of them quite as good.
If opera, tragedy and comedy have their seasons of special favour,
and politics its heated discussions, so too religion has its changes and
varieties in similar commensuration, and the public have their desires
fulfilled and their requirements gratified just as the theatre-goer has
his, for the preacher's popularity like that of the theatrical manager or
politician is gauged by his ability to keep in touch with the people.
Circumstances not unfrequently occur where opportunities are given
for a display of pyrotechnics, and they are always seized upon with
avidity by the preachers who wish to make any comments upon them,
being duly advertised in the daily papers. As an example take the
hanging of that consummate blackguard Birchall. A man may be hanged
for murder, and if he quietly submits to it, he is not likely to receive
much attention from the preachers, but as this most infamous blackleg
who had not a redeeming feature in all his filthy character managed
to keep himself prominently before the public, his execution was seized
upon by different preachers to attract the crowd to their respective
churches, and in reviewing the matter Saturday Night very clearly
echoes the general feeling of the public on the subject :
And the parsons, too ! d course it is perfectly proper that they should preach on cur-
rent topics, but there is a tendency to sensationalism amongst them, and we always expect Rev.
Dr. Wild to have his say when anything is being said. He and Rev. Dr. Stafford both preached
from the text, "Thou shalt not kill," both aiming at the same conclusion, that capital punish-
ment should be abolished, though they took different methods to prove the same thing. Both
were apparently brought to this conclusion by the educated and interesting nature of the victim^
the death of so many common murderers having been passed over unnoticed. As usual Dr.
Wild's sermon was as much evolved from the encyclopaedia as from the bible. After pointing
out that capital punishment was a relic of barbarism a fragment of the old doctrine of revenge,
he showed that besides murder there were eleven other kinds of crime that were punishable
with death under the Mosaic dispensation : hrst, striking a parent ; second, blasphemy ; third.
Sabbath breaking ; fourth, with craft ; fifth, adultery ; sixth, unchastity ; seventh, rape ;
eighth, incestuousness ; ninth, man-slaying ; tenth, idolatry; eleventh, false swearing, adding,
" now it is a remarkable thing that those who plead for capital punishment never bring forward
these and argue that they should be enforced now ; they bring forward that if a man kills another
capital punishment should take place because it is written in the bock of Moses."
Dr. Wild is evidently of ihe opinion that the Mosaic law is not law to-day. I do not
remember what his views on the observance of the sabbath are, but I am glad he has pointed
out to the modern Sabbatarian that if we are to follow out the Mosaic law in this respect we
must put to death those who disobey the M osaic law something which, by the way, it is imposs-
ible for us to observe in this age and under conditions such as we are surrounded by in this
170 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
climate and country. Possibly he holds that the same modification of the law should be made
in respect to Sabbath observance as to murder, that imprisonment for life would be sufficiently
severe for those who light afire on Sunday or journey beyond the specified number of miles.
As a matjer of fact capital punishment is not retained out of respect for Moses any more than
is Sunday insisted upon as a day of rest, because the Great Law Giver made it a portion of his
regulations. Asa gentleman whom I regard as one of the brainiest members of the Methodist
body either lay or clerical in this province, remarked to me, " Sunday should be kept, not
because Moses kept it, but because it is an economic necessity," I think we hang people for
the same reason, not because Moses did it but because we want to get rid of that sort of people.
It is cheaper and safer, and altogether more reasonable to put them to death than to imprison
them for life. Of course as Dr. Wild and Dr. Stafford point out, there is a possibility of con-
verting them, but there are so many decent people now who don't need converting in that way,
who are left without even prison fare and never have the ministration of a preacher volunteered
to them, that I think we ought to take care of them first, and after we get so far advanced that
we have no decent people dying for want of simple prison provender then we may take up the
problem of making over the murderously bad ones. Until that time comes, if Drs. Wild and
Stafford would devote a portion of their energies to caring for honest people who are foolish
enough to permit their only crime to be poverty, and have failed to become enterprising enough
to be murderers the progress of civilization will not be stayed by the occasional necktie social
which sends up to the Supreme Court of the Universe some human malformation in the shape
of a murderer.
The great trouble with these preachers and many scientists is they want to deal with
freaks all the time ignoring the great mass of uninteresting, but human atoms who live and die
without so much as the gentle touch of a missionary's gloved hand. Why should we fret over
the freaks ? Why should the church especially make its doctrines apply t3 the exhibits of a
dime museum of nature instead of the great surging, sorrowing mass who go into the world and
go out of it without any recognition but kicks and hunger ? Why should we care for the lives
of a few cowardly assassins whom the world is never safe from until the hangman has had them,
while gentle women weep and babies cry because they hav*^ not been fed, and men gnash their
teeth because, without having sinned against the law, or been guilty of any greater crime than
being born, they are undergoing a life sentence of humiliation and hunger in the dark cell of
social oblivion ? It seems to prove that human sin and suffering must be thrust in the eyes and
the stench of human wrong-doing heJd under the nostrils of these leaders of religious thought
before they can be made to recognize the existence of anyone but the well-dressed and well-fed
parishioners who fill their pews. Death ! Why should death frighten these persons ? Kvery
day in this land of ours the sentence of death is being imposed upon some innocent child, over-
worked mother, and unfortunate father. Death ! Unmerited death ! Death after an imprison-
ment for life, death after vain struggles to live, death after fruitless appeals to God and his
people ! Have not all seen it, perhaps helped to infiicit it ? Our clerical friends could not be
silent a moment or rest an instant from their labour and if they felt half as badly about the
death of a fellow-being as they would have us believe. Death ! Why, this earth is carnival of
death. Civilization ! Why. it is but another name for the refinement of cruelty in the infliction
of death. Death ! Was it not the sentence imposed upon mankind for the sin of our first father
and mother, imposed upon us before we were born, a sentence which will be inflicted on man*
kind after we are dead ? I can't see why it should so greatly horrify Brother Wild, or unduly
excite the eloquence of Brother Stafford.
We remember how, when the Equal Rights Crusade was at its
zenith sensationalism was the only accepted form of service that could
attract the multitude, and receive any kind of recognition from the
press. How many preachers are there in the whole Dominion who
have awakened to find themselves famous, surprised beyond expression
at the ability they possessed, but never suspected, when this ability
was appraised by that portion of the press which could always find space
for the snarls of reverend nobodies, suffering from periodical attacks
of the spleen or vapours, measuring the universe by that narrow scrap
of tape which was the span or their own littleness, and who would never
have been heard of did these journals not publish their articles. The
airy castles they built of future glory are nothing but the ashen they
are sitting in to-day. The rotten foundations of human vanity which
the prophet assures us are only shortlived at best, and upon which their
hopes were built have crumbled to the dust — the would-be-sensationalist
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 171
is far and away beyond oblivion. This seems especially sad, since we
had the outside assistance of professional haters of Rome, escaped nuns
etc., to assist us in the good work. We remember with profound thank-
fulness of the privileges we enjoyed in listening to these grand and
ennobling declamations and recitations from lives of sensual filth written
by saintly men and women for the moral and spiritual welfare of man-
kind, and with no thought of profit to themselves. We remember their
righteous indignation with the press of the city in not publishing these
stories, and assisting in the propogation of the good work, and the
justice of the aspersions they cast upon the press for such neglect of
duty we acknowledge to have been well-merited.
It is stated that when Corinne and her merry makers visit the
Toronto Opera house, it is almost impossible to obtain seats, and should
anyone by mischance go late he is obliged to take whatever seat he
can get, and in fact be very thankful if he can get a seat at all. The
reason of this is that the suggestiveness of the play and actors are the
secret of its popularity. It, therefore, behooved the Ministry in its fore-
thought and wisdom to provide an entertainment equally attractive,
and they did so. It will not be doubted, I think, that if the divine
Son of God were to make his second coming, he would be surprised and
perhaps overwhelmed with the marvellous progress made in Christianity
during the past few years. It is equally certain that he would find that
those preachers who are supposed to emulate him, would prove that in
depth of learning, and theology and the construction of his texts they
were*far and away ahead of Him, though the word came through his
inspiration, remembering at the same time that any question of miser-
able sinners on the question of the Great Perhaps is a matter too
commonplace to receive the consideration of those eminent Doctors of
Divinity, who, like the poor, are always with us, and whose almost
supernal ability it would be absurd to question. Perhaps, too, he would
feel somewhat abashed and believe that he was not in the running,
when brought face to face with the sesquipedalian language and elegance
of diction employed by the present day preacher in accordance with
the popular demand. Comparing the new testament witu the modern
day requirements I do not think anyone will for one moment contend,
that as a literary effort it is anything to the expressive slang we use in
the present day. Like the air we breathe slang is absolutely necessary
to our very existence. The man who has no fear of doing so, goes to
the opera house to hear and see what he expects to see, but the alleged
Christian who is afraid of being boycotted, is compelled to look to the
pulpit for such a treat. In order to meet the spiritual needs of his con-
gregation a certain Reverend gentleman made visits to certain houses
of ill-fame in an American city, and entertained his hearers with a
delectable account of his experience. Besides this he has given us a
further exhibition of his prowess in this choice and touching language :
**If you or I have any wish to be a little Redeemer." " I can under-
stand some of the angels not in the redemption business loafing along
the celestial courts." " Christ has taken out the only patent method
of saving the world."
172 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
Verily the church of God must have fallen to singular depths.
Toronto has not yet been favoured with a visit from this distin-
guished gentleman, but it is merely a question of time when she will be,
though thus far we have been satisfied with Sam Jones, who has been
able to satisfy our requirements, and meet our refined tastes with the
most delectable paraphrasing. You will, doubtless remember that we
had him and Sam Small here in company, and you will remember that
we, like humanity in general, satisfied our cultured curiosity by giving
him a reception that would have gratified the ablest statesman who
ever lived, after the completion of some important diplomatic triumph.
It is not, I think, contended by those who brought him here that they
did so on account of his ability as a teacher of the word of God. His
vulgarity, which passed for wit ; his slangy style of oratory and the
delightfully familiar manner in which he spoke to and of the Son of
God and God himself, and which gave him a continental notoriety were
his drawing cards, and as he fed the popular demand for sensationalism
and vulgar slang it cannot be said that he did not earn his money.
Those who could have gone to a low theatre and heard no worse than
this could feel consistently that their senses were being gratified and no
rule of the church was being broken. He, too, must have felt gratified
at our open-armed reception and the sycophantic constancy with which
we received and applauded his defiling remarks. In speaking of him
a newspaper says :
He had been hired to deliver a series of sermons at the Urbana Camp meeting. The
secular press freely denounces the management as being more solicitous for the almighty dollar
than the salvation of souls. When it was proposed to raise the price of admission to the grounds,
there was a vigorous protest, which was met by the " Rev," Sam in the following stirring pulpit
expostulation :
*' You stingy old devil, you talk of going to heaven Why, you old dog, you are too
stingy to get into heaven. You kicked because you thought you had to pay an extra five cents
to get into the grounds. I just like to catch an old dog like you and hold him out by the collar
and let him kick himself to death."
At another time, when evidences of an unchristian rebellion were manifest, he became
equally eloquent :
"A dude," he said, "talks about killing me ; why I would just spit on him and drown him."
Refreshing is it not ?
I was privileged some few years ago to hear him " preach " at
Grimsby Park. He seems to nurse a grievance against Colonel Ingersoll,
whom he accused of using most disgraceful profanity in a Railway
sleeper where both had passed the night. In a burst of grandeur of soul
he exclaimed " I wouldn't let my dog speak to him, I wouldn't speak
to him myself." It will be inferred therefore, that Mr. Jones ha«^ a dog
which speaks, but his announcement of the fact that he would not speak
to Colonel Ingersoll himself, suggests the idea that the Prince of Wales
for instance, would scarce get over the heartburning that might be caused
if some sweep were to announce that he would not speak to him. I
understand, though, that notwithstanding Mr. Jones terrible determin-
ation not to speak to him, Mr. Ingersoll still breathes. In the course of
his observations, Mr. Jones was demonstrating God's love, and he took
himself as a living example, " when I go home, and my dog runs to
meet me. I pat him and I say ' what makes you love me so ? ' and he
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 173
says * because you so good to me,' and when I go to my horse and feed
him and ask him * what makes you love me so ? ' he says, ' because
you're so good to me.' "
I think that is sublime. A horse that speaks and a dog that speaks.
Still in these days of democracy it may safely be inferred that
Providence in the selection of his preachers is as lenient as humanity
in the selection of gentlemen, though it may be thought that heaven is
not very particular who is now preaching for it. I think if pharisees
abounded in these days, one might very consistantly say that when
such characters are the chosen of the Lord, he stands a good chance of
entering the pearly gates on the plea that heaven is not such a desirable
place after all, when the characters of its advocates are taken into
consideration.
Like all businesses, religion has its fakirs, and a thriving trade is done
by some of them. One sect pretends to cure all diseases by faith, but
their faith is not shaken by the death of their patients. " If they had
had more faith they would have recovered." A celebrated physician
cured all illnesses by bleedings and hot water. When a patient died it
was because he had not been bled copiously enough or too copious, and
the water administered too hot or not hot enough ! The theory remained
excellent. In the faith cure fake the proselytes are appealed to for
funds to found what is called the *' Lord's Treasury." When one of
the Christian Scientists came to our city, the ungrateful press took no
notice of his coming, whereupon some one, I don't know who under-
took to lecture them in the Advance, in the following language, though
I might say, inferentially, that a few lessons in writing and spelling
would do him no harm, if he proposes inflicting any more of it on the
long-suffering compositor :
His advent to Toronto is worthy of note, for after a lengthy sojourn in Australia, he has
created a stir in the United States, and the silence of the Toronto press, silence, which from a
journalistic standpoint is extremely silly — makes it imperative that such papers as the Advance
should do this work. I attended the meetings as a skeptic, having no sympathy with what I
considered a fantastic interpretation of scripture, supported by fancied or fanciful cures of some
weak-minded men and hysterical women. I went to scoff. Ij[remainedjto the prayer meeting,
because I was anxious to hear the whole matter.
