Sunday, August 16, 2009

Cemetery Tour for Railway Days

I was on holiday last week and we went to Victoria to see the exhibit "Treasures - The World's Cultures from the British Museum" at the Royal BC Museum. I highly recommend a visit to see it. It will be showing until the end of September. We also saw the "Vermeer, Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch Art" exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery and I also recommend a visit to that exhibit, as well as the Emily Carr and Jack Shadbolt exhibit at the same gallery.

I'll get right back into the swing of things this week with Railway Days. Our schedule is posted in the blog just prior to this one. Please note that the Cemetery Walk on Tuesday is at 7:00 pm, not at 2:00 pm as printed in the Times Review.

This cemetery walk will deal more with railway employees and railway related accidents. One incident involved the explosion of the boiler of engine 5759 in July of 1918. CPR Fireman William Phillips died while he was servicing the engine, which exploded due to a lack of water in the boiler. The coroner's jury into Mr. Phillips death determined that the gauge on the boiler was not operating correctly and did not show that the boiler was short of water. The explosion lifted the whole upper structure of the locomotive into the air, and it turned in a complete somersault and became reversed, landing about 100 feet away in the opposite direction. The impact of the landing caused the engine to bury itself partially into the roadbed. The drive wheels of the locomotive and the tender remained on the rails. The cab of the locomotive was blown over 200 feet away and embedded itself into the side of a storage building. The body of Mr. Phillips was found about 75 feet away, wedged under the drive wheels of a locomotive on an adjacent track.

There are certainly many sad stories associated with the railway, but the early railway workers knew that the job came with many hazards. During the cemetery walk, I will tell the sad stories, but also talk about the bravery and dedication of the railway workers on the Mountain Division.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Railway Days

The Annual Railway Days Community Festival is coming up soon, and Revelstoke Museum and Archives will be participating with a few events:

Monday, August 17th at 2:00 pm, there will be a downtown walking tour, beginning at the museum. Find out about the history of the downtown and some of the beautiful heritage buildings. The tour will take about an hour and a half and costs $5 per person.

Tuesday, August 18 at 7:00 pm, there will be a Cemetery Tour at 7:00 pm. Meet at the Cemetery Gates or call the museum at 250-837-3067 for a ride. The cost is $5 per person. This special cemetery tour will focus on railway employees and railway related accidents, and takes about one and a half hours.

Thursday, August 20, from 2:00 to 3:30 pm, our weekly Heritage Explorers Children's Program will have a look at railway history with crafts, games and activities. This program is suitable for ages 5 to 12. Pre-registration is required.

Our annual Beer and Wings event will be held on Friday, August 21st from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. Chef Ron Kwong will serve up his famous wings, paired with beer from Mt. Begbie Brewing Company. This event is $25 per person.

We'll see you during Railway Days!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Interesting Tidbits

While reading 1923 newspapers yesterday, I came across a couple of interesting items. The first was a small personal item in the June 19, 1923 issue of the Revelstoke Review:

"NOTICE: Should my wife, Beatrice, be in Revelstoke, I again ask her to return. I have rented a nice, furnished apartment at the Waldorf. Private bath; Simmonds mattress - just what was wanted. - Jack"

I wasn't sure whether it was really a personal ad, or just a clever advertisement from the owner of the Waldorf apartment block which was located on Second Street East, where Beruschi Park is now.

The other interesting item I found was about the trial of Elsie Simmons (alias Alice Langford), Dong Wing and Harry Greenwood (alias "Sticks") for attempted murder. The previous year, the home of local "madam" Connie Smith had been dynamited. It appeared that Miss Dolly West, a prostitute at Elsie Simmon's "House of Illl-Repute" had moved to Connie's house, and in retaliation, Elsie had arranged for Dong Wing and Harry Greenwood to dynamite Connie's. There was still an active Red Light District in Revelstoke at that time, and this was just one incident relating to their activities. Around the same time as the dynamite incident, the local mayor had resigned his post and moved to New Westminster. He had started a campaign to close down the brothels, but conceded defeat when his children were threatened and an explosion was set off in the basement of his home.

After the trial in 1923, Alice Simmons, Harry Greenwood and Dong Wing were all sentenced to five years in the penitentiary.