Prisoners bound for Central jail escaped at Orangeville station
100 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 24, 1906
Two convicts of a gang of 12 en route to the Central Prison escaped from the custody of Provincial Bailiff Phillip Simser at Orangeville on Thursday evening last. The men are Albino Bellary, an Italian from Port Arthur, aged 19, who wore light clothes and a cap, short and stout in build and of fair complexion, and Sydney La Chappelle, aged 33, who wore dark clothes, has a glass eye on the right side, with gold-rimmed spectacles; medium build, and lived at Blind River, near Sault Ste. Marie.
Both men were under sentence of two years. At the conclusion of the Spring Assizes, a bailiff is sent out from the Central Prison to gather up the convicted prisoners and bring them to Toronto. Mr. Simser and an assistant had visited several towns in New Ontario and, with 12 convicts chained together, was on his way to Toronto. A stop was made at the Orangeville station at about 6 o'clock Thursday night, and a local constable was waiting there with two more prisoners from this district, also en route to the Central. While the newcomers were being fastened to the others, Bellary, who was on the end, slipped his wrist out of the handcuff and got away. While Mr. Simser was chasing him, La Chappelle broke loose and he, too, escaped. Failing to recapture his prisoners, the bailiff went on to Toronto with the rest of them, and they are safely lodged in the Central Prison.
Orangeville will have an $8,000 public library building, with millionaire Andrew Carnegie to supply the money therefor. The town will have to spend at least $800 a year on maintenance. It was at first proposed to leave the decision in the matter to a vote of the ratepayers, but the council have decided to take the matter into their own hands..
From the SHELBURNE FREE PRESS: Last week, T. H. Reburn of the Dufferin Foundry, Shelburne, installed a fairbanks-Morse gasoline engine in this office and our issue of last week was printed in less time than it has been done for many years. The engine is neat and compact and all the fittings and connections were well made. It works like a charm and we can heartily recommend the engine to anyone requiring power. Mr. Reburn is the agent for this locality and being a practical mechanic when he installs an engine, there is no doubt about it being done correctly.
Today (Thursday) there will take place at Shelburne school the formal presentation to the school board of the new bell recently purchased by the Victoria Literary Society. The bell was put in place in the tower several days ago. The proceedings today, which will commence at 1 p.m., will include a baseball match, football match, basketball match, tug-of-war, fire drill, calesthenic exercises, extension motions, contests in running, jumping, wheelbarrow racing, etc., and music by the 36th Regt. band. The admission will be free but there will be souvenir badges for sale on the grounds.
75 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 28, 1931
A large crowd, including many people from Dufferin County, gathered at Allandale, just outside Barrie, last Thursday afternoon, to witness the official opening of the packing plant of the Co-operative Packers of Ontario, Limited, in which many Dufferin farmers are shareholders. Premier George S. Henry pressed the button that gave the signal to set the wheels in motion and run up the flag to the top of the flagpole.
According to a despatch from Alliston, Premier Henry stated in that town last Thursday that signs would be placed on the newly designated provincial highway from Primrose to Cookstown right away, but no work would be done on the road this year. Dufferin County Council asked for the action several weeks ago, and there has been a belief that some work on grading, widening and hill-cutting would be done on the Dufferin end - Primrose to Rosemont - this year.
50 YEARS AGO Wednesday, May 23, 1956
T. F. E. Claridge, senior publisher of the Shelburne Free Press and Economist, accompanied by son Fred, attended the 1956 convention of the Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association, held in Windsor on Friday and Saturday. At a banquet at the Prince Edward Hotel tendered by the Ford Motor Co. Friday night, "T.F.E." was formally presented with the citation naming him Mr. Weekly Newspaperman, 1956," by Werden Leavens, publisher of the Bolton Enterprise and secretary manager of the OWNA. The citation recognized 65 years spent as a printer and nearly 53 as a publisher, he having started as a "printer's devil" at The Shelburne Economist in January, 1891.
25 YEARS AGO Wednesday, May 27, 1981
Orangeville residents face a property tax hike of 14.36 per cent with town council's approval of a $7,856,459 budget. The average house, assessed at $4,000, will face an estimated $127.60 in extra property taxes.
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