Redmond Thomas; The Really Big Bang On Manitoba Street

THE REALLY BIG BANG: "THE TOWN WAS ALL SHOOK UP!" WRITES BRACEBRIDGE COLUMNIST, REDMOND THOMAS

FOLKISH STORIES FROM THE 1969 MUSKOKA HISTORY, "REMINISCENCES"

     AH, THE GREAT OLD FOLKTALES OF OUR TOWN AND OUR DISTRICT.
     THE MOST DANGEROUS THING I EVER DID WITH EXPLOSIVES, WAS QUITE ACCIDENTAL. IT WAS APPROACHING THE VICTORIA DAY WEEKEND, AND BEGINNING ON THE FRIDAY EVENING, THE HUNTS HILL GANG DECIDED TO INVEST OUR ALLOWANCE MONEY INTO A STASH OF FIREWORKS. BACK THEN, FIREWORKS WERE AVAILABLE FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS DURING THE YEAR, AT LEAST HERE IN THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. TODAY YOU CAN GET THEM YEAR ROUND, AND BELIEVE ME, WE'VE GOT SOME FOLKS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, IN GRAVENHURST, WHO WILL USE JUST ABOUT ANY OCCASION, TO COMMENCE LIGHTING UP THEIR ROCKETS, FOR THE BIG BANG. IT CAN GET UNSETTLING, YOU KNOW, WHEN FOR EXAMPLE, YOU'RE OUT FOR A WALK LATE IN THE EVENING, AND SOME FIREWORKS' ENTHUSIAST, STARTS LETTING THEM OFF IN HIS, OR HER, DRIVEWAY, WHICH FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, SOUNDS A LOT LIKE GUNFIRE FROM A VARIETY OF WEAPONS. I MEAN HONESTLY. WHY IS A WEDNESDAY EVENING, OR SUNDAY EVENING, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH, WHEN THERE ARE NO DESIGNATED HOLIDAYS, OR INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS ON THE GO, SPECIAL ENOUGH TO WARRANT BURNING UP A COUPLE HUNDRED BUCKS, LETTING OFF THESE PARTY SIZE BOMBS. SUZANNE TELLS ME, THAT IT MAY BE AS SIMPLE AS THE RECOGNITION OF A BIRTHDAY OR ANNIVERSARY, MAYBE EVEN A JOB PROMOTION. WE USED TO TOAST THE MILESTONE WITH A GLASS OF WINE, OR HAVE A BIG BIRTHDAY CAKE WITH ICE CREAM TO CELEBRATE A SPECIAL DAY. NOW APPARENTLY, HONKING BIG EXPLOSIVES ARE IN VOGUE, ALTHOUGH I WISH THERE WOULD BE A LOT LESS OF THIS EXPLOSIVE FESTIVITY NEAR OUR HOUSE. YOU'LL APPRECIATE THIS, IF YOU HAVE A CAT OR TWO, ENJOYING THE CHANCE TO CURL UP ON YOUR LAP, WHILE YOU WATCH TELEVISION. A COUPLE OF THESE MISSILE EXPLOSIONS, AND BY GOLLY, YOU HEAD TO THE MEDICINE CABINET FOR ANTISEPTIC CREAM, FOR THE CLAW TEARS INTO THE FLESH, OF YOUR LEGS AND ARMS, MARKING THE DIRECT PATH THE CAT TOOK, IN ORDER TO ESCAPE ARMAGEDDON.
     IT WAS ON THE SUNDAY AFTERNOON, OF THE VICTORIA DAY WEEKEND, AT A TIME WHEN THERE WAS A COMMUNITY FIREWORKS DISPLAY AT JUBILEE PARK, ON WELLINGTON STREET. SO WE GOT OUR BIG BANG THAT WEEKEND, FOR A SMALL DONATION AT THE PARK. THUS, WE COULD FIRE OUR JUVENILE EXPLOSIVES OFF, IN THE HOURS LEADING UP TO THE TOWN DISPLAY, WHICH MANY LOCALS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF, AS IT WAS COST EFFICIENT; VERSUS PAYING FOR BOXES OF FIREWORKS FROM THE LOCAL FIVE CENTS TO A DOLLAR STORE. I BOUGHT MINE AT EITHER LIL & CEC'S VARIETY STORE, ON TORONTO STREET, OR ONE BLOCK EAST, AT BAMFORD'S STORE, WHERE FRED AND MARY ALWAYS STOCKED THOSE LITTLE BURNING SCHOOL HOUSES I LIKED.
