ANCIENT AQUEDUCTANCIENT AQUEDUCT
ANCIENT AQUEDUCT
SHOPS OF ANCIENT AQUEDUCTSHOPS OF ANCIENT AQUEDUCT
SHOPS OF ANCIENT AQUEDUCT
The story of the water supply would be inadequate without an account of the great drought that fell upon the city in the last weeks of 1913, caused by a break in the concrete conduit which occurred after dark on Christmas night. For 193 hours the city was without an adequate water supply. It was in great alarm lest a typhoid epidemic or fires should start. Luckily fires were few, but one on St. Louis Square occurred when the want of water caused a whole block to be burned down. The city authorities had water carried round in the water carts and distributed to the people, who besides this scanty service had to melt the snow, then abundant, for culinary purposes. The danger of typhoid was averted by careful attention of the people to the directions of the city health officers and other physicians. The event caused great excitement and much criticism. As a warning note of the dangers that may befall a modern city, the following adapted account, published at the time, is chronicled here.4
Montreal’s 193-hour water famine, it is hoped, has passed and gone, but that a city of its size should be so absolutely thrown out of gear by the bursting of a single water conduit was such a shock to the citizens, that they will want the facts of the case to go down to posterity engraved in tables of stone—or concrete.Shortly after dark on the evening of December 25th, a break nearly sixty feet long appeared in the water supply conduit at a point directly behind the Protestant Hospital for the Insane, on La Salle road. It was claimed the cause of the breakage was the digging away of the earth surrounding the conduit on the one side, adjacent to the old aqueduct, and the piling of it up on the other side, in connection with the widening of the old channel.It is stated that the pipe was thus caused to sag, crack and eventually under the water pressure to break.The rush of water carried away most of the earth left between the conduit and the aqueduct, and it was into the latter, fortunately, that the water flowed. If there can be a fortunate side to the accident, it is that it occurred where it did, within a couple of rods of the shack used by the construction company, whose men were at work on the aqueduct, and where there was a telephone, which greatly facilitated the ordering of supplies and men.By early morning on the 26th, a steel pipe, of six sections, and slightly smaller in diameter than the conduit, had been ordered, and Controller Godfrey had appeared on the scene, from which he was thereafter never absent for more than a few hours.But before the pipe could be placed, all the earth on the top of, and to the north of the pipe had to be removed, and the remaining and unbroken sides of the conduit demolished. While this work was in progress, sections of the steel tube began to arrive and were bolted together, so as to be ready to be swung into position as soon as the place was cleared.In the clearing operations, the engineers were also lucky, owing to the close proximity of one of the Cooke Company’s derrick steam shovels, which not only did the hard work of clearing the ground expeditiously, but later supplied hot water for mixing the cement, and steam to keep it warm while drying.With Controller Godfrey either at work or bustling up the makers of the steel tube, and City Engineer George Janin, and Waterworks Engineer Lesage, continually at the scene of operations, by Monday, December 29th, the background was cleared and the steel pipe nearly completed.By Tuesday, the latter had been swung into place, concrete had been run in to fill the joints and workmen had been lowered into the conduit, with buckets of blazing tar, to seal them inside.On Wednesday, the 31st, at 4.45 A.M., the water was let into the conduit and the pumpswere started. They ran a few minutes when the engineers were compelled to close them down because there was not a sufficient depth of water in the conduit for them to operate successfully. It was then found that the water had blown out some of the filling of concrete, wood and tar, near the top of the steel tube, and that a large leak had been formed which would keep the city waterless over New Year’s Day.Meanwhile various serious fires had occurred in the city, in spite of the extra precautions taken by the fire commissioners and the police, and Chief Tremblay of the fire department is reported to have demanded at the City Hall that he be given water, and to have stated that there was but enough water remaining in the reservoirs for one big fire.At the same time a number of foolish rumours gained credence, such as that should the water not be forthcoming from the conduit at once, the dam which holds the River St. Lawrence out from the old aqueduct would be dynamited, and an even more destructive rumor that the said dam was about to burst at any minute. Had either of these eventualities occurred, as various engineers pointed out, the whole of Point St. Charles would have been flooded.On Wednesday afternoon, about 4 o’clock, hot concrete was run into the joints at both ends of the steel tube, and it was announced that after allowing four hours for pouring and fifteen hours for drying, the water would be let into the conduit and all would be well.Thursday, however, still saw the engineers waiting all day for the concrete to set, while a pipe from the derrick up on the embankment above discharged steam into a canvas outer covering to the joint, and through a man-hole in the tube into the interior of the conduit.On Friday morning, the eighth day from the break, Controller Godfrey, City Engineers Janin and Lesage, Engineer Herlihy, of the Cooke Construction Company, and J.E. Jamieson, of grain elevator fame, who had also been called in by the city for consultation, made an inspection of the repairs, and were at first inclined to the belief that all was well, and, in fact, issued a statement that water should be in the city by noon or 1 o’clock.But a close internal examination revealed the fact that the concrete was yet not dry, so in order to prevent the waste of