[People’s Press, 29 May 1900]
The old Rice homestead in Thorold township about two miles from Welland, was completely destroyed by fire on Friday morning. The building was one of those old-fashioned, rambling ones, built in three sections, the oldest of which was occupied by the grandfather of the present owner ninety years ago. The old homestead had been the dwelling place of four generations of the Rice family, and owing to these cherished remembrances Mr. Rice feels keenly the loss in its destruction. It was one of those staunch buildings, as were put up in days gone by, with heavy oak timbers, and lines throughout with brick inside the weather boards. Two of the sections were frame outside, the dimensions of each being 18×24; there was a brick kitchen in the rear of these, and in the rear of the kitchen was a big woodshed and the ice house-the whole is now a mass of ruins, nothing standing except part of the brick walls of the kitchen. The cause of the fire can only be assumed-the kitchen chimney had burned out just before the family sat down to breakfast, but all danger from this was thought to be over and Mr. Rice and his help had gone into the fields for the day’s work. About eight o’clock, Mr. Rice, happening to glance in the direction of the house, saw smoke rising above the trees; he hurried over, but on reaching the upstairs found the roof so far gone that fire was falling through into the room. To check the fire being out of the question, all efforts were directed toward saving the contents. Very little was got out from the upper storey, but with the help of twenty or more men who had reached the scene in the meantime a great quantity of the contents of the lower section were removed safely, bot notwithstanding this the loss on contents alone will be very heavy. There was a small insurance of $275 on the house and also a policy on the contents, but these cover a very small portion of the actual loss. Although the house was only some fifty feet from the barns, the wind fortunately was very light and from the right direction to blow the fire the other way.
[People’s Press, 7 August 1900]
The above illustration represents a scene taken during the building of the present aqueduct. The work of constructing the arches had just been completed and the construction of the canal floor is under way. The waters of the Welland river pass under the canal through six of these arches. This view was taken from the direction of W.H. Crow’s lumber yard and shows the river lock and lock shanty in the distance.
The first Welland canal was undertaken by private enterprise with William Hamilton Merritt at the head. It was partially completed in 1829, when boats came up as far as Port Robinson, then locked into the river and reached Lake Erie by way of the Niagara river. The water was carried across the river at Welland through a wooden aqueduct on the site now occupied by Rounds’ Mill.
In 1842 the Government of Canada purchased the stock and made extensive improvements, replacing the wooden aqueduct with a stone one-now the “old aqueduct.”
By 1870 the requirements of navigation induced the Government to again enlarge the canal to a 14-foot channel, which necessitated the construction of the new aqueduct.
The new aqueduct, conveying the Welland canal over the Welland river, is one of the finest and most extensive pieces of mason work in America. It is of grey limestone masonry laid in hydraulic cement mortar. The distance from the face of the abutment on the north side of the river to that on the south is 277 feet. There are six arched openings. The rise of the arches is 7 feet and the span 40 feet. The top of the parapet wall is 28 ¾ over the centre part of the intrados. This work was first undertaken by Hunter & Murray, but they were unsuccessful, and abandoned the contract. They were succeeded by Messrs. Beemer & Sullivan, who carried the work steadily and without serious interruption to successful completion. Ten years elapsed between the first letting of the contract, and the completion of the work. The engineer in charge was W.G. Thomson, now superintending engineer of the whole canal.
The work of enlarging the canal cost about $16,000,000.
Shefferd Butter at Ottawa
[Welland Tribune. 19 June 1900]
The following from the Waterloo, P.Q., Adventurer, and the Mr. H.E Reynolds who has won such creditable distinction as a butter maker will be known to many readers to the Tribune, he having been with the Welland cheese Association during the years 1897-8. The Advertiser says:-
“At the Canada Central Exhibition Ottawa last week High Hill creamery, South Roxton, H.E. Reynolds, maker, took the first prize for creamery butter in fancy packages. The competition was large and keen and Mr. Reynolds deserves to be congratulated on his success, High Hill and the creameries in Shefford are turning out the class of butter that has made the reputation of Canadian Creamery in the English market. The prices obtained in this section are above those paid in any other part of Canada. The creameries here are up to date in their equipment and are run by men who thoroughly understand their business. With the best of milk and such makers as Mr. Reynolds, there is little wonder that they stand at the top of the heap in the market in the completion that are held at the fall fairs.”
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