May 1, 1876

“The roads into Dundas are now in splendid condition and business is looking up.”

          Hamilton Spectator.     May 1, 1876

Monday, May 1, 1876 was definitely a slow news day and the Spectator reporters were dredging low to fill the local news page.

As well as the news that the roads into Dundas were in top shape, another item was carried regarding the on-going, but yet fruitless search for the remains of Tom Ireland :

“Much sympathy is felt in Dundas for the family of the late Thos. Ireland, who was drowned in Dundas Creek. No hopes are now entertained of ever recovering the body, which s supposed to be covered with mud and timber.”

          Football was in the news as preparations were being made and players selected for an upcoming match scheduled against a team from prominent American university:

“The match between the Argonauts of Toronto and the Hamilton club – the last of the trial matches to select the men from Ontario, who are to play against the Harvard Club on Monday week – took place on Saturday at the Crystal Palace Grounds. The following composed the Hamilton team : H. Hope, (captain and three-quarter back); Ker, Murray and Hare, (backs); Palmer and Leask (half-backs); Gordon, Wynyard, Park, J.A. Mackenzie, J. I. Mackenzie, McLaren, Gillespie, Wild and Hosking (forwards). The Toronto team was composed of the following : Messrs. Perram (captain); Harcourt, Boyd, Mitchell, Helliwell, D. Shaw, Shaw, Gosling, Kerr, Ogilvey, Bell, Sankey, Denny, Wallace and one other. The result of the match was a draw game.”

Finally a space filler to be used when necessary was a poem by a local writer, and so Hamilton poet Hawke saw his work in print once again :

“For the Spectator : Mother"

 Oh ! For the gift to paint thee, mother, as thou art,

And limun the glory of thy pure silvery hair,

Above a dear worn brow, so deeply traced with care.

Alas! My skill such grace cannot impart,

But in this simple verse I will engrave for thee.

True love and honour! Thou who hast borne for me

Life’s chastenings many more than were thy art.

My place be ever near thee, where I often feel again

The pressure gentle of thy tender hand

That sweet hath soothed the racking throbs of pain.

When on the edge of some misdeed I stand

That soft, low voice has never failed of thine,

To hold me back with power that seemed divine.

                             HAWKE.

Hamilton. May 1, 1876