more time waiting for it, it was decided to cover it with oakum and pitch, and then to erect a wooden bulkhead or flange around the end of the steel tube inside the conduit to prevent the water from getting at the concrete with any force. It was here that the advantage of the telephone so near the work was evidenced, for a very short time only elapsed between the ordering of the oakum and its delivery.The process of covering the soft concrete with its protection and erecting the bulkhead occupied most of Friday, and it was with some degree of fear and trembling that the engineers in charge ordered the water turned on at the intake at 6.45 P.M. This was done very, very gently, and so prepared were those responsible for another breakdown that it was definitely stated that should it occur, the pipe would be opened and the water allowed to flow into the old aqueduct.However, all went well, and the first water reached the pumping station at Point St. Charles at a few minutes past 8 P.M. Within half an hour the first pump was started up, and at 9.50 the pressure was reported to be seventy pounds. By 11 o’clock the water was up to the Milton Street level, and three-quarters of an hour after 6, seven of the pumps were hard at work, and pumping at the rate of 56,000,000 gallons a day. Before breakfast on Saturday morning the McTavish reservoir was full, and every house had its full complement of water.During the period of stress, there is not a doubt everyone connected with the repair work, and, for that matter, all those engaged in supplying the water to householders from sleighs, worked to their utmost capacity, in spite of considerable external difficulties.At present Montreal’s city waterworks are supplied by a very-much-criticised concrete conduit, with a 60-foot length of steel tube of a considerably smaller diameter let into it where the break occurred. But at the time of writing, at least, the city has got water.
Montreal’s 193-hour water famine, it is hoped, has passed and gone, but that a city of its size should be so absolutely thrown out of gear by the bursting of a single water conduit was such a shock to the citizens, that they will want the facts of the case to go down to posterity engraved in tables of stone—or concrete.
Shortly after dark on the evening of December 25th, a break nearly sixty feet long appeared in the water supply conduit at a point directly behind the Protestant Hospital for the Insane, on La Salle road. It was claimed the cause of the breakage was the digging away of the earth surrounding the conduit on the one side, adjacent to the old aqueduct, and the piling of it up on the other side, in connection with the widening of the old channel.
It is stated that the pipe was thus caused to sag, crack and eventually under the water pressure to break.
The rush of water carried away most of the earth left between the conduit and the aqueduct, and it was into the latter, fortunately, that the water flowed. If there can be a fortunate side to the accident, it is that it occurred where it did, within a couple of rods of the shack used by the construction company, whose men were at work on the aqueduct, and where there was a telephone, which greatly facilitated the ordering of supplies and men.
By early morning on the 26th, a steel pipe, of six sections, and slightly smaller in diameter than the conduit, had been ordered, and Controller Godfrey had appeared on the scene, from which he was thereafter never absent for more than a few hours.
But before the pipe could be placed, all the earth on the top of, and to the north of the pipe had to be removed, and the remaining and unbroken sides of the conduit demolished. While this work was in progress, sections of the steel tube began to arrive and were bolted together, so as to be ready to be swung into position as soon as the place was cleared.
In the clearing operations, the engineers were also lucky, owing to the close proximity of one of the Cooke Company’s derrick steam shovels, which not only did the hard work of clearing the ground expeditiously, but later supplied hot water for mixing the cement, and steam to keep it warm while drying.
With Controller Godfrey either at work or bustling up the makers of the steel tube, and City Engineer George Janin, and Waterworks Engineer Lesage, continually at the scene of operations, by Monday, December 29th, the background was cleared and the steel pipe nearly completed.
By Tuesday, the latter had been swung into place, concrete had been run in to fill the joints and workmen had been lowered into the conduit, with buckets of blazing tar, to seal them inside.
On Wednesday, the 31st, at 4.45 A.M., the water was let into the conduit and the pumpswere started. They ran a few minutes when the engineers were compelled to close them down because there was not a sufficient depth of water in the conduit for them to operate successfully. It was then found that the water had blown out some of the filling of concrete, wood and tar, near the top of the steel tube, and that a large leak had been formed which would keep the city waterless over New Year’s Day.
Meanwhile various serious fires had occurred in the city, in spite of the extra precautions taken by the fire commissioners and the police, and Chief Tremblay of the fire department is reported to have demanded at the City Hall that he be given water, and to have stated that there was but enough water remaining in the reservoirs for one big fire.
At the same time a number of foolish rumours gained credence, such as that should the water not be forthcoming from the conduit at once, the dam which holds the River St. Lawrence out from the old aqueduct would be dynamited, and an even more destructive rumor that the said dam was about to burst at any minute. Had either of these eventualities occurred, as various engineers pointed out, the whole of Point St. Charles would have been flooded.
On Wednesday afternoon, about 4 o’clock, hot concrete was run into the joints at both ends of the steel tube, and it was announced that after allowing four hours for pouring and fifteen hours for drying, the water would be let into the conduit and all would be well.
