-
http://www.fepl.ca/localhistory/files/original/be846d224b5a1fe2de5dba935e2a1d08.pdf
c4e53329f76ba34da49f0571cb5315d7
PDF Text
Text
This is Neil Flindall interviewing Mr. Roy Renshaw, in his home at 1387
Niagara Boulevard, Fort Erie, Ontario, on the Thirty-first day of July 1985.
N.F:
Were you born in Fort Erie?
R.R:
No, I was born in Caledonia, Ontario, around the Grand River,
1915, July the twenty-fifth,
I moved to Fort Erie along with my
family in 1916, as my father got a job on the Canadian National
Railroad down here... my first home was on Phipps Street at a person's
name of Young and he was a baseball player in Fort Erie, from there
.
I moved to Phipps Street . ! don't know who is living in the present
.
house now but it was...five or six houses up from Central... on the
south side of the street, where we lived they had a rug factory in
the back, can't think of who the gentleman was... but he .would buy
up felt hats and weave mats for your doorsteps · o r whatever type
of mat you wanted...from there my father bought a house at 241
Emerick which was just east of the school yard on Emerick Avenue,
and I lived there until I got married in 1936
.
.. now som e of our oldest
neighbours were Ben Young, and Mr. Noyes, Mr. Bob Beyers, Mr
Putney, Mr. Crooks, Mr. Hersey who was tied up with the first water
works in Crescent Beach ...him and his brother had a water plant
at Crescent Park . ..there was a gentleman of the name of Mr. Clarke
at the southeast corner of Central and Emerick who had eight cows ...and
I used to take those eight cows, and take them out to pasture where
the Rio Vista Golf Course is today, and then bring them home at
night... there was another fellow across the road from my dad's house,
his name was Nettle, and he had cows, and he pastured them between
Emerick Avenue and Highland
A venue,
on the pasture right there:
N.F:
That is quite a bit different than it is today.
R.R:
Of course I went to school at the Phipp's Street School, and also
I attended one year of High School, here in Fort Erie...in
1936
I
got married and in 1939 I took the job as, on the Town of Fort Erie,
and I worked there for forty-two years.
N.F:
I knew it was a long time, forty-two years certainly is.
R.R:
Yes, how's that !
(
(1)
�(
N.F:
What did yaa start doing for the town?
R.R:
My first job on the town was on Central A venue between Highland
and the Bowen road ...putting in a four inch water line... which I
thought was a monster of a water line.
N.F:
I bet it was for that time.
R.R:
Yes, we all had a section... a taped out section... to dig, and when
we were finished that, that was our day' s work . .. coincidentally when
I started digging I found a big boulder, in my section, and I called
the boss over who was Mr. Doug Finelson, and I said, "Dol'g, what
am I going to do with that boulder? ", and he says, "Bury it", and
I said "Bury it? " and he said "Yes, dig down underneath it, till it
falls in the trench and leave it there" and that's exactly ·what I done
with it.
N.F:
Is that right, and this is all in one day's work?
R.R:
All in a day's work, that's right...that was my first job...that was
my first job on the town ...later on I became a truck driver and then
I became a foreman, then I took over from Bridgeburg, and over
(
Fort Erie, the south end, I took over the whole thing, and then I
became a superintendent, from then on I was supervisor...now I
can remember, as for. .. as my job went. .. a tank across from our
City Hall on Jarvis Street, a water tank, which they called a stand
pipe, it started at the ground the same size, and went quite a ways
up into the air, the same size, that's where Fort Erie stored it's
first tank of water ... now when we were kids, before I had the job,
on the Town of Fort Erie we used to climb up on top of that, because
it had a walkway around it. ..with a railing .. . and we would get up
on the top of that...and you went up a ladder, and as you got up,
and got off a section of the ladder it was taken up by spring, ten
or fifteen feet higher than the ground so the kids couldn't reach
it...but of course we'd get a pipe-pull and pull it down ...so the Police
C hief was Andy Griffin, and he would come over and get his club
out and he'd wave it at us, and tell us to come on back down, and
we'd say no, you come on up and get us ...and of course he never
would come and get us, ha, ha...now that was taken down by Archie
(2)
�(
McGlashen, you remember Archie McGlashen ...and sold for scrap
during the Second World War ... anyway Archie McGlashen started
up a coal yard at the bottom of Jarvis, over where the gasoline
station is, on the east side of the Boulevard there ... and that was
put in there they brought two scows .. .and they put one north and
south...and the other one east and west ... and tied them down, fil led
them
full of big stones
and sunk them, and that's how they made
that piece of property in there.
N.F:
So that's how that was done.
R.R:
Yes, and then they brought a railroad track down in there . .. the
ra ils would be still under the Bou � evard, if you were to dig that
section of the Boulevard up...and they used to bring big loads of
scrap iron and coal of all kinds... and one particular time they brought
in wagon wheels, where they came from I don't know ... but thousands
and thousands of wagon wheels, burnt the spokes out of them and
salvaged the iron...tons and tons of it.
(
N.F:
Is that right.
R.R:
What facinated m e was...they would drop a lot of it in the water
and of course we would dive down and try to bring it up ...but no
way could you bring it up.. .later on they got
a
magnetic thing, on
a crane and put it down in the water and picked up all that scrap
up out of there and got rid of that too.
N.F:
That's quite the idea, I never knew anything about that.
R.R:
All right, now what else. .. do
was
in
you
remember where the first theatre
Fort Erie?
N.F:
No.
R.R:
It was on Dufferin Street, and Don Dean owns the property now .. .
okay.. .and there was a building there, at first it was the Anglican
Sunday School ...then they sold it to Ziff's...and they made the Bellard
Theatre out of it ...remember that now ...now under that theatre,
they dug a well in an eight inch diameter casing and they went down
I don't know how many feet, but quite a number of feet. ..and the
bit dropped ten feet and then hit solid rock again...there is ten feet
(
of water underneath there, like a river . . .which is forty degrees
colder than the water in Fort Erie in the middle of the summer
time.
(3)
�(
N.F:
Forty degrees colder?
R.R:
And I tried to talk our City Council into buying that piece of property
pumping that water into our system, and using it ...they wouldn't
do it ...but I told Don Dean that the well is there, and he's looked
for it, now whether he
N.F:
I sn ' t that
R.R:
When
found
it or
not,
I don't know.
something.
they
bought the
show we moved down
on
Klauck
Street
where
the bowling alley is. . . there was a church on that corner, and a Markel
Electric factory on that corner, facing Courtwright Street ... r ight
where the bowling alley is...now that burned down . . . and the gentleman
who was the president or something or the owner of the factory
that Markel Electric ...he went down there one evening checking. ..
and he went down stairs, and he lit a mat c h...and he was blown
clear across the street...it was full of gas, it blew right up, and
then it all burned down ... now Markel Electric was burned three
times here in Fort Erie, three times...they moved from there up
Courtwright Street to where Grau's, is it Grau's is, okay...they were
(
in there for a while, and then they moved over on Lewis Street
where Harber has that loading and storage, they moved over there,
that's the last I remember them.