His accent is Scotch, he is an Edinboro man, his style of ispeaking ts very direct — too
blunt for some super-sensitive ears. He calls tobacco smokers " nasty stink-pots " he speaks
of Job's affliction as " the vile stinking boils that came from the devil's dirty fingers."
Our Saviour would undoubtedly have been more than pleased at
this refreshing style of speaking supposed to be delivered in his name.
This is a sample of their cures :
At Arger's Hotel Coroner Orr conducted an inquest into the cause
of death of a six-year-old lad named Percy Robert Beck, who died while
under treatment by a Christian Scientist. Crown Attorney Dewart
examined the witnesses. Mrs. Beck, mother of the lad, said he took
sick about three weeks before. Mrs. Beer, who had attended him three
times before, was sent for. Her treatment was mental, no medicines
being used. The Scientists claimed God sent sickness as a punishment
for sin, and people merely believed they were sick ; the truth did every-
thing. Mrs. Beer said to deceased : " Percy Beck, you have no illness,
174 OP TOEONTO THE GOOD.
you are a child of God, and cannot be sick." Percy became worse and
Mrs. Beer treated him by sitting silently beside him. She charged one
dollar for each treatment. Thomas Beck, the lad's father, corroborated
his wife's statement, and said he had more faith in the Christian
Scientists than he had in doctors. Two brothers of deceased said they
also were treated in the same way.
When some years ago, the secular society had the effrontery to
speak of bringing Colonel Igersoll here, holy Toronto held up its hands
in anguish at the idea. A gentleman whose eloquence, high moral
character and brilliant intellect have won for him a reputation wherever
the English language is spoken, was not fit to speak in this saintly city ;
yet the Colonel came and lectured, and the house was packed to the
doors, yet in his entire lecture there was not the first sign of coarseness
or vulgarity ; it was a most elegant elucidation of what the lecturer
believed to be true. ^lax O'Rell who erjoyed his hospitality when in
New York in addition to many other pleasant things has the following :
Mr. Ingersoll is not only America's greatest living orator, he is a great writer and
thinker ; the trinity that he worships is the trinity cf science, observation and experience. I
never heard Mr. Ingersoll say that he did not believe in a God. He will not acknowledge the
existence of a Jehovah, the God of the Jews, a God who commanded the people of his choice
to exterminate their enemies sparing neither old men, women nor children. Mr. Ingersoll is
not the only seeker after truth who has been puzzled to reconcile the idea of the gentle merciful
saviour who taught the doctrine of love and forgiveness in Palestine, and bade his disciples put
up their swords in the presence of their persecutors, and the idea of this crnel, revengeful, and
implacable deity. " I rob Smith " exclaims Mr. Ingersoll in the ironical language he is such a
master of, "God forgives me. How does that help Smith .<*" That which makes this man so
formidable is not so much his eloquence, his quick repartee, his sarcasm, his pathos, his humor,
it is above all things the life he leads, the example he sets of all the domestic virtues. One must
have the privilege of knowing him intimately, of penetrating into that sanctuary of conjugal
happiness, his home,|before one can form an idea of the respect that he must mspire even in
those who abhor his doctrines. His house is the home of the purest joys ; it holds four hearts
that beat as one. Authors, artists, journalists, members of the thinking world may be met at
the Colonel's charming Sunday evenings. Between midnight and one in the morning the last
visitor reluctactly departs. On the way home you think of all the witty things that have been
said the arrows ©f satire that have been shot at hypocrisy and humbug, the ennobling humani-
tarian opinions that have been advanced ; and though you may not be converted, or converted
or perverted to Ingersollism, you are sure to leave that house feeling fuller of good will toward
all men, and saying yourself: " What a delightful evening I have passed."
Now, the lot of Colonel Ingersoll in this world is very enviable, for his profession brings
him in a magnificent income. As to refusing his place in the next, what an absurdity.
When Robert Ingersoll presents himself at the pearly gates of Paradise, St. Peter sees
that good, open face, radiant with happiness, the doors will be thrown wide to let him pass, and
the saint will say :
" Come Robert, come in, thy happy face pleases me. We have just let in a cargo of
long-faced folk — Presbyterians I'll be bound and it do«s one good^to look at thee. Thou hast
done they utmost to stifle the hydra headed monster superstition, and to destroy the infamies that
are in circulation on the subject of the Lord. Come in, friend, thou hast loved, thou has been
beloved, thou hast preached concord, mercy, peace love, and happiness ; come, take thy place
among the benefactors of the human race,"
This is the opinion expressed by one of the ablest writers of the
day. A gentleman, who, to him, was an entire stranger yet when that
same gentleman was invited to visit us as a brilliant orator the Chris-
tian people declared unanimously that he should not come and why ?
Fear, doubtless that he would show their Pharisacial actions up and
they would lose the little prestige they now possess. And yet a Chris-
tian will complacently inform you that his religion is unassailable.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 175
I give you also the following, and do not think I am at all astray
in stating that the notice was given by one of the society and furnished
to all the city newspapers.
The West Presbyterian church Band of Hope held their regular meeting on Thursday
evening and there was an attendance above the average. The behaviour was all that could be
desired. One parent brought two of her children, and another sent two, and so the quiet work
goes on. The superintendents were in their places and the children were addressed by Mr.
George Wilson.
You will notice that we are informed that the quiet work goes on,
yet I feel constrained to say that if it is quiet, it is not{from any feeling
of modesty on the part of the officers or promoters, but is purely and
simply the gross negligence of the press in not giving it publicity.
It would indeed be an unanswerable enigma to ask what would
the preachers do without the press. Consult any of the Toronto papers,
and particularly the Mail, and you will see that quite half the corres-
pondence is from preachers of the different denominations, answering
some contemporary, denouncing some adversary, or giving vent to their
views on some of the political questions of the day, or criticising the
work or sermon of a brother minister.
Let the thoughtful reader reflect for one moment, and ask himself
if it were not for the notoriety given them by the press, how many
preachers would there be who would be accused of heresy and other
similar offences that injures no one, but simply serves the purpose of
bringing themselves before the public, and in a lesser degree their
accusers .•* I do not think there would be one where now there is a
hundred. As an example take the case of the Rev. Dr. Briggs, his
trials before the different synods and assemblies in the different parts
of the United States, and what do they all amount to t Simply to let
a lot of men air their opinions, and have them published in the press
throughout the country, and the very remote contingency of a new
religion, belief, faith or whatever you chose to call it, being inflicted on
long-suffering humanity. Do you think that the charge of heresy brought
against this preacher and that preacher is anything more than mere
excuses for newspaper notoriety t If you do think otherwise your abiliy
to read human character must be very limited indeed.
If clergymen are actuated by motives Christlike, why was it ne-
cessary for the Rev. Dr. Carman of Belleville to rush into print when
it so happened that he was not asked to say grace at a banquet given
in Belleville in honor of Sir Mackenzie Bowell.? Would it not have
been far more dignified, without saying Christlike to have allowed the
matter to pass in silence } It is quite within the range of recollection of
many people that during the time the Toronto Mail was the champion
of Protestant rights, the Rev. Dr. Carman was in the habit of writing
long letters to that journal taken from some scriptural text. How do
those letters compare with the letter he wrote to the Belleville Ontario
with regard to his position at the Bowell banquet } In striking contrast
to his position appears that of the Catholic priest who was invited to
perform the ceremony of saying grace. Mr. Thomas Ritchie explains
the whole matter in a letter to the Intelligencer. He accepts the entire
176 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
responsibility for having requested Mgr. Farrel to say grace, and adds
that the latter at the time asked to be excused on the ground that such
action might create bad feeling. Mgr. Farrel desired that no bad feeling
should be created, What construction could be put upon Dr. Carman's
attitude except that he desired to create bad feeling, and whose con-
duct was the more gentlemanly, without going so far as to say Christlike ?
The Telegram quite satirically observes of another preacher .•
Rev. John Burwash who is upholding Coercion by his presence on platforms and his
utterances in print, expresses opinions which would be entirely unimportant if their author did
not wear a name adorned by tbe rare powers of his brother, Rev. N. Burwash, Chancellor of
Victoria U niversity.
It giving these delineations of clerical characteristics and my ad-
verse comments on their actions, I consider it my right to affirm that
if clergymen are actuated by no higher motives than newspaper noto-
riety, they do far more to advance the theories and the march of infi-
delity than a dozen men like Col. Ingersoll would do. It is a clergy-
man's place to command respect and by example prove that he really
believes in a loving Savior. If they indicate by their actions that their
minds have no higher plane than those they are presumed to teach, I
contend that their usefulness is gone. There is no class of men who
are more ready to rush into print than they, and I hold that when they
do so they do so with a loss of the respect their cloth should entitle
them to. The frequency of church rows demonstrates my contention
that clergymen do not receive, nor merit the respect that clergymen in
former times received, and that the fault is entirely their own I have
tried to prove by my criticisms.
Years ago when I was attending school, I recollect a young lad of
about ten coming into school one morning flushed with importance and
swaggering like a triumphant general.
** Did you see my name in the paper last night ? " he asked, proudly
and as no one answered, we held our breath while he read : *" A young
lad by name of John Jones was almost run over last night by Bing-
ham's express wagon, etc. ' "
Nothing could exceed the pride with which he read the blood
curdling announcement, and whenever I see eccentricities on the part
of clergymen and others, which are reported in the newspapers I think
of little Johnny Jones and his name in the paper.
Some time ago when I was employed on a city paper the pastor
of what was then called, and the present pastor still calls St. Paul's
Methodist Church, in preparing his advertisement of the Sunday ser-
vices, invariably called the church Avenue Road Methodist Church.
To the evil minded it might occur that he styled his church the Avenue
Road, simply to get it placed at the head of the list of churches, pos-
sibly thereby implying its importance, or it might be that a church on
that aristocratic thoroughfare would be considered a more fashionable
temple in which to worship than common every day St. Paul's. I express
no opinion on the matter myself ; but call your attention to an obser-
vation reported in the Mail and Empire as having been made by this _
I
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 177
gentleman : " Imagine Jesus Christ standing on the street corners with
a cigar or a cigarette in his mouth etc." In view of these matters does
anyone presume that so distinguished a clergyman was simply seeking
notoriety ? By no means, nor could any reasonable being presume that
his remarks concerning Christ were in any respect blasphemous, because
they were not. Still, what were they ?
At a meeting of the preachers some little time ago,'a rev. gentle-
man passed some observations in regard to the hymn " God Save the
Queen," implying that it would not be required much longer. He was
not immortalized, however, for his breach of good taste, and when he
sought fame as a school trustee, unsuccessfully, the ignorant, not to say
brutal instincts of the electors, leading them to support men who com-
pletely snowed him under. I think this case is especially sad.
A couple of years ago the Industrial Exhibition Association,
according to its usual custom I believe, sent passes to a Baptist clergy-
man amongst others, which the rev. gentleman returned to the Presi-
dent of the Association. No one need complain of that, but why was
it necessary for him to rush into print and electrify the world with the
announcement that he had returned the passes in order that he might
have the ri ^ht to criticise the show ? Some people not endowed with
Christian charity might insist that the rev. gentleman informed the
public of his sacrifice merely for the sake of the notoriety it would give
him. If that view prevails, it certainly has not had any tangible result
as far as I can see, for he is still with us, but it is not, of course, by any
means certain that he was actuated by any such motive.
Lately I have noticed that the heretics are not so plentiful as they
were a few years ago, but I notice that quite a few clergymen are being
advertised by the patent medicine dealers, and this may have the effect
of reducing the number who might otherwise have sought immortality
through heresy.
It must be that ministers rub up so little against the world that
contradiction maddens them, and when in Presbytery or Synod they
are contradicted by each other the polished violence of their language
is startling. There was some excuse for the fathers and brethren who
practically called each other liars over an issue important as that tried
in the Synod of Ottawa and Montreal. But the language even there
was unnecessarily warm, and there were too many accusations of dou-
ble-dealing to make the debate altogether edifying. And our own
•Synod of Toronto and Kingston with less provocation, displayed its
power to embitter controversy. There was nothing worth wrangling
about there, nothing that should have raised any voice above a whisper,
but Rev. Dr. Parsons managed to speak of some one "having the im-
pudence " to do thus and so and other reverend gentlemen used
language that would have been followed by a reprimand in the secular
court, or a call to order from the Speaker of a profane Parliament.
The heresy scheme has reached that point in his history as to be-
come a subject for ridicnle, and will be simply laughed out of court, as
witness the following from the Telegram :
178 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
THE J. HUSS WAS ABSENT.
A well-meant and earnest effort to start a heresy trial in Montreal collapsed, at least
temporarily, in its first stages, owing to the absence of the heretic.
Everything else was in a state of advanced readiness. The intellectual fagots had been
cut, and were being dried. The enquirer or inquisitors were prepared to mentally rack the
author of " The Perfect Father or the Perfect Word."
But the •* intellectual treat " had to be postponed. There was no use for stake or fagot,
because there was no John Huss on the scene. The learned professor who was to be the John
Huss of the occasion was away fishing in Muskoka, and was not, therefore, to be tried or
tortured by his brethren.
It was not thus in other days, when all-powerful^orthodoxy decided to investigate a heretic.
The heretic was there to be investigated if he had to be carried. The fiery trial of John Huss
was not adjourned owing to the absence of the heretic and the brethren in Montreal will do well
next time to make sure that they have their heretic before they attempt to try him.
We listen to the melody of "Onward Christian Soldiers," and enjoy
the harmonious music as well as the sentiment it expresses, and sub-
scribe with at a murmur to the truthfulness of those sublime lines
which state ;
We are all united, all one body we,
One in faith and doctrine one in charity.