Thursday, however, still saw the engineers waiting all day for the concrete to set, while a pipe from the derrick up on the embankment above discharged steam into a canvas outer covering to the joint, and through a man-hole in the tube into the interior of the conduit.
On Friday morning, the eighth day from the break, Controller Godfrey, City Engineers Janin and Lesage, Engineer Herlihy, of the Cooke Construction Company, and J.E. Jamieson, of grain elevator fame, who had also been called in by the city for consultation, made an inspection of the repairs, and were at first inclined to the belief that all was well, and, in fact, issued a statement that water should be in the city by noon or 1 o’clock.
But a close internal examination revealed the fact that the concrete was yet not dry, so in order to prevent the waste of more time waiting for it, it was decided to cover it with oakum and pitch, and then to erect a wooden bulkhead or flange around the end of the steel tube inside the conduit to prevent the water from getting at the concrete with any force. It was here that the advantage of the telephone so near the work was evidenced, for a very short time only elapsed between the ordering of the oakum and its delivery.
The process of covering the soft concrete with its protection and erecting the bulkhead occupied most of Friday, and it was with some degree of fear and trembling that the engineers in charge ordered the water turned on at the intake at 6.45 P.M. This was done very, very gently, and so prepared were those responsible for another breakdown that it was definitely stated that should it occur, the pipe would be opened and the water allowed to flow into the old aqueduct.
However, all went well, and the first water reached the pumping station at Point St. Charles at a few minutes past 8 P.M. Within half an hour the first pump was started up, and at 9.50 the pressure was reported to be seventy pounds. By 11 o’clock the water was up to the Milton Street level, and three-quarters of an hour after 6, seven of the pumps were hard at work, and pumping at the rate of 56,000,000 gallons a day. Before breakfast on Saturday morning the McTavish reservoir was full, and every house had its full complement of water.
During the period of stress, there is not a doubt everyone connected with the repair work, and, for that matter, all those engaged in supplying the water to householders from sleighs, worked to their utmost capacity, in spite of considerable external difficulties.
At present Montreal’s city waterworks are supplied by a very-much-criticised concrete conduit, with a 60-foot length of steel tube of a considerably smaller diameter let into it where the break occurred. But at the time of writing, at least, the city has got water.
FOOTNOTES:
1The Précis in Doctor Brymner’s Archivist’s report for 1892 has been used above.
1The Précis in Doctor Brymner’s Archivist’s report for 1892 has been used above.
2These were John Gray, Daniel Sutherland, Thomas Schieffelin and Stephen Sewell.
2These were John Gray, Daniel Sutherland, Thomas Schieffelin and Stephen Sewell.
3Writing in 1839, the author of “Hochelaga Depicta” says, “Montreal is better supplied with water than any other city on this continent with the exception of Philadelphia.”
3Writing in 1839, the author of “Hochelaga Depicta” says, “Montreal is better supplied with water than any other city on this continent with the exception of Philadelphia.”
4Montreal Daily Star, January 5, 1914.
4Montreal Daily Star, January 5, 1914.
LAW AND ORDER
JAILS—POLICE SERVICES—COURTHOUSE—LAW OFFICERS
EARLY PUNISHMENTS—FIRST CASES OF THE MAGISTRATES—GEORGE THE “NAGRE”—“EXECUTION FOR MURDER”—OTHER CRIMES PUNISHED BY DEATH—SOLDIER DESERTIONS—A PUBLIC EXECUTION—THE JAILS—THE JAIL TAX TROUBLES—OBNOXIOUS TOASTS—THE NEW JAIL OF 1836—ITS POPULATIONS—THE NEW BORDEAUX PRISON—OTHER SUPPLEMENTARY PRISONS—THE EARLY POLICING OF MONTREAL—THE LOCAL POLICE FORCE OF 1815—THE POLICE FORCE AFTER THE REBELLION OF 1837-1838—POLICE CHIEFS—MODERN LAW COURTS AND JUDGES—THE HISTORY OF THE BAR—THE BAR ASSOCIATIONS OF MONTREAL—THE RECORDERS—THE ARCHIVES.
SUPPLEMENT—THE JUDGES OF THE HIGHER COURTS FROM 1764 TO 1914—THE SHERIFFS OF MONTREAL—THE PROTHONOTARIES—THE COURTHOUSE SITES—THE BATONNIERS.
The early execution of the law in Montreal under British rule has been indicated in the chapters on the military government which lasted until 1764, when the magistrates or justices of the peace ruled the city till nearly up to the Union. Their first case was one of battery and assault.
At the May meeting of 1765 the first felony case was adjudicated. A man and his wife and a negro had been stealing. The sentence of “William and Elinor March and George, the Nagre” is thus recorded: “They are to go back to the place of their confinement, the said William to be stripped to the waist and Elinor March to have her back only stripped, and the said George the Nagre and each tyed to the carttail and beginning at the jail or prison between the hours of 8 and 9 o’clock in the forenoon on Friday next, are to proceed along around by the Intendant’s and then go to Market Place and round by St. Francis Street and through the Parade to place begun at, during which round they are to receive twenty-five stripes each on the naked back, besides twenty-five each on the naked back when at the market place.”
