A Century of Western Ontario: The Story of London, “The Free Press,” and Western Ontario, 1849–1949 by Orlo Miller, and: Niagara Country by Lloyd Graham (review)

REVIEWS OF BOOKS 81 that city. Althoughboth areof soundscholarship, they differin structure,and in spirit, for they wereconceived with differingendsin view. Glimpses ofIaralifax,1867-1900ls the ninth in a series o[ publications by the Public Archiveso[ Nova Scotia. As the prefaceexplains,the volumeis an attempt to organize and in some measure to condensethe factual material concerning the history of Halifax available in, or within reach of, the Nova Scotia archives. It is, then, concerned with presenting a wealth of historical[act in as systematic anddirecta formaspossible.The text isdividedinto ten chapters, of whichthe firstandlast present panoramas of the city at thebeginning andendo[ the perioddealt with. The interveningeightchaptersare devotedto introducing material under suchtopicsas: "The Army and Navy in Halifax," "Business," "PublicBuildings,"and "PublicUtilities." The word "glimpses" in the title'is quite apt, for the work hasnot undertakento synthesize the material,or to formulate generalconclusions.It is a well produced source bookwhichshouldappeal to anyonewhoknowsHalifax, andshouldbeo[ greataid to serious students of the historyof thecity. It isnot,anddoesnot pretendto be,a historyo[ thecity. The inclusionof oneor morepage-size sketchmapswouldhavebeenof greatuseto a reader not familiar with Halifax. The Church of St. Paul in tIalifax, 1749-1949is not in any usualsense of the term a commemorative volume. The broadresearches lying behindits production ensurethat it will not soonpassout of date. The Church, as an edifice,has witnessedthe changingpageantof North American history; a number of the leadingactorsin BritishAmericanhistoryhaveworshipped withinits walls. The parish,in responding to manyo[ the principalproblems of Anglicanorganization outside o[ Great Britain,hasonseveral occasions setthe precedents whichwere to be followedthroughoutthe Empire. This broadperspective of the significance of the Church o[ St. Paul is well broughtout in this work. The author in his thirty-sevenshort chaptershasintroduceda great wealth o[ the Church'slore. The themeis carriedalongwith artistry anddoesnot lag. Twenty-two blackand white illustrationsof the principalpersonalities in the Church'slife ando[ various portionsof its fabric add interest and reinforcementto the narrative. Bothof thesevolumes touchuponsomeof thedeeper strainsin the life o[ the city o[ Halifax and bringlight uponthe individualcharactero[ the community, and its relationshipto its hinterland. PAUL GRANT CORNELL Acadia University. A Century of Western Ontario:TheStoryofLondon, "TheFreePress,"andWestern Ontario,1849-1949. By ORLOMILL•.R. Toronto: RyersonPress. 1949. Pp. xi, 289. ($4.50) NiagaraCountry. By LLO¾I) GRAaAM.(American folkways, editedby ERSKINlr CAI.I)W•I.L.) New York: Duell, Sloanand Pearce[Toronto: Wm. Collins Sonsand Co.]. 1949. Pp. xiii, 321. ($3.75) IN 1949theLondonFreePress celebrated thecentennial ofitsfounding andto mark theeventnotonlyissued a special edition,saidto bethelargest single issue ever put out in Canada,but alsoauthorizedOrlo Miller, a formermemberof its staff, to write the history of the newspaper. Mr. Miller, who is widely knownas a C.B.C. writer andbroadcaster, hasproduced a volumewhichisbothinformative andentertaining.While its primarypurpose isto tell thestoryof the FreePress, $2 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW he hasgonebeyondthis in recordinginterestingnewsstoriesof the past arisingin WesternOntario. Mr. Miller frequentlyadoptsa semi-dramatictreatment but this is baseduponhisown soundresearchover many years. Here are well-written accountsof eventsreportedin the FreePresswhich at the time wereof national and eveninternational interest: the Bratton kidnappingcasein 1872which reachedto the British Parliament, the Donnell), murdersin 1880, and the overturningof the passenger steamerVictoria on the Thames River at Londonin 1881in whichmore liveswerelost than in the recentburningof the Noronicat Toronto. It isa uniquesituationthat formorethanninety-seven yearsthe FreePress has beenin the handsof one family, from JosiahBlackburn in 1852, throughhissons Walter J. and Arthur S. to his grandson,Walter J. Blackburn, its presentproprietor . Within the nextthreeyearsthenewspaper may properlymark yet another centenary,that of the Blackburnfamily ownership. Lloyd Graham hasa rich field to exploitin writing on the Niagara country. Beginningwith the earliestrecordsof the Indian tribes whom the French encounteredin the seventeenth century,he bringsthe storydownto the present-day settingof grain shipsand steelmills at Buffalo,hydro-electricplantsat Niagara Falls, and the inevitablehoneymooners whostill flockto the Cataract Cities. Mr. Grahamhasnot attemptedto add to ourhistoricalknowledge but aimsto tell the storyof a regionin interestingfashion. In this he hassucceeded.Naturally the New York State side of the river receivesthe greater attention and the city of Buffalo, past and present,furnishesthe author with many goodstories. The eventsof the War of 1812are told impartially and onechapteris devotedto the Patriot troublesof the eighteen-thirties andto the Fenianraids. Mr. Grahamerrs, we think, in hisopinionexpressed in a late chapter,that "perhapsfive out of ten Canadians... would look...