1908 - Hamilton Armories

“Soldiers of Hamilton Will Have the Best : Fine New Drill Hall Is Rapidly Nearing Completion – Will Be Ready By August 1 – Something About What Has Been Done – A Great Boom in Military Affairs Is Looked For This Season ”

Hamilton Times.    March 14, 1908

“Although work on the New Drill has been in progress for a year and a half, and the building is rapidly approaching completion, little has been said in the public prints of the interesting work that has been going on. The job is one of the largest of the last few years, and probably no other building, with the possible exception of the uptown skyscrapers, shows in a more marked way the progress of the city. Work was begun towards the close of the summer of 1906, and the job will have taken about two years when completed.

“At the time the 91^st regiment was organized in 1903, it was quite evident to the officers of the local regiments that the then Drill Hall would be insufficient to hold both regiments, so the officers took steps to get the Government at Ottawa to provide better. Mr. Adam Zimmerman, M.P. for West Hamilton, was consulted, and became interested in the cause. After some little delay, the Government told him that it would erect a building similar to the Drill Hall. This did not exactly suit him or local officers, and after some maneuvering, the Government expressed its willingness to erect a building similar to the Toronto Armories. This was satisfactory, and the getting out of plans and arranging for work followed.

“Mr. Walter W. Stewart, captain of F Company of the 91^st, and a member of the well-known firm of Stewart & Witton, was appointed architect. This was in the latter months of 1905. Mr. Stewart at once started on the drawings and specifications, and they were approved by the Government and the contract was let in August 1906 to Mr. George Webb of this city. A noticeable feature about the building of the new armory is the fact that the work is being done by Hamilton men from start to finish, even to subcontracting.

“The new armory will be for the use of the Thirteenth and Ninety-First Regiments entirely, and will give them ample room for their drills, and other uses they may wish to put it to. The old hall will be occupied by the Fourth Field Battery, the Army Service Corps, the Army Medical Corps and the Corps of guides.

“The new hall while practically the same as the Toronto armory will look larger, on account of the light pressed brick walls. The ceilings will have a high look as curved trusses have been used instead of the straight cord. To give the ordinary person a faint idea of the size of the hall, one can take a line 10 feet inside of the four wall and make an eighth-of-a-mile running track. Around the three sides of the hall is a large commodious gallery cantilevered out from the walls. The seats in this gallery will all be raised in amphitheater form. The hall will be admirably lighted with large windows on the south side and also a large lantern, which runs the entire length of the roof on the under side. The ceiling is made of clear pine and is to be varnished.

“In the basement two large bowling alleys are laid out, one for the sergeants and men and the other for the officers; also a miniature rifle range, 150 feet long, with six targets. The balance of the space left will be divided into kitchens, vaults, etc. The bowling alleys will be a splendid innovation and will be greatly appreciated. There has always been a great lack of provision for the recreation for the men and officers in the present hall, due to the fact that the crowded conditions did not leave any room for the men to have a good time on off nights. What with the shooting gallery and the bowling alley, the new armory will be occupied every night during the winter, and in keeping the men around the place they are bound to take a greater interest in the military affairs than heretofore. The shooting gallery will give the younger men a chance to get a good workout during the winter so that when spring arrives they will be able to give the older shots in the regiment a run for their money.

“On the ground floor where all the drilling will take place, the company armories deserve attention. There will be 16 of these company rooms, for the two regiments, opening off the north side of the main hall. These armories will be fitted up in a way that the members of the local regiments never dreamed of. To begin with, they will nearly double the size of the present armories – 15 x 30 feet. This will give the men of the companies an opportunity of holding their company dinners in their own rooms. A splendid arrangement is to be installed for the stacking of the rifles and other equipment has been arranged for. An entirely new feature will be brought into the company rooms. This will be a clothes closet in each company for all the dress tunics of every member of the company, thus doing away with necessity of having to take all the uniforms home. The tunics will be on a moveable rack that fits in the closet. On the occasion of a dress parade, the rack is moved out into the center of the room, and each man has his own peg. He will take the dress uniform off the peg and put his service tunic in its place. By adopting this method, it is expected, the tunics will be kept  in splendid shape, and will give a good deal more wear.

“A large armory, practically double the size of the company armories, will be given to the Collegiate Cadets, with the same arrangement for the boys’ comfort as the members of the regiment. The Stretcher and Bearer Companies, as well as the Signalers of both regiments will have armories along the James street front, in the wing, between the old and new armories.

“The James street front will be divided into executive departments for the commanding officers and the adjutants of each regiment. The orderly and store rooms will also be one the James street front. The Hughson street front will be utilized for mobilization purposes, and the Maxim gun stores.