Next month “George, the Nagre,” was up again for stealing two pieces of silk ribbon, the justices being John Dumas, Daniel Robertson and Isaac Todd. He was sentenced again to be flogged with a cat of nine tails on his march around at the carttail six times with ten stripes each.
At the sitting of the court for August 2, 1765, a French woman named Margaret Tourangeau was “Set for an hour in the stocks for stealing a piece of camblet.”
“It is remarkable,” quotes Borthwick (History and Gazetteer, page 17), “that in the records of courts of sessions for years after the conquest of the country as natural there are very few French names before the magistrates for those crimes for which punishment by whipping, the stocks or the pillory or branding on the hand was meted out. This shows how thoroughly they obeyed their curés to respect the laws and be faithful to their allegiance.”
In the Court of King’s Bench, September, 1781, is recorded the first murderer to be hanged in the history of this Province since the cession, William Blunt.
Being placed in the stocks with a paper label on the breast and “burning in the hand” were common forms of punishment during this period.
The latter punishment was thus inflicted: The prisoner was brought from the gaol into the courtroom, and made firm by an iron hand at the back of the dock, the palm part of his own hand being opened tightly. The red hot iron, sometimes ending either in a crown or some other device, was held ready by the common hangman, and the punishment was inflicted in the center of the palm. The instrument being ready, the prisoner is informed that the moment it touches his flesh he can repeat as fast as he can these words in French, “Vive le Roi” three times, and at the end of the third repetition, the punishment would cease, or the words “God Save the King” if he were an English prisoner.
Even in this short time the hot iron has hissed into the flesh, and made such a mark that all the waters of the St. Lawrence could not efface it. (Cf. Borthwick’s Gazetteer.)
The Montreal prisons of the past, especially before 1840, saw many sad men who were condemned to death for crimes not so punished today, as a glance at some of the principal events recorded in the Court of King’s and Queen’s Bench from 1812 to 1838 will show.
Cases of executions for (1) stealing, larceny, shop lifting, burglary, 20; (2) horsestealing, 10; (3) rape, 3; (4) highway robbery, 1; (5) sacrilege, 1; (6) forgery, 1.
After 1821, although the records give the sentence of hanging for the above crimes, we find that although it is often executed, yet there is frequent mention of “pardoned by the king,” “respited,” “transported (so many) years in prison,” “pillory,” and “lashes.” One burglar sentenced to be hanged is respited and sent for five years to Quebec! It is strange to find cases of murder and manslaughter punished thus: “Murder, to be burned in the hand;” “drowning a man, six months in jail and to be burned in the hand in open court.” One of those executed in 1813 for stealing a cow was B. Clement, a boy of thirteen and a half years of age.
In 1818, March term, L. Bourguignon, convicted of grand larceny and condemned to be hanged, “prays for the benefit of the clergy,” which being granted by the court, he is sentenced to two-years’ House of Correction.
Desertion or attempt at desertion among the soldiers stationed in the Montreal district was not uncommon in 1838, after the first curl revolt of 1837. Transportation for a term of fourteen, twenty-one years, or “for the period of his natural life” was the sentence meted out to the “felon” who was marked with a D for deserter. A few records of deserting will suffice:
Fifteenth of May, 1838: Fourteen soldiers, deserters, under sentence of transportation, sent to Mr. Waud, Jailor, under charge of officer of Thirty-fourth Regiment.
Eleventh July: Three soldiers sentenced to fourteen, twenty-one, and twenty-one years’ transportation by G.A. Wetherall, commanding officer of the Second Battalion, “The Royal.” Three for a term of “natural life”—the Seventy-first Regiment.
Fifth of August: Five soldiers of the Seventy-first Regiment, fourteen years.
Third of September: Two of the Fifteenth Regiment, fourteen and seven years. Three of the Seventy-first Regiment, fourteen years and all marked D.
In May, 1839, no less than twenty-four soldiers were committed at one time for desertion, by order of the town major; five were discharged, the remainder were transported. These belonged to the Eighty-fifth and Thirty-second Regiments.
It is not our purpose to record the gruesome punishments further. There are, however, living with us those who have heard from their fathers the days in the ’20s when hangings were conducted in public in the yard of the old jail close to the Champ de Mars. The following description is from a lady eyewitness still living in 1914:
“You know, Mr. Robert Watson, a flour inspector, and a fine gentleman, was shot dead in his own house by a man whose name I cannot recall. That was, I think, in the twenties. The man was arrested, tried and found guilty on circumstantial evidence, which was principally the fact that his boots corresponded to the footmarks found in the snow leading to Mr. Watson’s residence. At the same time there was a French-Canadian tried and sentenced to death for forgery, and sheep stealing, which were then capital offenses. I determined to see the hangings. I know you will think me queer, but I had a desire to go. Hangings were then conducted in public. I remember the crowd in the jail yard as well as if it was yesterday—men and women and girls like myself. The authorities had allowed as many as the yard would hold, but there were hundreds outside who could see nearly as well.
