#carleton county

"Airman From Rockcliffe Given Suspended Sentence," Ottawa Citizen. October 7, 1943. Page 12. --- Sgt. Joseph Gerlach, of the R.C.A.F., Rockcliffe repatriation center, was this morning given suspended sentence by Magistrate A. H. Lieff in county magistrate's court, after being found guilty of a charge of theft.

Gerlach attempted to steal a number of sheets, blankets and pillow slips from the Rockcliffe air station.

"IN WOODS 70 HOURS AGED WOMAN FOUND," Toronto Globe. July 21, 1933. Page 3. ---- Wanders On to Road After Search Is Conducted by Police --- EXISTED ON BERRIES --- (Canadian Press Despatch.) Carp, Ont., July 20. - Wandering in the bush in Huntley Township, of the County of Carleton, where she was lost, Mrs. David Manchester for seventy hours lived on berries and plodded on. Eventually she came to a roadway, and was met by Michael Murphy, a farmer, early today. He conveyed the aged woman, who is 76, to her friends, and she returned to this village. She was thirsty, badly bitten by flies, and tired from her long walk, but otherwise she is remarkably well, her physician reported.

On Monday afternoon she set out to pick berries in a somewhat dense bush near Carp. She became lost, and late that night searchers returned with no word of her. Next morning the county and Provincial Police joined in the search. to no avail. A troop of Boy Scouts assisted, and the farmers in the district, as well as the merchants in the village, left off work to comb the woods for the esteemed woman. No less than 500 persons were joining in the search this morning, when Mrs. Manchester found her way out of the bush.

It is doubtful if ever in her seventy-six years she was so fed up on blueberries. She had eaten them until she was blue in the face, she said. She had slept some, and never lost confidence that "the good Lord" would bring her to safety. She could not find any water during the days she was lost.

“NO HARD LABOR AT JAIL MONOTONY MORE PUNISHING,” Ottawa Citizen. July 13, 1940. --- Idle Life Is Not the Good Life Ottawa Particularly When Encircled by Cement Walls and Iron Bars ---- By DAVID J. LEWIS. MALE PRISONERS when in the county jail no longer wield heavy sledge  hammers over a rockpile. But even more punishing is the dreadful monotony of having nothing to do - no way to kill time, which passes so slowly that every minute seems like an hour. 

So they yearn, most of them, for the good old days when they could have relieved their boredom by breaking stone for the roads, a job which, in this machine age, is done more efficiently, and cheaper, by machinery. Cost of moving the stone from the jail to the townships was more expensive to the townships than buying it. 

Sheriff Sam Crooks and Governor Alonzo Dawson gave me the privilege of going through the jail building, where the prisoners tussle mightily with idleness, talking, smoking, doing anything they can think of to make the hands of the clock turn faster, and doing it, apparently, without much success.

Not a Happy Life Take it from them that the idle life is not the good life - not, anyway, when it is encircled by cement walls and iron bars.

I saw three of the 78 prisoners incarcerated in the county bastille meandering up and down their cell corridor trying to sing "South of the Border.” They had just had one meal and all they had to do was wait for the next.

Another 20 prisoners were in the dining hall downstairs. They were sitting about in their blue overalls, the prison uniform, laboriously engaged in the tedious task of wasting time. They obeyed the turnkey's order to line up but they didn't make haste. When you have three months to walk 10 feet and turn around, you don't hurry.

One would expect the turnkeys would have a tough time getting chefs for the kitchen. The question is further complicated by extremely rapid turnover of prisoners. As soon as they get one trusty broken in as chief cook, his ticket et admission expires and they have to look around for a new one. 

Food Looked Good. Despite this the food looks good at "Castle Dawson". However I wasn't allowed to eat any. Turnkeys have to bring their own meals and visiting reporters go hungry.

Here is a sample day's menu: Breakfast, porridge, milk and sugar, bread and tea. Dinner: meat, potatoes, carrots, tea and bread. Supper: sausages and potatoes, beans, dessert with molasses, tea and bread.

The governor showed me the garden where much of the food is grown. The garden Iooks a lot better than most amateur efforts in spite of the disinterested attitude of the gardeners. Enough carrots were grown last year to keep the jail supplied until the middle of February.

What Trusties Do. Trusties run the jail workshop, the laundry, and barbershop. They are given the privilege of running around loose Inside the jail during the day and they are not locked into the cells until 8.30, an hour and a half after the others. 

The cells are snug enough in their way. On the south side they are three feet by 10 and on the north twice as wide. The beds seem to have been designed for strength and durability rather than for strict comfort. A pillow and a couple of blankets are supplied, but search failed to disclose anything in the way of a mattress.

I tried out one of the beds for about 30 seconds. Lying on the bed I considered the lot of the Indian fakir on his couch of nails. There seemed little to choose between the two. I learned later that prisoners are granted the prerogative of sleeping under or between the two blankets.