     I HAD PURCHASED A TIGHT WEAVE OF SMALL FIRECRACKERS, THAT IF LIT CORRECTLY, WOULD SET OFF ABOUT SIXTY TO A HUNDRED MINI-EXPLOSIONS. YOU LIT THE CENTRAL WICK OF THE WEAVE, AND THEN TOSSED IT INTO A DRIVEWAY, OR, WELL, THE HALL AT THE SCHOOL. THAT, BY THE WAY, WAS AN AUTOMATIC EXPULSION, IF NOT THE JUSTIFICATION FOR A RIDE IN THE BACK SEAT OF THE LOCAL SQUAD CAR, DISPATCHED FROM THE POLICE STATION.ON THIS OCCASION, US YOUNG LADS, WERE PLAYING WITH OUR FIREWORKS UP IN THE SAND-PIT, ON THE BACK SLOPE OF THE WEBER APARTMENTS, ON ALICE STREET; WHICH WAS THE PERFECT PLACE TO FIRE-OFF THESE EXPLOSIVES, BECAUSE OF THE PREVALANCE OF SAND. IF THE SPARKS SET THE FIELD GRASS ON FIRE, ALONG THE UPPER RIM OF THE PIT, IT COULD POTENTIALLY DESTROY ABOUT A HALF DOZEN HOUSES IN THE UPPER NEIGHBORHOOD. WE WERE REASONABLY CAREFUL IN THIS REGARD. IN SOME CASES, WE JUST MADE ERRORS IN JUDGEMENT, AND THAT'S WHEN WE'D GET BURNED OURSELVES.
    THERE WERE, FOR EXAMPLE, LOTS OF QUICK-WICKS, AND WHAT THIS MEANT, IS THAT THE SPARKING LENGTH OF THE FUSE WOULD SUDDENLY RACE AT TWICE THE SPEED, FROM WHEN IT BEGAN, AND THE CRACKER WOULD EXPLODE IN OUR HANDS. MY MOTHER WARNED ME THAT I COULD LOSE MY FINGERS THAT WAY, BUT I'VE STILL GOT THE TEN I WAS BORN WITH, AND I HAD A LOT OF HAND-HELD DISASTERS. IN MY TIME AS A JUNIOR EXPLOSIVES EXPERT. YOU JUST YELL OUT, WHICH WAS USUALLY THE LORD'S NAME, AND TRY TO PUT THE FIRE OUT IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND. WE DID GO THROUGH A LOT OF BURN OINTMENT.
     FIRST, I HAVE TO EXPLAIN, THAT PART OF THE ATTRACTION OF THESE FIREWORKS, IS THAT THEY PLAYED INTO OUR WAR GAMES. WE WOULD SET UP ELABORATE BATTLEFIELDS IN THE SAND-PIT, AND THEN TREAT THE FIRECRACKERS AS IF THEY WERE HAND-GRENADES. SO THE IDEA, WAS TO HANG ONTO THEM AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, BEFORE THROWING THEM INTO THE GATHERING OF ENEMY SOLDIERS. YOU ALSO HAD TO TOSS THEM AS IF THEY WERE GRENADES, WHICH WAS PART OF THE DANCE AFTERALL. WHEN YOU GOT A QUICK WICK, AND MISJUDGED HOW FAST THE WICK WOULD BURN AWAY, THERE WAS A FIFTY-FIFTY CHANCE, YOU WERE GOING TO BE RUNNING HOME IN A MOMENT, WITH SIGNIFICANT BURNS TO THE FLESH OF YOUR HANDS. WHICH IS WHAT WE WANTED TO AVOID, BECAUSE OUR PARENTS DISLIKED THE FACT WE BOUGHT FIREWORKS IN THE FIRST PLACE.
     I HAD EXPERIENCED SOME VERY CLOSE CALLS, IN MY FIRECRACKER-THROWING DAYS, BUT I WASN'T SO LUCKY WITH THE STRING OF MINI CRACKERS, THAT I MISJUDGED BADLY THAT AFTERNOON. I LIT THE MAIN FUSE, AND WATCHED THE SPARKS FLYING UP, WAITING UNTIL THE LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT, BEFORE TOSSING THEM AMIDST A HUNDRED OR SO ENEMY SOLDIERS, AL HILLMAN HAD LINED-UP IN FRONT. WE HAD ALL KINDS OF PLASTIC SOLDIERS BETWEEN US. WE ALSO HATED TO GET DUDS, AND THE STORES WOULDN'T TAKE THEM BACK, THINKING WE HAD DAMAGED THEM OURSELVES. WE WOULD THROW DUDS, ONES THAT THE WICKS HAD MALFUNCTIONED, INTO SMALL FIRES WE SET, IN THE HOLLOW OF THE LARGE SAND-PIT. WHEN THE SPARK OF MY FIREWORKS CLUSTER, APPEARED TO EXTINGUISH, ON ITS OWN, CEASING TO SMARK AND SMOKE, I WAS MAD. THEY COST QUITE A BIT OF ALLOWANCE MONEY AFTERALL, AND IT RUINED MY HAND-GRENADE SIMULATION.
