CHAPTER XXXI

PUBLIC SAFETY SERVICES

FIGHTING FIRE--DARKNESS--FLOODS--DROUGHT

1. FIRE FIGHTING--THE FIRE OF 1765--“THE CASE OF THE CANADIANS OF MONTREAL”--THE EXTENT OF THE FIRE--FIRE PRECAUTIONS SUGGESTED--OTHER HISTORICAL FORCES--THE MONTREAL FIRE FORCES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT.

2. THE LIGHTING OF MONTREAL--OIL LAMPS, 1815--GAS, 1836--ELECTRICITY--FIRST EXPERIMENTS IN THE STREETS, 1879--THE ELECTRIC LIGHTING COMPANIES--NOTES ON INTRODUCTION OF THE TELEGRAPH--FIRE ALARM--ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

3. FLOODS, EARLY AND MODERN, 1848, 1857, 1861, 1865, 1886--THE PRACTICAL CESSATION IN 1888.

4. THE CITY WATER SUPPLY--THE MONTREAL WATER WORKS--PRIVATE COMPANIES--THE MUNICIPAL WATER WORKS--THE PUMPING PLANTS--THE WATER FAMINE OF 1913.

FIGHTING FIRE

Hardly had the English rule started in Montreal when on Saturday, May 18, 1765, a great fire raged for three hours, nearly endangering the safety of the whole city. There is in the McGill University Library bound up with sermons and essays, the first being an essay concerning the human rational soul, a rare pamphlet bearing the title, “The case of the Canadians of Montreal, distressed by fire.” There is no date of publication or publisher’s name. It is marked “Second Edition” and a postscript in it shows that this second edition was printed after March 20, 1766; probably in London. The second page has the following sub-title:

“Motives for a Subscription Towards the relief of the sufferers at Montreal in Canada

“by a dreadful fire on the 18th of May, 1765, in which 108 houses (containing 125 families, chiefly Canadians) were destroyed; and the greater part of the inhabitants exposed to all the miseries attending such misfortunes. The whole loss in buildings, merchandise, furniture and apparel amounted to £87,580 8. 10d. sterling; no part of which could be insured.”

Underneath there is a wood cut of Canada kneeling before Britannia pointing with her left hand to the burning blocks and appealing for relief. Underneath are the words: MONTREAL MAY MDCCLXV. By consulting the concluding pages of “The case for the Canadians” we see that the pamphlet is the appeal of a committee of trustees in London “who meet at the New York Coffee House every Thursday at 11 o’clock and will be glad to be favored with the assistance of any subscriber.” The treasurer was John Thornton, Esq., and there were twenty-three members, of whom Edward Green, secretary, concludes the list. There follows a list of firms of merchants and others in the city to the number of twenty who would take subscriptions.

The motives as eloquently expressed in the opening part of the appeal are firstly those of common humanity; secondly, the “Canadians are our fellow subjects.” “The consideration of distance ought to make no difference in the minds of a people whose EMPIRE is extended to so many places over the earth.” “There are other weighty considerations: much the greater part of these sufferers are _strangers_ who, to use the language of liberty, the fortune of war has put under _our_ protection; and those who have not seen them may form some idea of them by report. They are _stout_, _comely_ and _intrepid_, of a vigilant, laborious, and _obedient_ disposition. They have given proof of their discernment as well as of the _necessity_ of their situation by the preference they have shown to _British Sovereignty_ when they were at their liberty to have gone to _Old France_, and though military government, which took place, is seldom the most favourable to a commercial people, they had reason to be sensible of the advantageous change. There is now a form of _Civil Oeconomy_: if it is duly administered and not tinctured with military power it will be the most grateful to a brave and intelligent people. It is our wisdom and our duty to show them in every instance that we are as willing to be _Their_ friends as _They can be Ours_, and let us endeavour to secure their fidelity to the crown of the realm by engaging their _Hearts_ as well as their _tongues_. They profess allegiance to the _King_, let us engage them by every tye to render that allegiance inviolable.”

The details of the disaster are then given. The concluding words of the appeal, after an allusion to the “Most Awful Gratitude” to “_Divine Providence_” which has blessed His Majesty’s arms and given him “the possession of the country of which the city in question is in several respects the principal” are: “In these several views we present the cause of the sufferers in _Montreal_. It is meant that no circumstance which religion, humanity or True Policy can suggest shall be omitted. Thus shall we conciliate their minds to the British Government and render the oeconomy of it in that quarter of the world so much the _safer_. In proportion to the encouragement afforded by the promotion of useful industry and labour it is to be presumed their attachment to their country will increase by such means we shall also show them that _Our Protestantism_ inspirs the most essential part of Christianity: We shall show them that the _British_ nation is not more to be dreaded for their _valor_ and _intrepidity_ than beloved, for the exercise of the _social virtues_; and these qualities, displayed on this occasion, will in their natural tendency promote that harmony on which the prosperity of the state depends. Thus shall we behold commerce and navigation, _Fixed on the securest basis_; benevolence cherished; the hearts of all the subjects of the _British Empire_ united by a concordance of sentiment; a just discernment of what is right and fit for the common good; and a resolution to adhere to such right. And being thus bound by a sincere and mutual affection, even the most adverse events may in the issue contribute to give permanancy to the state and uninterrupted happiness to the _King_ and his people.”