“The Irishman asked for three cheers for the Irish, and said, ‘Take off your hats for the Irishman.’ The people did as he asked. The Frenchman said he had sold his body to the students, and that he was ready to die like a man. He asked the women to come up that he might pull their ears off, for when he began to steal his mother never corrected him, and therefore he was on the scaffold. Then I fainted, the first and only time in my life. I was sorry I went.”
JAILS
The jail1used in the latter part of French régime and the early portion of English rule was situated on the site formerly known as the Crystal Block (now represented by the second building northwest of St. Lawrence Street), on Notre Dame Street. On the occupation of the British, the Jesuits’ residence, on NotreDame Street, on the site facing what is now Jacques Cartier Square, was confiscated and in 1773 used as a jail as well as a courthouse. Not being designed for a jail, it is not surprising that the grand jury at the Court of King’s Bench held on the 2d of September, 1782, presented in their statement that the jail “is very insufficient for the purpose of a civil prison, is in a ruinous condition and is becoming a nuisance to the public and dangerous to the health and lives as well of the persons confined therein as others, his Majesty’s subjects. That it is insufficient for the purposes of a civil prison will appear on considering that there are but three small apartments into which are put prisoners of both sexes, and every denomination, whether for debt, breaches of the peace or the most flagrant crimes, and on the representation of the sheriff of the district to their honours, the judges of the court of common pleas, on the insufficiency of the prison, they have thought proper to order that executions should not issue against the persons of debtors who, by the laws of the Province, may become subject to imprisonment.”
In 1787 a committee of the legislative council was appointed by Lord Dorchester to investigate into the past administration of justice in the Province of Quebec. A committee of merchants of Montreal in a report to this commission, dated the 23d of June, 1787, stated in Article 8: “The want of a proper jail for the district has long been complained of, and at divers times has been represented by different grand juries, as well as at the courts of oyer and terminer and in the inferior courts of quarter sessions; but hitherto no remedy has been applied. The house which at present serves for a jail consists of four very small rooms in which are frequently confined promiscuously persons of different sexes and for very different degrees of crime. The unfortunate debtor cannot have a room to himself, nor can the malefactor, when preparing for the other world, be accommodated with a place of retirement to deprecate the wrath of the offended Deity. The insufficiency of the jail, in point of security, occasions a guard of soldiers to be kept in the lower part of it and even with that precaution many atrocious offenders have escaped, insomuch that the sheriff of the district has refused to confine debtors, unless the prosecutor offer to take upon himself the risk of an escape. The situation of this insufficient jail heightens the sufferings of the persons whom the law dooms to imprisonment, offends every passerby in the warm season and is a nuisance to the neighbourhood.”
The fire in 1803, which swept this portion of the city, partially destroyed the jail, and pending repairs a building was leased for a temporary jail. Still procrastination prevailed.
In 1804 the grand jury of Montreal made another presentment stating: “that the present gaol is only the ruins of the former one, which was burned, repaired and patched up in such a manner that the prisoners are sheltered from the inclemency of the weather, but by no means prevented from going out whenever they feel so inclined.” A report of the sheriff, Gray, shows that the same building had existed under the French rule, that it had then, as subsequently, suffered from fire and that although recently the sum of £615 had been expended on repairs it was still inadequate for the security of prisoners.
In 1805 an act was passed in the house of assembly by which commissioners were appointed to have a jail erected in Montreal and Quebec, the cost to be restricted to £9,000 currency in each case. It was high time. The act of 1805 was the result of these representations.
But a discussion arose at once concerning the ways and means of raising the funds. The bill as prepared embodied a proposal for the raising of funds through a tax on imports.2The merchants opposed this as directed against commerce and urged a land tax which the landholders in turn combatted. Petitions were sent by the merchants against the bill and they asked to plead at the bar of the house. This was refused and the bill in its original form passed the upper house unanimously. The bill became law. The merchants trading from London also intervened in a memorial protesting against the import tax. Altogether there was a strenuous fight. The feelings at Montreal rose high.
The Montreal Gazette of the period reported a meeting at Dillon’s tavern, Mr. Isaac Todd, a principal merchant, took the chair at a dinner and among others certain toasts were proposed which were thought by some members of the legislature to reflect on them, scandalously and libellously, and Mr. Todd and the printer of the Gazette were declared by the session of 1806 to have been guilty of a high breach of the privileges of the house. The sergeant-at-arms on attempting to make an arrest in Montreal found both of them absent, and the matter dropped. Some of the obnoxious toasts were as follows:
“Our representatives in the provincial parliament, who proposed a constitutional and proper mode of taxation for building gaols, and who opposed a tax on commerce for that purpose as contrary to the sound practice of the parent state;”
“May our representatives be actuated by a patriotic spirit for the good of the Province as dependent on the British Empire and be divested of local prejudices;”
“May the city of Montreal be enabled to support a new paper, though deprived of its natural and useful advantages, apparently for the benefit of anindividual” (sic);
“May the commercial interest of this Province have its due influence on the administration of its government.” (Christie—“History of Canada,” p. 239.)