N.F:
They went through quite a bit.
R.R:
Well, there's a lot of things if you could ask me it would probably
come to my mind.
N.F:
What hap pen ed
R.R:
They buil t
to
the church that was in that a rea?
that little
church at
the corner of
that little old place they just tore
it
Central and Emerick,
down. ..and we attended Sunday
School there ...and then of course they sold that to the Presbyterian
Church and we all moved up to the big church on the hill there by
Gilmore .. .now the Old Fort was all rebuilt since I've been in Fort
Erie. . .I can remember when Jarvis Street was mud.
N.F:
Is that right.
R.R:
It was the business area...but it was a mud street and instead of
stoning it they got cinders, from the railroad and put cinders on
l
the roads... there was a big hole it would be on the west side of Klauck
(4)
�(
Street and Jarvis, on the north side of Jarvis...there was a big hole
there...all the kids in town would go down there sleigh riding and
skiing down into that big hole, on the top of the bank there was
a little wee two-by-four shanty it was the only shoe maker in Fort
Erie and evidently he owned that property at the time and he would
fix
your
shoes
while you waited.
N.F:
Imagine that.
R.R:
Now old people on Jarvis Street...there
was a
bake shop, I can't
think of her name, she just died, out here at Sourwines' place not
too long ago, ninety some odd years old, can't think of her name...
there was Kraft Cheese, my aunt worked for Kraft on Jarvis Street...
there was Dickie White who had a butcher sh9p...there was Morely
Spratt, who had a butcher shop...there was George Bowen who run
the Dominion Store...there was a Chinese Laundry the name of
Pong, there was two Chinese Restaurants one was the Bridgeburg
Cafe and I don't know what the other name was Skippy Wong's across
the road .. .there was three sisters across from the Town tiall that
(
had a piano shop, right next to where the fire hall is, they sold pianos,
I don't know what their names were, I can't think of their na mes...
there was Phytes who was on the corner of Jarvis and Central, on
the southeast corner, that's where everybody bought their paper...
across the road from that was Bart Purpura, that's the old, old gentleman
I'm talking about, he had a fruit stand there and after him Mrs.
Girard had a restaurant there ok ay ...that's where Glenn y is situated
now ...something else I must
the Town Hall, he was a
tell you, my father-in-law helped
brick- layer ,
after he went
back to
build
Brampton,
that's my wife's step-father, of course the Bell Telephone Company
was there and there was Ditchburn's Hardware Store there...and
of course the Barnea House, which was always in behind there...and
the Royal Bank, there was a J. R. Steele run the Royal Bank, and
he used to take the pay to the railroad in a bag in one hand...and
a thirty-eight revolver in the other...and he would walk up to the
yard office and pay the men off, yes
clear as crystal.
N.F:
I
have never heard about that.
(5)
I
can remember that just as
�R.R:
Now we had a ball team .. . a ball team in Fort Erie called the Mentholatums
they were crackerjacks . . .we would have a ball game on Saturday
on the Bowen Road ballpa rk, right where it is now, there was a
big grandstand there. . .big wooden grandstand yes, everything was
there .. .as a matter of fact I was the bat boy. . .fo r the team ... no w
wh en th ey would have a ball game they
would close the town down ...
the stores would close ... everything would close ,
-
twenty fou rth
of May, or
a
es pecially
on the
holiday, the first of July .. . they would
have popcorn stands and fluffy stands, the fl uf fy stuff you
eat
,
they would buy a pig ...and they would snowfence an area off, and
grease the pig, and have all the children go in there and try to
catch that greased pig ... and two or three times it was caught ...
and Bart Purpura would buy it back agin for five dollars, and turn
it loose again fo the kids to chase it some more, m any a time . ..
but when they had a ball game, they were champs by the way but
I
don't know what year, but they would go all over ... to Caledonia,
into Dunnville, wherever there was another ball team they would
(
go, and the Mentholatum Company of Fort Erie sponsored that ball
team , they would wear straw hats ... all the men would wear straw
hats, and if they won the ball game nobody went home with a straw
hat... because they pulled them down over their ears, yes more fun
than anything, it was just grand...now that old grandstand is all
gone and there's nothing but just a small ball f ie l d.
N.F:
You'd never know to look
R.R:
All those
N.F:
That's hard to imagine too .
R.R:
Yes, now, going away back to when I was quite young the first pumping
streets were
at
it now.
cinder streets then.
station if Fort Erie was operated by natural gas...just like you burn
in your stove, and it was at the corner of...well it was this side
of the International Bridge, right on that corner of Courtwright
Street right in there, the old well everythingis there yet ... just across
the road... and they pumped water up the tank up where the Humane
Society is, the big tank was up in there for the Michigan Central
to water their engines, of course the only thing left now would
(6)
�(
be the underground main, which was an eight inch water main and
the old well which was outside the road but it's still there, of course
we filled it up with stone and all that, now
to the machinery ... but
I
I
don't know what happened
got a hold of the first hydrant that was
ever put in Fort Erie and if you want to see it, it's over at the Train
Station ...that hydrant over there is the first hydrant that was ever
installed in the town of Fort Erie, that was on that line, yes and
I donated it to the people at the train.
N.F:
That was really a great thing to do.
R.R:
Now, where was the first garbage dump
N.F:
I would have no idea.
R.R:
The first garbage dump in Fort Erie was behind or east of the Greenwood
in
'
Fort Er ie?
Cemetery...between the cemetery and the creek, all the garbage
was put in there for years and years and years, until the govern ment
ca me in and said no more, no more garbage in there, people are
complaining because it was full of rats and things and they had
(
to move out of there and they went from there they went over on
Dunlop Street...they filled that place up until they got kicked out
of there and then they joined with Bertie Township...now do you
remember the roundhouses... the Michigan Central was located at
the top of Jarvis Street between the tracks there and Phipps Street ...
a great big roundhouse, because I used to go there and read the
water meter all the time ...which
is
another subject,
the
town likes
to talk about often...and of course Erie Beach... Erie Beach was
a beautiful place, and it was crowded, of course all the young boys
in Fort Erie used to chase the girls, up at the beach, and we all
had bicycles and we would race that little Peanut Train that's what
they called it the Peanut Train from the Ferry Dock it started at
the dock and went to Erie Beach and we would race it up the Lakeshor e
Road o n our bicycles trying t o beat i t u p there, sometimes w e could
and sometimes we couldn't, ha ha, of course the Ferry Boat went
from Gene Aggrette's place his store across to the bottom of Fer ry
Street in Buffalo, you could ride that for five cents and on the weekends
(
they would have a band or somebody would play a guitar or somebody
(7)
�(
would sing old songs...it was a beautiful trip just to spend five cents
and ride over and ride back again, just to listen to them and of course
they'd pass the hat and what ever but my wife and I when we were
first married we went over quite often there were some beautiful
places to go for fish dinners.. .and you could buy for seven dollars
you couldn't bring the... carry
the
groceries home ... and by the way
I wo rked on the boat n ights as a deck hand, yes, for Patti Fix ...he
was the owner of
the Ferry or
know if he owned it
or
the
c a p t ain at that
..
time .I d o n ' t
not but he was captain .. .! don't know what
else I can tell you . .I think of things as I go along.