This committee by March 20, 1766, had collected £1,818 16s 8d, of which His Majesty contributed £500. The “case of the Canadians” is worth quoting further, since it gives a picture of the city at this period from an English point of view. “Montreal contains about seven thousand inhabitants. It is here that the French Canadians were most desirous of retreating when they had acquired a subsistence; the adjacent country where they had many seats and farms on the banks of the river being delightfully pleasant and the climate more agreeable than at Quebec.” It was computed that one-fourth of the city was consumed and about one-third part in value. The loss sustained by the “dreadful fire” was carefully attested by His Excellency, the Honourable James Murray. An abstract is given:

Value in Buildings (an exact survey being made by masons and carpenters) £31,980 0 0 Value in Merchandise 54,718 5 9 Value in Furniture and Apparel 25,261 12 6 Value in Cash, plate and Bills 4,814 0 3 ------- -- --

Their currency £116,773 18 6 Equal to sterling 87,580 8 10

“It is worthy of notice that these people were so tender of what they evidenced on oath that great numbers declared, some time after, that they found their loss considerably greater than the account they had sworn to.

Families. In St. François Street were burnt out 54 In St. Paul Street were burnt out 87 In the Market Place were burnt out 26 In Hospital Street were burnt out 1 In St. Louis Street were burnt out 15 In St. Eloit Street were burnt out 6 In St. Sacrement Street were burnt out 6 In St. Nicholas Street were burnt out 1 In St. Ann Street were burnt out 1 In St. Ann Suburbs were burnt out 10 Grey Sisters Hospital, Suburbs and houses nearest were burnt out 8

In all 215 families, of whom much the greater part were Canadians newly become subjects.”

An extract from “A genuine letter written the 20th of May from the city two days after the fire” is quoted: “The fire began in the garret of Mr. Levington (a person of reputation) occasioned by hot ashes carried thither to make soap. It broke out at the roof and in an instant the whole was in a flame which communicated to the neighboring houses on both sides of St. Francis Street. The confusion and distress of the inhabitants is not to be exprest. Many of them were in the country and those who were present had not any time to save any part of their merchandize or household goods. Others lost all, even to their books, papers, plate, money. This misfortune has fallen on the richest and most trading part of the city, where the buildings were the best and most filled with merchandize. But the far greater part of the sufferers have now only the cloths on their backs. Many who had the fortune to save the few goods out of their houses and lay them on rafts or by the riverside lost them again, either by the flames or theft. The fire was stopt by uncovering Mons. Landrieve’s house, one end of the hospital and two small houses between Mons. St. Germain’s and the corner opposite Mons. Reaume’s. The wind, which, when the fire began, was at N.N.W., turned suddenly to N.E. which, with these precautions and the united efforts of the soldiers and the inhabitants, saved the rest of the town. For, had it gone up that street which leads to the parish church or fired the hospital _des Soeurs_ it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to have saved any part of the town. There are 110 principal houses burnt.”

From footnotes we learn that though the houses destroyed were made of limestone they were either covered with shingles made of white cedar in the manner of tyle or with boards; and they had not at this time any fire engines. Last summer two of these useful machines were sent over to them. It must also be considered that the houses were inclosed within the fortifications and some so near that one of the city gates was burnt as well as the General Hospital without the gates. A postscript of 11th of February, 1766, adds: “It should be observed that the rooms of their houses at Montreal are floored with clay and stones laid on them in order to prevent fire; but as the French in Europe are much behind us in the mechanic arts which contribute to the safety and convenience of life they are still more so in their colonies; to which cause we may attribute these Canadians having been without fire engines on this occasion. This misfortune will be remedied hereafter and it may be hoped every other conveniency will be introduced among them and especially the conveyance of water to reservoirs which is much wanted there. This defect, indeed, is the more pardonable when it is considered that in so vast and opulent a city as London it is but the other day it was attended by very fatal consequences.” “It is hoped,” concludes the postscript, “every expedient that reason and experience can suggest will hereafter be brought into use now that they have such able instructors as ourselves.”

Then, various devices for roofing and covering the houses are suggested. “Iron plate coverings are certainly the best as practiced in Sweden and in Russia. Two layers of brown paper dipt in hot tar placed over the wooden roof and under layers of iron plates will probably answer better. Some of the persons now going to Canada intend to try if slate will not stand the frost.”

The practical genius of the English was to be devoted to Montreal and Canada. Thus during the early part of British rule, as in that of the recent French régime, Montreal being built so largely of wood, was in constant danger of fire. The English governors early saw this and some of Gage’s earliest acts were to fight this peril. Another fire in 1768 destroyed more than a hundred houses. In 1777 an act was promulgated by Governor Carleton providing for the appointment of an inspector to prevent accidents by fire in each of the towns of Quebec, Montreal and Three Rivers. The inspectors were to see that the chimneys were swept once a month and each tenant was obliged to take certain precautions against fire under penalty of a fine. Under the French régime regulations were issued that buckets of water should be kept in readiness and should be carried to the scene of fire when the signal was given. The carpenters were to carry their axes.

Early after the conquest “Fire Club No. 1” was formed by a body of fifteen merchants apparently for mutual self protection. Fires were still constant, some of them threatening the very existence of the city.

On the 6th of June, 1803, a destructive fire took place in Montreal. It broke out in the house of a man named Chevalier in St. Lawrence Main Street on the northeast side towards the upper end. As the wind was high and variable, the outhouses on both sides of the street soon took fire. At a quarter to four the roof of the jail was burning, soon followed by the English church on the northeast and the Roman Catholic chapel on the southwest side. These, to use the words of the reports by the magistrate were “instantaneously consumed.” It was with difficulty the courthouse was saved. Besides the jail and two church buildings the old church of the Jesuits, the Roman Catholic College (St. Raphael) and eleven houses were burnt in the lower part of the town. About 10 o’clock at night the fire was under control at the house adjoining that occupied by Mr. Justice Ogden. In the suburbs, where it originated, the fire was extinguished by sunset, after destroying thirteen houses besides outhouses, stables, etc.