The next jail was finally built in 1808 adjoining the east side of the courthouse erected in 1800, but becoming too small a more suitable one was commenced in 1831 at the foot of St. Mary’s current on ground purchased from the heirs of Sir John Johnson. It was not taken possession of by the sheriff till 1836. It was not built on hygienic or practical lines and in 1852 the northeast wing had to be demolished. It soon became very much occupied by the rebels and political prisoners of 1837 and 1838.3
The former prison was occupied as a house of industry from 1836 to 1838, when it became the government barracks. In the summer of 1849 the old jail built like the courthouse on the site of the Jesuits’ estate was pulled down. The cornerstone was found with two plates, the first recording the laying of the foundation stone of the Jesuit residence in 1742 by M. Normand, superior of theseminary, and the other recording that of the prison by Peter Panet, Isaac Ogden, “honorabiles judices,” and Joseph Frobisher,armiger.
In 1870, the prison, opened in 1836, was already being found too small and its overcrowded state had been frequently protested against by many grand juries. The theoretic capacity for this prison was 225 persons. It managed to hold 552 at one time. In 1876 the women prisoners were removed. It continued to be used for its original purpose till lately when the new prison at Bordeaux was opened in 1912, the last contingent being transferred from the old prison in August, 1913.
The following is a table of the population of the prisoners in the old prison:
In November, 1912, the transmigration to Bordeaux began and the congestion was relieved. The site of the new prison comprises a superficies of twenty arpents, and the buildings are eminently well fitted for their purpose, hygienic and spacious, with none of the faults so bitterly deplored in the old jails.
The supplementary prisons, in 1914, are the women’s jail at Fullum Street, established about 1876, under the “Good Shepherd” community, which has sections for Catholics and Protestants (four non-Catholics), the detention house for juvenile delinquents, in connection with the Juvenile Court, erected by the Juvenile Delinquent act of 1910, established March 12, 1912, the reformatory school at De Montigny Street undertaken by Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul, the boys’ farm reformatory at Shawbridge for Protestants, that for Catholic girls at the House of the “Good Shepherd” on Sherbrooke Street, and another for Protestants, commenced at St. Lambert’s about 1912. There is also for long terms of two years and over a large penitentiary under the Federal Government at St. Vincent de Paul.
THE POLICE FORCES
The policing or the control of law and order in general of Montreal dates back to the 27th of January, 1663, when Maisonneuve founded a voluntary association under the name of the “Police de la Sainte Famille de Jésus, Marie and Joseph,” which was divided into twenty companies of seven men each. In 1667 Maisonneuve organized a more formal police force under the direction of five important citizens who also acted as justices of the peace. In the early times itwas also customary to choose two or more citizens in each district of the town to act as constables.
THE OLD JAILTHE OLD JAIL
THE OLD JAIL
PRISON AT BORDEAUXPRISON AT BORDEAUX
PRISON AT BORDEAUX
In 1815 the legislature authorized the organization of a local police force. It was composed of twenty-five to thirty men who carried a long baton painted blue, a lantern at their girdle, and a bell to summon assistance. At night the watchmen called out the hour and other, cheerful news such as “All’s well—past 1 o’clock and a starlit night.” When lamps were introduced it was their business to light them. They had multifarious duties, such as looking after the health regulations, the removal of snow, the quelling of riots, especially at elections, when frequently the military had to be called out to assist them. Even then a policeman’s lot was not a happy one, being also very inadequately remunerated.
After the troubles of 1837-8 the special council of the legislature of Lower Canada passed an ordinance to authorize the governor to name an inspector or a superintendent of police for the city of Montreal. This superintendent was similar in power to a justice of the peace. He had, in addition, the charge of the composition and the control of the police force, subject to the provincial secretary. The force consisted of thirty constables, paid by the government. They were supplemented by a special force from the police appointed by the governor and paid by the harbour commissioners. That the new police was badly needed, a picture from “Hochelaga Depicta,” written in 1839, makes clear. “The passions drawn forth by the rebellion have disturbed the repose of many, and military habits and pursuits have not only diverted them from their regular course of action, but have introduced a martial and unsettled spirit which has operated unfavourably upon a large portion of the community. It is to be regretted that many of the regular troops are from time to time seen reeling in the streets, to the interruption of that good order which their services are so efficient in promoting; and that intemperance has increased among the volunteers since they received pay.” (“Hochelaga Depicta,” p. 212.)