.
N.F:
Did you know Doctor Douglas?
R.R:
Yes, I did... not too long,
but
I did know him, he was a wonderful
man, he certainly was he had his house at the bottom of Bertie
Street in there and he had an apple orchard in there how I remem ber
is he sold the property to the government and they put the first
Post Office in the south end was
(
in
Barney Ziff's building right there
next to the Bank of Montreal.
N.F:
I didn't know that either.
R.R:
We put in the sewer and water and that's how I
N.F:
When did the water mains and fire hydrants start in the north and
know.
south end?
R.R:
Well as they renewed streets and started building houses they would
put a new main up and supposedly a hydrant every five hundred
feet.
N.F:
That's how that was worked then.
R.R:
But some of those hydrants are quite old they would be way back·
in
1928.
N.F:
That's when the first ones went through?
R.R:
Yes, and the sewers too ... well there are still some of the manholes
in Fort Erie that are original and they have the dates on them. ..and
I think that you'll find that some of them have the date
1928
1923
or
on them.
N.F:
And that would link up the fire hydrants as well?
R.R:
Yes, the first time I had to do with the water works like... there
(8)
�(
was an old fellow by the name of Mr. Hubbard who I believe he
has Ted Rose's wife Ida, that would be her father ...he was operator
of the north end pump house...that's the first I had connection I
had there then, of course her husband Ted worked there all his life,
till he was moved up to the south end when we closed this one down
and put a diesel in there, I
fi r st job, the
guess
the diesel is still there ...and my
fi rst job I had after I got married in 1936
was for a
little grocery store over on Jeanette Street by the name of Mr.
Joseph . .! used to have a nineteen twenty-nine or nineteen thirty
.
car and I delivered fresh vegetables...went around and took orders
then I took them the next day, that was my first job before I got
onto the city or the town .. .I remember the arena caving in, the
roof and that ...in behind that arena at the time there was a follow
by the name of Vasey who had an ice plant. ..he owned the ice plant
and after the arena went down he never rebuilt it up again ...he
never bothered with it. ..he wanted to sell it to the town, of course
(
things as the years went by things improved and they got better
equipment and they put their own ice plant right in the arena ...but
before he made ice and sold it for the town ... and of course John
Atwood he was a big shot of the town .I might get in trouble for
. .
this... but anyway you had to go to him even if ,YOU wanted a job,
you had to go, Mr. Atwood he was the one you had to see about
it. . .a job...now a funny thing happened while I was working for the
town of Fort Erie. ..years ago if you had the measles or scarlet fever
or s mall pox or something they had a placard made to
tell you that
you can't go in there because they had the measles or they had scarlet
fever, and I was the one who was designated to nail those on your
home...if the office directed me to do so. ..so this particular day
they gave me the mayor's home by mistake... and of course I had
it in black and white, and I said well up it goes, and I went down
on Forsyth Street, and I nailed the scarlet fever sign on mayor Hawley's
house...and the next day of course I got called in and I got nailed
over the carpet ...and I said well take a look at this ...and I showed
him the orders from the Town Hall, and he looked at it and he said
(9)
�(
"Thank you ...! was going to take your ears off, young man, but,
I'll take somebody else's head off instead" and I got away with that,
we've had some very good mayor's in the Town of Fort Erie, and
some good councilmen, we had Mr. Malcom who was a judge, he
was mayor, you know Drum Hall, who was an umpire for ball games,
his father was mayor for a while ... Jack Dailey's father was mayor
for a while...and
while... Mrs.
of cou rse you know Jack Teal was mayor for a
Ziff and
M r . Ziff...and of
course Mr .
Hawley, that's
the one I pretty near got into trouble with... and I think Mr. Atwood
was at one time the �eeve, they had a �eeve before they had a mayor
and of course there were quite a few Reeves, there was Bill Duncan ...was
Reeve at one time and Atwood and I can't recall all of them.
N.F:
There would have been a lot over the years.
R.R:
And years ago when I look at what sand and gravel and salt they've
put on the earth by the thousands and thousands of tons, I don't
remember how much it is yearly now...we used to have a half-ton
truck ...and we'd go on the railroad and get it full of cinders ...and
that lasted all winter.
N.F:
Did it really?
R.R:
That's what we used to sand the streets with... one half-ton truck
of cinders.
N.F:
There is a lot of difference there.
R.R:
That shows you the change in time between then and today... years
ago they had one girl
a
in
the town office. . . one girl and one clerk ...
town clerk... that would be Mr.
Mr.
Tait
Tait, you remember Bill Tait, old
not young Bill...he was the clerk and he had one girl in
the office ... and they run the whole works... paid your taxes there
and paid your water bill, and your dog taxes...when I took over my
job as superintendent of the town of Fort Erie I took over the water,
the sewers, the streets, the humane society part of it... we had no
humane society in Fort Erie when there was a dead dog or a dog
to be destroyed or anything that was my job to do it...and I even
had to oversee digging the graves, which I didn't like
..•
but I did
it ... my wife just said to me after you called me I don't know how
(
(10)
�. . I just don't know how.
(
you did it .
N.F:
And still get some sleep as well.
R.R:
We used to have a nice big flag pole on the town hall. . .right on the
front of the town hall. ..and there always was a flag there, and they'd
take it up in the morning and bring it down at night. . .the ropes come
right down to the bottom you know... and
would shinny up that when
it got
I
was the only one who
stuck ...and I'd do
it.
N.F:
That's one thing I
R.R:
Yes it was really something...a lot of the things I've done, I couldn't
could
neve r do.
do them now...had lots of experiences with the town, lots of them...
broken water mains in the middle of the night, sixteen inch pipes
blown up...but I had it pretty good in those days, because instead
of an answering system that they have now ...I had the police department,
and when I'd have a broken water main or something wrong the
police department would call me up and I would ask them kindly
'
would you stay there until I get there...because I don't know whats
happened underneath the ground and I don't kno w how big the hole
(
is, if you'll just stay there till I get there and I'll take over. .. and
they were very good, they used to stay right there with me until
I got control of things and then they'd leave me... but not today...
that's not their job.