I have only to ask your indulgence for a moment to demonstrate the
truthfulness of this assertion. The Rev. Dr. Workman says, in reply
an editorial on his view of Messiahism by the editor of the Christian
Guardian :
As the editor of the Christian Guardian has been most bitter and persistant in his attack
upon my teaching, I shall first reply to his unmerited and ill-natured strictures. * * In my
prompt reply to bis misleading editorial which, besides the characteristics already indicated,
contained two or three serious quotations that the editor never acknowledged. * * One of my
correspondents writes me " Reading Dr. B.'s criticism I felt compelled to accept his logic, until,
carefully perusing your reply, I saw that his premises were wrong, that he misunderstands and
mis-states your view " NotyNithstzrtding his repeated misrepresentation of my teaching he was
publicly reported in a recent interview as saying, " I put no special meaning on his words. I do
not even interpret them. I simply assume that in writing plain English sentences he meant what
he said." As the editor has made this statement in substantially the same terms two or three
times since his first attack was published, I am prepared to prove by overwelming evidence that
it is absolutely false to the fact of the case. ** That is to say, in every criticism he makes: either
his statements or his assumption, or his suggestion or his implication respecting me or my work
are untrue. In other words he sets up a man of straw and then as systematically knocks him
down again.
If anyone doubts after reading this that "we are not united, all one
body we, one in faith and charity, etc.," he is simply an idiot.
The quarrels of the churches and the preachers are without number,
like the sands of the sea, and recently the Telegram published the
following editorial on the subject of church rows :
A LESSON FOR THE TROUBLERS OF ZION.
A good answer was that returned by the Salvation Army officer when asked his reason
for quitting an organization which he had faithfully served.
It was clear that he had been aggrieved, and the power to say much if he liked rendered
all the more honourable in him to declare that " for the good of the work it was best to say
nothing." It almost always is best to say nothing. Parties to churches troubles are too seldom
true to the faith as that ex- Salvationist, who is content to let the God whom he has tried to
serve judge between him and his adversaries. Virtues which adorn all churches in times of
peace are not exactly resplendent in the walk and conversation of church members in times of
troubles. Too often all hands are so anxious to stand well in the sight of the world that they
wound the cause in the effort to give brethren on the other side a black eye. There will be a
good deal of unregenerate human nature when the millenium is nearer than it is now, and the
worst qualities of our fallen humanity are too widely prevalent in every church row.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 1T9
And yet how inscrutable and mysterious seem the decrees of a
divine Providence.
Mrs. Margaret L. Shepherd, whose anti-Romanist lecturing tour
has been such a complete failure in liberal Ontario, has decided, accord-
ing to the Toronto News, to abandon the lecture platform and take to
the dramatic stage. The experience of several men who have lectured
throughout Ontario should have been enough to have deterred her from
a course that was sure to have but one result — to get her into bad odor
with all classes of the community.
The gentleman who was most prominent in bringing Dr. Fulton
to the city, and who led him around to one of the city papers to have
his lecture printed, has fallen by the wayside. He bit the dust after a
few days illness.
That grand classic and almost sublime work. "Why priests should
wed " I never hear of lately.
A recent scandal, in a church of the west end which was freely
ventilated in the courts and in which Mr. Massey was interested to the
tune of fifteen-hundred dollars, in still fresh in the minds of the public.
Mr, Longley, whose name figured in a possible scandal has left the
natiorn, and the auditorium, where all the escaped nuns etc., used to
hold forth is now used for any purpose that will yield a rent. It is
strange and incomprehensible.
Rev. Dr. Wild, whose anti-Roman proclivities are so well known,
is not now the pastor of the Bond street congregational church, where
men have frequently held forth against that church and one pastor Dr.
Sims sent in his resignation, on account of the financial condition of
the church.
Where are all the illustrious prelates, made famous by the Equal
Rights Agitation a few years ago ? Sitting in the ashes of the ruins
they erected and thought would be lasting. How about those who
refused to be mixed up with the cry ? Rev. Dr. Potts, who was reproach-
ed for his inactivity during that campaign has only just refused one of
the greatest honors ever conferred upon a Canadian, — the pulpit of one
of the wealthiest and most influential congregations in the United States.
It seems to me simply a question as to how long it will be before the
Roman Catholic Church again reigns supreme. Let the unprejudiced
unbeliever look at the two bodies of people, Catholic and Protestant,
and I do not see how, in the light of reason, he could do otherwise than
join the Catholic Church, should become to the conclusion that Chris-
tianity was necessary to his everlasting salvation. No church has
received the revilings it has received from every Protestant windbag
who considers himself divinely inspired, and yet it seems to thrive in
spite of this treatment. Protestant churches are daily showing the world
their disagreements, fights, rows, etc., in which each faction is determ-
ined to give the other side the worst of it. No such disgraceful scenes
ever take place amongst Catholics. A priest or a minister is supposed,
I believe, to represent Christ, but in Protestant congregations they de-
cide for themselves which one of Christ's apostles shall preach to them,
180 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
and the Lord help him if his teachings run counter to their wishes. In
the Catholic church a priest goes where he is told as the disciples did
in the time of Christ, and the people receive him as their pastor who
ever he is, and without protest and without a fight. I do not think
there is a case on record where a Catholic congregation ever locked the
door of their edifice, and refused the priest sent to them admittance.
Yet the same cannot be said of Protestant congregations. Nor is there
anything bacred in a Protestant place of worship — it is a place to go
for enjoyment and display millinery, where you can go in late if you
wish to and if you did as Catholics do, bend your knee before entering
the house of God, you would in all probability be laughed at. A Pro-
testant minister is a busines man, who is paid for his services according
to his ability and the wealth of his congregation. A priest gets a living
and very little more, and sometimes both are very precarious. The
profession of one is a business. The other is an incessant sacrifice.
I listened to some young men at a Methodist ordination service, one
time, relate the histories of the inspiration by which they knew they
were called of God. I do not hesitate to say that every one of them
deliberately lied, when he gave such experience. If the conduct of
these young men was despicable, how much more despicable it is on
the part of that church to require candidates for its ministry to tell
such falsehoods ? Would it not be far better to do away with such a
farce, or let the men come forward like men and say, " I wish to obtain
an easy livelihood at a good salary. I think I will enjoy the work, and
will do my best to give satisfaction to those who employ me, and en-
deavor to meet their wishes in whatever way they desire to conduct
their spiritual life." It would be more consistent to say the least of it.
Why should any man be compelled to perjure himself simply to com-
ply with the absurd theory that he preaches for Christ and that no
financial considerations influence him ?
Compare the two classes of men, and which is the more Christ
like ? The Protestant who permits every violation of church discipline,
who can arrange his " opinions" to accord with those of his congrega-
tion, who is called upon to make no sacrifice whatever, who knows what
salary be is to receive wherever he goes, and whose occupation is sim-
ply a business, which is well paid, or the priest, who is governed by
the scripturts which are the same to all, rich and poor alike, and cannot
be changed to suit the wishes or inspirations of his flock, who is obliged
to go where he is bidden, and labor for almost nothing, whose life is oncj
long sacrifice. I
How many clergymen are there, or clergy and laity together for
that matter, who act or attempt to act up to what Christ taught. His
disciples in the fifth chapter of Matthew ? " Blessed are the meek.
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you." So said
Christ to his disciples, but in the course of my long career, I have never
met a man or woman, clergy or laity, who did not do his or her best to
administer a thorough knock out to anyone who had crossed them.
Christian charity they did not seem to know. I venture the assertion
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 181
that there are not ten so-called Christians in a thousand who do not
expect to make a dying thief repentance, if their wordly acts count for
anything. I once stated this to a clergyman, and the only answer he
could make me was some inanity like "Judge not, that ye be not
judged." The merits of the case he would not and could not argue,
knowing quite well that I could have attacked the probity of
half his congregation, whose shortcomings he knew would not be safe
for him to attack, or he would very soon be taught to mind his own
business, and attend to his inane platitudes for which he was paid to
preach, reminding me of a joke I once heard some years ago. A preacher
had come to a village to relieve the regular incumbent. Before enter-
ing the pulpit he was button-holed by one of the elders who cautioned
him against saying anything against the hotel keepers. " They cont-
ribute to the church sometimes, you know," he said "so don't say any-
thing against them, but give it red hot to the Mormons."
The self-importance and absolute lack of genuine Christian char-
acteristics among ministers and their demonstrations that they are not
shining examples of piety to their flocks, have had the effect of produ-
cing upon the minds of the people that while it is good form and a
passport to respectability to belong to a church, it is by no means
necessary that they should follow any of the advice their pastors give
them, or do as he says they should do. In fact the very reverse is the
case. If I were a writer of fiction I would not wish any other advertise-
ment than that the clergy should denounce it. Its success would there-
by be assured. Surely no sane man will say that the literary merit of
Robert Elsmere made it famous. I read it, and say that it is just about
as prosaic and dull a piece of trash as I ever read, and I have read even
one of Mrs. Southworth's and one of Maxwell Gray's novels. But Mr.
Gladstone happened to take exception to something in it and wrote
against it. The success of the book was thereby assured. Zola's works
owe their immense circulations, not by any means to their elegance of
diction or anything else that I could ever see, but only to the fact that
clergymen have proscribed them. Ouida's works are the same, though
it is to be said that they do posssss rare merits in delineations of char-
acter. I read Zola's works simply because they had been suppressed
by some over sensitive people. I simply wasted my money. I sold
the books that I had paid fifty cents for at five cents a piece. It is the
same with everything. A party of Christian women passed a resolution
that newspapers should not publish lengthy reports of murder and other
sensational trials. A murder trial of the present day is like a court
reception. Crowds of ladies go there and hundreds are refused admit-
tance because they cannot get seating accommodation. The circum-
stances show how much influence clergymen and other Christian bodies
really have. It is nothing at all.
If clergymen are to have any respect paid to them or their op-
inions, it must be by noble deeds, as Carlyle says " not by noisy the-
oretic laudations of a church, but by silent practical demonstrations of
the church."
182 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
Christianity, or what passes for it, was beautifully exemplified a
short time ago by the wife of one of the most prominent clergymen of
the city of Toronto, as showing how extremely little there is of practical
Christianity at all, but showing what takes the place of such, and is
accepted as such. I was in the train from Toronto to Hamilton when
this lady got on. She took two seats, and after seating her luggage
over one of them, she knelt on the other so that she blocked the way
of any impertinent person taking possession, while carrying on a con-
versation with her husband, who stood in the aisle. You have doubtless
seen a dog gnawing at one bone, while keeping his eye on another a
few feet away, and noticed how jealously he guarded it ? That is the
most apt illustration I can give you. When the train started this clergy-
man's wife was the only one in that coach who occupied two seats, yet
when a poor woman with a basket and a child came on board and
looked helplesly down the aisle, did she offer her one of her seats }
Not by any means. She turned her head away in order that she might
not see her, and the woman was accommodated by a gentleman giving
her his seat. Now, there was no commandment violated by that Chris-
tian lady, I am quite prepared to admit, and anyone who would say
she was not going to heaven would be a fool. If " by faith ye are
saved " there can be no doubt of the lady's faith in the certainty that
she is going to heaven, consequently she is absolutely certain of future
reward. Pride, which goeth before destruction and selfishness, which
appeard to be this lady's chief attribute, are prominent characteristics
of modern Christianity, and I think no one will question the fact that
Christ, if He worked miracles when on earth, will have His powers
taxed to the uttermost to reconcile the different " grades " of earthly
society when they come before him, unless the same orders or degrees
of society prevail in heaven as on earth. That lady demonstrated
modern Christianity as it is practised more clearly than a volume of
theory could do.
Compare if you will the meek and lowly Jesus of Nazareth with
the self-sufficient, impudent, proud, overbearing and vindictive Phari-
sees who occupy pulpits in the majority of Christian churches to-day,
and wonder if he came to the earth again, what would he think of them,
or would he even be recognized by them ?
Christ sat with publicans and sinners. But if there came to the
house of God a man with marks of dissipation upon him, people almost
threw up their hands in horror, as much as to say : " Isn't it shocking ?"
How these dainty, fastidious Christians in all our churches are going
to get into heaven I don't know unless they have a especial
train of cars, cushioned and upholstered, each one a car to himself!
They cannot go with the great herd of publicans and sinners. Oh ! ye
who curly your lip of scorn at the fallen, I tell you plainly, if you had
been surrounded by the same influences, instead of sitting to-day amid
the cultured and the refined and the Christian, you would have been
a crouching wretch in stable or ditch, covered with filth and abomina-
tion. It is not because you are naturally any better, but because the
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 183
merCy of God has protected you. Who are you that, brought up in
Christian circles and watched by Christian parentage, you should be so
hard on the fallen ?
A number of people have lately gone extensively into the business
of converting the Jews and Rabbi de Sola, of Montreal, gives them such
a scathing and well-merited denunciation that I give it.
At the Passover service in the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue
Montreal he preached a powerful sermon upon Israel's past, present,
and future, basing his remarks upon the text, "The right of the Eternal
is exalted, the right hand of the Eternal doeth valiantly. I shall not
die, but live and proclaim the works of the Eternal." Quoting the
words '* Ye are my witnesses, said the Eternal, and my servant whom
I have chosen," he said : " For thirty-two centuries we have been per-
forming this mission, proclaiming to mankind the sovereignty and over-
ruling Providence of the Almighty, and testifying to the supreme
excellence of the law committed to our care amid the thunders of
Sinai. That law inculcates the morality upon which the fabric of civilized
society rests ; and as the preservation of our identity as a distinct people
is the most conclusive proof of its divine origin and authority, we may
well stand amazed at the phenomenal infatuation of men who would
remove God's witnesses, who would destroy the living testimony to the
divine inspiration of the Bible, by converting the children of Israel from
their ancestral faith.
" While I shall be very sorry to charge the supporters of this
missionary movement with any hostile sentiment akin to that which
animates the anti-Semites, I do unhesitatingly characterize as most in-
solent the manner in which they talk and write about our people. They
speak of their 'work among the Jews' as if the Jews were heathens or
barbarian. The Jew has been God's servant in giving to mankind the
knowledge of the way of life ; he is God's living testimony to the
heavenly origin of that law to which all civilized beings bow ; and yet
men who acknowledge the law of Sinai, and who know that Providence
alone has enabled the Jew to outlive all attempts to destroy him, would
now induce him to abandon his character and his mission as God*s
witness. Men who have received religion from the Jew would preach
religion to the Jew. But Israel has not been preserved through centuries
of trial to meet extinction in this missionary movement. Divinely
commissioned, and divinely sustained, Israel will continue to proclaim
the sovereignty and over-ruling providence of the Almighty. Let the
supporters of the missionary movement pause, and consider these facts
— facts that are suggestively emphasiz^cd by the admittedly meagre
results that have attended what they are pleased to term their mission-
ary labors but which we regard as an impertinent interference with our
right as men and as British subjects, to adhere to our religion without
molestation. Mon-^y is spent lavishly in these conversionist efforts. How
much of it is squandered upon people who find conversion pecuniarily
profitable ? How much better to apply this money to the relief of the
misery and suffering of the thousands who know not where to turn for
184 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
a crust of bread, or for a resting place on which to lay their weary limbs.