Other fires followed during the summer of so alarming a character that it seemed evident they did not arise from accident, but from design, and a reward of £500 was offered for the apprehension of the offenders. With the exception of the first, which took place in June, these fires broke out during the first week in August and the magistrates offered a reward of £250, making with that offered by the governor £750 for the detection of the criminal. The succession of fires is thus reported. On Monday, August 1st, a little after 1 o’clock in the morning, fire broke out and consumed two houses; on Tuesday morning, at 6 o’clock, a stable was discovered to be on fire but was pulled down and the fire extinguished; on Wednesday several houses were burnt, one man killed and a number more or less seriously wounded; on Friday other fires broke out entirely destroying a number of houses, and it was with difficulty the lower part of the town was saved from a serious conflagration. Patrols were established and precautions taken to guard against the repetition of the fires.[1]

In 1824 a volunteer fire association of 100 was formed under M. Antoine Lepage, assisted by Doctor Berthelet, with its station near Notre Dame Church. In 1825 the Property Protection Fire Company was organized by Captain John Lukin. On the 7th of September, 1825, a fire broke out in an outhouse belonging to a cooper of the name of Dumaine, situated in the rear of a house forming the corner of St. Mary and Campeau streets. Over eighty dwellings and outhouses were consumed. Had it not been that there was no wind during the time and that the services of the Seventieth Regiment were at hand the fire might have been extremely disastrous to the town.

The new municipal fathers took early steps by a regulation of the 3d of June, 1841, to create a fire department. It was to consist of an inspector, superintendent, a chief engineer, a captain and a lieutenant for each company of firemen. When the Oregon boundary dispute with the slogan of its agitators “Fifty-four forty or fight,” was creating anti-British feeling in 1846, the Montreal fire brigade was formed into a battalion of militia under the command of the mayor, the Honourable James Ferrier, Mr. John Fletcher, afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel Fletcher, being appointed adjutant. The battalion drilled, but without arms, in the market hall for several years, even after the excitement of the Oregon incident had died away. On the breaking out of the Crimean war, Captain Fletcher offered authoritatively the services of 100 men of the Montreal fire brigade as volunteers for the war and received the thanks of the secretary of war for their patriotism.

The voluntary system of firemen continued to the 30th of April, 1863, when the last companies, then ten, received their last payment. On the 1st of May, 1863, the system of the telegraph alarm was introduced as well as No. 1 fire station at the corner of Chenneville and Craig streets. The new firemen, to the number of thirty, with salaries varying from the equivalent of two hundred and forty dollars to three hundred and sixty-five dollars a year, were supplemented by a certain number of volunteers with an honorarium of about twenty dollars annually until 1867. Until 1868 the duties included the watering of the streets. Hand pumps were then in vogue, the steam pump not being used until 1871.

In 1863, therefore, the fire department was more fully organized and has developed to its present efficiency.

Under a by-law passed May 10, 1865, the fire department was reorganized in two sections; the “City Fire Police,” consisting of a chief engineer, an assistant engineer, a hosewasher and cleaner, eight guardians, eight assistant guardians, and eight drivers, with eight stations; and the “City Fire Company,” composed of such members of the former fire department as chose to offer their services, not to exceed thirty-six in number, with the right to enroll eighteen supernumerary members to supply the places of absentees. They were to be under the immediate command of a captain and two lieutenants. The fire department had to operate the fire engines, hose, hooks and ladders, axes, etc., and the city fire company was for the purpose of operating fire engines, working hose, placing ladders and any other duty required of them in aid to the fire police. The members enjoyed all the privileges and immunities of firemen; the thirty-six men had salaries of $20.00 a year, subject to draw-back for nonattendance and the Supernumerary members were entitled to pay only when supplying the place of absentee members. The captain was paid $50.00 a year and the lieutenants got $40.00 each. The members of the city fire police got salaries ranging from $800.00 a year for the chief engineer, down to $240.00 a year for the drivers.

The day’s work for the fire police was divided into four watches of six hours each and it was provided that “when not on watch or engaged in street-watering as is hereafter provided, the guardians and drivers may be absent for meals, and if married, for the purpose of attending to their families; but with the exception of the first, leave of absence shall first be obtained.”

In 1910 the fire brigade consisted of 1 chief, 1 deputy chief, 6 district chiefs, 29 captains, 38 lieutenants, 19 engineers, 100 first class firemen at $800 a year, 103 second class firemen at $725, 26 third class firemen at $675, and 100 fourth class firemen at $625, and 27 other members with various duties.

The apparatus was composed of 90 pieces, including 29 hose wagons, 2 Siamese wagons, 6 aerial ladder trucks, 16 hook and ladder trucks, 3 salvage wagons, 2 water towers, 2 chemical engines, 1 hose and chemical wagon, 6 coal wagons, 1 automobile and 9 buggies for officers. The brigade was called out 2,143 times.

During the last two years automobiles for the various officers have increased in number. In the summer of 1912 an automobile fire hose apparatus was ordered for No. 20 station and two automobile tractors, one for the aerial ladder truck and the other for the 1200 steam fire engine. These proving successful, on the recommendation of the fire chief the Board of Commissioners ordered three more of the latter in December, 1913, and a large order was placed for more at the beginning of 1914, so that now twelve motor power apparatuses are employed with more to follow. The day of the horse seems to be doomed for the city fire stations as too slow.