N.F:
It must be pretty hard to just get a block number or something.
R.R:
Well people call this emergency number now and they take care
of it from there you know.
N.F:
Or
try to.
R.R:
Or
try to..
. that's true...oh, there was sometimes when we... I remember
one valve for instance at the corner of Russell and Jeanette Streets... !
looked for it for ten years before
I
found it.
N.F:
Really.
R.R:
And it was on the opposite side of the street to where it was supposed
to be...you see earlier they had no maps or anything .. .some of the
streets they had pretty good maps .. .and others they didn't ... can
you remember the shipyard ... down where the marina is ... they used
to build ships there you know...as a matter of fact Mr. Sampson,
(11)
�(
J. R. or J. A. I don't know which was the boss before me, the superÂ
intendent before I took over...he was a shipbuilder and I believe
somewhere I've still got his books... how many rivets he used, how
many men he had working on a job.
N.F:
It must have been busy down there.
R.R:
Oh, it was someting else
and we of
course
when there
then and Jarvis Street got cleaned out we done
was
it all by
a
snowstorm
hand...we
did all our digging by hand ...when we'd fix a water main break
we'd
use a pick and shovel...not two men standing up watching a digger
dig...it wasn't like it is now... and sometimes you'd dig three or four
holes before you'd find exactly where the main was broken.
N.F:
I can easily imagine that, and I suppose people were in the same
hurry then that they are in now.
R.R:
Well then, way back when I first started to work there was only
one policeman in Fort Erie there was only one chief...Andy Griff i n,
then he hired Chirp Mathews... then of course Chirp became Chief
and even before Andy Griffin there was a guy by the name of Tom
(
Nigh who was the caretaker of Phipps Street School and he was
the Constable of Fort Erie at the same time... Bridgeburg,I'm sorry
not Fort Erie, that wasn't part of Fort Erie then... and there used
to be Bridgeburg, Fort Erie, and Am i gari, and they all had their
own fire departments.
N.F:
All three did have the. h Own fire departments?
R.R:
Yes, Ami.gari had a little wee shack ...the first one on your right
hand side after you leave Jeanette Street going up around
on the bend
that little house that
sitting there... that
the
corner...
was the Fire
Hall...it's still there today, yes.
N.F:
I certainly didn't know that.
R.R:
Garbage was picked up by Lenny Jackson with a team of horses...
and I don't know what the contract was, how much it was...but
it was peanuts to what it is now of course...it costs a fortune for
garbage pick up now...there was him and Belltrami, you1'1'emember
George Belltrami and there was... Gill, Mr. Gill down on, he had his
( 12)
�(
horses behind his barbershop on Jarvis Street he had a barn at the
back there and he had horses in there and he used to pick up garbage
too...but I can remember when Fort Erie had a team of horses to
draw the fire thing...and Frank Benner was the one who had the
horses right up on Dufferin Street there ... right close to where,
next door to where Don
is. ..righ t
in
Dean has his shop,
there somewheres
he had
where that body
the two horses
shop
and oh, they
were beautiful horses .
N.F:
Where was the fire house itself then at that ti me?
R.R:
It
was in the Town Hall at the north end of the town hall, in that
section where Mr. Kendrick is now ... that's where the equipment
was kept right there...there was two big doors there, and that's
where it was.
N.F:
The fire departments certainly have changed then.
R.R:
Oh, for sure yes, how many have they got now... you've got six all
together with Crystal Beach and Stevensville.
N.F:
Then when you first started you worked for Bridgeburg itself?
R.R:
Yes.
N.F:
And then eventually everything came together.
R.R:
Yes, everything was amalgamated, the two towns and then amalgamation
with Bertie... yes I went through all that.
N.F:
Was it popular the idea of the first amalgamation?
R.R:
Well, as much as could be...yes but there was the odd person who
didn't want it and there is still is people who
that Ridgeway Station that was brought
left here in Br idgeburg as
we call it... a
resent it... such
down to
lot of
Fort Erie
people
as
and
in Rid g eway
,
the older people didn't want that, t hey wanted no pa rt of that,
they wanted it to stay in Ridgeway ...yes and
t heres
lots of things
that people nowdays in Fort Erie they ignore it and they don't see
it...and I suppose in those days we didn't see it either ...such as they
had guards on the International Bridge at one time when the war
was on...yes, so that no aliens could cross over at that place... and
then...there was bootlegging days in For t Erie. .. and one of them
was our former mayor Herb Guess...anyway the liquor and the beer
(
(13)
�(
would come in in freight cars and it was placed whe.re Benner's
Coal Dock was on Courtwright Street and it was taken from there
by wagon or cart or something down to the bottom of Dufferin
or Jarvis or one of them...and shot down a chute, like a coal chute,
an actual chute...they'd slide it down there and load it on the boats
and of course it was destined for Cuba...well our Customs in Fort
Erie they
knew all
this was going on...and they made out papers
they had papers
just
once that liquor
or
as
if it was a
legal thing all together.. .but
beer left the Canadian shore... they couldn't
bring it back ...they couldn't bring it back, they either had to dump
it ove_rboard, which of course the kids all used to dive for...or get
rid of it somehow.
N.F:
They could not bring it back to shore !
R.R:
Yes, that's right, there was Tony Martelli, Herb Guess, the Sullivan
brothers and they were the ones who were doing most of the. ..
shoving the beer and the liquor across.
N.F:
(
They were very fast trips to Cuba.
R.R:
Oh yes. .. well then there were some pretty big Customs Officers
in there like. .. who was it Pattison, I don't know his first name.. .
Frank Pattison...owned that big red building at the corner of Phipps
Street and the Niagara Boulevard... where the Doll House is today. ..
he was the biggest Customs Officer. ..so there was supposed to
be a tunnel from his basement out to the river, whether or not
that's the truth...I've looked for it, but I've never seen it, I could
.
never find it. .but it is possible... it
could
have been there.
possible.
N.F:
All things are
R.R:
I don't know much more that I can tell you, probably after your
gone I can think of lots.
N.F:
There was a blacksmith down in the south end, do you remember
a blacksmith being there?
R.R:
On Princess and Waterloo, I do. . .but I don't know his name.
N.F:
Would it have been Lou Douglas ?