Convert the Jew? There are others in infinitely greater need of con-
version. Convert to manhood the creature who staggers along in a
state of drunken bestiality. Convert to civilization those who desolate
homes with their murderous deeds. Convert to decency and chastity
those who gain a livelihood by prostituting the purity of manhood and
the honor of womanhood. With such evils polluting society, is it not
the very acme of folly and inconsistency to pass them by, and concent-
rate missionary zeal upon the Jew ? But, apart from the circumstance
that the Almighty has constituted in His witnesses and has preserved us
for a glorious future, what reason have we for abandoning our ancestral
faith ? Are the persecutions inflicted upon us for centuries in the name
of religion an argument in favor of our adopting that religion ? If the
patient endurance of outrage be an evidence of true religion, then the
Jew has indeed proved that he has nothing to learn. Not only has he
borne centuries of persecution with marvellous patience, but he proves
how foreign to his principles are fanaticism and intolerance, by pro-
claiming as a cardinal doctrine of his religion that 'the pious of all
creeds share in the happiness of the future state,' that the *God of the
spirits of all flesh' does not restrict salvation to any race or creed. The
Jew adheres to those institutions which prevent his absorption by his
more powerful neighbors. But he does this simply in order that he may
live to proclaim the works of the Eternal. Fanaticism may persecute
him, bigotry assail him. He will continue to perform his divinely
appointed mission undeterred, with no utterance of rebuke rising to his
lips save the golden words, 'Have we not all one Father ? Hath not one
God created us ?' "
In pointing out these foibles of the clergy of the present day, I
have endeavoured to do so without malice to any of them, and in using
the names of such, I have done so merely to show that all my cases
are legitimate and are not the figments of my own brain. In my judg-
ment it seems to me that there is practically no necessity for clergymen
at all. They are not better than anyone else, in any single respect. TLoy
permit their congregations to do just as the congregations see fit, and
I am forced to the conclusion that the religion of the present day is
simply that people expect to make a death bed repentance, and expect
to go to heaven if they do so, as the case of the dying thief is always
held to apply to all sinners. Now suppose this be true, why was there
any necessity for Christ to give any instructions to the people as to
what they should do, when if a repentance like that of the dying thief
is to be sufficient. He might just as well have come to the earth, and
been crucified and pardoned the dying thief upon the cross. As an
evidence that the clergy are not in any respect respected, let me give
you the experience of Mr. Stead in Chicago, when he purposed address-
ing the workingmen. He was distinctly told that if he mentioned
Christianity he would be hissed down and why ? Simply because the
workingmen knew that in any difficulty between capital and labour, the
clergy were with capital every time, right or wrong. Why then should
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 185
these men entertain any respect for the clergy ? Clergymen are simply
the tools of their flocks. They preach what will please them, and they
preach nothing else. Inane platitudes, pleasing to the people who pay
them is the theme for the clergyman of to-day, and let him beware
who tries anything else.
As showing the immense influence of Christianity, here is an
example of recent occurrence : At Grimsby Park, where well known
clergymen, all the most advanced Prohibitionists, and Womens' En-
franchisement Advocates have their full say and which is moreover a
place of religious recreation, the following occurred as reported by the
Ottawa Free Press :
Grimsby ^ark, Aug. 25. — During his preliminary remarks in introducing'the Rev. Dr.
Potts at Grimsby Park last night, President Phelps caused a wave of excitement to pass through
the audience by referring to the fact that the young ladies stay out at night. While walking
through the park after midnight he said he was pained to see young ladies and young gentlemen
roaming about. At these remarks smiles illumined the faces of the innocent young men, blushes
reddened the countenances of the girls and a general feeling of uneasiness was manifested. In
indignant tones some of the young ladies were heard to remark that they didn't care a bit as
night was the nicest time anyway.
It is superfluous for me to state what every one in Canada knows,
namely, that Grimsby Park is the favourite summer resort of the clergy
of the Methodist church and the laity as well. I do not propose to
discuse whether there was any wrong committed there or not, but I
desire to state this much, that if you will find such a flagrant violation
of the rules of a park which, state that the lights must be out and
people in their cottages at ten o'clock at night, how clearly, it must
demonstrate the remarkably small amount of influence, clergymen or
there wises, religious or otherwise, have in their own families, and that
if such a violation of rules is made there, how much greater must they
be in other places, where there is no restarint, and it may consistantly
be asked what did President Phelps see that he should make it the
subject of a special admonition to the assemblage at the Park.
Besides the class of women who congregate at Grimsby Park every
year as well as those who speak there are advocates of that relic of
antiquity the Curfew Bell, confirming my contention that these women
have no influence whatever over their own daughters, that they know
nothing at all of what they are doing, and that they simply desire to
shift the responsibility of caring for their morals to the shoulders of
some one else. ' hat is modern Christianity.
I submit the following advice, which I think is the advice of a
whole souled Christian woman, and I am sure if women, instead of
devoting their time to the ballot and such nonsense, would give some
such attention to their daughters, it would have a far more wholesome
effect than the ballot will ever have :
Mrs. Alice Kinney Wright, regularly installed associate pastor of
the Church of Reconciliation and Prospect Heights Universalist church,
New York, has written for the Sunday New York World a sermon to
summer girls. Her text is '• Keep thyself pure," I. Timothy, v. 22. Here
are some selected paragraphs from among the many good things she
186 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
said : This " one thing needful " is a manly and womanly character,
built so solidly upon the foundation of purity and uprightness that not
all the demons of society shall cause it to tremble. Carve clearly and
deeply in the corner-stone of this foundation the divine injunction,
"Keep thyself pure." Strive at all times to live this sentiment ; then
let the rich young life in you have its full freedom, and you will not
only be the sunshine of your home, butjwill carry!^with you an influence
for good wherever you may go.
Oh, how we all love and admire the sweet, pure girl who says,
** I do not believe in allowing my gentlemen friends those privileges
which rightfully belong to the man I intend to marry. I have not met
him yet, but he is going to be a good man, and I will reserve all rights
to myself for him." You girls who do not agree with this idea may call
her a "prude" and a "prim old stick." But if she has intellect and
grace along with her " prudish idea," she is just the girl that the self-
respecting young man wants for his wife. Young woman, when you
get so low down in the moral scale that you can when with your gent-
lemen (?) friends laugh at the obcene insinuation and listen to the quest-
ionable joke or story; when you become so careless of yourself that a
caress means no more to you than a hand shake would to the modest
girl ; while you may pride yourself upon being " virtuous, that is, not
really bad," you are in the midst of grave dangers ; you have fallen to
a level where you are subject to any insult, and from which no man
who respects himself will raise you to the dignity of wifehood. You
do not wish to win for yourself the unsavory reputation of the girl-of-
many-engagements, and you should not enter hastily into the respons-
ibilities of wifehood. Be content to wait until you are sure that you are
in love — and with a man. Above all things, do not mistake a dude or
a bank account for a man, because the result is sure to be disastrous to
your happiness. And do not experiment, but be guided, in this matter
at least, by the experience of others. It is not wise to venture when
the happiness or misery of a lifetime is the stake. God did not create
woman and place upon her such grave responsibilities without endow-
ing her with a constitution capable of great endurance. And our weak>
waist-contracted, insipid, know-nothing, do-nothing and good-for-
nothing society figureheads, instead of being admired, as in the past,
should, in accord with the trend of present thought, be looked upon as
unnatural monstrosities of the human family. Young women, let us
secure our divine birth-right, and carefully guard its transference to
future generations. I plead with >ou, add to your summer amusements
a large grain of thoughtfulnessand common sense ; add to those friend-
ships with your gentlemen companions a dignity that is infallible and
at the same time natural and unassuming ; then, being prepared in the
midst of all your frivolity and fun to repulse any undue familiarity on
the part of the man of many engagements, keeping the corner stone of
your character foundation uneffaced, you may always look back upon
your summer with perfect delight, unmarred by the sight of any dark
spots that you wish to cover, but cannot because you were not alone in
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 187
your wrong doing. Rise, oh ! manhood, in your youth and strength,
and go forward to meet the real coming womanhood with the whiteness
of her purity like a bridal veil about her, and, standing together upon
the principles of true living, crush beneath your united virtue that false
standard of morality upon which these men of much experience base
their vile theories.
Young men and women, let your friendships this summer be pure
and helpful ; sometimes talk together earnestly about the sober realities
of life and the ideals that light up youth's vision. Then your summer's
experience together may add to theaccumulatingstrengthof our move-
ment towards social purity and sex equality.
Yet, how many girls are there who would think twice of foregoing
her present enjoyment by acting upon the advice above given ?
Some time ago I had a conversation with a young lady, or per-
haps I should say more correctly, a lady who is no longer young, but
who is unmarried, who is deeply interested in the cause of Temperance.
She is, as she states herself, an advanced Prohibitionist, and in ringing
tones she demands the total Prohibition of the Liquor traffic. She in-
formed me that she was greatly pleased to see so many young people
taking such an interest in the good work, and Pointed with Pride, as
the saying is, to the fact that the Pavilion was always crowded with
the young of both sexes.
I could hardly conceal my amazement at her cool audacity in
accepting this as a proof of their coinciding with her views.
" Surely," I remarked, " you do not flatter yourself that these young
people come to hear you speak, and because they are interested in
Prohibition."
" Certainly, I do," she answered promptly.
" Then, I am very sorry to undeceive you," I replied, " if you will
take the trouble to see what becomes of these young people after they
leave here, you will tell a very different story."
" Why ? "
** Because they come here as it is a convenient place to meet at."
" Do you mean to say that this place is made a convenient place
of meeting by boys and girls ? "
** If you choose to put it in that way, yes I do."
Here was a woman, arguing for the complete prohibition of a traffic
which yields one third of the revenue of the country, a social reformer,'
she called herself, and yet she had no more conception of the procli-
vities of young people than an inmate of an asylum would have had,
flattering herself that these young people came to the pavilion for the
purpose of hearing her speak on this subject. It seems to me that
social ignorance could go no further, than for her to take to herself the
solution of a great social question, and then show that she was preposte-
rous enough to suppose that she could attract a multitude of people to
hear her speak when by her own confession she was absolutely ignorant
of the customs society has relegated to itself.
Crowds of young people attend these meetings without a doubts
188 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
but when the meetings are over how many of them could tell what was
said. Comparatively few, if any.
There is this difference between the woman with whom I was
speaking and myself, she thinks she knows her subject, and she doesn't,
bttt I have seen, and I speak from experience.
If a young miss asked her mother's permission to take a walk on
Sunday afternoon, she might be refused. If shfe asked permission to
attend a temperance meeting she would receive it. If a boy accom-
panies her home or part way home from a Temperance meeting, it is
all right. If he met her in the street and accompanied her home, it
might look bad, it is a fine distinction, but it is truth.
THE BAR.
The number of lawyers in Toronto is very large, numbering per-
haps away up in the hundreds. Of them comparatively few are in receipt
of handsome incomes. Men like Christopher Robinson, Edward Blake,
S. H. Blake, Dalton McCarthy and B. B. Osier, are the equal in legal
acumen of any on the continent, and rank with the best in the world.
The argument of the Hon. Edward Blake before the Privy Council in
England on the Boundaries question called forth the remark from the
Committee that it was either the ablest or one of the ablest that they
had ever listened to. Men of their strength cannot afford to do wrong.
They are well paid for their services, and there is no case of any mag-
nitude that comes up that two of the five at least are not engaged in,
and they enjoy a prominence enviable, but which has been brought at
the price of their own indomitable will, perseverance and remaikable
ability, combined with highest integrity. In addition to those mentioned,
there are numbers of men of more or less ability who, though clever,
have not the calibre these possess.
They have an association called the Benchers of the Law Society,
whose place it is to punish those members of the profession who fail to
keep themselves free from the sins that would land anyone else in prison.
The following are the Benchers who were elected for the coming
five years, and the votes they received :
M. H. Strathy (Barrie), 940; Chas. Moss, 931; B. M. Britton
(Kingston), 887; Wm. Douglass (Chatham), 882 ; Hon. A. S. Hardy,
879 ; Christopher Robinson, 864; D. B. Maclennan (Cornwall), 852 ;
John Iddington (Stratford), 838 ; Dr. Hoskin, 836; Colin Macdougall
(St. Thomas), 835; B. B Osier, 819; 1). Guthrie (Guelph), 804; M.
O'Gara (Ottawa), 801 ; Geo. C. Gibbons (London), 797 ; R. Bayley
(London), ^66 ; A. B. Aylesworth, 730 ; J. V. Teetzel^'Hamilton), 716 ;
A. Bruce (Hamilton;, 715; George H. Watson, 700; Wm. Kerr (Co-
bourg), 681 ; A. H. Clarke (Windsor), 669; George F. Shepley, 666 \
John Bell (^Belleville), 657 ; Ed. Martin (Hamilton), 635 ; D'Alton Mc-
Carthy, 621 ; C. H. Ritchie, 609 ; W. R. Riddell, 582 ; W. D. Hogg
(Ottawa), 579; E. B. Edwards (Peterboro'), 578 ; ^Emelins Irving, 572.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 1
The Telegram has an article that may be perused with the con-
sciousness that if it were not deserved, it would not have been writen :
No change could make the benchers less useful than they have been, and any alteration
must, therefore, point towards improvement. The benchers of the law society constitute a body
distinguished for appetite rather than for efficiency in the discharge of public duty. They are
more zealous to eat lunches than to maintain the honour of the profession, or to protect the
public against the buccaneers who infest too many Ontario law offices. The benchers fail
notoriously to protect professional honour or the swindled public. Their discipline is a farce.