The fire chiefs of Montreal since 1863 have been:

Alexander Bertram 1863-1873 William Patton 1873-1888 Zephyrin Benoit 1888-1908 J. Tremblay 1909-

FIGHTING DARKNESS

The lighting of Montreal dates from 1815. Up to this no public provision had been made. Darkness is the friend of vice, and burglaries were numerous. In November, 1815, through the exertions of Mr. Samuel Dawson and others, that portion of St. Paul Street west of the old market (now Place Royale) was handsomely lighted by twenty-two oil lamps fixed at a distance of fifty-four feet from each other, each costing when ready for use $7.00 each. The east side of St. Paul Street raised a subscription “not to be outshown by their neighbours!” Notre Dame shortly followed the “bright example set.” This activity led on the citizens to petition parliament to provide night watches and street lamps for the town. In April, 1818, an act was passed providing for this. The number of men appointed was twenty-four, their duties being to attend to the trimming and lighting of the lamps and to act as guardians of the city. They used to call out the hours of the night, such as “Past 12 o’clock and a starlit night” through the drowsy streets. Within the homes the humble candle was still used and each household had its implements to make these simple dips or rush lights. Afterwards ready-made candles from England were sold. When candles were first introduced they were thought miraculous, but there are still some living in Montreal who remember how, in their youth, before candles, grease or oil would be put in a spoon, and carried through the house at night to light the way from room to room. Lucifer matches of the modern type were a wonder. The flint was used with tinders half a century ago.

The first gas works were built in 1836 at the Cross, then about one mile from the city, and some shops were lighted on the 23d of November, 1837. The proprietors were incorporated by an act of the provincial legislature in April, 1836. Mr. Armstrong was the proprietor and Mr. E.A. Furness was the principal stockholder and manager. The city was dilatory in making use of their services.

The New City Gas Company was established in 1847. In 1848 it was able to announce to its patrons that it had reduced the charge per 1,000 cubic feet from 25 shillings to 12 shillings, 6 pence. This is a far cry to the present rate. The New City Gas Company changed its name in 1879 to the Montreal Gas Company which was amalgamated in the Montreal Light, Heat and Power Company in 1901.

The origin of the lighting of Montreal by electricity may be briefly told. In 1878 Mr. J.I. Craig, of Montreal, returning from the Paris exhibition, determined to work out some experiments in electric lighting following on demonstrations seen in Paris. Accordingly he built himself Gramme bipolars, four polar machines and a Gramme alternation to supply current for Gablacoff candles. In 1879 he was allowed to give a demonstration by fixing up lamps on Bonaventure Street (now St. James), between Seigneurs and Guy streets. Another exhibition was given facing the Champ de Mars, having its generators in the building of the “Le Monde” newspaper, and his lamps on that now occupied by the “Chambre de Commerce” on St. Gabriel Street. At the midnight mass on Christmas eve, 1879, at St. Joseph’s Church, Richmond Street, he gave an illustration of its services in interior illumination. In 1882 a company called the “Phoenix” was formed to promote the commercial utility of Mr. Craig’s inventions, which consisted of dynamos, arc lamps and storage batteries. In the same year the harbour commissioners purchased a Brush generator with arc lights and were thus the first to adopt the new light. In 1884 the firm of Thompson & Houston, which became the Royal Electric Company, secured the contract to light some of the streets, commencing with St. James. In 1885 the Phoenix Company going into liquidation, the estate was purchased by Mr. J.I. Craig, who put up several plants in the province of Quebec and between 1887 and 1890 secured the contracts for St. Henri, St. Cunégonde and Coté St. Antoine. The first alternating current in the city was installed in 1890 by the Royal Electric Company. In 1895 the Royal Electric was merged with the Montreal Gas Company and the St. Lawrence Electric Company which was exploiting a hydro-electric plant at Chambly. Later the Lachine Rapids Hydraulic & Land Company, the Provincial Light, Heat & Power Company, the Standard Light, Heat & Power Company, the Citizens Light, Heat & Power Company and the Temple Electric Company were also added. The whole combination is now known as the Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company of today, which has its head offices at the Power Building on Craig Street.

Another body entitled the “Montreal Public Service Company,” a merger, which obtained its charter about 1912, controls the Canadian Light, Heat & Power, the Montreal Electric, the Saraguay and the Dominion Central Electric Company. The offices of this second corporation are in the Eastern Townships Building. Between these two companies Montreal is lighted in 1914.

We may add the following notes of the origin of our electric fire alarm, telephone service and other electric developments in Montreal:

The first telegraph wire connecting Quebec and Montreal was installed in 1847. But the first wire strung in the Dominion was put up in the same year by the Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara and St. Catherine’s Telegraph Company. The Montreal Telegraph Company was organized in 1846, and was incorporated by a special act of the legislature of Canada in 1847, and first opened between Quebec and Toronto. A message from Toronto to Montreal cost 3s. 9d., in Halifax currency, for ten words. The Montreal fire alarm telegraph, with which is connected the police telegraph and the telegraph in connection with the water department, was built by Messrs. J.F. Kennard & Company, of Boston. The work was commenced on the 2d of September and completed on the 26th of December, 1862, at a cost of $20,000. This line went into operation on the 19th of January, 1863, and “entered on its duties by striking the hour of 12 noon,” as is announced in a handbook issued in 1863 by the London & Liverpool Fire & Light Insurance Company. Electricity was first used as a motive power in Canada in 1883, when a short piece of track was laid on the grounds of the Toronto Industrial Exhibition. The first practical road was laid in 1884. In 1885 the track was lengthened and the overhead wire and trolley arm used. The possibility of combating the snow was demonstrated successfully in 1891 by the Ottawa Electric Railway Company. Montreal followed in 1892, when the city passenger rails were electrified. Quebec followed in 1897.