R.R:
Yes, yes it could be...it could well be him yes ... how I remember
that was there was an old fellow by the name of Beam...and he
(14)
�(
had a horse called Jessie ...and I used to hire him to plow off the
sidewalks and he took his horse down there to that blacksmith shop
it was where the gasoline station is now, the Robo station ... and
then there was a garage put up there it was operated by Finch,
okay...anyway ...to tell you a good story about cleaning off sidewalks
with horses I hired two coloured boys...their names were Bright,
and the one fellow worked at night and he kept begging me to get
a seat for the back of his plow so he could ride instead of walk
all time...so I had a seat installed on the plow ... and the next morning
he came in with one foot frozen ... and I said to him " Your going
to have to go to the hospital, you are going to have to go to the
doctor...why didn't you get off and walk for a while instead of riding?"
well he said " What did you put the seat on there for if you wanted
me to walk?" ha, ha, so that ended that...I took the seat off.
N.F:
The things that can happen yes.
R.R:
There was another fellow on Queen Street I can't recall...he had
horses, Wally something ...he was in with Lou Arch and they, and
(
.
you know ..I can't think of his name...anyway I used to hire him
to do the sidewalks too ...but they would work all night to get the
sidewalk cleared off...old great big homemade snowplow, that's
what they used.
N.F:
That's quite an idea.
R.R:
Yes, might be better if they had them today ...wouldn't complain
as much or cost as- much.
N.F:
How long did it take to get the streets paved .. .did Bridgeburg do
it while it was still Bridgeburg?
R.R:
No, no... Bridgeburg started to do it even before I started to work
for the Town of Fort Erie... yes it would be 1928 in that time there.
N.F:
About the same time the Peace Bridge opened?
R.R:
I'd have been about thirteen or fourteen years old ... yes, I remember
the Peace Bridge...we used to go up and sit and watch them working
on that...that was really something to watch what was going on
there... but the streets came gradually...they put the water and
(
(15)
�(
the sewer in first... and then they paved the streets over the top
and I was living on Emerick
Avenue
then. . .of course after I got
married I moved from there over to the Jarvis Street...I guess I
got right close to where I had the job there, and I was pretty lucky
to work.. .you were lucky to get a job then.
N.F:
I can well imagine, it couldn't have been very good years.
R.R:
It was tough times... real tough. .. Jarvis Street, they had dynamite
they were blasting rock to put the sewer down into the rock ... and
that was really something to watch too. . .to watch that...the big
railroad ties, they would cover the hole up with railroad ties and
then dirt.. .and then they'd blow it. ..and then that would raise up
'
a good three feet. . . and boom back down it came. .. a good two or
three feet. .. we thought that was something.
N.F:
It really would be.
R.R:
They had big steam rollers. . . they used to keep the fires with coal...
talking about coal. ..Bridgeburg had the biggest coal, soft coal pile
that I saw... was up in Amagari. . . it extended from the front of Horton
(
Steel on Jeanette Street right over to the Gilmore Road and it
must have been thirty to forty feet high. .. now when it came winter. . .
every chimney had black smoke... they had one policeman, who
was supposed to be guarding that...yes everybody had soft coal
fires. ..you could tell you know. .. coal smoke coming out of all these
chimneys. . . and of course there were cattle cars. .. two big cattle
detaining places where they used to hold the cattle for maybe over
the weekend so the veterinary had a look at them before they were
shipped over into the states...you know where Hart and Cooley
is. ..well Hart and Cooley used to be Tutland and Bailey...before
Hart and Cooley got there... and it was right in that section right
along there that they had these big pens... and they'd have sheep
or they'd have cows or whatever they were shipping into the states
would be there...for years and years...and the other one was up
where the Humane Society is today ...right in that section there
they had one there for the Michigan Central.
(
N.F:
The railroads must have been busy.
(16)
�(
R.R:
It was going all the time ... it was real busy. .. now there was a brick
plant. . . used to be a brick plant here in Fort Erie at the end of War ren
Street... War ren Street, do you know where War ren Street is.. .you
know where the battery factory is now... Gould Batter y, there's
a
little
street goes up over the railroad tracks, most of the
people go back in there
was
a big brick
plant
to work ... right
where they had
C. N.R.
at the end of that street
all
these
kilns... and they made
bricks...they were years in there. . . and the last thing
I
remember
about was the big chimney that was left after a fire. . . and it
was
up in the air, and somebody bought it and was going to take it down
and we all wondered how he would .. .he was ever going to take that
.
brick, those bricks down without doing damage. . . well he took it
down just like you would a tree ...he went in there and he took bricks
all out of one side of it...two rows of bricks... and he chinked it
with croesote coated wood ...gasoline and coal oil and all that mixed
in ...and he set it on fire, and it gradually burned and burned and
(
the chimney just went right down where he wanted it to go.
N.F:
Well imagine that.
R.R:
Yes, now there is some other factory a plastic factory of some
kind up in there now...and where the Horton Steel is today ...when
I was real young they had a marble plant there... it wasn't a steel
company...they made marble, big slabs of marble. .. and where they
took it from or where it went
I
don't know. .. it was a marble plant,
. . I've dug it up... digging for sewers, pieces
there is lots of marble .
of it.
N.F:
In the area.
R.R:
In that area...lots of it.
N.F:
Well I have never heard anything about that.
R.R:
And of course there was lots of factories wanted to come into Fort
Erie.. .and you know they were turned down by our city council . . .yes
it was really something.. . it was a nice town. .. a quiet town. . .not
much theiving and breaking in and all this kind of stuff. . . and we
had good teachers in our schools. . . they used the strap of course. . .
(
if you got out of hand... they took care of you. . .but I've seen a lot
(17)
�(
o f changes in Fort Erie
N.F:
•••
I've seen a lot o f changes in Fort Erie.
At the ti me th at you started for the to w n of Fort Erie, how big
w ould the staf f have been?
R.R:
At th e ti m e when
I
started there w as myself a fore m an, and t w o
o r thre e labourers and a supervisor, and that w as i t
••.
and then o f
course as the to w n am alga m ated they pi cked u p t w o o r thre e form
the other end
but if they w anted men they had men that w ere
..•
on reli e f and th ey w ould call and thirty-five c�nts an hour w as pretty
good pay.
N.F:
Thirty-five cents an hour.