There is no oversleeping. The boys are awakened at six o'clock and get their breakfasts a quarter of an hour later. They clean up their cells and corridors after that and have dinner at 11.30. Sup- per is served at 5.45 and they are locked up in their cells at six. They are allowed to read magazines and books until lights-out at nine. Now and then a bibliophile takes up residence in the house of correction, but very few prisoners bother with anything more than the pictures. 

Are Allowed Tobacco. Everyone at the jail was smoking The prisoners can buy tobacco twice a week and they are chewing it or smoking is from dawn to dusk. If they ever stop It is because their funds are too low to buy it or because they were too intemperate after the last date of sale.

Every manjack of them is waiting impatiently the time when he will be able to buy his tobacco again. ////

“lan Sutherland Jail Governor,” Ottawa Citizen. September 4, 1940.  --- Will Succeed Alonzo Dawson --- Appointment of Ian A. Sutherland as governor of the Carleton County jail on Nicholas street is expected to be announced within few days.

Mr. Sutherland. an employe of the Canadian National Railways, is secretary of the West Ottawa Liberal Association and has taken an active part in politics in this district for some time. 

In his new post, a provincial appointment, he will succeed Alonzo G. Dawson, jail governor for the last 29 years and prior to that clerk of Nepean township, who is slated for retirement.

Governor Dawson has been receiving a salary of $2,000 per annum. The position also carries with it a free apartment in the jail building, heat and light. As governor of the jail Mr. Sutherland will be under the direct supervision of Sheriff Samuel Crooks in Ottawa. 

“Thugs Outwitted And Chased With Hail of Buckshot,” Ottawa Citizen. February 8, 1933. Page 1.  --- A. Charbonneau, Orleans Storekeeper, Scares Two Bandits From Village Near Ottawa at Early Hour Today. --- Faced with the glare of a thug's flashlight as he went to investigate a noise in his store at Orleans at 4.40 o'clock this morning. Arthur Charbonneau, general store-keeper and postmaster of that village, outwitted the intruder and a companion who was waiting outside near a parked motor car and chased the two men from the village with a hail of buckshot from a double-barrelled shotgun.

Charbonneau, who lives next to his store, was awakened by his wife, who heard an unusual noise in the store. Stealing stealthily through a side door leading into the store, Mr. Charbonneau was faced with the flashlight's glare. He could not see who was holding the light but was ordered to "make no noise or I'll kill you." In a flash, Mr. Charbonneau wheeled back through the door and into his living quarters. He returned with a shotgun but the thug had fled through a rear door. Dashing out the front door, the storekeeper saw a man with a flashlight and a motor car parked nearby. 

Gave Both Barrels. Throwing the gun to his shoulder, Mr. Charbonneau let both barrels go and the marauder beat a hasty retreat to the motor. The store- keeper, sensing that the thieves had no weapons, gave chase and as the car sped away, noticed that there were two men in it. Owing to the darkness he was unable to get a description of the men or the license number of the machine. 

Provincial Constables Harold Dent and George Buck of Rockland were notified and after investigating reported to Inspector Phil Walter who turned the case over to Chief Charles McCarthy of Carleton county. 

“Upsets Judgment Given Miss Nixon,” Ottawa Journal. February 16, 1932. Page 1. ---- Mr. Justice McEvoy Rules $17,500 Verdict Can't Stand. --- By a judgment handed down by Mr. Justice McEvoy in Toronto, a decision of a Carleton County jury to award Miss Ethel Nixon, of Ottawa, $17,500 damages against the Ottawa Electric Railway Company, for injuries received when she was knocked down by a street car at the Civic Hospital atop, has been upset end dismissed with costs against Miss Nixon. An appeal will be taken. it was announced late today. 

At the conclusion of the plaintiff’s case which was heard during the first week of the present Winter Assises, Redmond Quain, K, C., counsel for the Railway Company declined to put in any defence witnesses on the grounds that no case had been established which any reasonable jury could decide against the Railway Company.

Mr. Quain then claimed that the action should be dismissed with costs. Mr. Justice McEvoy, the presiding judge, reserved his judgment on this motion for non-suit without allowing the jury to consider it. The jury consequently returned verdict in favor of Miss Nixon, for $17,500. 

With Mr. Justice McEvoy upholding this motion for a non-suit, the jury's decision has been upset. No reason has been given so far for the judge's action.

Arnprior & McNab/Braeside Archives This was printed in the Almonte Gazette-January 1963- and it is also available at- THE FOOTMARK BY LANGFORD’S BED from Memoirs of a great detective:incidents in the life of John Wilson Murray (1904) compiled by Victor Speer click here. Old Dick Langford was a miser, and the pride of his life was a fine bay horse with a white spot on his nose. Old Dick was…