Offences that force them to censure lawyers would imprison laymen. They exercise their
authority to discipline lawyers only in case of crimes where a non-professional scoundrel would
go to penitentiary. Even then conviction follows extreme guilt only when the offenders fail to
raise the money to compound the felony. The benchers need to wake up. Official life is to them
one long lunch. They are dining away the resources of the law society when they should be
running rascals out of the profession. Some lawyers rob clients, but no lawyer ever goes to
gaol for the crime.
The above has my heartiest approbation. It is not many years ago
that a young lady was swindled out of some money, and though time
out of number the case was brought up it was finally discovered that
the demands of the people required that the name of the man who
swindled her should be struck from the rolls, when it was finally done.
That was his punishment. A starving wretch may steal a loaf of bread,
but he is sent to goal or the Central.
Lawyers have more chances to be dishonest than other men have.
The proportion of sinners among lawyers is perhaps not large, but the
man with a wide circle of acquaintance in Toronto is fortunate if he
does not actually know of lawyers who have betrayed their trust by
crimes that would land a laymen in penitentiary. A list of the widows
and orphans who have been impoverished by the dishonesty of lawyers,
and the names of the lawyers who have impoverished them within the
last few years in Toronto, would astonish the public. Any well informed
man about town can without the slightest trouble give five or six specfic
instances of fraud by lawyers. There is no help for the infortunate
victims. Young children who were left well provided for may go upon
the street or become a burden upon relatives. Widows who could have
lived confortably upon the estate bequeathed by their husbands, have
had their resources stolen or blundered away. Where is the comfort in
assurances that the lawyers who have done this work did not intend to
do wrong .? Gentlemen who have taken other people's money cannot
plead their good intentions as a reason why they should not be sent to
Kingston. Ihe authority of the benchers is strained to its utmost limit
when they compel a dishonest lawyer to make restitution if he can
find the money, and let him alone if he has impoverished himself as
well as his clients. There ought to be some more powerful agency than
the Law Society for the correction of abuses in the legal profession.
There should be some tribunal which would sit in public and judge
between dishonest lawyers and their victims, and it is useless to disguise
the truth that victims of dishonest lawyers are unpleasantly numerous
in Toronto.
Ought not the Law Society to provide some easy method of en-
forcing the regulations which it frames for upholding the honour of the
profession which it guards ?
190 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
The man who is robbed by a lawyer now must not only have a
keen sense of his duty to the public, but a good deal of money. If he
undertakes to punish the defaulter at his own expense, he is, in fact,
twice robbed. The sight of the delinquent stripped of his gown is poor
satisfaction to the man who in the first place had to lose the money,
and in the second place provide money for the punishment of the soli-
citor who robbed him. There should be an officer of the Law Society
whose duty it would be to investigate all complaints against any prac-
titioner on the rolls. Exposure ought to follow in every case where
there has been genuine dishonesty. The individual who has been robbed
by one lawyer ought not to be called upon to pay another lawyer to
purge the legal profession of a rogue.
How is it that the powers of the criminal law are rarely, if ever,
exercised against trustees who speculate for their own profit with funds
placed in their hands for the benefit of widows, orphans or too-confiding
clients ? The facts developed by the processes of civil law at Osgoode
Hall leave little ground for hope that the crime of misappropriation is as
rare as is its punishment. The practice of using other people's money
as if it were your own is altogether too popular. There must be ten
betrayals of trust for every one that is recorded in print. It is with
authorities to cure, but it is with individuals to prevent, these crimes
which rob the helpless. The law ought to punish those who betray a
trust, not by the loss of a barrister's gown nor by financial damages,
but by terms in jail. And individuals should remember that vigilance
is the price at which they can purchase safety for the funds in the hands
of trustees. They should not take anything for granted. An honest
trustee will invite and welcome the utmost scrutiny. The closest scru-
tiny should come uninvited to the dishonest trustee.
The report of the committee of the Law Society, charged with the
duty of considering whether ex- Alderman W. H. Hall is entitled to
retain his rank in an honourable profession, is awaited with anxiety,
and will be read with interest. If the committee of the Law Society
decides that Mr. Hall has done nothing to forfeit his standing as an
honourable practitioner, it ought to supplement that decision by a state-
ment of the offences which a lawyer must commit before the Law So-
ciety will expel him. It is well enough that the Law Society should
be slow to use its great disciplinary powers. In this particular case the
profession has been discredited by the public acts of a public man, who
happened to be a lawyer. In other cases the Law Society has not inter-
fered either to protect or avenge clients who have been wronged by
lawyers, who still retain their rank in the profession.
Unversed in business matters and unable to read or write was the
late Eliza Roberts, an aged colored woman, who lived with Anne Berry
for years on Chestnut street. Had this not been so Barrister Joseph A.
Donovan would not have been in the county jail. His incarceration is
the final act in the long standingsuit which Mrs. Eliza Roberts brought
against him for the return to her of a lot on the west side of Spadina
avenue, above College. Prior to 1890 Mrs. Roberts alleged that Mr.
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 191
Donovan persistently visited her and finally talked her into the belief
that she was not the absolute owner of the lot, that in fact she only had
a life interest in it. Believing this, and knowing that being nearly 90
years of age she could not hope to live but a few years, she was induced
by Mr. Donovan to sell the property to him for $300. The deed was
forthwith made out, but Mrs. Roberts was described in that deed as the
absolute owner. Shortly after Mr. Donovan secured a loan, giving a
mortgage on the property for security which mortgage now amounts to
nearly $5,000. The trial of the action which the aged colored widow
filed resulted in a judgment whereby Mr. Donovan was ordered to
remove the mortgage and to reconvey the property to its wronged
owner. Subsequently Mrs. Roberts died willing the property, when it
would be reconveyed to Anne Berry. Various appeals delayed the case
from time to time until a few weeks ago when Mr. Moss moved for and
obtained an order committing Mr. Donovan for contempt of court for
non-compliance with the court's judgment.
Nov. 21 the order was granted, but the clerk of Single Court was
instructed not to issue until after four days had elapsed. On one of
these Mr. Donovan was injured by the elevator at 9^^ Adelaide street
west, the building in which his office is located. The order was then
further stayed. Saturday it issued, and Mr. Donovan may be compelled
to remain in jail until he purges his contempt. Mrs. Berry is now the
owner of the property, which is however still encumbered by the $5,000
mortgage. The order also issued for the committal of Mrs. Donovan,
who virtually became the owner of the property by the deed but she is
not yet in custody, and it is said cannot be found.
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.
For many years our ancient and beautiful city has taken unto itself
the title of "Musical Toronto." I think the origin of the expression
can be traced to the gushing description given by a young man on one
of the city papers, in connection with the musical festival held some
years ago. With a sarcasm beyond his years, and of which he was en-
tirely unconscious, he praised to heaven everything connected with the
festival, though it might be inferentially observed that he probably knew
as much about music as a child knows of metaphysics, and appeared to
be about as competent to criticise a musical performance as a party of
deaf mutes might be expected to give in an opinion on the rendition
of one of Mosart's masterpieces. I have no doubt, however, that he
sincerely believed it was a criticism, and in the usual and accepted de-
finition of that elastic term, it was doubtless intended to be such.
A fair criticism of a local concert, musicale or entertainment got up
under local auspices however, is entirely out of the question. Some, and
it is a great many years ago there appeared in one of the daily papers
a criticism of a performance by a local organization, and in the opinion
of the dramatic editor, there was given what he believed to be a fair
and impartial view of the performance, but the leader thereof was
192 OF TOKONTO THE GOOD.
furious. He wrote a bitter and trenchant letter to the Managing Director
of the journal in question denouncing in unmeasured ternris the dramatic
editor's action, and threatening all the thunders of his wrath by with-
drawing his advertising patronage from it.
I have conveniently forgotten the gentleman's name and that of
his organization, but perhaps you can remember it.
However, it is worthy of note that it had one desirable effect, that
the press could thereafter depend on having local affairs criticised or
rather praised by some of the performers themselves, and you have only
to read the musical and dramatic news of any of the city journals to be
convinced of the truth of this statement. The following is a case in
point, and I think anyone reading it will come to the same conclusion-
that I have that the vocation of the critic is a thing of the past, and not
a necessity in our present age :
The concert in the Parliament street Baptist church on Tuesday evening brought out a
large audience, who evinced their decided approval of the excellent programme rendered by
numerous encores. The chief feature of the programme was the duet " Jesus, I love Thee "
wh'ch was sung by Mrs. T D. Smith and Mr. Charles H. Thorn in such a manner as to bring
down the house. Mr. Kimber's solo, " The Lost Chord," was given in fine style and an encore
resulted. Of the playing of Prof. Farrington's orchestra and the singing of the Woodgreen
quartette it need only be said that they were as good as usual. Rev, James Grant presided in
his usual happy manner. " Alone on the midnight sea" was splendidly sung by Mr. H. E,
Davey and won him an encore.
Imigine a sacred Duo, sung in the House of God, bringing down
the house,
A correspondent addresses the Telegram doubtless being impressed
with the idea of the superior merits of " Musical Toronto." and his
language his decidedly refreshing, though it may be he thinks he is one
of the soloists, Toronto is so rich in :
Sir, — I suggest that the Philharmonic can recover the prestige of its palmiest days if it
selects works which have a reputation and employs local talent as soloists. Neg'ect of these
two considerations has alienated public sympathy from this society. Imported talent is not a
necessity as our city is rich in solo singers. The public cares little for new works ; let us have
some of the good old oratorios and public interest will be revived. The society that would
present Haydn's 'Seasons " would draw the largest audience ever gathered in the city. The
" Messiah " would be acceptable if sung every Christmas. Follow this the coming year with
"Judas Maccabeeas," 'Joshua " or "Jephtha " towards spring, and the Philharmonic would
work itself back into the affections of the music lovers of Toronto, Try it and mark the result.
— Caio.
This correspondent like every one else it entitled to his or her
opinion, but just where the city rich in solo singers, I confess my inability
to see, there is not a tenor in the city worthy the name, and certainly
none who could sing ** Judas Maccabeeas " or Mosart's "Twelfth Mass."
While in soprano there is Mrs. Caldwell, who stands alone without a rival.
It is to be wondered at t
There is not a competent teacher in the city to undertake the cul-
tivation of voices, notwithstanding the fact of a number of people ad-
vertising such. I merely point to the fact that if there are competent
teachers where is the result of their work } I have attended some of the
concerts in Association Hall, where embryo artists are wont to exhibit
their progtess. I listened to a young lady with a somewhat reedy
soprano, screeching at the top of her voice in a mad plunge at high C.
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 193
If she reached it, she had certainly cause to be thankful, for that was the
only meritorious part of the effort, though perhaps it is unnecessary for
me to say she was encored. That, however, is the fate of all singers
in Toronto. They only require the assurance to stand before the
audience. The audience will undoubtedly encore them. Any young
lady who persuades herself that she is a second Patti, and will yell to
the top of her voice on some classical piece of music, can count upon
receiving a most generous reception from her audience, because in en-
coring her they also express a degree of flattery to themselves, indicat-
ing as they do that their cultured tastes appreciate classical music,
though they may know nothing at all about it, and generally don't.
As the Telegram says : Toronto has a chorus of musical enthusiasts
whose alleged desire for high class orchestral entertainment makes
more clamour in the papers than their money makes noise in the box
office of the Massey Hall when a high class orchestra is playing inside.
I once attended a concert given by a choir called, T believe the
Toronto Scotch Choir, and while I desire to express my appreciation
of the meritorious action of the public in turning out to make it a
success, I confess that I am at sea as to what induced such lavish encores
to music that was only fair at best, and had a programme of some
twenty members to detract by its tediousness from whatever might have
been good in it. I could understand and appreciate the fact of Mrs.
Caldwell receiving a warm reception, and being encored, but to this day
I am puzzled to imagine what, unless it were purely mechanical, ever
induced them to extend the same courtesy to a gentleman who was
called the " Hamilton tenor," and who rendered in his own peculiar way
" For a'a that,'* in a manner that a street gamin would have blushed
at, or if he wouldn't, then he deserved to be horsewhipped. The gent-
leman had no more music in his voice than a peacock, and as for ex-
pression, it was entirely out of the question. I make no exaggeration
when I say that I have never heard his equal ard I have heard some
of the worst singers in the world.
On this subject of encores, the Telegram seeing the necessity of
calling a halt, has the following :
Toronto could not afford to be measured by the faults of its concert audiences. Applause,
hearty, long-continued and indiscriminate crowns every effort. Encores are too common to be
noticed. Orchestras, brass bands, balladists, comic singers and elocutionists are all
honoured with an enthusiastic recall. The average audience seems to be possessed
by an idea that it is so much ahead of the combination every time that it encores a favourite
When the worst song is a triumph and the worst singer is enthusiastically recalled the encore
ceases to be a compliment and becomes a nuisance. Besides, many people are kept away from
concerts by the certainty that an encore will follow every number on the programme. Like the
rain the encore falleth upon the just and the unjust, and the prospect of having to sit till mid-
night listening to oft-repeated ballads and comic songs is not attractive.
The reasons for this state of affairs are various. One of them is
the assertion I made before that instead of a fair criticism being made
of the work, nothing but praise rewards the efforts of the so-called artists,
and to a very large extent the press is to blame. Does the reader for
one moment imagine that the programme of Saturday afternoon music
in Association Hall is the unbiassed criticism of the musical or dramatic
194 OF TOKONTO THE GOOD.
editor of the paper in which it appears ? It certainly was not in my
career as a journalist, it is simply prepared by the institution in question,
and sent for publication. This I know to be the case with one paper
at least, and I see no reason to doubt the same circumstances exist with
regard to the others.
Some years ago Bill Nye lectured in Toronto and people were so
delighted with him that they get up and went out. He happened to be
under the management of the Press Club, consequently no adverse
criticism was made. His recent lecture, however, was dismal a failure,
that one paper remarked that Mr. Nye had called the Pavilion a race
track, and added that he no doubt would consider it so if he had to sit
on the hard benches and hear himself talk.
