The ladies’ ten-day recruitment campaign ended without either fanfare or an inkling of results–except to say empty bunks meant a last-ditch sign-up campaign had to be launched. Recruitment meetings continued to attract “the usual crowd” of ladies and old tigers; eligible, fit young men were nowhere to be found. Woe betides these slackers, for “they […] Read more…
14-20 Apr 1916: A victory, of sorts
Playing around with prohibition Legislators added and refined clauses as they continued to debate the merits of Premier Hearst’s prohibition bill. Every municipality would have at least one licensed hotel (“standard hotels”), and boarding houses could bill themselves as such. For an annual licensing fee of $1 (just less than $20—see notes on conversion), these […] Read more…
17-23 Mar 1916: 700 men in three weeks!
Temperance and Prohibition The new federal temperance bill passed first reading without discussion. It didn’t go as far as Vancouver’s HH Stevens‘ and Bonaventure’s Charles Marcil‘s (Unionist and Liberal, respectively) proposed bill—they called for total prohibition of the import, manufacture and sales of intoxicating beverages, until the war’s end—this one prevented liquor imports into dry […] Read more…
10-16 Mar 1916: Dashing through the snow
Several days after his family left Berlin, Ontario, The New York Times ran an interview with Reverend CR Tappert’s brother. The brothers’ shared temperament, attitude, and nationalism were evident. Nothing, according to GH Tappert, his brother did or said while in Canada could ever be offensive or pro-German: “He is too conservative and too good […] Read more…
25 Feb–02 Mar 1916: By consent of the governed
Corsica, Ontario Every alderman (except for the two who opposed to the name change) attended a special council meeting to decide how to proceed. Mayor Hett wanted ratepayers to have the final word, but Alderman Cleghorn disagreed. He clung to his chestnut that the petition’s 1080 signatures (from a population of 20,000) meant the electorate’s voice […] Read more…