     I PICKED UP THE CLUSTER, EXAMINED THE WICK, (OR FUSE), AND DETERMINED THAT I HAD PURCHASED A DUD. I WAS SO CONFIDENT THE WICK HAD EXTINGUISHED, THAT I PUT THE WHOLE BUNCH IN MY BACK POCKET, FOR LATER USE. I WAS TALKING TO AL AND RICK HILLMAN, AND DON CLEMENT I THINK, ALL CHARTER MEMBERS OF THE HUNT'S HILL GANG, WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, I COULD FEEL THIS BURNING SENSATION, ISOLATED ON MY LEFT CHEEK. I PUT MY HAND BACK INTO MY POCKET, SUSPECTING THAT IT WAS SOMETHING BEING GENERATED BY THE CRACKERS. THE MOMENT I SLID MY HAND INTO THE BACK POCKET, THE CLUSTER OF FIRECRACKERS STARTED TO EXPLODE IN SUCCESSION. I WAS ON FIRE! ONCE THIS HAPPENS, IN SUCH A CLUSTER, IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE, WITHOUT IMMERSION IN WATER, TO STOP THE RAPID FIRE OF THESE EXPLOSIVES DETONATING. MY HAND WAS BURNED, AND THE BACK FLAP OF THE POCKET WAS ON FIRE, BY THIS POINT, AND I HAD DROPPED TO THE GROUND, HOPING THE PRESSURE AGAINST THE SAND WOULD QUELL THE FLAMES AND HALT THE EXPLOSIONS. THIS MOVE, JUST KEPT THE REPEATING EXPLOSIONS CLOSER TO MY ASS, AND I'M TOLD, THAT IT WAS QUITE A SCENE, WATCHING ME, LIKE A DOG SCRATCHING ITS ARSE ON A CARPET, AS I MADE THE SAME SEAT-CRAWL ALL OVER THE SAND-PIT, WITH SMOKE AND SPARKS WREATHING ME LIKE I WAS THE FIREWORKS NOVELTY. I WAS LITERALLY BLOWING-UP CRACKER BY CRACKER. THE LADS TRIED TO HELP ME, BUT IT WAS MUCH THE CASE, THEY DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE WHAT TO DO, ONCE THE CARNAGE HAD BEGUN. I WAS DROPPING AND ROLLING ALL OVER THE PLACE, AND YET THERE WAS STILL A FLAME COMING OUT OF MY POCKET. I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THOSE GUYS FOR TRYING TO SMOTHER ME WITH SAND, WHEN IT WAS MY ASS ON FIRE. I CAN FORGIVE THE LAUGHING AND HOWLING, BUT NOT THE SMOTHERING THING. THE FLAMES HADN'T REACHED MY HEAD YET, SO WHY WERE THEY DUMPING SAND IN MY HAIR. BOZOS!
     WHEN THE RAPID FIRE EXPLOSIONS FINALLY STOPPED, AND THE FLAMES HAD BEEN EXTINGUISHED BY THE COATING OF SAND, THE PAIN SET IN LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE. IT TOOK WEEKS, FOR THE PAIN TO SUBSIDE, AND NEW SKIN TO GROW BACK. I WAS THE TALK OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD THOUGH, SO I SUPPOSE THAT WAS MY FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME. "HOW'S YOUR ASS TED," MY MATES WOULD ASK, EACH TIME WE MET, ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL. I DIDN'T SIT TOO WELL IN CLASS EITHER. I WAS EXCUSED FROM PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS, AND THE TEACHER ALLOWED ME TO SIT ON AN ANGLE AT MY DESK. BACK IN THOSE DAYS, WE COULD GET A DETENTION OR RAPPED KNUCKLES, FOR NOT SITTING STRAIGHT IN OUR DESKS. SO THIS WAS AN ACT OF CHARITY AND MERCY, TO ALLOW ME A FEW WEEKS OF OFF-KILTER SITTING.
     THIS MAY SEEM LIKE A FAR-OUT INTRODUCTION TO TODAY'S STORY, BORROWED FROM THE BOOK, "REMINISCENCES," BY FORMER MUSKOKA MAGISTRATE, REDMOND THOMAS. THE BOOK WAS PUBLISHED IN 1969 BY THE HERALD-GAZETTE PRESS OF BRACEBRIDGE, AND HAS BECOME ONE OF THE REGION'S MOST POPULAR FOLK HISTORIES. THE STORY BELOW, IS ONE OF THE REASONS, IT HAS BECOME SO POPULAR, AS LOCAL HISTORIES GO! AND YES, IT HAS TO DO WITH AN EXPLOSION. A REALLY BIG ONE ON MANITOBA STREET. THE HEADING OF THE STORY, WHICH WAS ACTUALLY A COLUMN IN THE HERALD-GAZETTE, PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 21ST, 1967, UNDER THE HEADING, "THE TOWN WAS ALL SHOOK UP." REDMOND THOMAS SETS THE STAGE FOR THIS RATHER REMARKABLE TOWN EVENT, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC, WITH GREAT LOSS OF LIFE. GOD WAS LOOKING OUT FOR THE TOWN ON THIS PARTICULAR SUMMER EVENING. HERE'S HOW IT ALL UNFOLDED.