Mr. Nye was, very possibly, a humorist, and the people who held
that view point to the fact that his writings and sayings were copied
all over the United States and Canada. That proves nothing. It
simply demonstrates how badly off the press is for alleged wit, when
they publish such trash.
Blasphemy is wit, wit and irreverence is humour to Bill Nye, and
when the people of Paterson strewed his dress suit with rotten eggs
after one of his lectures, the fragrant offerings of their enthusiasm may
have struck the humourist as so many merry jests.
American humor would have agreably modified the austerity of
Puritan nature in the time of the Commonwealth. What would have
been a boon then, is developing into something very like a nuisance in
these days when the tendency of thought, manner and life is towards
a point for removed from undue austerity. Toronto listened to Bill
Nye with a courtesy that ill-concealed its weariness. 1 he large audience
that came out to hear Robert Jones Burdette on the strength of his
deservedly great reputation reached for its hat and wraps with a un-
animity that drove the lecturer from the platform. Certainly, Mr.
Burdette was the most entertaining of all the platform humorists who
visit Toronto. His failure to please is a sign, first, of bad judgment in
the choice of a subject and in the make up of his lecture, second, of a
revolt against the humorists who assume that more or less picturesque
flippancy is a never-failing laugh-maker.
During the winter months the pubHc are satiated with church
concerts which are always " grand," musicals and entertainments of
every description, and which are, for the most part, the work of ama-
teurs who are praised to the skies for their labour. One of the per-
formers usually writes up the event and is unstinting in his or her praise
of the artists; but the good sense, happily, however, of the editor, pre-
vails, and a generous public are spared the afifliction of having to wade
through a quarter of a column description of how Miss Samantha
Johnson-Macbeth scored a grand success in Gounod's immortel aria
Annie Rooney. or how Miss Pauline Alexandrovina Dagmar was
applauded to the echo in her rendition of Mosart's masterpiece, Maggie
Murphy's Home. The following will demonstrate to what the public
are, or would be stalled if the sensible editor did not come to the rescue
and curtail such effusions.
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 195
Last Sunday was the occasion of the holding of the anniversary services of Broadway
Tabernacle. The eloquent and impressive sermons were aided in no small degree by the
sweet and expressive singing of the choir, who were assisted by Mr Robert Shaw the rising
young tenor, and by Misses Kleiser and Brimson, both of whose soprano voices were heard
with pleasure. Mrs. R. A. Ilowson, the oiganist and choirmaster deserves the thanks of the
congregation for the appropriate and effective manner in which the musical portion of the
services was rendered.
The concert given Tuesday evening in the Gerrard street Methodist church was a ma-
gnificent success. Seldom has a better programme been presented to a church congregation
than that enjoyed by the large assembly. Miss Maud Bayne, Miss Clara Wallace, Miss Lily
Eaton and Miss Helen May Patterson were exceptionally happy in their selections and sustained
their reputations as favourite elocutionists. Mr. Spicer's songs were heartily appreciated, as
were also the solo and duett by Mr. and Mrs. Easton of Parkdale. " The cobbler " and the
" Fairies " by Miss Coulter of Islington won universal approval and Mr. Dixon's ventriloquism
was applauded to the echo. Mr. Morris and Miss Morden also took important parts in the
programme.
Just imagine the editor who is obliged to wade through such bosh.
One man, who has contrived through the instrumentality of lenient
newspaper men to puff his wife's musical pretentions up to the largest
capacity by multifarious notices in the dramatic columns, made a hab-
itual practice of coming to the office of the paper where I was employed,
and requesting to be furnished with proofs of the advertisements of
concerts where the lady was to sing, in order that he might make sure
that her name was the most prominent in the list of artists. It might
be mentioned that the advertising clerk had received instructions to
accept no advertising orders from this man unless accompanied by the
cash, or the order signed by some responsible party satisfactory to the
manager. He sent a lad into the office on one occasion and requested
that the proofs should be ready for him at 1 1 o'clock, to which the
clerk, myself, paid no attention whatever, and as he was to be acting
clerk that night, he was prepared for him,
At 1 1 o'clock or a little later he appeared, and in his most grandil-
oquent manner stated his business :
" I sent my office boy in here to order proofs for the advertisement
of the concert to be ready at ii o'clock."
'* Yes," the clerk responded, " and I think the boy was informed
that it would be necessary for him to have an order from Mr who
has signed the orders for the advertising."
" Good God ! " he exclaimed, " you don't mean to say the adver-
tisement is not set up yet."
" It is quite likely it is set up, but as to getting proofs for you,
you know that is out of the question."
" Is Mr in ?" mentioning rhe dramatic editor.
"Yes, I think he is."
" Is the elevator running ? "
" No, I think not."
He hurried away up stairs and the clerk heard him walking up the
stairs. As a matter of fact it was within the power of the clerk to have
proofs if he wished, but the pleasure one always feels on sitting down
on a cad was too strong and he took advantage of his position to refuse
to accommodate him. I give you these particulars gratis, so that if you
know the person referred to you will know also how it comes that her
196 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
name was made the most prominent in the list of artists. It was not
that the was the leading personage on the programme as might be
imagined by the unsophisticated, but merely an act of grace on the
part of a good natured editor.
Appropos of the prominence given to the lady in question, it is
within the memory of Torontonians that on the opening night of the
Academy of Music, the particulur star was Miss Nora Clench, and an
artist of more than ordinary ability, and justly recognized as such ; but
Mr. Whitney Mockridge, who is not that heaven born singer he would
like to have people believe he is, felt himself so deeply aggrieved by
Miss Clench's name being set in larger type than his own, that he did
not wish to sing, and the concert was consequently delayed for an hour
on that account. If Mr. Mockridge really possessed any special ability
it would perhaps be excusable, though in any case it was perfectly
absurd, but to compare himself as a vocalist with Miss Clench as a
violinist is so ridiculous that he may be easily pardoned for the small-
ness of his soul in making an ass of himself, if that be possible, in
such a matter.
You need only read the papers of any of the large cities to see
the "arts and graces" employed to obtain newspaper notoriety which
now passes for fame, by actresses and singers. When Miss Claire
was to sing in Toronto, the papers were filled with the chivalric devo-
tion of her fiance, and the scandalous actions of Miss Lilian Russell in
the recent encounter of the two singers in Boston. I think there is
nothing more delightful than to have your private affairs brought before
the public through the newspapers, and I feel sure that you will agree
with me that it is in excellent taste.
Inasmuch as notoriety and fame are synonymous nowadays, I pre-
sume when some charming young debutante makes her bow, and the
expectant world is informed that her worthy mother was a prize-fighter,
the generous public will rush to see her, and give her a warm reception
in commemoration of the feats of valour performed by the notorious
mother.
On one of my visits to Toronto, I was invited to a concert to hear
a gentleman who lays claim to being more than an ordinary tenor,
sing, and was really surprised at his efforts. " He can't read a note,"
my friend exclaimed exultantly, as though this were something to be
proud of. To Blind Tom it is quite natural to refer as being unable to
read music, as in addition to being blind he is likewise an idiot, but
that a man in full possession of his faculties, who has been a public
singer for years, and music constantly before him, can truthfully say he
cannot read music at all, proves himself to be less than a blind idiot.
I have often thought that Toronto audiences were extremely ge-
nerous or profoundly stupid, though perhaps it is a moderate combina-
tion of both. When a new song is introduced by some comedian such
as " Near It," *' I tried with my voice to enchant Her," and others less
pleasing, those who have not heard them from the lips of the singer
who originally introduces them, will certainly bear me out. As a matter
OF TORONTO THE GOOD. 197
of fact a teacher like Emilio Belari would not condescend to teach in
Toronto, but even were he disposed to do so, after he had fought
through the opposition he would have to encounter, he might feel like
giving up in disgust. When a gentleman came from Boston to give a
season of lessons, one of the city papers whose critic is also one of the
musical professors, I believe, proceeded to deprecate in a general way
people who came to the city for a few months' course thereby undoing,
if that were possible, what had been done to build up these voices by
careful training, &c., &c., and stating that these people never came to
the city a second time, though with a delicacy of feeling that was com-
mendable he did not state that some of these pupils were so well
pleased with their teacher that they underwent the expense of going
to Boston to receive instructions there. However, you may conceive
the mental capacity of the writer of this article when in criticising of a
certain play, he had sufficient regard for the truth to say that one
young lady on the bills in a certain play, was forty years of age, when
she was certainly not more than eighteen.
Again in the case of the Scotch choir I mentioned the press had
nothing but the highest praise to bestow upon it, which as I previously
pointed out was entirely unwarranted by the performance. So, too, in
the case of the Balmoral choir which visited us some years ago. It was
lauded to the skies, though, and I speak with all sincerity, it had no
advantage over any other organization of a similar nature, though it
is not saying much for it. Yet it received eulogies that even the great
Patti herself might have envied. Hence my contention that newspaper
criticism is unreliable is fully borne out by the facts. It is to be remem-
bered that in the cases of these two organizations, members of the press
were in some way connected with them. In the first they were mem-
bers of the Scotch choir, and the Balmoral choir was under the patron-
age of the Caledonian Society which numbers amongst its members
quite a large number of journalists. Is it, therefore, likely that they
would give an adverse criticism, or in fact give a criticism at all ?
Of the drama itself it seems unnecessary to speak. The three opera
houses all cater for the best possible custom, and their efforts are well
rewarded. The aim is to provide the very best talent on the continent,
and a really good play or opera is well patronized. The Grand, the
Princess, and Jacob's & Sparrow's each has its respective class of plays
and comparative prices, and very rarely an inferior show comes to
either.
In a recent benefit at which Manager Sheppard of the Grand made
a speech, the public were told that theatrical companies always said
that if a Toronto audience approved, they were successful elsewhere.
This seems to be a popular way of flattering any town or city into the
idea that its tastes are fastidious. I have heard Ottawa people say the
same thing, St. Catharines, Hamilton and Montreal as well. In one
of Roland's Reed's plays there is a scene in an asylum, and the stereo-
typed remark made by every one incarcerated is: "You know Fm not
in here because I'm insane, it is only to see a friend of mine." And
198 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
after soothing the patient the motherly matron says to herself: " Poor
fellow, that's what they all say." See any connection ?
Great and multifarious are the means employed to advertise this
or that singer or artist. Take as an example young Kavanagh, who
appeared in the Metropolitan church. The public were informed that
he had been introduced to the divine Patti, who after hearing him sing
" Angels ever bright and Fair," and " In verdure Clad," expressed her
appreciation, and kissed him.
Quite frequently I am at a loss to understand what theatrical
managers are thinking about when they are forming their companies,
and employing the actors and actresses for the different characters. In
some cases it would seem that the law of reversion was pursued with a
total disregard as to how it looks on the stage.
As a fair example take the play " Struck Oil," I think it is, where
a girl of innocence and principle is supposed to be embodied in " Nan."
It is only supposition, however. A great, coarse looking woman of about
thirty-five makes the character a laughing stock. Similarly in Alvin
JosHn, as played by some Company other than Charles L. Davis'. A
crisp looking damsel is stated in the programme to be a "fashionable
lady," and it is well that the programme says so, otherwise the public
would be in profound ignorance of it. A woman on the shady of forty,
thin and attenuated, whose appearance betokens a distressing familia-
rity with the wash tub is in perfect good faith advanced to us as a lady
of fashion. Even if nothing else did so, her costumes would belie the
character. The same deficiency exists in regard to Irish pays, particu-
larly Joe Murphy and Scanlon. The first time I heard Joe Murphy I
was dumbfounded. The press had been prodigal in its praise of him.
His first song was Milloy's '* Kerry Dances," and I never, I am happy
to say, heard it rendered similarly before nor since. It was absolutely
murdered. The first bar contains a G, but since Joe Murphy cannot
do an impossibility he did not attempt to touch it. He went over the
words in a sing-song fashion, without either accuarcy or expression,
and it is perhaps, not necessary for me to add that he was encored. I
do not think I am in any respect deviating from the truth in stating
that neither Joe Murphy nor Scanlon can sing. It is true they go over
the words but the music is changed to meet their voices, the high notes
they never attempt, and so far as there being any music in" their voices
it is absurd to pretend it.
QUACK DOCTORS.
Owing to to the protection afforded by the Medical Act, Canada
generally is free from these curses of modern civilization the quack
doctors ; but if they are not permitted to practise, there is nothing de-
barring them from the boon of advertising and the credulity of the
public, which is a marked characteristic of the human race, frequently
exhibits itself in this country. The quacks or medical imposters to
whom this chapter is devoted live upon credulity, and do all in
their power to encourage it.
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 199
Some of these people live in Toronto, and a great many more in
the United States, and they offer to cure any and every manner of di-
sease. Some offer their wares for a small sum, others charge enormous
prices. Frequently one of these men will personate half a dozen different
characters. The newspapers are full of their advertisements, some of
which are really unfit for the columns of a respectable journal. Besides
this, they send thousands of circulars through the mails to persons in
various parts of the country, setting forth the horrors of certain diseases,
and offering to cure them by their remedies. The circular contains an
elaborate description of the symptoms or premonitory signs of these
diseases and a very large number of persons reading these descriptions
really come to the conclusion that they are affected in the manner
stated by the quack. So great is the power of the imagination in these
cases, that sound and healthy men are sometimes absolutely led to
believe themselves in need of medical attention. A short conversation
with their regular physician would soon undeceive them, but they
foolishly send their money to the author of the circular in question, and
request a quantity of his medicine for the purpose of trying it. The
nostrum is received in due time and is accompanied by a second circular
in which the patient is coolly informed that he must not expect to be
cured by one bottle, box or package as the case may be, but that five
or six or sometimes a dozen will be necessary to complete the cure,
especially if the case is as desperate as the letter applying for the me-
dicine seems to indicate. Many are foolish enough to take the whol<*
half dozen bottles or packages, and in the end are no better in health
than they were at first. Indeed, they are fortunate if they are not
seriously injured by the doses they have taken. They are disheartened
in nine cases out often, and are at length really in need of good medical
advice. They have paid the quack more money than a good practitioner
would demand for his services, and have only been injured by their
folly.