“On the second floor, opening off the north side of the main hall, will be too large band rooms for the use of the band of each regiment. These rooms will be 30 x 40 feet, and will be a great improvement on the hall that is being used at present. The bandsmen have always complained that they have not sufficient accommodation, but with the new quarters there will be no ground for complaint. The Bugle Band of each regiment will each have a room 30 x 30, which is twice the size of their present quarters. In addition all this there will be a large room 30 x 100, which is to be used for recreation purposes and lecture room combined. Such a room has been badly needed by both regiments, When any of the prominent officers of the Canadian militia come to the city to give a lecture, in the past, there has been nothing  to offer them in this matter of a good lecture room, that has an attractive appearance, so that this room will fill the requirements.

“The entire second floor on the James street front will be given over to the officers’ quarters of each regiment. Commodious mess rooms, billiard rooms, reading rooms, cloak rooms and lavatories for the officers of each regiment will be provided. These rooms will be finished in quarter-cut oak with beam ceilings. All the rooms will be elaborately furnished, as officers’ quarters should be. It is the opinion of the officers that they should get something in return for the time and money they spend on the militia.

“Men will be employed by each officers’ mess to look after the quarters. They will have living apartments in the towers on James street.

“The sergeants’ quarters for both regiments will be in the towers on the Hughson street front, and they will be handsomely furnished and in keeping with the prosperity of the regiments. The pipers of the 91^st Regiment will have a large room over the Cadets’ armory.

“Both regiments are laying by large sums of money for the furnishing of their respective quarters, and when the building is completed and ready for occupancy, it will be the finest in Canada.

“Provisions are being made for the installation of either gas or electricity, and it is an assured fact that the lighting arrangement will be a great deal more satisfactory than it is in the present armory.

“A splendid feature in connection with the heating arrangments is that the heating of the armory will come from a boiler room that it being built between the old and new halls. This will eliminate any danger of fire. The building will be heated throughout by steam, by what is known as the vacuum system. The heating of the main hall will introduce an innovation, the first of its kind in any drill hall in Canada. This part of the armory in the past has never been heated before. What is known as the blast system will be used. The air from the outside is drawn through a large steam coil by means of a big fan, and is forced through ducts into the main hall. By this arrangement the hall will be heated very quickly. If this system proves a success, it is expected that other armories throughout the country will adopt it.

“The armory is built of red pressed brick, with a base of Stanstead grey granite. The stone work, including the cornices and copings, are of Thorold limestone. The building itself, when completed will have a dignified, solid appearance, such as a building of the kind should. It will be, it is claimed, absolutely fireproof and the only thing that could burn in the whole building is the furnishings. The roof over the main hall is of reinforced concrete.

“The burden of looking after the work of the new building has fallen largely on the shoulders of Mr. Walter Stewart, and he is acquitting himself nobly. Mr. Stewart has been subjected to many delays, but he promises that it will be ready by the appointed time – August 1. He has devoted the greater part of his time and energies to the completion of this magnificent structure, and is to be congratulated on the success that has attended his efforts. Another gentleman whose wok calls for special praise is Mr. George Webb, the contractor. He has had a difficult undertaking and no one can complain of the results that he is showing for the time and labor he has expended on it. Col. Logie and Col. Moore have each striven hard to help, and have rendered valuable service.

“What Mr. Adam Zimmerman has done for the military bodies of Hamilton will probably never be fully appreciated. Mr. Zimmerman, however, is not looking for glory. He is quite satisfied to have served the city well in the matter.

“A great boom is looked for in all the corps this spring by reason of the coming opening of the new building.”

1902 - Brennen Fire

“Last night occurred the hottest fire the Hamilton firemen have been up against in many years. The large mill building of the M. Brennen & Sons Lumber company, located in the heart of the city on King William street, were in a little over an hour reduced to a pile of smoldering ruins and adjoining property on all sides was badly scorched.”

Hamilton Spectator.     July 12, 1902.

Just a few hours after Hamilton firemen had worked hard at a bad fire, they were called out again. The Pratt department store on James Street north between King and King William streets was the location of the first fire, the second was just 2 ½ blocks away, on King William Street, between John and Catharine streets.

While the Pratt fire was definitely a serious one, the fire at the Brennen site was much more problematic:

“It was a spectacular fire – one that delighted the soul of the fire-loving fiend to the full. It was a fear-producing fire as well, and had it not been that the night was practically still, with but a breath of wind, it would have been impossible for the firemen to hold it as they did. As it was for blocks to the northeast and all around the immediate vicinity, the roofs of houses, shops and factories were covered with volunteer firefighters beating down the showers of sparks and cinders that were constantly falling and threatening wholesale conflagration on every side.”¹

¹ “Spectacular Fire at Brennen’s Planing Mill”

Hamilton Spectator  .    July 12, 1902.

