The Heritage Corner, Springhill Record
June 7, 2006
June 7, 2006 – Articles – 1894 and 1895
Here are a few articles from the Springhill Record on Jan. 19, 1894 .
“The Springhill Cottage Hospital has been in operation for only two months and has already justified its existence and necessity in the town. Its fuller and further usefulness is hindered only by lack of means to more effectually do the work which come to it. The nurses are kept very busy. There would be ample work for more trained nurses in the town if the resources of the hospital could bear the burden. The Institution has a great future.”
“The first carnival of the season was held at the rink with the 93 rd Regiment Band furnishing excellent music.”
“The death of Mr. McInnis, manager of the collieries, necessitates some staff changes. Mr. Hargraves succeeds to the position of manager; Mr. Matthews becomes assistant manager. Mr. McInnis had become manager when Mr. Henry Swift was killed in the Feb., 1891 Great Explosion.”
“There will be great entertainment at Fraser’s Hall on Saturday afternoon, by Professor Leonell, for the benefit of the ladies and schoolchildren. Many presents will be given away. All will do well to attend as good reports have been of this company.”
In 1894 when William Conway became Mayor, he proposed using the material from the red stone bank for the street of Springhill. The street leading to the railway station had been graded with this stone and was keeping up quite well and he figured if the other streets were covered there wouldn’t be much upkeep later. The work was done by the people of the town who were out of work. Labor by days work was paid from $1.00 to $1.25; Horse and boy driver, $1.75 per day, Horse and man driver, $2.00 per day, and H.A.B. Glendenning, horse hire $6.75.
In the Town Report for 1895 William Conway, Esq. was the Mayor. The Councilors were: Ward 1 – A. D. Ferguson and A.B. Wilson; Ward 2 - J. W. Wilson and M. Black; Ward 3 – E.B. Paul and M. McPherson.
Richard Bennett, who was the Stipendiary Magistrate, passed away in that year.
The Fire Dept. erected a building on Elgin Street which was built by Mr. Mattinson for the sum of $450. It was built so it could be moved at anytime or converted to a house. The also put in a telegraph fire alarm system at a cost of $200.47.
The School Board decided not to make it compulsory for children to go to school until they had made a change i.e. more school rooms, truant officers and public opinion on their side. The attendance for the month of October for the last two years was:
Year No. Enrolled No. Attended Average
1894 1022 934 716
1895 1040 987 745
The new Teachers for 1895 were: Annie M. Purdy, Lizzie Oulton, C.M. Bacon, Nina Church, Celia Ibbitson, Mr. James Layton, Miss M. McVicar and Jean Dick. The Substitutes were – Mrs. J.F. Gilroy, Nettie Purdy, Jane Elliot and Bessie McLeod.
The Street Department had some complaints about the division of the team work. Some thought their team wasn’t being used as much as others. By 1895 Springhill was using burned stone for the streets and it was said that Springhill had the best streets of any rural town in the county. For leveling snow drifts and breaking roads during the winter the men were paid $1.00 - $1.25 per day. Teams breaking roads were paid $2.00 per day.
The town was supporting a child in the Hospital Department of the Poor House in Halifax at a cost of $1.25 per week. It seems the mother was only here for a short time and had no settlement in the Province. The Chairman of the Poor Commission, Michael McPherson thought that the mother should have been sent to the Provincial Alms house in Halifax .