The police force was organized in consequence of an ordinance issued during the administration of the Earl of Durham on the 28th of June, 1838. It consisted of 102 privates, four mounted patrols, six sergeants and six corporals under the command of four officers, viz., Capt. Alexander Comeau and Lieutenant Worth for Division A, and Capt. William Brown and Lieut. William Suter for Division B. The expenses were borne by the civil home government and amounted “to at least six thousand pounds per annum.” (Cf. “Hochelaga Depicta.” 181.)
After the rebellion in the early days of Queen Victoria’s reign the office of superintendent was abolished and a “Fire Society” was established by the special council, with power to create a body of officers of the peace. The name suggests that protection against fire was more important those days than against other evils. The force consisted then of 102 men, four mounted patrols, six sergeants, six corporals under the command of four officers. The government supported this expense, which amounted annually to about six thousand pounds. In 1851, after the burning of the parliament house and the Gavazzi riots, the powers of the Fire Society passed into operation under the municipal authorities. The constables were increased to 100. The chief of police was Mr. Hayes. The central station was in the basement of Bonsecours Market and another post was the corner of Craig and Bleury streets. The police had not an enviable reputation.The pay was only 50 cents a day. Often recruits for the service were obtained from the prisoners. Drunkenness was charged to them so that a fine of 5 shillings was imposed on all who sold intoxicating liquors to any of the force.
In 1861 Guillaume Lamothe became chief of police and after some years’ agitation he succeeded in obtaining $1.00 a day pay for his men. Mr. Lamothe, alarmed at the growth of houses of prostitution at this period, suggested in his annual report of 1863 the license of a certain number so as to regulate the evil.4The recorder, De Montigny, supported this, but on the protest of the religious authorities of the town the innovation was discountenanced.
In 1870 the military were removed from the garrison and the records show an improvement in the morality of the town.
Since 1850 the chiefs of police have been: H. Jérémie, 1850; Thomas McGrath, 1851; E.O. Ermatinger, 1854; J.N. Hayes, 1854; Guillaume Lamothe, 1861; P.W.L. Penton, 1865; H. Paradis, 1879; G.A. Hughes, 1888; D. Legault, 1901; O. Campeau (November), 1905.
THE COURTS AND COURTHOUSE
The establishment of the higher courts has been treated in the chapters dealing with the constitutional growth of the city. It remains to indicate the present system as in vogue. Lawsuits in purely civil matters involving less than one hundred dollars and in which no future rights are involved, are settled by one of the three judges of the circuit court or in a few cases of minor importance by one of the City Recorders. The city recordership is an office peculiar to the Province of Quebec. It is attached to the City Hall and deals with minor offenses enforcing a part of the criminal law, enforcing payment of city licenses and is a court of appeal for assessment charges, actions for wages and civil cases not exceeding one hundred dollars, and minor cases of non-support and the duties of a domestic relations court. All cases dealing with children under sixteen years of age have been relegated to the recently established juvenile court.
Cases of litigation involving $100 or over are decided by one of the judges of the superior court, from whose decision an appeal may be made either to the court of review, which is practically the first court of appeal (composed of three judges of the superior court, other than the judge rendering the first decision), or to the court of king’s bench, consisting of five judges. There are now six judges of king’s bench, sixteen of the superior court, and four of the circuit court for the district of Montreal, which comprises the island of Montreal and the counties of Laval, Soulanges, La Prairie, Chambly and Verchères. The court of king’s bench is composed of six judges, one of whom is the chief justice of the Province of Quebec and five of whom hear appeals in civil and criminal matters for the Province for two weeks every month in the cities of Montreal and Quebec, alternately. They also preside over the sittings of the criminal court for the cities of Montreal and Quebec. Of late years the salaries of the judges of the king’s bench for Montreal and Quebec are $8,000 for the chief justice and puisné judges at $7,000; those of the superior court, $8,000 for the chief justice and$7,000 each for the puisné judges, with a rider restricting all judges to the exclusive practice of their profession as judges. This limitation causes retirements after a number of years for more remunerative posts. The bench is not a body corporate, while the bar is. The first legislation was in 1785 (25 George III, C. 4), regarding the appointment of advocates, attorneys, solicitors and notaries.
The first attempt of the bar of Montreal to acquire corporate existence goes back to 1828, when on March 27th the members of the bar, under the auspices of the court of king’s bench, then composed of Chief Justice Reid and of Justices A.F. Uniacke, George Pyke and L.C. Foucher, organized themselves into a library association, the first board of management being composed of Messrs. Stephen Sewell, Joseph Bedard, Frederick Griffin, and Alexander Buchanan.
The association had a social circle as a scientific side and partook of the nature of a club. The admission fee was $200 and the annual subscription was $5.00. It appears to have flourished.