FIGHTING FLOODS

Floods in the early days of Maisonneuve had threatened the old stockade fort and till modern days the lower part of the city has constantly been inundated. On Thursday, the 14th of January, 1848, the waters of the St. Lawrence rose for three days and flooded, to a depth of from two to six feet, the lower part of the city, Griffintown and the emigrant sheds at Point St. Charles, where the sick from the fever were lying. In February, 1857, Griffintown was the scene of another and similar inundation. The lower part was like a series of canals and communication between the houses was by small boats. More important was the inundation of 1861 when the flood extended over one-fourth of the city. Griffintown was again submerged. The trains from the west and from Lachine were unable to enter the city and passengers had to find their way to the city by Sherbrooke Street. “The extent of the inundation,” says Sandham, “may be conceived from the fact that the river rose about twenty-four feet above its average level. The whole of St. Paul Street and up McGill Street to St. Maurice Street, and from thence to the limits of the city was entirely submerged and boats ascended McGill Street as far as St. Paul Street. To add to the suffering of the people the thermometer sank rapidly and a violent and bitter snowstorm set in on Tuesday, April 15th, and continued to rage with great fury all night.” Another flood in the lower town, second only to that of 1861, occurred in April, 1865. The damage done was not so great owing to the gradual rise of the waters, the inhabitants being able to remove their effects.

In the flood of April 17th, 18th and 19th, 1886, it inundated nearly one-half of what then constituted Montreal. The “Witness” of the above dates contained a long account of the flood.

According to this, the conditions became really serious on Sunday morning, April 18, while the people were at church. A big ice shove occurred in the river, and ice was soon piled up twenty or thirty feet high on St. Helen’s Island. * * * But there was yet no break in the Longueuil and Hochelaga ice, and the crushing, grumbling ice in the channel commenced to pack more thickly and to rear pyramids more profusely than before. At the last the mass stopped moving altogether.

When the water rushed backward, finding no sufficient outlet in the channel, Chaboillez Square, St. James Street West, Craig Street to Chenneville Street, and then to Cote Street, all were soon covered, and those who had gone from the lower levels to uptown churches, or who had come down to churches on St. James Street, and elsewhere, found that they had to make a detour as far east as St. Urbain and St. Charles Borromee streets, in order to get past the flood. Higher it slowly came up, and was into St. Urbain Street. It was also a few inches deep in St. Germain Street. And the cellars were full almost from one end to the other of Craig Street.

At Victoria Square, several teamsters with express wagons commenced a ferry service which was of great value to themselves and the public, for they charged 5, and in some cases 10 cents, to carry one across “the raging Victoria Canal.”

The eastern limit of the flood was just beyond Bonsecours Market, and Vitre Street was the farthest north. At Bonsecours Market the dealers could not get into their cellars at all.

At Jacques Cartier Square, the water was nearly to the corner of St. Paul Street, and the lamp posts at the corner of Jacques Cartier Square stood about half out of the water. The water washed through the pillar letter box at the corner of Commissioners Street. St. Paul Street west from Custom House Square was flooded. It was partly up St. Nicholas and St. François Xavier, but had not reached St. Sacrament.

Turning down St. Peter, pedestrians were brought to a sudden halt just north of Lemoine Street. The wrecking in the warehouses along Lemoine Street was described as “disheartening and the destruction appalling.”

On McGill Street, the wide space permitted any amount of boating, and skiffs and rafts were plying in all directions. McGill, above Lemoine, was entirely under water.

“A walk to Victoria Square opened the vista of St. James Street West, which street, from St. Michael Lane West, was a sheet of water as far as the eye could reach, the cars on the sidings at the Bonaventure station standing in the flood.”

The City Passenger Railway had ceased to be able to get through to St. Alexander Street, and were almost cut off from proceeding up Bleury. Later on the Bleury Street route was also impassable, the water flowing up Craig to the foot of Place d’Armes Hill.

The fires of the Montreal Gas Company’s works on Ottawa Street were extinguished by water, and consequently the supply was cut off from the whole of the lower portion of the city. Fortunately the company had another plant at Hochelaga which was not flooded.

On the south shore fields of ice swept over the country, knocking down fences, barns, and portions of dwelling houses. Some of the inhabitants who had spent fifty or sixty years in St. Lambert said they had never seen the water reach the height it did this time. At Longueuil the fine old Catholic church had four feet of water in it and nearly the whole village was more or less under water.

The following is a record made at the time by the city surveyor of the highest level reached by the water at the lowest points on various streets.

Feet. Inches.

Mill Street 10 -- Common Street 2 6 Commissioners Street 6 -- Youville Street 5 -- St. Paul Street 2 -- St. Francois Xavier 3 6 McGill Street 4 6 Wellington Street 5 7 Ottawa Street 6 -- Inspector Street 6 -- Chaboillez Square 5 -- Grand Trunk depot on Albert Street 6 9 St. James Street 6 8 Little St. Antoine 4 -- Wellington Bridge 10 -- Conde 7 -- Manufacturers 4 -- Centre 8 -- St. Patrick 7 --

In 1887, on April 2, the water rose 4 feet 7 inches above the revetment wall. In 1888 an embankment was made to prevent floods, since when there has not been much trouble.

