History happenings on this day long ago
1/19/2009 at 7:10 AM
On January 19, 1883: The Provincial Government, from members of the Provincial Police Force appointed the Brandon City Police Force.
First Police Chief Archibald L. McMillan
In the beginning Brandon County’s laws were enforced by the provincial police. The local representative was John O’Flynn, a genial, popular, husky Irishman.
With the granting of a Charter a city police force was necessary. The first force consisted of Police Chief Archibald L. McMillan, and two constables, Donald Campbell and John M. Keays. On July 6 1882 a committee established a rate of pay for the Police Chief at $900 per annum, and his constables at $60 a month. The Chief was appointed July 12, 1882. He held this position until his death in a gun accident at Smarts Hardware Store, December 16, 1885. An obituary notice in the Brandon Sun, December 17, 1885, for Chief McMillan who died the previous day read: “Chief McMillan was a hard worker. He cleared away the ‘SCUM OF HUMANITY’ working on the C.P.R. construction trains.” In addition to his position as Police Chief, he was also Health Inspector.
Source: Daly House Museum Archives.
Sunday January 19th 1882
Brandon’s Forth Estate surfaced when the first Newspaper, ‘The Sun’ was offered for sale. The first Publisher was 31 year old Will J. White, who arrived in Brandon when it was mainly a Tent City, but he was able to publish a four page daily from a wood framed structure on Twelfth Street. The Daily Publication was suspended at one time, and was then re-published as a weekly and Edited by Mr. C. H. Beaton. When Mr. White returned from Eastern Canada he had with him enough Capital to regain control of the Sun, which remained a weekly publication.
Under the fourteen years of direction by Mr. White the Sun increased its circulation enough that its offices had to be moved to new premises on Eighth Street. Mr. White severed his connection with this Newspaper in 1897.
More info:
http://www.brandon.ca/main.nsf/Pages+By+ID/1240
The Mail must get through. January 19th, 1953
Carrying a 2-cent postage stamp a missive was delivered to the Souris Fire Hall on January 19, 1953. Not a newsworthy occurrence except the letter had been sent from the Manitoba Government Telephone Company in Brandon on January 29, 1915, forty years earlier.
This letter was also accompanied by a few other long lost messages that had been discovered during the remodeling of the Souris Post Office.
Source: Souris Plains Dealer
This story has not much to do with Brandon, but I find it interesting the lengths our Canadian Government looked after the Royal refugees of Europe in War Time.
January 19th 1943
Princess Juliana of Holland took refuge in Canada during WW II. During this time she gave birth to her third child, Princess Margriet, on January 19, 1943. After the Princesses birth, the Dutch flag was flown on the Peace Tower in Ottawa. This was the first and only time a foreign flag has waved on top of Canada’s Parliament Buildings.
Source:
http://www.nettyroyal.nl/juliana1.html