The next legislative provision enacted regarding the bar was the enactment of 1836 (6 William IV, C. 10) regulating that those who had followed a regular higher course of letters and had served their clerkship in a law firm were fit to be admitted to practice at the bar. The bar association of Montreal was incorporated in 1840 and the bar of Lower Canada in 1849. The title ofbatonnierwas given officially by act of 1849 to the president of the corporation. It comes from days as far back as 1342, when the president of the Sodality of Lawyers carried a bâton, the emblem of St. Nicholas, their patron.
The act to incorporate the bar of Lower Canada was the gradual dissolution of the Library Association so that about a quarter of a century ago the library began to be considered by comity the property of the bar. Since 1898 the Junior Bar Association has been formed for the purpose of mutual information, interest and friendly relations with similar bodies abroad. About 1907 the Montreal Bar Association was founded “for the purpose of promoting the interest of the bar and of facilitating professional labours and of fostering friendly relations among its members.”
THE COURTHOUSES
The courthouse used after the conquest was held in the Jesuit residence confiscated by the government. On the 3d of January, 1799, the sum of £5,000 was appropriated by the parliament for the erection of a new courthouse and at the same time the ground was granted by the government without any pecuniary indemnity. It was built in 1800 at the cost of $25,000 upon part of the site occupied partially before by the chapel and residence of the Jesuits. It contained many large halls and six fine vaults in which the notarial deeds and registers of births, marriages and deaths were stored. In 1803 at the east end of this courthouse there was built a prison which was partially demolished in 1849.
In 1844 the old courthouse was burnt. Until the present courthouse was built the courts were held partially in the prison adjoining the Château de Ramezay. The present courthouse was opened for business in 1856 on the site of the old courthouse and the prison. What was left of the latter was demolished in 1860 and a square was made between the garden of the government fronting theChâteau de Ramezay and on this place between the Champ de Mars and Notre Dame Street there was placed a fountain with the statue of Neptune, since removed to Park Mance.
In the present courthouse there are kept the judiciary archives of the district of Montreal, which are certainly the richest of any district in the Dominion because nothing has been destroyed, so that all the notarial deeds and official papers from the times of Maisonneuve to our day are available. These archives occupy a space on the basement floor of the courthouse of nearly three hundred by one hundred and twenty-five feet and also nearly half of the ground floor. Under the French régime the archives were under the care of the governor and the seigneurs of the island. Afterwards they were at the old French courthouse at the corner of St. Francis Xavier and Notre Dame streets and they followed the subsequent fortunes of the courthouse transmigrations. When the courthouse was burnt in 1844 the only documents destroyed were a part of the criminal court record. No systematic indexing and classification of the documents were undertaken before Doctor Lemieux was named sheriff in 1910. As this office in Montreal embraces the administration and supervision of the courthouse and prison, it was to this sheriff’s zeal that in 1911, after many demands, he succeeded in having a staff named under Mr. E.Z. Massicotte as the first archivist to put the archives department on an efficient modern basis. This was done, comparing favourably with the best kept contemporary archives in America. This was attested to by the visitors of the Great American Bar Congress held in Montreal in 1913. While the archives in the courthouse represent the collection of all documents relating to the city anterior to the period of English rule and of all the judiciary courts of the Montreal district since, including the preservation of the births, marriages, deaths and notarial deeds, there has lately been established in the city hall a municipal bureau of Archives under Mr. Beaudry, which preserves all documents concerning the government of the city under the system of the Justices of the Peace and the modern municipal corporation of Montreal. The historians of the future will bless both these forward movements of recent years.
THE OLD COURTHOUSETHE OLD COURTHOUSE
THE OLD COURTHOUSE
COURTHOUSE AT MONTREALCOURTHOUSE AT MONTREAL
COURTHOUSE AT MONTREAL
SUPPLEMENT
JUDGES OF THE COURT OF KINGS BENCH, LOWER CANADA
Mr. Justice Caron assumed the office of Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec, February 17, 1873.
Mr. Justice Mondelet, who was a Puisné Judge of the Superior Court, acted as Assistant Judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench for and during the time that Mr. Justice Caron continued to be a Commissioner for the codification of the laws of Lower Canada relative to civil matters and procedure.
THE JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF MONTREAL
From 1867 to 1870, four Judges of the Superior Court had to reside in the city of Montreal (C.S.L.C., Chap. 78, 1860); 1870 to 1872, five Judges (33 Vict. Q., Chap. 10); 1872 to 1882, six Judges (35 Vict. Q., Chap. 6, and 36 Vict., Chap. 10); 1882 to 1883, seven Judges (43-44 Vict. Q., Chap. 5); 1883 to 1887, eight Judges (46 Vict. Q., Chap. 13); 1887 to 1895, eleven Judges, including the Judge to whom the district of Terrebonne is assigned (49-50 Vict. Q., Chap. 7, 50 Vict. Q., Chap. 11, and 52 Vict. Q., Chap. 27).
RECORDERS APPOINTED SINCE THE CREATION OF THE RECORDER’S COURT, IN 1841
SHERIFFS OF MONTREAL
PROTHONOTARIES
THE BATONNIERS OF THE MONTREAL BAR