David Laird’s VlgOI echoed through paper

"A man so tall he did not and the North West territories

seem to have any top" is the Efforts memory of a little girl. of David . up the

Laird. founder and first editor of The Patriot. The 6'4" bushy-

halred . oe

were begun prairies to settlers. As a start toward carrying tne law west. responsible govern ' ment was the first step and -Vir.

to open

whisker-ed editor. politician, and Laird was asked to give up his

long-time foe. of Confederation ad a powerful voice “hit it could thunder in the halls of legislatures and but could also be soft w h r n greeting a tiny granddaughte Though he had fought agains. Sir John A. Macdonald‘s drei . of a united country. he is: statesman enough to l'GVEl)? himself when it was for the ﬂood of his native province. As a result he was one of the landers who went to Ottawa to obtain the best terms possible before entering as part of the new country.

Before The Patriot came init.

being. Mr. Laird had founded .holders Mr. Laird became man jfathel'.

another newspaper. "The Pro lestant and Evangelical Wit- ness". in 1859. However. his de- scendants think he may ted to "branch out' in his writing and may have felt a paper with religious connota lions was perhaps not the best medium for expression

And so, just exactly 100 years age. he started The Patriot. Mr. Laird also went into provincial politics and his fame spread far wider than his native licatn Hill powerful voice was the net feci medium for the equally powerful arguments he advanc ed in debate.

After Prince Edward Islaiitl entered Confederation, in 187:1, David Laird went to the Dom» inion Parliament as one of the six island members. it was shortly after Hon. AA. Mac-Ken- sie was called on to form a gov- ernment and he promptly made the tall Islander the Minister of the interior.

The nature of his work called for the spending of much time With the Indians in Manitoba

W. A. GAUDET

parliamecs ‘

is— .

tshown are the signatures of an.

/ :iFathers '3iDrawn on accounts in the ank

Ipolitical career to become the lieutenant- governor of the ter‘ 1 ritorles. ‘ The tremendous part he play 'ed in the development of the 1 west through his ability to nego- tiate treaties with sometimes‘ .hostile lndians is shown by thel success he enjoyed in his work i ' and the growth of what now has i become two provinces. Alberta, and Saskatchewan. 1 When his term ended Mr .1 Laird returned to The Patriot in ‘1881. But three years later fire.i destroyed the premises and till became necessary to reorgan . izc. Among a group of share I

iaging director and editor. 1 i He remained in this capacity until the election of Sil Wilfred .

have -Laurier in 1896 when his great iwondei‘ful mast.

fknowledge of the west and his itact in dealing with the various i ‘Indian tribes was put to use; again by the Dominion govern ment which named hlni indlan Commissioner with headquart. ers at Winnipeg.

His grandchildren never knew him as an editor. but they did remember him as “kind and gentle: an upright man" who well deserved the tribute of ine lndians who caled him “thei man who never speaks with a i

forked tongue". A newspaper of! -

London. England, termed him

i i I

Some of the outstanding per-l

l isnmliues in island history left.

irecords to delight the heart of any autograph collector in the‘ lform of cancelled oiieques asl

i Famous~~ l 1 old names

items from newspaperina are recalled by Robert |.. CO! ton, Charlottetown. only man now living who had a close association with Charlottetown newspapers of the longtime past

Mr. Cotton became associat ed with the Examiner, a con temporary of the Patriot, in 1895 when he was a boy of 15 year- of age. His father. W.L. Cotton was the publisher at the ime but the son took over the oper- ation later and became what m ,believes to be the only man to ypublish a daily paper and sell it

interesting

DAVID LAIRD

a Christian gentleman. a ma- jestic figure".

