This coming weekend will usher in the month of May when the community looks ahead to a series of events and enjoyable occasions.
In years recently past, warmer weather would have been eagerly anticipated, but with weather patterns changing, we now simply look forward to more of the nice weather that April provided.
Back at the start of May of 1889, New Westminster was experiencing “weather warm and pleasant, Sunday last was a beautiful day and as a consequence our streets were crowded with citizens.”
The Oddfellows Hall had been the scene of a couple of well received concerts, one of which was given by “Miss Peters and her pupils” and another by the Mendelssohn Club. They were “very successful, both financially and musically, a large number of citizens were present.”
Going out for a special drink was an activity noted in the press particularly at The Hub, near Duncan’s Hotel downtown. Curiously, one example mentioned was a “Tom and Jerry and all the fashionable hot drinks suitable for the season.” As the weather was nice and warm, this drink, a variant of egg nog with added brandy and rum and usually a favourite at Christmastime, seems an interesting choice.
There were many changes in town with the influence of the railroad, and it was reported that land values were going up, though they had not been as high as they should be.“From this time forward prices will go up from day to day and speculative values by and by will be reached.”
We must remember the streets of the city were surfaced with dirt, gravel and the like, and apparently many complaints had been received about the clouds of dust issuing forth along Front and Columbia streets. Mr. McBroom (yes, that really was his name) had the contract to water the streets to keep the dust down, and he was reportedly hurrying the preparation of his watering wagon and the tanks to supply the needed water.
The newspaper commented on a new book, A Latin Quarter Courtship, written by Sidney Luska, which, a bit of research ascertained, was the pseudonym of author Henry Harland. The book’s critique? “There is not much of what is called plot and with very little jolting near the end, the course is very smooth, ending quite agreeably. It is worth reading.”
A truly noteworthy event was the launching of a new steamer for the river trade by Captain Insley. The vessel, a sternwheeler, the Delaware, was launched with suitable fanfare and ceremony from an area we do not regularly link with this type of shipbuilding, Sapperton.
It was also recorded on May 1, 1889, that Thomas Walsh, noted first-class trouser maker and ex-Royal Engineer, had passed away. The paper noted that he was well liked and “he had a tendency for stimulants which he loved not wisely but too well.”
