Chapter 4
FRED MORRISH: Alex, I bet that you couldn't find any more than three or four in Rossland that you'd know - that is of the old-timers. I go up there and I'm lost. Unless I go to see Alma Beverley. Do you remember Buck Beverley's daughter? She married Alec Paige and we see them ... and Roy Stevens, Curley Rouelle, little Curley Rouelle...
ALEX STEWART: Yes
FRED MORRISH: Well, he just died. Just a short time ago. Up at Frenchtown ...
BILL WADESON: Where was Frenchtown ?
FRED MORRISH: Well it was up at the top end of Washington Street and down towards the track. There were a lot of Frenchmen there, but if you went up above, crossing the CPR tracks again there was a whole row of houses up there. That used to be real Frenchtown.
MURRAY GIBSON: This isn't, Fred, coming down from the old reservoir - coming down towards town?
FRED MORRISH: Well, they were in there too, yes, but that main street up there. They used to be all French up there. I used to deliver groceries up there.
BILL WADESON: Where is that - Just about McLeod or just off Plewman Way?
FRED MORRISH: Well, where the CPR track goes up to the mine, I guess. You cross the track up there - on the old wagon road and you turn to your right to all those houses up in there, all facing town, and that was Frenchtown.
MURRAY GIBSON: That's just above Mcleod Avenue
FRED MORRISH: Yeah, that's right,
BILL WADESON: Well, was Fishtown alive then ?
FRED MORRISH: That's what they called Fishtown, or Frenchtown
BILL WADESON: There was a Fishtown up by the War Eagle that you mentioned Alex. At least you can still see the signs of houses there.
FRED MORRISH: They were pretty well Irish up in there. All the Irishmen in the countryh lived up there. I can't remember the names of them. I used to deliver groceries up in there.
BILL WADESON: Was the War Eagle Hotel standing then ?
FRED MORRISH: Oh yes. That got knocked to pieces in the explosion.
BILL WADESON: Oh, was that it ?
FRED MORRISH: Yes
BILL WADESON: Well it was towards town from the hotel and on the lower side of the road where you can still see the outline of the houses or the foundations of them - and there's an old tennis court up there.
FRED MORRISH: Yes. Gee whizz that's a long time ago Alex.
ALEX STEWART: Yes. It'll be 24 years since I retired.
BILL WADESON: Oh I can't believe that. Is that right, I remember seeing a write-up in the paper.
ALEX STEWART: It was 40 and I put in six years as chief of police for the Boewing Aircraft Co.
MURRAY GIBSON: In 42 ?
ALEX STEWART: No I went for the Boewing Aircraft in 40 and. I put in six years there. I held. a job down for six years. The war was over but they kept me on.
BILL WADESON: And I guess Bob Harshaw has just retired.
ALEX STEWART: Yes
FRED MORRISH: Gee whizz when you stop and think about things that happened from the 1900's on, you can see those people - you can place them, but you can't find names for them.
MURRAY GIBSON: I had a friend that I used to see quite often - Jack Hanna.
ALEX STEWART: Have you seen him lately?
MURRAY GIBSON: Well, I had lunch with him in Victoria. He's living in Victoria and his daughter married a chap by the name of Le Fluque (?) and they had a daughter married just recently.
FRED MORRISH: Gee it only seems yesterday they were all little kids. Yes, my wife, when she heard that you were over here said " Well, you say hello to Alex for me." Laura Jewell.
ALEX STEWART: Laura Jewell ? Laura Jewell's your wife ?
FRED MORRISH: Sure.
ALEX STEWART: Well I'll be ... That's wonderful. Well you just say "Hello" to her for me.
FRED MORRISH: I sure will. She and your wife used to be great friends.
ALEX STEWART: Yes. They were great pals. Minnie Ganninnon - do you remember her ?
FRED MORRISH: Yes and at the old-timers' celebration up at Rossland there was Minnie Ganinnon and the two Dyer girls sitting right opposite me - and did we ever have a talk. Laura knew me, you know,as kids but I didn't know them until they were pretty-well grown.
ALEX STEWART: Old Jim Dyer's girls
FRED MORRISH: Yes. And. they looked just the same you know.
ALEX STEWART: There was a girl visiting here in this house - Lily Paul - Do you remember Paul, the photographer ?
FRED MORRISH: Yes.
ALEX STEWART: Well Lily was here about two weeks ago.
FRED MORRISH: Gee whiz. You know you hear these different names and then you think "Doggone, why did I forget those people ?" Kids I went to school with.
ALEX STEWART: I done some funny things - we had a fellow who passed off some worthless checks in Rossland and he was only in town about two hours and he left, walking for Northport and I walked down after him. He had quite a start on me and he got across - he got a little boat. I followed him across the line ( if a fellow did that today he'd be hung ). I located the hotel and took him out of bed and brought him back. Just imagine that today.
BILL WADESON: I guess they had the customs house there in those days.
FRED MORRISH: Sure. Old Daddy Woods
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Note by Alfie Albo:- William Woods
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MURRAY GIBSON: Alex, wasn't there some story when they were building the old court house - I didn't know much about it - but a contractor who didn't pay wages and tried to skip out of the country.? Do you remember anything About that ?
ALEX STEWART: No. I don't remember
FRED MORRISH: There was something to do with that court house - I've heard my dad speaking of it but I don't know the names or the parties.