A granddaughter recently re- for one dollar- per y called her skimpy memories or’ ~ - ‘ , the man who died in 1914 andlof1¥hveldpﬁl$il$$ Sfm’flzzt edit); admitted most of her knowledge I '

. Governor of the Norm of him had come from her mo- ,come - - "I" who had lived in the we“ West Territories about the same

. . ‘time R.L. Cotton started to no em Wilderness u ‘ Ch'ld' iprentice as a printer. and he re- However. she will never imembers Mr. Lajrd as a tail, forget the time when as a little YSIIEh! man Who W35 editor 0‘ girl she fell over the wharf near ilhe Ihe“ Government Paper. her Island home and her grand. ELiberal. while W.L. Cotton edit— then over so years of ;ed the opposition paper. the Ex- age. promptly jumped in fully jaminer. which was Conserva- clothed to bring her to safety. Elve- She still thinks of him as 3’ Newspapers took their politics seriously in those days and tne

Wooden sidewalks and paling fences of the long ago show the changing face of Charlotte- town as it once was back in the last century. Few people today would recognize the approach to

Government House as it looked nearly 100 years ago.

governor. 15- i leaders and

Confederation. B 1

Victorian government

‘of Prince Edward Island. numb—

- ers 1 and M of the cheques were

signed by Col. John Hamilton Gray with the one for ings being in payment subscription to the newspaper of the day. The Monitor. in May "157. No. 2 was signed by Lieut. ‘ Gov. George Dundas in favor of Hon. George Coies in 11159. .\'o. 3‘ was drawn by Edward Whelan..‘ journalist and orator of the day.i while 4 was made out by Lt? Col. T. Heath Haviland to pay; the gas bill of the Volunteer Company. Numbers 5 and 6 bear the names of two of the leading statesmen of their time.§ iGeorge Coles and WE. Pope.

the~editorial battles waged on be-

thalf of the two political parties

the time was an independent pa per and kept aloof from the pol itical wars, though it was atcr to become fiercely partisan as it was purchased by strong Con- servative supporters.

Mr. Cotton recalls that Char les Dalton. later Sir Charles. a co founder of the island‘s fa- bulous fox industry. purchased the controlling interest in The Guardian and it became aligned on behalf of the Tories. Sir Charles was a one-time Consel' vative member of the provmcia- legislature. who later died in of (ice as a Lieutenant- Governor in 1933. The Guardian was later purchased by the late Chester McLure and LieuL- Col . MacKinnon and the Conserva- tive traditions were maintained.

Party patronage meant a great deal to a newspaper back in those days, noted Mr. Cotton who recalled the shock it had been to his father and the Ex- aminer when the Federal Con- servative party was defeated in l 96.

At that time the P.F).l. Rail way was owned by the federal government but it ran as a sep- arate entity. and the newspaper on the right side of politics re- ceived a great deal of lucrative printing. as well as other gov ernment printing.

about the time it lost its patron-

age— the Conservatives were

defeated in Ottawa in lililii. after

[having hold office since 1867

‘with the one exception of th e -"~ iyeans 1874-78." Mr. Cotton said gas he recalled some of those ‘ thappcniligs of the years that

tare past.

JLIBERAI.S WIN

l The Liberals l‘cpf‘alcd their

‘federal victories at general ei- ections in 1900. 4 and 1908, but the Lalii'iet' government fell in 1911 on the. issue of Reciproc- ity with the United States. and the Conservatives were back in

Mr. .Cotion remembers t 11 a t lone very well. for one of the ' best known printing firms of the

were fierce. The Guardian at

A. lea-rly.Patriot editors. Mr. Cob,

“I came in to the Examiner ‘

Oldtime Island newsman reminisces on early days

Iday, Haszard and Moore. ‘eli upon ' imes financially shortly afterwards and Mr. Cot.- lton. then a young man in his middle 205. purchased the firm and started the Maritime Stat ioners which he ran some sever al years before disposing of it to his brother William (Billie) Cot- ton who is still carrying on the business.