R.R:
And no overt i m e, no co mpensation . . . no h e alth bene fits . . . thirty-five
cents an hour for one h our or t w enty hours whate ver you w an t e d . . .
for ye ars i t was like that . . . and that w as any j o b you did . . . you s e e
you w ere o n call a l l the t i m e .. . a l l th e t i m e I w as supervisor I w as
on call t w enty-four hours a day . . . s e v e n d ays a w e e k . . . and no g e t ting
a w ay fro m it . . . until I took my vacation and then I w as supposed
t o notify the town where I w a s going and h o w they c ould g e t a hold
(
o f m e . . . oh , yes . . . I w a s in Lachin e , M ontreal and got called h o m e
I g o t called h o m e for a bre ak in a w at er m ain i n front o f t h e Irvin
Air Chut e . . . and the fore m an I left behind me w as going to t ake
thre e lengths o f fourt een inch pipe out . . . and rene w thre e lengths
o f pipe . . . and Johnny Taylor w as chair m an o f the w at er c o m mit t e e
and h e said j ust h old it and he called Lachine and said " Roy w e
n e e d you h o m e , you b e t t er co m e b a c k h o m e" s o I c a m e h o m e t h e
next day and I fixed i t in fift e e n m inut e s . . . t h a t ' s right
.
N.F:
There is a lot o f difference there,i m agine th e m oney that saved·.
R.R:
Oh y e s , oh
I
saved the to wn unbelievable m oney ... they don't even
kno w.
N.F:
I
R.R:
And at one ti me
can w ell i m agine that.
dollars
••.
I
w ent to court for the m
•••
for a m illion and a half
the Irvin Air Chute w as g oing to sue the To w n o f Fort Erie
for a flooded basem ent
they had over a million dollars w orth o f
.••
silk o n the floor and there w as t e n inche s o f w ater all over that
(
silk
and it w as ruined
•••
•••
it w as absolutely ruined
•••
( 18)
and it w as through
�(
me the t o w n g o t o f f the hook for t h a t
•••
and I w on't go int o d e t ails.
N.F:
Th at is gre at though, that really i s .
R.R:
Th ey forg e t , I m e an that's w at er o v e r the d a m as far a s they're
concerne d .
N.F:
Very w e ll said, ye s .
R.R:
Now
I enj oy mysel f w i th
fishing . . . I've got over
my garden . . . m y p urp le
m artins
..•
and
my
forty m artins o u t in that little house . .. i t s
full right up . . . there's five on the w ires there bu t t h e y are all over
the place here . . . i f you c ould s e e the m c o m ing in at night . . . or you
j ust w alk out there
. •.
they'll be here in a m inute, one m akes a call
and they all come . . . even i f I change m y hat, with a different hat
on get rough with me . . . but they have a habit o f hit t ing the w indo w
they must s e e straight through you kno w , they think that that is
wide open and once in a while they d a m age t h e m selves by hi t t ing
the windo w s . . . and there are hares and coons and d e er and fox and
e verything in the b a c k yard . . . i t ' s just like a m enagerie here .
(
N.F:
I'll bet it can be, yes .
R.R:
The bush out here ext ends fro m here over t o Phipps S tree t , and
there is the golf c ourse . . . and that will all open out som eday . . . ! w on't
s e e it but it will be there . . . I've seen a lot o f good things happen
in Fort Eri e , and I've seen a lot o f things that I don't w ant t o talk
about in Fort Eri e .
N.F:
I don't bla m e you for that at all.
R.R:
The river gives us a lot o f enj oyment t o o
here, it really is . . . and I h a v e
no
•.•
i t i s ni c e t o live along
re gre t s w ith the Town
of
Fort Erie . ..
they looked aft er m e and my f a m ily pre t t y g o o d .
N.F:
And you've looked a f t er t h e m pre t t y w ell also.
R.R:
Y e s I probably have
•••
if I h ad it t o do over again I probably w o uld
do it over again . . . I g o t myse l f in lots o f arguments w ith our city
c ouncil and m ayors .
N.F:
It w ould be i m p osssible not t o .
R.R:
Oh ye s , and w e had Charlie Pri c e fro m here t o o . . . he w asn't bad
but he w an t e d t o b e the boss, you kno w, if h e said " Thi s is w h at
(
I w ant done " w ell then w e b e t t er
(1 9)
s e e that w e done it, that's all . . .
�regardless . . . and Skippy Ho w e w as Mayor at one ti m e
i f you re m e m ber h i m or not
h e w as a good m ayor
•.•
w ere snowplo w ing and w e had a b i g arm y truck
•••
194 5
it about
••.
•••
•••
! don't kno w
one ti m e w e
S kippy b ought
j ust a fter th e w ar any w ay or j ust around in the war
a re ally big bren carrier
. ••
you'd go around a corner and your front
w h e els w ould go around th e c orner but th e b a ck w h e e l s w ould g o
in the ditch
it,
well
I
e v ery t i m e
•. .
y o u c ouldn't g e t around th e c orner w ithout
had w orked about . ! gue s s
.
.
I
w ent t o w ork on Friday at
about eight o ' clock in the m orning and I didn't see a bed till Tue sday
that night . . . anyw ay this part i c ular t i m e
I
w as sno wplo w ing and there
w as a big sno w bank up on High Stre e t , north o f Cath erine . . . i t m ust
have been fifteen or t w enty feet high
kno w why
I
j ust left it , and when
I
.•.
and I left it. . . I just , I don't
got home and
got int o b e d ,
I
th en the phone rang and it w as S kippy H o w e . . . S kippy said " R oy ,
I am in trouble" and o f course I ' m h alf a s l e e p a n d I s a i d " What ' s
th e trouble S kippy ? " and h e told m e and I said
(
didn't think ... !
" I
thought that I'd get t h e m ain roads ope n first b e fore , and the hone s t
S kip , t h e n I forgot t o g o back" b u t
I
i f you w ant m e t o" and h e said
w i sh you w ould t h ere is s o m eÂ
" I
said " But I ' l l do it , right a w ay
body in there that has g o t t o g e t t o the h o spit al " or there is s o m eÂ
body has t o have a baby or s o m ebody n e e d s coal or s o m e thing w as
up . . . s o
I
said " o kay" w e ll I h ad a h e lper who w as Ji m Bright a big
coloured boy
. ••
and there w a s
a railroad lant ern
for h e at
•••
no h e at in our truck, I
a nyw a y
go
a w ay w e
Bertie and c a m e d o w n High Stre e t and
I
w as
•••
had a l an t e rn
a nd
doing
I
started at
a bou t t hir t y
or thirty-t w o m i l e s an hour w ith thi s b i g m onster of a truck
• ••
a sno wplow
•••
w ith
and to thi s day I don't kno w w hat h appen�d but I said
to my h e lper I said " wh at do you
think, do you think we can take
her" and h e said "I don't kno w , it m i ght b e froze on top or s o m e Â
thing " and to thi s d a y
I
don't kno w why
I push e d the c lutch in and
•••
let the truc k just f e e l it's w ay into that thing
about ten feet.
right in there
••
.••
and I got in there
five little kids got up o ut of there
they had a fort
•••
if I h adn't have pushed the clutch in I w ould h ave
killed e verybody .
N.F:
•••
Y ou sure w o uld have .