It may be said that no honest and competent physician will un-
dertake to treat cases by letter. No one worthy of patronage will
guarantee a cure in any case, for an educated practitioner understands
that cases are many and frequent where the best human skill may be
■exerted in vain. Further than this, a physician of merit will not ad-
vertise himself in the newspapers, except to announce the location of
his office or residence. Such physicians are jealous of their personal or
professional reputations, and are proud of their calling. They use their
knowledge for the good of mankind, and are prompt to make known
their discoveries, so that all the world may enjoy the benefit, they them-
selves being rewarded with the fame of their invention. Not so with
the quacks. Some few have some medical knowledge, and are even
graduates of regular colleges, but the majority have neither medical
knowledge or skill. They know their remedies are worthless, and they
offer them only to make money. They know that in many cases their
nostrums will inflict positive injury upon their victims, but they are
careless of the harm they do. They live upon human misery. The
200 OF TOKONTO THE GOOD.
reader may rest assured that not a single physician who conducts his
business by means of circulars or advertisements is really competent
to treat the cases he professes to cure, and that no one knows this better
than himself.
Some time ago a firm of physicians so-called, with a great embla-
zonation of advertisements, anounced " They are coming," and again
" They are here," and how in the world they managed to dupe the
pubHc or obtain a foothold is absolutely incomprehensible. One of the
city newspapers, however, can tell the profound manner in which they
were duped, and how payment for the glaring advertisements has never
been made to this day.
As a general rule the various medicines advertised as specifics or
panaceas for^various ills, are humbugs and are utterly worthless. Many
of them are made up of harmless drugs, which can do no harm, if, as
is almost certain, they do no good ; but others again are composed of
very dangerous substances. The remedies advertised for "private
diseases " rarely fail to make the patient worse either by aggravating
the disease itself or by permanently injuring the constitution. Vital
fluids and others of that ilk, generally contain mercury to a large ex-
tent, and anyone conversant with the properties of this substance can
easily understand how great is the danger in using them. The various
bitters which flood the country are only cheap whisky or rum and water,
made nauseous with drugs. They have no virtue whatever as medicinal
agents, and merely injure the tone of the stomach. ; their chief result
being to establish the habit of intemperance ; they are more fiery than
ordinary liquors, and destructive in their efi"ects. The various medicinal
wines that are offered for sale are decoctions of elderberry juice and
kindred substances and are more hurtful than beneficial. The hair dyes
advertised under so many different names contain such poison as nitrate
of silver, oxide of lead, acetate of lead, and sulphate of copper. These
are fatal to the hair, and generally injure the scalp. The ointment for
promoting the growth of whiskers and mustaches is either perfumed
and colored lard, or poisonous compounds which contain quicklime or
corrosive sublimate, or some kindred substance. If you have any
acquaintance who has ever used this means of covering his face with a
manly down ask him which came first the beard or a trublesome eruption.
Different newspapers often contain advertisements like the follow-
ing : " A retired physician of forty years' practice having had placed in
his hands a certain cure for consumption, bronchitis, colds, etc., and
will send it to all sufferers on receipt of a three cent stamp. &c., &c."
A single moment's reflection ought to convince any sensible person
that the parties thus advertising are frauds, if they remember that it
costs a great deal of money to advertise ; and as the announcements
referred to can be seen in scores of papers, it is safe to say that they
spend thousands of dollars a year in advertising. Letters come asking
him for his valuable prescription which he sends and notifies the party
asking for it that if the articles named in it cannot be obtained by him
at the drug store convenient to him, he will furnish them at a certain
OF TOEONTO THE GOOD. 201
sum, which he assures him is very cheap as the drugs are rare and ex-
pensive. Again a great many people have a reticence in going to a
city drug store where they may possibly be known, with such a pres-
cription, and will frequently send the money to escape such comments
as the druggist may possibly make. I was reading a few days ago of a
man who had been entrusted with a secret prescription for the cure of
something or other by a physician who was on his death bed, and gave
it to him for the benefit of suffering humanity. I laughed when I read
it, and thought how gullible must be the public for a fake like that
to succeed.
Another matter that will strike the reader is the fact that if he
once sends his money there will be no end to the number of people who
have similar remedies, and he will wonder where they got his name.
It is very simple. They are perhaps one and the same person or firm>
and if not they have possibly purchased the names from another house.
How it is done is not a matter of much consequence, but it is certain
that when once a name is given to these sharks they seem to have the
faculty of having it pretty well advertised that you require the treat-
ment they deal in, and if they cannot sell you the goods themselves
they will try to find some one else who can.
Men have grown rich in the business, and it is carried on to an
amazing extent in particularly American cities, and to a certain extent
in Canada, but the advice given in regard to quack doctors holds
equally good in respect to patent medicines.
Some time ago a young friend of mine was suffering from a disease
of a private nature, and answered an advertisement inserted by one of
the druggists in the city, who, after giving him some medicine, ins-
tructed him to perform an act upon his own body that almost killed
him, besides the grossly immoral nature of the act. I do not know
what redress the young man could have got, but it would have been
infinitely satisfactory to me to have seen the druggist punished for his
advice, which could have been actuated only by the most morbid ideas.
To the general public it might seem that the patient might have known
better, but that does not in any respect excuse the action of the druggist
in advising an act that at that particular time would have been most
disastrous had not the constitution of the patient been able to with-
stand it, but it demonstrates my point that no one suffering from any
disease of a serious nature or any disease at all, for that matter, should
consult a druggist or use quack medicines for its cure, as you are almost
morally certain to be humbugged.
In the preparation of this article, I wrote to a large number of so
called patent medicine dealers for circulars explaining their remedies^
and I have given you the pith of what they contain, but the following
is really too good to cut down, so I give it in full, and while I do not
say anything against it, I submit it for your careful consideration. It
is intended to show the reliability of the house issuing the circular, and
if you will take the trouble to analyse it, you will see that the fullest
information was afforded the brother to transmit to his applicant. The
202 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
bank account is reported as being fat, and being kept at three banks,
and in respect to that I must confess that bankers must be peculiar
people in the United States if they will give their customers' business
away in that style.
The following is the letter :
My Dear Brother : — Your letter only received, and I have delayed writing until I could
answer your inquiries regarding the . . fully. You know when I start to do a thing, I gener-
ally do it right, I devoted a whole day to this investigation and make the following report : I
first visited the offices, which extend the whole length and width of the large building they occupy.
There were, I should judge, about twenty persons employed there as clerks etc., all seemed
very busy. The manager showed me all through their establishment, explaining their method
of filling orders etc., it seems that all orders are filled the same day as received. I next visited
the consultation office, where the physician in charge explained the actions of the appliances
they manufacture. To demonstrate the superiority of the articles he has in the office samples
of every kind manufactured in the U.S„ and by means of the he convinced me that their
manufacture gives four times as much strength as the others. Two of the rivals that sell so
high he proved give no strength whatever. He showed me hundreds of testimonials from all
parts of America. He also showed me orders from every part of the worlci, Europe, Asia,
Africa, Sandwich Islands, Brazil, Australia, Mexico and Japan. I was perfectly satisfied from
what I saw that their goods were all that they represented them to be, and that they did an
immense business. I next visited their bankers to find their financial standing. I find that they
own real estate in this city, worth I should judge, about seventy-five thousand dollars ; that they
have a fat bank account at three of the leading banks, and are without doubt perfectly respons-
ible. In conclusion, brother, I would by all means advise you to try their treatment, and I
feel sure from what I have seen that you will find.their goods just what they represent them to
be and also that you will be honestly dealt with.
Your>affectionate brother,
I submit the following, which I think will strike the common sense
reader us being the maudlin raving of a drunkenass, if anyone outside
of the office of the concern wrote it :
An earnest man who had suffered, hesitated, then put it to the test, writes thus :
" Well, I tell you that first day is one I'll never forget. I just bubbled with joy. I wanted
to hug everybody and tell them that my old self had died yesterday and my new self was born
to-day. Why didn't you tell me when I first wrote that I would find.it this way ? "
While there will not be any question of the desirability of having
the medical profession as rigidly exact as possible, it may strike a
great many as being too rigid in its discipline with its own members.
For instance, a medical man is not permitted to advertise himself any
more than his address and his speciality if he has one. Breach of this
rule permits the council to deal with him as it may think proper.
Some years ago Dr. McCuUy used to advertise quite extensively in the
daily papers, and make very frequent assaults on the general hospital,
which he irreverently stigmatized as the "old mill." The council at that
time, I believe was unable to reach him, but one would imagine that
the law courts might have afforded redress. One hallow e'en some of
the brilliant medical students congregated in front of his residence and
showered it with stones. Dr. McCully showed his appreciation of this
compliment, and fired into the crowd. For this he was summoned and
discharged, and at the same time I have no doubt he received the
thanks of thousands of Toronto's citizens for his courage. The students
in council assembled a few days later drew up a heroic resolution of
sympathy with one of the young men, who received the charge from
the doctor's gun, but tradition does not say that in addition to their
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 203
bravery any one of them acknowledged himself as having thrown
stones at the Doctor's house. Such bravery as that would probably be
too much to expect. The resolution of condolance was as far as their
chivalry could go. It might be thought by the uninitiated that the
powers of the Doctors are sufficiently great, or that they might be
somewhat curtailed. The judge who tried the prisoners in the Sharon
poisoning case had the hardihood to say that the expert medical evid-
ence was absolutely valueless, as it would seem to him, that any evidence
a lawyer wished to procure, the doctors would give him, and that it was
utterly worthless. No one knows that the Medical Council passed
resolutions condemning his aspersions. It may be that they were well
founded. Besides it may be remembered that one of the leading phy-
sicians, or at least a man who considers himself such, gave a permit for
burying an abortion, when the latter was alive. This matter was vent-
ilated by the leader of the Opposition in the Ontario House during a
recent session. Perhaps it might be in the public interest if the doct-
ors had some restrictive legislation passed for the benefit of the public.
However that is a matter for the public.
The fact of the matter is simply that doctors wish to maintain a
monopoly, and all their heroics to the contrary would not change my
opinion one iota.
Similarly with the druggist. They have so long enjoyed the mo
nopoly of charging the public twenty cents an ounce for water, that
when Eaton and Simpson decided to give the public the benefit of low
prices the latter was promptly brought up on a charge of violating the
Pharmacy Act and fined. Any other than an unworthy motive, did not
prompt this display of spleen. Mr. Simpson had a licensed chemist to
work for him, who could probably compound drugs just as well and
probably considerably better than those who incited the prosecution.
Daniel Boyer, the Markham curer of cancer, was tried at the Police
Court on a charge of having infringed upon the provisions of the Me-
dical Act by treating Miss Rose Cates, of Wilton avenue, for fibroid
tumor in March last. The Crown called Miss Cates, who swore that,
having become afflicted with the tumor and fearing that it would de-
velop into cancer, went to Markham to consult Boyer. The latter is the
inventor of a patent plaster which when applied to a cancer '• draws it
out by the roots." She stated her case to him and secured several
plasters and, as her mother was a woman of nervous temperament, she
decided to remain at Boyer's house while undergoing treatment. For
board for eight days and for the plasters she subsequently paid him
$13. In all her evidence it did not appear that he had tendered her
any medical advice. He simply sold the plasters as a patent medicine.
Moreover she was cured. The case fell through.
The News observes " If the Markham man who was in court yes-
terday has a plaster that can cure tumors, as a patient swore in her
testimony, it is an outrage that he should not be allowed to sell it to
the poor sufferers without being prosecuted for it. Surely the health —
even the life of a person — is of more consequence than the maintenance
of medical ethics,"
204 OF TORONTO THE GOOD.
SITUATION AGENCIES.
There are inserted, almost every day, advertisements for help
wanted, but just how far they are beneficial is a matter for those in-
terested to judge, but before you invest your money, carefully peruse
the following article, and decide for yourself:
Of all the investments known the one least likely to produce any return is the fee paid to
an employment bureau for assistance promised in securing a position. The possibilities held
out by the agent are immense. The probabilities are not so great. The number of situations
secured in comparison to the number of applications received are diccouragingly small.
A 11 employment agencies are licensed. A by-law regulates the fees allowed to be charged.
The books used in transacting business are all open to public inspection. These are perhaps
the greatest evils. Intended, as the by-law was, to be a safeguard to the public, it only inspires
confidence, it affords no protection. This is an industry that prospers best in times of adversity.
The bird of action grown fat when death is in the land. The emplopment agent succeeds best
when the bread-earner fares worst. When work is scarce applications for aid to find it are many.
All applications are accompanied by the necessary fee. The unemployed are kindly received
in these places. These agents, philanthropists are their friends. The fees charged are as follows
for domestics, 50c ; for governesses, female bookkeepers, clerks, stenographers, etc., $1 ; for
laborers, 50c ; and for coachmen, male bookkeepers, clerks, etc., $1. If a situation is procured
the whole amount paid is kept. If the attempt is fruitless, as is too often the case, half the
amount paid is returned to the applicant. The applicant is promised the assistance of the agent.
The assistance consists in registering the name in a register for the purpose and permitting the
person seeking employment to drop into the employment office occasionally for a period of ten
days. The last is no great privilege as the usual furniture for such offices is one table and one
chair, or per adventure two. One may, of course, lean up against the wall.
" We do not," said one of these agents, "guarantee that we will get any applicant a
position. We merely promise to try."
" What does your trying amount to ?"
" We are in correspondence with many large warehouses and factories ; that is we
advertise."
" About what percentage of the applicants do you find positions for ? "
'* I am not prepared to say, but that has really nothing to do with the business."
The mention of advertising recalls an incident which happened at the time of the Indus-
trial Fair last year. One of the employment bureaus advertised for girls to work on the Exhi-
bition grounds. At least two of those who applied and who paid the necessary fee were directed
to a fictitious address. They returned and demand d the money back which they had paid.
This was refused and was only received by police interference.
There is another case where men were advertised for to go to the lumber woods. When
they went to the woods to which they were directed, they found there was no work for them.