The printing business was run on Grafton Street in the building now occupied by Lepage S h o |' Company. along with a book- binding business upstairs. The Maritime Stationers was on the ground floor The equipment was sold later to Irwin Printing Company. following a 'ire '1 their own plant.

wson was one of the

|ton recalls. at the time Dayldi

for the Examiner. He was not a Wages were small. as might big man but he was powerful be expected. Mr. Cotton started and tough," Mr. Cotton recalls as an apprentice printer an The papers of those days received $1.50 per week. girls were four page affairs. One side got $1.00. If a beginner stuck was printed in the morning. the with it for a second year i be other side in the afternoon. A pay was two . P y for man sat back of the press to the third year was three dolluts fold the newspapers. as this and it was four for the fourth work had to be done by hand in Many never got any more than those days. ‘that. apparently, but the fore- The laborious printing job 0. lman printer received 310. those days contrasts With Niel "My father never received W959!” “'th high SP9?“ PIP‘E' more than $100 a month in IIIb l 95 0“" Pm" "P ‘0 301000 Per time for editing the paper." his h"‘“‘- son recalled. But. he “was com TYPESET’I‘ING fortably fixed" t h a 1 All the type was set by hand amount. He sent three daught- in those days: that included the ers to Edgebill where it wow small type. and ome w a a take more than that to send one mighty small. It required a'soutinow. And Mr. Cotton. Senior. 12 printers to set the type for '1 sent one son. Walter. to college the four-page paper.

CALVIN LEWIS

Church of England and served for 30 years as a missionary in South Africa.

Of course $100 was a lot of money in those days. It would probably compare in buyin wet to $400 or $500 per mon the present time.

‘ \VIIO became a CIergyman OI

iLaird was a member of the Alt 1 lexander MacKenzie governmen 1 i at Ottawa.

l LAIRD ELECTED I i Laird was elected as a meme {her from Queens by acclamaﬁ ;tion. in 1874. along with Peter {Sinclain who was the father oi “John E. Sinclair. who won elev ‘ tion' to the House of Commons in 1917. 1921 and 1921;— he War 1 not a member of “the snort par ;liament" which lasted less than lone year following the electim of October 29. 1925; the neXl .election was on September 14

26.

i Mr. Cotton recalls as a child ‘ going to the railway station here one night to see the. Lawson family leave Chariottetmvn for .Victoria B. C. where Mr. Law- ; son had gone to be editor of the lVictoria Times.

The train in those days left Charlottetown at night itit Georgetown and passengers sailed next. morning on a b .~ for the mainland. That was in regular travelling routine in the winter months. That. of course. was long before the advent the carferry service between Bordt'i‘i and Tormentine “’I’IIf‘ti did not get into operation until 1917. though the first carferry “Prince Edward Island" which

.3 to

Above is pictured one of the championship teams somewhere

UNKN CHAMPIONS or THE r

In the days when Charlottetown was producing top athletes

"It .

in all sports some of its greatest fame was gained in track and field events.

in the years

1875-1900. Though a specific date is missing and the members are. uniden- tified, it is known the team was managed by the late Major Bartlett and

Colonel Leigh.

. Her leaving Tormciitiiie. and .l

is still running. had arrived here prior to that. Incidentally Mr. ("olinn. anrti

ers. Cotton. who is not now liv ling. were passengers on t h :- llongest trip of the old Prince 1Edward Island. he believes. She

{spent iWo nights in the Strait at-

‘lwas more than titi hours before {they finally I?“ her near Bor- den. The ice was packed so tightly on the Borden side the ‘ship could not dock.

The passengers walked down is ladder to the ice surface . walked a short distance to shore Eand then climbed is d d e r s iagain to the land level. Mr. (‘ol ‘ton said.

EARLY PRESSES i "When I went to work first all j the newspapers were printed on i ‘flat-bed presses. and the press ‘ 1cs were turned by hand. It took i is pretty tough man to turn the , ipress." he recalled. The circu- ‘ llation ran about 1.000 papers and it took it good man to turn . out 300 per hour. so the job was prolonged.

; “1 think it was the father of iJoey MncDonald"— he operat- es the Railway Club on Grai ton Street now— "who turned the press for The Patriot Tom- i

"OH! FOR THE GOOD OLD DAYS !”

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