FIGHTING DROUGHT

Floods are bad but droughts are an evil, also, which a city has to forestall. How this has been done may be exemplified by the story of the city’s waterworks. As this has been recently told again by Mr. F. Clifford Smith, we shall largely follow his excellent resumé prepared for the City Council last year.

At the beginning of the present century, when Montreal was a town of about nine thousand inhabitants, who lived mainly within the old fortifications, or, in other words, within the area bounded by the sites of McGill Street, Fortification Lane, Berri Street and the St. Lawrence, the only means provided by the municipality for the supply of water consisted of public pumps at Place d’Armes, the Market Place (now Place Royale), Notre Dame Street near the Courthouse, St. Jean Baptiste near St. Paul Street, and a couple of other points. For the rest the citizens supplied themselves with water from private wells and cisterns, and by watering carts from the St. Lawrence, and the creeks, the principal of which was the Petite Rivière which ran where Craig Street now is. The pedding of water in big puncheons was a common and quaint custom of these early days. The water cart would be driven into the river and filled. The poor women washed their linen on the banks.

In 1800, after considerable talk about forming a waterworks, an act was passed incorporating Joseph Frobisher (one of the founders of the Northwest Trading Company and builder of Beaver Hall) and his associates[2] under the title of the Company of Proprietors of the Montreal Waterworks. The capital invested was £6,000 with power to increase to £48,000. An exclusive franchise was given for fifty years. The system decided upon was that of gravitation. Water was obtained from a pond in the rear of the present Cote des Neiges village, and was brought to the city through wooden pipes laid around the southern slope of the mountain, via Monklands and Cote St. Antoine Road, to cisterns which were placed one on the corner of Guy and Dorchester streets, and the other on Notre Dame Street, just west of Dalhousie Square.

The company’s trouble soon began. The supply, which was from a well, was most precarious, while the frequent bursting of the wooden pipes finally resulted in the enterprise becoming a failure.

In 1816, the waterworks, and unexpired franchise of thirty-five years, were offered for sale; and in the year 1819 they were purchased by a new company under the management of Mr. Thomas Porteous for £5,000. This company abandoned the gravitation supply from the spring and instituted a steam pumping plant, the engines, of course, being very primitive. The supply was got from the St. Lawrence in the near vicinity of the city. Instead of wooden pipes, four-inch iron pipes were substituted, and wooden cisterns were then erected on Notre Dame Street east of Bonsecours Street. The cisterns were found to be very weak and were finally replaced with other wooden cisterns, but they were lined with lead. The capacity of the cisterns was 240,000 gallons. The pumping engine was placed on the west corner of Water and Friponne streets. The amount expended by Mr. Porteous was about forty thousand[3] pounds. The four-inch pipes put down soon proved insufficient; other troubles ensuing, this company also sold out. The plant was advertised for sale and was bought in by Mr. J. Haynes for $60,000. Mr. Haynes quickly floated a new company which replaced the small pipes in the streets by pipes of ten inches diameter and installed a more powerful engine. In 1843 two engines were at work with a pumping capacity of 93,000 gallons. By this time there were laid in the streets fourteen miles of pipes.

In 1843 also the first agitation was started for the city to own the waterworks. It was kept up till 1845, when the municipality made an offer of £50,000 for the plant, which was accepted.

HISTORY UNDER CIVIC CONTROL

In 1847, two years after the civic authorities of Montreal had taken over the primitive plant, the water committee made a report to the city council suggesting that a premium be offered for the best plan to force water from the St. Lawrence into a reservoir on the mountain. The idea was to get water power from the Lachine Canal. The suggestion was deemed impracticable and not acted upon.

In the year 1849 the city constructed a reservoir on what now is St. Louis Square. Its height was 130 feet above the St. Lawrence and its cost was £3,000. By the year 1850 the corporation had laid nineteen miles of iron pipe and six miles of lead pipes. The reservoir had a capacity of 3,000,000 gallons.

In the year 1852, the year of the great fire when much of the waterworks system had been destroyed, the services of Mr. Thomas C. Keefer were procured by the city to draft a plan whereby the city could get an entirely new water supply. The plan he proposed was adopted and has practically been in operation up to the present, when it is being drastically changed. The system consisted in an open canal having the entrance about a mile and a half above the Lachine Rapids. The canal, or aqueduct, which was four and three-quarters miles long, ended at a building called the Wheel House. This building contained two vertical hydraulic wheels operating a set of six pumps having a capacity of 4,000,000 gallons a day. The water was raised through a main of twenty-four-inch diameter, and ended at a reservoir where the present McTavish reservoir stands. The construction of these works lasted until 1856 and cost $280,236.53. The elevation of the aqueduct was thirty-seven feet above the level of the harbour. The dimensions of the aqueduct were forty feet wide at the water surface and eight feet deep. The canal furnished more than sufficient power to develop 300 horsepower, and to raise 200 feet above the level of the water, in the harbor, 5,000,000 imperial gallons of water, being at the rate of forty imperial gallons per capita. The hydraulic motive power was utilized by two breast wheels working six pumps. The old works were, of course, abandoned, and the pumping engines and reservoir on Notre Dame Street, with their sites, were sold for the very modest sum of $23,320. The whole new system had been well devised and the supply of water, indeed, was sufficient for a population twice as large as it was then; but troubles soon cropped up. Owing to the blocking up of the ice in the aqueduct, the formation of frasil and the annoyance caused by the backing up of water in the Little St. Pierre River, the supply in winter frequently only averaged three million gallons. The channel of the Little River St. Pierre was deepened in 1857 and 1858, but not sufficiently to get rid of the back water in question. In the winter of 1863 a tailrace was cut to the river which greatly ameliorated conditions. In 1862 and 1863, owing to increased population and ice blocks at the entrance of the intake, again the supply of water became so uncertain that the ancient custom of supplying water in puncheons had to be resorted to. This state of things naturally caused a great deal of trouble and annoyance, to say nothing of the additional expense to the city. In 1866 the consumption had actually reached 5,000,000 gallons a day, with the result that the supply was once more quite inadequate. In this year the superintendent of the water department made a strong plea for the purchase of steam engines; he held it was the only way that the water famines, through which the city was passing, could be prevented. Had there been a sufficient head of water in the aqueduct to get enough power, the plea for steam would not have been made, owing to its very heavy cost.