MURRAY GIBSON: Well it was something along the order that this chap didn't pay his men and they were going to lose the money and he went down to Trail and got on a boat and a policeman from Rossland got a team of horses and went to Northport and brought him back.
ALEX STEWART: Yes. I walked to Northport and back without having a drink of water.
FRED MORRISH: About 20 miles
BILL WADESON: Oh it's more than that - it must be 36 miles.
FRED MORRISH: I was figuring 20 miles one way.
BILL WADESON: Let's see there was an old wooden bridge there as I remember. Was the wooden bridge there then or did you have to get a boat.
ALEX STEWART: Cross by boat.
BILL WADESON: Well you'd remember Sourdough Alley, I bet you.
ALEX STEWART: Oh yes.
BILL WADESON: What were the names of the girls down in Sourdough Alley ?
ALEX STEWART: One named Popgun Kate, Hazel Domingo.
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Note by Wayne Krewski: He may be referring to Popcorn Kate who ran a popcorn and candy store on St. Paul Street north of 3rd Ave. on the east side of the street.
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FRED MORRISH: What about Irish Nell ?
ALEX STEWART: You know whose girl she was, do you. Do you know who was laying up with her? You know he had red hair.
FRED MORRISH: Oh yeah I know - she used to dye his whiskers red. He was the real estate man.
ALEX STEWART: You remember the fellow that committed suicide down there. I think his name's Charlie ...
FRED MORRISH: I can't think of it.
ALEX STEWART: I can't remember it - there's two sisters ...
MURRAY GIBSON: The International must have been quite a place.
FRED MORRISH: I snuck in there one afternoon, you know when they were having the shows there. Selling papers, you see and I hid under one of the benches until the show started. Of course I was late getting home, but everything was fine until dad said "Well where were you, son ?" I said "selling papers." He said "So where ?" I said "In the International. " " What were you doing there ?" "Selling papers. Dad," "Well - that's a saloon. I told you not to go into saloons." "Well? I said,"that's more of a show than a saloon." And that did it - I sure got a tanning on that.
ALEX STEWART: I well remember the gamblers out walking. They'd get up about two o'clock in the afternoon, and walk on down the street in long black overcoats and no arms in their sleeves. They'd
just have their overcoats over their shoulders. That's the way they dressed. You could always tell them.
MURRAY GIBSON: What was the reason for that ?
ALEX STEWART: It was the style. They were very fashionably dressed. They were professional gamblers and very stylish to their way of thinking with their nice black coats. They would go out and it would be kind of chilly maybe - kind of cold, but it was too much hard work to put their arms in their coat sleeves.
FRED MORRISH: And their hard hats.
MURRAY GIBSON: Were there pretty big games ?
ALEX STEWART: Oh yes - huge games. Well is there any truth in that saying that Governor McIntosh brought six million dollars into Rossland and spent three million over the bars ?
FRED MORRISH: Yeah ... Yeah.
ALEX STEWART: He was a great old sport. He had two daughters and they were just as sporty as he was. But he'd walk around with his high hat on and he had a cane ( this is some years ago ) and he'd dance around and tap his cane - dance a jig ( action by Alex ) Oh, he was a real guy.
FRED MORRISH: Alex, d.o you remember Dr. Campbell and the two good little girls ?
ALEX STEWART: Oh. yes.
BILL WADESON: What was that story, Fred ?
FRED MORRISH: Well the two daughters and his wife liked to step out a little bit - well they wouldn't think anything of slipping into a saloon and having a few drinks.
BILL WADESON: Where was the International - physically, I mean?
FRED MORRISH: Right where the curling rink is.
MURRAY GIBSON: No wait
ALEX STEWART: You just came along Columbia Avenue until you came to Spokane Street and then you just turned the corner and it was in the middle of the block.
FRED MORRISH: Yes well that's where the curling rink used to be
MURRAY GIBSON: It used to be, but there's no curling rink there now Fred. That's a church there now.
FRED MORRISH: That's where it used to be anyway - you know my cousin married one of the Perry sisters that used to perform there at the International. - Jack Morrish who was superintendent of the Velvet. And that old house that the carpenters built is still standing at the Velvet Mine. The ceiling in there is one of those drop ceilings - a fellow from Rossland went out and put that in as a wedding present for them and there were carpets on all the upstairs rooms - all the upstairs rooms were carpetted - wall to wall carpets, all big heavy thick stuff like a ... and all downstairs with the exception of the kitchen. And when my mother was living I took her out there - that's about 15 years ago - and that carpet was still there. Just as nice as the day it was put down and that drop ceiling is wonderful to look at. You wouldn't believe that a man could do that with just ordinary paper. There was a scare of a fire going through there - oh that would be about 13 or 14 years ago - and somebody went out and cut a big strip out of that carpet and took it away. I suppose they figured that the place was going to burn anyway. But I was out at the Velvet about six years ago and I went out to the house. The fellow who was running the mine up there then ...I went up and told him who I was and what I wanted to see and he took me and let me go right through the house. It was just the same as it was when Jack was there.
You see, the way he got mixed up in the Velvet - my dad's brother was consulting engineer for the London Mining Syndicate.
MURRAY GIBSON: That came into Rossland ?
FRED MORRISH: That came into Rossland - They came in from India.
MURRAY GIBSON: Your mother ?
FRED MORRISH: No, my father's brother. He looked at the different mines around Rossland - he was there to buy - and he bought the Velvet. That's why my dad became ??? - We came from Nevada.