(20)
�(
ReR:
I w as so sh aken up
•••
that I b a c ked out and w ent b a c k h o m e . . . and
the fil ayor called me again and he said " R oy you didn't finish the
job" and I said " no and I ' m not going to" and I said " I'll send a g ang
of m e n up there t o m orro w and
they c an shovel it out " I t old h i m
" S kippy I'm shaking . . . I ' m j u s t shaking t o de ath h ere " b e c ause when
I first t o o k the j o b I had sno wplo w ing t o do m y s e l f along w ith the
fore m an ' s j ob . . . when I first t oo k it I said " I d o n ' t w ant it unl e s s
the town
is
going
to
b e responsible f o r
anything that h appens" w ell
that w as b aloney . . . they w ouldn' t b e responsible . . . ! was driving that
truck, not anybody else . . . and another t i m e m y s e cre t ary Betty H ayne s
I
pre t t y near took her h e ad o f f . . . her and h e r sist er,
I
c a m e up along
R obinson Stre e t , winging b a c k the sno w and they had a fort th ere .. .
and a f t er the wing had gone over t op o f their fort they jumped up . .
.
so you can i m agine the fe elings . . . oh , I h ad s o m e real fe elings in
that thing . . . that w as one truck I can hone s t ly say I dro ve that tru ck
for eight years and it cost the t o w n se venty-five cents for rep airs
..•
really I ' m t e lling you the truth . . . that's the only repairs I had on
(
.
that truck . . . and it w as the rotor inside the distributor . ! broke it
.
and I b ought ano ther one . . . for s e v enty-five c e n t s .
N.F:
Isn ' t that s o m e thing.
R.R:
N o w I used to put forty c e m ent blo c ks . . . big ce m e n t blo cks . . . on the
back of it for w e ight . . . and the reason
I
put i t on
on there and it fro z e . . . and we got into a
we
had to unload that to get out o f
I'll just t e l l what I
have done with i t
little
the troub le
.
..•
at first I put sand
bit of trouble . . . and
..•
and
no
. . a t o n e t i m e there
sir . . . w el l
was
so m u ch
sno w in Fort Eri e that B e nner' s run out of coal . . . and t h e closest
·
p l a c e that they could spo t a car of coal w as the Prat t and Lam bert
building where they m ake the paint . . . I t o o k the sn o w p l o w . . . and p lo w e d
o f f the railroad tra ck . . . fro m Benner's c o a l d o c k t o Prat t and L a mbert ' s
t o t h a t coal car . . . t urn e d t h e arm y truc k around . . . and pulled that
c ar d o w n so the people in Fort Erie c o uld have c o a l .
N.F:
R e ally.
R.R:
Y e s I did . . . and I w ent in and g o t Art Wale . . . w h o had a t e am o f
h orses . . . and w as delivering c o al w i t h h i s h ors e s h e g o t t h e hor s e s
(21 )
�(
stuck up t o their b e l l i e s
. • .
an A lbany S tre e t and I h ad to go in w i t h
a gang o f m e n and th e sno w p l o w a n d g e t h i m out o f th ere . . . I w as
thre e w e eks g e t ting into the city dump
• • .
I w as three w e eks w i t h
forty m en and a sno w p l o w . . . g e t t ing in from the sub w ay int o the
back o f the Gre e n w o o d
. . •
and into the dump . . . thre e w e e k s .
N.F:
I m agine that , thre e w e e k s .
R.R:
S h o v e l l ing sno w
.•.
so m epl a c e I ' v e g o t p i c t ures o f m e s t anding on
t h e snow . . . l o o king d o w n at my sn o w p lo w .
N .F:
When p e ople say w e
R.R:
N o , no w e ' ve had som e dillies " . and then is when w e w ould g e t
used to have bad w i n t ers they are not
k iddin g
,
a
broken w a t er m ain . . . w h e n you couldn ' t find the val ves " . or you couldn ' t
do thi s , o r you c ouldn ' t do that , . . bu t w e h a d t o b e out th ere and
fix i t . . . it didn't m ake any di fferen c e .
N.F:
Y ou'd have t o go through all t h a t .
R.R:
W e l l , when I w as fore m an I had t h e sn o w p l o w ing t o do , " the m en
..
t o look a f t er, their t i m e t o keep J w as t i m e-keeper and e v ery t h ing
else . . . all at the same t i m e . . . all this in one day's w ork . . . and I never
thought no thing o f it . . . you kno w , that w as it . . . we done i t . . . n o w t h e y
h a v e unions . . . o n e guy is a truck driver a n d he d o n ' t do no thing else , . . another
guy st ands w i th a sh ovel . . . and h e ' s supp osed t o b e a lab ourer, and
som ebody is on the backhoe . . . and som ebody else is
else . . . som ebody i s on the t amper . . . oh
N .F:
Everybody has a
R.R:
Y e s . . but
.
I
my
on
s o m e thing
goodne s s .
job.
F ort Erie w as a
nice
d on ' t care w h a t anybody says
pla c e ,
• . .
and is a n i c e
I go to t h e t o w n
pla c e t o liv e ,
m e e tin g s . . . on c e
in a w h i l e I g o .
N.F:
I can i m agine you hear s o m e a m a zing things at t h o s e ,
R.R:
Y e s I do . . . w e had a fello w who w a s building sid e w alks one t i m e
.. .I
can't think o f the contra c t or ' s n a m e . . . and he kept bringing in this
st one dust . . . I said t o him " Wh a t are you going t o d o w i t h that ? "
and h e said " build sid e w alks . . . you m i x that w i t h c e m ent and i t m ak e s
the b e s t sid e w alk y o u ever had " h e said, w el l I called J ohnny Taylor
and I told J ohnny Taylor I said , " n o w l o o k I'm not a c e m ent m an
and I don't p o s e s s to be one . . . but I kno w that is n o t ri ght " , so I
(
(23)
�(
forg e t h o w m any thousands of dollars the t o w n paid h i m
•••
and the
next year we had t o . . . w e ll I guess w e 're still ripping those sid e w alks
out and put ting new one s in . . . i t was a disgra c e . . . a t errible disgra c e ,
a n d ye t they'd hire t h a t contra c t or b a c k .
N.F:
Is t h a t righ t ?