This sort of thing should be stopped. There is nothing meaner or more contemptible than
this trafficking on the necessiti-^s of the poor and unemployed. Faint hopes are presented. The
unfortunate snatch at faint hopes. A little reflection would show the employer of labour need
not apply, and as a matter of fact do not often apply to these agencies to fill these positions. The
very large majority of them have any number of applications always on hand and they find it
an easy matter to select men to fill vacancies .
Barnum is said to have remarked that people like to be humbugged. So long as this is
true it would be scarcely charitable to rob the public of such a fruitful source of amusement,
and this is perhaps the only apology for the existence of employment bureaus.
Several well-dressed, respectable young men called at Police head-
quarters and reported a contemptibly mean swindle that they claimed
had been perpetrated upon them. According to their statement they
answered the following advertisement which appeared in the evening
papers :
Wanted — 50 men for the lumber woods, wages, $26 to $35, board and fares paid. Apply
45 Wallace avenue, near Dufferin street, after 5.
At the address indicated in the advertisement they met a man
who represented to them that he had received instructions from a lum-
berman to engage that number of men. He taxed all that he engaged
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 205
25 cents as his commission, and ordered them to report at the Union
station for transportation, only to cause them to meet with bitter dis-
appointment as there was no one there to meet them. Some of the
young fellows smarting under the sad experience went to the house,
intending to have a reckoning with the individual who made the en-
gagement, but found the house empty, the bird having flown. A war-
rant was issued for his arrest.
SWINDLERS.
Of the various schemes resorted to by mankind to swindle his brother
it would be impossible to say which in the worst, or where they origin-
ate, but one would think that with the oft-recurring warnings of the
press, people would learn to beware of such people. The following
affair seems so patent on its face that one is surprised at people of
intelligence biting at it :
According to an advertisement that had appeared in several rural
weeklies, a new weekly paper called the Cosmopolitan Advertiser was
about to be issued in Toronto. The publisher was stated to be W.
Armand, 60x2,537 Toronto P. O. He offered as a premium for a
subscription price of $1 for six months a solid gold watch made by
the Charles Stark Company. The postal authorities entertained a sus-
picion that the deal was not all right and an interview with Inspector
Stark followed. He detailed a detective to watch for the person who
took the letters out of box 2,537 ^^^ W* R* Wood, a young man em-
ployed as clerk in the Budget office, 64 Bay street, called for the letters.
He was promptly escorted ever to the police headquarters where a con-
sultation with Inspector Stark took place. Wood stated that he held a
power of attorney from Armand, whose address he did not know, but
who, he believed, resided in the States. He met him through answer-
ing an advertisement. He claimed that Armand was at present nego-
tiating with Toronto printers to publish the new journal. He received
thirty four letters the previous day and another large number the day
of his arrest. These letters were all handed over to Inspector Stark,
and $24 of the money previously received. The balance he said he had
turned over to Armand who had been in the city the day previously.
He also surrendered the key to the Post office box. The Charles Stark
Co. repudiate having any business dealings with either Armand or Wood.
F. E. Handy was the first witness called for the prosecution. He
testified that he enclosed a dollar addressed to box 2,537 Toronto. He
sent money to William Armand. He had an idea that it was a fraud
but he made up his mind to try it anyway. Detective Stark identified
the letter written by Mr. Handy as having been among the stock of
letters the defendant Wood had handed to him. He recounted the
details of the interview that took place between Wood and himself, in
which the former admitted that the scheme looked like a fraud, but he
was dragged into it through an advertisement. The Magistrate com-
mitted Wood for trial on his own bail.
206 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
Advertising is essentially one of the best means for the swindler
to use for his purpose, and no matter how vigilant the newspapers may-
be it is impossible to check the different schemes they invent.
Wanted — Treasurer for dramatic company, long engagement to the right party, must
have $200 cash security. Apply box 204 Telegram.
Such was the advertisement that met the gaze of Mr. Fred Barrow,
a young Englishman who has been a short time in Toronto, and has
been anxious to obtain some employment. Straightway he hied him-
self to the Telegram office and answered the advertisement. In reply
he received a note asking him to call upon Mr. M. J. Marshall, at the
Arlington hotel. He was received by a stoutish man of forty-five or
fifty years, standing, perhaps, five feet eight. This was Mr. Marshall
the gentleman who had inserted the advertisement. Mr. Marshall
plunged into business. He had organized, he averred, the Zoe Gayton
variety troupe which was to begin an extended United States tour.
Everything was in readiness, but alas, he had been disappointed in
getting a treasurer. He was, however, delighted to find that his wan-
dering advertisement had struck so promising a young gentleman as
Mr. Barrow, and hoped they would come to an understanding. The
scheme was talked over and finally an agreement was drafted on a sheet
of paper by Mr. Marshall. By its terms Barrow was engaged as trea-
surer at a salary of $18. 50 per week, with board and travelling expenses.
He was to give two weeks' notice of his intention to leave, and was to
be given the same time to prepare to relinquish his post should he not
prove satisfactory. If both parties were suited, Mr. Barrow was to hold
the job for six months. As an earnest of good faith he was to put up
$100 security in Mr. Marshall's hands.
"But." said Mr. Barrow ** I shouldn't like to put up that much."
" How much can you deposit ? " asked Marshall.
" Well, I'll put up fifty dollars," was the answer.
The complaisant Mr. Marshall agreed to this — it was only a matter
of form, Mr. liarrow knew. The sheet of foolscap was signed without
witnesses though, and Mr. Barrow put it in his pocket. Then he handed
over to Mr. Marshall the fifty dollars. Arrangements were then made
for the pair's departure for Buffalo on Sunday at i.io. Mr. Barrow
packed his trunks, and at the time appointed was at the station. Mr.
Marshall was not there. He was not on the train when it pulled out of
the station, and he was not at the Arlington when the excited " trea-
surer" drove there. He had gone, and accompanying him were Mr.
Barrow's fifty bills.
A correspondent from Montreal says :
Montreal has had her lottery plague, and as the promoters of
these illegitimate concerns are throwing up the sponge in every direc-
tion and asking permission to close up quietly without further expense,
our citizens are now turning their eyes westward and rightly ask pro-
tection from the faking prize institutions which infest the city of
Toronto. As far as this city is concerned, it is safe to say that more
hard cash has been filched out of Montreal's capacious pocket by
OF TO-RONTO THE GOOD. 207
these Toronto prize swindles than by the miserable five and ten cent
lotteries which for a short time flourished in our midst. Our city-
papers have been teeming with advertisements, all of which come from
the city of Toronto, inviting people to read correctly certain stupid
rebis, and promising that the first answer will bring the winner any-
thing from a Shetland pony to a door mat. As a matter of fact the^e
fakes can be deciphered in three seconds by the dullest i8 months old
baby in the Montreal blind asylum. Consequently the crop of fools
who are thus taken in in Montreal alone must be enormous. It hap-
pens very frequently that a young man or a young woman learns from
the Queen City of the West that he or she has read the fake correctly,
but in order to be placed in possession of the diamond ring or the gold
watch a sum of money must be sent to headquarters, and, in fact, all
fakedom is marvelling over the great good luck of our poor deluded
Montrealer. The latter then throws away three cents more by writing
a protesting note, saying that the advertisement in question made no
mention of any such stipulation. The Toronto fakir replies that if
his Montreal friend does not see fit to respond, the firm in question
will be the gainer and this is about all the satisfaction he receives. He
is willing to lose the postage stamps which were enclosed with the
answer and congratulates himself that he escapes so easily. One man,
however, who sent $3, reports that the diamond received was the size
of a pin head, and the ring adorns the small finger of an infant lately
arrived. Not long since a lady who had been victimized by one of
these swindles, placed the matter in the hands of a city detective, who
in turn referred the matter to an officer of the law in Toronto. The
western detective replied that the whole concern was a fake and a
swindle, but the people who were carrying them on invariably sub-
mitted their advertisements to able lawyers, and he regretted to say
that he could not reach them. If this be the case the victims in this
province think the law of Ontario should be changed and that in
short order.
Detective John A. Grose, of the Canadian secret service agency
gives timely warning to the public against what he terms fake adver-
tisements. The officer has just received the following, clipped from
an Ottawa paper, which reads as follows :
Wanted — A permanent office assistant, either sex, salary $750 ; fare paid here ; enclose
address and stamped envelope. Secretary, Box Montreal, Canada.
The remarks below this ad. read as follows ; " Sir, the above taken
from an Ottawa paper speaks for itself. It is a fraud and the lessees
of the box deserve to be brought to justice. Any one by reading the
above advertisement " says Mr. Grose, " will see at a glance that it is
a fraud. The very idea of paying a female assistant $750 per annum
and then paying her fare to this city is enough. The result of this,
however, is that many a poor girl who imagines she is fit for the place
addresses a reply to an advertisement, and in return she is told to send
three or four or five dollars as the case may be, which will pay for the
208 OF TOEONTO THE GOOD.
enquiry to be made into her character, and if this is satisfactory the
place will be granted her. There are, perhaps, a hundred applicants.
If they send in $3 each that means $300 to the advertiser, and nothing
in return to the individual who has been long looking for work, and
expects a reply to this gilded advertisement. I could enumerate ins-
tances by the score where widows and orphans have applied to this
office for some redress, stating that they paid to certain employment
agencies sums of $3 or $5, with the hope of getting situations in re-
turn, and that their hopes have been blasted after numerous trips to
the alleged managers of the concerns in question.
Toronto has not yet arrived at the stage of perfection that New
York has been generally accredited with possessing where the bogus
auctioneer holds sway, but it ought by this time to be well known by
every one, that watches are not sold in these places for fun. I was
amused once by a farmer coming into one of these auction rooms on
King street, and handing over a timepiece, he had bought at the
establishment a short time previously.
" I want you to take this watch back," he explained to the auc-
tioneer.
" What for ? " he was asked in surprise.
"I don't want it. You said when I bought it if I couldn't get
twice the amount I paid for it from a pawn broker, I needn't keep it."
" Well, you needn't, I don't care what you do with it." And then
he laughed.
The farmer cast one look of indignation, and walked out.
In addition to the foregoing, we have the newspaper fakir who
offers premiums to those who guess the lucky number, find some words
in Scripture, or some such other scheme, and in this connection a cor-
respondent addressed the Weekly Mail, and asked if the advertisers
carried out their promises, if the fake was bona fide and if he would
recommend the correspondent to send his money. To all of which
he answered " No." The correspondent thereupon cut the answer out
of the paper, and forwarded it to the advertiser. The latter called
upon the editor, and demanded to know if he had written the reply,
etc., and he answered that he had.
" Do you know that I can sue you for libel ?" he demanded.
" Oh, yes," the other answered carelessly, " I am aware of that
but I don't think you can get judgment. You see I know what I'm
writing about."
The libel suit was not entered, but the advertiser withdrew his
patronage from the Mail.
Another case is where a gentleman having sent his good money
to a firm of publishers was informed that he had drawn a piece of
silverware, and that twenty-five cents would be required for postage
and packing. This amount he sent, and received a " silver " spoon
worth about ten cents, or say so much per ton, and the postage was
two cents, the packing consisting of a little box made of pasteboard.
OF TOKONTO THE GOOD. 209
In connection with these gift enterprises the public have no con-
ception of the number of complaints made to the Post Office Depart-
ment against them, and one is surprised that people of good sense can
be so easily gulled. An advertisement appeared in the Montreal Star
some time ago, in which a complete parlor suite was offered for one
dollar. A man in Ottawa sent his dollar and received his furniture,
which occupied a pasteboard box size about 6 k S inches. He com-
plained to the Post Office Department, which however could give him
no redress, but the Star, on finding out the character of the concern,
discontinued the advertisement.
CONCLUSION.
In conclusion I wish to tender my sincerest thanks to those who
have followed my fortunes from beginning to end, and while there may
be some of the subject matter which will not meet with your acquies-
cence, it is to be remembered that the work is founded on truth, and is
entirely truth, hence the cause, doubtless of some of its unpopularity. I
desire to express also my sincerest thanks to the press, particularly the
Telegram and Saturday Night for the many clippings I have taken from
them, and for many of the thoughts their articles have inspired. My
thanks are equally due to Monsieur Gabouriau, and other writers of
fiction for expressions I have found in their works suited to the case I
happened to be dealing with, and equally to different physicians whose
works I have consulted in dealing with ** morbid anatomy." Exception
may be taken to some of the chapters of this work, but it is to be
remembered that inasmuch as they are a part and parcel of the city, it
would be incomplete without them. The peculiar nature of the work
has been the foundation for the hope of its success, and I think I am
correct in saying that there is no doubt these hopes will be realized
There is nothing in it that is not correct and truthful, and this must be
my excuse, if any were needed, for the chronicling of unpalatable facts.
I have long considered a work of this class a necessity, being as much
a social teacher as any newspaper or minister in the country to-day. It
gives what the newspapers dare not give, and what they do not know,
a faithful and correct account of such things as might be considered
unwholesome truths. If in any case I know that any reform has been
accomplished through my efforts I shall feel that my work has not
been in vain. It is customary in writing of a city to praise it. I have
done no such thing. I have told you of the city as I have found it, and
if it is not palatable, it is the city's fault and not mine. I am not in
any respect offering an apology for my work. I have given what I know
to be true, and could prove anything I have said in a Court of Justice.
As I have pictured the Social Evil, so I have found it, and no remarks
that I have made in that connection are overdrawn. I ask criticism of
men who are competent to criticise — the judiciary, and magistracy,
210 ili Ol f, ^ ^F TOEONTO THE GOOD.
clergymen, policemen, members of Parliament can scarcely be expected
to give an unbiassed opinion. If they were to agree that certain laws
might be amended, they know that every Pharisee who could do so,
would league himself and herself against them. Methodist ministers
have the persecution of the broken-hearted Jeffreys always before them
as an object lesson, — a man whose mortal sin consisted in that he did
not believe in Prohibition.
To the press and to different novelists, from whom I have taken
extracts I desire to return my sincerest thanks.
THE END.
^^^^O^Pn^
^^^^C^t>f^
HN 110 .T6 C53 1898 SMC
Clark. Christopher St. Georg
Of Toronto the good
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