It was in 1868 that the first steam engine was installed, and some relief was experienced.

Little by little other steam pumps were added, but so steady was the growth of population that there were constant fears of a shortage of water.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE RESERVOIRS

The pressure on the pipes having been constantly unsatisfactory, and owing to the city expanding towards the higher levels, the construction of the present reservoirs had been decided upon. The reservoir, called the McTavish reservoir, is of oblong shape with semi-circular ends, and so placed in the mountain slope that the surface of the rock is about level with the water surface on one side, and with its bottom on the other. The natural rock was used as a wall on the upper side, but on the lower side the water is maintained by a masonry wall which is solidly banked. The reservoir was divided transversely into two equal parts by a masonry wall, and when first completed contained thirteen and a half million gallons. Later on extensive enlargements were made, until today its capacity is 37,000,000 gallons. Its elevation when full is 204 feet above the harbour. The entire cost of the reservoir is about one million dollars. Under the gatehouse, which stands on the reservoir wall, is a well or distributing chamber. Into the bottom of this well the main pipes from the pumps are led, and opposite to them is a separate passage to each division of the reservoir. The pipes and passages are all controlled by gates, and by their means the water is turned off and on each division or main pipe, as may be desired. The water from the pumps at the Wheel House does not go first to the reservoir and thence to the city; the reservoir merely takes the overflow water from the pumps at the Wheel House and stores it for further use. In other words, it is a safety supply which the city can depend upon in the event of sudden breakdown of pumps. But the big reservoir, even when full, could not supply the city now for two days.

What is termed the High Level reservoir is considerably farther up the mountain than the McTavish reservoir. It was found necessary to construct this in order to supply the district above Sherbrooke Street; as the McTavish reservoir was at such an altitude that it could not give the required pressure for the more elevated districts of the city. The High Level reservoir draws its supply from the McTavish reservoir. Its pumping station is at the McTavish, and it is equipped with one 5,000,000 and one 2,000,000 gallon pump. At the pumping station at the Wheel House there are six steam pumps. The High Level reservoir is 212 feet higher than the McTavish, or 413 feet above the harbour. Its capacity is one and three-quarter million of gallons. Like the McTavish it is built in the solid rock and is a most substantial structure.

PUMPING PLANT IN 1912

As it is now the city’s intent to do all of the pumping by hydro-electric power, it will be of interest to note, especially for the future, what is the steam pumping plant of today.

The plant situated at the low level pumping station, Point St. Charles, is here seen:

Engine No. 1, erected in 1886, ten million gallons, high duty, Worthington.

Engine No. 2, erected in 1894, ten million gallons, high duty, Worthington.

Engine No. 3, erected in 1895, eight million gallons, low duty, Worthington.

Engine No. 4, erected in 1905, twelve million gallons, high duty, Worthington.

Engine No. 5, erected in 1909, twelve million gallons, turbine with Bellis-Marcum engine.

Engine No. 6, erected in 1912, twelve million gallons, turbine with Bellis-Marcum engine.

The plant at the High Level reservoir is as follows:

McTavish St. engine No. 1, erected in 1889, three million gallons, Gilbert steam pump.

McTavish St. engine No. 2, erected in 1906, five million gallons, Electric turbine.

Papineau St. engine No. 1, erected in 1911, six million gallons, Electric turbine.

The story of the water supply would be inadequate without an account of the great drought that fell upon the city in the last weeks of 1913, caused by a break in the concrete conduit which occurred after dark on Christmas night. For 193 hours the city was without an adequate water supply. It was in great alarm lest a typhoid epidemic or fires should start. Luckily fires were few, but one on St. Louis Square occurred when the want of water caused a whole block to be burned down. The city authorities had water carried round in the water carts and distributed to the people, who besides this scanty service had to melt the snow, then abundant, for culinary purposes. The danger of typhoid was averted by careful attention of the people to the directions of the city health officers and other physicians. The event caused great excitement and much criticism. As a warning note of the dangers that may befall a modern city, the following adapted account, published at the time, is chronicled here.[4]

Montreal’s 193-hour water famine, it is hoped, has passed and gone, but that a city of its size should be so absolutely thrown out of gear by the bursting of a single water conduit was such a shock to the citizens, that they will want the facts of the case to go down to posterity engraved in tables of stone--or concrete.

Shortly after dark on the evening of December 25th, a break nearly sixty feet long appeared in the water supply conduit at a point directly behind the Protestant Hospital for the Insane, on La Salle road. It was claimed the cause of the breakage was the digging away of the earth surrounding the conduit on the one side, adjacent to the old aqueduct, and the piling of it up on the other side, in connection with the widening of the old channel.