R.R:
Oh , yes there ' s nothing you can do . . . no I've h ad l o t s of fun . . . I've
had l o t s of fun with the m en then s o m e s t ories i f they could be
told
••.
they'd m ake you laugh
for a
coup l e o f hours I'd
gues s . . . one
t i m e I had a broken w a t er m ain . . . d o w n in the south end and I c a m e
t o w ork a l l ready t o get going on th is w a t er m ain . . . and m y t w o key
m e n w ere gone . . . s o I called h o m e for th e m , and they w eren't h o m e
they hadn't been h o m e a l l night . . . s o I th ought that w as funny . . .
m issing persons . . . s o I called the poli ce depart m en t and I got a hold
o f Mr. Kent , Walt er Kent . . . and he said " ye s I kn o w where they are " ,
and I said " w ould you tell m e W alter wh ere they are ? " and h e said
" th e y are in j ail " , "th ey're in j ail" I said , " w e ll I have got t o have
the m " and h e said " w ell you can't have th e m they're locked up . . . and
I can't let th e m out " , and I said " W alter I have to have those m en . . .
I have t o have that m ain fixe d " h e s aid " w ell I ' m s orry R o y , I can't
let you have the m e n " " w ell I'm going t o have to g o over your head ,
I ' v e g o t t o h a v e the m " s o I w e n t over h i s h e ad and I called and next
thing you kno w the phone rang and it was Walter Kent . . . and h e said
" o kay R oy c o m e and get the m , but you'v e got to bring the m back
tonigh t " so
I
said " I ' l l
do t h a t . . . a ft er f i v e o ' cl o c k I ' l l
b a c k " and I brought the m b a c k for thre e nigh t s . . . but
fixed . . . I w on ' t na m e their na m e s or anything but
kinds o f things that I had t o put up with
• .•
•• •
bring
I
th e m
got that m ain
those are the
and . o f c ourse I h ad people
c o m e t o m e for j ob s . . . and at one t i m e I couldn ' t h ire anybody but
anybody that lived in Fort Eri e . . . they just w ouldn' t l e t me and now
t h e y hire the m for Timbuktu
•••
t h at . . .
but I h ad a fello w one time c o m e
he w ore a b i g kni fe . . . a big kni fe , I think i t w as m ade out
of a s w ord , and I had him c o m e in m y o f f i c e and I shut the door,
and I said " wh a t is the kni f e for ? " and h e said " for my pro t e c t i on "
(
and I said " your prot e ct i o n . . . w h o ' s a f t er you ? " and h e said " w ell,
(24)
�(
you never kno w
• •.
m aybe I'll get d o w n in the dit ch or some thing and
I can't get out and I'll have to dig my w ay out
•••
and I said " i f you
are down in the dit ch long enough to dig your w ay out
. ••
you are
not coming out " ha, ha so I said to him , I said " look, you like your
j ob here ? " and he said " ye s I d o " and I said " w ell I like you t o o
•• .
but I'll t e ll you I don't like your kni fe , I w ant you t o t ake the knife
and t ake it h o m e and put it in a safe place and don't be w e aring
it anym ore " I said " for one thing i t ' s against the law t o w e ar that
kni f e concealed . . . and I assum e that i t is too long a kni fe any w ay
for you t o b e c arrying " w e ll h i s father-in-la w w as the next p erson
I h ad to contend w ith and h e w an t e d to kno w what w as up and e veryÂ
thing else . . . and he got real m ad and he was going to go to the coun c i l
a n d h e w as going t o g o t o the m ayor and I s a i d " I 'll tell y o u what . . .
what do you say you and I t ake a w alk over t o the poli c e st ation . . . and
w e 'll straigh t e n this whole thing up at the poli c e st ation " and h e
s a i d "no never m ind . . . forg e t i t " b u t I had the kni f e t aken h o m e and
(
the fello w c a m e b a c k to w ork and so on . . . e v erything w orked out
pre t ty good . . . w e ' ve had som e good t i m e s and w e ' v e had s o m e real
trying t i m e s , you kno w .
N.F:
A lot o f long d ays.
R.R:
N o w they have things organi z e d you kno w , t w o engine ers . . . and five
superintendents . . . oh yes w e have t o have t w o engineers, one is not
enough . . . and we have a superintenden t , a roads superintendent and
now they are advertising for ano th er one and they also have I don't
kno w five or six fore m e n . . . one form an for about e very two m e n
I gue ss . . . but I gue ss it is changing t i m e s .
N .F:
Things j u s t seem to be going in t h a t dire c t ion.
R.R:
And o f course the big c o m put er we have got . . . the only thing that
bo thers m e is the t axes going up all the time
.••
I don't agree with
that . . . when I first moved d o w n here where I am on the N iagara
B oulevard . . . my taxes w ere five hundred dollars and now they are
eighteen hundred dollars . . . and that is only ten years so what are
they going to be in another ten years if I live that long.
(
N.F:
They have increased that m u ch ?
(25)
�(
R.R:
And som ebody t old me the other day that they are going to double
next year
.•.
and if they keep hiring what they are hiring they are
g oing to double
••.
from someplace
they'll have to b e c ause the salaries have to come
•••
so you have a very ni c e library up there , I kno w
that is a beauti ful building
•••
of course you kno w I play Sant a C laus ,
in the library and other places
.••
! enj oy that m ore than anything .
N .F:
That is a m arvelous idea.
R.R:
I h av e arthri tis in both knees this year I don't kno w how long I'm
going t o b e playing S ant a C l aus but anyh o w I've had lots o f fun doing
that , yes I e nj oy that very m u ch . . . and of course Gail, our daugh t er
.
w as C ent ennial Queen in 1 9 5 7 . that w as a highlight o f my life there
.
that w as d e finitely one o f t h e m . . . and Bob he got his m as t er plumber
and n o w h e is w orking for the school b o ard , and doing very w e l l .
N.F:
Th at w as a huge parade in 1 9 5 7 .
R.R:
Y e s it was I got some pic t ure s of her and the parade t o o , yes i t
w as h u g e that's for sure . . . a n d that's about a l l I c an tell y o u sir .
{
N.F:
Th ank you very much for the int ervi e w , and you have t old m e a
lo t .
(26)
•..
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oral History Transcripts
Subject
The topic of the resource
oral history, Fort Erie
Description
An account of the resource
Transcriptions from interviews of various Fort Erie residents conducted in 1985 by the Fort Erie Public Library
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Fort Erie Public Library
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
FEPL- LH - Oral History
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fort Erie Public Library
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Neil Findall
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Roy Renshaw
Location
The location of the interview.
Mr. Renshaw's home at 1387 Niagara Blvd, Fort Erie
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oral History - Renshaw, Roy
Description
An account of the resource
Provided here is Roy Renshaw's interview. He discusses such topics as:
North end
Sports
Politics and government
Fire department
Amalgamation
Amigari
Bridgeburg
Railroad
Factories and industry
Fort Erie Centennial
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Fort Erie Public Library Local History Collection
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
July 31, 1985
1980s
1985
amalgamation
Amigari
Bridgeburg
Centennial
factories and industry
Fort Erie
north end
Oral history
politics and government
railroad
sports
transcripts