1916

27 October – 02 November 1916: Hospitals, holy ground and Halloween

The 118th get spots; Colonel Lochead gets spotted Ten soldiers came down with measles and moved to hospital. The outbreak wasn’t serious, but if more men came down with spots, the Battalion could be quarantined. A few days before Halloween, Huronto, The News Record’s source in the 118th Battalion, reported on Lt. Col. Lochead’s promotion […] Read more…

20-26 October 1916: The saga of John Sugar Beet Jones

The chief magistrate’s sugar beeting gave Kitchener’s two newspapers ample fodder. “Just how the boys of the [118th] Battalion came to the belief that Mayor Hett was opposed to their wintering in Kitchener is difficult to establish,” said The Daily Telegraph. Previously, Hett didn’t want other cities’ battalions here, and called out local shopkeepers who […] Read more…

13-19 October 1916: Cheerless puddings

Not Kitchener A week after city council’s wrathy meeting, the head of the military district announced troops would not winter in Kitchener. As expected, locals weren’t pleased. News of North Waterloo’s 118th and Muskoka’s 122nd “homelessness” revived speculation (mostly in The Daily Telegraph) of the boys’ return home. The newspaper tried to bolster its theory and […] Read more…

06-12 October 1916: Thanksgiving Dinner

Brr… The week before Thanksgiving, locals enjoyed downright balmy weather.  The mercury rose to the 80s F (mid-20s C to low 30s C), but all that changed the day before Thanksgiving. At 3 pm on Sunday, temperatures hovered at 88F (31C) but dropped to 35F (2C) by Tuesday at 4:30 am. I couldn’t find Kitchener’s […] Read more…

29 September – 05 October 1916: The aldermen were indignant and wrathy

St. Mary’s General Hospital St Mary’s Church’s Fr AJ Fischer announced plans for the city’s second general hospital to be built on five acres of land on Queen’s Park Crescent. The facility for 50-60 patients would be run by the Sisters of Charity (see notes) and would house a nurses’ training school. The Berlin and Waterloo Hospital […] Read more…

22-28 September 1916: Oh! Huronto! He was passionately fond of dahlias

First, we take Ontario; then we take Canada About a week after Ontario’s Temperance Act took hold, the four provincial liquor vendors’ cash register chimes probably wouldn’t have drowned out even the smallest of music halls. One wholesaler only rang up $22 in the first week ($429—see note on conversion): he wouldn’t have out-tinkled a […] Read more…

1 2 3 8