The fire alarm for the Brennen fire was sent in during the evening of July 11, 1902:

“A few minutes before 9 o’clock, the alarm was sounded by telephone. At that minute the fire, which started in the rear of the mill at the southeast corner on an upper floor, was a comparatively small affair. But between the time of sending the alarm and the arrival of the King William street apparatus  from less than half a block away, the flames had spread all over the rear part of the mill. The firemen made a heroic attempt to stop the fire where it started, running lines of hose through the stores from King street, and from John and Catharine street ends of the alley, and sending a deluge of water into the blaze. But it was useless. Everything in the mill was dry as tinder. The breeze fanned the flames, and almost in shorter than it takes to tell it, there were holes in the roof and the conflagration had extended through all the floors.”¹

The firefighters, under the leadership of Chief Aitchison quickly determined that it was impossible to save the Brennen mill, and turned attention to preventing the fire from spreading:

“Across the road, on King William street, the Gurney-Tilden foundry premises were liable at any moment to become food for the flames, while to the west and south of the burning building were many stores, so close that everything about them blistered and the brickwork became so hot that it meant burned fingers to touch it. While the mill building blazed away, the bulk of the firemen, regulars and volunteers, were busy pouring streams of water on the roofs and walls of these places. It was no child’s play, this battling with fiery devastation. Time and again, with the collapsing of walls or floors in the mill premises would monster columns of lurid flame arise, carrying with it showers of sparks and blazing brands that were forever alighting upon adjacent roofs and starting incipient conflagrations. The heat was so intense that it was almost impossible for the men on the hose to remain at their posts hundreds of yards away from the blaze. But they stuck to it, and had the satisfaction, after nearly two hours of the hardest work, of knowing that they held the hottest fire within recollection to the spot in which it started and with a minimum of damage to the valuable properties immediately adjoining.”¹

A particularly dangerous part of the battle waged by the Hamilton firefighters was witnessed by a huge number of people:

“When the floors began to go through in the mill, the firefighters had their most anxious time. The rear portion of the mill has been built but a very short time. It was of heavy construction and contained valuable machinery on all the floors. As floor after floor came down, the noise was terrible. The resounding crashes would immediately be followed by hissing roars as great swirling columns of angry-looking flame rushed heavenward hundreds of feet in the air. With them went the spark showers drifting lazily northeastward and falling everywhere within a distance of five or six blocks. The heat was so intense that the police had no need of ropes to hold the crowd back. It was practically impossible, when the fire was at its height, to approach anywhere within half a block of building without being scorched. But few people wanted to try it, and these were easily handled.”¹

There were many factors that led the fire to be witnessed by one of the largest crowds ever to witness a big blaze in the city:

“It is safe to say that more people were at the fire last night than have ever been at a fire in Hamilton before. The hour was early, the presence of the circus accounted for thousands of strangers being in the city. They all went to the fire, and, with the swarm of people who flocked from all parts of the city attracted by the gorgeous reflection, and the crowd let out of the evening circus performance, made up a throng such as the police were never before called upon to handle.

“So great was the reflection that it startled the summer residents at the beach and at Van Wagner’s, and the Radial railway did a rushing business on the 10 o’clock trip to the city bringing up businessmen and others who were afraid that the whole city was going up in smoke. John H. Tilden was a decidedly interested spectator at the fire, and he was a decidedly happy man when, at 11 o’clock, all danger to the Gurney-Tilden buildings were declared to be at an end. The employees of the foundry hurried to the spot as quickly as they learned where the fire was, and during the whole evening they worked on the roofs and in the yard with coats off and arms bared, putting out the incipient fires that were constantly starting. The fact that the foundry roofs are of metal meant much last night in saving the buildings from destruction. As it was they had a decidedly close call. One thing that aided the firemen in preventing a spread of the flames was the fact that practically all the nearby roofs are made of gravel and metal. Had it been a pine shingle district, it would have been impossible to hold the fire at all.”¹

The Spectator reporter managed to speak to the night watchman at the Brennen mill to learn able to details about what his experienced:

“It was George Nixon, nightwatchman at the Brennen Mills, who discovered the fire and turned in the alarm. He had been through the mill for the second time during the night, and was at work cleaning up the west end of the top flat when he discovered smoke, and almost before he had time to look up, a puff of smoke, which came through the floor, warned him not only that the building was on fire, but that he was in great danger of being cut off from the only exit, the stairway. Grabbing his lantern, he rushed downstairs at a breakneck speed, and pressed the fire alarm button in the office, there being a special wire from the mill to the fire station. He then hurried outside, but the flames had spread so rapidly that the section of the top story where he had been working was already burning like a fiery furnace, and there was also considerable fire in the west end of the ground floor in the vicinity of the engine room. His first thought was for the twelve horses stabled close to the engine room. It was the work of but a few seconds to break open the stable door, and, with the assistance of a number of volunteers, he succeeded in getting all of the horses out just in time to save them, for it was not more than a couple of minutes before te stable was burning fiercely. In the meantime, the firemen had arrived and started work to fight the flames, but the task was a hopeless one, and that the best they could do was to save the adjoining buildings and piles of lumber in the yard. The offices of the Mississauga and Nipissing Lumber companies, to the west of the Brennen mil were in imminent danger, but the firemen fought the flames back and succeeded in saving them.

“In the opinion of Night watchman Nixon, the fire started in the engine room and shot up the chute which ran from the top flat to the engine room and through which the shavings  and saw dust were sent down to a large dust bin, and from there transferred to the furnaces. But even Nixon is at a loss to know how the fire made such a headway before it was discovered. Less than half an hour before he first discovered smoke, he went through the engine room and saw no evidence of anything being wrong. Had he remained on the top flat two minutes longer, he would undoubtedly have perished in the flames as his only means of escape would have been cut off.”¹

The fire fighters, led by the chief did hard work, with the assistance of many volunteers:

“When the floors began to fall, the walls commenced to bulge, and many of the spectators expected to see them collapse at any minute. Chief Aitchison instructed his men to keep one eye on them, and warned them not to expose themselves to unnecessary danger. Large sections of the eastern, southern and western walls did fall in, but fortunately no person was hurt. Many of the men, exhausted after their hard fight at the Pratt fire, were overcome by the heat, but they all stuck to their work until the danger point was passed. The entire department deserves the highest credit for the work done in saving adjacent buildings. Had it not been for the good work of practically every man, the Hope building and office buildings on King William street would surely have gone up in smoke. Again the department received valuable assistance from a large staff of volunteers, the majority of whom gained much experience at the Pratt fire.

“What little breeze there was came from the southwest, and not only did it fan the flames, but it swept millions of sparks and cinders over the Gurney-Tilden foundry and houses and other buildings on Rebecca and Catharine streets. Everybody who had a garden hose put it into service, and by keeping the roofs of the buildings constantly soaked prevented them from becoming ignited. The pressure was again as good as could be desired, eighteen good solid streams being played on the fire and numberless smaller streams being used to keep other buildings in the vicinity from catching fire. The big engine was kept in readiness, but it was not required, there being sufficient pressure to throw the water into the third story windows.”¹

The Spectator carried an article on the aftermath of the Brennen fire. It was learned that the company’s loss would be extremely heavy as there was not enough fire insurance taken out to cover even a quarter of the financial loss. Fire insurance providers were reluctant to take cover planning mills and the premeiums required were prohibitively high.

The members of the Hamilton Fire department came in for high praise for the work they had done:

“Chief Aitchison should now have renewed confidence in himself. For years he has had an idea that when the Brennen mill caught fire, which he was sure it would do, it would mean wholesale destruction of property in all directions. He looked for this, and prophesied it. Thanks to the right sort of weather conditions, which the chief would call a fluke of nature, he has been proven to be a bad prophet. The comment of the public generally today is that it was a miracle that the firemen held the blaze to the mill property, even practically saving the dwelling house to the east of it.

“Firemen were kept busy pouring water on the smoldering ruins all morning. The walls were very shaky, and Building Inspector Anderson had King William street and the alley at the rear of the burned building fenced off.

“When the fire was at its height word was received that fire had broken out again in the Pratt building. Foreman Broadbent and half a dozen men were sent to attend to it. They located the fire in the top story, near the front of the building. A pile of cotton was blazing and the firemen threw it out into the street. Very little additional damage was done.” ¹

“Chief Aitchison should now have renewed confidence in himself. For years he has had an idea that when the Brennen mill caught fire, which he was sure it would do, it would mean wholesale destruction of property in all directions. He looked for this, and prophesied it. Thanks to the right sort of weather conditions, which the chief would call a fluke of nature, he has been proven to be a bad prophet. The comment of the public generally today is that it was a miracle that the firemen held the blaze to the mill property, even practically saving the dwelling house to the east of it.

“Firemen were kept busy pouring water on the smoldering ruins all morning. The walls were very shaky, and Building Inspector Anderson had King William street and the alley at the rear of the burned building fenced off.

“When the fire was at its height word was received that fire had broken out again in the Pratt building. Foreman Broadbent and half a dozen men were sent to attend to it. They located the fire in the top story, near the front of the building. A pile of cotton was blazing and the firemen threw it out into the street. Very little additional damage was done.”