    "It was a warm Saturday evening, of early summer. All the stores, barber shops and other business establishments (except the bars), were open, and would not close their doors until eleven o'clock. A host of shoppers were down town, and so were many other people, who were there simply to chat with friends in groups. No inconvenience to passersby, was caused by such groups, as the wooden sidewalks on both sides of Manitoba Street, were about one-third wider than the present cements ones. Then a public school boy, I was looking out an open window, in the back of The Thomas Company store, in the Hunt Block (later burnt in the great fire of 1908, and replaced by the present Sibbett Block, east side of Manitoba Street, just south of clock tower), and was gazing at the yards of the Grand Trunk Railway, where shunting was being done by one of the old small locomotives, with a tall straight smoke-stack, and big box-shaped coal oil headlight. Just as the engine moved north out of view, behind the Sander livery stable, on the south side, of Thomas Street, the Hunt Block shook violently and there was a very loud bang, followed immediately by a great crash of glass, and the shrieks of women.
     "My first thought was that the boiler of the engine had burst, but then I heard people shouting, 'earthquake.' Because San Francisco had been almost completely destroyed, by an earthquake (and resulting fire) earlier in that year, the subject of earthquake naturally came quickly to people's minds. But it was no earthquake. It was (or until that instant had been) the powder house."
     As Redmond Thomas explains, "The powder house was a flimsy wooden building, standing at the big rock through which was then being blasted; the present road leading from Ontario Street, to the road running down to the present wharf, which was at the foot of Dill Street. (There had been some strong opposition to the building of the New Wharf and those opposing it often referred to it as the Thomas Dock, because my father had been leader in the movement to establish it). At the time of which I write, the dredging of the big sandbar in the bay, had not yet been done, and so the New Wharf was used by only steam yachts, and gasoline launches, as motor boats were then called. The Old Wharf was still used by the steamboats of the Muskoka Navigation Company, and by the many steam tugboats. Until the present road from Ontario Street was blasted through the big rock, the New Wharf was reached from Manitoba Street by a road running between buildings, of the Birds Woolen Mill, and then under the railroad bridge, to the top of the road leading down to the river.
    "On the warm Saturday evening, of which I write, two of the workmen in the construction, of the new road took a 'busman's holiday,' by walking down to the scene of their labors. After they got there, they discovered that the powder house was on fire. They did not linger. Shouting, 'Fire! Fire! Fire!,' they took their departure, at a speed which rivaled that of Dan Patch, the Minneapolis steed, which was then the world's fastest harness race horses. They had just reached the corner of Manitoba and Ontario Streets (where the Waite Block now stands, but there were then, two small brick residences) by the time the fire works occurred - the powder house blew up."
     The young Mr. Thomas, reported that, "On both sides of Manitoba Street, every pane of glass in the main floors and upper storeys, of all the buildings, was shattered, except where there was an open window, or door, at each end of the premises; as for example, in the Hunt Block, there was no glass broken in the Thomas Company store, as the front door and a back window were open, but all the glass crashed out of the windows, of the law office of Mr. (later Judge) T.E. Godson, which was directly above that store. In the fine home of Dr. J.F. Williams (whose land included what is now the Texaco Service Station property, and Old Highway 11) absolutely everything fragile was broken.
     "Though the whole town was shaken up; the main force of the shock ran in two courses, apparently following basic rock formation. One course ran north up Manitoba Street. The other went northwest and broke nearly every window in the old British Lion Hotel, at the northwest corner of Dominion and Ontario Street. Except to that hotel, all damage of any consequence was confined to Manitoba Street. In spite of the size of the crowds down town, there was, so far as I remember, no personal injury from falling glass, and this was doubtless mostly due to the fact that chatting groups habitually stood at the outside edges of the very wide sidewalks. Nor can I recall any serious run-aways by horses. (There were no automobiles owned here at that time.)
     "Of the powder house, no trace remained but a scorched place on the rock. Probably pieces of it showered down on Falkenburg, Ziska, Muskoka Falls and Stoneleigh. Not many of the present residents of Bracebridge lived here in 1906, when the town was really 'all shook up'."