It is stated that the pipe was thus caused to sag, crack and eventually under the water pressure to break.

The rush of water carried away most of the earth left between the conduit and the aqueduct, and it was into the latter, fortunately, that the water flowed. If there can be a fortunate side to the accident, it is that it occurred where it did, within a couple of rods of the shack used by the construction company, whose men were at work on the aqueduct, and where there was a telephone, which greatly facilitated the ordering of supplies and men.

By early morning on the 26th, a steel pipe, of six sections, and slightly smaller in diameter than the conduit, had been ordered, and Controller Godfrey had appeared on the scene, from which he was thereafter never absent for more than a few hours.

But before the pipe could be placed, all the earth on the top of, and to the north of the pipe had to be removed, and the remaining and unbroken sides of the conduit demolished. While this work was in progress, sections of the steel tube began to arrive and were bolted together, so as to be ready to be swung into position as soon as the place was cleared.

In the clearing operations, the engineers were also lucky, owing to the close proximity of one of the Cooke Company’s derrick steam shovels, which not only did the hard work of clearing the ground expeditiously, but later supplied hot water for mixing the cement, and steam to keep it warm while drying.

With Controller Godfrey either at work or bustling up the makers of the steel tube, and City Engineer George Janin, and Waterworks Engineer Lesage, continually at the scene of operations, by Monday, December 29th, the background was cleared and the steel pipe nearly completed.

By Tuesday, the latter had been swung into place, concrete had been run in to fill the joints and workmen had been lowered into the conduit, with buckets of blazing tar, to seal them inside.

On Wednesday, the 31st, at 4.45 A.M., the water was let into the conduit and the pumps were started. They ran a few minutes when the engineers were compelled to close them down because there was not a sufficient depth of water in the conduit for them to operate successfully. It was then found that the water had blown out some of the filling of concrete, wood and tar, near the top of the steel tube, and that a large leak had been formed which would keep the city waterless over New Year’s Day.

Meanwhile various serious fires had occurred in the city, in spite of the extra precautions taken by the fire commissioners and the police, and Chief Tremblay of the fire department is reported to have demanded at the City Hall that he be given water, and to have stated that there was but enough water remaining in the reservoirs for one big fire.

At the same time a number of foolish rumours gained credence, such as that should the water not be forthcoming from the conduit at once, the dam which holds the River St. Lawrence out from the old aqueduct would be dynamited, and an even more destructive rumor that the said dam was about to burst at any minute. Had either of these eventualities occurred, as various engineers pointed out, the whole of Point St. Charles would have been flooded.

On Wednesday afternoon, about 4 o’clock, hot concrete was run into the joints at both ends of the steel tube, and it was announced that after allowing four hours for pouring and fifteen hours for drying, the water would be let into the conduit and all would be well.

Thursday, however, still saw the engineers waiting all day for the concrete to set, while a pipe from the derrick up on the embankment above discharged steam into a canvas outer covering to the joint, and through a man-hole in the tube into the interior of the conduit.

On Friday morning, the eighth day from the break, Controller Godfrey, City Engineers Janin and Lesage, Engineer Herlihy, of the Cooke Construction Company, and J.E. Jamieson, of grain elevator fame, who had also been called in by the city for consultation, made an inspection of the repairs, and were at first inclined to the belief that all was well, and, in fact, issued a statement that water should be in the city by noon or 1 o’clock.

But a close internal examination revealed the fact that the concrete was yet not dry, so in order to prevent the waste of more time waiting for it, it was decided to cover it with oakum and pitch, and then to erect a wooden bulkhead or flange around the end of the steel tube inside the conduit to prevent the water from getting at the concrete with any force. It was here that the advantage of the telephone so near the work was evidenced, for a very short time only elapsed between the ordering of the oakum and its delivery.

The process of covering the soft concrete with its protection and erecting the bulkhead occupied most of Friday, and it was with some degree of fear and trembling that the engineers in charge ordered the water turned on at the intake at 6.45 P.M. This was done very, very gently, and so prepared were those responsible for another breakdown that it was definitely stated that should it occur, the pipe would be opened and the water allowed to flow into the old aqueduct.

However, all went well, and the first water reached the pumping station at Point St. Charles at a few minutes past 8 P.M. Within half an hour the first pump was started up, and at 9.50 the pressure was reported to be seventy pounds. By 11 o’clock the water was up to the Milton Street level, and three-quarters of an hour after 6, seven of the pumps were hard at work, and pumping at the rate of 56,000,000 gallons a day. Before breakfast on Saturday morning the McTavish reservoir was full, and every house had its full complement of water.

During the period of stress, there is not a doubt everyone connected with the repair work, and, for that matter, all those engaged in supplying the water to householders from sleighs, worked to their utmost capacity, in spite of considerable external difficulties.

At present Montreal’s city waterworks are supplied by a very-much-criticised concrete conduit, with a 60-foot length of steel tube of a considerably smaller diameter let into it where the break occurred. But at the time of writing, at least, the city has got water.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The Précis in Doctor Brymner’s Archivist’s report for 1892 has been used above.

[2] These were John Gray, Daniel Sutherland, Thomas Schieffelin and Stephen Sewell.

[3] Writing in 1839, the author of “Hochelaga Depicta” says, “Montreal is better supplied with water than any other city on this continent with the exception of Philadelphia.”

[4] Montreal Daily Star, January 5, 1914.